"It’s a reminder that pain is a political tool."
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Recently, Transliterature was interview by the New York Times regarding recent anti-transgender attacks made by the Trump Administration and other Republican candidates seeking election this November. Once again, it was a gift to be able to address the issues of transgender life and politics for a wider audience. Not included in the quotations are the ways in which the current regression in transgender public rights and protections can be contextualized by a longer historical view of time. What strikes me most are the ways that trans people have resisted and survived in the face of widespread oppression. Here are excerpts from the New York Times article, "Two Weeks Before Midterms, Transgender People Feel like Pawns," written by Liam Stack.
"When the news broke on Sunday morning, many transgender people, world-weary, saw it as grimly predictable: With two weeks to go until the midterm elections, the Trump administration was considering a new move that would undermine federal civil rights protections for the transgender community. This time, they thought, it was the nuclear option.
Under the terms of a proposal reported by The New York Times on Sunday, the administration would adopt a narrow definition of gender as an unchangeable biological condition — either male or female — that is determined by genitalia at birth. Such a move would not only roll back protections for transgender people: It could also legally negate their very existence.
“The thing that really took the wind out of my sails and is deeply upsetting, particularly as someone who teaches ethics, is what this ultimately says about the American people,” said Gabrielle Bychowski, a college professor and married mother of two in Grand Rapids, Mich.
“This is a very evidently political move done, approaching the midterms, to garner favor with a portion of the American public who would be encouraged and pleased by this news,” Ms. Bychowski, 31, said. “It’s a reminder that pain is a political tool. A certain portion of the American population takes pleasure at the pain of others.”
Read more at New York Times online!
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