One of the most tired and absurd arguments pushed by Trump, his cult, and the broader homophobic agenda right now is that being Transgender or Nonbinary is some kind of new phenomenon, manufactured by Democrats to "control children" or destroy society. It’s a laughable, paranoid fantasy that falls apart with even a shred of historical awareness. If you’ve made it this far, I’m going to assume you have that awareness, or at least the capacity for it.

Let’s get one thing straight (pun intended): Transgender and Nonbinary people have always existed. Period. The only thing new is the backlash from people who finally have to share the spotlight with those they've spent centuries trying to erase. And yes, this erasure is deliberate. It’s colonial.

Take a look at Two-Spirit people: Indigenous individuals who exist beyond the Western gender binary. The term “Two-Spirit” was coined in 1990, but the identity it describes predates European invasion by generations. Nearly every Indigenous nation in what’s now called the United States had terms, roles, and respect for gender-diverse people. Some people didn’t even need specific terms; they were simply accepted. No debate, no outrage, no politics. Just community.

Not only were Two-Spirit people accepted, they were revered. Many held respected roles as healers, visionaries, and spiritual leaders. They were seen as people who carried both masculine and feminine spirits. They were something sacred, not shameful. We’wha, a Lhamana from the Zuni nation (in what is now New Mexico), is one of the most documented Two-Spirit figures in U.S. history. Fluent in English, We’wha built relationships with white settlers, negotiated on behalf of their people, and even met President Grover Cleveland in 1886. We’wah wasn’t some fringe character hidden away; they were known across the nation and admired by many.

Then came the colonizers.

In 1492, Columbus stumbled upon land that was never his and declared it so. The violence that followed -the genocide, the forced conversions, the land theft- wasn’t just about resources. It was about control. That control included erasing Indigenous culture, language, and gender diversity. White settlers brought not just disease and weapons, but a rigid, binary worldview propped up by Christianity and patriarchy. They decided who could be a man, who could be a woman, and anyone in between was either repressed, punished, or forced to disappear.

Residential schools were a weapon in that erasure. These schools ripped generations of Native children from their families, stripped them of their traditions, beat them for speaking their language, and brainwashed them into colonial gender roles. Two-Spirit youth were forced into the binary for survival, not because they never existed, but because the system demanded they hide or die.

So no, Trans and Nonbinary people aren’t some new trend created by liberals in the 2010s. They are part of a history that white supremacy tried and failed to erase. Two-Spirit people were never gone. They were silenced. But now, they’re speaking again, and the people who fear them are only afraid because they know their version of “truth” can’t hold up.

You don’t have to like it. But if you're still pretending this is new, that’s not just ignorance. That’s complicity.

I would like to dedicate this article to Daniel L. Daniel, I don’t honestly remember my life without you. You were my uncle, the man who taught me to protect myself and the people I love with everything I have. You showed me that calling people out, even the ones you love, for doing something wrong is the ultimate showcase of love, that true love is helping people grow. You’re the only man I know who is stubborn enough to leave us in Pride month. You were born gay, you just had to be sure we knew and leave that way, right? I love you, Daniel. I’ll be sure to protect and call everyone out for you.