Protect Trans People

“First Self Portrait Since Starting Hormones (4 Months)” By Harlan Carroll (he/him)

Trans survival in the United States coincided with the arrival of transphobic colonial ideals. Rigid gender structures has bred myths that continue to try to control and ban bodies, disproportionality harming trans and gender expansive Black, Indigenous, and other people of color, and ultimately harming everyone.

Generations of harm have been inherited in our communities through state sanctioned violence and hypocrisy as they argue over our basic human rights. For trans survival, we must address transphobia and racism as public health crises, as we are still living within the racialized HIV epidemic and Covid-19 Pandemic.

The criminalization of care for trans adults and trans youth, Reproductive Justice, gender expansive expression and existence, are all attacks on bodily autonomy to further leverage control and exploitation of those of marginalized experience. The ability to self determine one’s own wellness continues not to be allotted to bodies of color. We live in one of the largest populations of trans and gender expansive people, we have a long history of taking care of our communities and leading them in solidarity to other movements.

From prison abolition to harm reduction, trans and gender expansive individuals are one of the first to be impacted by bad policy or lack of access/resources, solitary confinement or needle sharing. Banning health care will never ban our lives. Banning us from public spaces will never ban our power. This is why Trans Rights are Human Rights. This is why information and education will continue to save lives.