As the U.K. snap elections take place, a British-American trans woman reflects on the painful and lasting impact of the anti-trans movement in the country.
Although you can’t technically genocide trans people because they’re not one of the special groups outlined in the definition, you don’t actually need to kill people to commit a genocide. I would argue that there is “intent to destroy, in whole or in part” trans people by “Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group” and “Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part”. By taking away healthcare and other accommodations, serious harm is caused to trans people. Couple this with the high suicide rates of bullied and marginalised trans people, one could argue that the lawmakers are intending to kill trans people (although I personally wouldn’t go that far)
If this broad definition of causing harm is used, then one can argue that the United States is committing genocide against its general population, considering how screwed up their healthcare system is. So I doubt the United Nations would see it as genocide unless someone is actively committing it.
And by actively, I mean directly ordering the destruction of trans people, by causing serious bodily and mental harm. That invokes more the image of concentration camps, or work camps, or displaced populations. Kinda what China is doing to the Uyghur people.
UN definition of genocide: https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/genocide.shtml
Although you can’t technically genocide trans people because they’re not one of the special groups outlined in the definition, you don’t actually need to kill people to commit a genocide. I would argue that there is “intent to destroy, in whole or in part” trans people by “Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group” and “Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part”. By taking away healthcare and other accommodations, serious harm is caused to trans people. Couple this with the high suicide rates of bullied and marginalised trans people, one could argue that the lawmakers are intending to kill trans people (although I personally wouldn’t go that far)
If this broad definition of causing harm is used, then one can argue that the United States is committing genocide against its general population, considering how screwed up their healthcare system is. So I doubt the United Nations would see it as genocide unless someone is actively committing it.
And by actively, I mean directly ordering the destruction of trans people, by causing serious bodily and mental harm. That invokes more the image of concentration camps, or work camps, or displaced populations. Kinda what China is doing to the Uyghur people.