Trans Tactics: Sun Tzu’s Guide to Defending Our Lives: Part 7
“If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him.” – Sun Tzu, The Art of War
What do you do when your enemy is fueled by outrage, desperation, and hate? You make them furious, for all the right reasons.
For centuries, trans people have been told to disappear. To assimilate. To shut up and wait for progress. But we know better. In a world that builds entire media cycles around demonizing our joy, existing happily is a threat. Laughing, dancing, thriving? That’s revolutionary.
This isn’t about being petty. This is about weaponized defiance, a strategic, unapologetic refusal to conform to someone else’s shame. Because if they want us miserable, joy becomes resistance.
Why Joy Irritates Your Enemy
Let’s get honest: many of the people fighting trans rights aren’t doing it out of some principled disagreement; they’re doing it because they’re angry that we exist unapologetically. That we’re not hiding. That we’re thriving in ways they were taught are impossible or sinful.
Joy, in this context, becomes deeply threatening. It undermines every lie they tell:
- That being trans is unnatural: Then why do we look so damn good in these boots?
- That trans lives are tragic: Then why are we out here dancing in the streets, loving loudly, and building community?
- That transition is regret: Then why are we glowing, grinning, and giving our younger selves everything they were denied?
We don’t just live. We glow up. That pisses them off.
Art as a Blade: Creativity as Resistance
There’s a reason trans art is constantly attacked, from drag bans to book censorship. Art is power. It shapes culture, reframes narratives, and creates emotional truths that data can’t touch.
Whether it’s:
- A viral meme
- A short film
- A drag performance
- A zine handed out in secret
- A poem screamed into a megaphone
…it all carries the same message: We will not be silenced. And we will look damn good while making noise.
Real-World Example: Drag as Political Protest
When lawmakers tried to ban drag, queens and kings turned public parks into pop-up runways. Story hours became acts of civil disobedience. Drag became armor.
That’s what they couldn’t stand; it wasn’t the performance. It was the defiance. The beauty. The refusal to be invisible.
When Humor Hurts Their Narrative
You want to really get under a bigot’s skin? Laugh.
Mockery can be deadly effective when used wisely. It exposes how ridiculous anti-trans talking points really are, without giving them more oxygen.
Examples:
- Parodying TERF talking points with absurdist TikToks
- Reclaiming slurs and flipping them on their head
- Responding to anti-trans legislation with memes that go viral faster than the bills can pass
Humor makes hate look small. And that’s infuriating to those who want it to look holy.
The Line Between Celebration and Burnout
Let’s be real, joy doesn’t mean ignoring grief. We live with fear, loss, and exhaustion too. But joy isn’t a distraction from that; it’s what makes survival sustainable.
How to celebrate without burning out:
- Alternate between action and play
- Create rituals of joy (dance breaks, friend check-ins, queer movie nights)
- Let others carry the torch when you need rest
- Normalize fun in organizing spaces
You don’t have to be in protest mode 24/7 to be resisting. Sometimes, just living is enough.
Ally Action: Make Space for Trans Joy
If you’re an ally, one of the most powerful things you can do is help protect and amplify trans joy. Not just by fighting bigotry, but by helping us breathe.
Your role might include:
- Hiring trans artists, writers, and performers
- Donating to community celebrations, not just crisis funds
- Defending public joy, like drag shows, Pride events, and queer art spaces
- Sharing trans joy online as often as you share our trauma
We’re not here just to be mourned or pitied. We’re here to be loved, celebrated, and left alone to vibe.
Real-World Example: Joy as Disruption at Pride
When anti-trans protesters show up at Pride events, they want disruption. They want confrontation.
But when they’re met with a wall of dancers, drum circles, inflatable unicorns, and karaoke queens lip-syncing to Britney Spears? They lose control of the narrative.
Their hate is swallowed in the noise of joy. That’s not accidental. That’s strategy.
The Bottom Line
Sun Tzu taught us to irritate those who are quick to anger, not to be cruel, but to make them reveal their weakness.
In our world, that weakness is their inability to handle our joy, our art, our love, and our laughter. They want us scared. Instead, we’re glittering.
Let them be mad. Let them rage.
We’re busy living.
Next Up: “Plan Every Move: Why Patience Is Power in Trans Advocacy”
Dropping June 24. Only on TransVitae.com
