Being Visible During a Trans Genocide (Blog)
Introduction
In recent years, transgender visibility has skyrocketed. Major actors, musicians, and celebrities have begun to come out as transgender, including Elliot Page, Laverne Cox, Nicole Maines, and Sam Smith – to name a few. More transgender people have chronicled their experiences in transition even at young ages, such as Jazz Jennings, one of the youngest publicly documented people to identify as transgender. More television shows, books, and movies have begun to include transgender characters. And in 2021, Statistics Canada revealed that over 100,000 Canadians identify as transgender or non-binary. This visibility has had a significant impact for transgender rights. However, “with that progress also came a conservative backlash and campaigns to discredit [trans people’s] basic human rights. The internet, and trans visibility at large, has devolved into a double-edged sword for the trans community”.
A Transgender Genocide
Based on the rates of homicide and suicide, the lack of mental health resources and community support available for transgender people, and the failure of the justice and legal system to intervene for the basic human rights of transgender people, many trans activists and allies have raised a red flag that society is in the beginnings of a transgender genocide. In fact, the Lemkin Institute for Genocidal Prevention released a statement calling out the “so-called gender critical movement” for “furthering a specifically genocidal ideology that seeks the complete eradication of trans identity from the world” .
One person who has closely examined genocide is Dr. Gregory H. Stanton, the founding president and chairman of Genocide Watch. During his research, Dr. Stanton has illustrated that there are ten documented stages of how it is possible for genocide to occur. Stanton developed these stages to show that genocide cannot be committed by just an individual or small group, it must have the support of a state and the cooperation of a large group of people. These stages sometimes happen simultaneously and can continue over long periods of time. We are currently in stage eight for the genocide against the trans community.
Stage 1: Classification
Classification – the operation of separating various entities into several classes – is the first of ten stages of genocide, where the differences of people are not respected. “There’s a division of ‘us’ and ‘them’ which can be carried out using stereotypes, or excluding people who are perceived to be different”. This is based on groups who hold power – dominant groups – exploiting that power to categorize and separate the “other” – victim groups.
Transgender people are separated out from cisgender people, with transgender people being placed as “unusual” or “abnormal”. This is particularly the case for individuals within the transgender community who do not conform to the gender binary – some states do not even offer a gender neutral option for legal identification. This further extends into the experiences of intersex people, who are medically forced into the strict, binary boxes of “male” and “female”. If a trans or intersex person wishes to change their sex designation, they face significant legal and systematic barriers designed to ensure that people stay within their classifications.
Another example of classification is the significant division between the “gender critical movement” and the trans rights rights movement, with the former holding power over the latter, leading to legislation to “protect” [cisgender] women while legislating violence against trans women. The gender critical movement argues that it does not seek to kill the physical bodies of transgender people – instead, they seek to eradicate transgender “identity” from the world.
Stage 2: Symbolization
Symbolization is the use of symbols to represent something. During the second stage, names or symbols are given to the classifications of difference towards the victim group. They are labeled as something “other” than the “normal”; sometimes the members of the group may be forced to wear specific colours or dress in a specific way to separate them.
Symbols (such as pride flags) and outward visibility as a member of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community may place individuals at a higher risk of being targeted by violence and hate crimes. According to Statistics Canada, police reported 263 hate crimes targeting sexual orientation in 2019. Violent crimes accounted for “more than half” of the hate crimes targeting sexual orientation. According to statistics gathered for the Transgender Day of Remembrance, 2020 and 2021 were the highest reported years for violence against transgender people.
Stage 3: Discrimination
Discrimination refers to the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people. In the third stage of genocide, the dominant group utilizes laws, customs, and political power to deny the rights of the victim group. This stage legitimizes the victimization of weaker groups and is often considered to be “for the greater good” or to “protect” something (i.e. children, purity of race, religion, etc).
In the United States, the rights of transgender individuals – specifically youth – are under legislative attack, with over 400 bills having been introduced since the beginning of 2023 alone. In particular, this includes banning transgender women from competing in sports teams – anywhere from kindergarten all the way to college. Some states have also passed bathroom bans which could include requiring proof or verification of sex (based on what was assigned at birth), penalties for those who violate the law, or forcing transgender students to use a gender-neutral bathroom, rather than having a choice of which washroom to use, which is a violation of their human rights. Additionally, drag performers have been targeted, with numerous bans against drag performers or banning minors from attending something such as a drag story-telling. This does not just impact the trans community, but also cisgender folks who dress in drag!
Healthcare is also a target, particularly regarding the provision of gender-affirming healthcare for youth, which most commonly refers to puberty or hormone blockers: this has been banned in multiple states, despite the fact that the majority of major health organizations have spoken in favour of the benefits of gender-affirming healthcare for youth. Youth are subject to further marginalization as lawmakers fighting against the incorporation of 2SLGBTQIA+ content in the classroom: everything from lessons to books, a teacher sharing that they are getting married to someone of the same gender, a student drawing a picture of their two fathers, a teacher using “Mx” rather than “Mr” or “Ms”, or a student requesting to use a different name or pronouns.
Stage 4: Dehumanization
Dehumanization refers to the process of depriving a person or group of positive human qualities. During the fourth stage, the dominant group denies the humanity of the victim group. Hate propaganda is spread to vilify the victim group. “The majority group is taught to regard the other group as less than human, and even alien to their society. They are indoctrinated to believe that ‘We [the dominant group] are better off without them [the victim group]’”. In this stage, it is common for the victim group to be equated with animals, vermin, insects, or diseases, as “dehumanization overcomes the normal human revulsion against murder”.
One common slur used against trans people is “groomer”, which incites fear and hatred that trans people are endangering and assaulting children. An attorney in Georgia called trans people “cockroaches” (the same phrase used to refer to Tutsis during the Rwandan genocide), and several public individuals including newscasters and politicians have called for the “eradication of gender ideology”, therefore reducing trans people to an ideology and removing our humanity. Fundamentally, this dehumanization is directly linked to acts of violence against the transgender community. By dehumanizing trans people and labeling them as sexual predators, violence against the transgender community is inherently more “acceptable”, thus allowing incidents such as the mass shooting at Club Q to continue . Trans people are being deprived of their humanity, and the majority are being convinced that trans people are inherently dangerous (through the “groomer” narrative) and thus, must be eliminated to “protect” the vulnerable (most commonly, women and children).
Stage 5: Organization
Organization refers to an organized body of people with a particular purpose, especially a business, society, or association. Genocide is always organized, typically by the state or others who hold high positions of power.
Currently, Republicans and religious groups, particularly Christians, are organizing and campaigning to introduce and pass harmful legislation against the trans community. They have been aided by terrorist groups including Proud Boys, who have often endangered 2SLGBTQIA+ safe spaces and events through intimidation and harassment. Another organization is Libs of TikTok, which is a far-right, anti-LGBTQ Twitter account that encourages violence against the trans community and trans individuals through methods such as doxxing and misgendering.
Stage 6: Polarization
Polarization refers to the division into two sharply contrasting groups or sets of opinions or beliefs. During this stage, the dominant and victim groups are driven apart by extremists. People who are regarded as “moderates” are targeted, intimidated, and silenced to get rid of the “center”.
Within the trans context, legislation such as “Don’t Say Gay” has left teachers afraid to mention anything about gender and sexuality, even in casual conversations – this has been equated to a “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” environment. Parents of trans children have been forced to consider leaving states with harmful legislation, with some parents even becoming targets of child abuse claims for affirming their transgender children. Allies of the trans community, such as Ottawa family doctor and trustee Nili Kaplan-Myrth, have received death threats for supporting the trans community and safe spaces in schools. Each of these are examples of deliberate actions to incite fear, thus preventing allies from becoming more active and visible, and creating a separation between trans people and our allies, making us easier targets.
Stage 7: Preparation
Preparation is taking action to get ready for an event or undertaking. During this stage, the plans are made for the genocidal killings. Euphemisms are used to cloak true intentions, referring to their goals as “ethnic cleansing”, “purification”, or “counter-terrorism”. The populace is indoctrinated with fear of the victim group through increasing inflammatory rhetoric and hate propaganda.
Euphemisms and hate propaganda against the trans community continue to escalate, often coated in phrases such as “protecting women” and “protecting children”, accompanied by dehumanizing language such as “groomer”, “gender ideology”, and “trans identified men” (a slur directed against transgender women). Such euphemisms and dehumanizing language had a major impact on the response to the shootings at Club Q, with victims being blamed for “causing” their own death and injuries due to “daring” to exist in a public space. Some right-wing individuals accused the club of hosting a “grooming event” (it had recently advertised a drag brunch), while others have said that Club Q deserved this level of terrorism. This hate propaganda normalizes and accepts violence against the trans community.
Stage 8: Persecution
Persecution refers to the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. In stage eight, victims are identified and separated out, and massacres or other attacks may begin. Perpetrators wait to see if the international community will react.
Throughout the year, but particularly during pride month, many businesses, schools, and community organizations saw their pride flags vandalized, stolen, destroyed, or even set on fire. A Windsor-based transgender organization experienced three consecutive hateful vandalisms, including swastikas and slurs. Prominent trans activists, visible trans people, trans organizations – and even allies – have been subject to increasing hate and violence. Right wing groups specifically “dox” and target these individuals, sending waves of hate towards them, as what happened with Fae Johnstone, an Ottawa-based trans activist who was featured in the Hershey’s International Women’s Day campaign and received a barrage of online harassment. Additionally, during 2022, there were at least 141 incidents of anti-LGBTQ violence and threats, ranging from firebombings to shootings, vandalism, and death threats.
Stage 9: Extermination
Extermination refers to killing, especially of a whole group of people or animals. In a deliberate and systematic campaign of violence, the hate groups murder their identified victims, becoming what is considered a genocide. It is considered by the killers and dominant group to be “extermination” rather than “murder” because they do not see their victims as human.
Stage 10: Denial
Denial refers to the action of declaring something to be untrue. The final stage of genocide lasts throughout and immediately follows the genocide, where the perpetrators deny that they committed any crimes, often attempting to blame the victims.
Canadian Context
Canada has not seen such intense acts of legislative hate as what is happening in the United States, but transphobia is also on the rise here. There have been protests in at least sixteen cities across Canada targeting drag performances, resulting in the cancelation of multiple events; someone attempted to set fire to a library in Ottawa for hosting a drag event, and there were bomb threats against an Oakville School for employing a trans teacher. School boards and trustees have been the targets of protests and threats for encouraging safe spaces, 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusion in curriculum, and gender neutral washrooms. Meanwhile, individual trans activists continue to experience doxxing, hate, and harassment.
Genocide Prevention & Allyship
We cannot turn back the clock on what has already taken place in the genocide against trans people. However, we can make a genuine, concerted effort to ensure that things do not continue to escalate – to ensure the safety, protection, and wellbeing of transgender people.
Individuals
Educate yourself about the realities of the trans community through books, articles, and videos. These help to break down stereotypes and open up conversation about the importance of allyship.
Reach out to trans loved ones and let them know that you are there for them. Many of us are struggling with intense emotions as a result of this increasing wave of hate and genocide towards the trans community, and we need to know we have allies who will support us. Don’t assume that you know what we need – ask. Let us tell you.
Don’t be a bystander. When you hear about or witness acts of hate or transphobia, call it out. When you speak up, you educate others and give them the courage to stand up.
Organizations
Implement mandatory diversity training for individuals at your organization – education is the key to combating ignorance. Ensure that the training was explicitly created by members of the trans community.
Ensure that your organization has gender-neutral washrooms, uses gender-inclusive language on administration and paperwork, and displays safe space materials.
Show up at pride and other trans-related events. Call out acts of hate within your community. Make yourself known as an ally.
Governments
Ban the use of hate symbols, and enforce stricter legislation with consequences about what constitutes a hate crime and hate speech. Condemn actions of hate, violence, and division. Implement more comprehensive policies within systems such as healthcare and education around equity and safety.
Create explicit policies to allow trans and non-binary people to claim asylum if they are in fear for their safety, wellbeing, or lives in their home country, regardless of which country they originated from.
Invest in the trans community – including mental health, affordable housing, gender-affirming care, and community services.
And for those of you in the trans community – please know that I hear and see you. Please make sure to take care of yourself during these difficult times. We will get through this together – as a community. You are not alone.
