Trans, gender non-conforming, and intersex people exist. This is not up for debate.

Trans and gender non-conforming people are and have been leaders and members of Resource Generation throughout our 20-year history, and have been visionary leaders in RG’s politics and practice.

We stand with the trans, gender non-conforming, and intersex people who are being targeted by the Trump administration’s announcement to redefine sex as a biological, immutable condition defined by genitalia at birth. This hateful memo is just another way the state and the ruling-class work together to maintain control of wealth and power.

The constant othering — dehumanizing and targeting marginalized communities — is intended to pit people against each other. But we know that we are more powerful together and that none of us are free until all of us are free.

Trans, gender non-conforming, and intersex people exist. This is not up for debate.

This isn’t new. This memo is the colonial worldview introduced by white European settlers whose strict, Christianity-backed patriarchal gender roles once imposed upon Native people are now codified and enforced throughout the U.S.

Trans, gender non-conforming, and intersex people exist. This is not up for debate.

The memo is an extension of ongoing state-sanctioned gender policing, incarceration, and surveillance. ‘Correcting’ gender and reinforcing an essentialist gender binary have always been part of prison structures. We know from the brilliant leadership of trans, gender non-conforming, and intersex people that prison abolition can and must happen. We urge our members to follow their lead by not calling the police and instead creating other methods for safety, resilience, and community accountability.

Trans, gender non-conforming, and intersex people exist. This is not up for debate.

The memo is an escalation of the ongoing cultural, police, and interpersonal war(s) against trans women, specifically Black trans women. From 2010-2016, 72% of trans homicide victims were Black trans women and femmes (source). 16 Black trans women have been murdered in 2018 alone. Almost 1 in 2 Black trans women have been incarcerated (source). Our movement(s) for social justice cannot win without the continued leadership of Black trans women, and so our movement needs to back the safety and vision of Black trans women.

Trans, gender non-conforming, and intersex people exist. This is not up for debate. Now is the time to show up for trans, gender non-conforming, and intersex people.

We recommend these action steps from TGI Justice Project, which is a group of transgender, gender variant and intersex people—inside and outside of prisons, jails and detention centers—creating a united family in the struggle for survival and freedom.

We are choosing to boost this particular call to action to center Black trans leadership at the intersection of both transmisogyny and anti-Black racism. This call to action was made on October 8, 2018, weeks before the memo was leaked, in response to the disproportionate murder rate of Black trans women and gender non-conforming people:

  • EDUCATE YOURSELF
  • LEVEL UP: Donate, volunteer, spread the good word about these organizations and urge those around you to do the same. 
  • GET YOUR COUSIN: It’s been a long time coming, but for change to really come we need to gather our folks. Having those uncomfortable conversations with loved ones about how they support a transphobic culture can be hard. Here’s a video to help you think about how to respond to some common instances of transphobia. 
  • IMAGINE ALTERNATIVES: We know that courts, cops, cages, and surveillance are tools of the state meant to control, dehumanize, isolate, and repress us, not keep us safe. Learn more about community accountability, transformative justice & other alternatives to policing that can respond to the root causes of harm & violence in our communities. Imagine ways that you can contribute to the safety of Black trans women and our communities as a whole without depending on the Prison Industrial Complex.

Trans, gender non-conforming, and intersex people exist. This is not up for debate. Let’s do our part to create a world where trans, gender non-conforming, and intersex people — and by extension all of us — can truly thrive.