I keep listening to the podcast Trans Norge. I'm not listening in order, rather picking episodes that seem interesting somewhat of a whim. For each episode I learn new stuff or have new revelations about queerness, "transness" (is that a word?) and our society. This podcast should be obligatory for every new queer person (and really, for everyone). Unfortunately for my international readers, it's only in Norwegian.
The episode I listened to today was about transphobia. I've written about transphobia before, but today it feels like I've reached another level of enlightenment on this subject. So it warrants another blog post.
Because what IS transphobia, really?
It's the belief that being trans is somehow LESS than being cis. Less desirable, less valid, or that it's somehow damaging or contagious. That trans people shouldn't be permitted to reproduce. That if someone beat you up because you're trans, the "you were trans" is a valid excuse. Let's imagine that being trans WAS "contagious", in the sense that hanging out with trans people, speaking with trans people, could make you trans... Why is that a bad thing? It's all transphobia.
In the podcast they compared it to homophobia or sexism, explaining that the discourse in Norwegian society has gotten further on those two areas than on transphobia. People who call out misgendering or other disrespect as transphobia, get told they shouldn't use that term.. Because it's not violent or aggressive. Yet imagine if a man walked around his workplace, treating all women as inferior to men, and very clearly disrespecting them and their opinions.. Most people would be able to see that and call it sexism. Misogynism. The same thing happens to trans people all the time, in the media, in the workplace, at home in family gatherings.. And yet calling people out for being transphobic makes them super defensive and angry, and cis people flock to their defense.
There's also a super strong pressure to conform, at least here in Norway. Everyone should be like everyone else, dress like everyone else, talk like everyone else. Research has shown that Norway has very strict social norms (much stricter than say UK or Netherlands for example), and if you deviate you're punished for it. This also affects trans people, in that only the gender binary is really permitted to exist. Anyone who deviates from the gender norm gets punished, not only socially but also in their access to (often life-saving) treatment.
The treatment system for trans people in Norway is extremely binary and there's lots of gatekeeping. (For example they don't recognize non-binary people at all.) If you want treatment from the National Treatment Service in charge of trans issues, you need to "do" gender as someone out of the 1950ies (or 1850ies..). A trans woman wearing pants instead of a dress/skirt, might be rejected for not being "sufficiently womanly" for example. You also have to enthusiastically desire all the treatment they have to offer, in an all-or-nothing kind of deal. So if you are a trans man and wish to keep your vulva the way it is, you may be rejected because you aren't "man enough". They claim to do this to avoid wrongful treatment of people who weren't "really" trans after all. They claim they're protecting us.
But try to replace the minority with the majority is this image... Does it still seem reasonable?
Imagine a 16 year old boy who was born with gynecomastia, a disorder where boys start developing breasts during puberty... No one would question his desire to get those breasts removed. No one would question his ability to make that decision for himself, even though such major surgery always involves certain risks. Everyone would understand that a 16 year old boy would find developing breasts to be traumatic... (or, if you balk at the fact that he's under 18, make him 18 years old then. The example is valid anyway.)
And yet if that 16 year old (or 18 year old, if you want) boy was a trans boy, who started developing breasts because he's going through a female puberty.. A lot of questions would be asked about his ability to make decisions, his ability to understand risk, his desire to have the breasts removed, and the trauma he's going through would be ignored or disregarded.
Why this difference in treatment? Transphobia.
"But what if the trans person regrets their decision to transition?" you ask. "What if they were really cis!" Yes well, what then..? First of all, it's a proven fact that only a miniscule number of people choose to de-transition, and go back to the gender they were assigned at birth.
Secondly, many of those who regret their transitions, regrets being pushed into a gender-binary understanding how how to "do" trans. They aren't "really cis", they're actually non-binary. They would have been happier with a less invasive/drastic transition, for example only having hormones but no surgeries, or only breast surgery and not touching the genitals. Alternatively, they are trans, but regret their transition because they don't pass as a cis person in society, or because they've had problems after surgeries so their bodies don't work the way they wanted to. This means they still experience discrimination, or they have significant health problems etc. They're still trans, though.
Third: Ok, some very few cis people might discover that they weren't trans after all. And that's sad. But how many HUNDREDS of trans people get denied treatment, because of that fear? How many hundreds of lives get significantly worse, mentally and physically, because of this fear of "regret"? What's worse: One cis person regretting starting hormones or getting surgery, or 10, 20, or 100 trans people who kill themselves because they can't face overwhelming dysphoria and are refused life saving treatment? Why do we value the cis person's comfort higher than the lives of trans people?
Also: Cis people can do a lot of stupid shit without anyone gatekeeping them or seriously questioning their sanity. They can get tattoos in very unflattering places. They can get a one-way-ticket to tibet and decide to become a monk. They can take up loans and ruin themselves financially. They can go base jumping. In fact, as long as I pass for a woman and my passport has an F in it, I can walk into a plastic surgery clinic and get a breast augmentation that same week (assuming I had the money to pay for it). Yet someone who doesn't pass as a woman, who's got an M in their passport, will be denied the same service. Why? Transphobia. I can't see any other reasonable explanation.
Can you?
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