Recommended Reading: Claxon Call

NinaIllingworth November 15, 2022November 17, 2022 anti-trans legislation, anti-trans pogrom, antifascism, antifascist united front, blog, Chase Strangio, Chris Rufo, Donald Trump, eliminationism, FA1, fascism, fascist propaganda, GOP, Greg Abbot, LGBTQ rights, liberal transphobia, Matt Walsh, MP6, Nina Illingworth, Politics, protect trans kids, Rec Reads, Recommended Reading, Republican Party, Ron DeSantis, Social Justice, solidarity, ST2, trans rights, transphobia, transphobia in media, Truthout, US midterms, US politics

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Although I don’t particularly enjoy writing about U.S. electoral politics, I feel like the ongoing fallout from the 2022 US midterm elections is forcing my hand a little bit here. This of course starts with mainstream media declaring Trumpism over, and aggressively upselling what is in reality still a Democratic Party loss to repugnant fascists, even if it wasn’t a total disaster. While it’s certainly good news that Trumpen-Waffen candidates mostly flunked out in U.S. Senate races, the fact is the fascists now control Congress. Additionally their vice-like grip on a surprising number of state legislatures remains mostly intact; all of which is still very likely to have disastrous consequences for democratic life in America.

On a more personal level however, I’m also disheartened about the lightning-quick return of mainstream transphobia in the media, and an alarming lack of concern about an anti-trans pogrom in progress that wasn’t particularly impeded by these election results at all. Although both public polling, and ballot results demonstrate that labor class liberals broadly oppose de-personing trans Americans, the ruling class presumption of a return to normalcy represents a very grave danger to a minority group firmly in the sights of a fascist movement that still has very real power to prosecute its eliminationist agenda.

To demonstrate this point, let’s take a look at this excellent November 14th, 2022 article written by Chase Strangio and published on Truthout:

Midterms: Some of the Most Rabidly Anti-Trans Politicians Won Reelection

As always, you should probably read the whole article and even more so this time because Strangio’s analysis is dead on the money here. To sum up however, our author examines the post-midterm election landscape, and rightly asks how these results can be a victory for trans people? In particular, Chase notes that some of the most virulently transphobic fascist politicians at the state level have easily secured re-election; virtually guaranteeing the further persecution of trans Americans, and criminalization of trans identities by Republicans with real power in the upcoming legislative sessions:

“Come January, states will begin to reconvene for the 2023 legislative sessions and lawmakers will put forth new attempts to criminalize trans lives, bodies and survival opportunities. And with Governors Greg Abbott, Ron DeSantis, Kevin Stitt, Brian Kemp and Bill Lee, among others, all winning reelection, these bills will be pushed aggressively from the executive branch in Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, Georgia and Tennessee, respectively.”

Of course, in a society that routinely discounts the opinions of trans people about their own experiences, there will be folks who accuse Strangio of being an alarmist. Those accusations however ring hollow when you acknowledge that Governors like Greg Abbot and Ron DeSantis have already passed fascist laws persecuting and criminalizing trans people with no repercussions whatsoever; hell, DeSantis just cruised to re-election himself, and is now being touted in some portions of mainstream “liberal” media as a reset for the still quite fascist Republican Party. Indeed, it certainly doesn’t seem as though hatemongering propagandists like Matt Walsh, or Chris Rufo consider these elections a loss for the anti-trans agenda.

What really makes this article stand out for me however, is the author’s willingness to challenge liberal, and even left wing complacency in the face of this ongoing anti-trans pogrom. Speaking directly to the sense of alienation that I myself have acknowledged often prevents me from writing about attacks on the very existence of trans identities, Strangio bluntly asks where is the anti-fascist solidarity for trans people in the broader American “left” coalition? From the article, in two parts:

“Though progressives and the center-left have thankfully begun to more effectively mobilize around abortion, climate and guns, resistance to anti-trans narratives among progressives and liberals is limited and often altogether absent. And worse still, in many contexts, even self-proclaimed liberals and progressives have joined the right in demonizing trans young people and pushing forward the types of dangerous narratives about trans bodies and health care that fuel anti-trans bills in state legislatures. Look no further than the pages of the New York Times for yet another feature-length attack on the legitimacy of health care for trans adolescents to kick off the start of Trans Awareness Week as an example of how deeply ingrained the surveillance of trans bodies remains among liberals.”

“Lawmakers have made it clear that they intend to ramp up the rhetoric and political attacks on trans people and the left has not met the moment to come forward in defense of trans lives. Instead, trans people are subjected to ongoing reporting and think pieces questioning the legitimacy of our care and the potential threat of our bodies. In a matter of five years, we went from a political discourse and set of policy attacks that focused on use of restrooms to the current climate where medical care and drag shows are being criminalized, mention of trans people in school is being banned, and child protective services threaten to remove young people from loving and affirming homes. This escalation should alarm anyone paying attention.”

Look, this won’t be the first time I’ve expressed little surprise that bougie liberal influencers don’t really care about trans rights, or for that matter trans lives; these folks make that clear with their actions (and lack thereof) almost every single day. But as I, and others have noted before, the fact is transphobia has a pretty good historical track record for gassing up fascist movements in progress. If the liberals and progressives in media and politics continue to provide aid and ideological support to fascist attacks on trans folks, they may well be signing their own death warrants in the long run; after all, once the fascists are done with us, they’re probably going to start thinking about the “baby brain juice-drinking Satanist cabal” they also blame for ruining their pure American fatherland.

We can stand together, or we will all probably die alone; the choice is yours heterosexual Democrats and neither I, nor any other trans person in the Pork Reich can make it for you. Choose wisely, and soon.