A new meme and hashtag campaign is unveiled by two transgender advocates.
May 25 2016 6:20 AM EST
March 11 2017 9:38 PM EST
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A new meme and hashtag campaign is unveiled by two transgender advocates.
Never before in the history of the United States, perhaps in the world, have transgender people had so much attention paid to them in politics, popular entertainment, and news media.
All it takes is one glance at the headlines or the cable news channels to see that much of that attention tends to be ill-informed, negative, and in the case of the right-wing media, deliberately misleading. Transgender people are portrayed as immoral, perverse, and predatory, without any justification. Those few who have their hands on the wheels of politics and mainstream media still see transgender people as something that defies understanding.
And what's perhaps most frustrating about that is the fact that as a minority, our only representatives are for the most part trans celebrities elevated by the mainstream media who seem out of touch with our own diverse experience.
Much has been written about how the marriage equality movement won over hearts and minds by focusing on love rather than sexuality, orientation, or even the constitutional question of equal protection. The shift in strategy from intellectual arguments to matters of the heart stunned those opposed to same-sex marriage by turning them into enemies of love.
What do trans people have that can even come close to such a lofty, overwhelmingly winning strategy?
So far, the best we've been able to achieve is a controversial but widely seen response to an orchestrated attempt by right-wing activists who portray us as bathroom predators. The online campaign of out trans man Michael Hughes, #wejustneedtopee, caught fire after he posted selfies of his bearded self lurking in ladies' rooms. Other activists followed suit with their own selfies, including photos of trans women with passing privilege standing next to urinals.
\u201cMinnesota's #SF1543 would put me here. #guyslikeus #occupotty #wejustneedtopee #TransLivesMatter \n#letmypeoplepee\u201d— Michael Hughes (@Michael Hughes) 1426050148
Recently, Hannah launched #safe2peehere, showing transgender folks and cisgender (nontransgender) allies posing with medical supply catheter bags, highlighting the absurdity of living your life when one public facility leaves you vulnerable to violence or harassment, and the other, vulnerable to arrest.
All these campaigns have gained plenty of attention by presenting shocking images and made an excellent counterpoint to the argument that laws protecting transgender individuals have never, ever been misused by actual male predators, Yet critics, including those within the community, argue they play into heteronormative misanthropic impressions that a man, even a trans man, poses a danger to women and children. They also fail to capture the breadth of the trans and gender-nconforming community's diversity.
It is well-established that trans people, as a population, do not want our fight for civil rights to be determined by our genitals, or our need to go potty.
And so we thought about how we could change the dialogue from being portrayed as freaks, as predators of children, to people like everyone else, to moms and dads and children and siblings and aunts and uncles, and for the gender-nonconforming, ze and zir and all the glorious combinations of gender that outnumber even the constellations.
We put our minds together and then our hands, and created #TransHands.
#TransHands pic.twitter.com/3gyUVJpiQc
-- Dr Heath Adam Ackley (@DrHAdamAckley) May 24, 2016
\u201c#transhands\u201d— Jamie Monroe (@Jamie Monroe) 1464120347
As you can see from these tweets, our friends in our social media circles are at this moment sharing widely our invitation to do something so simple, so easy, that even a North Carolina Republican can do it:
And with that, you become part of a movement toward acceptance, toward understanding, and toward love.
\u201cOne of these two is #trans. One of them has a @fitbit. Does correlation imply causation? #transhands @transhands\u201d— Hannah Simpson \u05d7\u05e0\u05d4 \u05d4\u05d9\u05d9\u05d4-\u05dc\u05d1 \u05e1\u05d9\u05de\u05e4\u05e1\u05d5\u05df (@Hannah Simpson \u05d7\u05e0\u05d4 \u05d4\u05d9\u05d9\u05d4-\u05dc\u05d1 \u05e1\u05d9\u05de\u05e4\u05e1\u05d5\u05df) 1464140565
Just 30 years ago today, more than 5 million people locked hands and stood together in an event called Hands Across America, to show we are all united in one way or another.
We've launched #TransHands in that same spirit. We hope that a simple gesture like that of holding the hand of someone trans, no matter what their age, background, ethnicity, politics, or faith, will make a difference in the effort to win hearts and minds and ultimately, acceptance.
\u201cMy little man who still holds my hand unbidden #TransHands\u201d— Dawn Ennis (She/Her/Hers) (@Dawn Ennis (She/Her/Hers)) 1464140380
\u201cMy daughter and me #TransHands\u201d— Dawn Ennis (She/Her/Hers) (@Dawn Ennis (She/Her/Hers)) 1464140088
\u201cMy oldest played the hell out of the cello tonight in his final HS concert. And he still holds my hand! #TransHands\u201d— Dawn Ennis (She/Her/Hers) (@Dawn Ennis (She/Her/Hers)) 1464142068
As you can see above, Dawn's three children took part in this effort with joy! We hope many of those joining the #TransHands movement will be children too, to show that the next generation is already one step ahead in accepting that "we the people" means all people, including transgender Americans.
HANNAH SIMPSON is a transgender advocate, writer, marathoner, snarky Jewish girl, and unabashed nerd. Find her writing on The Advocate, Refinery29, and elsewhere. You may have caught her on Melissa Harris-Perry on MSNBC or WNYW's Good Day New York, among others. Twitter at @hannsimp; Instagram @hsimpso
DAWN ENNIS is an award-winning writer and producer who was the first out transgender staffer in a major TV network newsroom and here at The Advocate. She is a single mom of three children who call her Dad. Follow her at @lifeafterdawn and at her blog, LifeAfterDawn.com.