On March 31, the International Transgender Day of Visibility takes place. It may seem like just another “day” among so many that come and go with desultory, if any, recognition. However, it is much more critical for the greater LGBTQ+ society than we may think.
There are now more than 400 bills in the majority of state legislatures that address the LGBTQ community, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Some passed in 2023. A Georgia bill that purports to protect women’s rights but particularly and purposefully excludes transgender women is the most recent. Introduced by members of the Republican majority, 14 bills are now pending or have been introduced in Wisconsin’s State Assembly. They address issues primarily aimed at the transgender student area, including college education repression, medical age constraints, and other university restrictions. A bill that would have denied transgender equality treatment to trans children was blocked by Governor Tony Evers in 2023.
Then, right-wing-controlled school boards across Wisconsin are implementing policies that prohibit transgender identity in particular and LGBTQ equality in general. Republican State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos effectively blackmailed the University of Wisconsin board of governors at the college level by withholding funding until the UW system’s diversity, equity, and inclusion programs were eliminated.
Denounced and Demonized
A parade of the worst of their white nationalist extremists attacked the trans community just one year ago at the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) meeting outside of Washington, D.C. One speech after another viciously demonized and demeaned transgender people. One, in chilling Nazi-speak, even called for the “eradication of transgenderism.”
A transgender woman was featured in a Bud Light promotional campaign after that. In the ensuing reaction and protest, brewers Anheuser-Busch/Bud Light suffered the fury of the deluded, masculine light-beverage guzzling mob and lost millions of dollars. Their dear leader Trump and the brewery have since made a financial deal that now underwrites the Republican campaign against transgenderism (but never mind.)
In any case, the full-frontal assault on transgender rights seems like a ton of nonsense. According to research, the portion of the country’s population that identifies as transgender is negligible. According to the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law, 0.5% of adults and 1.4% of children ages 13-17 identify as trans. Wisconsin is the 49th state in the nation with a mere 0.34 percent of the population. How could such a minority in this country be spread for hostility and rage? Why do Republicans spend so much time (and taxpayer dollars) attacking the transgender area? The answer is pretty simple.
Stoking Fear
White Evangelicals are a reliable and easily manipulated voter block, similar to political causes in the past, such as the Civil Rights Act, reproductive rights, and marriage equality. Anti-trans hate fuels Evangelical and other extreme Christian beliefs that reject science and adhere to literal biblical principles (there is a conservative version of Wikipedia that claims Einstein’s theory of relativity is a liberal story against Christians). Here the argument is made based on the premise that God doesn’t make mistakes, ergo, there are only two genders. This overbearing argument perfectly fits the blind faith category and is followed in the same manner, even to the point of violence. The Archdiocese of Milwaukee, in contrast to other Roman Catholic dioceses, issued guidelines for transgender exclusion in 2022, citing transgender identity as a manifestation of the “disharmony caused by original sin.” The charter conforms to the Catholic Church’s alignment with traditional demagogues. Yet Pope Francis has criticized the U.S. Catholic Church for this abandonment of theology for ideology, admonishing it saying “everyone, people, everyone is called to live in the light. Never forget that”.
Also, encouraging messages from Democratic officials like our own governor, Evers, and President Joe Biden himself, gives hope for the future. Jessica Katzenmeyer, a transgender candidate for Wisconsin State Senate in 2022, lost her election bid despite effective Republican voter suppression and erratic Democrat get-out-the-vote efforts, her campaign raised trans presence. Evers’ reelection guaranteed future vetoes for the list of Republican anti-trans legislation. The cause of trans rights is also supported by the election of Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz and the state’s likely redrawing of political districts. And, meanwhile, even the Pope has joined the fray.
Of course, the 2024 presidential election will have the greatest impact on both the LGBTQ+ community and the trans community at large. The wave of anti-trans laws and the virulent calls for trans “eradication” is a resonating clarion call for the eradication of all of us, one letter at a time, underscoring our duty to observe International Transgender Day of Visibility.
