Yep, I've been gone for a while and now I'm gonna dive right into some heavy shit. Life updates (of which there are several) will happen later.
Most of my readers, to the best of my knowledge, are in Massachusetts. Some of you are in Pennsylvania or California or Indiana, but my reader base is largely Massholes. So you may not be aware, as I was not aware, of the legislation coming up for discussion in five different states: Nevada, North Carolina, West Virginia, Rhode Island, and New York have all proposed legislation that would note autistic people's diagnosis on their licenses.
First, for my fellow autistics: a moment of solidarity as we all panic. Remember that we are not alone. We are a community with strong voices, and we will fight this. Take a step away before you continue reading and do something comforting.
For everyone else: this is eugenics.
I've seen plenty of people, even those ostensibly on the left, dismiss the idea of modern eugenics. It's not like it was in the '40s, I'm told; they're not rounding up autistics (or queers or Jews) and putting us in gas chambers. It's not like it was in the '60s, I'm told; they're not dropping us in asylums to be forgotten and abused.
Isn't it?
Folks who know me know I'm very resistant to Holocaust comparisons, both because they tend to be oversimplifications and because there are precious few things that actually compare. But let me tell you, as a queer autistic Jew, that this is literally what they did in the Holocaust: they want to force us to identify our marginalizations in institutionalized ways so that everyone knows what we are.
And nobody is covering it.
I didn't find out about this from, I don't know, a news outlet. I found out because a queer disability activist I follow on Twitter (The Tweedy Mutant, for those of you looking to follow strong queer disabled voices) retweeted a piece of this thread by J. Logan Smilges, and I happened to receive a notification about it at a moment where I could stop and read through it.
As Smilges says, it is no coincidence that these proposals are coming to the table at the same time that multiple states are passing anti-trans bills. Tennessee, Oklahoma, Kansas, Mississippi, and South Carolina have passed, or are currently trying to pass, bills that limit trans healthcare and trans safety. In Tennessee, all trans people are being required to detransition. Utah, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, and Florida have all passed bills in the last year banning or restricting trans healthcare for minors. Most of these bills target Medicare and Medicaid, making it difficult or impossible for people on state-sponsored insurance to get trans healthcare even if their states have not banned it for adults.
How are these things related? Simple: both trans and disabled people are vulnerable communities being repainted as risks to society. Trans people are frequently accused of being groomers, pedophiles, perverts, etc., and autistic people are viewed either as incapable of independent thought and living, or as aggressive, rude, overly rigid people who don't have the flexibility required to be fully capable. And, as Smilges points out, there is no shortage of lawmakers and public figures who claim that being transgender is a mental illness or the byproduct of one.
Furthermore, the infantilization of autistic people and the claims of a link between mental illness and transness combine in some incredibly dangerous ways, even in states with absolutely none of these laws. In Massachusetts, where I live, I am not (currently) required to disclose my autism on my license, nor am I restricted in any way from pursuing gender-affirming care. But the normalization of these ideas about trans and autistic people means that if I had a formal diagnosis of autism and was seeking a medical transition process, my providers could say I'm not capable of informed consent because I'm autistic.
"But Jo, this still isn't eugenics! It's discrimination, maybe, but not eugenics!" I beg to differ. Forcing members of marginalized groups to identify themselves as such, especially in spaces where we're at greater risk (ie. every interaction with cops), is eugenics. Limiting our healthcare is eugenics. Making our healthcare reliant on our diagnoses or lack thereof is objectively eugenics.
Trans healthcare saves lives. Autistic supports save lives. These policies, taken separately or together, limit our ability to continue to thrive and open doors for other, worse legislation.
Seven years ago, in the leadup to the 2016 election, people told me I was overreacting to what we knew, even then, was the rise of fascism. One memorable conversation, with someone I considered a friend, was focused on what the government would and would not allow. It wasn't like the government was going to go back to interment camps. And then the government did that. It wasn't like the government would force me to identify myself. Now the government might do that. It's not like the government is going to round us up and gas us. But that's literally what happened last time.
I try not to be an alarmist, but y'all, I am alarmed. This isn't theoretical anymore. I can no longer say "but what if the government forces us to identify ourselves?" because in ten percent of US states, that is literally happening right now.
Cis people, abled people, those of you who consider yourselves allies to the trans and disabled communities: fight back for us. Because otherwise, there won't be an us anymore.
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