“Those who kept silent yesterday will remain silent tomorrow.”
― Élie Wiesel, Night
A week ago, the trans community and our allies celebrated Transgender Day of Visibility — the day we’re supposed to proudly shout to the world that “We’re here, we’re queer, we’re still listening to This Year” or whatever. Visibility is important: If you aren’t seen and your experience isn’t shared, it will be difficult (if not impossible) for people who aren’t a part of your group to empathize with your experience.
The thing about visibility is that it means nothing if it doesn’t lead to action on behalf of the marginalized group. If we are more visible, and all that does is paint a target on our backs, then visibility has bought us nothing. So you wore your trans pride pin a week ago — what are you doing for us right now?
A common refrain from people when studying the more horrifying parts of history is, “How could people let this happen?”. If you’re a cis person in America who hasn’t read about today’s vote in the Alabama legislature banning gender-affirming care for trans youth — or worse, read about it but did nothing — you are exactly how people let these things happen. If you sit idly by while reactionaries and fascists redefine what it means to be human; while they demonize us with words like “pedophile” and “groomer” the same way they have to queer people for decades; if you let them talk about “transgender surgeries” on minors (something that does not happen) without shouting them down, the what good is your supposed ‘allyship’?
Alabama Senate Bill 184 is nothing short of state-sponsored genocide of transgender youth. The state of Alabama has codified into law forced conversion therapy for trans children. Right now, the biggest threat to the safety of children in Alabama is unquestionably the state’s own government. If you’re a cis person and you are not screaming at the top of your lungs about this to anyone who will listen, then you can go ahead and keep your pride flags and COEXIST bumper stickers to yourself, because you are doing nothing for us.
If you think we’re so valid, so brave, if you love that we’re “living our truth” — what are you willing to risk for us? Will you pledge your money, your voice, and your body to defend us? Or will your advocacy on our behalf end at a couple of hashtags and a little LED candle for one of our dead on Transgender Day of Remembrance?
If you’re a corporation that wants to have a float in pride parades and have a rainbow logo in June, what are you doing right now, at this moment, for transgender kids? Are you giving money to the organizations fighting this? Are you threatening to pull your business out of Texas, out of Alabama, out of Florida? Are you pulling your donations to politicians that advocate for these horrific policies?
If not, shut up during pride month. We do not want or need your toothless, spineless allyship. Fairweather friends aren’t doing our communities any favors, and we don’t care about your rainbow profile pictures and swag if there isn’t any action behind them. If you aren’t using every single bit of your power to fight for our youth and our communities, then we don’t want or need you.
If you do want to support us, please do. Remind people that gender affirming care for transgender youth saves lives. Shout down the people who would do us harm. Follow trans activists, lawyers, and journalists who are working tirelessly to fight bills like this:
Then, give your money to fight this:
And last, please: get to know some actual trans people. Read our stories, hear our truths, and try to imagine an existence that is different from the one you know. We are not the monsters these people make us out to be — we just want to be allowed to be ourselves, and we want the next generation of trans people to not have it as hard as we did.
