Trans March Turns 20

It's been a decade since I've been to Trans March. I first learned of it back in 2008 as I was beginning my own personal journey of self-discovery and coming out as trans. That year, I met a trans woman who had a banner for Gwen Araujo  I got to carry it with her friend.

Her name was Tiffany, and she had a Trans Pride flag on a flagpole that she was carrying. This year, I'm carrying my own Trans Pride flag as I return to the event for the fifth time. I'm looking forward to it.

The event was created out of protest over the mistrial in the Gwen Araujo murder case 20 years ago. They ended up being convicted, but there was a real worry that they were going to get away with using a "trans panic" defense.

Pride has many colors, messages and needs that must be addressed. Although it's more corporate these days and seems to be more commercialized, the whole pride event was born out of a protest for LGBT rights.

We've made many strides through the years, but the latest hill we find ourselves battling on is trans rights. People who want to take them away from us are even trying to divide the trans community from LGB, which is a ridiculous idea. 

Trans women, particularly trans women of color, have helped pay for our rights with their blood and their lives in some cases. When you look at things such as the Cafeteria Riots and Stonewall, you begin to understand the role transgender people have played in the LGBT rights struggle.

Dyke March had long been established when they allied with the transgender community for Trans March. We are able to gather at Dolores Park on the Friday of Pride every year to hear speakers and see different entertainers. We also learn about the different groups that are there to help us in our time of need. Then, we march on the streets of San Francisco for our voices to be heard.

I feel like this is an important event that people in the trans community who know the struggle should attend at least once. If that's not possible, we need more events like this popping up across the country and around the world.

There's an attempt to divide and conquer us, and the reality is the trans umbrella itself is big. It's not just about transitioning and becoming the gender that you identify with and leaving it all behind you. It is for some, and that should be respected.

Some people are happy in the journey itself and might even be fluid in their transition. Some people engage in the expression of gender, meaning they may dress and identify with a gender in the moment, but they may not always choose to do so.

There was a Latina trans woman at the second Trans March event that I attended, and she made a statement that I felt mattered. She said that whether you are just a crossdresser or fully transitioning, you matter and your journey is no less valid. She even went back and corrected herself by saying, "no, you're not JUST a crossdresser."

The transgender community itself can be divisive over the idea of drag queens, sissies and crossdressers as if they are somehow invalidating the whole movement by their existence. I strongly disagree with that. Some people have come into their transition after discovering more about themselves through the expression of their gender.

The discussion of passability is at the forefront of this battle, because not everybody is passable in terms of looking like they were naturally born in the gender they express. There was a time when people wouldn't completely come out until they felt they could pass, but now people come out when they're comfortable enough. That was the case with me. I just knew I had to be myself when I finally went public.

The important thing about the trans movement and being transgender is that there's no right way to do it. What may work for you may not work for somebody else. You have to be you and be proud. That's the takeaway, in my opinion. That's what Trans Pride is all about. No more hiding in shame.

We march with allies for the right to be. For the right to have an opportunity to work and to have a place to live. Frequently, the trans community is marginalized and barely getting by with a roof over their head or employment. We end up on the streets, addicted to drugs or even working as escorts.

Part of the movement this year is about the blowback against trans youth. States are now enacting laws that are trying to make it impossible for parents to allow their children to transition into the gender they identify with. 

These people would rather force the youth to go through a puberty based on the body they were assigned at birth, rather than the gender they identify with.

The problem with that is the emotional scars that people go through when they know who they are on the inside. Since we have the medical ability to help the youth transition and be more comfortable in their bodies growing up and they can go through a more natural feeling puberty, why not let them? 

The other thing is parents are now understanding their children to the extent that they still want to give them love and guidance, while letting them transition. It's not like it has been in the past where kids get kicked out of their homes for being trans, abused in some cases and just left to go it alone.

This is the important battle. Trans healthcare is a basic human right. It's starting with the effort to take away trans youth health care, but the ultimate goal is to eradicate the transgender community completely. People speaking out against the community have even used the word eradicate. It's genocide. Let's call it what it is.

What events like Trans March do is make the community visible to everybody at large. We're not hiding. We are who we are, and we're proud of who we are. Trans rights are human rights. This is the 20th Anniversary of the establishing of Trans March, and I am very much looking forward to being here. 

I want to meet some of the voices standing up for our rights. For me personally, I may not agree with every message being pitched at this event, but I agree with our basic right to be who we are and to live authentically with the fair opportunity that anybody else would have for the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness.

Protecting And Nurturing Trans Youth Is Important

 Protecting And Nurturing Trans Youth Is Important

Trans March SF is coming up, and this is all about transgender pride. This event is in its 20th year, and it was sparked by the mistrial in the Gwen Arajo murder case. Gwen was the transgender teen who was murdered in Newark, and the people who killed her tried to use the trans panic defense. They did time.

Back in Gwen's day, the standard reaction towards many of the trans youth was to be bullied, beaten, kicked out of the house, disowned and all sorts of unpleasantness. Some families did try. The ones who weren't lucky enough to find some place that would take them in and really care for them might have ended up on drugs, prostitution and maybe even dying.

It's hard enough to come out realizing that you were born in the wrong body. Like your mind, your essence,  does not align with the body you have. People used to look at that and say, "Oh you're just gay." However, not everybody who's transgender automatically wants to have sex with a specific gender. Gender identity and sexuality are two different things.

In Gwen's case, she had a mother who maybe didn't understand at first but gradually begin to try. Her mother did love her, but even as she knew Gwen was going down a dangerous path and might not make it, she was trying to point her in a better direction. She was trying to encourage her to pursue her dreams with dedication. 

As we've come along, we've started to understand that if we can help trans youth transition at a younger age, we can help them in so many ways. Once a child is identifying as trans, they go through serious therapy. There's a misnomer that they are suddenly put on hormones and given an operations. This isn't true.

Through the therapy, it's determined whether transition through hormones and the surgeries is needed or if something else may be at play. Oftentimes, the main thing that's happening with a child is they are expressing their gender identity without taking anything. It isn't until puberty approaches that hormone replacement therapy becomes an issue.

There is a movement against trans youth to the point of even forcing them to de-transition. That's cruel and heartless punishment to a trans child. Some people want to make them go through the puberty of the gender they were signed at birth. If you're born in a male body and identify that way, it's a natural progression. If you are born in a male body but identify as female, it's punishment.

A transgender girl will want to have the sort of puberty that a cisgender girl will have. She'll get better body changes if she's on hormones, and it will even spare her certain surgeries that will correct her appearance. Why wouldn't we wish that for a trans child? Why wouldn't we want them to have a body that makes them more confident, and thusly helps them fit in with everybody else?

The one thing about parents of trans children is they are giving them love. They are allowing them to develop through childhood experiences and transition in a more natural way. The parents are giving them the same sorts of boundaries any cisgender child would get.

"Okay, so you're transgender. I love you. However, you're still going to do your homework, do your chores around here and be back before dark. You're still going to live by our rules, but I'm going to love you and try to provide you the same opportunities as any other child."

What this is going to lead to is trans children becoming more productive members of society. They might avoid pitfalls such as drug addiction and sex work. That's not a statement that sex work is a bad thing for those who actually desire it, but in some cases transgender people have been forced into it as a way to get by.

I was doing a celebration of life event at my work. I was asked to MC the event. As we were cleaning everything up, I noticed a young trans girl walking up to me. She'd been sort of on my radar, but she was just one of the party goers to me. In fact, what was about to happen didn't really fully register with me until later.

She walked up, looked at me and smiled and gave me the biggest hug before walking away. I thought it was a nice moment and I think I said something friendly to her before she left. What that hug represented was her looking at me, an obvious trans adult, and seeing solidarity of sorts. Somebody who she can relate to. 

I'm in a field that some may view as non-trans friendly, and yet I've experienced quite a bit of love and acceptance. People know that I'm still the person that can do the things I did before I begin transition. I'm just trying to live my life and be happy. I do have anxieties about being out here versus a new location.

However, being out and proud is important to inspiring the next generation. They see us and realize they can become. When I was this child's age, which was probably around 10 or 11 years old, I realized there was something different about myself. The way I coped was different. I forced myself into a shell and cut myself off from a lot of people. I made my life about one specific thing, which is keeping a roof over my head now.

Had I had the encouragement and nurturing that this child is getting, perhaps my life would have been a little bit different. You can't play what if. What you can do is play the cards you've been dealt. Through my experiences and my understanding of what we all go through, I try to promote encouragement, love and understanding among the trans community and the people around us.

I'm hopeful when I see that trans child, that she will grow up to do good things. More importantly, that she will grow up happy and confident in her body and find the love and happiness she seeks. We all deserve that, and the fact that we know more now that enables us to help trans youth become who they were truly meant to be is a good thing.

Montana Rep Zooey Zephyr Is A Leader In The Trans Rights Movement

 

Montana Rep Zooey Zephyr Is A Leader In The Trans Rights Movement

Zooey Zephyr was removed from the floor of the Montana State House of Representatives during the last session. The State House is Republican controlled, and Zooey, who represents the Missoula, Montana district, is a Democrat.

The issue at stake is trans youth healthcare and their right to it. Zephyr was having her say on the matter as it was her turn to speak. As a trans woman, she's uniquely qualified to speak on such matters. This isn't just because of her own experiences.

As a trans woman, Zooey has seen other people going through transition. She's seen the struggles that have sometimes gone to very dark places, such as suicide and violence against trans women. As she was delivering her comments, she could draw on many things in what she said.

What upset the Republicans was when she told them that if they vote for this bill, may they see the blood on their hands the next time they pray. That was a powerful statement, clearly aimed at the Christian sect of the Republican party who would vote in favor of the bill.

Was what Zooey said a personal attack? Was she calling these people names or being unprofessional? This has been the subject of debate nationally as people against transgender rights are siding with the Republicans on that basis alone, while others are siding with trans people's rights as Americans, let alone residents of Montana.

Immediately, the Republicans started talking about censure. On more than one occasion, Montana Republicans decided it would be somehow a good thing to misgender her. Multiple times, they referred to her as "he", and they doubled down on the disrespect of her gender identity.

It was ultimately decided to remove her from the State House chambers and thereby take away the voices of the people of her district. She was further prevented from speaking on any of the committees that she is a part of. To add insult to injury, they even attempted to remove her from a bench outside of the chambers, where she had taken a seat to cast her votes.

What has been done to Zooey amounts to a personal attack against a trans woman. They didn't like her raising the possibility that their actions might result in trans suicide or violence against trans women, which very well could be the case. They wanted her to shut up and take a seat, but as a trans woman, she is uniquely qualified to offer her views on the topic.

Zooey pursued legal action to be allowed back on the house floor. She didn't win, but she had to try. People all around the globe saw what was done to her for merely defending transgender rights. These are contentious times, and many people in the trans community feel like politicians, largely on the Republican side, are singling them out as somehow the cause of the evils of society.

Trans healthcare is essential to people of all ages, but at the heart of this debate is the right of trans youth to pursue their transitions. After going through therapy and struggling, it's been medically recommended that transition is the way forward for these people. When denied such things, it puts lives at risk for multiple reasons.

Allowing Zooey's voice to be heard seems important, regardless of which way the votes go. Removing her altogether from the discussion based on one thing that may have hurt a few people's feelings seems largely unconstitutional and definitely undemocratic.