Open Letter to Tulsi Gabbard

We need to talk about Transphobia

Dear Tulsi:

At any point in the last few years you could have reached out to the trans community to learn more about their concerns and struggles and figure out how to be a better ally to them. You could even have just done a simple internet search to better understand them, particularly regarding the science of trans women competing in sports.

So why did you put out uninformed and unjust legislation that bans trans women and girls from women’s sports and that too, with only three weeks to go in your last term as a Congresswoman? I’m stunned, horrified, and truly disappointed.

I don’t follow politicians. I’m on record for regularly stating that no one should trust politicians even if they call themselves progressives. I’ve also been following your career since the middle of last year because I saw the Hinduphobia you were subjected to as a Samoan Hindu woman and how that reflected on the wider Hindu-American community, particularly Hindu youth. It’s been a rough year and I felt deeply for you but I was at least glad to see that despite all the unfair attacks leveled at you, you maintained your anti-imperialist stance, your strong record on the environment and climate, your support for universal healthcare and civil liberties, your strong support for Indigenous rights, your stance against private prisons, your work for reparations, your advocacy for whistleblowers and a free press, your bills on election integrity, your stance against the drug war, your UBI bill during this pandemic and so much more. Much of your work goes unrecognized or unseen by the social justice movement I’ve been part of because of the prevailing Hinduphobia that pervades everything but I want you to know that I see you, a brown Indigenous and Hindu woman, being erased and vilified. I’ve also seen your courage in calling out your own party—often going against the popular narrative and being attacked for doing so—for what you knew was right. Particularly when it has come to fighting warmongers and technocrats and their power to censor individual voices and interfere in our public discourse. Thank you so much for speaking up and putting your own self on the line to do so.

Because I’ve been following your career, I know that you yourself are an athlete. You care about sports. You care about fair play. That’s why you really should have done more research on the issue of trans women athletes. The research proves that trans women do not have any statistically significant advantage in women’s sports, despite what might seem to be “common sense” for so many. This issue has been studied and debunked over and over again for years because these misconceptions keep coming up. Transphobia is real and trans misogyny is also real and that leads to so many mistaken assumptions.

You should care about the idea of someone being excluded from any physical arena because you are a soldier, Tulsi. Everyone knows how you are a woman soldier and a Iraq combat veteran. It wasn’t long ago in the USA that women were excluded from combat because they were considered weaker than men, slower, unable to fight and behave on a battlefield like a man. This meant, as you well know, that there wasn’t room for them to be promoted, nor put into positions of command and higher pay. This has kept women down for a long time in the US military.

I shouldn’t have to remind you of this when so many of your tweets and posts and speeches refer to your own experiences of being a soldier, Major Tulsi Gabbard. You are a result of women in the USA fighting to be in combat alongside men. So why are you using this outdated sexist idea that women are weaker than men to justify transphobic legislation?

First of all, trans women are women. They are women. They are women. They are not men. They are women. The TERF (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist) argument divides women when we should be uniting to fight real patriarchy and misogyny. Why demonize trans women who are already marginalized when we need to be fighting rape culture, pedophilia, unequal pay, poverty, domestic violence, medical sexism, and toxic masculinity, all of which harm trans women just as much as cis women and often even more, Tulsi? Please study how harmful TERFs are to our collective liberation. TERFs think they are helping women and they are really pushing us all backwards.

Second of all, talking about “biology” is exactly what the sexists did to keep women out of combat. Are you saying that those misogynists were right? Should women not be allowed in combat, Iraq Combat Veteran Tulsi Gabbard? Because a worldwide history of women fighting on the battlefield to defend themselves and their people disagrees. You talk so much about how being in the army has shaped you and your values and I will not talk about my feelings regarding you being in the army because it’s not my place to tell an Indigenous Samoan woman how to defend her own people. I also understand that many Indigenous people in the USA have been part of the military and are veterans who deserve respect. I’ve admired your anti-imperialist stance and how your voice as a combat veteran has lent so much weight to the anti-war and anti-military industrial complex argument. Your experienced anti-imperialist voice is needed in our public discourse.

So third of all, why have you not talked to trans women about this issue? It’s clear from this legislation that you haven’t. Please talk to trans women, Tulsi. You have done so much damage to your congressional legacy with this bill. All you have to do is reach out and invite members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ athlete community to talk to you about their struggles and share their ideas of how to regulate and judge sports. I guarantee that they will have so many ideas and solutions for this issue that would increase inclusivity and fair play. You know how I know that? I talk to trans women. I’m happy to introduce you to some if you would like and if they are willing to dialogue with you.

Fourth of all, the way sports are judged has always been fundamentally unjust. Why is it that athletes with access to better training and equipment and nutrition are judged alongside athletes who don’t have the same access? Is that not unfair? Athletes with privilege will of course perform better than less privileged athletes. That has nothing to do with biology, Tulsi, and everything to do with class, race, and capitalism. It’s to do with the fact that Global North countries are able to pump money into training their athletes while Global South countries don’t have the resources to do the same thing because of centuries of colonial induced poverty. Are athletes from Global North countries biologically superior to athletes from Global South countries? Of course not. To even think so is racist and classist. So shouldn’t all athletes have access to the same training facilities? That’s the only way we’ll really have a idea of whether someone is a superior athlete in comparison to their peers. This means that every single international and even domestic sports competition, up to this point, has been judged unfairly. Why have not you put forward legislation to address this, if you want sports to be fair?

Fifth of all, why does anyone think that judging sports according to gender is even a good idea? Why not find a different metric by which to categorize athletes? What about weight/mass like in boxing? Or some other metric? Because you and I both know that there are women athletes who could destroy male challengers in various sports but we never get to see them do it because women have to participate in a different category. Wouldn’t you love to see Serena Williams go up against Roger Federer at Wimbledon? I certainly would. But it’ll never happen in this system because of these sexist outdated gender categories.

Sixth of all, women athletes get paid less and covered less in the media than men in sports. Have you advocated for women’s sports and put forward legislation to stop this lack of gender equality in pay, Tulsi? The entire system of sports is designed to keep women down, including trans women, and it should be your job to fight that, not double down on it by excluding trans women and girls from even competing. If trans women were really “men in disguise”, would they willingly take a pay cut just to compete in the women’s category? Think about it, Tulsi. Men don’t “pretend to be women”. That’s not a thing and it never has been no matter what the TERFs say. It takes a great deal of courage to come out publicly as transgender and trans women certainly don’t do it for the so-called “glory” and “lucrative career” of being a woman athlete. To assume that they do so is called trans misogyny and you are guilty of that right now.

Seventh of all, there are so many people supporting your legislation because they’re worried about their daughters’ scholarship opportunities. But it hasn’t occurred to any of them that instead of excluding trans women, they should be advocating for college-for-all. No one should have to rely on the slim hope of a sports scholarship to afford college, which is deeply ableist in and of itself, because college should be accessible for everyone regardless of their income or background. That is what we need legislation on, Tulsi. And even if we are arguing over scholarships, most trans people live in poverty, particularly trans youth. Don’t they deserve to go to college too? Don’t they deserve opportunities to get degrees and have careers also? Or should they wallow in poverty and houselessness because that’s what they deserve as transgender people? Do you see the deep hatred of trans people coming out in this legislation, Tulsi? Even if you personally don’t feel hate, it feeds into the hate other people feel and justifies the bigoted and violent way they treat trans people.

Eighth of all, what about non-binary people? What about intersex people? What is their place in sports? Does their biology exclude them from competing? Where do they go to be part of sports? Are you going to propose a separate category to ensure they can still compete, if we’re going to keep gender categories? And why do all these athletes have to be discriminated against because of outdated ideas about biology when science has given ample evidence that those ideas are not even true?

Ninth of all, Black women athletes often have their gender called into question despite the fact that they are cis women. Caster Semenya is one example. She’s been targeted and accused of having an “unfair advantage” because of how much testosterone her body naturally produces, even though she is a cis woman. (Serena Williams is another example.) In stark contrast, Micheal Phelps was never accused of having an unfair advantage even though his arms are longer than the average man and his lungs have more capacity than average male lungs. He won 28 medals and is the most decorated Olympian of all time. In fact, he’s celebrated for his “genetic superiority”. So why are Caster Semenya and Serena Williams accused of having an unfair advantage because of their natural bodies when he isn’t? The answer is very simple. Targeting Caster Semenya and Serena Williams feeds into historical racist tropes about Black women, denying their feminine identity, denying their personhood, which makes it that much easier to discriminate against them. They, as Black cis women, are just better athletes than the white women who are their peers and the racist sports community can’t handle it. If this can happen to cis women because of racism, Tulsi, then surely you can see how this same argument against trans women is also about discrimination and human rights. Last year, I wrote this open letter to Joe Rogan to address his transphobia and anti-Blackness which you should read because it addresses this very topic.

Tenth of all, don’t we love how all these men are pretending to care about women’s sports after ignoring and belittling and laughing at women and women’s sports for years? They’re doing so because it’s an opportunity for them to continue hating women, specifically trans women, while simultaneously masquerading as saviors of women’s rights. You need to see through their male savior propaganda to the deep misogyny and trans misogyny underlying their actions, Tulsi. They are trying to divide us. They are trying to prevent women from uniting to smash the patriarchy. They are not our allies when they divide women and discriminate against any of us. Trans women are our sisters and we need to defend them from this misogyny.

Eleventh of all, what about trans men in your legislation, Tulsi? Are they banned from participating in men’s sports because they’re “biologically weaker” than cis men? I didn’t see that you did ban them (but correct me if I’m wrong). Has it occurred to you why you didn’t move to ban trans men from competing? Because women are always more discriminated against than men, Tulsi. This legislation of yours makes it even more clear that trans women are women and trans men are men and all of this talk about “biology” is just talk. This is despite the fact that your legislation is trying to do the opposite. That’s what transphobia does, Tulsi. It reveals itself and all its flaws in logic even as it thinks it’s winning the argument.

Please listen. Please educate yourself. Please read these links I’ve shared and think deeply about how transphobia is showing up right now in this legislation you’ve put forward.

Your voice is important. Your courage in confronting imperialist warmongers is important. I would like to see you on the national stage making a big difference and I want to know also that you are not a threat to trans liberation. That’s why this issue is so important, Tulsi. It is never too late to learn. You have made a serious mistake with this legislation and you must do better.

I know that your spiritual practice is deep. You are willing to listen when you are told you have been wrong. You are willing to change your views when you learn more information. I know this because I saw it when you came out in solidarity with sex workers during your presidential campaign by advocating for the full decriminalization of sex work. You said: “All people should have autonomy over their bodies and their labor.” You were absolutely right and only by listening to marginalized people such as sex workers can we help them achieve that autonomy. That’s why you should also advocate for the trans community’s autonomy over their bodies and their labor. Listen to marginalized trans voices, Tulsi. Listen to the trans community. Listen to me, your Hindu sister, when I encourage you to reach out to the trans community and learn from them. You are walking the path of karma yoga and bhakti yoga and so am I, Tulsi. That’s why I’m hopeful that you’ll listen right now.

You talk about the Bhagavad Gita often. Remember that in the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna is on the battlefield of Kurukshetra with Krishna, the Divine Himself. Remember that also on that battlefield, on Arjuna and Krishna’s side, was a trans man named Shikhandi. Without Shikhandi in their army, Arjuna would never have defeated unrighteousness and restored peace to the land and Krishna informed Arjuna of that. That’s because trans voices are critical in any movement for justice, particularly peace. Their movement for liberation is intertwined with all liberation, Tulsi. You and I both want peace. We want an end to imperialism. We want freedom from endless wars. That’s why we need to uplift trans voices. We can not achieve collective liberation and peace without them.

I’m writing this letter to you because it’s my responsibility as a Hindu woman to address the harmful behaviors of women in my community. It’s not about my ego, which took a giant blow when I saw this transphobic legislation of yours and just wanted to run away. It’s not about my safety as a cis brown Hindu woman which is always under threat. It’s not about what is comfortable, Tulsi. It’s about justice. It’s about peace. Please listen.

Best wishes,

Zarna Joshi

PS: Two of my trans friends reviewed this letter before I finalized it because they wanted to help me reach you.

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Donate to Trans organizations

https://www.bustle.com/p/15-trans-rights-organizations-to-donate-to-right-now-40031

Resources

https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23130854-500-transgender-olympians-in-rio-dont-have-an-unfair-advantage/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5357259/

https://www.menshealth.com/uk/fitness/cardio-exercise/a26622044/sports-stars-claim-trans-women-have-an-unfair-advantage-in-competitive-sport/

https://www.aclu.org/news/lgbt-rights/four-myths-about-trans-athletes-debunked/

https://theestablishment.co/no-female-trans-athletes-do-not-have-unfair-advantages-14b8e249f93c/index.html

https://www.newsweek.com/do-transgender-athletes-have-unfair-advantage-426109

https://sportsmedialgbt.com/transphobia-in-sport-misconceptions-and-the-media

https://medium.com/@transphilosophr/the-issue-of-trans-athletes-is-philosophical-not-physiological-523c8e7398e5

https://www.menshealth.com/uk/fitness/a26798247/trans-athletes-sporting-performance/

https://www.sheknows.com/living/articles/2273783/terf-meaning-jk-rowling/

https://mwi.usma.edu/women-arent-problem-standards/

https://www.themuse.com/advice/women-in-the-military-why-cant-we-serve-on-the-front-lines

https://www.theperspective.com/debates/living/women-serve-combat-units/

https://www.debate.org/opinions/should-women-be-in-the-military#!

https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/politics/a24109933/transgender-women-are-women-transgender-men-are-men/

https://www.bustle.com/articles/7727-im-a-transgender-woman-and-this-is-what-its-like

https://time.com/5865581/transphobia-terf-harm/

https://everydayfeminism.com/2017/02/trans-women-not-biologically-male/

https://www.bolde.com/10-things-know-dating-transgender-woman/

https://medium.com/@notCursedE/10-terf-arguments-that-need-to-stop-80e34d07dae4

https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/04/16/what-is-a-terf-and-why-should-you-be-worried/

https://www.dailydot.com/irl/terf-meaning/

https://popularmilitary.com/no-girls-allowed-three-reasons-why-women-shouldnt-be-integrated-into-combat-arms/

https://www.theheritagelab.in/rani-of-jhansi/

https://www.thoughtco.com/boudicca-boadicea-biography-3528571

https://thekurdishproject.org/history-and-culture/kurdish-democracy/rojava-democracy/

https://theafricanhistory.com/566

https://www.thoughtco.com/images-of-samurai-women-195469

https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/02/24/notable-important-native-american-warrior-women-of-the-19th-century/

https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2019/04/04/transgender-athletes-why-fair-compete/

https://www.glaad.org/tags/transgender-athletes

https://www.lavenderrightsproject.org/

https://www.lavenderrightsproject.org/wa-bttf

https://utopiaseattle.org/who-we-are/

What is 2SLGBTQIA+? - https://www.homelessnesslearninghub.ca/learning-materials/2slgbtqia-toolkit

https://www.glaad.org/issues/sports

https://olympicsandmedia.wordpress.com/2011/05/10/olympic-inequality-poor-nations-vs-wealthy-nations/

https://apnews.com/article/sports-north-america-legal-settlements-womens-soccer-lawsuits-952e1e140e946ec55915399648d984ff

https://orangemag.co/orangeblog/why-dont-womens-sports-get-as-much-attention-as-mens

https://www.athleteassessments.com/gender-equality-debate/

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-20/how-transgender-youth-can-escape-homelessness

https://transequality.org/issues/housing-homelessness

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/11/19/transgender-day-remembrance-what-life-like-2019/4196188002/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/10/08/lgbt-employment-discrimination-half-of-states-offer-no-protections/3837244002/

https://www.dailycal.org/2020/07/03/shes-fast-theyre-furious-what-caster-semenyas-story-teaches-us-about-colonialism/

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/serena-williams-policing-of-black-bodies_n_55a3bef4e4b0a47ac15ccc00

https://www.scienceabc.com/sports/michael-phelps-height-arms-torso-arm-span-feet-swimming.html

https://www.dailycal.org/2020/07/03/shes-fast-theyre-furious-what-caster-semenyas-story-teaches-us-about-colonialism/

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/hannaheko/aint-i-a-woman

https://trailrunnermag.com/people/transgender-athlete-rights-are-human-rights.html

https://www.dailydot.com/irl/joe-rogan-experience-podcast-women-problem/

https://nypost.com/2020/06/20/joe-rogan-under-fire-for-laughing-about-coercing-women-to-have-sex/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-4745054/Stop-telling-women-s-sport-good-men-s.html

https://zarnajoshi.medium.com/open-letter-to-joe-rogan-4bc327cdd506

https://reason.com/2020/02/10/only-tulsi-gabbard-wants-to-decriminalize-sex-work-but-other-dems-show-signs-of-progress-on-the-issue/

https://msmagazine.com/2020/10/15/authors-speak-up-trans-rights-are-human-rights/

Tulsi’s record

https://pamho.medium.com/anatomy-of-a-smear-how-liberals-have-become-willing-dupes-of-foreign-political-psy-ops-8641fdb78c21

https://medium.com/@tjmcnulty_79436/debunking-pieter-friedrichs-tulsi-narrative-1085649b2810

https://medium.com/@induv/the-woke-bullying-of-our-hindu-american-children-media-narratives-the-school-years-f1078a8784f0

https://reason.com/2019/12/16/the-anti-war-candidate/

https://reason.com/2019/06/26/tulsi-gabbard-wrecks-dems-with-powerful-anti-war/

https://gabbard.house.gov/environment

https://gabbard.house.gov/news/press-releases/rep-tulsi-gabbard-urges-president-immediately-halt-dakota-access-pipeline

https://vegnews.com/2020/2/tulsi-gabbard-on-veganism-climate-change-and-what-gives-her-hope

https://gabbard.house.gov/news/press-releases/rep-tulsi-gabbard-s-act-pathway-100-clean-energy-economy-gains-national-momentum

https://medium.com/@alanmyron/understanding-the-differences-between-universal-healthcare-medicare-for-all-and-public-options-64cf0ba532bc

https://gabbard.house.gov/issues/privacy-civil-liberties

https://gabbard.house.gov/news/press-releases/rep-tulsi-gabbards-statement-mauna-kea

https://www.facebook.com/TulsiGabbard/posts/2167493483307059

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/437286-reparations-bill-wins-new-momentum-in-house

https://gabbard.house.gov/news/press-releases/rep-tulsi-gabbard-introduces-bill-reform-espionage-act-and-strengthen

https://nypost.com/2020/11/27/rep-gabbard-calls-on-pardons-for-edward-snowden-julian-assange/

https://www.newsweek.com/tulsi-gabbard-julian-assange-edward-swowden-pardon-dropped-charges-joe-rogan-1425802

https://gabbard.house.gov/news/press-releases/rep-tulsi-gabbard-re-introduces-securing-america-s-elections-act

https://www.marijuanamoment.net/tulsi-gabbard-says-country-should-move-to-legalize-drugs-like-cocaine-and-heroin/

https://gabbard.house.gov/news/press-releases/video-rep-gabbard-votes-end-marijuana-criminalization-protect-freedom-choice

https://www.rt.com/usa/482444-tulsi-gabbard-hinduphobia-twitter/

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/03/why-not-tulsi.php

https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/487471-tulsi-gabbard-proposes-ubi-amid-coronavirus-crisis

https://thespectator.info/2020/10/08/watch-tulsi-gabbard-destroy-party-favorite-kamala-harris-and-expose-her-record-as-dirty-prosecutor-2/

https://republicangazette.com/2020/12/tulsi-gabbard-urges-senate-to-vote-no-on-this-biden-cabinet-pick/

https://www.blackagendareport.com/corporate-media-cold-warriors-smear-sanders-and-gabbard-traitors-empire