Today Is International Transgender Day of Visibility – Let’s Celebrate #TransVisibility and Fight Discrimination

My trans brothers and sisters are first and forever human beings. Period. Today I honor them and recommit to fighting the fight that needs to be fought. #Translivesmatter.

After Thursday’s stunning deceit and political gamesmanship by Democratic North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, with what my journalistic colleague Kerry Eleveld correctly labeled as, “Cooper sells out LGBTQ Tar Heels with ‘fake’ repeal of state’s bathroom bill,” today and frankly every day takes on such critical importance to the transgender community. They are human beings, not political talking points or targets for state sponsored discriminatory laws and practices.  

I have been a long time ally and I have very dear friends who are trans who have taught me so much over the years about the true meaning of what it is to be a fully empowered human being. Non-trans persons who bully, or degenerate trans folk, are ignorant and oft times I have found, unwilling to accept – actually accede the fact, that there exists such a rich diversity in the human species.

Trans is first and foremost not about human sexuality. Being trans is the essence of one’s true self. It is in fact the deeply personal introspective view of one’s gender and one’s human spirit. I tire of the incessant rubbish spewed by the American Christian right that belittles the very humanity of the trans community, of my friends who I care deeply for. A physical shell, whether it posses a penis or a vagina is not relative to a person’s state of being. Which brings me to the adversaries who rail and literally preach that there are no such things as transgender human beings. 

Currently on the road in the Northeastern United States is a brightly painted bus that carries an ignorant and frankly hate filled anti-trans message. The bus is sponsored by “CitizenGo” a Spanish group financed by the ultra right-wing “Family Watch International” and the Washington, D.C. based National Organization for Marriage or “NOM.” The bus was literally banned from operating in Spain, as after its initial appearance, operated by the Catholic group “Hazte Oír,” it was impounded by Spanish police authorities after being observed driving around in the streets of Madrid with a message that officers identified as hate speech. 

Image courtesy of Policía Municipal de Madrid.

The slogan emblazoned on the side of the bus (pictured) translates as “Boys have penises, girls have vulvas. Do not be fooled. If you are born, you are a man. If you are a woman you will continue to be.”

I spoke earlier today with an official from the Policía Municipal de Madrid, who conveyed to me that the authorities were extremely concerned that the message conveyed on the bus would incite hate crimes against the vulnerable trans community in Madrid. The Hazte Oír bus was immediately impounded by the authorities. According to the trans publication and advocacy website, Planet Transgender, the group returned with a motor home and a slightly altered message: “Do boys have penises? Do girls have vulvas?” after a Madrid judge said that the bus would not be allowed on the city’s streets as long as it continued to bear the original wording.

Sadly however, the bus then crossed the Atlantic and arrived in New York. The bus was then re-branded to target its American “audience” by NOM, who labeled it a “Free Speech Bus.” However, not long after a picture provided by NOM showed the bus in front of the United Nations Headquarters complex in New York City, the bus was apparently vandalized, according to NOM, a fact that I was able to verify with a source at the New York Police Department.

Possibly although not certainly the message displayed on the side of the bus, “It’s biology. Boys are boys…and always will be. Girls are girls…and always will be. You can’t change sex. Respect all,” most likely played a role in its vandalism.

Of course, the President of NOM, Brian Brown, a long time detractor of the trans and the LGBTQI community, immediately launched a fundraiser to ‘repair the damage’ and support the cause. My only question to Mr. Brown would be, allowing that by law the bus must be insured to operate as a licensed vehicle on American highways and streets, surely the insurance company would have covered the damages? But I digress. My friend and fellow journalist Michael Lavers reported a couple of days ago that the bus is due back in my old stomping grounds of Washington, D.C. today and Saturday.

I hope that folks show up and protest this onerous mechanical billboard of hate. This is not about free speech as Brown alleges. He sent me this statement:

It’s biology, not bigotry. Men and women were created equally, each given a gender that is fixed, immutable and complementary. Rather than perpetuate a lie that gender can be changed based on emotions and feelings, we should encourage people to embrace and love who they were made to be.

We call on all Americans to respect the free speech rights of citizens to debate these issues without fear of being demeaned, harassed, or threatened with retaliation.

Again – nope, Brian you’re wrong. By the way, are you a board certified Doctor of Medicine, a psychiatrist, or an expert on human sexuality? Oh that’s right, no you are not.

I am over people like Brown and organizations like his whose only existence seems to be to justify their salaries while pushing pseudo science/biology based on bronze age thinking and mythology.

As a journalist I am tired of reporting stories about trans-women or trans-men who have been murdered, bullied, and maimed, after they have been deeply wounded emotionally by the rubbish spewed by NOM and other organizations that are ignorant and non-accepting. I am tired of seeing large percentages of trans youth tossed out on the street by their families who are flat out intolerant. I am also very tired of anti-trans sentiments that I have seen within the gay, lesbian, bi, and queer community. In fact, it has been my experience that some of the most deeply held prejudices have been from within the LGBTQI tribe itself. 

My trans brothers and sisters are first and forever human beings. Period. Today I honor them and recommit to fighting the fight that needs to be fought. #Translivesmatter. As a community and as a society we need to move past this incorrect and damaging biological myth that gender is determined at birth and by appearances. #It.Is.Not.

One last thing, this is again not about sexuality and quite frankly as a whole when it comes down to intimate and physical expression of personal affairs of the heart – we need to stay the hell out of other folks bedrooms. If you know trans folks or are like me fortunate enough to have numerous friends who are, come join with me in celebrating them.

Brody Levesque is the Chief Political Correspondent for The New Civil Rights Movement.
You may contact Brody at Brody.Levesque@thenewcivilrightsmovement.com

To comment on this article and other NCRM content, visit our Facebook page. 

Image of NOM bus via Facebook