NEGOTIATING TRANS IDENTITY AMIDST INCREASING TRANSPHOBIA AND DISCRIMINATION IN DONALD TRUMP'S PRESIDENCY

ISNA ARDYANI FATAYA, Dewi Haryani Susilastuti, Ph.D.

2020 | Tesis | MAGISTER PENGKAJIAN AMERIKA

Pada bulan Januari 2018, media cetak Amerika The New York Times melaporkan bahwa sepanjang tahun 2016-2018, kasus diskriminasi terhadap LGBTQ naik secara signifikan. Terpilihnya Donald Trump sebagai presiden AS menjadi momentum untuk mengubah kebijakan presiden sebelumnya, Barack Obama yang mendukung kaum LGBTQ. Disaat Obama membuat kebijakan perlindungan terhadap kaum LGBTQ, president Trump justru memberlakukan kebijakan anti-LGBTQ. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui bentuk diskriminasi yang dialami oleh kaum transgender, faktor pemicu kenaikan kasus diskriminasi, dan respon kaum transgender terhadap diskriminasi yang terjadi selama periode kepemimpinan president Trump. Penelitian ini menggunakan media cetak online, The New York Times dan The Washington Post yang dirilis sepanjang 2017-2020. Dengan perspektif New American Studies, penelitian ini menggunakan teori performatif Judith Butler untuk mengetahui proses perubahan gender sebagai usaha membuka identitas sebagai transgender di ruang publik. Selain itu teori diskriminasi juga digunakan untuk mengetahui proses terjadinya tindak diskriminasi di masyarakat Amerika. Penelitian ini menemukan bahwa kebijakan pelindungan kaum LGBTQ oleh president Obama yang diubah atau dihentikan oleh presiden Trump memicu kasus diskriminasi di sektor pendidikan, militer, kesehatan, dan lapangan kerja. Selain itu, kenaikan kasus diskriminasi juga dipicu oleh kepercayaan agama Kristen, kabinet konservatif bentukan presiden Trump dan wakil presiden Mike Pence, serta pengaruh media. Dalam proses peralihan gender, kaum transgender merubah identitas nama dan nama panggilan, pakaian, suara, dan tingkah laku untuk menghindari diskriminasi. Aktivis transgender juga mengadakan pergerakan masal, mencalonkan diri ke kursi politik, dan menulis memoar sebagai usaha merubah gender, membuka identitas, dan menentang kebijakan anti-LGBTQ.

In January 2018, The New York Times reported that between 2016 and 2018, the number of gender-based discrimination against LGBTQ people have significantly increased. The election of Donald Trump as U.S. president has been a momentum to roll back Obama-era policies that supported anti-discriminations. While the U.S has made enormous strides toward LGBTQ equality, Trump's conservative agenda enacted discriminatory anti-LGBTQ policies. This research aims at investigating the forms of discrimination that transgender encounter in public institutions. It also explores factors perpetuating the rise of discrimination instances toward transgender throughout Donald Trump's presidency while dismantle trans people to overcome such discrimination. This research takes sources of data from U.S online newspaper, The New York Times and The Washington Post published throughout Trump's presidency. Under the notion of the New American Studies, this research utilizes Judith Butler's performative theory to examine the forms of gender transitioning process into an attempt of coming out. It also employs discrimination theory to reveal how discrimination occur among transphobic society. The research finds that many of Obama-era policies of anti-LGBTQ discrimination are withdrawn by Donald Trump's administration which pose discrimination in education, military, health care, and employment. The rise of discrimination against transgender are perpetuated by religious Christian belief, Trump-Pence conservative cabinets, and the influence of media. During transitioning process, trans people modify gender expression by changing legal name, pronoun, clothing, voice, and mannerism. Many transgender activists also organize mass movements, run for political office, and publish memoirs to reveal their gender transitioning process and attempt to oppose Trump's anti-LGBTQ policies.

Kata Kunci : Keywords: Transgender, identity, equal rights, discrimination, Donald Trump