Erasing Trans People is an Insult and a Danger to Us All

You know this photo, but do you know the history behind it?

Just a few months after Adolf Hitler became Germany’s chancellor, pro-Nazi university students celebrated the nascent Third Reich by organizing public book burnings in 34 German towns and cities.

On May 6th, 1933, students ransacked the Institute for Sexual Research (Institut für Sexualwissenschaft). Founded by the pioneering sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld, it was the first academic foundation devoted to sexological research and the advocacy of homosexual rights.

The institute housed tens of thousands of books, research notes, and data documenting the first decades of scientific study on transgender and queer people. The entire library's contents were removed and burned.

The Institute had a global reputation for its pioneering work on transsexual understanding and called for equality for homosexuals, transgender people, and women.

Today, the Trump administration is doing the same thing to the trans community, attempting to erase them.

The Pentagon will be removing the 1,000 members of the military who openly identify as trans, in the next 60 days, and giving those who have yet to openly identify as transgender 30 days to remove themselves.