Originally, this piece was going to highlight that trans people tend to be cast as underdogs with most stories centered on us focusing on our pain and the trials we face on the way to a more authentic self. I was feeling optimistic about the future for trans people in the States even in the face of political attacks. Trans happiness was the goal, highlighting how an organization like TransSOCIAL could empower transgender people to live a beautiful and full life.
Then the election happened and I was shaken a bit.
Were people that prepared to throw away the rights of queer people and bodily autonomy for people with vaginas just for some “better economy” that may not even come to fruition?
I think like many trans people I entered a moment of panic fearing for the future of me and people like me. But I sat with it, did some reading, and found resolve in shared queer history, a history built on community, self-sustainability, and mutual aid.
A community mindset took great strides in the mid-1900s following a growing number of trans people demanding rights and wider societal acceptance. In 1959, trans people, drag queens, and others fought back against Los Angeles police who had been targeting trans women in random arrests at Cooper Do-nuts, later being labeled a riot. In 1966, there was an uprising at Compton’s Cafeteria, an all-night restaurant in the Tenderloin, a predominantly queer neighborhood at the time. Community magazines were formed, like Transvestia. And most well-known of all, is the 1969 Stonewall Uprising, which many people credit as a watershed moment for queer rights as a whole.
If other people won’t take care of us then we will. And if people won’t accept us, we will demand it.
So as I kept thinking and sitting on the potential challenges we might face in the near future I think of the elders in the community and the Giant’s Shoulders we already stand on. Trans existence in whatever form, is a story about survival and self-confidence, knowing that an authentic self is worth almost anything.
I wish I could write about queer joy, finding myself overwhelmed with the beauty of people like me, but I’m reminded constantly of a poem by the Palestinian poet, Marwan Makhoul.
“In order for me to write poetry that isn't political, I must listen to the birds
and in order to hear the birds
the warplanes must be silent.”
Trans people are more visible than they’ve ever been. People like Nava Mau are winning Emmys, Misia Butler had a role exploring transness in Netflix’s Kaos and we’re even finding political representation in people like Zoey Zephyr.
But with that visibility comes backlash.
An entire presidential campaign’s main antagonist was trans people and the “dangers” we pose to society and that candidate won. The Trevor Project’s youth crisis hotline saw a spike of over 700% post-election.
“When you have your identity questioned in, say, the highest office, or policymakers are questioning your identity or whether or not you have a place to live in the world, that can really impact your wellbeing,” said Kevin Wong, a spokesperson for the Trevor Project.
Even with all that to look towards in the coming administration trans people will survive. We always have and we always will.