Trans Tactics: Sun Tzu’s Guide to Defending Our Lives: Part 1
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.” — Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Some lessons are eternal. Sun Tzu wasn’t tweeting about TERFs, legislators, or online harassment, but his words still hit like a binder strap to the soul.
Knowing yourself and knowing your enemy isn’t about paranoia; it’s about preparation. For trans people, it means understanding who you are so completely that nobody can weaponize your truth against you. And it means knowing exactly what and who is trying to erase you so you can stop playing defense and start playing smart.
Let’s break that down.
Know Yourself: You Are Not the Debate
Before we can fight back, we have to stop fighting ourselves. Internal clarity is the root of external power. In a world that constantly questions our existence, one of the most radical things a trans person can do is know who they are and why they’re valid. Because when society tries to debate your identity, confidence becomes a form of armor.
Knowing yourself isn’t just about gender and pronouns. It’s understanding:
- Your boundaries
- Your goals
- Your needs
- Your identity outside survival
- Your community, even if it’s small
Too many of us are forced to spend energy justifying our right to exist. But when you know yourself, you stop asking for permission. You start asking better questions:
- Where am I strongest?
- What brings me joy?
- What systems do I want to tear down—and which ones do I want to build?
This isn’t self-help fluff. It’s survival prep. Because if you don’t know your values, your enemies will define them for you. And if you don’t know what you’re fighting for, you’ll burn out just fighting against everything.
Before moving on to identifying our adversaries, let’s sharpen our internal tools.
Tools for Self-Knowledge in a Hostile World
Self-knowledge isn’t just a feeling. It’s a skill, and like any skill, it can be honed. It requires deliberate reflection and conscious effort, especially in a world built to distract and derail us.
Self-Reflection Is a Weapon
Journaling. Talking to friends. Therapy (if accessible). Even memes. Processing your identity gives you the emotional dexterity to pivot when things get hard. When everything outside feels like it’s on fire, your inner compass is the one thing no one can take.
Study Trans History
You’re not the first. You won’t be the last. Understanding queer and trans history (Stonewall, Compton’s Cafeteria, Marsha and Sylvia, the We’wha of Zuni, etc.) reminds you this isn’t new and you’re part of something bigger. You don’t need to carry the world alone.
Develop Your Language
You don’t have to explain yourself to anyone, but when you choose to, having the language helps. Whether it’s a short elevator speech for nosy coworkers or an essay for your senator, clarity is power.
Once you’ve built this solid foundation, you’re ready to examine the forces working against you.
Know Your Enemy: They Don’t Want a Conversation
Let’s be clear: not everyone who disagrees with you is “the enemy.” But transphobes with platforms? Politicians pushing bans? Influencers selling outrage to feed their brands? That’s not debate. That’s strategy. And you need to understand theirs.
Knowing your enemy isn’t about obsession; it’s about awareness. It’s about understanding how these forces operate so you can respond with clarity instead of fear.
They Use Moral Panic as a Weapon
From “bathroom predators” to “protecting children,” the anti-trans playbook thrives on fear, not facts. They create imaginary threats and then frame you as the danger. Knowing this helps you avoid taking the bait. Instead of getting dragged into nonsense, you can reframe:
“This isn’t about bathrooms. It’s about whether trans people get to exist in public.”
They Move the Goalposts
Today it’s sports. Tomorrow it’s driver’s licenses. Every time you meet the standard, they change it. The goal isn’t fairness; it’s control. That’s why it’s vital to push back on the premise of their questions, not just the content.
“You keep saying ‘biological truth’ like biology isn’t a whole damn field full of nuance.”
They Rely on Exhaustion
They want you burnt out, distracted, and overwhelmed. They flood legislatures with hundreds of bills not just to pass them, but to keep you too tired to fight. Knowing this means pacing yourself is part of the resistance.
Rest is not surrender. It’s strategy.
Understanding these tactics isn’t enough; you need to recognize them in real time. That’s where pattern recognition comes in.
The Power of Pattern Recognition
If you only react, you’ll stay reactive. But once you recognize the patterns, how they frame their arguments, and how they time their attacks, you can plan instead of panic.
Ask the Right Questions:
- What narratives do they push?
- Who’s funding them?
- What legislation is being mirrored across states?
- What media outlets are amplifying their voices?
This isn’t a conspiracy theory. This is how movements (including anti-trans ones) work. But once you see the structure, you can undermine it more effectively.
But staying informed can be overwhelming. So let’s talk balance.
How to Stay Grounded While Staying Aware
Balance is tough. You don’t want to be consumed by doomscrolling, but you don’t want to be blindsided either. Strategic awareness means finding the line between burnout and ignorance.
Try this approach:
- Set a schedule for staying informed (e.g., 15 minutes a day on legislative updates)
- Curate your sources (follow journalists, not outrage-baiters)
- Decompress after exposure (watch queer joy, pet a cat, touch grass)
- Remember the goal isn’t winning online—it’s protecting real people
Next, we’ll look at how allies can join the fight more effectively.
Ally Action: Know Who You’re Really Up Against
Allies, this part’s for you. If you want to support trans people, you have to go beyond “I love my trans friends!” and start asking:
- Who is sponsoring anti-trans bills?
- What local orgs need help?
- How does transphobia intersect with racism, ableism, and classism?
Knowing the enemy means knowing how their systems interlock and who benefits from our erasure. Your job isn’t to speak for us. It’s to dismantle the machinery.
To bring it all together, here’s a real-world example of this strategy in action.
Real-World Example: Tennessee’s Book Bans
When Tennessee lawmakers pushed to ban books with “LGBTQ+ content,” they claimed it was about protecting children. But the bills were written so vaguely, even books about cis gay teens holding hands were at risk.
If you knew their real strategy, erasing any trace of queerness from public life, you wouldn’t argue about one book. You’d organize to protect access.
And that’s exactly what Tennessee activists did, launching banned book events, building queer libraries, and amplifying lawsuits.
That’s strategy. That’s knowing your enemy and choosing your battlefield.
The Bottom Line
Knowing yourself and your enemy isn’t about becoming cynical. It’s about refusing to be blindsided. It’s about holding onto joy, identity, and truth, even when others try to strip it away.
You don’t need to be perfect. You don’t need to know everything. You just need to be ready.
As Sun Tzu said, “Victory comes from finding opportunities in problems.” And baby, the world has given us plenty of problems. Now it’s time to make them regret it.
Next Up: “Winning Without Fighting: The Power of Narrative & Visibility”
Dropping June 3. Only on TransVitae.com
