So things for the trans* community in the West have already been set at a low this month. Starting with collapse of the HERO ordinance in Texas, dubbed the ‘bathroom bill’ by the Christian Right to propagate the myth that trans* women want access to misuse female bathrooms. Yet whilst that external attack has been continuing, surprisingly there has also been internal unrest following the near-unanimous rejection of the film ‘Stonewall’ last month by LGBT+ audiences.
A petition on Change.org was created titled ‘Drop the T’, carrying with it a description that claims trans* individuals to be violent, counter-progressive and even abusive to children. Accusations that the trans* community ‘abuses’ gay men and women in calling out their transphobia/ignorance would be laughable, were they not immediately followed by assertions that this often led to the rape of cis-women by trans* individuals. A narrative which is one we had hoped to have buried, at least in the LGBT+ community as the theories of Janice Raymond that ‘trans* women used their gender identity to invade female safe spaces and partake in covert rape’ had faded into obscurity. She would then go on to reference herself in a report which was then used to deny trans* individuals in the US access to health care both public and private. Unsurprisingly this was the second point raised, i.e. the supposed infringement of women’s rights by allowing all women access to the same services. (Wrap your head around that one!). The petition starter then goes on to claim that it was the trans* community that had re-written the events of the Stonewall riots, even though this is historically false.
But ultimately what is forgotten is why the police were there. It was not to arrest gay men and women as myth may have you believe, but to arrest those displaying signs of non-gender conformity. It was when the police started removing the arrested individuals from the premises that several individuals began to fight back. One such individuals was the trans* activist Marsha P. Johnson. But here is the thing, trans* inclusive LGBT+ individuals are not arguing for the exclusion of non-trans* white individuals, merely the acknowledgement of others who played a larger roll. The same cannot be said for the anti-trans* crowd.
But it doesn’t just end there. In a follow up interview with The Federalist, the creator of the petition attempts to re-write the identities of Marsha P. Johnson and with it many among the trans* community. They do not match the opinion of the petition creator’s definition of a trans* individual as someone who reassigns and displays no gender variance. Let me introduce you to a great friend of mine. * That is an asterisk. I put it at the end of trans*. Why? Because it denotes a mental footnote which is that the word trans* is utilized as an umbrella term for all gender non-conformity. That is also why his claims that the LGB community expands gender whilst the trans* community reinforces it are entirely without merit.
Back on the petition as well as in the article the creator has one last line of attack. To quote Reverend Lovejoy “Won’t someone think of the children?!” I will admit that I find something like this coming from a gay man particularly distasteful. Being open to gender identity will turn people trans* in the same fashion that being open to sexuality will turn people gay. It won’t. Simple. No child is being reassigned, save for intersex children and there’s growing movement within the trans* to stop this medical violence when surgery is not medically necessary. At most all that are utilized are puberty inhibitors, chemicals that supress the hormones whilst they are taken to give the child anywhere up to several more years to make a better informed decision whether to pursue reassignment.
The trans* community and their allies understand the exploration of gender better than the creator, just like LGB individuals and their allies understand the exploration of sexuality better than the religious and conservative right. No trans* individual has ever forced their child to be trans*, just like no gay person has ever forced their child to be gay. The opposite on the other hand is far from true. If you feel that somehow your faith in humanity has been lost over this entire ordeal, just know this. A counter petition run by both trans* and cisgender LGBT+ and allies has drawn greater support than its hate filled counterpart.
