Trans people have always been here
A content note: this blog post makes reference to transphobia, murder, and to racism
Every year on 31st March we mark Trans Day of Visibility. However, it isn’t like trans and non-binary people are magical superheroes, who miraculously morph into existence for one day each year. And for the other 364, they lurk unseen and ghost like.
That isn’t what ‘visibility’ or indeed ‘invisibility’ means for the trans people like me who want to recognise, acknowledge, feel and celebrate our visibility for 0.3% of each year. And yes, there is celebration in being visible as a trans person – even in the most toxic political climate for LGBT+ people in at least thirty years. My transition cost me four years of deep personal anguish, the loss of a marriage, the loss of a secure home, the loss of progression in my career, the loss of friendships (some close), and the loss of the ease with which I used to be able to move through the world.
But I’ve also gained. I’ve gained self-esteem, self-respect, self-knowledge and a far greater understanding of myself. I am living authentically, and this has led me to find deeper friendships and relationships, far more meaningful interactions as a teacher and educator (although I need to work even harder to achieve them!) and perhaps most importantly, I’ve gained a sense of belonging.
It wasn’t always possible for trans people to be visible in the way I can be. I grew up seeing skewed narratives of trans people. They were nearly all trans women and mostly early in their transition. They were either being sensationalised in tabloids or paraded on reality shows to be gawked at, laughed at, or ‘discussed’. It’s how mentally ill people used to be viewed by the public in Victorian asylums. I am more horrified by the far worse treatment Black Women endured historically. Search ‘Hottentot Venus’ if you are able to bear reading about a particularly horrendous example of racism and misogyny in British history.
You didn’t hear anything about trans men. Or non-binary people. But…here is the REALLY IMPORTANT takeaway…they were there, they have always been there, and they KNEW who, and what they were. Most were likely mentally tortured in their lives and kept it hidden. Some transitioned. Of those, they mostly disappeared. They vanished. Into thin air. Like superheroes or the wearer of Frodo’s ring. They lived secret lives, often away from their families, and they protected their ‘secret’. I’d always recommend Morgan M Page’s podcast One from the Vaults to any person who thinks trans and non-binary was invented by millennials or ‘perverts and weirdos’. I’d also recommend you do some anthropology and read about all of the cultures and indigenous peoples where, pre-western-colonialisation, diversity of gender was welcomed and respected. Clue: Almost all of them.
You could listen to Akala talk about LGBT-phobia in Jamaica and how it wasn’t part of Jamaican culture until the British arrived.
Five years ago on Trans Day of Visibility, I spoke at the NEU national conference. On that same day, the Guardian featured a short piece by Shon Faye, a trans woman. It also featured a longer transphobic opinion piece. Presumably, that was in the name of balance.
Today the front page of the Daily Mail is covering a report from the far right think tank ‘Policy Exchange’ that thinks trans and non-binary young people should always be outed to their parents by their teachers and educators. That kind of ‘visibility’ is NOT what today is about. That kind of ‘enforced visibility’ harks back in time. And it is literally a safeguarding risk. Keeping Children Safe in Education makes this clear.
What is shocking in this report is that currently, one third of schools are outing trans young people to their parents or carers. Regardless of their wishes. This has to change. I will use my visibility, as an educator, and as a trans woman, and as the current executive seat holder for LGBT+ members of the NEU, to continue to fight and challenge these narratives and to protect trans kids.
I spoke at a vigil for Brianna Ghey, a trans teenager who was murdered, recently. It was heartbreaking. It was exceptionally difficult. I didn’t know Brianna. But I know many ‘Briannas’. I choose to make myself visible for them. Some of the ‘Briannas’ I’ve known over my years as an educator are no longer ‘Brianna’. Some of them are. They understand themselves in a far more nuanced, complex, meaningful and truthful way than the politicians, journalists, activists, fascists, bigots and transphobes do. They need to see trans and non-binary people being their authentic selves. Yes, on Heartstopper, singing (I see you Sam Smith and Kim Petras), Doctor Who, and in books. But they also need to see themselves in schools and colleges, driving trains, making cappuccinos and working in corner shops.
So today, I wear my ‘Hella Trans’ necklace to school and my biggest earrings.
I am visible. And I am, despite the haters’ attempts, not drowning but waving!