Blaming shootings on trans people is unfair and dangerous

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes a mix of guest commentaries online and in print each day. To contribute, click here. The data is clear: Transgender people are less likely to be violent. Yet we are being blamed anyway. And the lives of trans, nonbinary and two-spirit people like us hang in the balance. It’s been a violent summer. Legislators shot in their homes. Children shot in church. An activist shot at a rally. Just to name a few. And no matter where the bullets fly, or from whom, trans people are unfairly and violently targeted in the immediate aftermath. In the wake of this violence, there have been calls to “tone down the rhetoric.” The question is: Will broadly toning it down stop the violence against trans people or allow it to grow in the shadows? To answer that, we have to understand what rhetoric is — and attempt to simplify something that’s been debated for centuries. Rhetoric is the way we use words to influence what people think, feel or do. Because it is persuasive in nature, politics has always relied on rhetoric, and it always will. That’s why “toning it down” misses the point and falls dangerously short of what is needed. Softer words and quieter conversation will not save trans lives. They will not unring the bell nor protect us from the impacts of disinformation. Minnesota has the highest percentage of trans adults in the country, and we are in danger. We do not have time for you to tone it down on our right to live. We urge leaders to elevate this call: Violence against trans people is unacceptable. Demand trans lives be seen as valued, as is any other life. Turn up the volume and vigor when you say that we are worth saving. Like power, rhetoric comes with great responsibility. And right now, we need you to use both, responsibly. Wrap your words around us like armor and tell our truths: that we are less likely to commit violence, that we are more likely to be victims of it, and that we have a substantially higher mortality rate than our non-trans counterparts. When you say these things, say them with your whole chest because the problem is not rhetoric itself, it’s what the rhetoric inspires. And right now, we need you to inspire people to see our humanity and worth.

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes a mix of guest commentaries online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

The data is clear: Transgender people are less likely to be violent. Yet we are being blamed anyway. And the lives of trans, nonbinary and two-spirit people like us hang in the balance.

It’s been a violent summer. Legislators shot in their homes. Children shot in church. An activist shot at a rally. Just to name a few. And no matter where the bullets fly, or from whom, trans people are unfairly and violently targeted in the immediate aftermath. In the wake of this violence, there have been calls to “tone down the rhetoric.” The question is: Will broadly toning it down stop the violence against trans people or allow it to grow in the shadows? To answer that, we have to understand what rhetoric is — and attempt to simplify something that’s been debated for centuries. Rhetoric is the way we use words to influence what people think, feel or do. Because it is persuasive in nature, politics has always relied on rhetoric, and it always will.

That’s why “toning it down” misses the point and falls dangerously short of what is needed. Softer words and quieter conversation will not save trans lives. They will not unring the bell nor protect us from the impacts of disinformation. Minnesota has the highest percentage of trans adults in the country, and we are in danger. We do not have time for you to tone it down on our right to live.

We urge leaders to elevate this call: Violence against trans people is unacceptable. Demand trans lives be seen as valued, as is any other life. Turn up the volume and vigor when you say that we are worth saving. Like power, rhetoric comes with great responsibility. And right now, we need you to use both, responsibly.

Wrap your words around us like armor and tell our truths: that we are less likely to commit violence, that we are more likely to be victims of it, and that we have a substantially higher mortality rate than our non-trans counterparts.

When you say these things, say them with your whole chest because the problem is not rhetoric itself, it’s what the rhetoric inspires. And right now, we need you to inspire people to see our humanity and worth.