Not even a month after H.B.257 was signed, we are already seeing the continuing effects of legalized transphobia. State Board of Education member, Natalie Cline, posted a Facebook post accusing a high school student athlete of being transgender. This post resulted in massive hate and threats towards this student and her family. Because of this, many have called for Cline’s resignation, including a multitude of Utah state legislators who are working on proper measures to address her behavior. This culmination of hate is a result of the language used to maintain and propagate transphobia within Utah’s culture today. And in order to combat the influx of trans hate we must become familiar with their tactics.
In order to continue transphobia, the purveyors of such have adopted a language of justification. Justifying that separating trans people from cis people actually protects trans people from hate. Justifying that discrimination against trans is for the “safety” of children. That separating us is for the good of society. They respect us because they don’t outlaw us entirely, they listen to our testimonies, they allow us to protest, and we are still allowed in the daylight, so they must be the bigger person. They are respectable bigots. They will exercise bigotry but in a manner that befits the marble columns, gold trim, tailored suits, and the well-mannered. The falsehood of respectable bigotry is dangerous. Respectable bigotry adopts the position of a moderator. They are here to listen to both sides, to use the language of empathy and concern in order to excuse and enact hate. Progressive language is a guise for their true intentions.
I find it laughable that the state legislature is appalled by Cline’s post when this is the precedent that they set up. Why is it appalling to even allude to a student being trans, but when actual trans people get these swarms of hate and threats directed toward them, it is applauded? The applause rings for legislation like 2022’s transgender sports ban H.B. 11, and this year’s H.B. 257 transgender “privacy space” ban. The legislature is continuing to sow the seeds of fear that H.B. 257 enabled through bills like H.B. 424 which furthers the myth that trans people are child sex predators. H.B. 424 directly coordinates with H.B. 257 within its text. These bills are the swarms of hate, and they build the cultural malice towards people like me.
I am a transgender person taking masculinizing hormone replacement therapy. Since the passing of H.B. 257, my fear of being trans on campus and in public has increased immensely. My appearance exists in a limbo between “man?” and “woman?”, and since H.B. 257 extends to institutions of higher education, the possibility of being accused of criminal activity is ever present in my mind every day, every class, everywhere. Even if I forgo “sex-designated” restrooms for gender-neutral restrooms, I am not safe. Entering a gender-neutral restroom makes it clear to those around me that I am trans. It puts a target on my back the moment I walk through the door.
Establishing the precedent that trans people should use a gender-neutral restroom as an alternative to “sex-designated” restrooms, will only result in fear around the individuals using them. Unless gender-neutral restrooms become normalized in cisgender society, they will still be a facility for hate. In regards to the backlash from Cline’s post, the crime is not insinuating that a person is trans, the crime is bastardizing trans identities and making even the thought of transness unacceptable to “decent” society.
My heart goes out to the student athlete and their family. Nobody should have to fear for their safety over speculation of their identity. For any who also have shared their sympathies for this family, I would invite you to examine if you share the same for trans* people and their struggles as well. Because even if this student is cisgender, our struggles are the same. You cannot call for justice for this student, and condemn trans*ness in the same breath. Respectability does not justify bigotry, you cannot have it both ways, there is no separate but equal.
– Mors Smith, (They/He), University of Utah Student
The post Letter to the Editor: The Dangers of Respectable Bigotry in Utah first appeared on The Daily Utah Chronicle.