In Canada, it has recently become more acceptable to be Indigenous. After generations of residential schools, forcible adoptions out of community, being forced onto reserve, loss of language and culture, etc. now Indigenous people are experiencing a “renaissance.” There’s targeted funding in the arts, free spots in universities, chairs and research funding, reserved positions on boards, etc. Which all makes sense as generations of deprivation, poverty and trauma need to be equalized and reversed.
So obviously, only genuine Indigenous people are coming forward, right? No, actually, tons of white people are either lying completely about being Indigenous, or white people with one ancestor from the 1700s are claiming to be “Métis.” They have started Métis groups and use them to disrupt the sovereignty of Indigenous nations. They claim hunting and fishing rights intended to protect Indigenous land and lifestyles. They take tax breaks with fake status cards. They take prestigious chairs and awards intended for Indigenous people. They assume powerful roles and lecture others about Indigenous life and traditions. It’s a huge scandal in Canada and Indigenous nations are pushing back on self ID and declaring that you must show connection to a community or some kind of proof.
It’s obvious that “people just feel more comfortable being X now” leads to people identifying into the group. Of course, they don’t want to identify into being a missing or murdered woman, or onto a reserve with black mold and a boil water advisory, or into prison filled with Indigenous people, or into the child welfare system. No, they identify into chairs and grants and spots in law school and funding. And why would they do that? Why would anyone want to pretend to be Indigenous when life as an Indigenous person is so hard? Because they don’t live the hardship, they take all the benefits intended to redress injustice. They get to be part of a marginalized community instead of a boring old white settler. They get praise and prestige. They live none of the oppression but take all the rewards. Some of them I’m sure also have rough and traumatized backgrounds and “feel” truly Indigenous or that they always grew up around Indigenous people, or that they have a family story about being secretly descended from a Cherokee princess, etc.
So if it happens with Indigenous people and we know that people identify into oppression to take advantage, why do we think every Trans person who discovers this identity must have always been Trans and there’s never anyone who takes advantage or who believes it’s the answer to their problems? Suddenly human nature doesn’t exist and what people say or think about themselves is always true?