Trans Day of Remembrance: ‘Why we need a revolution’

Nov. 20 — Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance. And I’d like to share an anecdote. Back in 2012 there were two separate occasions when I felt threatened because I was trans. Both of them involved groups of people yelling at me, trying to get me to answer the age-old transphobic question: Are you a dude or a chick?

Both incidents had groups of people following me and saying threatening things, which ended up with me having to hide in a grocery store before I could get beaten up. One of those events included a group of young men leaving a pile of their trash on my table inside a McDonald’s before they followed me outside.

Transphobia is real. It’s not always safe to be transgender in this country, especially if you’re a woman of color. I fight for socialism because under that system, there would be no ruling class whose existence and profit would depend upon murdering people for their “otherness” and making working-class people turn against each other.

One day we won’t have to live in a world where trans lives are constantly belittled or erased completely. We won’t find ourselves so accustomed to the murder of the oppressed just for being who they are. This is why we need a revolution. Things can change, and we must fight to make it happen.