PARTISAN!

Max J reports on a trans rights rally held on February 8th, and argues that communists need to do a great deal more to engage with the trans rights movement, and connect it to the broader workers movement.

February 8^th saw massive protests for trans rights held across the country. In Newcastle, a large (by Newcastle standards) rally of over a hundred was held at Civic Park. It was positive to see a large impromptu mobilisation of people to support trans rights. Speakers included Paige Johnson, the first openly transgender councillor elected to Newcastle council (from the Labor Party, interestingly enough). Unfortunately, while the speakers were encouraging, the rhetoric left a lot to be desired.

None of the speakers made any mention of bodily autonomy for trans kids and youth. The main argument in support of trans healthcare access for under 18s seems only to be that the doctors agree it is good. A reliance on the “the science” is good for as long as “the science” agrees with you – history has shown that doctors are no less prone to discriminatory practices than politicians are. In fact, medical discrimination is far more pernicious.

In our support for trans healthcare for under 18s, which we support for the same reasons we support abortion (the state should have no say in what you do to your body), we need to emphasise that it’s bodily autonomy that matters, not “the evidence” saying that it’s good. Trans kids, like anyone else, deserve the ability to make their own decisions: on what they wear, who they socialise with, how they identify, and so on. A very clear demand emerges from this: let trans kids choose for themselves!

Neither did the speakers point out the double standard inherent to the state’s attacks on trans healthcare – no other field of medicine would be scuttled by the government for “regret rates” or “specialist misconduct”. Plenty of people regret plastic surgeries, and despite an uncountable number of dodgy plastic surgeons, no one would accept the state scuttling plastic surgery. So why do they accept scuttling trans healthcare, especially for under 18s?

It’s a paternalistic scheme by the state to reassert the control of the government and the family over rebellious transgender kids and youth. While we have made strides for LGBTQ+ acceptance over the decades (as pointed out by one of the speakers at the Newcastle rally), there is still continuous push back from religious, political, and social organisations. This fuels ongoing bigotry and discrimination in various fields: from sporting, to bathrooms, to schools and workplaces. It is suddenly acceptable to be openly and viciously transphobic both in Australia and in the US. In the US, South Carolina Congresswoman Nancy Mace had shouted a vicious transgender slur numerous times in a house meeting. It is pandemonium. The slide into overt bigotry hit Australia when The Australian published a disgusting article referring to Palestinians as “black hearted Arabs” and calling them the “gorillas of Gaza”.

Contrary to the transphobic and paternalistic nagging of liberals and conservatives, restrictions on trans identity for under 18s does not “help kids” (nor do they aim to, really). In reality, what it does is harm children. It restricts their ability to live the way they want to, forces them to conform to an anti-social worldview mandated by the state, and it causes further harm by driving these children toward self-harm and suicide (which is perhaps the aim all along).

The dominance of the Greens at the Newcastle rally is unsurprising, though Labor had a small presence (as did Socialist Alliance). The Greens have put much effort into marketing themselves as the ‘progressive’ party. Into the future, communists need to make a greater effort at attending these, as much as rallies are a drain and a time sink. Their benefit is that our attendance shows people that communists exist and support trans rights, and gives communists a chance to talk to people before and after the rally. Communist participation is necessary to push back against the ‘silent popular front’ developing this year, promoted by all sorts of forces, from liberal catastrophists in the Greens to Socialist Alternative. Otherwise, well meaning trans kids and youth will continue to be suckered into the ‘dream’ of a Greens government forming (most likely out of thin air), getting rid of all the bad guys, and instating a thousand year Bandtite utopia.

Communists are clear on what we support: unrestricted healthcare access for trans people (both children and adult), abolition of legal gender, the right to change your name or identity as necessary, banning conversion therapy, and so on. But what we need to be more clear on is what we propose in strategic terms. Trans rights activists need to disconnect from the not-for-profit NGO complex and connect their struggles with those of the workers movement as a whole. Dominant narratives in the trans movement speak of trans people as if they are a special separate class of their own. They obviously aren’t. Trans peoples’ issues connect as much to those of the broader working class as those of any other minority. For example, trans workers would benefit from transition leave, the same way women would benefit from maternity leave, or workers in general from parental leave.

We’re also clear on what we oppose, strategically speaking. We don’t support funneling people into charities or NGOs, even if those organisations are beneficial in the short term, nor do we want to fully invest in “mutual aid projects” (stochastic charity). We don’t want to set up soap boxes from which to whinge, moan, and complain. Trans workers in Australia deserve better than more talking-shop shenanigans – they get enough of that from the government. We also don’t water down our politics or hide them behind euphemisms, we avoid the ‘dumbness of dumbing down’. Trans workers aren’t benefited by wordy tirades on this and that sect position, but they also aren’t benefited by communists treating them like idiots who can’t understand the world around them.

There is clearly energy being directed toward defending against attacks on trans people by the state and other institutions, but more energy is needed in the right direction for trans oppression to be overcome for good.