I want to thank @
Alexandre Hannud Abdo for their post below. Please, do watch the video by Stef Sanjati. It's very clearly raw and improvised, but an extremely important voice. What she says is so true and I am also scared for trans people in many other countries that are more and more sliding towards the populist right side, including the one I am living in. Brasilia has a long standing terribly ugly record of anti rainbow violence. There are still quite a few countries who are very anti rainbow and it is almost an unfortunate logical concclusion that if homosexually is deemed a legal offence, trans people will encounter even less compassion.
And because this is a subject I feel very passionate about I will also add my comment, which I hope will provide a positive counter-ballance of positivity.
Human rights apply to each and everyone of us. They are not up for discussion or to be legislated away. They are universal and undisputable. Everything else is evil and unjust.
I find this to be very bad and very serious
Trans People Won't Exist (according to the law) | Stef Sanjati [CC]
by Stef Sanjati on YouTube
This is in the USA.
My country of birth, Brazil, is already a champion of trans-people killing. And we might end up with a Trump-like government soon, so this kind of shit will hit even worse over there.
And this is my comment that I want to re-share with you in celebration of trans awareness week:
Thank you, thank you, thank you, great to post this.
Right now we are having trans awareness week, which is to celebrate the great diversity and many facettes of what it means to be trans. This week culminates in Transgender Day Of Rememberance, the day to remember those we lost to a hostile, passive or acti e aggressive environment or even near(est) relatives.
We must not forget that trans people are actually that, first and foremost, people who just want to live their life and be as happy as possible.
As so often great opression provokes activism, and in this case quite often activism that not only fight but also promotes respect, exchange and communication.
Therefore I want to do a shout out to some of those trans activists who especially impress me, who alltogether discourage community in-fighting but intersectional and interdisciplanary communication and action.
Kate Bornstein
The true trailblaser. The title of Auntie Kate's autobiography says it all: "A Queer and Pleasant Danger: The true story of a nice Jewish boy who joins the Church of Scientology, and leaves twelve years later to become the lovely lady she is today".
Other highly important books by them are: "Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women, and the Rest of Us" and "Hello Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks, and Other Outlaws"
She has got an awesome talent to make you laugh, to make you cry, to let you feel loved. Seldom have I ever experienced this much warmth in a public figure.
Charlotte Von Mahlsdorf
She was so geeky, warm, strange, couragous, kind hearted it warms my heart. I have never met her, but at the SMU (Gay* Museum Berlin) they have a bust. Each time I see it, my heart jumps a bit. It's so lifely, looks so endearingly friendly.
(Do read her autobiography "I Am My Own Wife", do avoid the theatre play that does put some perceived negative aspects of her out of historical context and does paint a wrong picture of her. There are people who did actually take the effort to research the source documents and there seems to be no evidence for the warped portrait that play paints of her and due to it's success dominates and modifies how she is seen and perceived for many audiences.)
Lilli Elbe
Respect to the elders, and she is one of the first persons who underwent reassignment surgery. The great Magnus Hirschfeld also saw her. And yes, I have read her autobiography and no, I can recommend neither the novel, nor the movie. The author took too many liberties. He said he never set out to write a factious book, but I'd rather he had then not based his story on real persons. Especially due to the movie their legacy and rememberance is tainted or even outright wrong.
Buck Angel
He's da man with the pussy. I love his warmth, his resilience with which he is often able to answer hostility with acknowledgement and openness. He does speak his mind, and is the first to admit that he sometimes too goes into a wrong direction. I admire his ability to answer hate with love and warmth, this is a rare gift.
Sally Goldner
Another trailblazer with Transgender Victoria, Bisexual alliance Victoria and radio host on Melbourne's radical community radio 3CR, talking her mind weekly in "Out Of The Pan". She is a very sharp mind, a voice to be listened to and to consider.
Jazz Jennings
I just love her courage and dedication. Since her very first TV appearance when she was a fierce little girl until today when she is a fierce young adult who is so vibrant and in many ways puts herself out there as an example, an advocate and a bridge builder. I am very excited to watch her public persona grow and develop.
Michelle Shepard "Mama Mich"
She is just georgous and went a breathtaking alley from when she opened her landmark trans radio show "Transpositions" on JOY 94.9 the LGBTIQ radio from Melbourne. She is very open with herself so that others don't have to. She became a professional speaker, doing seminars on diversity and inclusion for companies and superseeded Transpositions which was more of an explainer show with the JOY podcast "Trans POV" where trans people get to talk their own view on the world. She is just starting a new professional advocacy chapter in her life, I am excited where it will lead her.
#^Transgender Awareness Week - WikipediaTransgender Awareness Week, typically observed the second week of November, is a one-week celebration leading up to Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), which memorializes victims of transphobic violence.[1] TDOR occurs annually on November 20, when transgender advocates raise awareness of the transgender community through education and advocacy ...
