Intersections

Intersections are always dangerous places and the intersection of race and gender dysphoria is no exception.

Black transgender community carries an extra heavy burden
People World’s
By Jonita Davis
April 24, 2018

Black trans men and women have suffered tremendous harm for existing not only as trans, but also for being Black in an often anti-black society. They often have an estranged relationship to the Black community at large, as church rules and so-called Christian traditions condemn the trans person’s very existence.

Yet in Memphis last month after the commemorations, marches, and conferences on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy 50 years after his assassination, people are acknowledging a long forgotten and endangered part of his work, That work was a struggle to unite and activate his people for battle with oppression. That battle has to include the defense of Black trans men and women, and all who are marginalized, in order to bring about any true change.
[…]
Pastor McBride talked about activating the community in the panel “Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice” at the I AM 2018 at the beginning of April. He touched on the topic of police brutality and why we must not get stuck on the topic of police shootings. He told the audience that a greater injustice exists, and is happening to Black women and Black transgender people. To begin combatting it, he said, “We have to lift up this conversation around the assault on our women, our loved ones, those in prison or trans loved ones, whose bodies are being subject to the violence of those who are sworn to serve and protect us.”
[…]
They are more at risk, and the numbers prove it. The American Journal of Public Health published a study that found transfeminine Black people were much more at risk of becoming homicide victims than Black women.  A cisgendered Black woman’s life expectancy is 78 years of age, 45% longer than a Black transwoman. People in this population are at risk by simply existing with dark skin and as transwomen. Their lives are devalued perhaps more than any other group in the country.

When I do diversity training I talk about the intersections of trans, race, and religion and one of the sources that I use is from Teaching Tolerance…

Intersectionality refers to the social, economic and political ways in which identity-based systems of oppression and privilege connect, overlap and influence one another.

And this from GLAAD

Violence Against Transgender People and People of Color is Disproportionately High, LGBTQH Murder Rate Peaks
By Alexandra Bolles, Associate Director, Campaigns & External Engagement |
June 4, 2012

The murder rate of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and HIV-affected (LGBTQH) is at its highest, according to a recently released 2011 report from the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP). The report also shows that transgender women, people of color, and youth and young adults are at a disproportionately high risk of being victims of what the NCAVP terms hate violence.

NCAVP gathered data from anti-violence programs in 16 states and found that, while hate violence incidents have decreased, the overall number of hate murders of members of the LGBTQH community has increased by 11%. Of those murdered, 87% were people of color, showing an increase from 70% in 2010. Furthermore, people who identify as transgender were 28% more likely to experience physical violence than those who are gender normative, according to the media release about the report.

For me being trans is hard, but I can’t even fathom what being trans and black is like it has to be exponentially harder.