By: Isabella Urbani, Staff Writer
Content warning: mentions of transphobia.
Institutions give too much power to transphobes. This society has shown it allows and tolerates transphobia. It protects transphobes more than it protects trans people. We need to do better in protecting trans folks because the heteronormative social constructs we live in put them in danger.
Just last month during a track meet in Kelowna, a grandfather from the bleachers hollered “Hey! This is a girls’ event, why are boys throwing?!” to two nine-year-old girls. The man believed two of the contestants were either “boys or transgender” due to their pixie haircuts. When we make assumptions based on appearances, society begins to regulate how even cisgender bodies should look. This has real-world consequences that puts trans and gender non-conforming people in danger.
Regardless of whether someone is cis or trans, if a person doesn’t meet these “conventional” standards, they’re vulnerable to transphobes who feel like their sense of security is being challenged.
Transphobes have close-minded and dichotomous thinking. Anti-trans rhetoric has fueled the narrative that somehow, transgender people are a threat. Birds of a feather flock together. Transphobes find strength in other transphobes, and when they gather enough confidence, they attack. They lash out at people, challenge them in public, and might even use physical force. Just a month ago, an anti-2SLGBTQIA+ rally was held in Guildford, where multiple people were harassed, yelled at, and threatened. Incidents like this are why it’s so crucial that we shut down transphobes.
The man from Kelowna shouldn’t have felt comfortable sizing up these children in the first place, but our society has shown they tolerate this behaviour. He hurt the confidence of those children. A parent of one of the girls said their child was so bothered by what was said, they couldn’t focus on the race, and cried for the rest of the day. The other girl sprinted off the field after the encounter. Ironically, while this man was supposedly acting with the intent of protecting cisgender girls, he harmed them even more due to his ignorance and assumptions on gender presentation. I vividly remember being asked if I was a “boy” in elementary school because I had hair on my arms. To this day, I have to battle myself to wear short-sleeved shirts in the summer for something said to me years ago.
What does this say about us as a society if people feel comfortable demanding to know or telling people what gender they should be. The fact that transphobes feel comfortable enough to say this, means we’re doing something wrong as a society. Transphobia is rising and it’s not just in the US — it’s here, right in our cities.
Our priorities are completely out of whack. Keep calling out transphobes. Don’t let them believe for a second there isn’t a place for trans people. Take time to reflect on your positionality and your beliefs. Does your opinion actually hold any validity or are you just regurgitating what people have told you? Be better. Do better, and don’t be the reason why a transgender person reroutes their daily life because you’ve shown them that you’re unsafe.
