From 1d4afc4799618f93c04543c63848309f930e40e4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Correl Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2022 23:45:16 -0400 Subject: [PATCH] Blog: TDOV 2022 --- blog.org | 91 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 91 insertions(+) diff --git a/blog.org b/blog.org index 34bbfd7..01e0717 100644 --- a/blog.org +++ b/blog.org @@ -3097,6 +3097,97 @@ is on my personal gitlab server, feel free to check it out and see if there's anything there you can use or learn from: http://git.phoenixinquis.net/correlr/home-assistant +* Trans Day of Visibility 2022 :transgender: + +It's hard to feel positive about this year's [[https://www.glaad.org/tdov][Transgender Day of Visibility]]. On +the one hand, trans visibility is extremely important. It's because of out trans +people that I was able to understand my own identity. The more cis people really +see, talk to, and come to understand trans people, the easier it will be for +them to understand that we're, well, just /people/. Transitioning is a +/beautiful/ thing. Look at any set of photos trans people share, and you'll see +that they're not just happier, but more vibrant, more full of life, and so very +genuinely themselves! This is what folks need to see more of, and what I think +this day is meant to be about. Unfortunately, a lot of what folks are seeing +nowadays isn't trans people thriving, it's misinformation and vitriol. This +isn't at all a new phenomenon, but [[https://www.vox.com/first-person/22977970/anti-trans-legislation-texas-idaho][in recent years it's gotten overwhelming]]. + +This year, like last year, has brought with it a [[https://freedomforallamericans.org/legislative-tracker/anti-transgender-legislation/][record-breaking amount of +anti-trans legislation across the majority of states in the country]]. Most of +them are targeting trans youths by banning them from playing sports with their +peers, forbidding any discussion about gender or queer identities in their +classrooms, requiring that trusted teachers and other school staff out them to +families, and restricting and even outlawing their healthcare. Book bans have +been sweeping the nation, intent on removing anything they consider unpleasant +or uncomfortable, which has mostly amounted to anything discussing gender, +sexuality, or race. There is /constant/ flowing across social +media and news outlets sowing outrage, [[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/19/anti-trans-rhetoric-homophobia-trans-rights][recycling old homophobic rhetoric]] as they +label trans people as predators, anyone supporting us as "groomers", and +claiming we're forcing children into life-altering surgeries. Trans kids [[https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/04/22/transgender-child-sports-treatments/][do not +get surgeries]], but laws are being pushed and passed banning them anyway, though +always with a note that [[https://www.them.us/story/trans-health-care-attacks-target-intersex-people-too][those restrictions aren't extended to intersex kids]], who +continue to be operated upon to make their bodies conform to a comfortable +binary. + +Trans kids and trans adults alike, whether they're in states that are actively +arguing or passing these bills, [[https://www.thedailybeast.com/we-trans-people-will-never-surrender-but-fighting-bigots-is-exhausting?s=09&source=twitter&utm_source=pocket_mylist&via=desktop][are having to endure watching this all happen]]. +Watching their identities, their /existence/ be debated, questioned, demonized, +and ridiculed. We're having to watch this all unfold, and it really feels like +[[https://truthout.org/audio/trans-youth-are-facing-right-wing-attacks-and-a-solidarity-shortage/][few people are actively defending us or standing up to this torrent of hate]]. +Most of these bills aren't even getting much news coverage, and [[https://www.teenvogue.com/story/trans-people-right-wing-media?s=09&utm_source=pocket_mylist][those that are +often aren't in our favor]], framing the issues as [[https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43255878][divisive]] or [[https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/trans-swimmer-lia-thomas-speaks-scrutiny-controversy-rcna18503][controversial]]. Even +Florida's so-called [[https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2022/1557]["Don't Say Gay" bill]] is framed first and foremost as an +attack on gay rights (which it certainly is), but leaving the very deliberate +targetting of trans kids out of the discussion. Florida governor Ron DeSantis +certainly didn't hide it, [[https://www.axios.com/dont-say-gay-bill-desantis-578593fc-5d6e-4098-b69a-c838b017ce24.html][claiming its intent is to squash so-called "woke +gender ideology"]] and [[https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida/2022/03/29/grooming-the-buzzword-in-lgbtq-school-debate-including-in-florida/][pointing at a large illustration from a transgender +author's childrens book]] just before signing the bill. + +It's hard, as a trans person watching all of this, to see these kids, their +parents, and ourselves under such constant and cruel attack. It's hard hearing +only the faintest mumors of "we've got your back" from the White House as the +Equality Act continues to languish, stalled in Congress. It is hard seeing so +few people outside of the transgender community, traumatized so much by it as it +is, raising any awareness of what's going on. Each year we endure so much. We +watch public figures tell people we're perverts and predators. We watch where we +go and what we do in public, lest we inadverently draw anyone's ire. We watch as +some trans folks do succeed, and celebrate them, but also see all the nastiness +directed at them in the media and in strangers' comments on social media. All of +this is so, so traumatizing. + +Ours is a community molded by trauma, and by absence. Our history, vibrant as it +is, has been largely [[https://historycollection.com/16-remarkable-historical-figures-who-were-transgender/][hidden from us]] or [[https://www.teenvogue.com/story/lgbtq-institute-in-germany-was-burned-down-by-nazis][outright destroyed]]. Most of an entire +generation of queer people was [[https://read.dukeupress.edu/tsq/article/7/4/527/168493/Trans-in-a-Time-of-HIV-AIDS?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=j-TSQ_7-4_Feb2021][lost to hate and apathy during the AIDS epidemic]]. +Many [[https://www.hrc.org/resources/fatal-violence-against-the-transgender-and-gender-non-conforming-community-in-2022][continue to be lost every year to violence]]. Mostly trans women of color, +losing their lives to hate in the rising tide of racism, misogyny, homophobia +and transphobia. We likely lose far more than we know as crimes go unreported or +misreported, as they tend to be, when trans folks [[https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/11/29/22807775/what-i-learned-about-news-media-law-enforcement-transgender-murders-morgan-sherm-op-ed][get misgendered in death]]. This +isn't how it's supposed to be. Discovering and living as who we truly are is one +of the most joyful things in life. Being ourselves, /really sharing ourselves/ +with the people we love is such a wonderful, vibrant feeling. That more and more +people are able to learn about the beautiful spectrums of identities is an +amazing thing. We've got greater resources and representation now than ever +before. + +I do not believe that all of this hatred, all of these laws, any of it will win +out in the end. Trans people aren't going anywhere. Being trans is just a part +of being human. We have always been here, and we will continue to be. What I +fear isn't that trans people will be wiped off the earth, because it is +impossible to do that without wiping out humanity. What I do fear, though, is +how hard the struggle may remain for us to continue to just /live/. I feel for +these kids, terrified as they are that the world hates them. I feel for the +trans community, as we struggle with vastly different degrees of discrimination +and violence. It's a lot. + +On this Transgender Day of Visibility, I feel it's important that we're not +merely seen, but seen fully. I hope that people will see our joy and our +strength and our fierce love of authentic life. I also hope that people will see +our pain, and find it in themselves to offer not just performative displays of +support but real empathy and action. We're out here showing you who we are and +what we can be. Please show /us/ who /you/ are and what we mean to you. + +And, for the love of everything, [[https://www.gamespot.com/articles/jk-rowlings-anti-transgender-stance-and-hogwarts-legacy/1100-6501632/?s=09&utm_source=pocket_mylist][please leave Harry Potter in the past]]. + + * TODO Types in Python :programming:python: :PROPERTIES: :EXPORT_FILE_NAME: types-in-python