Trans Women are Women
These safe spaces need to be claimed as they are being taken away all the time by people who refuse to respect another’s sexual orientation and gender identity, especially one that is different from their own.
Melai Lopez, when asked about what issues in the trans community need to be addressed now, she says, “If we were to address something, I would say it is the internalized oppression within the trans community as well. A lot of trans women feel like we do not belong in certain spaces. There are trans women who feel like we should not be pushing people into allowing us into the “sacred space” of women’s bathrooms.”
“I think it is important to address the internalized oppression of the trans community first because we have to believe in where we belong too. It is unfortunate that there are so many of us who have been told many times that we don’t belong here, that you are not what you think you are. They have been told these things so many times in the past that they have come to believe that they cannot have or enjoy these things and conveniences and rights as everybody else does.”
“It’s dangerous when we start believing that because it’s not just about washrooms. Does it end there? What about careers? Are there careers then that we do not belong to?”
She ends with, “We have to know and claim our space.”
