Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

Happy Transgender Day of Visibility, an annual day to celebrate transness, take pride in our survival and happiness, and remind everyone we're here and facing forces that want to eliminate or oppress us. The quotations below skew toward the dangers, mostly because of how much our rights and existence are under attack in state legislatures in lately and in the UK press ongoing. Seek out more trans voices -- there are folks speaking of the joys and pride as well, even if a lot of us are trying to raise awareness of & opposition to dangerous legislation right now.

This is an exhausting time to be trans, in a bunch of places.

On the current spate of anti-trans bills in several states this spring:

"Arkansas has become the first state to enshrine into law that dead trans kids are preferred to living, happy, thriving trans kids.

"This is wanton, purposeless cruelty to helpless children and adolescents.

"If you don't think LGB kids are next, you're a fool.

"It's just a short hop from "16 is too young understand the implications of changing your body" to "16 is too young to understand the implications of engaging in homosexual behavior."

-- Mari Brighe (MariBrighe), 2021-03-29

On the benefits and dangers of visibility:

"For most of my life, I couldn't be trans because I couldn't see trans. During my youth in the 1990s and early 2000s, the only trans people in my orbit were punchlines and freaks, such as the trans woman in Ace Ventura who prompts Jim Carrey to vomit with disgust. With no fully human trans folk in sight, my childhood brain banished transness from the realm of the possible.

"It is no accident that everything changed for me in the wake of the so-called 'trans tipping point'.

[...]

"But as I discovered last December, visibility comes at a cost. Getting a few trans people on screen is not the same as trans liberation. For a marginalised minority like the trans community, who face disproportionate rates of violence and discrimination, visibility alone is not an inherent good. On the contrary, it can in fact render us more vulnerable to harm. As Boyer warned, being visible makes trans people easier to hunt.

"There's no doubt that cultural visibility has indeed turned ordinary trans people into prey. Transphobia did not magically evaporate in 2014: in fact, it's arguably increased. In the years since the 'tipping point', we've witnessed a global transphobic backlash, characterised by anti-trans legislation, media commentary and violence.

[...]

"This Trans Day of Visibility, I'm not satisfied with trans flags and hashtags - I want to change the relations of power. I want the media to stop platforming TERFs; I want justice for trans victims of violence like Mhelody Bruno, killed in 2019 by her partner; and I want the 78 percent of Australians who support trans rights to act on that belief."

-- Dr Yves Rees (YvesRees), "When Trans Visibility Comes At The Cost Of Trans Safety", 2021-03-31

On trans folks' strength:

"being openly trans is such a fucking power move.

"imagine seeing a world that mocks and hates you and thinking, 'I can take em.'

-- Claire (thereisnoclaire)

"i can't take em but i can't take not being me more"

-- Mr. Fitzroy (DuncanDonut0), 2021-03-30