Thursday, January 24, 2008

Transgender Don't Mean Punk

TransGriot note: Just in case you're wondering who the transwoman is with the boxing gloves on, that's Thai kickboxer Nong Tum, whose story was told in the film Beautiful Boxer.

One of the things our enemies and potential assailants presume to their detriment is that if a transperson is placed in a confrontational situation, we're just gonna acquiesce to the verbal beatdown (or worse) that you want to inflict on us.

Au contraire, my misguided friend.

I still chuckle about an incident that happened while I was out and about in Montrose one night. I was hanging out with one of my transwoman girlfriends outside an iconic Black gay nightclub then called Studio 13. Three white males rolled up in a truck and blocked the club's parking lot exit access to Westheimer Road. Two of them got out of the truck and started uttering anti-gay and anti-Black epithets.

Two female illusionists literally got in their faces and read them like cheap novels to the point where we were laughing at them. The 'macho' men took a swing at one of the illusionists, who not only ducked the incoming punch, but proceeded to administer a beatdown that these boys will never forget. It only ended when security pulled them away from the silly boys. They left bruised, battered and anxious to scurry back to their truck and run back to wherever they came from.


But the point I want to make to those peeps who think it's cute to throw eggs at transpeople on the street or pick fights with us, better chill with that. One of these days you are gonna mess with the wrong transsistah, or pick on someone who's already had a bad day and they are gonna go Matrix on you.

I'd also like to warn you up front that you are jacking with someone who has a little more strength than the average female and on top of that is on estrogen as well.

And if you think you can get into a dozens playing match with us, try again.

I was on a TARC bus one day a few years ago and ended up having to defend myself against a Black teenaged male trying to show off in front of his girlfriend and his buddies.

I used to play the dozens for fun in junior high and still keep my skillz sharp jousting with Dawn and others. When I retorted that "It's not every day I meet someone whose brain size and penis size match," idiot azz was so dumb his homeboy had to translate for him the fact I was not only calling him stupid, but insulting the size of his male organ as well.

After his homie pointed that out, his girlfriend and the whole bus started laughing at him. Embarrassed, he jumped up from his seat in the back of the bus and called himself ready to trade blows with me until I got up out of my seat. Then his Mini-Me sized behind discovered I was a very pissed off 6'2". I gave him a lethal look and told him to go sit his prepubescent azz down before I made change.

Don't start none, won't be none.

Hey people, all we transpeeps want when we're out and about in the world, especially when we're having a bad day is to be left alone to live our lives in peace. We are not looking to be the butt of your tired jokes, insults, or picked on to make you feel more like a 'man' or a 'woman'.

If you disturb that peace, be prepared to face the consequences for doing so.

11 comments:

That Girl Jonnie said...

You tell them! This post made me chuckle.

genevieve said...

I hear ya.

Genevieve

Monica Roberts said...

Jonnie, Gennie,
Glad y'all enjoyed it.

Kynn Bartlett said...

Also, a lot of transguys may be short, but they can fuck you bad if you mess with them. There are some really scrappy guys out there.

Monica Roberts said...

Kynn,
You're right about that. The last things I'd want to do is try to break up a fight between two transmen ;)

Stassa said...

That kick from Tum looks glorious!

Yeah, about the other stuff. Not me, but my travesti girlfriends where I come from, they got this reputation for beating seven shades of really nasty, mean shit out of people who cross them.
I'm more prone to bragging about how I can fade away from volatile situations, like.

But the trashtalking... Ooh, I love that too...

Stassa said...

While we're on the subject, I may not be black (sad, 'cause you peeps have the best bodies ::seethe::) but I am Greek, so I do count as brown, for American folks, apparently.

In which case, do you think it'd be considered culturally appropriate if I threw a few yo' mommas to a couple of ladies I have in mind?

It would confuse them so much

Monica Roberts said...

Stassa,
I'm more of the peace-loving tyope myself, but if you push me into the corner where I have no alternative but to fight, it will be short sweet and ugly.

Nice pic on your blog as well. You greek girls have it going on as well. I remember when Jenny Hiloudaki was getting attention as a model.

Stassa said...

Yeah, Jenny was an inspiration to me and many other girls. I had no idea her reputation had reached that far!

Congrats for the win in SC btw. I sure like Obama way better than Hilary, but then, I don't vote over there, do I?

Monica Roberts said...

Jenny's nbame was blowing up about the same time Dana International won the Eurovision song contest.

Thhere was this Aussie guy who had a positive transgender site who called himself 'The Worshipper' that had a lot of her pics on it.

Maddie H said...

This is stuff I wish I had thought through in my first years. I ended up letting people give me a lot of crap because I didn't know how to fight against it, let alone see everything that was wrong with it.

I blame "growing up white."

Also, on the fighting back - it's interesting (sort of like how a large ugly bug) how this kind of reaction is used to discredit trans women. "If you're willing to fight back, that makes you just like a man," but that comes from everything a trans person does being discreditable, and is of course, just bullshit.