51 years since the Stonewall riots, we are still fighting for liberation for trans people. The question of trans rights has unfortunately been subject to much debate in recent years, particularly in the feminist movement. But liberation shouldn’t be up for debate! As Marsha P. Johsonson, one of the protesters at Stonewall, said: “you never completely have your rights, one person, until you _all_ have your rights”. Socialists must struggle for the freedom of all people.
This session at the Revolutionary Ideas Festival will look at how division and false arguments are being used to pit women and trans people against each other and will discuss the idea that winning rights for one section of people does not mean taking rights away from another.
It will also ask – does liberation mean more than just being able to exist? Of course, it must mean the ability to live safely and free from prejudice and oppression – including the right to self-identify. But does it also mean not just challenging attitudes but ensuring that we all have somewhere to live, a job if able to work, earn enough to have a decent standard of living? Does it mean that the discussion around trans rights has to be linked to the struggle of the working class in general – and how through unity we can win gains for us all?
Socialists believe that ultimately, capitalism, as a system which is based on poverty and exploitation, cannot provide even these basic rights to us. It is also a system which relies on the division of the working class – by gender, sexuality, race and anything else. We’ll talk about if we are going to win trans liberation, will this need to be part of the struggle for a socialist world?
If you’re also interested in having a historic look at gender – how the binary hasn’t always existed – and what a socialist society would mean for how we understand gender, this is a session you shouldn’t miss!
One of 18 discussions at the Revolutionary Ideas Online Festival of Resistance and Socialism:
Organising for trans liberation
11am-1pm Sunday 29 November
