To be transgender is to be misunderstood, maligned and occasionally murdered.
“Every single American — gay, straight, lesbian, bisexual, transgender — every single American deserves to be treated equally in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of our society. It’s a pretty simple proposition.” -President Barack Obama, October 1, 2011
For many who decide to declare who they really are, it is to be ostracized, discriminated against or harassed. To be trans is to be a target in a political culture war that seeks to erase your existence or deny you medical care and much-needed counseling.
Republicans nationwide have been focused on passing new restrictions on the LGBTQ+ community. At least 385 bills targeting LGBTQ rights and queer life have been introduced around the country, according to data compiled by the American Civil Liberties Union.
In Missouri, Attorney General Andrew Bailey, a Republican, filed emergency rules aimed at restricting gender-affirming health care for Missourians of all ages.
On Monday, St. Louis County Circuit Judge Ellen Ribaudo issued a temporary restraining order against implementation of the restrictions, after issuing a stay last month. The suit to stop the emergency rules was filed by the ACLU of Missouri and Lambda Legal, an LGBTQ legal organization.
Gillian Wilcox, Deputy Director of Litigation for the ACLU of Missouri, declared Ribaudo’s decision a victory for the LGBTQ+ community.
“Today’s ruling marks a win for transgender Missourians over an unprecedented attempt by the Attorney General to unilaterally legislate and harm their right to self-expression, bodily autonomy, and access to lifesaving health care,” Wilcox said.
Kaliyah Knowles, 30, proudly adheres to the self-proclaimed definition of a “Black, transgender woman, and drag queen.” She performs as a hip-hop drag queen at several local venues under the stage name “KFoxx Mazarit.”
Knowles takes issue with any politician who meddles in the lives of trans people.
“People who don’t know these people or their families or their loved ones have no right to determine their livelihoods,” Knowles said.
“They’re always trying to find ways to tell us what our lives should be like.”
Bailey’s guidelines weren’t passed by the legislature or signed by the governor. The attorney general simply used his powers of office to enforce laws around what he defined as “consumer protection.”
Placing barriers to gender-affirming care for minors and adults, Bailey argued, will keep parents of transgender youth and transgender adults more informed and provide them with “all the information necessary to make good decisions.”
The World Health Organization defines “gender-affirming care” as a range of social, psychological, behavioral, and medical interventions “designed to support and affirm an individual’s gender identity” when it conflicts with the gender they were assigned at birth. Transgender health care includes the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of physical and mental health conditions, as well as sex reassignment therapies, for transgender individuals.
Claiming such medical treatments are “experimental” and provided without adequate mental health care, Bailey’s new rules require three years of medically documented “gender dysphoria,” 15 therapy sessions over the course of at least 18 months, the treatment and resolution of all mental health conditions and more.
In early March, President Biden-who didn’t specify which rules he found offensive-defined efforts to restrict the rights of trans individuals as “cruel.”
Born a biological male, Knowles claimed her female identity at the age of 14 and received support from her siblings and peers. She launched a petition while at Vashon High School demanding the right to wear the same cheerleading uniforms as the girls. She said the effort garnered a lot of praise from students and faculty members alike.
Raised on St. Louis’ westside on Page Avenue, Knowles said she wasn’t picked on at school.
“Maybe it was because I was of larger descent (6 ft’ tall) and stocky and I knew how to fight. Oh, I was in a lot of fights, but not because I was a trans girl but because I had a smart mouth.”
Having 18 brothers and sisters on her mother and father’s side, Knowles said she tolerated no bullying or intimidation from youngsters or adults. She maintains that attitude today as it relates to attempts from politicians who want to deny transgender people their rights.
“We’re not a project, we’re not an experiment,” Knowles insisted, adding: “They shouldn’t be able to tell anybody who they are or when they should or shouldn’t become a woman or man.”
Knowles is an outreach specialist and an ambassador for The Community Wellness Project’s “TWIST”(Transgender Women Involved in Strategies for Transformation)job skills, intervention, counseling andprevention programfor adult, transgender women. As in her younger years, Knowles is equally adamant about the need for gender-affirming care.
“It’s necessary because of our mental health…we need our meds, we need counseling…it’s all important because of the high risk of suicides.” Knowles stressed. “When people talk to you or say things that’s harmful-if you don’t have thick skin-it can become very hurtful that’s why we have people who kill themselves.”
Knowles is not alone among those concerned about the rising suicide rates among transgender people. According to a report released in February by the Trevor Project, a national LGBTQ youth suicide prevention organization, a quarter of Black transgender and nonbinary youth attempted suicide last year. Another study released last year by the same group noted that more than 50% of transgender and non-binary youth in states across the US seriously considered suicide in that year.
Knowles is not surprised that the LGBTQ+ community is the target of political attacks.
“We’ve always been a political target, they’re always trying to make it hard for us to get surgeries and that type of thing,” Knowles said. It’s like our fight for same sex marriage. They’re always trying to make it hard for us.”
Knowles thought things were getting better under the Obama Administration. Repealing the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” Act, extending the federal Hate Crimes Prevention Act to include attacks based on the victim’s actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity; Ensuring hospital visitation rights and expanding access to health coverage for LGBT patients and their loved ones were just a few accomplishments under Obama for the LGBTQ+ community.
When interviewed by the American a few weeks ago, Knowles was confident that Bailey’s attempts to invoke new emergency rules aimed at restricting gender-affirming health care would be thwarted by community activism and Missouri courts. She may be right.
“They’re making it like we’re criminals when we’re people just like everybody else,” Knowles said.
