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Sifting rights in the trans hellscape
One of the recurring themes of trans rights is that those rights are decided and bounded by non-trans actors such as judges and politicians. While trans folk have actively fought for the right to simply exist as themselves since oppression first emerged, they have had little power to actually shape or enforce those rights. Much of the present issue with trans rights is that while a modicum of protection was enacted, it is the caprices of cis folk that are rolling back and reshaping our understanding of trans rights. This sifting of trans rights is rooted both in the fear of non-cis identities, and the willingness of those in power to use trans folk as the scapegoats to avoid taking responsibility for broader social ills.
Rights are a mercurial thing, always seen in the eye of the beholder. You only need rights in a communal setting, to identify possible oppressive forces and prevent those forces from overriding individual liberties. There is always a tension between personal rights, communal ideas of what those rights are, and a wider majoritarian consensus of how the good life should be shaped. Trans rights intersect with so many areas of life that it is not as simple as saying trans rights are this particular thing; indeed, much of the tension within the trans community more broadly has been an attempt to shape a set of definable trans rights that suits some perspectives over…
