Anti-Trans Rhetoric is Killing Us

This is a personal reflection on my own struggle anti-trans violence and harassment. This is not reflective of any workplace perspective or policy. All thoughts are my own shared in hopes of pleading for change.

We are learning that the police department has declared that Nix did not die of trauma. Police say since they died at home, it is not related to the trauma of being bullied and attacked in a school bathroom. The school did not call emergency services, Nix went home, and had a medical emergency that required hospitalization and they died.

This school district was previously targeted by Chaya Raichik, of Libs of TikTok that shares the names and locations of liberals she disagrees with. Just last month she was appointed to a rule in the Oklahoman Department of Education. Her rhetoric is responsible for this crime. The rhetoric of anti-trans aggravators continues to drive violence and injustice and it has been something trans people have been sharing about since, well, forever.

Nix should still be alive. If there was a national Equality Act that enshrined queer rights, if school's addressed bullying, if departments of educations didn't appoint terrorists, and if news outlets stopped giving these folks a right to reply for reasonable debate. There is no debate with hatred. When someone like Chaya has made her entire career from vitriol and doxxing they should not be appointed to a role in education, and they should be looked to as an example for any student. Nothing she does increases civility, and it does not make the world better. She trades in lies, half-truth, and debunked science and plays on people with less education to fear monger.

But this isn't new. This has been their playbook, and media outlets and politicians continue to fail to call it for what it is, hate and violence. There is this nonsensical belief that with lies, and fake science they have a right to reply, or our contributing to a meaningful debate. But there is no debate about the right to life for trans people. All the major medical organizations, psychology departments and trans surveys show that being trans is normal, safe and leads to a life of fulfillment for folks that can live out and without facing hatred. So what is leading to the rise in violence?

Anti-trans hate, and the silence of so many, and the lack of protections we have in all areas of life leads to this. We told you, we have been telling you. Since 2008 when trans murder monitoring began the US has always been one of the most dangerous places for trans people to live. Every year trans people are murdered for simply being themselves in schools, at work, by lovers, or pushed to suicide by in person and media bullying. Yet legal protections have not changed and are regressing.

Nix was attacked and murdered in a school under the leadership of a woman that has used her entire online persona to threaten trans people. She didn't throw the punches but she has been gleeful in doxxing more people whom she has triggered online and has shown no remorse or sadness that a child in her schools where she is appointed to lead has died. Empowered by Trump, DeSantis, Mark Robinson, C-PAC, Fox News, MTG, the Mega elected officials, and evangelical Christianity there is a legal, moral and religious group devoted to in their words "the extermination" of trans people. And this is their playbook, enrage and provoke trans people to react and speak out, and then brand us an unstable or enemies. But no one holds them accountable for the lies and violence they do to our kids, and community every single day.

As of today we have 468 laws introduced that are aimed at harming trans people, 508 last year. 43 in the US House, and now a rider that says they will shut down the government if trans healthcare isn't banned and trans people removed from sports. According to Everytown between 2017-2023, 263 trans people have been murdered in the the US. We said this anti-trans rhetoric that you sweep under the rug as dialogue or debate is killing us. In the New York Times, on CNN, in the BBC everything seems to continue give air time to the people that want to harm us.

In the midst of it, workplaces and businesses are continuing to pull back on LGBTQ+ partnerships and trans solidarity. I've seen workplaces donate to abolition movements in the wake of George Floyd. Launch initiatives to address systemic racism, fix hiring, and train managers and CEOs. I've seen workplaces make strong condemnations of racism, and in favor of cisgender women's reproductive rights. Many companies even give funding to travel to a state to receive the care. Yet what meaningful changes have industry leaders introduced for trans people? Use pronouns. What about benefit protection in states that have removed benefits, nope. What about making public statements condemning the anti-trans rhetoric, nope. But they have dropped trans speakers like Dylan Mulvaney, cut contracts with trans creators in Target, and put the Pride display in the back of stores hidden.

In my experience I am frustrated. The challenges trans people face is intersectional. It impacts racial communities, it impacts women's health, and yet trans people continue to be put in the corner and told to wait. Even more we are isolated and alone at work, and have to correct the inaccuracies and are called on to be the experts on everything. But when I speak up, I am told don't expect changes. When I share facts I am told they make people uncomfortable. When I share best practices I am asked to educate others. I am the only trans woman in the room in EVERY single meeting, in every single role I've held in the US. And when any news breaks that impacts LGBTQ+ people or trans people I am asked to respond to educate, or to produce something to make a company look better when the same company can't give me an assurance I won't be fired when the government says so, and they won't even make sure I have insurance and medical care.

Our community is reeling and we are continued to told and be quiet and wait. If we speak up it's when we are labelled angry, or aggressive, or hard to work with. March is just a few days away, and ahead of it I am going to be real visible, visible with what I have faced since the rise of anti trans rhetoric. Let this be an example of what so many of us are facing, and why we are burnt out.

In 2016 the night Donald Trump won the election I was physically attacked at a Sheetz in North Carolina.

In 2017 the TSA held me for questioning because of a body scan after they misgendered and yelled at me in an airport in front of thousands.

In 2019 I was fired from work after Donald Trump passed an executive order that removed some Obama era LGBTQ+ protections. Later that year I got a new job at Duke university where I was sexually assaulted by a colleague, in June of that year I got another job after that and a colleague googled me and outed me at work, calling me by my deadname at work in front of donors. HR's response, well I might misgender you too.

In 2020 while living in Ireland I was attacked by a group of young men while picking up a birthday present from my Dad. I was targeted by a public hate group, and my name and address were shared with calls to burn, kill and execute me.

In 2021 in Ireland a taxi driver drove me 45 minutes to the wrong location and made we walk because he didn't approve of trans people. I had a man pull a knife on me in the city centre and threaten me.

In 2022 I continued to received death threats via email and social media.

In 2023 I was denied housing in Greensboro because I was trans and all the things from the prior years continue.

It's 2024 please find ways to support trans people by more than just sharing your pronouns, and Pride washing. Our youth need support, and trans people deserve a right to live. That shouldn't be something I have to write, but apparently I do.