I’m often skeptical of the idea of intersectionality. Trying to lump people who are black, queer, atheist, immigrants, feminists, etc. in one big group and have them fight for each other’s rights isn’t going to work super well, and any division can just detail the whole effort.

But the T in LGBT has been there since the very early days of the gay rights movement. Trans people were not just there at Stonewall, they were the crux of the riots, for fuck’s sake! I grew up when people were literally trying to erase gay people from existence - the whole “is it a choice vs. are you born gay?” debate, which was both insulting and not important (oh, if it’s a choice, then it’s fine for you to oppress someone?) was erasure. Gay-erasure was a thing, everyone. Bi-erasure has been a thing for ages! Now I see the same thing happening to trans folks, and it’s like a bunch of people are either forgetting it or willfully ignoring history.

It’s not even just about what this comic is saying, i.e., if you let them come for people who are trans, then soon they’ll come for you. Even if I knew 100% gay marriage was not under threat AT ALL, I’d still support the trans community, because it’s not a tit-for-tat when someone’s existence is at stake! Sure, we need to convince the public, sure it’s hard and sure, there are some small (VERY small in terms of numbers) issues like trans athletes and regretful transitioners that maybe need some working through or compromises, just as gay marriage had to start with civil unions before the public accepted “marriage.” But it’s worth fighting for!

Okay, rant over, especially with me knowing Lemmy is fine with trans folks, y’all are good peeps, I just felt angry about this today.