A Child is Dead

I.

Yesterday evening I read a post on Linked In by a woman I do not follow. I cannot recall how I found the post as it disturbed me so greatly.  This mom was writing to say her beloved trans-daughter was dead.  Her daughter no longer felt safe in the United States of America given the relentless attacks on trans-girls and women in particular, by Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Trump's administration, and the Republican governors and state representatives in this country.  These attacks purposely and legally erase trans people. The legislation put targets on the backs of every trans child and adult, opening them to hate crimes condoned by the president. 

Imagine a President of the United States saying repeatedly that an entire group of people do not exist, and stripping from them every right they have for protection under existing laws.  Imagine the same man having splashy shows of anti-trans-girl hatred where he signs executive orders aimed at harming trans-girls with a group of mostly white women and girls crowded behind him.  All of them laugh and smile as if the deaths these actions have and will continue to cause do not matter.  

This is what erasure does. It lessens our capacity to see others as human. 

II.

In Nazi Germany suicides in Hamburg up until 1938 occurred infrequently. From 1938 onwards that changed. In Hamburg, suicides dramatically increased after Kristallnacht and continued to increase with the onset of deportations in 1941. The response to hopelessness, fear, erasure, and potential violence against you can cause some to take their own lives.  The parallels between the anti-Trans hate speech and legislative actions in the US under Trump and Vance and the erasure of Jewish people in the 1930s and 1940s by Hitler and the Reich are present.

What will you do?

III.

A child is dead who felt afraid to live in this damn country. Her family now is left to grieve. 

If you too feel frustrated, scared, and isolated and want to take action against the Trump-Musk coup (Yes, coup! See Timothy Snyder here), Robert Hubbel on Substack may offer comfort, direction, and sources of action. The current post proposes methods for resistance.