The hysteria surrounding Transgender and Non-Binary people sometimes amazes me. People think this is a new thing, transgender people: started by social media, inspiring adolescents to change their gender. Comparing it to fads like the TikTok challenges and Tide pods or influencers on Youtube. Or it must be some cabal operating out of a pizza parlor in Brooklyn looking to overthrow America.
I hate to break the news to you. We have been around for thousands of years. Accepted and valued in cultures around the world. The indigenous peoples of North America such people were called Two Spirited. They were recognized as a third gender. Possessing the ability to see both sides. Valued in their tribes as healers. Possessers of wisdom, often entrusted to hand down the history of their tribe verbally from one generation to the next. Transgender people are found from the Mahu of Hawaii and Polynesia, the Hirga of India. The Hirga are mentioned in the Kama Sutra, a book to possibly be 4,000 years old. The Muxes of Central America. The Kwajasura-Sira of Pakistan who simultaneously receive praise as being “gift by god” but also suffer intense discrimination and are usually rejected by their families.
This is a common theme for the transgender community. Rejection from family, rejection from friends and now in America - rejection from society. Late stage transitioners suffer a 65% loss of support when they come out and within 2 years they will have lost 88% of family and friends. In 2022, only 1 in 3 Transgender/Non-Binary youth came from a gender affirming home. 7% of homelessness in America are youth, but 40% of homeless youth are LGBTQ.
These are the sad facts. Throughout history religious ideology influenced what would be morally and culturally accepted as it was the basis for eradicating transgender people from cultures around the world. Even today it influences legislation from politicians.
Once the European settlers and Religious missionaries, that included the Catholic Churches Jesuit priests, started coming here they were horrified by the gender and sexual diversity found here. With help from the United States Government they started forcing Two-Spirited people to live the gender they were born in. Not much has changed since then but a couple of hundred years of time. So no, we weren’t born yesterday.
