It's Ok Trans People, This Too Shall Pass

Of course, by "trans people", I'm mainly, like most media, talking about trans women, because as far as our politicians, lawyers and institutions are all concerned, trans men and non-binary individuals apparently don't exist. But this message goes out to them as well, and to whomever the next marginalised group happens to be.

Because here's the thing: You weren't the first, and you won't be the last. There's a cycle, a strategy used by the rich and powerful to protect their wealth and power by turning the rest of us against each other.

Divide & Conquer

After World War II, workers became empowered by a combination of surprisingly good economic conditions and the rise of labour unions and socialist movements. Workers were uniting across national, racial, and even religious lines, demanding higher wages, better working conditions, and a fairer share of the wealth. The ruling classes, knowing that if this continued they'd lose everything, devised a new strategy.

Divide the workers by any means necessary.

Divide them by race, by religion, nationality, gender, and sexuality. Give them someone to blame other than the rich for their woes, and watch as they tear each other apart for scraps.

Scapegoats

Each era in the west has had its own distinct scapegoat. If, in any region, a convenient one could not be found, or if any given attempt was not as effective as hoped, then immigrants and communists were always effective fallbacks.

In the US, in the 1960s, Martin Luther King Jr was rallying people of colour behind him, highlighting the systemic racism plaguing the United States of America. After his assassination, there were literal riots in the streets, with Black Americans continuing to fight for civil rights. As you can imagine, this was very convenient for the rich and the US government, who smeared MLK across the media, outraging White Americans and continually stoking a flame that would have been faint embers otherwise, to keep the people divided by race. In the rest of the western world, it was largely immigrants that were blamed, especially the "Windrush" generation of Caribbean immigrants in the UK.

But, as White Americans grew tired, and as more rights were granted to people of colour, the rich needed a new scapegoat, and one presented itself in 1981 and 1982 as the first cases of what would later be known as HIV and AIDS were detected in the US and UK. The resulting epidemic was quite prevalent in gay men having unprotected sex, though it was also commonly found in heterosexual men and women doing the same, and in many drug addicts using contaminated needles for injections. But the "Gay Panic" is what the rich pounced on, stirring up controversy in the media by blaming gay men almost exclusively for the epidemic, dividing people by their sexuality. But, between a fall in death rates and reports in the late 90s of there being more confirmed cases of HIV in heterosexual men than gay men, the smear campaign was losing its effectiveness. Fortunately for the rich, though, a new scapegoat presented itself just a couple short years later.

September 11th, 2001 is a date burned into the minds of every person alive at the time, and every American child learning about it in school since. Four planes were hijacked by Islamic terrorists, two of which were flown into the two towers of the World Trade Center, and one of which crashed into The Pentagon. A fourth was aimed for the White House, but was stopped by the brave passengers wrestling control of the plane back from those who had hijacked it, bringing the plane down before it reached its destination. The events were tragic, and kickstarted a series of events that changed the political and military landscape in the west and the middle east with the "War on Terror". A similar event occurred in the UK on July 7th 2005, where a series of four co-ordinated suicide attacks were carried out by Islamic Terrorists that targeted commuters travelling on London's public transport during the morning rush hour. During this time, from the early 2000s until the mid 2010s, Islamophobia was rampant, especially in the US, and the ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq only fuelled those fears, not to mention that the increased security measures at every airport and in many cities made everyone feel more anxious than ever before. But as the others before them, people grew tired, and eventually even US troops pulled out of Afghanistan, with the American media quickly pivoting to Mexican immigrants. In the UK, Muslims remained a target, but moreso as immigrants than as religious extremists, alongside Eastern Europeans and middle eastern asylum seekers.

The Trans "Debate"

So why are trans people, more particularly trans women, the current scapegoat? Well, in the last decade, trans and non-binary individuals have become far more visible. Orange is the New Black brought on Laverne Cox, a trans actress, to play a trans character in 2013. Caitlin Jenner, a very public figure, came out as trans in 2015. Pose featured trans actresses playing trans characters in starring roles. And all over the world, the T in LGBT was gaining more recognition. For the most part, this is a good thing. More visibility should mean more trans people able to live openly and authentically. But for those unfamiliar or uncomfortable with gender diversity, it feels confusing and even threatening. Fear of the unknown is an unfortunate and powerful thing. And that fear, in that moment, is the exact spark that allows the rich and powerful to start a new flame, spreading lies in the media designed to demonise the misunderstood minority group as much as possible to other them and distract from real issues.

In the US, trans healthcare is under attack. In the UK, aka "TERF Island", there's relentless anti-trans media coverage, and debates about the Gender Recognition Act. And across Europe and beyond, the far-right are using trans issues as a wedge to divide voters by gender identity and sexuality. This is not some grassroots movement, it's a manufactured crisis, like all the others before it, coming from politicians, the media, and lobbyists who benefit from keeping us angry at one another. While we're out here arguing about whether or not certain people should be allowed to go to the toilet in peace, they're siphoning every last penny of wealth from our pockets, driving up the prices of literally everything, from eggs to houses.

It seems bleak for trans people now, but scapegoating relies on fear of the unknown. As more people are made more aware of trans people and their struggles, that fear slowly loses its grip. Eventually, most get tired, and start to see through the lies. Trans people aren't going anywhere, and future generations are growing up more accepting.

This Too Shall Pass

To Trans People: You are loved. You matter. You are not alone. This attack on your existence is just the latest turning of the wheel, but like the others before you, it will fade with time.

To everyone else: Don't be fooled. When you are told who to hate, when you read sensational headlines, ask yourself, "Who benefits from this?". Be kind to those who are different from you, and fight for a world where we lift each other up, instead of tearing each other down.

We can choose to break this cycle. Please make that choice.