By Sage Subbiah, GSA Treasurer
Effects of Speech
There is a genocide occurring in America right now, and people like me are the targets. The legal definition of genocide is violent attacks with the specific intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. While people like me aren’t under the groups listed, we are still united under a single umbrella. There are ten stages of genocide as originally created by Gregory Stanton: classification, symbolism, discrimination, dehumanization, organization, polarization, preparation, persecution, extermination, and denial. It follows the division of peoples, determining a hate-filled symbol, the passage of laws to promote division, denying the humanity of the group, organizing groups specifically to massacre the target, the division of the group and the stripping of civil rights and liberties, planning of the massacre, forcibly separating the victims to a specific area, the disposal of the victims, and not accepting any wrongdoing. I am under the trans umbrella, and we are currently looking at the late stages of genocide. It has been proven over and over that there is a large group of individuals who would like people like me to die. This could only happen with the help of bigotry pushed forth by individuals who can’t handle other people just being themselves. A pastor in Columbia referred to trans people as “broken,” compared intersex individuals to eunuchs, and compared Nazi Germany to our LGBTQIA+ culture. We are not broken, intersex individuals aren’t eunuchs, and our community should in no way be compared to Nazi Germany when we were persecuted by them. On top of this, laws are continuously coming forth to aid in the extermination of trans individuals. We have been classified, given a symbol, constantly discriminated against, painted as disordered, had laws passed to brand us as pedophiles, are targeted by right-wing militia groups, and have laws passed to kill pedophiles after branding trans people as such. Recently, Canada has even stated that LGBTQIA+ travelers could become a target when crossing the southern border.
I as a trans individual am scared for my future every day that I am in this country simply because I exist. I wouldn’t have to live in fear of being in harm’s way if others could simply leave people like me to our own devices. Our actions are to better fit ourselves. We do not harm anyone from just being trans. We are not broken. We are not diseased. We are human.
Circumstances
I haven’t only had to deal with the prejudice and ignorance from people not accepting me being trans, but also the fact that I am Indian. I am from South India, specifically Tamil Nadu. I have to navigate the state of our country as an extremely marginalized group as-is, yet I also have to deal with the hatred of peers who are supposed to be empathetic to individuals like me who are part of a marginalized group. I am a person of color and people will continuously make jokes connected to my heritage when it comes from a state of mind filled with ignorance and bigotry. I have been harassed by other marginalized individuals for my body, name, ethnicity, culture, and identity. Regardless, I am still persevering and doing my best to perpetuate good in this hate-filled world. What I can’t wrap my mind around individuals from another similarly marginalized group saying such hateful things knowing full-well of how much of an effect it has.
Differences
I am quite ignorant when it comes to most beliefs, be it my own or another individual’s. What I do know is that the hate towards LGBTQIA+ individuals is found in the societal aspects of some countries, but not necessarily what they are built on. I strive to learn about other cultures, beliefs, and people, knowing that I will get things wrong. What I don’t strive to do is beat down what is seemingly “alien” to me. Just because something is different, doesn’t mean it is inherently wrong. What is wrong is when you push that ideation onto others, perpetuating that spread of hate that causes the deaths of other human beings.
I am here, queer, and human. I am a human being and that is a beautiful thing. The brain is so complex in allowing the beings such as ourselves to exist and be conscious. I might not know everything, but I truly wish to learn and understand as much as possible about the beautiful differences between me and other people. I see other beliefs and the cultures they are attached to as amazing, and, even if I don’t agree with everything to do with it, I do my best to show my respect. All I want is that same respect back. I shouldn’t have to deal with hate from anyone, regardless of who it is. We are all human.
Consensus
Ultimately, all I want to come of this is understanding. I get that change is a long and hard process. Change is what I would love to occur, but it is extremely difficult to break down the societal prejudices hammered into us from birth. I understand that the information in this report is quite jarring and might seem like an overstatement, but, sadly, it is not. Hopefully, my writing will not be in vain and, at the very least, convey my sincerity. This is in no way all the information on these topics, so I highly suggest looking into it yourself. Please remember that regardless of our differences, we are first and foremost human beings who deserve all the love and respect in the world.
