In 2018, the author experienced a violent attack in Thessaloniki for being with a friend wearing a skirt, marking their first encounter with the risks of being visibly gender non-conforming. While no physical scars remain, the incident left a lasting psychological impact, highlighting the pervasive hatred directed at transgender and gender nonconforming individuals. This personal experience sparked a broader reflection on global patterns of anti-LGBTQIA+ violence and discrimination.
Across Europe and worldwide, anti-LGBTQIA+ violence is rising, disproportionately targeting transgender and gender nonconforming people. Society often reduces transgender identities to physical characteristics, erasing trans youth and denying the importance of gender-affirming care, which is proven to save lives. Efforts to challenge harmful gender norms are frequently framed as dangerous “gender ideology,” coinciding with the rise of authoritarian practices and moral panics around social progress.
Recent legal and political developments, such as the UK Supreme Court defining womanhood strictly by biological sex, illustrate how transgender rights are being undermined under the guise of protecting women’s safety. Even as trans people retain formal legal protections, their bodily autonomy, privacy, and dignity are continually challenged. Some cisgender women, who have historically fought against patriarchal oppression, are now instrumentalizing essentialist gender claims to exclude trans women, reflecting the irony and complexity of these societal debates.
Anti-trans agendas are spreading in universities and international spaces, sometimes labeled as “coercive inclusion,” though such voices remain a minority within global human rights forums. Rejecting rigid societal norms is both liberating and threatening to entrenched systems of power. The struggle for justice is inherently intersectional, as other marginalized groups—including migrants, refugees, Indigenous people, and people with disabilities—also face targeted oppression. Amnesty International and other organizations have highlighted the importance of addressing these intersecting forms of discrimination.
Patriarchy enforces rigid hierarchies and gender stereotypes, affecting everyone, including cisgender men, and perpetuates social divisions. Misguided “divide and rule” tactics pit communities against one another, preventing collective resistance to marginalization. The author notes that much of the condemnation of trans people stems from ignorance and lack of personal interaction, reducing transgender individuals to scapegoats and speculative threats.
The essay concludes with a call to reaffirm shared dignity, resist harmful accusations of “wokeness” or “gender ideology,” and build networks of care and solidarity. Drawing inspiration from historian Susan Stryker, the author frames their anger as a motivating force to foster connection, empathy, and resistance against systemic oppression while highlighting the ordinary, human experiences of transgender and gender nonconforming people.
