Hey chekhov! With all that's happening in the US I want to go to protests to support BLM, but as a trans guy I'm nervous and unsure if theres any extra precautions I should take when going to rallies (such as wearing or not wearing my binder). Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask, I just saw you were answering stuff about the protests and wanted to know if you had any advice. Thanks!
Alright, I’m gonna try to make this comprehensive for everyone so I’ll snowball a lot of info into a post. This is gonna be a LOT of graphics, so I apologize in advance.
To answer your question right away, short and simple - NO, DO NOT WEAR YOUR BINDER TO A PROTEST.
First of all, you don’t know how long you’re going to be out there. Hopefully you will be able to leave when you want to, but you need to be ready for anything. Binders literally compress your chest and make it harder to breathe - you need to be able to move fast (cardio) and you need to be able to breathe at full capacity if you are around or near tear gas.
The other thing is about IDs - typically people expect you to have some sort of identification with you in case you get arrested or detained and you need to verify who you are/where you’re from. Whether your deadname is on it or your chosen name matters less to the police - they need to identify that it’s you. At the VERY least have an emergency contact phone number written down somewhere on your person.
The rest is basics: this is going to get long, sorry!
I’ll try to provide as many links back as possible but most of them are from this Twitter thread!
BASIC FIRST AID:
(note: the number for first aid in the US is 911)
(source)
Next about stuff to wear:
(source)
For eyewear specifically - NO CONTACTS!
Get yourself an impact rated pair of goggles if possible.
(source)
Finally, the best you can do is to RECORD!
A lot of media outlets are reporting on this, but they cannot go everywhere. You can help out just by using your phone and recording what is happening. Vogue did an article about the legal side of recording things on your phone and how to record properly:
It’s better to have a burner phone with backup, but if you only have your own phone - MAKE SURE YOU HAVE IT SET UP SO THAT WHATEVER PHOTOS/VIDEOS YOU TAKE ARE AUTOSAVED TO GOOGLE DRIVE!! Anything that is in your phone can be erased.
The police can legally unlock your phone if you have it set to face recognition or a pattern unlock. Set your unlock to a 6 digit passcode.
Think that’s everything but... if someone wants, please add in the comments!