Whose job is it to teach trans rights?
This is a loaded question. Intersectional theory states that it should not be on the minority to teach the majority about their rights and their right to exist within society. Yet, conversely, if you are the only minority in the room then often you are the only advocate for your rights within a given space or sphere. It can be exhausting having to continually come out, teach others about your basic identity, and simply being the spokes person for your minority group. Trans identities are so vast and broad that even if you are the only trans person in the room your actual scope to be educational is limited to your own perspective and personal world view. So, who has the responsibility to educate others about trans rights and issues?
In many respects the people we turn to in the media, social media, and YouTube are the ones who have cared enough to build a following. Paris Lees is a great example of a trans woman whose life experiences led her to advocate for trans rights precisely because her own were disregarded by those around her. Juliet Jaques was given a platform by The Guardian to explore her transition at a time when trans women were rarely, if ever, platformed, yet in the end she stepped away from direct trans advocacy because she did not want to focus on trans issues for the rest of her career. Abigail Thorn’s Philosophy Tube coming out video was seminal because she had both a cis-profile and because she had reach with a progressive audience; yet, since her coming out she has been unable to shake her trans identity in her non-trans related material. All three have provided educational content through their own lenses, yet all three have stepped back to a degree from role of educator because it became all-consuming and tiring.
If trans people are the educators in residence, then what happens when you have two, three, or more trans voices within a community? Whose voice matters, whose voice is diminished, and whose voice gets rejected? In the digital sphere there are a plurality of trans voices all competing for the narrative. On Reddit there are a multitude of sub-reddits dedicated to trans issues ranging from the workaday through to the radical, each with distinct voices who educate those who interact with them. In the media more broadly you have voices like Buck Angel, Debbie Hayton and Blair White who are championed by the right wing because they suit the right-wing narrative of good transsexuals versus bad trans radicals. Most non-trans right wingers only get to see a small slice of the trans experience because the only trans voices platformed fit into this niche mould.
Which brings us back to the point of self-education. If the only trans voices most people get to read or watch are medical essentialists or right-wing apologists even in the centrist media, then this notion of self-education falls flat. The resources people have access to, the time people are willing to spend on both accessing those resources and consuming them, and the resources pushed to them by algorithms impacts broader perception of trans rights. If you stick to the principal that people need to self-educate then the resources need to be impactful and effective, not simply right-wing tropes and diatribes.
This puts trans folk in a bind, for even they consume content to educate themselves. Your worldview is shaped by the media you watch and interact with, your ability to conceptualise yourself is formed by the people you see. If the only trans content pushed your way is medical essentialism you will see trans issues through a medical essentialist lens. If you are exposed to trans folks at their most extreme then you will assume trans folk are an extreme element within society. If the media consistently portrays trans women as rapists waiting to happen then you will have your fear stoked. This is why it is paramount that any education happens in the round, not simply from one media source or another, be you cis or trans.
No trans person should ever be expected to out themselves or take on educating everyone around them, yet there is also a need to understand that sometimes educating others enriches the whole community. Yes, you can very much take a horse to water, but you cannot force people to listen to what you have to say. Ultimately, folk must be receptive to the message you are presenting, and especially with trans issues this is complex and often frustrating. There needs to be a balance between self-education and trans folk getting talk about their rights in the round, as otherwise people become over-reliant on singular perspectives, which only damages trans rights in the long run.
