Trans People Excluded from Capitalist Society

By Sally Jane Black

The law provides little protection for trans people. In New Orleans, a recent poll showed that 87% of black trans women had been sexually harassed or assaulted by members of NOPD, and across the nation, the police and other authorities do little to prevent crime against trans people. Since January 2017, 28 trans people have been murdered in the United States, including two in New Orleans. Almost all of them have been people of color. Almost none of their killers have been brought to justice. Furthermore, over 40% of trans people attempt to kill themselves. These statistics do not take into account trans people who are not out, or whose families hide their identities after they died. The real numbers are much higher.

Across the board, trans people have been excluded from capitalist society. Trans people are at higher risk of being homeless, bullied, abandoned by their families, or denied healthcare services or jobs. “Right to work” states, which target all workers, make it possible for trans people to be fired for being trans. Health insurance policies routinely classify necessary medical treatments as ineligible for coverage, for the few trans people who can afford insurance.
Meanwhile, in socialist Cuba, the government has created the National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX) to advocate tolerance and educate the population on issues of gender, sexuality, and sex. Despite the fact that trans people make up a small percentage of the island’s population, the Cuban government has made promoting support for trans people a priority, and healthcare for trans people—including hormone treatments and surgery—is provided free within the nation’s universal healthcare system.

The contrast between the response from Cuba and the United States could not be starker. The ruling class in the United States sees trans people as a prop to be used to inspire infighting in all who resist it; the Cuban people seek to embrace all members of their society. Transphobia is an inherent part of the capitalist patriarchy; it will not be defeated and we will not be safe until capitalism is gone.

Workers Voice Socialist Movement

We are workers, employed and unemployed, youth, students, and seniors. We are multi-racial and multi-national and organize for the unity of the working class. We are funded by and for workers, for the liberation of all workers and oppressed people.

We organize for jobs and higher wages, against racism, women’s, and LGBTQ oppression, and for solidarity with immigrants. We organize for community schools, lower rents, and food on our tables. We organize for workers’ power so that everything will one day be removed from the capitalists’ private ownership.

We oppose the Pentagon, which is looting our tax dollars and handing them over to war-profiteering private companies, while social programs are gutted. We oppose war for empire which is pursued only to lower our wages and plunder the world’s resources while destroying the environment. We reject the monopoly media who feed us lie after lie.

The labor of workers produces enormous wealth here in Louisiana, the U.S. and the world– so much wealth that everyone could have housing, meaningful jobs, education, healthcare, and genuine equality. But this wealth is stolen and privately owned by the capitalist class for their greed and profit. We believe that we, the workers of the world, can unite in revolution to overcome capitalism and build a better world.

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