“It’s now okay for a man to hit a woman,” was the first line of a video that debuted on YouTube on October 3, 2017. It was created by PragerU, a conservative organization. The advertisement was blatantly transphobic. As a trans woman, I found the way they spoke about a recent incident between 2 fighters in an MMA match very triggering. One of the fighters was a trans woman who caved in the skull of the other woman in the match. The advertisement spoke about how being a woman or a man is a quality decided about a person at birth,determined by the person’s genitals, and implied that transgender humans are making a choice to be a gender not originally assigned. This simply isn’t the case.

Just last month, the Trump administration’s department of Health and Human Services removed protections for transgender humans from Title IX. Title IX is a document meant to protect students from sex discrimination in schools, and transphobia is sex discrimination. Preventing a girl assigned male at birth from entering the girl’s bathroom, as is now permissible, serves only to keep the patriarchy’s damaging gender binary in place. This is an attempt to dehumanize people who go against a constructed idea of gender. These humans don’t fit into the box society implies they must stay in. Transgender people do not make a choice to be transgender. If that were true, no one would make that choice because of how hard it is to be transgender. Several recent studies conducted by universities show undeniable similarities between the brains of trans and cis women, and the brains of trans and cis men. Yet when presented with this information, transphobes worldwide say it’s fake. Just check the comments of any Facebook post relating to trans issues. Our country is in a state of denial. Some people think there is a “transgender outbreak” because it appears to them that this is a new fad, but queer people have always existed, and have always been oppressed.

Throughout history, cultures all around the world used conversion therapy to “fix” LGBTQ+ members. People thought that they were making a choice and that once they were punished enough for their sexuality, they would change their mind. My own personal experience has proven that no amount of shaming will erase my identity.

Living as a woman in America is extremely challenging, so why would I do that of my own volition? The estrogen pills I take daily decrease the bone density and muscle mass that would help me to fight off an attacker. Why would I do that of my own volition? Saying “I’m transgender” instantly makes certain people respect me less. Why would I be transgender of my own volition? Gender dysphoria is no longer nationally recognized as a mental disorder, yet I am frequently told I am sick and delusional. Trump and his administration think that they can dissuade us by making life more difficult for the transgender population. They are incorrect.