Hey y’all. My name is Andrea Trenaman. I live in Marilyn Lands’ house district and Wes Kitchens’ senate district.
I work full time as an engineer, take night classes at UAH and volunteer with a local hospice where I visit dying patients. Between work, class and volunteering, I’m sometimes busy for up to 16 hours in a day. I’m trying to go to medical school so I can help address the primary care physician shortage in Alabama.
All that being said, I’m tired, y’all.
In the past several legislative sessions, bills were proposed that target transgender people. These bills paint us as dangerous and deceptive, building up a caricature of what trans people are and attacking it. This caricature has immense staying power because trans people are greatly misunderstood by those discussing policy that affects us. Those who would do us harm can broadcast lies with simple, snappy language, while we are left trying to explain the complexities of gender to an audience that has been primed for apathy.
Given that trans people make up roughly one percent of the population, many people have never had an earnest interaction with a trans person, and the caricature prevails. I do my part to address this knowledge gap by divulging my identity where appropriate, and I have seen the caricature take hold in real time once people learn I’m a trans woman. I am often treated differently after people learn I’m trans; people will start struggling to gender me correctly where they previously succeeded, and they will ask me inappropriate questions like “have you had the surgery?” While this is frustrating, it is not surprising behavior when you live in the shadow of a caricature.
While ignorance itself is not a sin, using that ignorance to write legislation does real harm. The ban on gender affirming care for minors is already wreaking havoc on trans youth in this state, and the rhetoric surrounding “don’t say gay” bills has fueled harassment campaigns against trans and queer people who work in education. While it’s easy to look at people like me and think “that’s not very Alabama,” trans people are more homegrown than a lot of this legislation. Some of these bills are model legislation written by out of state special interest groups.
People in this state have real pain in their lives. People are struggling to buy gas and groceries and to pay their bills. Many people in the state have no health insurance. I want to eventually serve the people of this state as a physician, but the highest legislative body in Alabama is spending time arguing over what bathroom people like me should use. Attacking the trans community won’t help Alabama. All it does is hurt people who want to go about their lives in peace and dignity.
This upcoming session, other representatives will pressure you to vote in favor of bills targeting the trans community. They will say these bills will protect people, and they will lean on the caricature to make these arguments. What these bills really do is put trans people in danger. Please remember that your legislative duty is to all Alabama residents. I want to help the people of this state–including those who are different from me. I hope you do, too.
Thank you for your time.