I can't keep quiet

This has not been an easy week for the transgender community in the United States. We’ve gone from having our government assure us that they have our backs to having it throw us under the bus. I recognize that the laws still stand which should make it illegal to discriminate against us, but my confidence is severely eroded that we can expect justice when the very government that should ensure that justice has said they will not actively intervene on our behalf.

An old friend called me out on an article I shared about this on Facebook. She told me I should be “part of the solution, not rebellious and destructive upheaval.” When I read this I thought: “What makes speaking out on behalf of the marginalized and disenfranchised rebellious and destructive?” My rights and those of other transgender people should not depend on the state we live in. They shouldn’t depend on whether the white, cisgender majority believes we deserve them or not. Calling for equality, demanding justice, asking for the freedom to exist in the public sphere is not rebellious. It’s a basic human right. If speaking out makes me rebellious and destructive than I guess I am.

This individual went on to recall how I used to operate out of love and inclusion and stated that I now act from selfishness. She could not be more off base. If I used to operate from love and inclusion, I do so far more now. I didn’t really know what inclusion meant until I began my own journey. When I was younger I longed for social justice. Even though I grew up as a white kid in the suburbs of Denver I recognized that my society was riddled with structural injustice and I longed to help right that. The course of my life drew me away from that struggle, but now I’ve come home and in a deeper, more powerful and personal way. I do not act out of selfishness. I strive to act out of love (though readily acknowledge how far short I fall of my own ideal.)

I was told that I am politicizing a personal grievance and creating division rather than peace. But true peace cannot exist where there is injustice. The current hot topic of bathroom access is only a piece of the issue, which is, “Do transgender people have a right to live fully and freely in our society?” As long as there are those who say we do not, we will continue to raise our voices in protest. We will disrupt society because society must make room for us as well. If our protest makes you uncomfortable, then the problem is with you, not us.

Of course, for most of us who protest, myself included, it’s not just about transgender rights. It’s about the rights of immigrants, refugees, women, Native Americans, non-White ethnic groups, non-Christian religions, all those who have experienced discrimination, violence and exclusion at the hands of those who have held the balance of power throughout the history of our nation. Our complaint, our struggle, our fight, is for a society in which all are included, in which the rights of the least powerful are most protected. I cannot be bought off with simple promises that my rights will be respected (especially lacking any clear evidence of that!) Even if the transgender community suddenly had full and total legal protection and acceptance in society, my fight would not be over as long as other communities continued to face discrimination. We are all interconnected.

One currently popular citation reminds us that ‘Well-behaved women seldom make history.” I’ve spent my life being well-behaved. I will still always strive to be respectful, but I’m no longer going to temper my words just because they might upset someone’s comfortable status quo. I can’t keep quiet any longer, not when the wave of injustice rolling across this country grows larger by the week. If my protest offends you, maybe you should ask yourself why rather than asking me to be silent.