INSPIRATION AND ADVICE

BLACK TRANS RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS

27 June 2020

As part of our Pride Month takeover, we asked LGBTIQ+ writers and activists from our line-up to write an article for us on whatever they wanted. This is their space to express themselves and talk about issues that are important to them. Today we're handing the mike to Wednesday Homes (pronouns: they/them) – illustrator, designer, writer and queer-community organiser with Voices 4 London and Far and Pride. This is what they wrote.

This month in the US, it was announced that trans citizens are to be removed from the human rights bill with regards to healthcare. This backwards movement will allow for medical staff to refuse to treat a person just because they are transgender. We already know that one in five trans people have been denied health coverage simply because of their trans status. Now it is legitimised by the government. This has major implications for trans patients who may contract coronavirus – withdrawing life-saving medical treatment will cause widespread death in the Trans community.

Wednesday Holmes holds a placard that says Trans Rights are Human Rights | ASOS Style Feed

Instagram: @hellomynameiswednesday

In the US, queer and trans people of colour are more than twice as likely to avoid a doctor’s office than their white counterparts. Medical racism and discrimination prevents them from accessing services safely to begin with, but with the new legislation, these systems will most likely become even more inaccessible. During a pandemic which is hitting BIPOC the hardest, all leaders need to be working to make sure that BIPOC are being protected and centred in the fight against coronavirus. However, this new legislation will surely further target and stigmatise the most vulnerable sections of society.

A drawing by illustrator Wednesday Holmes | ASOS STyle Feed

Instagram: @hellomynameiswednesday

Black trans women are among the most targeted in society. Every year, scores of Black trans women are murdered with no justice. Black trans women are fighting for survival in a system which actively attacks them for both their transness and Blackness. I think these attacks on healthcare are going to hit the most vulnerable of the queer community first. In the UK, the government is scrapping GRA (Gender Recognition Act) reforms that would have made it easier for transgender and non-binary people to legally recognise their gender – despite 70% of people consulted being in support of it. At the moment, changing your gender requires acknowledgement from two doctors. Getting a doctor to recognise that you aren’t cis, in the UK, is extremely difficult. Trans people wait for years to get simple recognition and access to medical transition.

Instagram: @hellomynameiswednesday

I believe that healthcare in the US and UK is being used to send a message that transgender citizens are less than human. During a time where people are asking for global accountability, real-world changes and reparations for 400 years of oppression of Black people, presenting trans people as the threat seems to be a distraction technique. In demanding a new anti-racist society, it is paramount that Black transgender people are given the equality and support that is sorely needed. Trans people are not the enemy. Black trans rights are human rights.