Let's build a list of TRANS FIGHTS

neuracnu · edit-2 5 days ago

Let's build a list of TRANS FIGHTS

dandelion · edit-2 5 days ago

Not U.S.-centric or Western-concept-of-trans-oriented, but the Hijra were oppressed by British colonial rule: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hijra_(South_Asia)#History

I’m sure digging into the citations and books like

Hinchy, Jessica (2019). Governing Gender and Sexuality in Colonial India: The Hijra, c.1850–1900. Cambridge University Press

would turn up examples?

Florencia (she/her) · 2 days ago

Extracted a paragraph from the “preview” by academic paywall:

INTRODUCTION EXCERPT ATTACHED. In 1865, the British rulers of north India resolved to bring about the gradual ‘extinction’ of transgender Hijras. This book, the first in-depth history of the Hijra community, illuminates the colonial and postcolonial governance of gender and sexuality and the production of colonial knowledge. From the 1850s, colonial officials and middle class Indians increasingly expressed moral outrage at Hijras’ feminine gender expression, sexuality, bodies and public performances. To the British, Hijras were an ungovernable population that posed a danger to colonial rule. In 1871, the colonial government passed a law that criminalised Hijras, with the explicit aim of causing Hijras’ ‘extermination’. But Hijras evaded police, kept on the move, broke the law and kept their cultural traditions alive. Based on extensive archival work in India and the UK, Jessica Hinchy argues that Hijras were criminalised not simply because of imported British norms, but due to a complex set of local factors, including elite Indian attitudes.

https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108592208

neuracnu · 5 days ago

That sounds like a terrific resource! My library doesn’t have it, but I’ll ask them what they can do to get me access to the digital copy through Cambridge University Press.

That said, I need to finish the books on my plate first though. :)

If anyone reading this has access and can help, let me know!

dandelion · 5 days ago

I found a copy online, I’ll try scanning through the text to find examples next.

dandelion · edit-2 5 days ago

found this relevant section in the introduction (page 18):

note especially the footnotes which are sources about resistance; so far the author has indicated most of the resistance came in indirect and passive forms, such as avoiding police and leaving jurisdictions where British colonial rule was more strict about enforcing anti-“eunuch” laws.

Need to keep reading to find if there are any instances of more direct resistance or “battles”. You could characterize the whole campaign of British attempts to “eliminate” what they called “eunuchs” as a major fight or struggle, though.

The British passed the “Criminal Tribes Act” in 1871, the second part of which made “eunuchs” illegal and targeted the Hijra, with the explicit goal of eliminating eunuchs & Hijra entirely:

Short timeline:

1850s to 1870s - a panic about the Hijra spread among British officials in north India
1852 - the Bhoorah murder trial, a Hijra woman was killed which stirred up more panic among British officials and justification of persecution
1860 - section 377 of the Indian Penal Code criminalizes all “non-reproductive” forms of intercourse, which remained law until legal battles started in 1991 eventually overturned the law in 2018
1865 - annual reports are made to track progress towards eliminating Hijra, this continued into the 20th century
1871 - the CTA is passed which criminalized Hijra with the intent to gradually eliminate them