Protests: Building Solidarity, Community and Inspiring Hope

In the wake of the supreme court ruling, I attended 2 protests in one week against it. They were 2 very different protests, and having spoken to a few other trans folk across the country about this, our experiences have varied a lot. It made me think a lot about the purpose of protest and how important it is to cultivate the right vibe, and to not let them get captured by the "well ackshully" brigade.

First demonstration: the "well ackshully" brigade

For example, the first protest I attended that week was organised by someone with little experience. 15 people showed up, all very supportive and lovely people, a real mix of age, race, background and gender identity (both cis and trans!). Very positive on the diversity front. We had a megaphone that got passed around, and a few of us made great speeches of defiance, hope and praxis. Again, all very positive. But unfortunately, it started going down hill after some far right YouTuber with a camera came to pull "change my mind" style bullshit. In the space of 30 minutes, 3 members of the public showed up arguing against us. Within 15 minutes, it turned into a crowd debate against 5 idiots who didn't believe in trans rights with their purported "reasonable concerns".

These idiots ended up arguing with us protestors for over 40 minutes. In this time, the megaphone speeches stopped, a lot of us stopped talking among ourselves, we stopped connecting with each other and the fascists began to monopolise our time, emotional capacity and space. This effectively neutered our protest. While we were arguing with these scumbags, we weren't sending our message out loudly and proudly. To make it worse? In the wake of such a momentous ruling, we being further traumatised by justifying our existence to people who were never going to change their minds anyway. Worse still, there were other protestors who would have really benefitted from just sharing space and solidarity with each other, including me. I came away from that protest feeling disempowered, drained and like the weight of the ruling was even heavier.

The second demonstration: community, solidarity and love

Contrast this with the protest I attended at the weekend: we all assembled together, much larger crowds this time, at least 100 people. We had multiple pre-selected speakers who had volunteered themselves in the group chat the nights before. It started off in a very positive way, much like the first protest I attended. But the difference was: it continued that way. Speeches of hope, of defiance and rage were had. Connections were made, people laughed, chanted and hugged. We were in community, solidarity and company with each other. We complimented each other's signs, we cooed at each other's pets, and we cheered each other on. I attended with my gorgeous cis girlfriend, and at the end of the protest, another protestor walked up to us and said: "you guys are so so cute together!!! Please take this, its my last one!" she gave us a crocheted trans heart. I felt like that very nicely summed up the difference between the first protest and the last: solidarity, commiseration but also hope and defiance throughout, from start to finish. Fascists did not capture or monopolise our time.

In fairness, the first protest was a lot smaller. And it was absolutely no critique to the organiser, it was more what we (including me), the protestors, cultivated. Don't get me wrong, I think it's important to say your piece to descending voices. We have to respond with our message. But we also have to practise discernment with that too. Put your message out, even if it falls on deaf ears, but once you're done? Move on and ignore. Do NOT let these worthless vermin capture our time, energy, space or emotional capacity. Protest HAS to be about building solidarity, commiseration, but also building hope, a path forward and community with each other. The goal should be to out organise our adversaries. Because no matter what they legislate against us, they will only be successful if we are divided and atomised.

Using protest as a means to yes: get our message out there, but also to connect with others in our cause is vital. When we're organised and in community together, when the shit starts hitting the fan? We can respond stronger together. We can support each other, share resources and knowledge with each other. All this makes us far more resilient and difficult to target.

The age of neoliberal capitalism that we've been living under over the last 4 decades have split us apart, they have atomised us. The internet is only making this worse, our social outlets are ever more closely tied to spending, in a cost of living crisis that further serves to disempower and keep us isolated. Our lack of social spaces and opportunities to connect entrench this. We're sorely out of practise of being in community with each other, showing up and building connections together. Protest can be used as an opportunity to hone and nourish these skills. Lets out-organise the fascists.

Over and out xo