What Can History Tell Us About Being Transgender under a Hostile Regime?
Are We Going to Be Ok?
I’ve heard this question on repeat from various sources virtually every day regarding the transgender community since we realized that the United States of America was in for another four years of Trump. The question is meant in different ways from different people. Some people mean the transgender demographic, some people are referencing the transgender community, and many are just asking if they specifically are going to be ok. The answer really depends on which who you are asking about. Regardless of which zoom level you are asking that question about, I think that there is value in seeing how those who came before us fared and in seeing what lessons can be learned from how they handled their situations. A lot of think pieces and responses have been written since the election results came in from various perspectives, and in the admittedly biased opinion of a historian, I think that history has a lot to tell us here.
The first lesson of history is that transgender people have been a part of humanity since the beginning. The very first author that we know of, Enheduanna, wrote about the goddess Inanna and her ability to turn men into women and women into men. The clergy of Inanna were a variety of genders, we know of transgender men, transgender women, and non-binary members of her followers. In my research I have found transgender people in every society that I have studied. Ancient Sumeria, Greece, Rome, the Eurasian Steppe, India, Australia, the Pacific Islands, North America, South America, all had transgender people, groups, and traditions. We are an integral part of the human experience and that will never go away. So if you are one of the people asking if transgender people are going to be eradicated, it isn’t possible. We have been a part of the human condition from the beginning, and we will continue to be as long as humanity continues.
The second thing I think that we should all remember is that the bigotry is also not new. Before we even reference history, for many of us the harassment from above never stopped. There are currently countries that punish being transgender with jail time or worse. Even here in the United States, for someone who is having their life and freedoms restricted by laws, it hardly matters whether it is a state or federal law. Does the upcoming administration have the power to cause harm to more people? Absolutely. However, our transgender siblings in states like Florida and Texas have been subject to that level of bigotry this entire time. The first person to ask for advice is anyone you know that has already been living under a hostile administration this whole time.
Looking back at history, we can still see that transgender people have been subject to bigotry and harassment at the dawn of Western civilization. During the last days of Rome in the 5th century, Augustine of Hippo wrote of the transgender priestesses of the Magna Mater from North Africa.
“These effeminates, no later than yesterday, were going through the streets and places of Carthage with anointed hair, whitened faces, relaxed bodies, and feminine gait, exacting from the people the means of maintaining their ignominious lives.” Augustine of Hippo (5th century CE)
Even this bigotry was nothing new. The Romans had imported the goddess who became the Magna Mater at the end of the 3rd century BCE and started enacting laws restricting her transgender priestesses and who was allowed to become a priestess very soon after.
“By senatorial decree, no freeborn Roman citizen may walk through the city, begging in the service of Cybele or accompanied by flute music, in a multicoloured stola, or partake in the celebrations of the Phrygian goddess.” Dionysius of Halicarnassus (1st century BCE)
The Magna Mater also wasn’t the only deity with transgender clergy. We already mentioned Inanna, but there was also Ishtar, Atargatis, Artimpasa, Aphrodite, Venus, Astarte, Artemis, Hecate, Ma, Enyo, Bellona, Cybele, and the list just continues on from there. This is in itself a lesson from history. Historically transgender people have found safety by forming independent communities where they could be safe and have more power than they would as individuals. This is easier than ever to do in our modern age. We have tools like social media, apps like MeetUp, and friendly locations that are owned or managed by members of the LGBTQIA+ community or it’s allies. Use them, form groups and communities and support each other. It works, and it has been a tool that has been successfully used by transgender communities for millennia.
We can also look to a more modern example of this working. When the British colonized India they were appalled by the hijra. The hijra have been a part of Indian society as a third gender (some modern hijra identify in different ways) since at least the 6th century BCE. The British didn’t care, they saw it as pagan evil to be stamped out. Hijra were targeted by laws such as the 1871 Criminal Tribes Act. This resulted in Hijra being harassed by police, and anyone identified as a hijra would have their hair cut and any clothing or jewelry that didn’t fit their assigned gender at birth was removed and stolen from them. All identified hijra were registered by the authorities for continued surveillance. The hijra were even blamed (incorrectly) as one of the causes of the Rebellion of 1857. The hijra already had a tradition of living in groups clustered around the predominant hijra gurus. They responded to the British laws in several different ways: by avoiding contact with the police, hiding their property to prevent it being stolen, giving police fake addresses and names, and moving their homes as necessary to avoid police harassment.
The main thing the hijra did to resist was to continue to be hijra. They continued the practice of dancing at weddings and birth celebrations, they continued to dance in public, and they continued loving whoever they loved regardless of official recognition or acceptance. They outlasted the British Empire, and in 2014 they won official recognition as a third gender in India. Things are far from perfect for the hijra, they are still stigmatized by parts of society, they are still more likely to be discriminated against in their jobs and careers, but they have persisted in a way that one of the most powerful empires the world has even seen could not match. This is another lesson for our community as we see dark days looming on the horizon. Keep being you! In the face of pressure to conform to norm that is decidedly cis-normative and hetero-normative, continuing the exist as your self is one of the greatest acts of rebellion possible. Even further, continue enjoying life as you. They want you to feel afraid and miserable. Find the things that bring you joy and hold on to them. Do whatever you need to do to feel safe and prepared, but refuse the despair that is their goal. Live your truth full of joy and light, make a community, and remember that we are a permanent part of humanity, and no one can ever change that. We will outlast their regime. We always do.
