Recontextualizing an LGBT+ Narrative

Let me start by saying that the target audience of this article is not those who agree with me; it is not young liberal students, social activists, or LGBT people. It is red-voting Americans who value tradition, constitutionalism, military prowess, and other tenets of conservatism. This article also does not seek to bash conservative values but to rather engage them in a way that allows red-voting readers to perhaps understand LGBT issues today in a context that better speaks to them. Liberals and conservatives speak very different languages, and the issues they care about are often encased with jargon that scare off readers of the opposing political persuasion. For example, liberals shy from conservative buzzwords such as liberty, military, and lower taxes. Conservatives in-turn recoil from the liberal counter-parts of trans~, social welfare, and racial inequality. If you rolled your eyes at any of the latter three nouns, then I am happy you're reading this.

Let me preface again by pointing out my own bias here: Indeed I am coming from a place that is liberal. However, I am not liberal because I was recently a college student. I am not liberal because I enjoy handouts or have beliefs that are anticapitalist or anti-American. And I am not liberal because I hate conservatives and for what they stand. My left-leaning views come from years of contrast against my social backdrop whether that was a small village outside Ireland’s third largest city, or navigating the stringent and sometimes suffocating environment of an evangelical Christian/conservative university. My point is that I did not spend all my time in liberal bubbles and safe spaces cultivating one-sided views; I understand conservatism and have lived, even succeeded, in conservative environments. I have thoughtfully listened to where they are coming from, and hope that they, or you, will bring down the walls and pay my two cents the same respect. Let’s be adults and understand that our beliefs are not our babies, and that people believe what they do because they have valid reasons. Nobody is liberal/conservative because it is fun and trendy so to be.

With that, this article seeks to engage a conservative audience to discuss the issues of gender, trans people of color, and lesbian/gay people. If any of these words have made you shudder, please reread the first two paragraphs and in particular the fifth line. To begin, I am astutely aware of the aversion straight men and conservative people tend to have with feminine men, drag queens, and trans people. The indictment on gender norms (that is, men should be/do X and women should be/do Y) is not appreciated nor encouraged by this demographic because there is a sense that men expressing femininity in whatever capacity is perverted, deviant, sissy-like, embarrassing, or just straight up f*cking weird. This is the case not only because of a lack of cross-exposure between communities, but because the modern world prior to female liberation was largely based on gender expectations. People cannot always empathize with a man who wants to express femininity because it is a bold defiance of masculinity, which has been historically held in higher regard (the fact women have even had to have a social mobilization movement should underline this). This is why many conservatives value the plight of US troops and not that of trans people and drag queens. Any conservative would bow his or her head to a war veteran, and stand unabashedly for the US national anthem and pledge of allegiance out of respect for those who died or were maimed fighting for liberty, freedom, and justice.

So let’s take this idea of respecting your troops because of their sacrifice and ask what values drive it. An appreciation for standing up for your ideals in the face of your enemy could be one. Valuing stoicism and sacrifice could be two. Empathizing with your fellow Americans and expressing pride in them could be three. We can say that these are the values that drive many conservatives towards outward expressions of patriotism both today and historically. Now lets compare and contrast.

Trans people, relative to their overall number, have an alarmingly high murder rate. They are only estimated to constitute 0.6 percent of the US population,* and yet 19 of them have been murdered in just the four months between January and May of 2018. Every single one of these cases were caused by someone killing a trans/cross-dressing/drag person due to their hatred of them. Furthermore, the vast majority of these cases involve trans people of color, who make up even less of the aforementioned 0.6 percent. Liberal or conservative, numbers do not lie: 19 deaths in this timeframe within a sample pool of less than 0.6 percent is alarmingly high. This number jumps to 22 when we open the time control on the backend to September of 2018.

To humanize these numbers, Carla Patricia Flores-Pavon, 18, was found strangled in her own apartment in Dallas in May of 2018; Sasha Wall, 29, was found shot numerous times with her body left to bleed out over the steering wheel of her car in April of 2018. Tonya Harvey was shot to death in Buffalo NY as the third murder of a trans person in 2018. Indeed murders happen, but these are not isolated incidents, again, when we consider the minute size of the sample pool at hand. In almost all of the cases where a murderer was found, the motive was deemed a hate-crime due to the victim’s identity as a trans person rather than, for example, a drug-deal feud, gang violence related issues, or domestic abuse.

2017 was the deadliest year for trans people according to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and yet, trans people, drag queens, and any person who does not subscribe to classic gender norms seek exposure more than ever before. RuPauls Drag Race has taken off in the straight world, winning an Emmy and beating out the very mainstream show The Voice. Trans women of color have slowly begun to break their silence and tell their stories as seen among Laverne Cox and Gia Gunn. These people (and the countless other trans people just living regular lives) are astutely aware of the threats they face everyday, especially given these high homicide rates and yet they still boast social participation. They go to the grocery store and endure comments, stares, and violence. They walk the streets, go to work, drive cars, etc all despite these threatening numbers.

While active duty troops and military personnel are propped up for their inner fight and stoicism, 12 active duty members have been killed in combat in 2018; that is, 12 from a pool of 1.3 million. Therefore, trans people statistically are dying at rates higher than those serving in combat zones. There aren't many differences between them and the US military troops that conservatives venerate: they both wake up and understand the risks of stepping outside and do so anyway because of what they believe; they are both victims of violence, and they both value the ability to be free and are unapologetic in expressing that right. The key differences are that:

1. Troops have the choice to opt into the risks they face, while trans people socially inherit them,
2. Troops are celebrated culturally (baseball games, national anthems), financially (loan forgiveness, college payment, veteran discounts), and economically (Dept of Veterans Affairs, veteran employment incentives) while trans people are forgotten. When you add the dimension of race into this, the veneration is non-existent, yet the threat levels are higher.

Am I asking people to stand at baseball games for fallen trans people, especially those of color? No. Im asking you to consider applying the values you hold dear (standing up to your enemies for your beliefs, the right to be free, the importance of sacrifice and stoicism) more broadly. I am not remotely insinuating that you are transphobic or homophobic for not considering this proposition before, but instead am asking you to be consistent in the application of your values. If the national anthem has ever brought you to tears, so should these numbers.

For my friends, relatives, colleagues, and anyone who walked out of the room during Drag Race, or rolled their eyes during the bathroom debate, or called an ambiguously gendered person it, there is importance in knowing that these actions are equatable to someone mocking fallen troops or any other person who dies fighting for their ideals or is maimed defending the rights and freedoms afforded to other Americans. While the US has a long history of military engagement, investment, and success, so have trans/cross dressing/non binary Americans. Marsha P. Johnson was murdered after serving on the frontlines of the Stonewall riots. Sylvia Rivera was left maimed by street attacks and violence after speaking at New York Pride. Stormé DeLarverie was beaten and arrested for refusing arrest for being a gender non-conforming lesbian. These are just the stories we know about. As troops were killed and disfigured defending the rights of the greater population, so were these people.

Finally, lets not forget that the USA was a country founded on political dissent. For most trans people, the USA is the only home they know and they are not anti-American simply because they want to better the climate for a wider spectrum of people. Expressing frustration and being upfront with the country’s drawbacks suggests one cares for his/her home enough to bring it to the surface of discourse; true anti-Americanism is exemplified in either apathy or the active infringement on the physical and socio-economic rights of others. Therefore, fighting and speaking out against high mortality rates of your community is democratic and fully-realized patriotism. Wearing American flag t-shirts and starred/striped bumper stickers speaks to your patriotism about as much as true Christianity does to a Pharisee. And on a more general note, civil rights movements are not indictments upon the conservative-assigned values of freedom and liberty; oftentimes they are the operation of them.

So next time you are standing for your fallen troops and picture, in your mind, the bombs bursting in-air, extend your thoughts also to the people who are fighting a war at home.

They are, after-all, some of the toughest people you'll know.