It is challenging when the media propaganda about your community is either focused on polarizing “love” or “hate” centric content.
When did transgender human beings become people to either be feared or fetishized and nothing else?
I’ll tell you, when the general public stops thinking for themselves, that’s when. Yes, that’s correct, when the general public bought into being divided over:
- Sports
- Religion
- Bathrooms
- Bodily Autonomy
- Etc.
It’s easy to pull the wool over the eyes of the most ignorant in society, isn’t it?
A tale as old as time — divide and conquer through identity politics brought to you by the U.S. government in an effort to turn the public against itself.
Now, consider this: just how many of your own tax dollars do you think it has cost you over time to hate transgender people like me? You don’t even know it, but you “know” you hate someone like me. Does that make you feel smart? It shouldn’t. It should actually piss you the fuck off. Right? Ok, so let’s go deeper.
I’ll now ask you, what lived experience has given you that feeling of “hate” that you seem to have? Go ahead, now tell me, what lived experience have you directly had that brought you to “hate” transgender people? I am waiting, and I’ll wait but not hold my breath because it’s a good guess to say that, in fact, it has never happened.
Daily, transgender human beings such as myself have to fight for our human and civil rights while navigating systems that were not set up to empower us as transgender citizens, but systems that our government also set up to oppress people such as myself further. As a transgender person, I do not have the luxury of time to hate on anyone. Think about it: I have double the paperwork, double the coordination, and double the areas I have to double-, triple-, or quadruple-check that were handled properly by a third party that affects my life. If you’ve ever changed your legal name, you understand only a minor fraction of what’s entailed here. Trans people like me are far too busy to create issues. Still, absolutely, when we have the time, we can and do speak on how ass-backward this government stays to try to turn the cisgender community against its fellow transgender citizens.
So, let’s bring it back to “hate,” now shall we? For the individuals who can’t seem to understand why they “hate” trans people so much, perhaps your hatred stemmed from your sincere ignorance; you fear what you are ignorant of. And why do you think you are ignorant when it comes to transgender people?
Well, your government wants you to hate and be divided from transgender people so much so that it refuses to even discuss transgender citizens’ existence during human anatomy and sexuality educational courses. So let’s make it super clear here, in the U.S., the government teaches about cisgender male and female anatomy and predominantly heterosexual sexuality. That means if you are a gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, or asexual individual, you most likely will not be taught about part of your own sexual identity until you arrive in adulthood.
That ignorance in the area of human sexuality right there creates stigma of “differences,” which can then lead to homophobia, which can ultimately end in death. This ignorance through lack of educational awareness is then later attempted to be defended by being labeled as “gay panic” or “trans panic” in the courts — this cycle of hate, which could be prevented by simple education. There would be so many beautiful LGBTQIA+ community members still alive to this day if the United States government had enacted educational programs that were inclusive of all sexualities and all gender identities. It is shameful to live in a country whose government attempts to police “morality” through religious psychosis when they should be governing based on facts.
You would think if the so-called “great” United States government truly cared for its citizens, it would take all necessary precautions in terms of public policy to prevent future hate crimes by simply educating the general public on what it is to have a different gender than that to which you were assigned at birth, and that human sexuality exists on a spectrum, as does gender.
Education here is crucial; it’s crucial to the survival of LGBTQIA+ U.S. citizens. It’s sad to say that the education needed in this country isn’t happening at all. And it’s not happening by design from those who seek to oppress and further exclude transgender people such as myself from all areas of society.
Know this: they will not stop there. It starts with one group, then proceeds to the next, and the next, and the next, and so on, until one day the hate lands on your doorstep. Then what? At that moment, it will be too late.
Too late for you, too late for me, but the time we have is now. What will you do? Or will you turn and look away because the hate has not yet come to your door? Until then, I’ll be over here, actually discussing the golden rule of life: do unto others. Remember that?
ABOUT DYLAN THOMAS COTTER:
Rebel with a cause, driven by authenticity, self-expression, and liberation for all.
Dylan Thomas Cotter is a strategist, public relations leader, and brand communications executive with more than fifteen years of experience at the intersection of entertainment, media, and technology.
Cotter is known for securing numerous Tier 1 (top-tier) and Tier 2 media placements across key markets including but not limited to GQ, Rolling Stone, Out Magazine, The Advocate, Pride, Inked Magazine, Real Simple, VICE, KTLA, Reader’s Digest, Mashable, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Life UK, Newsweek, Men’s Health, Parade Magazine, Betches, U.S. News & World Report, Women’s Health Magazine, NursingColleges.com, Women.com, South China Morning Post, Truthout, MIC, The Manual, Curl Magazine, International Business Times UK, TechRound, GB News, The Irish Star US, The Mirror, MSN and AOL.
Cotter is an advisor to founders, artists, and executives on brand positioning, reputation, corporate social responsibility, and strategic communications. As an openly gay transgender professional, Dylan Thomas Cotter is committed to fostering inclusive, respectful, and affirming work environments.
His latest book, THINK LIKE A TRANSGENDER THOUGHT LEADER, is out now, and his memoir, TRANSGENDER & TRIGGERING THE LIFE OF DYLAN THOMAS COTTER, is available now at Barnes & Noble, Harvard Book Store, Book Soup, and Skylight Books, amongst other fine retailers, and is distributed worldwide through IngramSpark.