How Transphobia Kills

Hate Groups Infiltrating Safe Spaces for Transgender and Queer People of Color

The first thing I do when I buy a new iPhone or Samsung is download every social media app that exists without thinking twice about it but imagine feeling uncertain or afraid to download or use social media apps like Facebook, Instagram or even YouTube. Feeling fearful and unsafe is what a transgender and queer person of color experience when logging in to use any of these platforms. Social media can be very influential and a useful tool to educate individuals on resistance to oppression, foster collaborations and how to facilitate activism but when used by hate groups, these safe spaces can quickly become a negative and violent space for queer and transgender people of color. Social media like Twitter or Facebook can be used anonymously to promote ideas or voice opinions. It is used by countless individuals globally and year after year, proves to be the primary source of web-based breaking news. These platforms can achieve what local and provincial broadcasting stations cannot: instant coverage accessible to everyone with internet access and information on any type of social justice movements. However, platforms as such have continuously given hate groups easy access to destroy these spaces for queer and transgender people of color and create violence that these individuals experience and see. Authorities of power, such as the government and creators of different types of social media like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and others can and should put an end to this hate towards transgender and queer people of color by putting forth laws to prevent this hate and by making changes to their social media policies.

Educating the younger and the older generation about the LGBT+ community will bring in support from others which can start reaching government, news outlets and social media creators to begin implementing policies to stop hate crimes against this blameless group of people.

Hate groups are using social media to abuse and take advantage of the anonymity and freedom of speech that social media offers to everyone. Raising awareness through the creators of social media to enlighten on what companies advertise to benefit on ad revenue on and the government implementing laws or policies to eliminate the violence and harassment that has continued happening to this day because of what hate groups are capable of doing in digital spaces against queer and trans people of color.

However, there may be more as incidents are not reported or people are misgendered. Violent and horrendous attacks shine a light on how important it is to have a conversation on transgender people’s safety and the steps that need to be taken to ensure these transphobic, hateful and violent crimes do not continue happening.

These vicious hate groups seek to infiltrate these safe spaces by singling out transgender and queer people of color in supposedly safe areas such as their own communities or social gatherings to murder these innocent people. Hateful and cruel crimes against transgender or queer people of color has instilled the feeling of fear and terror in these innocent people and has made them feel afraid to do their daily activities, use social media and be comfortable with their sexuality or gender. Transphobia can quickly start becoming violent and dangerous in safe spaces online when used inaptly and in also in reality, as well.

Hate groups have found many easily accessible resources through social media to intrude on safer spaces for transgender and queer people of color. These platforms have benefited by gaining money and have avoided to create restrictions or policies to end cruel and bigoted content that is posted every day. Transgender and queer people of color have also been murdered because of their identity and the numbers are rising every year. Hate groups continue to abuse safe spaces for transgender and queer people of color by infiltrating collaborations, activism, and resistance to oppression movements or conversations online. A change needs to be implemented by social media creators and the government should also get involved to find a solution to this epidemic rise in killings of innocent transgender people as they have continued happening every year.

Related posts:

2019 was a bag of emotions for me. I went through these emotions mostly with music — as with silence. I have compiled 20 of my favourite songs that got me through these moments. Not all the songs on…

I remember from time to time, one of my favorite university professors saying something along the lines of “we experience the world through the lens of our location.” Meaning, the way all the…

Gutenberg first appeared a few years ago and was said to be the future of page editing in WordPress. And now, the latest version — Gutenberg 9.7 has just been released and proven that it’s not only…