On Saturday, we took part in a protest against a bill to change birth numbers that would make it impossible for transgender people to legally transition. Hundreds of people gathered at SNP Square to express their clear opposition to the steps leading to the removal of the rights of one of the most oppressed groups of the Slovak population.
They face double oppression
Amnesty International describes the essence of the problem: “The change in the law would require people seeking official gender reassignment (the term “sex” as used in the law) to take a ‘genetic test to prove that a person’s sex has been incorrectly determined in the past’. In both the debate and the explanatory memorandum to the proposal, the petitioners argue that the birth number must “reflect the actual biological sex and be a record of the actual biological identity” and that this requirement is merely an effort to bring the birth number law into conformity with other laws of the country.”
This and similar proposals aimed at oppressing the queer community or other marginalised groups are often argued by the (clerical-conservative) proponents on pseudo-scientific, quasi-medical, or moralistic grounds. But the truth is that their “evidence” is nothing more than the result of mental gymnastics designed to obscure the real purposes of these anti-human efforts.
First and foremost, we must acknowledge the fact that the vast majority of trans people are part of the working class. Just as the cisgender corporate accountant belongs here, so does her transgender colleague. Both are equally oppressed at a fundamental level under capitalism; their employer is taking a significant chunk of the value of their work every month without them deserving it in any way. There is no difference between workers in this respect.
Transgender people, however, experience more intense, so-called multiple oppressions. In fact, like the rest of the queer community, women, ethnic and national minorities, and the disabled, on top of their exploitation by the capitalists, suffer the consequences of the division of society by the ruling bourgeois class. This follows from the very nature of capitalism: if the oppressed (workers) are fragmented and disunited, it is much easier to restrict their rights, reduce their wages, or worsen their living conditions to the benefit of the oppressors (employers and business owners). Therefore, quarrels arise between workers on false grounds at the level of different religions, sexualities, genders, or sexes. These quarrels do not arise naturally – they are fed by the capitalists, for whom it is existentially important to escalate divisions among their slaves.
Let us remove the consequences of capitalism
The original dominant current of thought in leftist circles was that capitalism as such is the sole source of workers’ oppression, manifested in the exploitation of working people, and that if capitalism as a system is removed, the other “offshoots” of workers’ oppression (misogyny, queerphobia, racism, etc.) will arbitrarily go away as well.
However, history has shown us that just as we must actively work to destroy capitalism, we must also exert constant pressure to eliminate its consequences. Whether it is through constant education about history (since these “secondary” forms of oppression arose solely as a consequence of the “primary” oppression under feudalism and later capitalism), consistent support for the quality of life of marginalised groups (employment, culture, amplification of their voice in public affairs, the right to self-government, etc.), or also through constant work leading to increased solidarity among all working people. By realising that we have much more in common than the capitalists let on and by calling for a united struggle against the oppressors.
The leftist movement is based in principle on the constant development of its ideas in accordance with scientific knowledge and historical experience. Just as the left-wing discourse got rid of sexist ideas and women became an integral part of the fight against the oppression of workers, the time has come for the left-wing to clearly stand on the side of trans people and to fight with them in a united way against capitalism as well as their unique social oppression.
Let us recall the Transphobic Parliament
On Saturday, we took part in a protest against the draft law on the change of birth numbers, which would make it impossible to legislate transgender people. Hundreds of people came to SNP Square to express their clear opposition to the steps leading to the withdrawal of the rights of one of the most oppressed groups of the Slovak population.
The protestors on the streets were shouting “Transphobic Parliament!”. We participated in the protest with our friends from the socialisti.sk movement. We are aware that such a two-hour protest is only the first step towards a change in the system of corporate governance that we will achieve by replacing the transphobic politicians in Parliament with the authentic left.
Jakub Rendvanský, Regional Vice-President of the West FĽM
