In this episode of "Transgenders At War," host Athena Hope, a black transgender woman serving in the U.S. Military, discusses the ongoing class war in America and shares stories from transgender individuals. Athena highlights the misconception that resources are scarce, arguing that the top 1% hoards wealth while promoting divisive narratives. She emphasizes the importance of unity among the working class to combat elite exploitation.
The episode features posts from trans women and men, discussing issues like the Trump administration's censorship of LGBT-related research and the challenges trans individuals face in prisons and public spaces. Athena celebrates a legal victory preventing trans women from being housed in men's prisons and calls for continued solidarity against oppressive policies. She also shares personal experiences and encourages allies to support the trans community.
Credit/Sources: https://www.forbes.com/advisor/banking/living-paycheck-to-paycheck-statistics-2024/#how-many-americans-are-living-paycheck-to-paycheck https://www.equilar.com/reports/110-equilar-associated-press-ceo-pay-study-2024.html https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2023/12/06/top-1-american-earners-more-wealth-middle-class/71769832007/ https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/042215/what-difference-between-capitalist-system-and-free-market-system.asp https://www.cbsnews.com/news/illegal-immigrants-us-jobs-economy-farm-workers-taxes/ https://www.zmescience.com/science/trump-is-ordering-a-sweeping-censorship-of-science-starting-with-climate-and-health/ https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/02/women-win-court-ruling-blocking-trumps-order-to-house-trans-women-in-mens-prisons/ https://www.pushblack.us/news/how-v-coding-demonstrates-violence-rape-and-prison-culture https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1087&context=ijlse Donate to Luigi Mangione's Legal Fund https://www.givesendgo.com/legalfund-ceo-shooting-suspect
Important Creators: Bella Vandella https://www.instagram.com/bella_vandala?igsh=ODV1M2sybjczcWJz pissedmagistus https://www.instagram.com/pissedmagistus?igsh=MWx4ZjNna2hkcGthNg==
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Episode Transcript
Hello everyone and welcome to the Transgenders at
War podcast, the show that'sfocused on transgender people,
politics and how transgenderpeople are affected by it.
I'm your host, athena Hope.
I am a black transgender womancurrently serving in the US
military.
I've been serving for aroundfive years and, despite wanting
(00:36):
to stay in, I've been notifiedthat I can no longer serve just
because I'm a little bitdifferent.
This podcast is more than justa source of news about
transgender people.
It's a platform that amplifiesdiverse voices and ensures that
everyone, regardless of theirgender identity or sexual
orientation, is heard, whetheryou identify as transgender,
(00:58):
lgbtqia+ or an ally.
We warmly invite you to listen.
In today's episode, we willdiscuss the surface of the
current class war in America andhear some voices from a few
transgender individuals.
Let's get started.
(01:22):
There's a big misconception inpolitics.
The elites want you to believethat we live in a world where we
are unable to take care ofeveryone.
They want you to think we don'thave the resources to provide
every American with food,clothes, shelter and education.
They try to tell you that wearen't able to because it will
(01:43):
be bad for the economy.
It's time to expose the lie.
Constantly pushed by the top 1%elitists.
They want you to believe thatwe don't have the resources to
provide every American withbasic human necessities.
The truth is, we do have theresources, but the top 1% is
(02:05):
hoarding them.
Our current system is designedto benefit the few at the
expense of the many, constantlypushing this myth of scarcity so
they're able to maintain theirpower and wealth.
What is the point of theeconomy if we cannot create a
healthy environment for humanbeings to prosper?
The only reason we need to actselfishly is because the elites
(02:26):
want us to believe that theactual reality is not that
they're hoarding all the wealth.
They want you to feel all themissing wealth and problems in
America are because ofminorities and their chosen
scrape goat targets, such asimmigrants and transgender
people.
They do not want you to believethat it's the bottom 99%
working class versus the top 1%elites.
(02:48):
They want us to focus insteadon which bathroom that
transgender people use.
They want you to believe thatMaria, who came to America for a
better life, is taking yourwealth away.
The elites claim we are unableto provide everyone with basic
human rights.
I'm here to tell you thatthat's a lie.
The top 1% elites own morewealth than the entirety of
(03:11):
America's whole middle class.
Our current free market systembased on minimum government
intervention just doesn't workwithout exploitation.
It's a system that historicallyand currently relies on forms
of slavery.
First it was the slavery ofblack people.
Then, after black people becamelegal, it is now the slavery of
(03:31):
migrants and poor people inother countries, who are forced
to work for us at the lowestwages.
There is a form of capitalismthat can provide for all, not
just Americans.
However, we need moregovernment intervention and
worker rights to achieve this.
The time to act is now.
We must prevent theexploitation of the working
(03:52):
class by elites such as JeffBezos.
Every 13 minutes, jeff Bezosearns what the typical person
earns in a lifetime.
This current system, by design,just doesn't work for the
majority, but there is hope wecan create a system that works
for everyone with the rightpolicies and rights for workers.
(04:14):
The mass majority of illegalimmigrants are employed as
farmers.
They do slave work for slavewages, since the elites can get
away with it.
People believe non-citizensdon't deserve basic human rights
.
Mass deportations chip away ata large part of our necessary
workforce that takes care of ourinfrastructure and farmland.
(04:35):
Mass deportations are not onlywrong morally, but they're wrong
logically as well.
Without our precious immigrants, we would have no workers
available to tend to our farms.
The goal of the elites is tocut aid such as welfare and
government assistance in orderto create a new class of
American slaves who are forcedto do slave work for slave pay.
(04:56):
It doesn't matter the color ofyour skin or how you identify.
If you are not born into thetop 1%, they will only continue
to own you and keep you asslaves.
More and more, the middle classis shrinking.
The percentage of Americanadults living in middle-income
households has decreased from61% in 1971 to around 50% today.
(05:20):
Around 80% of Americans todaylive paycheck to paycheck.
The middle class is making lessand less money, while the
greedy elites are only makingmore by getting away with
creating inflation and loweringwages.
The top 1% currently holdsaround $40 trillion in wealth.
That's more than the entiretyof America's middle class Income
(05:44):
.
Inequality is only growing,with the elites exploiting the
lower class to get richer.
But we must not be divided bytheir attempts to make us think
other poor people are the enemy.
Our strength lies in unityagainst the true enemy, the
elites.
Only by standing together insolidarity can we overcome their
exploitation and injustice.
(06:04):
Together, in solidarity, can weovercome their exploitation and
injustice.
In future episodes, we willcontinue investigating the class
war the elites want you toignore.
I want to continue our episodewith a few stories posted on
online forums in the past weekof real transgender man and
woman.
We will start with transgenderwomen, as we know, ladies first.
We will start with transgenderwomen, as we know, ladies first.
(06:29):
Our first post is titled DonaldTrump and Elon Musk have
ordered all LGBT-relatedpeer-reviewed scientific
publications to be retracted.
The post reads the electronicequivalent of Nazi book burning
(07:10):
is here.
The post reads completely fromAmerican sources and the
scientific literature if theyreceive federal funds.
Also, any research supportinggender affirming care and
reproductive health, such asbirth control, and any medical
publication about abortion, willbe retracted and cannot be used
in defense of medical care.
Science will not exist inAmerica.
Trump is evil, so keep copiesof any gender affirming care
publications.
American sources are to bescrubbed from.
Okay, let's take a look at whatthe comments have to say.
(07:32):
The first comment reads oh look, nazi shit.
The comment has a reply.
I absolutely love when thepeople say Not everyone that
disagrees with you is a Nazi,and I'm like Yo.
You do Nazi shit, you getcalled a Nazi.
The next comment reads Well, atleast we have the archives in
various places like Library,genesis, anna's Archive and
(07:56):
Archiveorg.
This is going to be a roughfour years.
The last comment reads thiswill impact the whole world, as
much of those studies representthe main literature within these
subjects.
A third world country like minewill use this as proof to
attack LGBT rights andreproductive rights.
The whole literature isdominantly from the US and
(08:17):
Europe.
Now, this is my take on thematter.
In the 1930s, nazi Germanyinitiated book burnings to
suppress ideas.
They were opposed, which led toa more bigoted and ignorant
society.
Today, we are witnessingsimilar attempts to suppress
education and science.
The mainstream media,controlled by the elites, will
(08:39):
never talk about this, but wecannot afford to allow them to
strip our rights and identityaway slowly.
These actions are only toappease the Christian
nationalists, who oppose anyonewho isn't a straight white
Christian male.
Okay, let's take a look at thenext post by trans woman.
This post just links to anarticle.
I will summarize it now.
(09:00):
The title is Women Win CourtRuling Blocking Trump's Order to
House.
Trans Women in Men's Prisons.
The post reads A district judgeblocked President Donald
Trump's executive order to housetransgender female inmates in
male prisons, citing EighthAmendment violations.
The ruling by Judge RoyceLamberth applies nationwide and
(09:23):
is the second recent legalvictory for trans inmates.
The judge agreed that transwomen would face significant
harm, including increasedviolence and intensified gender
dysphoria, if housed with maleinmates.
The Bureau of Prisons'arguments were dismissed as the
judge found the inmates'concerns legitimate.
Under Trump's order, the rulingtemporarily halts the order's
(09:45):
provisions affecting transinmates until further legal
proceedings.
Okay, let's take a look at whatthe comments have to say.
The first comment reads Okay,let's take a look at what the
comments have to say.
The first comment reads this issome really good news.
I also can't help but feel it'shighly symbolic.
With the trans-feminineexperience and the prison of the
flesh a lot of these policiesare trying to trap us in.
Sometimes, the smallest winsstill fill the biggest.
(10:07):
The next comment reads this isa massive win.
Sending trans women to a maleprison is an execution.
They know this.
That's why they want it.
Hopefully we get more good newsthis month.
The final comment reads oh myGod.
This seriously just made me cry.
Thank you, judge.
The end of birthrightcitizenship has been denied.
(10:28):
The throwing trans girls inman's prisons order also denied.
This was big.
This is my take on the matter.
I'm very happy about this smallwin for transgender people.
This is a reminder that thepresident is not a god.
The Nazis have not taken overyet.
They want you to believe thatis already the case, but each of
us hold a great power to createchange.
(10:49):
Big thanks to the judges inthis country who are fighting
for what is right.
We will never give up.
It is very common forincarcerated trans women to be
held in prison cells withaggressive men, for both the
reward for them and as a meansto pacify them.
This process is known asV-coding and has been described
as so common that it iseffectively a central part of a
(11:11):
trans woman's sentence.
There are currently over 2,200trans women today forced to face
sexual abuse and discriminationin prisons meant for men.
Okay, these next few posts arefrom trans men.
Post one is titled why EveryoneMust Use the Bathroom According
to the Gender.
They Are Assigned at BirthWouldn't Work, the post reads,
(11:32):
so many transgender men passentirely and even have facial
hair.
Plus, there are a few who havegotten surgery.
If we were to use the bathroomassigned at birth, women could
walk into the bathroom and seewhat appears to be a full grown
man in the bathroom with facialhair, no chest and man's clothes
, they would most likely run outof the bathroom yelling there's
(11:53):
a man in the woman's bathroom,sound familiar.
And then if a guy tries to sayI'm trans, the woman is going to
respond with well, how do weknow that?
And that's just a thing.
There is no way for people todetermine, solely based on
outward appearance, whether aperson is trans or not.
So how are they going to checkFor the transgender people who
aren't out?
(12:13):
This just means to exploit themWith no respectful way to
determine whether someone istrans or not.
In this scenario, it alsoraises the risk of creepy
cisgender men claiming to betrans men going into the women's
bathroom and saying I'm trans.
People will have to believethem.
How hasn't Donald Trump figuredthis out?
Ok, let's take a look at thecomments.
(12:34):
The first comment reads wedon't actually exist.
You know, in all thesediscussions, trans guys simply
do not feature in the equation.
Nobody is going to try and finda respectful way to determine
if you're transgender or not.
If you pass as a guy, you'llprobably face outrage, violence
and eventually arrest if you tryusing the bathroom of your
(12:54):
assigned gender at birth.
The next comment reads None ofthis makes sense, is reasonable
or keeps anyone safe.
That's not the point.
The cruelty is the point.
The final comment reads it wasnever the intention that we
actually use the bathroomaccording to our assigned gender
at birth.
The far right knows damn welltrans women would feel unsafe in
the mans and therefore not useit, and that passing trans men
(13:18):
would make women feeluncomfortable and possibly get
attacked by security.
Okay, this is my take on thematter.
This post and commentators arespot on Most of the time.
These policies focus on thematter.
This post and commentators arespot on Most of the time.
These policies focus ontransgender women.
They never consider that transmen exist.
The policy of using thebathroom by gender assigned at
birth is illogical.
(13:38):
Someone assigned a female atbirth can transition into a man.
Policies would forcetransgender men to use the
female restroom and the originalproblem of man in the woman's
bathroom would not be solved.
The only logical way to solvethis issue is to separate
bathrooms based on your genderidentity.
Trans women are women and transmen are men.
No amount of policies or lawswill ever change that.
(14:01):
Even if you were to check thegenitalia of every single person
manually, they can still havethe genitalia that matches their
gender identity.
The only thing that separatestrans people from their gender
identity is hatred, not how theylook or what body parts they
have.
The next post by trans man istitled the only two people to
check up on me have beencisgender straight men.
(14:43):
The post reads said that'sfucked up, man, I hope you are
okay.
The next day at work I washedmy Tupperware in the sink.
After lunch my friend, anothercisgender guy came up behind me
and asked if I was okay.
I laughed and jokingly said doI look like I'm not okay?
He said no, I mean because ofall the Trump stuff.
(15:04):
I was surprised but told him Iwas okay.
He said something along thelines of I know some people
don't see you as a human being,but I still think you're a human
being.
It was a little clumsy and verysweet.
I don't need or expect all myfriends to check in on me and
ensure that I'm okay.
I've had conversations with myclosest friends about how awful
(15:25):
this shit has been and none ofus are feeling great about it.
I just found it interestingthat the two people who did
explicitly check in on me andtry to comfort me were cisgender
straight allies.
These are two guys who know I'mtrans, I guess, but it's not
even something we ever talkabout, so I didn't really expect
them to mention it.
I'm grateful for that support.
(15:46):
Okay, let's take a look at thecomments.
The first comment reads thiswarmed my heart, especially the
second one what a wholesomehuman Posts like this are giving
me life in the midst ofeverything.
The next comment reads theseare the actual cis allies, the
ones that keep track of what'sgoing on in the world and
actually worry about their transfriends and acquaintances.
(16:08):
Sad that it's rare to have suchsupport.
The final comment reads you'vehad people check in on you.
Okay, this is my take on it asan ally or cisgender individual.
Your support right now iscrucial.
Please reach out to your transfriends.
We're facing a challenging timeand many of us, including myself
(16:28):
, have been deeply affected.
I had hoped to dedicate 20years of my life to the military
, but now I'm being forced toleave and change plans simply
because I'm a little bitdifferent.
It's true that many in thisworld may not understand or care
about us, and at times it canfeel like we're fighting a
lonely battle, but remember,we're all in this together.
Let's continue to show love andunderstanding to those around
(16:51):
us, no matter what they may begoing through.
I would just like to thank eachand every one of you for tuning
into the first episode of mypodcast.
We've begun to delve into thecomplexities of the class war
and share the powerful voices ofsome trans individuals.
It's important to remember that, despite the recent setbacks,
(17:15):
our country has made significantprogress in the fight for our
rights.
This is a testament to thepower of our collective voice in
action.
Let's hold on to this hope fora better future.
Please take a moment to exploreour link tree in the show notes
.
It's a gateway to our communityand a treasure trove of
relevant links discussed in thisepisode.
Your involvement is crucial toour mission.
(17:38):
My name is Athena Hope.
Until next time, increase theheat.
I wanna watch it burn, burn,burn to death, burn, burn, burn
to death.
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