Support Trans People by Supporting Trans People

[Content Note: Transmisogyny; ciscentrism.]

Last night, a Seattle-area publication reported:

A $50,000 donation is cause for celebration at the Queen Anne offices of the Girl Scouts of Western Washington. "We have these little clapper thingies, and the clappers go mad when we get that kind of gift," says the council's CEO, Megan Ferland. So when Ferland came back to the office earlier this spring and announced that she'd just landed a $100,000 donation, the place went mad. Not only did it represent nearly a quarter of the council's annual fundraising goal, it would pay to send 500 girls to camp. "We were thrilled," Ferland says.

Except there was a catch. In late May, as news of Caitlyn Jenner's transition was blowing up your Facebook news feed, she received a letter from the donor with a brief request: Please guarantee that our gift will not be used to support transgender girls. If you can't, please return the money. [Emphasis original]

The Girl Scouts of Western Washington returned the money, and started a fundraiser to replace the gift. The fundraiser quickly went viral.

Why wouldn't it? The Girl Scouts do great work. Transphobic discrimination is bullshit. I thought about kicking in a few dollars after my next paycheck.

As of this afternoon, the fundraiser passed the original $100,000 goal—a day after it started. That's fabulous news.

However.

The Girl Scouts is an organization that's predominately run by cis people and that predominately serves cis girls. On some level, the trans girls that the organization is serving are hypothethical. Are there trans girls (and nonbinary children) in Western Washington? Absolutely. Are there some of these trans kids in the Girl Scouts? Probably. I'm not sure if administrators even know. I'm not sure they want to. That's the entire point—their organization exists to serve all children who aren't boys.

I'm thrilled to see this outpouring of support. I just know that most organizations that focus on serving trans people can't imagine receiving this outpouring of support. We can't get that support for young trans people, let alone trans adults who come with the flaws that come hand-in-hand with being fully grown humans struggling to navigate an occasionally fucked-up world.

I think it's great that people are supporting a solid organization that does good work. But I don't think cis people should congratulate themselves on taking this particular stance for trans people. Giving cis people money who tolerate trans people shouldn't be a radical act. It's basic human decency.

Fighting for trans people involves fighting for trans people even when we're not hypothetical.