transLucyd
Member
- Nov 5, 2024
- 26
Hello everyone. It has been pointed out already that the results of the election are affecting many people in the US and beyond, specially trans people (like me) and other minorities
I felt extremly bad about it too, and along many other things in my head made me consider CTB way more seriously.
However I urge you to stop and consider some things. I don't want to argue over politics here and I don't really want to keep making replies to this post. Just want to share a couple of ideas that will hopefully help us understand and make better decisions about this.
0: some people here didn't seem to grasp the consequences of a Trump's second term. I really won't try to argue how it will be very bad for almost everyone in the US and abroad. But just so everyone gets this: Trump's more fervent supports are incredible transphobic and support policies that harm the trans community and other minorities. Lack of laws and a atmosphere of hate/fear is an extremly important factor in mental health problems for marginalized communities, like ours. So this is serious.
1: I think most people were expecting him to lose. Even if it was close. So right off the bat, we got our expectations completly twisted upside down. This radical change of perspective about the future is capable setting us in a state of panic. Also the lack of understanding of how this played out made me and many people become very uneasy, because we always want to make sense of things around us, speacially when it's this big in scale.
2: Now, our first instinct was to think that the country became much more alligned with his ideas and that of his base. However we should note that he actually lost (some) votes compared to the last election, and what happened is that democrats had less votes in total. So it is not so much that the country swung more right per se, but it lacked more oposition from the left. This doe make a difference in the great scheme of things because it doesn't mean that more people are against us or ''trying to get us'' in an active way*. I know that when we see those MAGA crowds out there it looks crazy and scary, but seriously watch some interview of randon people who voted for him...these people just look clueless to say the least.
If you want to understand more about what happened I recommend you check out Adam Something's community notes on youtube. I think his opinion makes sense and helped me calm down about the states of things in politics and society at large.
3: Sure, you might say. But that does not invalidate the fact that this is a big negative development for us. True. I'm not trying to fool any one here, this is bad news for our community. And I freaked out about this too. I live in Brazil, so I know what is being afraid of my future as a trans person, even though I kinda have some support to keep my life. But I know that many trans women and men in the US live in poverty, some are homeless, jobless, live with an abusive family. So it's no wonder the hotlines for LGBT people skyrocted these days.
4*: Now, if you look on social media and stuff, there are indeed some transphobes rejoicing and trying to scare us, and purposefully make us lose hope and our peace of mind. Do not give in to this kind of rhetoric. As I said, thing will be tough, but in the same way that we should not fantasize about things going too well for us, we should not fantasize about a total and imment dimise of us all. I think there is much that can happen in the following months and years: blue states and some swing states can offer us more protections, I think that he might lose support as some of his most radical policies are enacted, there maybe many twists of events that will actually makes things better, politics is very unpredictable. I don't want anyone thinking that during day one of his presidency we are all gona die or something; even the worse policies and their creators need a lot of work and time to be enacted. Who know what will happen in the meantime. And I know Vance would take his place, he is very old...so, you know, he might be gone soon, and that's cool.
5: There are things you can do to try to improve your situation. I reached out to my friends and said I was anxious, I talked to them and felt better, so try to do that too. If you do not have friends for that, and even if you do, try to reach for communities that try to help trans folks. Since I'm not from the US, my knowledge about this is limited but I think that this exist and I'm guessing more people are noticing this trend, we have time to organize and prepare for the worse. Also, I know that it might not be possible for most people here, but if you live in a deep red state, try to leave for a blue one; as I said, I don't think we are doomed, but we should try to get to safety, and this include not being surrended by the most radical people.
So in the end. I'm not here to tell you what to do. But I am so worried about other trans person in the US right now. We allready have one of the highest suicide rates of any segment in society. We should try to calm ourselves and not fall for their trap. We can survive this. We are a community and can do great things :) I LOVE YOU ALL BEAUTIFUL TRANS PEOPLE
I felt extremly bad about it too, and along many other things in my head made me consider CTB way more seriously.
However I urge you to stop and consider some things. I don't want to argue over politics here and I don't really want to keep making replies to this post. Just want to share a couple of ideas that will hopefully help us understand and make better decisions about this.
0: some people here didn't seem to grasp the consequences of a Trump's second term. I really won't try to argue how it will be very bad for almost everyone in the US and abroad. But just so everyone gets this: Trump's more fervent supports are incredible transphobic and support policies that harm the trans community and other minorities. Lack of laws and a atmosphere of hate/fear is an extremly important factor in mental health problems for marginalized communities, like ours. So this is serious.
1: I think most people were expecting him to lose. Even if it was close. So right off the bat, we got our expectations completly twisted upside down. This radical change of perspective about the future is capable setting us in a state of panic. Also the lack of understanding of how this played out made me and many people become very uneasy, because we always want to make sense of things around us, speacially when it's this big in scale.
2: Now, our first instinct was to think that the country became much more alligned with his ideas and that of his base. However we should note that he actually lost (some) votes compared to the last election, and what happened is that democrats had less votes in total. So it is not so much that the country swung more right per se, but it lacked more oposition from the left. This doe make a difference in the great scheme of things because it doesn't mean that more people are against us or ''trying to get us'' in an active way*. I know that when we see those MAGA crowds out there it looks crazy and scary, but seriously watch some interview of randon people who voted for him...these people just look clueless to say the least.
If you want to understand more about what happened I recommend you check out Adam Something's community notes on youtube. I think his opinion makes sense and helped me calm down about the states of things in politics and society at large.
3: Sure, you might say. But that does not invalidate the fact that this is a big negative development for us. True. I'm not trying to fool any one here, this is bad news for our community. And I freaked out about this too. I live in Brazil, so I know what is being afraid of my future as a trans person, even though I kinda have some support to keep my life. But I know that many trans women and men in the US live in poverty, some are homeless, jobless, live with an abusive family. So it's no wonder the hotlines for LGBT people skyrocted these days.
4*: Now, if you look on social media and stuff, there are indeed some transphobes rejoicing and trying to scare us, and purposefully make us lose hope and our peace of mind. Do not give in to this kind of rhetoric. As I said, thing will be tough, but in the same way that we should not fantasize about things going too well for us, we should not fantasize about a total and imment dimise of us all. I think there is much that can happen in the following months and years: blue states and some swing states can offer us more protections, I think that he might lose support as some of his most radical policies are enacted, there maybe many twists of events that will actually makes things better, politics is very unpredictable. I don't want anyone thinking that during day one of his presidency we are all gona die or something; even the worse policies and their creators need a lot of work and time to be enacted. Who know what will happen in the meantime. And I know Vance would take his place, he is very old...so, you know, he might be gone soon, and that's cool.
5: There are things you can do to try to improve your situation. I reached out to my friends and said I was anxious, I talked to them and felt better, so try to do that too. If you do not have friends for that, and even if you do, try to reach for communities that try to help trans folks. Since I'm not from the US, my knowledge about this is limited but I think that this exist and I'm guessing more people are noticing this trend, we have time to organize and prepare for the worse. Also, I know that it might not be possible for most people here, but if you live in a deep red state, try to leave for a blue one; as I said, I don't think we are doomed, but we should try to get to safety, and this include not being surrended by the most radical people.
So in the end. I'm not here to tell you what to do. But I am so worried about other trans person in the US right now. We allready have one of the highest suicide rates of any segment in society. We should try to calm ourselves and not fall for their trap. We can survive this. We are a community and can do great things :) I LOVE YOU ALL BEAUTIFUL TRANS PEOPLE
