This is an interesting read and makes very good points. I ran across it on twitter. The comments were ‘interesting.’ There were two general types.
A) anti people calling it ludicrous, saying things such as they were “only trying to defend women’s rights” or “we’re not against trans people, just don’t want them doing X.”
B) Pro trans people saying it proved anti trans activists were Nazis or as bad as Nazis.
Both of these are wrong.
I had an uncle who actually survived the Nazi camps. The strongest person I’ve ever known. He was the first person I came out as trans to. He told me to stop fucking around and be be my true self. Apparently he’d met a few trans women in the camp he was in, he had no problem with them. He thought anyone who end up in the camps was probably okay.
I know what his response to the arguments of “we’re just defending women’s rights” and “we only want to stop trans people doing X” would be.
– For the first “the Nazis said they were only defending German rights.”
– For the second “That’s how it starts. The Nazis said they were fine with Jews, they just wanted to stop them doing this. Then they just wanted to stop them doing that. Then stop them doing something else, and another thing, and then another, and another, and then you had camps.”
I know that’s what he’d say because he said it often about a lot of things, whenever anyone made those kind of arguments to defend what he thought was wrong.
I said this on twitter, it started to go viral as proof anti trans activists were in fact Nazis. I deleted the comments. Why? Because anti trans activists are not Nazis, not even close, and saying they are is an insult to what my uncle and the others touched by the Nazis horrors suffered. It’s also incredibly counter productive, running the risk of people totally discounting what you say because it is blatantly obvious anti trans activists are no where near as bad as Nazis. But this does not mean the comparison is inappropriate, just you must take care when making it.
My uncle would not have said anti trans activists were Nazis. But what he would have said is the use the same tactics, arguments and methods to advance their agenda, the same playbook. The same fear mongering, plays to emotion and demonisation of a minority. And this in and of itself is vile and worthy of condemnation. If you have to use the Nazi playbook to push your ideology, it means you can’t advance it any other way. It means it can not be supported by logic and rational argument. It means your ideology is morally and ethically bankrupt. And it also means, you know this.
Countless different ideologies have been advanced through this playbook and the Nazis were far from the first to use it. All of them have been morally bankrupt. So anti trans activists are not Nazis, please don’t say they are. The Nazis horrors went far beyond the genocide they committed, and in the end they would have exterminated those they claimed to be protecting rather than let them fall from their grasp. But anti trans activists are using the same vile playbook and this is very definitely worth mentioning.
Finally there’s the question of genocide, though I wouldn’t use that word, too emotionally laden. When people people think of genocide, they think of only of mass murder, Nazis, Stalin, the Khmer Rouge, Rwanda, Armenia. While these are doubtless examples of genocide, they are examples of its most obvious form, there are others.
Genocide at its heart is any attempt to eliminate a minority group, you don’t have to murder them to do this. Countless nations have introduced linguistic and cultural policies which are aimed at eliminating minorities, prevent them living as who they are, instead forcing them to be assimilated into to the majority. This is also genocide, genocide by making it impossible for them live as who they are.
So is there an ongoing trans genocide? No not currently, though in some places things are close to it. But more importantly is the elimination of trans people the ultimate aim of anti trans activists? Yes it is. If you listen to them, read the works of the core ideologues such as Shelia Jeffreys, Janice Raymond, Kathleen Stock etc it is clear their ultimate aim is to make it impossible for trans people, particularly trans women, to live as themselves.
They wish to deny them identity documents, access to facilities and services, protection from discrimination, violence and abuse, access to medical treatment etc. Some such as Janice Raymond have spelled out explicitly their aim is the elimination of trans people. While I would say their aim is the elimination of trans people rather than use the term genocide, that is simply because of how people perceive genocide. Making it impossible for trans people to live as trans is genocide, no if buts or maybes. And this is their ultimate aim, they have quite plainly stated it. Genocide.
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