Welcome to #TransTuesday! Today’s topic wasn’t one I ever thought I’d do, because I thought it was something everyone was aware of. Turns out: no. Every time it comes up people are surprised and horrified. So let me tell you about TRANS PANIC.
I wish this were something cute like every time I wanted pizza but my favorite pizza place was closed and it upset me. Even “I don’t know if I’ll be able to refill my HRT,” while actually a serious issue, would be a much less sinister description.
Because trans panic, you see, is a (valid and accepted) legal defense people can use in cases of murder, manslaughter, and assault. It generally goes thusly: I thought she was a cis woman but we went to have sex and I saw a penis and I snapped.
Or “this person flirted with me and I found out they were trans and so I panicked and killed them.” You know, normal, healthy stuff.
In the VAST MAJORITY of the United States, this is LEGAL. It is an accepted reason you can use to defend your actions in a court of law.
It’s akin to GAY PANIC, which you’ve probably correctly surmised is the exact same thing but only for gay folks. Also still legal in many places!
So cisgender straight folks out there, stop for a second and think about what that means. Think about how it would make you feel, not just in and of itself, but as LAW supported by the GOVERNMENT.
“I was flirting with this nice lady but I found out she was cisgender so I snapped and killed her. You can’t blame me for that!” And the all-transgender government says, huh, yeah, MAKES SENSE.
How does that make you feel? Do you want to curl up into a ball and hide? Almost like maybe that’s the intent? How about that.
Liiiiiike do you understand the world we’re living in here? Can you imagine what it’s like to be so hated by cisgender people, who control everything and make all the laws, that they say it’s fine if people kill us because the very nature of our existence so upset them?
Let’s get one thing straight: the law is wrong and fucking awful. But if you think transphobes are going to stick to only using it in “sexual situations,” I think our last president has an “infrastructure week” to sell you.
It’s a short hop from “sexual situations” to “flirting” to “she looked at me wrong.” Our entire history shows you the way shit like that has been warped and weaponized against minority populations. To think this time is any different is ludicrous.
There’s a case where a cis man was flirting with women he didn’t know were trans. His friends mocked him for not knowing, and when he later flirted (or maybe just talked?) with another woman he found out was trans… he killed her. Just up and ended her life.
That guy CONFESSED and it still took TWO YEARS to even charge him. He took a plea down to manslaughter, the jury did not consider it a hate crime (?!?) and he was sentenced to twelve whole years. WHAT. THE. FUCK.
The New York Times has an account of this story that’s brutal. I’m not going to link to it because the description of what this disgusting piece of shit man inflicted upon Islan Nettles is… beyond awful. Nobody needs that dropped into their lap without warning.
Note there was no sex! Likely not even any actual flirting (which to be clear would in no way excuse it or make it less awful). It was a brief exchange on a street, and a cis man decided it was time for a trans woman to die. And this was a valid defense in 2015 New York.
Sit with that for a fucking moment.
My beloved California was the first state to ever ban this absolute nonsense, and it still didn’t even happen until TWO THOUSAND FUCKING FOURTEEN.
Which seems unconscionable, yet pales in comparison to all the places in this country where trans panic is STILL ALLOWED as a legal defense. Again, it’s the vast majority of the country.
I’m terrified to travel to any of the states that haven’t banned the trans panic defense. But you know what’s worse? TRANS PEOPLE LIVE IN THOSE STATES. And I’m so, so scared for them and their safety. I’m angry. I’m fucking repulsed. How can anyone justify this?
CONTACT YOUR REPS AND DEMAND THEY BAN IT. ONLY CIS PEOPLE CAN MAKE THIS CHANGE HAPPEN.
Tilly Bridges, end transmission.
tillysbridges@gmail.com