According to several surveys, in 2021, 375 transgender people, people whose gender identity does not match the sex assigned to them at birth, were murdered worldwide, 96% of them women. In France, in the first quarter of 2021, 1,968 physical attacks were recorded. Verbal attacks are countless. Testimonials.
Blonde hair, face with fine features and butterfly-rimmed glasses, Diane Leriche is a transgender woman. She defines herself as an activist and feminist, for her transphobia is contained in the word “transgender”.
” Aggression comes from the prejudices we may have about people. That a trans person is necessarily a sexual object, it is necessarily an object of fantasies, it is a sexual pervert... “, describes Diane Leriche. ” Deviant Creature is also part of the vocabulary. When a transgender woman has not yet changed marital status, words hurt.
” When you arrive at an ophthalmologist in a large office, you give your social security card, you have not yet made your change of marital status and you are called “sir” while in gender expression , we can see that you are a woman, you are “outed” (public disclosure by a third party of a person’s sexuality or birth gender, without their prior consent, editor’s note) in front of everyone, all for a history of documents “laments Diane Leriche.
► Also to listen: Despite the law, transphobia remains strong in France
An insidious transphobia
A person who feels like a woman but was born into a boy’s body can begin a transition process with the help of hormone therapy in the first place. Sweet face with lightly made-up eyes, shy smile Daisy Letourneur, 40, presents herself in a spring dress, she is an activist within the collective “All women”. According to her, transphobia can be insidious.
” This can be found in a lot of experiences where we must effectively, at the administrative level, justify who we are, doctors who, not knowing trans people, will ask very personal questions, talk about our transition when we have a cold. There are a thousand things, big and small, that happen and fall under transphobia on a daily basis in our experiences. »
Discrimination also exists in the workplace, which Daisy Letourneur experienced. ” It can for example be “we’re going to put you in the closet so you don’t show yourself in front of customers”, or tell us “OK, you can be a woman with us, but in front of the public, you remain a man.” »
When transphobia comes from loved ones
But transphobia is felt in a cruel way as it affects loved ones, confirms Diane Leriche. ” I have only one brother who still hasn’t understood and depending on the situation, he will gender me as masculine. He will do it on purpose. I appreciate him very much, I even like him, but I avoid contact with him because it hurts me. He denies my being, who I am deep inside “, insists Diane Leriche. Daisy Letourneur lowers her eyes, what pains her the most is the rejection of a very dear friend. “ It just happened without a word. He stopped answering my calls, my messages. That, it stays in the throat… “, she lets go.
The associations also denounce an institutional transphobia, even if there have been advances it is still very complicated to change marital status, transgender people must justify themselves before a judge. After a drop in 2020 in the context of a health crisis, complaints or crimes and misdemeanors increased by 28% in 2021, according to the Ministry of the Interior.