VIEWPOINTS

Why Everyone Contributes To Transphobia And How They Can Stop

Even though today, the 13th annual International Transgender Day of Remembrance, is a day to grieve, memorialize and celebrate those who have died because of transphobic hate—it’s also a day to check our own transphobia, its causes and what we can do to stop the violence. So here’s 3 thoughts from trans thinkers that will help.

Image via Andrew Taylorr

Transgender identities often elicit reactions of confusion, judgment and dismissal, even from progressive liberals. We sometimes hear people say that individuals undergoing these sorts of physical changes are dealing more with psychological problems than hormonal. That most of us have clear sexes, so we can have clear genders. That pushing the stereotypes around clothing, work and relationships are one thing, but pushing the boundaries around bodies are another. I will say to this that I have heard all of it before referring to gay and lesbian men and women. I have been told that my love for another man is a psychological problem — that my hormones are not the real issue.

I imagine that most women may have heard the same sorts of things regarding their lives, their careers, their families. They are willful for seeking that job, or that position, or that relationship. They are disrespecting their family or their culture when they delay marriage, or move in with a lover before marriage, or postpone having children in favor of their career. Although some men certainly do hear the same sorts of critiques, I find that most males have another set of guidelines to live up to. Simply put, the rules are different for different genders. And while the situation is all the more confusing when gender isn’t clear, we can choose to go a little deeper and find the commonalities to which each of us can relate…

I believe that American culture has been trumping our religious values of compassion and love. Transgender identity scares us because it suggests that maybe we’ve got it all wrong. Maybe women are just as good as men. Maybe relationships are defined by the horizon of our love. Maybe people ought to have agency over their own bodies. Maybe the world isn’t all that clear right from birth. Maybe the phrase “men and women” is still leaving someone out.

– Rev. G. Jude Geiger discussing how transphobia affects everyone at HuffPo Gay Voices

Transgender people live at the intersections of systemic oppressions. Our gender identities don’t conform to the expectations of society. And if we are transwomen of color, we are subject to additional stigmatization and harassment. Transmisogyny is at the root of much of the violence against transwomen, and racism plays a large part in this violence.

Murders of transgender persons are often characterized by extreme violence committed by persons filled with deep-seated hatred. This hatred is often born of the language of marginalization that characterizes much of the everyday rhetoric against transgender people and communities…

Much of this extreme violence against transgender people begins in the violence of language that represents what is all too often an acceptable prejudice in our society. This in turn leads to stigmatization of our community and feeds the dehumanization and transphobia that can ultimately erupt in physical violence. What can we do to end this vicious cycle of murders of transgender people that brings us together every Nov. 20? We need gender-conforming allies to interrupt the language and actions that feed the fear of transgender people. We need transgender and gender-conforming people who are willing and able to educate others about the lives of transgender people and the oppression that we experience. We need allies who will work for passage of legislation that will give true justice to trans people. We need allies from secular and faith communities who are willing to fight for justice for all people and to work to end systemic oppression.

– Jamie Ann Meyers, Transgender Representative to the North American Board of Lutherans Concerned talking about how transphobic language fuels violence

As we recite the names of all those who we have lost to the violent hearts and hands of our fellow human beings, may we remember that these names don’t just represent another statistic in the growing number of people who lost the grace of their lives to the indignity of transphobia. These names represent lives, real lives of people who lived, walked, cried, smiled, and loved among us. These names represent lives that deserved to be treated with nothing less than dignity…

These names represent lives that matter and they should matter, for these names represent people who were somebody’s children, partners, friends, siblings, students, teachers, workers, citizens! So as we recite these names, we are calling on all institutions – from the families to schools to religions to governments, from Amsterdam to Ankara, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe – we are calling on everyone, everywhere to reclaim compassion from hate, to reclaim care from apathy, and to reclaim everyday kindness from transphobia…

Let each name be a monument of courage! Let this courage stir a restless defiance in our hearts – a restless defiance that would urge us to stand up for justice and dignity for everyone, everywhere! Let this restless defiance keep on awakening our enormous strength to face our fears about this world. And let’s keep on awakening this enormous strength so we can keep on touching the hearts and spirits of those who are afraid to understand and accept difference; so we can keep on expanding the field of social inclusion and acceptance; so we can keep on inspiring the minds and hearts that matter to craft social policies that are designed to facilitate the fulfillment of happiness!

– Transgriot remembers Sass Rogando Sasot’s speech during the 2011 Amsterdam Transgender Day of Remembrance.

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