Editorial: What would happen if Texas was known for kindness instead of hate?
Courtesy of The Houston Chronicle
March 31, 2022 Updated: April 5, 2022
The messages Texas leaders have been sending about trans people in the past couple of years haven’t exactly brimmed over with empathy, support or even just plain old kindness. On this year’s Transgender Day of Awareness, celebrated on March 31, let’s ask ourselves what it would take for the state to be known for kindness instead of hate.
Verniss McFarland has been asking that question all week as we approach the annual moment for reflection, a day that comes as families of trans children are weighing?whether to relocate?after Gov. Greg Abbott instructed child welfare officials to investigate gender-affirming medical care as possibly criminal “child abuse.”
McFarland founded The Mahogany Project in 2017 in Houston, after a transgender performer well known for her frequent shows in Montrose, was shot to death in New Orleans, part of a years-long string of violence against transgender women of color in the South, including Dallas and Houston, that continues. Over the years, McFarland told us, the focus of the organization has broadened to increasing the visibility of and providing support for Black trans people. The goal is to grow bonds of community to combat stigma and isolation.
That will help trans people stand up to the animus politicians keep generating.
“This year especially, Trans Day of Visibility is a call to action to show politicians and leaders that your hate will not stop us and we will not go into hiding,” McFarland said. “We will continue to thrive in spite of everything, and community will continue to be here and grow here despite the hate some choose to incite.”
From the battles over bathrooms a few sessions ago to the Texas pushback against the Obama-era protections for trans students to last year’s bill in the Legislature barring transgender athletes from competing on teams aligned with their gender identity, the “hate” has seemed to never stop. Last month, Attorney General Ken Paxton issued an advisory legal opinion claiming hormone treatments, puberty blockers and surgery should all be considered child abuse. Abbott’s order to investigate parents and doctors soon followed.
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Though a court has halted the investigations for now, that order has understandably left many transgender people and their families feeling as if they are wearing a target. Fortunately, several groups are doing what they can to provide a shield.
??The Mahogany Project is?hosting?a “living history” event celebrating trans leaders in Houston this evening. “We should give people their flowers while they’re alive,” Darrien Dyrell, one of the event’s organizers, told the editorial board.
??On Friday night, representatives from several trans and trans-affirming groups will?speak at a rally?at the Montrose Center, where the public will be able to hear testimonials and calls to action.
??On Wednesday night, drag performer Adriana LaRue hosted “You’re Beautiful!” — a night of coming-out stories and advice — at ReBar Houston, the same night as the Houston Rockets’ second-annual LGBTQ Pride Night.
Other steps to counter the messages of hate transgender people too often hear in Texas are being taken year round. The Organización Latina de Trans en Texas holds monthly food drives.?Equality Texas?and other advocacy organizations are distributing resources for parents of trans youth, affirming that hormone and other therapies for youths are not abusive.
Texans should want trans children and adults to thrive, free to lead lives of meaning and love. Some will choose to be visible, while for others anonymity is essential.
What they shouldn’t have to do is live in fear. These efforts by groups like The Mahogany Project make a difference because they send messages countering the political vitriol aimed at them. That in turn can create a space where it’s possible for transgender Texans to look in the mirror and see their true selves — and for us to see them as they truly are, too.
Some Republican leaders have tempered their own views on trans issues with just the kind of approach we’d like to see in Texas. In Utah earlier this month, Republican Gov. Spencer Cox?vetoed a ban?on transgender students playing in girls’ sports, one day after Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb did the same. “I struggle to understand so much of it and the science is conflicting. When in doubt however, I always try to err on the side of kindness, mercy and compassion,” Cox told Utah legislators. “I don’t understand what they are going through or why they feel the way they do. But I want them to live.”
Though lawmakers?overrode his veto, Cox sent a powerful message that we wish Texas leaders would hear. When faced with something that challenges existing understandings, policymakers can choose to listen and proceed with both care and kindness.
Texas leaders haven’t done that yet, but McFarland, Dyrell and other local organizers keep dreaming of a state known for its support of transgender people. They’re part of a lengthy history of local LGBTQ activism, and they deserve thanks for working to build the inclusive, supportive Texas we know is possible.