5 June 2024

posted in:

Trans

Our trans friends need us. Mostly, they need those of us who don’t understand what transgender is (versus the collage of antiquated and incomplete ideas we might have in the back of our heads), and what it means to be a transgender individual, to please educate ourselves. This requires a bit of humility for those who struggle with the concept. I’d like to believe the vast majority of people who struggle with this would honestly like to have a fuller understanding, but they are prevented by the likes of social influences (religion, community dynamics) or isolation.

Our trans friends need us because their livelihoods and physical safety are under attack. A bookstore I frequent was recently the scene of violent vandalism, by a customer who threw coffee over the shelves of books and verbally accosted an employee…all because the bookstore, which specializes in horror fiction, stocked trans authors. I have mixed feelings about the (over)use of the word “safe” but in this context, this is clearly a means of making people feel physically unsafe because of ignorance.

Our trans friends, just like other historically marginalized populations, want to exist without the shadow of violence looming over them.