Printable version of this zine below:
Context: Written by a queer radical in our collective, this zine was written in response to the Trans Visibility March that happened on March 29th, 2023 in the Montrose Neighborhood in Houston. The march not only solicited police to act as security but started and ended at venues that were 21+. The blatant gatekeeping of queer youth and the usage of police prompted a response by a queer radical, and this zine was distributed to march attendees.
Stop trans genocide now!
Fascists protesting and raiding drag shows. New genocidal legislation every week. Prominent conservatives calling for an end to transgenderism. Skyrocketing rates of hate crime. If you’re trans or queer in Texas, it’s pretty clear that shit’s looking pretty fucking bleak, and our enemies keep getting more and more bold in their attempts to eradicate us. In the face of all this, what we need is trans liberation. We need liberation from the people who want to see us dead, liberation to have control over our own bodies, and liberation to live our lives however the fuck we want. We need to take action for trans liberation now and to be honest, it seems like a lot of our allies aren’t serious about this goal.
Trans liberation is anti-cop
It should not be controversial that cops are our enemies. Cops have never protected us from transphobic violence, and are much more likely to attack us than help us. They enforced anti-sodomy laws, raided bars, and locked up people for cross-dressing. If you’re a person of color, unhoused, a sex worker, or disabled, all of which are more likely if you’re trans, you’re also even more likely to be the target of police violence. Most trans and queer people know that cops can’t be trusted, so why does it seem like so many of our “leaders” haven’t gotten the memo? Why do protest and march organizers work with cops? Why do LGBT spaces like the Montrose Center have pro-cop events?
Any member of the queer community who works with cops is selling our most marginalized siblings out. You may invite them into our spaces now, but when these bills get passed, those same cops will be forcing their way into our spaces with guns and handcuffs.
Trans liberation is youth liberation
Trans youth are at the center of the current assault on trans lives. With youth transition increasingly being outlawed, their identities being outed to transphobic parents, and increasing attacks on anybody who helps trans youth, trans youth pretty much have it worse than anyone. Meanwhile, youth are often treated as an afterthought by event organizers. Queer life and queer joy continue to be gatekept behind 21+ bars and venues. Trans youth are just pitied and looked down on, and never taken seriously as individuals that can take liberation into their own hands. Trans youth have always fought hard for their existence, and with the rise of the internet and social media, trans youth are even more aware of the importance of getting involved. Trans youth and their autonomy are still rarely respected, though, even by trans “allies”. The emphasis on adult and 21+ spaces makes trans existence even harder for the trans youth who already have so little community.
Trans liberation is radical
Radical means seizing something from its roots. It’s not enough to try to appear respectable and assimilate into society, because this whole society is rotten and built on white supremacy, colonialism, and patriarchy, Assimilating just means that a narrow sliver of middle-class, white trans people get accepted into society while the rest of us are screwed over, just like what happened to the feminist movement of the 60s and 70s. We need to work to seize our society from its roots, upturn, and create something new because until all of us are free, none of us are free.
Remember Stonewall!
Modern LGBTQ activists are always eager to evoke the Stonewall riots and the legacy of Marsha P Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, while not engaging in what they stood for. Stonewall was a riot, not a peaceful march, and it was full of pissed-off queers who hated cops and loved each other. They were sick of being screwed over by police and by business owners and started fighting back and fighting for their liberation from homophobia. The Stonewall rioters weren’t popular, even among the LGBT community. Mainstream LGBT groups like the Mattachine Society denounced the rioters’ goals of real liberation conflicted with their goals of quiet assimilation for a privileged few. The many LGBT groups today that work with cops and refuse to go beyond respectability politics are much more similar to the Mattachine society, even if they pay lip service to Stonewall. Johnson and Rivera were similarly hated in their time and practically kicked out of the mainstream LGBT movement for focusing on unhoused queer youth, especially queer people of color while calling out middle-class white gay men. They faced police violence their whole lives and events that evoke their image while working with police are dishonoring their legacy. Stonewall was a fucking riot, and we can learn much more from the homeless queer kids throwing bricks at cops than the respectability politics-obsessed middle-class white gays.
What is to be done?
I can bitch about how other people are doing things wrong all I want, but unless I have real solutions, my words are useless. I don’t think I have all the answers, but I think there are some things we can work towards.
For one, we need to start building up community defense. We should be patrolling our streets for bigoted hecklers, showing up to defend queer events from fascists, and protecting our community however we can. If we’re protecting ourselves, people won’t need to turn to cops as much. We need to also build up networks of support, help people access DIY HRT, help support trans youth, and care for one another. Fortunately, there are already groups like John Brown Gun Clubs working towards community defense, sites like diyhrt.wiki for hrt, and organizations like the Trans Resistance Network aiding trans youth.
On top of that, trans people have always cared for each other. If there’s one thing we’re good at, it’s loving our trans siblings and providing them with anything we can. This love is our biggest strength and something those who want to see us dead can never take away. Lastly, we need to make our enemies afraid. Republicans and fascists need to learn that if they bash us, we bash back and that we don’t go down without a fight. Every time they try to take away our rights, let’s show them why they shouldn’t mess with us. The time for peaceful marches and respectable protests is long over. Let’s remember what Stonewall really was- a riot– and make our enemies remember it too.
Want to learn more about DIY HRT? Scan this!
