After a poll on Twitter and asking my mother's opinion, I have decided it is time to explain the "transgender mafia." I did mention this is my last article while talking about what I had accomplished during the month of February.
Whenever any kind of issue comes up, people like to choose a side. Clinton or Trump, pro-choice or pro-life, should you have to do a nasty chore or should your younger sibling do it? I believe we can see that everywhere, yes? And, of course, there were those who thought that transgender students in South Dakota should be using the bathrooms of their assigned sex at birth.
I started speaking out against this bill on January 21st of this year and it picked up more traction during the whole month of February. During this time, I did not see a single article, Facebook post or tweet saying the bill writers were in the right. My mother kept close tabs on her Facebook account of all the things her friends, who are a bit older and more conservative than I am, said about the bill and the long fight going on with it. She didn't come across any agreement either.
The only thing she heard and saw, besides adulation and surprise that I am her child, included one person who pondered "Why is this a government issue?"
The only bit of media I had seen that was for the bill stated in the title of the article that "South Dakota Stands Up To The Transgender Mafia." I did not see this article for myself firsthand. I actually heard about this article from friends who said the "transgender mafia" is all over Tumblr and they wanted to know if they could join.
I, of course, became perplexed.
At the time, I had not created such an organization and I had no ties to one in existence. After looking up transgender mafia, I found the article. Up to that point, I had only seen support for what I was doing and here was this person using a picture of me to send a message of what I considered to be hate.
From that day forward, I have made the Transgender Mafia my own thing. I am the Don, if anyone is wondering. I saw this as a chance to turn hate into love. If there is indeed a Transgender Mafia, I would hope this is a group which is a little bit of a misnomer. Yes, it may sound like a bunch of trans people are working in New York with the mob. In my mind, the Transgender Mafia is an organization of members of the trans community and their allies. You can be a member of the Transgender Mafia without being transgender yourself. You do not have to know someone who is transgender to be a part of the transgender mafia. All you have to do, is be an ally of the trans community, showing those who insist on hateful ways that there is always love and that love conquers all.
