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THREAD: Thoughts on trans rights and what equality actually means.
Some of the anti-trans commentary currently circulating on social media thanks to recent events is just straightforwardly offensive. But much of it is couched in careful terms by people who insist, and [1/7]
Some of the anti-trans commentary currently circulating on social media thanks to recent events is just straightforwardly offensive. But much of it is couched in careful terms by people who insist, and [1/7]
perhaps even believe, that they aren't anti-trans, that they actually support trans equality. I want to point out that this sort of doublethink is not new. At every step towards equal treatment for same sex couples many of our opponents made the argument that they actually [2/7]
did believe in equality, and that what we were seeking was not equality but special treatment. One of the core arguments made against the call for marriage equality was "You already have the same marriage rights as everyone else - you can marry someone of the opposite sex". [3/7]
In other words you already have an equal right to exist *in our defined boxes*, and that's equality; getting to define *your own* boxes would be special treatment. They went on to argue that redefining marriage would harm others, making our demand not just unreasonable but [4/7]
selfish. That is an almost exact analogue of what many people are saying about trans rights today - that trans people should have the right to fit into one of our predefined boxes, and that that constitutes equality, whereas wanting to define their own boxes is selfish and [5/7]
would harm others. It's vital that we remember this, and don't get suckered by the fake equality advocates. Supporting trans rights has to mean, at a minimum, dismissing the lie that trans rights harm others' rights, and acknowledging that equality does not mean getting to [6/7]
choose between options someone else defines. We managed to understand this last time. We can do it again. #TransRightsAreHumanRights [7/7]
Addendum:
With yesterday's court decision and the resulting NHS policy change, another stark similarity also becomes clear - that between anti-trans and anti-abortion campaigners. What has been curtailed by this action is legal, safe access to healthcare for young trans [8/12]
With yesterday's court decision and the resulting NHS policy change, another stark similarity also becomes clear - that between anti-trans and anti-abortion campaigners. What has been curtailed by this action is legal, safe access to healthcare for young trans [8/12]
people, just as anti-abortion laws curtailed legal, safe access to reproductive healthcare for women. But unsafe, illegal access to drugs and treatment remains available, and desperate young trans folk are far more likely to be pushed into accessing that now that the safe [9/12]
and legal option has been taken away. This is of course exactly the same problem that resulted when laws were passed against abortion - women were forced to access unsafe, illegal abortion services. We know the results. Many of those who are loudly applauding the removal [10/12]
of access to healthcare for young trans people today were and are vociferous opponents of the same being done in women's reproductive healthcare. I think this cognitive dissonance is only being maintained by virtue of the moral panic that has been constructed around trans [11/12]
rights, framing it, as those homophobes framed Section 28 all those years ago, as an issue of child protection and harm prevention. This lesson will be learned eventually. It ought to be learned today. #TransRightsAreHumanRights [12/12]
