Being (y)our Authentic Selves: Countering Anti-TRans Attacks & SUpporting Trans Communities with Teo Drake & Alex Kapitan
Trans communities are being targeted in deeply inhumane ways in this cultural moment.
How did we get here and what can we do to support trans communities?
In this powerful and timely episode, Teo Drake and Alex Kapitan offer insightful context for how, when, and why the current attack on Transgender communities arose. They trouble the disinformation and narrow gender constructions fueling these attacks.
Drawing powerful links between reproductive justice, attacks on immigrants, and the attacks on trans communities, they show how the far Right has eroded the rights of bodily autonomy and the rights for people to be who they are.
With their characteristic radical welcoming and deep compassion alongside their fierce political analysis, Teo and Alex offer practical ways for trans folx to take care of themselves in these dangerous times and for cisgender people to advocate for justice for trans communities.
Guests
Teo Drake is an organizer, a teacher, and an artisan who works in wood and steel. As a queer and trans long-term HIV/AIDS survivor, the practices and philosophies of yoga and Buddhism have been both life-saving and provided the foundation for his organizing and teaching. He is a co-founder of the Transforming Hearts Collective, a collective dedicated to the spiritual care and liberation of queer and trans people, and has served in leadership in several different organizations in the worlds of HIV/AIDS, LGBTQ advocacy, faith and spirituality, well-being, and anti-oppression, including being a founding member of the Transgender Law Center’s project Positively Trans and serving on the faculty and board of Off the Mat, Into the World. His writing can be found in the anthology Yoga and Body Image and at the blog Roots Grow the Tree, and his artisan crafts can be found at The Tinkering Gnome.
Alex Kapitan is a community minister, educator, organizer, fellow co-founder of the Transforming Hearts Collective, and founder of the language project Radical Copyeditor. Alex's work is rooted in helping people live their values in deeper ways by unlearning oppressive ways of being and working to create the world we want and deserve to live in. With a background in faith-based organizing, book publishing, and activism, Alex does interfaith LGBTQ work, supports faith groups in practicing radical welcome, and also regularly offers workshops and presentations on conscious language for publishing companies, media organizations, and other groups.
Links for Teo and Alex:
Transforming Hearts Collective: www.transformingheartscollective.org
The Tinkering Gnome: https://the-tinkering-gnome.com
Radical Copyeditor: https://radicalcopyeditor.com
Show Notes:
Resources from Teo and Alex to support advocacy, activism, and awareness:
For great 101 materials, we recommend this collection from the Trevor Project: https://www.thetrevorproject.org/resources/category/gender-identity
For a concise overview of facts about trans youth, we recommend this Washington Post piece: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/04/22/transgender-child-sports-treatments/
For info on U.S. anti-trans legislation and state-by-state details, we recommend Trans Legislation Tracker (https://translegislation.com) and Movement Advancement Project (https://www.lgbtmap.org/equality-maps)
For an overview of the anti-trans movement and debunking of anti-trans disinformation, we recommend this episode of Ezra Klein's podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/if-you-read-the-g-o-p-s-anti-trans-policies-youll-see/id1548604447
For breaking news and excellent trans-led reporting, we recommend Erin in the Morning: https://www.erininthemorning.com
For people of faith, we also have resources available through our collective: https://www.transformingheartscollective.org/online-courses