Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

Chase Strangio explains what we mean when we say we have little patience for those who would deny or 'debate' the fact of our existence, our right to exist, our right to participate freely in society...

"As writer Imogen Binnie explained on Twitter, when reading pieces like Shulevitz's, one must ask 'what does this article propose trans people should do'

"'[I]f the answer is something like 'not be trans,' please consider that most trans people have tried that and it didn't work,' Binnie tweeted.

"And that really is the crux of it. After reading Shulevitz's piece, what is the answer for trans people other than to simply not be trans if it is our trans-ness itself that infringes the rights of others and creates this so-called clash of values? As Binnie so poignantly offered, most of us have tried that -- we have spent years in dark places wrestling with our truth, feeling ashamed and plagued with self-loathing. And when we manage to come through that and survive, and thrive and even love ourselves, we are confronted with this kind of insidious insistence that we should have just not existed after all.

"Too many of us die because that belief takes hold of us or of others. With attempted suicide rates in the community close to 50% and murders of transwomen and femmes of color reaching epidemic proportions, these questions truly are life or death. It is about existence even if you frame it as a clash of values."

-- Chase Strangio, "When Your Existence Is Up For Debate", 2016-10-18 (this is the closing of an essay in which he picks apart dangerous flaws in the latest mainstream-press article about trans issues from someone who appears not to have spoken to any trans people or anyone who respects trans people)