1 00:00:01,680 --> 00:00:05,480 Speaker 1: All Zone Media. 2 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:09,719 Speaker 2: Welcome to it could happen here a podcast that is 3 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:14,520 Speaker 2: often about being trans in America and living under a 4 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:20,560 Speaker 2: regime that is actively hostile to our mere existence. I'm 5 00:00:20,600 --> 00:00:24,959 Speaker 2: your host, Mia Wong, and today we're going to take 6 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:30,640 Speaker 2: a somewhat broad view and look at what it means 7 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:35,880 Speaker 2: to be trans in America from a class standpoint. Now, 8 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:41,080 Speaker 2: I think if you are trans, you are, at least 9 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:44,400 Speaker 2: broadly speaking, not a capitalist in the sense of you 10 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:46,400 Speaker 2: do not own the means of production. You are not 11 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:50,440 Speaker 2: the bourgeoisie. There are so few of us at all 12 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:54,200 Speaker 2: who can be said to own the means of production. 13 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:58,920 Speaker 2: We are all almost entirely as a class, like some 14 00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:02,959 Speaker 2: kind of world or another. But there is a lot 15 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:08,760 Speaker 2: of specificity to the specific trans experience of class and 16 00:01:08,959 --> 00:01:11,920 Speaker 2: where we fit into the broader American class structure that 17 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:15,160 Speaker 2: I want to talk about today, and I want to 18 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:20,160 Speaker 2: simultaneously get people an actual understanding in one place of 19 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:26,320 Speaker 2: just kind of the outskirts of how bad it is, 20 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:30,720 Speaker 2: but then also talk about how good it is. Isn't 21 00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:34,839 Speaker 2: maybe the right term, but want to give people a 22 00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:40,400 Speaker 2: sense of what this class position means for our place 23 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:43,880 Speaker 2: and ability to fight back because that is also a 24 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:47,480 Speaker 2: critically important part of not just being trans, but a 25 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:52,000 Speaker 2: critically important part of every leftist and liberation movements in 26 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:58,040 Speaker 2: the US. For the past decade has been longer than 27 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:01,720 Speaker 2: a decade to get like two decades has been US. 28 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:04,600 Speaker 2: And obviously there have been a lot of trans people 29 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:06,160 Speaker 2: who are involved in a bunch of it before then. 30 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:09,680 Speaker 2: But the extent to which trans people have been involved 31 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:12,840 Speaker 2: and have been central to every social movement you've ever 32 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:16,560 Speaker 2: heard of in the modern era is exceptional, and I 33 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:19,600 Speaker 2: want to talk about why that is. I want to 34 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:23,480 Speaker 2: start talking about why that is by looking at some 35 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:27,600 Speaker 2: of the data that we have on what it's like 36 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:33,160 Speaker 2: to be trans in the US. And this is one 37 00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:37,120 Speaker 2: of the things that's very difficult when you're writing about 38 00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 2: trans people, because you know, we all have our experience 39 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:45,440 Speaker 2: of transness. And when he's trying to get trans healthcare, 40 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:49,359 Speaker 2: I think is aware that there is so much research 41 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:52,840 Speaker 2: that has just not been done about us. This is 42 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:56,519 Speaker 2: medical research on like the effects of specific like hormone regimens, 43 00:02:56,600 --> 00:02:59,000 Speaker 2: and like what kinds of medicines do and don't help, 44 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:01,760 Speaker 2: and what the effects are are. A lot of the 45 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:04,080 Speaker 2: information that you do get from doctors is based on 46 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:08,400 Speaker 2: really really old studies that aren't applicable to what actually exists. 47 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:10,680 Speaker 2: And this is also true when you're trying to look 48 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:15,840 Speaker 2: at economic data, where there just aren't that many studies 49 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:18,600 Speaker 2: of what it's like for trans people in the US, 50 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:22,120 Speaker 2: and the ones that do exist, and there are people 51 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:28,320 Speaker 2: who have done some, they're very reliant on data sets 52 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:32,480 Speaker 2: that are not specifically designed to be of trans people. 53 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:36,760 Speaker 2: And that's a problem because a lot of what you 54 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:39,200 Speaker 2: end up with, and the reason why there are some 55 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 2: things that I've read that are just not going to 56 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:43,520 Speaker 2: be in this episode is that they are very reliant 57 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:46,480 Speaker 2: on things like, Okay, we know this person as gender 58 00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:50,560 Speaker 2: marketers have changed or their names have changed, and that's 59 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:53,400 Speaker 2: fine kind of if you want to sort of get 60 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:55,240 Speaker 2: a sense of what's going on, but like the percentage 61 00:03:55,240 --> 00:03:58,520 Speaker 2: of trans people, the sort of demographics of trans people 62 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:02,320 Speaker 2: who have officially changed and their gender markers is not 63 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:07,720 Speaker 2: reflective of trans people in general. So we're going to 64 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:12,600 Speaker 2: be using a lot of data in this from what's 65 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:17,360 Speaker 2: called the US Trans Survey USTs. It's run by advocates 66 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:20,880 Speaker 2: for trans equality, and God fucking blessed them. These people 67 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:25,080 Speaker 2: are doing the transgender's work. It's an invaluable resource. I 68 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:29,320 Speaker 2: don't know of a better sort of repository of information 69 00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:32,880 Speaker 2: about trans people that has been collected. So these surveys 70 00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:35,000 Speaker 2: are run fairly and frequently. There was one in twenty 71 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:38,000 Speaker 2: fifteen and one in twenty twenty two. But in the 72 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:41,160 Speaker 2: twenty twenty two one they got ninety two thousand trans 73 00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:45,280 Speaker 2: and non bineary respondents, which is unbelievable. That is a 74 00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:49,719 Speaker 2: staggering sample size. But the information they got from it 75 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:52,320 Speaker 2: is in a lot of ways extremely bleak. I mean, 76 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:53,800 Speaker 2: you know, you can look at the positive stuff, which 77 00:04:53,839 --> 00:04:56,960 Speaker 2: is that, yeah, people who transition to say that, yeah, 78 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:00,080 Speaker 2: their lives are happier now. They transitions like they they 79 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:03,479 Speaker 2: like transitioning. It's it's good, it's I don't know, do 80 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:06,680 Speaker 2: the thing. It will make you happier. However, comma the 81 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:13,320 Speaker 2: economic numbers, Jesus Christ, Oh boy, oh boy. Now, as 82 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:15,200 Speaker 2: I've said, right, the people who work on the US 83 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:19,360 Speaker 2: transerve A, they do astonishing work. But as with all 84 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:22,360 Speaker 2: trans people, they're doing astonishing work with not that many resources, 85 00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:24,080 Speaker 2: and it takes them a long time to put their 86 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:27,760 Speaker 2: studies together. So again, the information that we're using is 87 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:31,480 Speaker 2: from twenty twenty two. So this means a couple of things. One, 88 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:35,080 Speaker 2: this is dreen the Biden administration right, a regime that 89 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:38,479 Speaker 2: is significantly less hostile to trans people than this current one, 90 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:40,479 Speaker 2: even though there was a bunch of bad shit going 91 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:42,560 Speaker 2: on then, some of it done by the Biden administration. 92 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:48,599 Speaker 2: Dear God, is Tromp administration significantly significantly more hostile trans people. 93 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:51,240 Speaker 2: So the conditions that we're seeing now are going to 94 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:54,560 Speaker 2: be worse than the ones that we have data for. 95 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:57,800 Speaker 2: So all of the numbers I'm about to tell you 96 00:05:57,839 --> 00:06:01,080 Speaker 2: about poverty rates and unemployment and homelessness, it's gotten worse. 97 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:04,400 Speaker 2: The second thing is when the US transurveyor writes reports. 98 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:07,679 Speaker 2: I mean they released recently. Yeah, they're released in June, 99 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:11,440 Speaker 2: Healton wellbeing a report of the twenty twenty two US 100 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:14,080 Speaker 2: Transgender Survey. It is one hundred and ten pages long. 101 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:17,840 Speaker 2: So they do very very good and detailed work. However, 102 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:20,000 Speaker 2: what that means is that we still, for example, don't 103 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:22,720 Speaker 2: have like a granular economic report, and we don't have 104 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:25,960 Speaker 2: just the full report that they write on this stuff. 105 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:30,680 Speaker 2: And we also don't have really the sort of granular 106 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:33,040 Speaker 2: reports that they have from the twenty fifteen numbers on 107 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:36,680 Speaker 2: the experience of trans people of different races. So those 108 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:38,680 Speaker 2: are sort of what I would say are the limits 109 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:40,920 Speaker 2: going into this that we have. However, what we do 110 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:46,880 Speaker 2: have from the early inside report is just horrifying. So 111 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:50,719 Speaker 2: one of the sort of defining conditions of being trans 112 00:06:51,080 --> 00:06:55,479 Speaker 2: is dispossession, and you can look at dispossession in a 113 00:06:55,520 --> 00:06:59,200 Speaker 2: whole bunch of different ways. You can look at, for example, 114 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:02,520 Speaker 2: the poverty. The poverty rate from the US TRANS survey 115 00:07:02,839 --> 00:07:06,039 Speaker 2: among trans people is thirty four percent. The American poverty 116 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:10,520 Speaker 2: rate is twelve percent, So that's almost three times higher 117 00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:15,160 Speaker 2: than the general population's poverty rate. And thirty four percent 118 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:18,320 Speaker 2: is really bad, right, even looking at other demographics and 119 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:24,360 Speaker 2: other poverty rates, that's really, really, really bad. The trans 120 00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:28,360 Speaker 2: unemployment rate is I think, in some ways even worse. 121 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:31,880 Speaker 2: The US trans unemployment rate is eighteen percent. The US 122 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:34,480 Speaker 2: unemployment rate in general in twenty twenty two is three 123 00:07:34,520 --> 00:07:38,360 Speaker 2: point six percent. So let's try to get an understanding 124 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:41,760 Speaker 2: of what it means. Unemployment rate is a weird number. 125 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:44,840 Speaker 2: There are people it doesn't count in terms of people 126 00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:48,640 Speaker 2: who have stopped looking for work, right, But to put 127 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:52,040 Speaker 2: this into perspective, during the peak of the lockdowns in 128 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:55,120 Speaker 2: twenty twenty, the unemployment rate in the US was fourteen percent, 129 00:07:55,200 --> 00:07:57,960 Speaker 2: and that was the highest it's been in ages. For 130 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:02,280 Speaker 2: trans people, it's eighteen percent. So if your trans in 131 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:06,320 Speaker 2: America right trying to find a job, it is worse 132 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:10,600 Speaker 2: than it was for everyone during the lockdowns. Eighteen percent 133 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:15,520 Speaker 2: unemployment is like nineteen thirty seven, early nineteen thirty eight, 134 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:21,440 Speaker 2: great depression levels of unemployment. It's almost one in five people. 135 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:24,960 Speaker 2: And again, these are the numbers from twenty twenty two 136 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:28,680 Speaker 2: dween the Biden administration, when the situation was better for 137 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:32,640 Speaker 2: trans people. We don't have more recent numbers for the 138 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:36,240 Speaker 2: US at sort of any kind of scale. And even 139 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:39,720 Speaker 2: back then four years ago, when things were better for 140 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:42,640 Speaker 2: US and the economy in general was running a little 141 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:47,800 Speaker 2: bit better, it was again nineteen thirty eight, great depression 142 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:53,560 Speaker 2: levels for just a regular transperson. Right, this has a 143 00:08:53,760 --> 00:08:57,000 Speaker 2: really really broad array of effects, right in terms of, 144 00:08:57,679 --> 00:09:00,440 Speaker 2: you know, just the experience of the world that you 145 00:09:00,520 --> 00:09:04,000 Speaker 2: have if you are trans, because you are fundamentally living 146 00:09:04,080 --> 00:09:06,679 Speaker 2: in a different world than an economic world than SIS 147 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:10,520 Speaker 2: people do. Like again, the CIST people's unemployment rate twenty 148 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:13,000 Speaker 2: twenty two was like three point six percent and yours 149 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:16,520 Speaker 2: is eighteen. You are living through the Great Depression and 150 00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:20,000 Speaker 2: they are living through a normal economy, and that means 151 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:23,600 Speaker 2: that just fundamentally, from a class position, you have a 152 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:26,560 Speaker 2: different experience of reality than they do. You are living 153 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:31,360 Speaker 2: in something that is not the same as theirs. I 154 00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:35,320 Speaker 2: also want to talk about homelessness numbers, because you know, 155 00:09:35,760 --> 00:09:40,840 Speaker 2: queer homelessness has always been really really bad for reasons 156 00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:43,280 Speaker 2: that kind of obvious reasons that we'll get into here, 157 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:45,640 Speaker 2: but it's also related to, for example, the unemployment rate 158 00:09:45,679 --> 00:09:48,560 Speaker 2: and the poverty rate, because you know, having an apartment 159 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:51,880 Speaker 2: or just any place to stay is expensive. We got 160 00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:54,880 Speaker 2: to report recently that was a joint effort between Advocates 161 00:09:54,880 --> 00:09:57,400 Speaker 2: for Trans Equality and the National Alliance to End Homelessness 162 00:09:57,760 --> 00:10:01,960 Speaker 2: who did a report using the USTs DA, and they 163 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:07,320 Speaker 2: talked about how thirty percent of trans people have experienced 164 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:11,640 Speaker 2: homelessness in their lifetime. For Americans, it's about four percent. 165 00:10:12,160 --> 00:10:15,160 Speaker 2: For Americans at large, right this you know, just like 166 00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:18,200 Speaker 2: SIS Americans in general, it's about four percent. So that 167 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:20,480 Speaker 2: is a homelessness rate of eight times the rate of 168 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:25,040 Speaker 2: the general population. And again that is the twenty twenty 169 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:29,160 Speaker 2: two numbers, which are now worse. And this is something 170 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:31,800 Speaker 2: that I think is borne out by if you are 171 00:10:32,679 --> 00:10:37,320 Speaker 2: around any like I mean, not even working class trans people, 172 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:41,360 Speaker 2: if you're just around trans people in general, you have 173 00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:47,120 Speaker 2: met people who have been homeless, right like, you'res constantly 174 00:10:47,160 --> 00:10:50,319 Speaker 2: around people who have been homeless. And this is one 175 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:54,880 Speaker 2: of I think the defining elements of what being a 176 00:10:54,920 --> 00:10:59,160 Speaker 2: trans worker is is that the level of pricarity is 177 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:01,960 Speaker 2: so great and the odds that through some kind of 178 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:05,280 Speaker 2: employment discrimination or just some bullshit happening with your employer, 179 00:11:05,480 --> 00:11:08,160 Speaker 2: or just like I don't know, the employers doing layoffs, 180 00:11:08,720 --> 00:11:12,000 Speaker 2: it is so so easy to move back and forth 181 00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:16,880 Speaker 2: between having an apartment and being on the street in 182 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:21,480 Speaker 2: a way that to some extent, the general American population has. 183 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:26,360 Speaker 2: But again, the rate for the general population if they've 184 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:28,400 Speaker 2: been homeless in their lifetime is four percent, and for 185 00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:32,720 Speaker 2: trans people is thirty percent. And this rate, this thirty 186 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:35,560 Speaker 2: percent rate of people who have trans people who've experienced homelessness. 187 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:37,000 Speaker 2: And also, by the way, a lot of the people 188 00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:40,760 Speaker 2: who've experienced this have experienced in more than once. And 189 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:42,880 Speaker 2: you know, there's a lot of just people who are 190 00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:46,120 Speaker 2: transfer homeless right the fuck now. This is why I say, like, 191 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:47,720 Speaker 2: put a transgirl on your couch at the end of 192 00:11:47,720 --> 00:11:53,200 Speaker 2: every executive disorder, because there aren't like widespread solutions to 193 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:55,280 Speaker 2: this right now. It's something that we have to figure 194 00:11:55,320 --> 00:11:58,239 Speaker 2: out for ourselves, and we just don't have the resources 195 00:11:58,240 --> 00:12:02,480 Speaker 2: to do it now. This is discrimination is intensified both 196 00:12:02,559 --> 00:12:07,120 Speaker 2: in the housing market right by just general anti transcrimination, 197 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:09,679 Speaker 2: by poverty, and this is this is also sort of 198 00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:12,080 Speaker 2: a cyclical process, right Like. Part of what's difficult about 199 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:13,600 Speaker 2: me writing this is that I, like, I haven't been 200 00:12:13,679 --> 00:12:15,400 Speaker 2: homeless and I haven't been a sex worker, which means 201 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:18,080 Speaker 2: that I'm missing experiences that a lot of trans workers have. 202 00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:22,160 Speaker 2: What I can say about it is like, obviously, being 203 00:12:22,559 --> 00:12:27,720 Speaker 2: homeless makes it harder to get even just an apartment afterwards, 204 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:30,640 Speaker 2: because it has a whole bunch of negative effects on 205 00:12:31,679 --> 00:12:34,080 Speaker 2: a whole bunch of shit, including for example, like it 206 00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:36,880 Speaker 2: like you know, obviously it's like fucks with your credit score, 207 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:39,760 Speaker 2: It fucks with just like oh, do you have like 208 00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:43,640 Speaker 2: previous landlord references that you can use. There there's a 209 00:12:43,640 --> 00:12:45,960 Speaker 2: whole bunch of different sort of spiraling effects of this. 210 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:49,920 Speaker 2: There's obviously there's health effects, there's safety effects. So what 211 00:12:49,960 --> 00:12:53,040 Speaker 2: you're facing is, on the one hand, you are squeezed 212 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:55,920 Speaker 2: out through discrimination of the workplace, through the fact that 213 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:59,199 Speaker 2: also and this this is another fairly common thing. Trans 214 00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:02,120 Speaker 2: people making if quantly less money than SIS people do, 215 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:06,800 Speaker 2: just on the dollar, it's way way worse. So you 216 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:09,320 Speaker 2: have lower income when you get a job, you have 217 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:12,920 Speaker 2: less access to jobs, and you also just have housing 218 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:16,840 Speaker 2: market discrimination. And also trans people have weaker access to 219 00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:19,559 Speaker 2: family support networks that function in a way to subsidize 220 00:13:19,559 --> 00:13:23,840 Speaker 2: social reproduction for SIS people. A lot of trans people's 221 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:27,680 Speaker 2: families and parents don't accept them, and they just get 222 00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:30,440 Speaker 2: kicked out or if they are able to access resources 223 00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:33,719 Speaker 2: from them, it's under conditions of extreme violence. And that 224 00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:37,439 Speaker 2: has a massive effect on homelessness. Right, Like a whole 225 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:40,480 Speaker 2: bunch of homelessness is caused by queer youth getting kicked 226 00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:44,280 Speaker 2: out of their houses. And because you also don't have 227 00:13:44,800 --> 00:13:48,680 Speaker 2: places you can go back to, right you don't have 228 00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:52,400 Speaker 2: the kind of like family like familial safety net that 229 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:54,240 Speaker 2: a lot of SIS people have access to, and you're 230 00:13:54,600 --> 00:13:56,839 Speaker 2: less likely to have access to it. This intensifies the 231 00:13:56,920 --> 00:14:01,160 Speaker 2: rate of homelessness, and it intensifies the consequences of it 232 00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:04,320 Speaker 2: and how difficult it is to get out. All right, 233 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:06,120 Speaker 2: we are going to go to ads and then we 234 00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:08,920 Speaker 2: are going to come back and talk about some more 235 00:14:08,960 --> 00:14:12,440 Speaker 2: bleak shit. But also this is not just the Things 236 00:14:12,440 --> 00:14:15,760 Speaker 2: Fall Apart podcast. This is also the put It Back 237 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:31,080 Speaker 2: Together but in a better way podcast. We are back. 238 00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:32,800 Speaker 1: Now. 239 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:36,920 Speaker 2: There's another factor, something that's becoming increasingly a factor of 240 00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:41,000 Speaker 2: trans life that has existed obviously for a long time, 241 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:45,040 Speaker 2: but has been enormously exacerbated by the current regime, and 242 00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:49,640 Speaker 2: that is the trans refugee population. There is in the 243 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:53,920 Speaker 2: US a massive trans refugee population. These are you know, 244 00:14:53,960 --> 00:14:57,000 Speaker 2: what you would call, I guess, internally displaced people. The 245 00:14:57,080 --> 00:15:00,000 Speaker 2: Movement Advancement Project or MAP, did a study in twenty twenty, 246 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:04,880 Speaker 2: twenty twenty five, looking at trans people who moved from 247 00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:09,200 Speaker 2: one state to another because of anti trans legislation, right, 248 00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:14,120 Speaker 2: And they found and this is just between November and 249 00:15:14,320 --> 00:15:19,000 Speaker 2: June of twenty twenty five, They found that nine percent 250 00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:23,960 Speaker 2: of all trans people had moved in just that eight 251 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:28,600 Speaker 2: month span. Right, that's nine percent of trans people had 252 00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:32,160 Speaker 2: just just in the span between November twenty twenty four 253 00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:35,640 Speaker 2: and June twenty twenty five. Right, just in that span, 254 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:40,880 Speaker 2: nine percent of the transpopulation moved. That's over one percent 255 00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:45,640 Speaker 2: of the total transpopulation moving per month to a different state, 256 00:15:45,880 --> 00:15:50,840 Speaker 2: specifically because of anti trans legislation. Right, that's really bad. 257 00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:53,240 Speaker 2: If you look at sort of the general population of 258 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:58,000 Speaker 2: transiteople in the US, that's four hundred thousand people in 259 00:15:58,240 --> 00:16:03,760 Speaker 2: just that eight month span. That's the entire population of Cleveland, Ohio, 260 00:16:04,240 --> 00:16:08,440 Speaker 2: and then thirty five thousand more people, right, I mean 261 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:10,920 Speaker 2: that's like obviously it's not like the complete metropolitan it's 262 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:12,960 Speaker 2: like the actual just like city of Cleveland. Right, But like, 263 00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:15,680 Speaker 2: again that's in the span of eight months, we moved 264 00:16:15,720 --> 00:16:20,560 Speaker 2: the entire city of Cleveland, and it's definitely gotten almost 265 00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:23,560 Speaker 2: certainly has like there have been more people who have moved, 266 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:27,160 Speaker 2: you know, since June twenty twenty five because anti transiscrimination, 267 00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:30,600 Speaker 2: anti transcractdowns from the state have only gotten worse. This 268 00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:34,200 Speaker 2: is the refugee crisis, right, And the things that they're 269 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:36,400 Speaker 2: fleeing from are also things that are just you know, 270 00:16:36,520 --> 00:16:41,360 Speaker 2: conditions of what of what being trans is in the US, right, 271 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:45,840 Speaker 2: which they're fleeing. Restrictions on healthcare access from the national level, 272 00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:49,000 Speaker 2: from the state level, also as we talked about, like 273 00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:52,800 Speaker 2: from religious hospitals, who can also just like even if 274 00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:54,560 Speaker 2: even if you're in a so called bluestate can just 275 00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:56,080 Speaker 2: be like fuck you eat shit, We're not going to 276 00:16:56,160 --> 00:16:59,560 Speaker 2: give you healthcare. They're fleeing, bathroom bills, they're fleeing. Don't 277 00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:03,760 Speaker 2: say gay bands, they're fleeing. Also just an increase in 278 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:06,240 Speaker 2: social violence, right because the thing that this that this 279 00:17:06,359 --> 00:17:10,320 Speaker 2: all legitimizes, right, that anti trans rhetoric legitimizes, the anti 280 00:17:10,320 --> 00:17:15,399 Speaker 2: transtate action legitimizes, is just getting assaulted for being trans, 281 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:18,560 Speaker 2: a thing that has always happened, but is now happening 282 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:23,639 Speaker 2: more than it did before. And yeah that not being 283 00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:26,960 Speaker 2: you know, assaulted, and this happens at work, this happens 284 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:29,680 Speaker 2: like coming back from work, this happens in other places too. 285 00:17:30,359 --> 00:17:32,439 Speaker 2: Is also you know, a part of the condition of 286 00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:35,280 Speaker 2: your labor when when you combine the fact that trans 287 00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:37,879 Speaker 2: people were already and I want I want to point 288 00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:40,879 Speaker 2: this out right, the homelessness rates, you know, the eighteen 289 00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:45,320 Speaker 2: percent rate of unemployment, the thirty percent rate of experiencing 290 00:17:45,320 --> 00:17:51,480 Speaker 2: homelessness in their lifetime, right that was before the refugee crisis, 291 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:54,800 Speaker 2: Like really really intensified into what we're seeing now. Right, 292 00:17:55,840 --> 00:17:58,400 Speaker 2: It was not as bad in twenty twenty two as 293 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:01,800 Speaker 2: it is right now, when again, like we were seeing 294 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:04,160 Speaker 2: for for a period of eight months, we were seeing 295 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:07,200 Speaker 2: over a percent of the population per month, the transpopulation 296 00:18:07,320 --> 00:18:10,359 Speaker 2: per month, moving all of all of the the unemployment 297 00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:15,119 Speaker 2: numbers and the poverty numbers and the homeless numbers were 298 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:20,240 Speaker 2: those were all pre the sort of real intensification after 299 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:23,560 Speaker 2: the election of the mass migration and refugee sort of 300 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:27,280 Speaker 2: status or trans people. And this has had an effect 301 00:18:27,560 --> 00:18:31,640 Speaker 2: on trans people's class position, right. What this has created 302 00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:33,960 Speaker 2: in the places that trans people are fleeing to, and 303 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:36,920 Speaker 2: this is places like Portland, this is places like New York, 304 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:39,560 Speaker 2: like la There's a lot of sort of like regional 305 00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:42,680 Speaker 2: centers too. Obviously Chicago's at the other sort of big one, 306 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:45,760 Speaker 2: but you know, they're like places like Missoula, right for 307 00:18:45,800 --> 00:18:49,080 Speaker 2: people who don't know what mis Missoum was a city 308 00:18:49,119 --> 00:18:51,520 Speaker 2: with you know, like a pretty large university of population 309 00:18:51,640 --> 00:18:55,280 Speaker 2: in Montana that has a fairly large transpopulation because it 310 00:18:55,400 --> 00:18:58,600 Speaker 2: collects trans people from a whole bunch of the region 311 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:00,320 Speaker 2: around it, and there's also a bunch people who go 312 00:19:00,359 --> 00:19:03,280 Speaker 2: there for college and realize that they're trans. But what 313 00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:05,639 Speaker 2: this has done, right is it's forced a bunch of 314 00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:09,360 Speaker 2: people to move leave their homes, which is expensive, right, 315 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:14,879 Speaker 2: and then you have to find jobs in these new places, 316 00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:18,919 Speaker 2: and it's already really difficult to find jobs in the 317 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:22,200 Speaker 2: places that you were. And so you know what you're 318 00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:25,920 Speaker 2: facing just in general, right, is you're facing this trade 319 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:29,800 Speaker 2: off between can you survive in the place that you 320 00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:33,760 Speaker 2: are with the life that you have, or do you 321 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:38,480 Speaker 2: need to pick up and go to another place where 322 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:42,560 Speaker 2: it's less illegal for you to be yourself. And what 323 00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:45,960 Speaker 2: this has created is this sort of mass underclass of 324 00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:50,120 Speaker 2: trans workers that is especially large in places with large 325 00:19:50,119 --> 00:19:54,960 Speaker 2: refugee populations. These workers are of any subgroup that, like 326 00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:57,679 Speaker 2: trans people are in the trans people in that group 327 00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:01,760 Speaker 2: are the most marginalized and the most just absolutely fucked 328 00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:04,840 Speaker 2: of everyone in that group. Right. You know, you can 329 00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:07,160 Speaker 2: look at like the violence rates for black trans women 330 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:12,720 Speaker 2: particularly is appalling. Right, There's a lot of disabled trans people, 331 00:20:12,720 --> 00:20:15,200 Speaker 2: and among disabled people who already have it really really 332 00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:18,040 Speaker 2: bad in the US, right, Like, you look at disabled 333 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:22,200 Speaker 2: transpeople and it's even fucking harder. That's especially an issue 334 00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:24,400 Speaker 2: with you know, something that's been affecting a whole bunch 335 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:27,359 Speaker 2: of people, which is the Medicaid work requirements, which have 336 00:20:27,480 --> 00:20:31,120 Speaker 2: been just unbelievably harmful to a whole bunch of disabled 337 00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:35,000 Speaker 2: trans people who suddenly are being forced to work who 338 00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:41,280 Speaker 2: just can't right. And what this has created is this incredibly, 339 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:45,480 Speaker 2: incredibly precarious class of workers. All over the spectrum of 340 00:20:45,560 --> 00:20:48,160 Speaker 2: the working class, right, there are a lot of trans people, 341 00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:51,880 Speaker 2: an unbelievable number of trans people working service jobs, and 342 00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:54,439 Speaker 2: like the lower end and shittier the service job, the 343 00:20:54,440 --> 00:20:57,359 Speaker 2: more likely you are to find trans people there. There's 344 00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:00,360 Speaker 2: always been a lot of transsex work because a lot 345 00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:02,240 Speaker 2: of times that's the thing you can do, right, And 346 00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:05,280 Speaker 2: this is sex work across the entire spectrum of what 347 00:21:05,359 --> 00:21:08,480 Speaker 2: sex work is of sort of like greater and lesser 348 00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:12,199 Speaker 2: degrees of risk. This also is the thing that contributes 349 00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:15,120 Speaker 2: to the criminalization of trans people, because there's a bunch 350 00:21:15,119 --> 00:21:18,400 Speaker 2: of criminalization of sex workers in ways that gets trans 351 00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:21,160 Speaker 2: people targeted by the police and subject even more police 352 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:23,520 Speaker 2: violence than they are already, which they are also subject 353 00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:26,840 Speaker 2: to extraordinary amounts of police violence. I don't know every 354 00:21:26,880 --> 00:21:41,160 Speaker 2: transperson has seen some shit, but I'm not just saying 355 00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:44,000 Speaker 2: this to be like the trans class position is bad. 356 00:21:44,359 --> 00:21:48,800 Speaker 2: But what this has done is create this class of 357 00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:53,359 Speaker 2: trans workers that moves between parts of the class that 358 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:56,760 Speaker 2: don't have contact with each other very much. There's a 359 00:21:56,760 --> 00:21:59,480 Speaker 2: whole bunch of movement between being housed and being unhoused 360 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:04,120 Speaker 2: in a way that is at a significantly broader scale 361 00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:06,040 Speaker 2: than it is for the rest of like the rest 362 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:08,399 Speaker 2: of the population, there are a whole bunch of different 363 00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:11,960 Speaker 2: kinds of trans workers who are able to unify around 364 00:22:11,960 --> 00:22:13,600 Speaker 2: being trans and of contact with each other and do 365 00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:15,960 Speaker 2: organize with each other and to fight, you know, alongside 366 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:19,919 Speaker 2: each other, right from different parts of the working class 367 00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:22,760 Speaker 2: that don't often particularly get along, and in particular in 368 00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:26,080 Speaker 2: terms of like you know, service workers and on house people. 369 00:22:26,119 --> 00:22:29,399 Speaker 2: There is a really systemic effort by the States and 370 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:31,359 Speaker 2: by the rights and even need to buy the by 371 00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:34,280 Speaker 2: Democratic Party too, to pit these groups against each other. 372 00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:38,639 Speaker 2: But also with trans people, it's like, well, I don't know, 373 00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:40,720 Speaker 2: like there's also an extent to which yeah, like if 374 00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:44,040 Speaker 2: you're a transperson, you are you know, X number of 375 00:22:44,119 --> 00:22:46,919 Speaker 2: days away from being that person on the street. And 376 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:50,840 Speaker 2: so this has created a fairly unique class position, right 377 00:22:51,520 --> 00:22:56,280 Speaker 2: of unbelievable precarity, you know, state enforced pricarity. It's it's 378 00:22:56,320 --> 00:23:00,080 Speaker 2: obviously not the only right class position in the US 379 00:23:00,119 --> 00:23:04,080 Speaker 2: of like legally mandated percarity. You can look at undocumented 380 00:23:04,119 --> 00:23:08,359 Speaker 2: workers who have even more genocidal shit happening against them 381 00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:11,200 Speaker 2: right now in terms of just like yeah no, yeah, 382 00:23:11,240 --> 00:23:14,880 Speaker 2: there's just ice rounding people up. But what has been 383 00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:18,800 Speaker 2: produced here is this incredibly precarious classic like down the 384 00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:21,720 Speaker 2: remobile workers. And it's also worth noting that like to 385 00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:26,160 Speaker 2: some extent, this is a deliberate strategy of the right, 386 00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:30,600 Speaker 2: Like this is this is what the right wants. You know, 387 00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:33,840 Speaker 2: if you look at like the rise of neoliberalism and 388 00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:37,360 Speaker 2: you look at Reagan, you look at Thatcher, right, one 389 00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:39,720 Speaker 2: of the big things that they are about in this 390 00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:43,200 Speaker 2: era is control over gender and control over social reproduction. 391 00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:45,840 Speaker 2: This is one of the things, you know, if you 392 00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:48,080 Speaker 2: look at how these people come to power, they come 393 00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:51,800 Speaker 2: to power on the back of very very right wing 394 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:55,000 Speaker 2: social movements, right that are you know, in the US, 395 00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:57,080 Speaker 2: it's like you know, the sort of like the rise 396 00:23:57,119 --> 00:24:01,880 Speaker 2: of the evangelicals, who one of the big things, right, 397 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:03,920 Speaker 2: one of the things that they're interested in is suppressing 398 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:08,199 Speaker 2: queer people specifically, right, But you can you can look 399 00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:11,040 Speaker 2: at this in other context too, where you know, you 400 00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:13,639 Speaker 2: can look at China in the nineteen eighties as the 401 00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:16,080 Speaker 2: beginning of sort of the reform period of starting when 402 00:24:16,119 --> 00:24:17,720 Speaker 2: you start to see the return of capitalism in the 403 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:21,480 Speaker 2: China in nineteen eighty you get the one child policy 404 00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:23,520 Speaker 2: occurring on a little bit of a tangent here. But 405 00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:27,760 Speaker 2: something I don't think is really acknowledged in the way 406 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:30,000 Speaker 2: that people think and talk about China, which is that 407 00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:32,199 Speaker 2: the one child policy was not a thing from the 408 00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:35,080 Speaker 2: Maoist period. This was the reformers, right, dan Zhaoping is 409 00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:38,160 Speaker 2: in power when this goes into effect, right, and when 410 00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:41,080 Speaker 2: it's like written into the constitution, like this is dang Shaoping, 411 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:42,840 Speaker 2: this is this is you know, the sort of pro 412 00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:48,320 Speaker 2: capitalist reform movements that is imposing the one child policy 413 00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:50,720 Speaker 2: on people. In the US, you also have like restrictions 414 00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:54,040 Speaker 2: on abortion are sort of part and parcel of the 415 00:24:54,119 --> 00:24:57,520 Speaker 2: rights attempt to expand capitalism because control over the family, 416 00:24:58,119 --> 00:25:00,919 Speaker 2: control over you know, social rep production of the production 417 00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:04,600 Speaker 2: of new workers, and the ability for people to continue 418 00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:07,879 Speaker 2: to be workers for the capitalist system, that's something that 419 00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:11,800 Speaker 2: is important to them. Right, and the maintenance of right 420 00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:14,920 Speaker 2: wing gender roles is something that is important for them 421 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:17,840 Speaker 2: to be able to reproduce their ideology and also reproduce 422 00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:21,720 Speaker 2: capital in general, and so they came after us. But 423 00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:24,360 Speaker 2: on the other hand, right, you know, as much as 424 00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:28,760 Speaker 2: we have been targeted by the right, trans people have also, 425 00:25:28,840 --> 00:25:30,520 Speaker 2: as I sort of talked about a bit at the 426 00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:35,760 Speaker 2: beginning of this episode, been overrepresented in just every leftist 427 00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:39,280 Speaker 2: social movement for the past like two decades, right, everything 428 00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:43,840 Speaker 2: from like union organizing to mutual aid to like who 429 00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:46,560 Speaker 2: shows up in the street to protest to like blocks, 430 00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:51,200 Speaker 2: from like occupy to the Uprising. Right, there are trans 431 00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:55,040 Speaker 2: people in all of these social movements in extremely key roles. 432 00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:57,359 Speaker 2: And the only real way for this not to happen 433 00:25:57,720 --> 00:25:59,800 Speaker 2: is to been trans people are specifically driven out of 434 00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:02,040 Speaker 2: this and that happens a lot right, Like That's that's 435 00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:04,600 Speaker 2: also like one of the things that you experience being 436 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:08,119 Speaker 2: being a trends like worker is that you know, people 437 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:11,680 Speaker 2: who are transphobic in the left will run you out 438 00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:15,280 Speaker 2: of the shit that you're doing. Usually, I say usually 439 00:26:15,359 --> 00:26:17,600 Speaker 2: because some ofttimes they are you are explicitly pushed off 440 00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:20,480 Speaker 2: for being trans. Usually there's like some other excuse that's 441 00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:23,600 Speaker 2: that's found to do this. But you know, even with 442 00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:26,199 Speaker 2: how much you know, like persecution to trans people there 443 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:29,479 Speaker 2: have been in the social movements, like trans people still 444 00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:32,240 Speaker 2: show up for right, you know, they take just sort 445 00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:34,960 Speaker 2: of a random example, right, friend of the show, Vicky 446 00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:38,960 Speaker 2: Ostrowhile was the facilitator of the first occupy meeting in 447 00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:41,960 Speaker 2: New York. Right, We're just we're just always there. We 448 00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:45,439 Speaker 2: have always been there, We've been there everywhere, and we 449 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:47,639 Speaker 2: will continue to be there in all, in all of 450 00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:51,359 Speaker 2: these movements in the anti ice movements in I say movements, 451 00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:54,320 Speaker 2: because like this is true in like the twenty eighteen 452 00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:56,800 Speaker 2: anti ice movement is true, in the current anti ice 453 00:26:56,800 --> 00:26:58,560 Speaker 2: movement it was, it was is true in the student 454 00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:02,439 Speaker 2: encampments in twenty twenty four. And there's a reason for this, 455 00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:05,320 Speaker 2: And the reason for this, to a large extent, is 456 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:08,639 Speaker 2: that very pricarity. Right, if you're going to be trans, 457 00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:14,280 Speaker 2: especially now, you have no choice but to fight, if 458 00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:16,280 Speaker 2: you want to exist, if you want to have access 459 00:27:16,280 --> 00:27:19,119 Speaker 2: to your healthcare, if you want to be upgraded to 460 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:23,359 Speaker 2: the status of mere proletarians, if you want your life 461 00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:29,639 Speaker 2: to just merely merely be the life of a CIS worker, 462 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:33,679 Speaker 2: which is significantly less fucked than your life is. You 463 00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:36,560 Speaker 2: have to fight. And this is something that is also 464 00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:41,160 Speaker 2: spread to some extent by sort of transculture, I would 465 00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:42,960 Speaker 2: say broadly, but also just like the kind of social 466 00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:45,919 Speaker 2: groups that form, and also it's spread. And this is 467 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:48,120 Speaker 2: particularly something you see in unions a lot. Right. We've 468 00:27:48,119 --> 00:27:49,720 Speaker 2: talked a lot in the show about trans people being 469 00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:53,520 Speaker 2: overrepresented in unions. It's like, well, we're overrepresented in unions 470 00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:58,000 Speaker 2: because we're workers, right, And this is in some sense 471 00:27:58,040 --> 00:28:02,080 Speaker 2: the potential of what the has rot right, which is 472 00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:07,600 Speaker 2: that they have created this extremely large population of trans 473 00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:12,240 Speaker 2: service workers and trans refugees who have nothing to lose 474 00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:16,040 Speaker 2: but their chains and a world to win. Slightly elsewhere 475 00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:20,479 Speaker 2: in the manifesto, Marx writes, what the bourgeoisie produce above 476 00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:24,359 Speaker 2: all are its own grave diggers. And if you look 477 00:28:24,480 --> 00:28:29,399 Speaker 2: out at the world in twenty twenty six, right, you 478 00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:34,160 Speaker 2: can see the graves being dug. The question is who 479 00:28:34,240 --> 00:28:37,359 Speaker 2: is going to be buried there? The capitalist class would 480 00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:40,440 Speaker 2: very much like it to be us. I, for one thing, 481 00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:43,280 Speaker 2: don't want to fucking be buried in a mass grave. 482 00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:46,160 Speaker 2: And if we're going to put something in that grave 483 00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:50,360 Speaker 2: better it be the class system itself. And that's a 484 00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:53,880 Speaker 2: world worth fighting for. The world where there are no 485 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:56,760 Speaker 2: grave diggers, where there are no mass graves, where the 486 00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:59,320 Speaker 2: state and the landlord don't throw you on the street 487 00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:03,440 Speaker 2: in the night, where you can live in your community 488 00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:07,000 Speaker 2: and not be run out. Will you have your healthcare, 489 00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:09,200 Speaker 2: and you are able to be the person that you 490 00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:13,600 Speaker 2: want to be. And that world is winnable. All that 491 00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:18,880 Speaker 2: is left is to fight for it. 492 00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:21,400 Speaker 1: It could Happen Here is a production of cool Zone Media. 493 00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:24,640 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website 494 00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:28,280 Speaker 1: coolzonmedia dot com, or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, 495 00:29:28,360 --> 00:29:31,920 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can 496 00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:34,280 Speaker 1: now find sources for it Could Happen here, listed directly 497 00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:36,600 Speaker 1: in episode descriptions. Thanks for listening.