Some trans people and allies, when confronted with a transphobic statement, say something like: They wouldn't dare say that about any other minority group! But the truth is, they do say it about other minority groups.
Saying "that transphobia is less punished, less socially acceptable than other forms of bigotry like racism, homophobia, misogyny, ableism, etc." is "implicitly denying just how common, everyday and officially sanctioned these various forms of oppression are. This denial undermines solidarity and risks pushing trans people who aren’t white and able-bodied out of trans liberation movement spaces." It matters. "We cannot build the solidarity we all need to get free by minimising the suffering of other minorities. Transphobia is linked to racism, to ableism, to misogyny, to homophobia, both in their ideological linkage and in the existence of trans people at the intersections. We cannot afford single-issue activism because 'we do not live single-issue lives.'"
— "The trouble with 'any other minority,'" by Anarchasteminist, Medium Feb 8, 2024
Here's what happens when there is no solidarity: a sense that there is no coherent trans community.
It makes sense: If you have to tell someone to stop being dismissive, ignorant, or insulting about an inherent part of your identity, you may not feel that this person is part of your community, and hence when you argue with them, you aren't even infighting, you're outfighting.
Large, diverse alliances don't feel good if there are hierarchies within them about whose concerns are more legitimate or urgent and whose opinions or behavior work against group norms or the allegedly correct goals.
We should put in effort to develop respect and practice solidarity
Living authentically in a religiously pluralistic, multi-cultural democracy is hard work, no one is born to it. The habits of mind and heart it requires are not the sort of thing one necessarily learns at home or at school, especially if one grows up in a fairly homogenous subculture like Vance did.
— Seth Cotlar (@sethcotlar.bsky.social) Jul 27, 2024 at 9:20 AM
The pull of dehumanizing insularity, of looking out mostly for one's "own people" (however that's defined) and keeping a wary eye on "the enemies of my people," is incredibly powerful. This urge to treat difference as a threat is profoundly human, but is corrosive to a sense of shared commitment.
— Seth Cotlar (@sethcotlar.bsky.social) Jul 27, 2024 at 9:25 AM
One of the people Vance used to follow on Twitter, the pseudo-scientific racist Steve Sailer, has branded this form updated form of racism "race realism." It's akin to the claims to "common sense" that today's reactionaries use when talking about gender.
— Seth Cotlar (@sethcotlar.bsky.social) Jul 27, 2024 at 9:28 AM
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