As we gather to honor the Trans Day of Remembrance (Nov. 20) and celebrate Trans Awareness Week (Nov. 13-Nov. 19), it's crucial to reflect on the trajectory of our community's discourse surrounding gender. While we have made strides in asserting our identities, we must confront a troubling trend: the increasing co-optation of oppressive gender frameworks that not only mirror those imposed by right-wing politicians and transphobes but also serve to reinforce white supremacy and marginalize our most vulnerable community members.

Gender essentialism posits that certain traits, behaviors, or roles are inherently tied to one's biological sex, reinforcing binary notions of gender. In this framework, people may feel pressured to conform to traditional gender norms, which can restrict the rich tapestry of identities that exist outside the binary. Trans medicalism, on the other hand, emphasizes medical transition -often through surgical procedures -as the primary validation of one's gender identity.

These frameworks confine our understanding of gender to rigid binaries and fail to account for experiences that exist beyond them. Many in our community may embrace gender essentialism and trans medicalism as a means of protection against rising anti-Trans sentiment, as a way to create power and control to lord over others with less privilege in the same ways that have been traditionally used against our community, as well as creating community and shared ideology based on limiting the experience of transness to binary identities or something else entirely.

However, this reliance on colonial gender binaries is detrimental. It perpetuates the very systems that render all of us unsafe, particularly those with intersecting identities and experiences of marginalization.

When we cling to the idea that gender exists solely within a binary framework informed by white colonial ideologies, we overlook the complexities of gender as understood in various cultures, particularly among Black, Brown, and Indigenous peoples. The historical richness of gender expansiveness in West African, American Indigenous, and Pasifika cultures, for instance, challenges the limited American perceptions of what it means to be Trans. This cultural context has been stripped from many in our community, commodified, and then sold back to us through oppressive narratives and policing behaviors.

As a Black Nonbinary person with roots in Liberia, it pains me to witness how the frameworks of whiteness have seeped into the understanding of Trans identity among Black, Indigenous, and non-Black people of color in the Trans community. It is disheartening to see the "Trans experience" narrowly defined by surgical procedures, rendering those who don't conform -especially Nonbinary people -as invalid. This reductionist view is not just a misunderstanding; it is a lateral harm that undermines the very essence of who we are and stifles the celebration of our authentic selves.

We must recognize that transness does not exist solely within the confines of a postcolonial narrative. It transcends these boundaries, encompassing a spectrum of identities that are fluid, expansive, and deeply rooted in our ancestral histories. Many cultures (including many European ones) have historically celebrated a rich tradition of gender diversity that defies the simplistic categorizations often imposed by colonial narratives. By studying and understanding them, we can reclaim a broader definition of transness that is inclusive of all identities and experiences.

The policing of gender expression in our community reflects a troubling internalization of white supremacy at its root. When we engage in this behavior -determining who is "really" Trans based on aesthetic choices or surgical status -we are reinforcing oppressive systems rather than dis-mantling them. This behavior not only harms those we target but also diminishes our collective power as a community. Our liberation cannot hinge on gatekeeping who is deemed valid based on arbitrary and often harmful standards.

Gender identity and expression are nuanced, and we must embrace this complexity. Just as RuPaul expresses his gender through makeup and dresses while identifying as a man, and Ellen DeGeneres embodies a masculine aesthetic yet identifies as a woman, we too must accept that gender expression can vary widely. Trans men can be femme; Trans women can embody butch aesthetics; cis women and trans women can and do have natural facial hair; Nonbinary people do not owe the world androgyny, and they are not required to be "binary gender lite," with AFAB people needing to present masc or AMAB people needing to present femme. Our definitions of gender must allow for this fluidity, acknowledging that binaries, while present, are not rigid constructs enforced by nature or biology but are socially constructed.

We are at a critical juncture. As we advocate for our rights, we must also challenge ourselves to reevaluate our own conditioning around gender and power. Those who possess privilege -whether through passing as cisgender, wealth, or social capital -must recognize their role in perpetuating harm when they support exclusionary narratives and how those narratives create danger for us all. People like Caitlyn Jenner and Blair White wield their influence to undermine those who do not fit neatly within their limited understanding of gender, gender expression, and Trans identities, dis-proportionately impacting Trans people who are not white or who are disabled, poor, etc. And because we're shamed into believing that passing is the true litmus test for our validity as Trans human beings or whether or not we deserve dignity and respect -even from each other -we end up carrying the same torch used by conservatives and transphobes to burn our own community to the ground.

In this moment of remembrance and reflection, let us recommit to a vision of gender liberation that is truly expansive. We must reject the frameworks that seek to divide us and embrace the beautiful diversity of our experiences; no one is trying to co-opt experiences by claiming a varied experience within a singular community. By doing so, we honor those we have lost and pave the way for a future where all Trans and gender-diverse people can exist authentically and safely. Our liberation is intertwined, and we cannot afford to uphold systems that perpetuate harm within our community. Let us strive for a world where all expressions of gender are celebrated, where authenticity thrives, and where our shared humanity prevails over oppressive ideologies.


To read more about the history of expansive gender from around the world, visit PBS online to check out "A Map of Gender-Diverse Cultures" at https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/content/two-spirits_map-html, created in partnership with a world gender expert of Indigiqueer Transfemme experience.