HOW WAS THIS ALLOWED IN THE KENTISH GAZETTE?
Ever thought Canterbury was a safe, inclusive place to live if you identify as LGBTQ+? I certainly did. With events such as Glitterbomb and Canterbury Pride, the local community felt like a safe space, until now.
This disgusting article was recently published in the local newspaper, The Kentish Gazette. While I’ve never read this toilet paper before, I feel this really shows how much this daily rag is worth and what it truly stands for. The worst part about this article is the direct attack on a trans woman from Canterbury. Starting with misgendering this woman, the ‘journalist’ steals and displays pictures of this woman to random strangers and forces them to “gender” the woman based off her appearance.
I would personally find this to be extremely disgusting behavior no matter how the person in question identified. Trans people are not an object to be speculated over. All trans people are valid and no one else gets to decide this. Trans women, especially Trans women of color, suffer the greatest discrimination and their murder rates are way above those of cisgender people. Ever heard of Trans Panic? The National LGBT Bar Association have a good explanation:
“Gay and trans “panic” defense tactics ask a jury to find that a victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity is to blame for the defendant’s excessively violent reaction. The perpetrator claims that the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity not only explain – but excuse – their loss of self-control and subsequent assault of an LGBT individual. By fully or partially acquitting the perpetrators of crimes against LGBT victims, these defenses imply that LGBT lives are worth less than others.“
People can actually assault and murder LGBTQ+ people and get away clean with this excuse. Articles like this, where they directly target vulnerable people, is exactly how hate begins to brew, they brainwash people into thinking that insulting, outing, or misgendering people is OK. The article also refers to incidents where trans people were in the prison system and use their gender identity to further their crimes. Anyone hear the familiar tones of the bathroom ban from Trump’s trash talk?
My question is, who let this be published? Who felt they could be this transphobic and get away with it. Clearly they know they’re going to receive back-lash and they are right! Glitterbomb, Canterbury’s popular LGBTQ+ night, responded with:
“Glitterbomb disagrees in the strongest possible terms on the views expressed and decision to publish this article by the Kentish Gazette. It's transphobic, reactionary and hurtful. Our community needs to stand up to outdated and bigoted views like this, for the good of our friends and our family.”
I feel we need to stand together, especially as a union, against disgusting discrimination in news publications. To finalize this as a Angry Student for Political Change, I’m going to let who ever wrote this know we won't stand for it. We all stand together.
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