Why We Need to Include Transwomen in Women’s History Month
It is officially Women’s History Month in the United States.
Since its inception in 1987, its purpose has been to honor the historical achievements of women.
Apart from the general meaning, the National Women’s History Alliance assigns a theme each year. For 2022, it is “Women Providing Healing, Promoting Hope.”
The theme this year hits close to home.
We, too, promote healing and hope. However, we also fight for equality and inclusion. We consider all four of these missions equally vital to empowering women.
Alarmingly, the mainstream media does not share this sentiment. It is easy to notice that inclusion and equality are frequently placed to the side. I am uneased to admit that the month has such a major shortcoming.
How many times, if at all, have you seen transgender (MTF) women getting recognized and rewarded during March?
How many trans women can you name who made significant achievements in STEM, combat, or the arts?
Try not to feel bad if your answer to both questions was zero. That is the response of the majority. If you answered yes to both questions, color me very impressed! You should write a blog!
I assume a better question is why zero is the most common answer? If you guessed systemic transphobia, you are correct.
Transgender women are no less accomplished, talented, or intelligent than cisgender women. The issue is that they are discriminated against and discredited more. This kind of mistreatment happens every day, not just in March. We need to come together as advocates to uplift these women’s voices and historical victories.
The chronic discrediting of trans women’s accomplishments impacts the entire LGBTQ+ community. Transgender youth are especially venerable to lasting mental suffering.
Some children and teens never see transgender people celebrated alongside cisgender people. Such a tragedy can negatively impact a youth’s self-image and mental health as they develop, creating problems that carry over into adulthood.
While it is good that the LGBTQ+ community has its history month, it does not negate the responsibility of a just society to honor all women. To reach full equality, transgender people must stand alongside cisgender people.
History has witnessed a similar trick used to attack African Americans. I’m sure you are acquainted with the Separate but Equal ruling in 1890.
Although the issues facing transgender people are nowhere near as severe or legally enforced as Separate but Equal, the implications are the same. In turn, the solution is similar.
The 1890 decision got overturned because it violated the 14th Amendment. However, Separate but Equal would never have even got questioned if not for the advocates, protesters, and civil rights leaders who stood against it.
The crisis of transgender exclusion from Women’s History Month needs advocates to call out inequality and demand recognition of transwomen.
Harrowingly, even monumental changes will not undo the damage already done. Millions of transgender people are already afflicted.
Like all responses to catastrophe, we are playing catch up. The urgency of this problem is beyond my keyboard.
To get a better picture, we will look at the damage done, what is needed to rebuild, and the rewards that will follow.
The Harm Done
Time after time, research has shown that transgender people are at an elevated risk of developing mental health issues compared to cisgender people.
According to a study by LGBTQ Health, a peer-revied academic journal, “a sample of 226 transgender women [showed that] nearly half met criteria markers for depression and anxiety (51.4% and 40.4% respectively).”
The cause of this disparity is where some reports differ. Still, the consensus claims that discrimination and disenfranchisement all contribute.
Out of the entire LGBTQ+ community, these factors seem to affect transwomen, especially those who are not white, the most.
The same publication by LGBTQ Heath asserted that “(MTF) transgender individuals reported high rates of both suicidal ideation...and lifetime suicide attempts.”
Similar research focused on MTF youth have grim conclusions. Children and teenagers are already a vulnerable or impressionable population. Now add being transgender into the mix of puberty, inexperience, and the lower ability for self-defense.
What occurs is high levels of psychological distress due to TRS (transgender-related stigma). Examples of TRS include stereotyping and social rejection based on heterosexist beliefs.
This heightened mental response is due to youth’s lower capacity for healthy coping and rationalization. To put it another way, a trans-ten-year-old does not understand why they are getting bullied to the extent most adults do.
A ten-year-old only knows she is getting bullied and that the main jab is her gender. She cannot see the broader picture. In the grand scheme of things, the bullying she experiences is not personal. It has nothing to do with her character, appearance, or identity. It is the unfortunate by-product of a transphobic society.
For the sake of fairness, the ones bullying this theoretical girl probably do not understand why they do it either. The bullies may be imitating the behaviors of their parents or idols.
Therefore, it is exceedingly necessary for those with intellectual maturity to create a world that does not enable these situations.
How to Rebuild
Honestly, the word rebuild does not accurately represent my point. We do not want to re-anything. Repeating or recreating the past is counterproductive to moving forward. The better word is “build”.
We need to build a new culture full of acceptance and representation to heal. But this new norm will not just affect those in the present.
If we can build something that maintains, we can ensure that future generations can continue the cycle of healing, inclusion, and equality. So, where do we begin?
You made it this far, so you have already started! Of course, reading every blog of ours (while highly appreciated) is not enough. I recommend reading or listening to To Be an Ally for Equality for an extensive review of how to aid the community.
I want to reiterate the S.A.V.E acronym some loyal readers may know. It stands for spreading accurate and relevant information, advocating for equality, voting, and engaging.
By owning up to those responsibilities held by people in a just society, we can push transwomen into the public eye. We can make it impossible for society to ignore them.
Some examples of how we can apply S.A.V.E to the inclusion of transwomen during Women’s History Month are as follows:
Spread the stories and achievements of MTF trans people on your channels, spaces, and among your people.
Advocate by writing your blog, speaking out against exclusion, or starting your campaign.
Vote NO on future and current anti-transgender laws of all kinds. That includes the exclusion of transwomen from women’s sports teams.
Engage with transgender-friendly organizations, non-profits, and community groups. That includes donating, volunteering, or promoting them on social media.
This method will help the whole LGBTQ+ community gain and sustain equality and representation in the future. It also gives hope to those who are facing hardships due to TRS. Although, other methods may be more effective.
Examples of initiatives that can aid those already facing repercussions are accessible treatment and support systems. You can join by supporting free therapy programs, transgender-friendly practices, and studies on the queer mental health experience.
If you are in a crisis, a support system is a great tool to utilize. That does not have to be your immediate family. It can be your friends, teachers, co-workers, therapist, favorite cafeteria person, otherwise known as your Found Family.
As you can see, there are many ways that we can build a new normal and promote our values. There is much to be gained by any single one of these actions.
If we push forward, we will see change.
Rewarding Outcomes
Other than the relative end to the ostracization of other human beings, many lesser-known rewards will follow our success.
Once we destroy one barrier, the better our chances of breaking down the next one. By blazing a trail for transwomen, we open the door for other impactful changes.
As society becomes more open-minded, each win sets the stage for the next group to gain equality. For instance, take how the BLM movement got justice for Geroge Floyd in 2020. It brought the attention of the entire world to police brutality. Since the successful trial, many more African Americans have also gotten justice.
Just recently, two white men were declared guilty of murdering Ahmaud Arbery, a black man whom they shot while he was jogging. Both murderers got sentenced to life without parole.
The immense progress made by the BLM movement started with small victories that led to bigger ones. The same outcome could be predicted for the LGBTQ+ movement.
Furthermore, when the community gains more rights and equalities, we can expect the rate of mental health issues in LGBTQ+ people to drop.
If TRS and discrimination are major players in the development of mental illness, then we can hope they positively correlate. Once one becomes less severe, so does the other.
Indeed, correlation and causation are not always pairs. That is why we need to build safety nets now. In case less hate does not create less mental suffering, which I highly doubt, the existence of a fair and inclusive mental health treatment system is required.
Then again, a fair system is needed regardless of any possible correlation-causation issue.
Equality in healthcare is non-negotiable no matter the circumstances.
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Sources:
Stigmatization and Mental Health in a Diverse Sample of Transgender Women (nih.gov)
Women’s History Month 2022 - HISTORY
Three white US men convicted of hate crimes in Black jogger murder - PinoyFeeds
