Wisconsin transgender students are fighting against the bars set against them. The students were forced into a gender neutral bathroom and were referred to as the incorrect gender. Oh, and they were forced to wear green bracelets so the staff would know they were transgender.
There is an othering of trans people that seems to be acceptable to society. It's okay to force trans people into "neutral" restrooms - we're not acceptable enough for the restroom we actually belong in. It's ok to make trans kids wear bracelets. What if one of them tries to go into one of the gendered restrooms? Of course trans people have a suicide rate of almost 50 percent. They're sick, and people are buying into their delusions.
I don't look scary. I'm friendly. I have a nice smile. Why am I being treated like this?
It's not that it's entirely unexpected. When Republican presidential candidates are saying that transsexuality is a "social experiment," "abnormal," and "unsafe," people are going to listen. Political leaders have a strong audience of people who will hang on their every word, and when they spew lies instead of truth, people believe them.
In this political election, truth was thrown out the window months ago. Republicans rallied their base by screaming that perverted men are sneaking into little girls' bathrooms and raping them, and Democrats are enabling them by letting men into women's restrooms. The people listened. They boycotted Target. They harassed Target shoppers. States (including mine) vowed to never allow trans kids to use the right bathrooms.
It was a harsh wake up call for trans people. The world doesn't love us. We're no better than predators. Progress feels light years away. In the weeks following North Carolina's passing of HB2, suicide hotline translifeline was overwhelmed with calls, and their call rate was double what it was normally. The co-founder of the hotline described it as "unprecedented.”
North Carolina's law is stupid, useless and potentially dangerous. Yet it has strong support from the Republican leadership. Dr. Ben Carson, who should know about the scientific studies done on the brains of trans people, compared transsexuality to switching races in a recent speech. The audience laughed. They agreed. Without even thinking to see the other side of the story, they agreed.
It's not that I hate Republicans. I try not to hate anyone. But I hate the lies, the ideology and the pot stirring. Republicans can rally passionate people to action without hurting innocents in the process.
Why not, instead of labeling transgender kids with bracelets and blocking bathroom access, we give trans people a voice. Let's let trans people explain to apparent neurosurgeon Ben Carson what gender dysphoria is. Show the world that we aren't predators.
But until then, don't worry. It'll be easy to spot who we are. We've been branded with green bracelets.
