As a trans woman, as Trans Day of Visibility approaches (March 31), I feel compelled to address the letter “Transgender law doesn’t supersede natural law” (Jan. 24, TribLive).
Being transgender is not classified as a mental illness by major medical and psychological associations. Nor does being transgender “defy nature.” Medical and biological research recognizes sex and gender as more complex than a strict binary. “Transgenderism” is not a recognized medical term and is often used in political rhetoric. Nor is there any singular “trans law.”
Trans people have existed since ancient Babylon and Sumeria. The goddess Inanna includes an invocation to “turn a man into a woman and a woman into a man.” The Phrygian goddess Cybele, worshiped in Greece and known as Magna Mater in Rome, had the galli. Many cultures across the world, including indigenous North American nations and communities in South and Southeast Asia, have long recognized more than two genders.
In a time of heightened political rhetoric, we must remember two simple truths: Trans people have always existed and will always exist, and we need our cisgender allies now more than ever.
Ash Franzetti
Greensburg