Hardly. I agree with everything that you say. Transphobic violence was more likely to be swept under the rug. There were not as many protections, etc. My point is simple and has nothing to do with society as it existed then. Because the trans community is more visible today than it was 30 years ago, the ordinary American has become very aware of the existence of trans people and many of them are taking the position that we should be marginalized or even denied our rights.
In the 90s, most people were unaware of the trans population. Because the awareness is greater, the risk has gone up dramatically. What we are seeing today in society is not that much different than the rise of fascism in 1930s Germany. It started as a populist movement and quickly grew to being something far more sinister. I see the same kind of risk in today’s America. That is what concerns me. It is one thing to have isolated individuals involved in violent and hateful activities. It is something else entirely when the government and politicians get on the bandwagon and normalize and legitimize the discrimination. That phenomenon is relatively new.
Over time, I agree that things will get better. We are making progress. But we are at a particularly dangerous moment in history that did not exist to such an extent in the 90s. Living in Florida, the autocratic tendencies of our bigoted governor are on full display. He not only passes laws to control the actions of local government, deny care to the trans population and remove elected public servants who do not agree with him, he tries to control anyone by executive order when they disagree with his mandates. This has a lot to do with autocracy and nothing to do with democracy. There is a high probability he will be the Republican presidential candidate in 2024. He is just like Trump except even more dangerous because he actually has intelligence enough to implement his full agenda. A cornerstone of his platform, which strongly resonates with his loyal base, is the denial of the legitimacy of the trans experience and an attempt to ban any kind of care or even any kinds of materials that might inform our children of our existence. He turns the issue into one of grooming and sexualization.
In the 90s these kinds of beliefs were held by isolated pockets of hateful individuals. Today it has become mainstream and is becoming embraced by tens of millions. The threat is much higher today than it was 30 years ago. This is a very dangerous time for the country and for the trans population.
