Hashtags, Topoi, and the Fight for Trans Equality

One topos or multiple topoi are commonplaces that lay the groundwork for discourse. Topoi fluctuate depending on what the dominant narrative is in a certain topic of discourse, which is why it's important to establish a device that can be easily found and built upon by other advocates to collectively create desired topoi.

Hashtags are a simple tool that are functional across multiple social media sites and can be used to unite multiple genres of posts and topoi. For example, in Ruth Osario’s piece “I Am #ActuallyAutistic, Hear Me Tweet: The Autist-Topoi of Autistic Activists on Twitter,” she explains how the hashtag #ActuallyAutistic is used by autistic people and advocates to present what she refers to as autist-topoi, including “prioritizing experiential expertise, embracing neurodivergence, and documenting anti-autistic ableism.”

I see a similar effect with the hashtag #ProtectTransKids in the trans rights movement. Posts that include that hashtag present topoi ranging from "documenting government actions against trans kids" to "firsthand experience from trans adults that were supported."

These posts work to dispel the myth that supporting a child's transition will damage them irreparably. I struggle to see how someone could believe that calling your child by their preferred name and pronouns and considering puberty blockers is harmful but government agents pulling them out of class and interrogating them without your consent is not.