Transgender Day of Visibility 2019

This TDOV, it’s hard to think about anything else other than the fact that Chelsea Manning is back in solitary.

The relationship between transgender women, and queer people in general, and the carceral state in the U.S. is nothing new. My understanding and familiarity with it, because of when I came of age, is inextricably tied to Chelsea Manning.

And with the exception of CeCe McDonald, in my adult life, Chelsea is and has been probably the most visible trans woman in prison. In this case as in all others, visibility is a bittersweet thing.

If there’s nothing else that organizations such as Black and Pink and Appalachian Prison Book Project (APBP) teach us, it’s that LGBTQ folks in prison are multiplicitous and deserve to have their basic humanity recognized.

The purpose of Black and Pink is as follows: “Black & Pink is an open family of LGBTQ prisoners and “free world” allies who support each other. Our work toward the abolition of the prison industrial complex is rooted in the experience of currently and formerly incarcerated people. We are outraged by the specific violence of the prison industrial complex against LGBTQ people, and respond through advocacy, education, direct service, and organizing.” (Black and Pink)

The purpose of the Appalachian Prison Book Project is as follows: “ Our work emanates from two interconnected premises: education is a basic human right, and engaging the community in educational justice efforts is a requisite component to building sustainable restorative justice models,” (Appalachian Prison Book Project.

There are also organizations such as the TGI Justice Project, who are 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,” and their mission is, “ We work in collaboration with others to forge a culture of resistance and resilience to strengthen us for the fight against human rights abuses, imprisonment, police violence, racism, poverty, and societal pressures. We seek to create a world rooted in self- determination, freedom of expression, and gender justice.”

On this TDOV, I can’t help but to think about our LGBTQ family who are imprisoned. Prison abolition, or even just restorative justice, aren’t always the most attended to area’s of activism and organizing, and I’m as guilty of it as anyone else. However, dismantling the carceral state is as much a part of the movement, dating back to the days of the Compton Cafeteria and Stonewall Riots, as anything else, if not more so.

This is about why transgender people get imprisoned. This is about where transgender people are imprisoned. This is about how transgender people are treated in prison, and by who.

TDOV, according to TDOV.org is about, “The International TDoV is an annual holiday celebrated around the world. The day is dedicated to celebrating the accomplishments and victories of transgender & gender non-conforming people while raising awareness of the work that is still needed to save trans lives. The holiday was founded in 2009 as a reaction to the lack of LGBT holidays celebrating transgender people’s successes.”

Given the above, this missive may be missing the point of TDOV, and in that way may be mistimed. However, as a writer, I feel called to write, and this is what I feel called to write.