Nearly 75 years ago to the day, Winston Churchill gave a speech at Westminster College in Missouri which the world would come to remember as the “Iron Curtain” speech for a section in which he used the phrase to describe how the Soviet Union had taken possession of much of the old cities of eastern Europe. The figurative curtain Churchill described at the time soon became an actual physical barrier composed of fences, minefields, and most famously, the Berlin Wall. It would be 43 years before the Berlin Wall would fall, but in that time countless lives were diminished or extinguished in the futile effort to stifle the human spirit.
Like Churchill, although far less eloquently, I have been telling everyone in this column and my social media that very difficult times were on the horizon for trans people in the U.S., but I have been met mostly with fatuous condolences, or even worse silence, from most people outside the trans community. The anti-trans sentiment that kicked into high gear under Trump has continued even after his defeat. He set the stage, and I greatly fear that what is happening cannot be derailed easily, even under a Biden presidency and a Democrat-controlled Congress.
In what can only be described as legislative shock and awe, Republicans have introduced over 70 bills in the state legislatures of more than half the country. Tearing a page out of the Trump playbook, the strategy looks to be to overwhelm the advocacy groups that usually work to block transphobic legislation. After failing with past bills that aimed to demonize trans people as perverted intruders into women’s spaces, they have seized upon two issues they feel resonate with enough progressives to fracture the left. Those being the involvement of trans girls and women in sports and the limited medical interventions taken to support trans kids under 18.
They are right. I have spent many a day arguing with otherwise progressive gays about these very issues. Many, out of fear, have chosen to believe the incessant lies pumped out by the right that young people can’t possibly understand their gender identity, or that trans women are “dominating” women’s sports. It has been obvious to me that those I am arguing with have done nearly no research into these topics beyond the fear mongering they’ve seen on the internet. They don’t want to know that nobody is operating to “change the sex” of trans kids, as Rand Paul recently suggested to trans woman Dr. Rachel Levine during her senate confirmation hearing, or that trans women regularly and frequently lose to their cisgender counterparts in athletic competition.
Even given the Republican disinformation campaign, I would hazard to say the majority of progressives still fully support trans rights in all aspects. That being said, conservatives are banking on a certain amount of lack of attention, if not ignorance, by the left to these new legislative trial balloons to create states that are openly hostile to trans existence. Make no mistake, this is about far more than women’s sports or trans kids’ identities. This is about using the same Republican tactic of incremental laws to severely restrict abortion rights, in the service of eventually making trans existence in American society untenable. They are assembling a Trans Curtain surrounding entire regions of the country where trans people will not be welcome to live freely.
The scary part is that it is working. South Dakota has put an anti-trans sports bill on their governor’s desk that she is “excited” to sign. Mississippi is considering a bill that would make medical transition impossible for anyone under 21. Here in Florida, similar bills have been presented for consideration. This is a coordinated and massive attack on trans rights. As it progresses, there is real mortal danger. Trans people will die.
So what are we to do as trans people and allies? First off, do your homework to effectively rebut the disinformation wherever it is found. Read articles by trans journalists like Dawn Ennis and Kate Sosin and trans athlete Chris Mosier. Then contact your state representative and let them know you are against these bills. Here in Florida you can find your rep at MyFloridaHouse.gov/FindYourRepresentative. Also, give to the ACLU. When these bills are passed, it will fall to them to fight these discriminatory laws in court.
Most of all, speak up! Silence is violence. Attend events for Trans Day of Visibility (TDOV) on March 31 even if you aren’t trans. There will be virtual ones available, including one special one I can’t speak of yet, but that I firmly believe will mark a new day of collaboration between the Orlando and national trans community with the rest of the queer world. Trust me, you’ll hear about it when it happens. And if you are trans, consider sending a 30 seconds or less horizontal video to info@oneorlandoalliance.org telling us why you love being trans. I’ll be editing it for the One Orlando Alliance to show on TDOV.
The Trans Curtain is falling all across the country as you read this. It is doomed to failure of course. Eventually. However, it will take all of us being visible, outspoken and united to ensure we don’t lose an entire generation of trans people before it happens.
Melody Maia Monet has her own YouTube channel where she answers lesbian and transgender life questions you are afraid to ask. You can find it at YouTube.com/MelodyMaia.
