Trans People Are Not Up For Debate
By: Catherine Caruso
Tags: LGBTQ, Society, Culture, Politics, Equality

The lives and rights of LGBTQ+ people have always been hotly debated and politicized. Every step toward equality and fairness has been met with vitriol and opposition. And while gay and queer acceptance has grown substantially within the past decade or so, transgender and nonbinary people are still regularly openly mocked and vilified.

While hostility toward trans people is unfortunately nothing new, 2020 has seen an alarming wave of anti-trans bigotry. Pundits, celebrities, and lawmakers have all entered the chat on the so-called “trans debate” and what they have to say is nothing short of dangerous.

J.K. Rowling has been one of the biggest culprits of anti-trans rhetoric this year. Over the summer, the Harry Potter author went on a transphobic tweet storm all because a Devex article used the language “people who menstruate” to refer to, well, people who menstruate.

In the thread, she misspelled the word “woman” several times and completely missed the point of the article in question, which is that not everyone who has a period is a woman. Furthermore, women are people, so the phrase “people who menstruate” is actually as accurate as it gets. Rowling also falsely claimed that cis women are being erased and insisted that activists are suddenly claiming that sex isn’t real, despite the fact that no one has said this.

Since then, her transphobia has only escalated. From denouncing hormone replacement therapy to coming out against the very existence of gender clinics, Rowling has essentially gone full TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist). Most recently, she told Good Housekeeping that she wants to end the “climate of fear” around the “trans debate,” but a climate of fear for whom? For the people whose very lives and existence she and others have so casually positioned as a debate?

Rowling, however, is not the only person framing her transphobia as a matter of opinion. Abigail Shrier is yet another culprit.

In her book Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters, Shrier falsely claims that coming out as trans is some kind of a youthful trend or fad. Disregarding the notion that trans people feel more comfortable coming out nowadays due to a small, albeit notable, increase in overall acceptance of trans people and LGBTQ+ people as a whole, Shrier insists that coming out is a “social contagion,” citing the completely fake and bogus medical diagnosis of Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD) as “proof.” Again, this is not a real medical diagnosis. It’s a talking point.

In an interview with Joe Rogan in July, she falsely claimed that there is a trans agenda to force kids to come out as trans and socially and medically transition. She also compared trans teenagers to “the same population that gets involved in cutting, demonic possession, witchcraft, anorexia, [and] bulimia.” In both the book and the interview, Shrier regularly misgenders trans men and boys and dismisses the concept of gender identity altogether, all the while insisting that she is not transphobic and is simply doing this for the sake of the children. Whatever that means.

Unfortunately, Shrier is not alone is her hateful sentiments. Just last week, Fox News opinion host Tucker Carlson called the existence of trans kids a “nationwide epidemic” and referred to parents allowing their children to live as their authentic selves as “grotesque.” Carlson also brought up the fact that Shrier’s book got banned from Target in November for peddling harmful rhetoric. Too busy decrying cancel culture, however, he failed to mention the fact that Target reversed the decision less than 24 hours later.

As if all this wasn’t enough, outgoing US Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (HI) introduced a bill on Thursday that would prevent schools from receiving federal funding if they allow trans people to play on sports teams that match their gender identity. While there is a much more nuanced conversation to be had, blanket bills like this do not help or “protect” anyone, especially when the motive behind them is to shun and exclude trans people.

And let’s be honest. That’s the motive of everyone mentioned so far.

There is no “trans debate” because it’s not a debate. It’s an outright attack. Just like gay and queer people were, and often still are, questioned and attacked over our rights and very existence, so, too, are trans and nonbinary people being attacked, except it’s not about marriage or adoption, it’s about bodily autonomy. It’s about bathrooms, and sports, and whether or not identity is a trend.

We, as a society, put the existence of trans people up for debate, and act like it’s all a matter of opinion, as if what we say and do doesn’t directly impact trans people, who have to suffer the consequences of our discourse. Framing transphobia as a debate doesn’t lessen the blow. It’s just dishonest.

Those who engage in this transphobic nonsense are not doing so in good faith. Their end game is to prevent trans kids from coming out and to ensure that trans people don’t have access to the same basic human rights as cis people.

Trans people already face higher rates of violence and murder, so much so that 2020 has been the deadliest year on record for trans and gender non-conforming people in the US and around the world. While these policies and rhetoric do not specifically cause violence, they do help embolden people who already hold in hate in their hearts.

Simply put, trans people’s lives should not be up for “debate.” Trans rights are human rights and all humans deserve to be treated with basic dignity and respect.