A response to the UK’s Supreme Court ruling on gender and trans women.
My music recommendation for today is Gender Identity Domination by Jane Doe and The Misery Loves Co.
Many of you will probably already be aware of the decision made by the UK supreme court to legally define the term “woman” based on “biological sex”. The way that this has been framed as a decision worth celebrating in outlets such as the BBC and the Guardian is loathsome, but expected.
I don’t want to engage in a discussion here about whether or not this decision is defensible or justifiable (it is not), nor do I want to discuss the reductive and misogynist view that women could be reduced to their genitalia, reproductive capacities, or their chromosomes, and I don’t even want to talk about the nebulous descriptor of “biology”. I won’t discuss these points because they put us on the defensive. Reacting to these claims again and again puts our energy and agency toward discourse that is simply not worth our time.
What I want to discuss instead is how appeals to institutions hinder our struggle. And to give some advice.
It seems that for many trans people, an important factor to fight for is the recognition of our identities in the face of the law. Of course, the legal demarcations of gender have a wide variety of effects upon how we are treated within a judicial system.
Here is the thing though: These systems of law and government grant us no rights that they weren’t previously keeping from us. They are the ones who built the gates that lock us out of the resources and care we need.
Any demand for a modicum of “rights” is begging institutions that loathe us to show it less.
We have to stop relying on any external validating institutions to grant us permission to exist. Instead, we should be organizing together in order to get the resources our friends and us need to survive outside of the strict lines of institutions and laws.
I frequently hear worries from trans people (especially younger trans people) starting out their transitions that amount to something like:
I’m not sure how to honestly explain my gender identity to a doctor/therapist/civil servant so that they will give me the hormones/paperwork/medical procedures that I need.
The advice I always give, and the advice I wish to pass on to everyone reading this and facing the cold wall of cisgender scrutiny that demands you run the impossible gauntlet of proving you actually are who they say you are not:
You know what you want, you know what you need, and you know that better than anyone else. This is about you and your bodily autonomy and your personal well-being. If this is denied to you, you are allowed to lie, cheat, steal, and fight for it. Always and without exceptions. You are the only person who you have to live with for your entire life, and you may do what you must to make your person and your body bearable to yourself.
In the words of Ní Fhlannagáin:
“We [can’t be] sitting here looking for, ‘oh, please, please give us things!’ No, we’re going to fucking take them. This is the thing folks don’t realise about trans folks: if you make it so that I can’t get access to the things I need to survive, I’m going to find a way to do it. We are a clever people. We will figure out a fucking way to do it.”
“Don’t ask permission for how you live your life… what are they going to do, get you in more trouble? You’re trans, honey; you’re already in trouble. Just don’t get caught.”
We are here.
We are alive.
We will stay that way.
We will never ask for permission.
Further Reading
- Self-Determinism by Nsámbu Za Suékama
- STREET TRANSVESTITE ACTION REVOLUTIONARIES: Survival, Revolt, And Queer Antagonist Struggle by Ehn Nothing, Sylvia Riviera, and Marsha P. Johnson