Does Writing for Medium Make Any Difference in Trans Lives?
How do we counteract a legislative war?
As a transgender woman writer on Medium, I tell myself that maybe, just maybe, I can make a difference. Perhaps I can soften one heart, open one mind, and plead the case for transgender equality. Maybe not. I know I am just one small voice, lost in the cacophony of noise that people are subjected to in this media-saturated world.
On Wednesday, the New York Times published another article on transgender rights. The Times’ concern over transgender folks is a weekly phenomenon. In their latest piece, Maggie Astor writes a slightly more sympathetic, balanced view of the culture war surrounding transgender rights. She interviews actual trans rights advocates to speak on behalf of the community, which is not typical of the pearl-clutching articles about transgender folks that have been all too frequent on the pages of the Times.
The article notes the enormous wave of trans-rights-stripping legislation that the GOP is proposing. Many of these bills are simply showpieces for legislatures to feed red meat to the base who want to believe they are “saving the children.” Oklahoma and South Carolina are proposing bans on all transgender therapy, hormone treatments, and surgeries for adults below the age of Twenty-six. Two other states have proposed a limit of Twenty-one years.
These are disturbing restrictions on the rights of adults who can marry, join the military, vote, legally consume alcohol, operate a motor vehicle, run for office, and (of course) purchase assault weapons that can kill multitudes in seconds. And yet, their brains are deemed “insufficiently developed” to consider being transgender.
I am appalled by these developments and hope to appeal to anyone who feels these actions are the worst kind of legislative cruelty. They seek to capitalize on the demonization of the transgender community by GOP candidates, legislators, the ever-present Fox News, and its spokesmen (Tucker Carlson et al.)
The trans community has become the legislative boogieman. The monster in the closet, under the bed, scaring honest god-fearing folks that we are coming for their grandchildren and invading their women folks’ spaces.
To counteract this narrative, I try to speak up, speak out, be visible, and represent the community in a dignified manner to normalize the perception of trans women.
I gave a speech on Thursday at the premier annual transgender gathering in Boston, First Event. Approximately 900 folks from across the spectrum gather to socialize and hear talks from physicians, speech therapists, trans advocates, and ordinary people like you and me.
My talk was on “Finding your voice as a trans writer,” I will not bore you with the more than 2500 words of my speech. There were only a handful of attendees at noon on a Thursday, and I was pretty discouraged. Maybe other folks don’t want to spend hours and hours writing things that will never be read, only to make pocket change for their efforts? The three dollars an hour I make doing this is not important. The reward is communicating with all of you.
During the post-talk question period, the last one was the most potent and cutting:
Given the need for non-trans folks to understand the dire situation, what is the point of writing on Medium if I am preaching to the choir?
Are we just talking amongst our community? Are we just slapping each other on the back? Am I just telling the 12 to 15 who read my pieces things they already know? By writing here on Medium, can anyone in the transgender community affect change? How do we plead for support?
I have always believed that this war is won by changing one heart and one mind at a time. And yet, if I talk only to the converted, can I reach even one person? Are opinions so crystallized, so polarized that there is no hope to change any minds or touch any hearts?
I make the mistake of reading the comments on the Transgender articles in the New York Times, and it’s rather discouraging. For a paper that is considered ‘liberal,’ many of the comments are openly hostile to transgender folks. It tells me that supporting trans rights is not an easy or safe proposition.
In asking to be treated like human beings, we ask for a lot from our allies, friends, and families.
My answer to how we expand the base who are sympathetic to trans rights at the time is this: I believe by serving up enjoyable, compelling writing and developing an audience outside the community, I can have both trans followers and allies who understand that trans rights are human rights.
What do you think? Is my/your/our audience only a handful of other trans people? Do you find it frustrating? How do we reach others?
If you want to join the best minds of your generation, subscribe to Medium.
