When Heidi Starr went to her daughter’s track and field meet in Kelowna last week, she thought she’d be cheering her child on—not shielding her from misdirected transphobia.
“ I never thought my cisgender, female-identifying nine-year-old would need to be defended against a transphobic attack.”
We trans folks have been warning people as much as we can for years and years that this is the natural and expected result of transphobia and hate, but few ever seem to hear us. 😞 The goal of these people isn’t just to drive trans people into the closet and make it impossible for us to exist in public, it’s also to enforce their rigid ideas about gender roles for everyone.
I am so exhausted. 😩
Chin up friend. Two things to keep in mind. One: there’s a backlash from people like that jerk because they’re afraid of the progress that’s been made and they’re feeling threatened. Fight or flight is kicking in because they’re ignorant and it’s all they know. And Two: the proof that progress has been made is that this made the news.
10 years ago, if some old man yelled at a little girl that she looked like a boy because of her pixie cut, the extent of it would have been making the little girl feel terrible, her parents feel pity, and the other kids would have laughed at her. Well, maybe 20 years ago the kids would have laughed at her… I think young people made progress a lot quicker.
Now though, the parents are angry and recognize that this was more than a one-off thing that they should pity their daughter about, everyone else there is embarrassed for that idiot or disgusted with him, and this shit makes the news and that old, ignorant asshole is being wrung through the wringer in nation-wide. I’d say that’s progress and something we all (the growing number of allies and LGBTQ++) can be hopeful about, and maybe even proud of.
Yeah… you’re right. Thank you for writing this, looking at it from this perspective does help. 🙂
Why the hell should a fourth grader who happens to have a (not even) masculine haircut have to put up with this kind of hate?
Man, this is depressing. How could someone be convinced that this is an okay thing to do? I mean, even if there were boys competing, they’re pre-pubescent 9 year olds. How much advantage could a boy have over a girl?
I think he was way less concerned about the spirit of fair competition than he was looking for an excuse to berate someone that didn’t fall under his idea of gender norms.
