Read on Twitter
The rise of transphobia in the Uk and where did it come from
Back a while ago I interviewed by @WhatTheTrans (*waves* Heya!) and was asked where I thought this transphobia had come from
1/n
Back a while ago I interviewed by @WhatTheTrans (*waves* Heya!) and was asked where I thought this transphobia had come from
1/n
My answer was that itâs always been there in the UK because an awful lot of bigotry has always been here in the UK and routinely ignored because weâre constantly fed a lie that is not what weâre like as a country
2/n
2/n
But the reality is that the UK is a hostile place to live if you donât tick all the right boxes. The UK is riven by class and socioeconomic divisions, as well as divisions based around every kind of separator you can think of
3/n
3/n
I suppose the closest I could describe the UK would be as if the almost all of the majority white, cis-het population (which is the vast majority of the population) never grew past the school playground; desperately clinging to cliques...
4/n
4/n
...and looking down on others or hating them for being âunworthyâ because it gets to make them feel âspecialâ
...
5/n
...
5/n
All of us who are marginalised see it all the time. Because Iâm disabled Iâve been made to feel an underclass citizen ever since I first went into hospital and itâs been made worse and worse by successive governments who have labeled me as being a âshirkerâ, a âparasiteâ
6/n
6/n
This has been allowed to happen because this is how the abled population want to think about and see disabled people. We have a culture in this country stretching back centuries that sees disabled ppl as a burden and drain on society, an eyesore that needs to be locked away
7/n
7/n
Likewise we see it around all trans issues. There isnât a trans person in the UK today who doesnât feel the pressure to shut up, be invisible, to conform to what cis people demand we must be
8/n
8/n
Right now we live in a country and a society that is only willing to accept us if we pretend to be cis; if we go back into the closest and never reveal that weâre trans
We live in a society that says itâs okay to be trans; just not where anybody else can see
9/n
We live in a society that says itâs okay to be trans; just not where anybody else can see
9/n
We live in a society that condemns men for not fitting into toxic masculine stereotypes and where we condemn women for not fitting into the stereotypes created by toxic masculinity and archaic, theologically-derived, patriarchal demands
10/n
10/n
And we now live in a society where a few token trans people are wheeled out by our oppressors to tell us that the discrimination we face every day is our own fault; that if we stopped being trans, if we stopped existing whilst visibly...
11/n
11/n
...being trans, if we give up our culture and very identity and just try to appear to be Every Cis Person then we would never face discrimination
12/n
12/n
I doubt thereâs a marginalised community out there that hasnât seen this phenomenon in action. Iâve seen it play out in so many communities, including black communities in the US where there was an incredibly concerted push to try...
13/n
13/n
...and eradicate African American culture; where the racism that black people experienced was blamed on black people being themselves and if black people âjust acted like white peopleâ then racism would disappear
14/n
14/n
In the UK we live in a society riven by division. Too many people constantly look to punch down on others because it makes them feel better to lash out; to hurt; to crush anything different from themselves
15/n
15/n
Almost none of the bigotry that runs like veins through the UK has ever been tackled. Racism leads to tragedy but most of the time is simply not noticed. Only the most egregious of cases are ever noticed by the majority of society and then...
16/n
16/n
...generally only when it affects white people. And along come the inevitable enquiries and âlessons have been learntâ, and then things are hastily swept back under the carpet and nothing changes
17/n
17/n
This is true of transphobia as well. Transphobia has always been alive and well in the UK. It is the permitted and socially acceptable form of bigotry in the UK alongside ableism
18/n
18/n
We were always the target of the gutter press; we were always the sensationalist headline that would paint us as âfreaksâ, and âdangerousâ, and âpredatorsâ
The suicide of Lucy Meadows wasâfor a momentâa turning point. Except that it wasnât
19/n
The suicide of Lucy Meadows wasâfor a momentâa turning point. Except that it wasnât
19/n
The reality is that Lucyâs death wouldnât have changed a thing if it wasnât for the fact that the press was caught not long after targeting the powerful in a way the powerful didnât like. And so the inevitable enquiry was launched and in amongst all the evidence...
20/n
20/n
...given of how dreadful the press were for trespassing into the lives of the privileged Lucyâs death was wheeled out to provide cover for the powerful to justify the enquiry
21/n
21/n
For a couple of years the press played along. But it didnât last. They knew the score. As long as they didnât obviously f*ck with the powerful then they could go back to their old ways
22/n
22/n
So they did. They went back to treating trans people like punching bags; went back to treating us as convenient targets whenever there was a slow news day, or whenever or journalist or one of their chummies had an axe to grind...
23/n
23/n
...or whenever that particular section of the press needed a convenient distraction from news it wanted buried
24/n
24/n
Transphobia hasnât ârisenâ in the UK. Itâs always been there. Itâs just become more public because society considers it acceptable. Society doesnât see it as bigotry because society doesnât see trans people as being equals or normal
25/n
25/n
Weâre the easy targets; the ones who have brought it on ourselves because we âchose to be transâ and our visibility challenges the bigotry of a population that has gotten away with punching down on us unchallenged
26/n
26/n
Iâd like to say that things are different now but the reality is that it isnât. Weâre still acceptable targets
27/n
27/n
Governments occasionally notice and say âOh dear, that shouldnât be happening, itâs A Bad Thingâ and then go back toâat bestâignoring us, but more likely to go back to joining in
28/n
28/n
Iâve been asked where and what I think has driven the rise in transphobia in the UK
My answer is that there has been no rise. All weâre seeing now is it becoming even more publicly acceptable than it was before. And everytime we try to challenge it?
29/n
My answer is that there has been no rise. All weâre seeing now is it becoming even more publicly acceptable than it was before. And everytime we try to challenge it?
29/n
A pet trans person is wheeled out to explain to us that if we stopped challenging cis-led transphobia then there wouldnât be any transphobia
30/n
30/n
That if we stopped being ourselves and instead pretended to be cis thereâd be no transphobia even as these pets and their handlers desperately try to hide that what theyâre demanding is transphobia in itself
31/n
31/n
It is an argument that demands not that we pretend to be something weâre not to stop transphobia, but rather that we accept that transphobia is normal and therefore canât be transphobia
32/n
32/n
Weâve all seen it; weâve all seen the arguments that say âoh, Iâm not transphobic butâŚâ followed by a statement saying that their own bigoted behaviour is perfectly acceptable and wouldnât be hatred and bigotry if we just accepted it
33/n
33/n
Itâs the argument that says getting repeatedly kicked in the teeth is perfectly acceptable just as long as we stop complaining about it
There is no rise of transphobia in the UK; it's just become more visible
34/n
There is no rise of transphobia in the UK; it's just become more visible
34/n
There is an ever increasing demand that trans people in the UK just accept it; that we stop challenging this behaviour and pointing out how itâs transphobic and instead just accept it as being normal
35/n
35/n
Itâs victim-blaming at its most powerful and its gaslighting on a massive scale
It is what this drive to get #Section28 returned is all about
It is what the drive about stripping trans people of legal protections and recognition is all about
36/n
It is what this drive to get #Section28 returned is all about
It is what the drive about stripping trans people of legal protections and recognition is all about
36/n
Itâs about legitimising bigotry. Itâs about fooling people into thinking that giving trans people a kicking is perfectly acceptable
Above all else itâs about getting us to comply with our oppression; getting us to give up and allow our oppressors to do whatever they want
37/n
Above all else itâs about getting us to comply with our oppression; getting us to give up and allow our oppressors to do whatever they want
37/n
Itâs about stripping away our power and our autonomy
And itâs abuse
It really is that simple. Itâs abuse. TERFs and other transphobes are abusers, pure and simple. This is where their demand comes from that we must remain silent and must comply with our own abuse
38/n
And itâs abuse
It really is that simple. Itâs abuse. TERFs and other transphobes are abusers, pure and simple. This is where their demand comes from that we must remain silent and must comply with our own abuse
38/n
Because that is how every abuser works
There has been no rise of transphobia in the UK; itâs just that our abusers feel more comfortable about being more public in their abuse of us
39/39
There has been no rise of transphobia in the UK; itâs just that our abusers feel more comfortable about being more public in their abuse of us
39/39
