It has been far too long since I updated. Was just telling a classmate about the blog the other day when he remarked on my shirt (the one I use for my cover pic up at the top), and so, when I linked him to here, I was surprised it’s been six whole months! Well, we’re gonna rectify that right now. I’m gonna try and get back to blogging at least twice a month, but hopefully back to once a week before long. Before I get into today’s topic though, I’ll pass on some good news related to why I’ve been so busy. In addition to school, I’ve finally got a job, working at a Lion’s Den (largest chain of porn/adult toy stores in the country), and that’s taking up a lot of my time when not in school. In other good news, I have officially graduated and received both of my bachelor’s degrees, one in psychology, the other in women’s, gender, and sexuality studies. And my last day of classes is next Wednesday, so I’ll finally have some days off again.
Speaking of school, let’s get into today’s topic. Those of you who can remember your schooling likely remember a phrase that was often bandied about by history teachers. It goes something along the lines of “learn from history or you’re doomed to repeat it.” So imagine my surprise and concern to find an article confirming that history is repeating itself again, and this time, it’s happening within the schools of a certain district in the state of Wisconsin. See, there, transgender students are required to wear green bracelets to identify themselves as trans, and the staff and security are required to prevent them from entering restrooms of the gender they identify as. If that doesn’t outrage you, you might need a bit of a history lesson. Which is what today is all about.
See, lots of people have been making comparisons between Trump and Hitler, and rightfully so. Especially when it comes to his policies regarding Muslims. In fact, many Jewish activists have been protesting his rallies with signs that read things such as “when we say ‘never again,’ we mean it.” Trump wants all Muslims to be registered, carry documentation, etc. before deporting them to elsewhere. He’s also said things like he would endorse killing the families of people who are suspected of having terrorist ties. Very reminiscent of the holocaust. Yet, there’s something in that which is already happening for another minority group… the identification.
See, those who don’t know their history think that Hitler rose to power and instantly threw the Jews into camps and began killing them. That didn’t happen. Not all overnight, anyways. It was slow and subtle over the course of a few years, and in fact, the Jews weren’t the first ones to be put into concentration camps, nor were they the first to be euthanized. Those that came first were the “undesirables” of society: the homeless, the beggars, the alcoholics, and the unemployed. In fact, they were put into concentration camps the very year that Hitler first took office, 1933, while the Jews were largely sealed off in ghettos beginning in 1939, before being moved into concentration camps (particularly Auschwitz and Majdenek), and in the case of the former, a deathcamp, in 1942. For a timeline of the holocaust, check out Timeline of the Holocaust.
So what does all of this have to do with transgender kids in Wisconsin? That kind of thing could never happen in America, right? Wrong. First off, Hitler was appointed to his first position, and when the President died, he was elected into the role of fuhrer with a 90% yes vote. Second, we already had concentration camps on American soil during that same time. Asian Americans were shoved into them, whether they were immigrants or natural born, of Japanese descent or some other country. George Takei spent part of his childhood in the camps, and his Broadway show Allegiant is all about that time. And there’s people who want to do it again with “the gays,” which often includes trans people. Don’t believe me? Well, Baptist Pastor Suggests We Round Up the Gay People and Put Them in a Concentration Camp one such example from 2012, with Pastor Charles Worley from North Carolina (because of course he’s from North Carolina with everything else going on there now) saying he wants to put gays in concentration camps so we can’t reproduce and will die out. Yeah, these people don’t get the whole being gay thing prohibits reproduction without some serious help (and we’d come together to do it too).
Just a month ago, in the wake of the Orlando shooting, one of the most brutal mass shootings in the history of the world, Sacramento pastor Roger Jimenez was preaching about how the government needs to just round up the gays and killing them via firing squad. You know, like with Nazi death squads. Now, I’m not saying we’re heading in the direction of Nazi Germany, but these are some seriously disturbing trends. Remember, gays were some of the people who were put into concentration camps back then as well. Sure, the Jews were the major target (eventually), but there were lots of other groups who were included in that as well. It was a long term plan by Hitler and his team, and they started with “criminals” first before working their way through other undesirables. The Star of David sewn into shirts wasn’t the start for the Jews, and it certainly wasn’t the end either.
These calls for trans people to show their papers (something that the Jews had to do at first), or wear identifying markers, or be rounded up… These are disturbing parallels, and we’re also seeing these same parallels directed at Muslims with the current election too. We need to learn from the past, not repeat it. I urge all of my readers to go out and vote, regardless of your country, and tell your government that you won’t be repeating the mistakes of the past. For Americans, that date is in just a few months, when November rolls around. I also urge all of my readers to get all of your friends and family to vote as well. If you have to, just tell them that there are rare Pokemon at their polling places. And hopefully, Nintendo will actually do that. Either way, get out there and do your part to prevent even the slightest hint of the past repeating itself.
Transendent Lives 