Before Covid, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Photo IsisGay, lesbian and transgender people have a common ground regardless of the differences between each group. We all are discriminated, harassed, threatened, beaten, and even killed. Being a minority, we are at a disadvantage compared to bigots. Just w a few years ago, we were OK celebrating the recent gains in our favor, and although we did not pause our efforts, we were waiting for the next stride to continue advocating towards a federal mandate that protects all of us. We are distant from getting there. Advocacy groups claim we are close to either put on the house and the senate table such bill or to be referred to SCOTUS to render that decision. A change of plans took place, and we are in a much worse situation than we were before Obama’s administration. This administration claims to be fully supportive of our minority, regardless of the evidence that detracts the president and his administration. Trump publicly has belittled the transsexual community engaged in the armed forces. As well, health providers, insurance companies deny coverage to the transgender community because of the expense they claim.
Their explanation: transsexual surgical procedures are expensive. Because such procedures are not covered by insurance and because those procedures are not common in the US, that explains the high cost of those surgeries. Almost all industrial nations have specialists in those procedures <- – – $$$>. They are cheaper, and they are good. However, insurance policies do not cover surgeries in foreign countries. As well, cases such as GRS (gender replacement surgery) require a few visitations to check the progress of the procedure, which makes the whole extremely difficult or costly, if performed in a foreign country. GRS Surgeons exist in the US, but again, their cost is too expensive because there is no competition in that field. That is one issue we transwomen face, but there is another one getting worse by the day; discrimination.
Discrimination against trans people has been around forever. The difference between the recent years and two or three decades ago is that the majority of trans people have come out of the closet. Therefore, advocacy has increased its force and presence. However, not having federal protection makes it easy for bigots to take action on their own hands, and the results this year are more than two dozen transwomen killed. As well, harassment has increased in volume and intensity. For instance, Twitter, the known platform that has been used by Trump, has been used to attack transwomen. The attacks are quite vicious too often, and as a consequence, transwomen respond equally against them. At the time of writing this, the membership of a man was revoked because of the unjustified attacks against one of those women. However, he was one of the many people attacking transwomen in that platform, including women.
In recent weeks, well-known author J.K Rowling started a campaign against transsexuals by claiming to have the proper treatment to reverse transsexualism in young children. Such an approach has been used before causing severe trauma in young children. Licensed psychologists have lost their license after parents of those children complained about these cases. Rowling herself has conducted attacks against people accusing her of not having the academic credentials, and that it is impossible to change the self-identity of a person. Psychologists opposed to this claim, reversal treatment for trans children cannot reverse their gender identity. However, the battle at twitter continues, and that is exacerbating the adverse reaction of bigots against transsexualism. Since threats are not part of the issue, twitter has failed to react and remove the culprits. Nevertheless, those tweets are dividing and accusatory.
I have been using Twitter recently. Through the days spending a couple of daily hours on Twitter, I read among dozens of messages, frequent attacks between phobic and defenders of the trans validity, and they are nasty, no good, fire is thrown to fire.
One of the many reasons transphobes attack us is ignorance. Are we the trans community as ignorant? Perhaps one or two, but overall we are knowledgeable about the questions and answers of our nature. Those solid arguments will present a better tool to disarm them than attacking them. If we all present evidence of our nature, what science has proven, what academics explain to support our realm, and not that transsexualism is the result of wants or desires, but it is a natural process. No one is responsible for it, but Mother Nature, nor is it something that could be changed. Knowledge is always reliable, and when it is well-funded and smart, it is hard to argue it. They will argue any evidence they can invent, but by no inciting them to battle against us, we move a step ahead of them, and their arguments become idiotic and badly intended. They have their right to exercise their freedom of speech, but ignorant speech can only be ignored, not fought.
I believe tools such as Twitter are useful for people. However, across the internet, many statements found – are so misinformed – when people glance at them, “most” move on. We have more pressing matters to take care of, and to address someone saying we do not qualify as people, as humans, and that we are wrong, sinful and bizarre, the battle will be their idea against our facts. That is their view, ours can only be bigots do not behave as educated and respectful people, and their messages are biased, stereotyped, based on false premises, there is no validity in them.
No one can fight the rights of several million trans people around the world (and throughout history) since trans people do nothing toxic against anybody. Their ignorance is unrelated to what we are, and attacking law-abiding citizens of their own country does not favor anything or anybody. We cannot become a reflection of them because the price is, will be, a never-ending war. We already have a few conflicts to sort out, and losing them reflects a substantial loss to them as to the rest of us, the people of the USA.
Be kind, be pacific, and be nurturing, that makes our cause a real cause while theirs is just a rant against those that engage with them without knowing the potential consequences. Such as they get pissed, they want to hurt a trans person, but since that particular person is not at reach, they do it against an innocent transwoman, that have nothing to do with them. Check the recent statistics and learn that every week there are more fatal victims of the same hate they showcase in social networks. Do we need more evidence?
