Damn, Let Some Black Transpeople Get Some Positive Ink

Thanks to everyone who has continued to give me major props for writing the post that appeared at EBONY.com and I hope I have the pleasure of doing more of those in the coming years. 

But as always, when you are trying to enjoy some blessings that have come your way, you always have some fool come along to hate on it.

In this case it came in the form of a HuffPo commenter calling themselves LindaCON.  

The Huffington Post linked to the piece from the EBONY.com website and couldn't resist their vanillacentric tendency to make it 'all about the 'white peepul' by adding a slide show at the bottom of the page that highlighted some 'trans pioneers of all ethnicities'.   It was a slide show by the way that was dominated by survey says, white transpeople.  

I'll riff on that in a moment, but first here's LindaCON's comment

Just another effort to divide us racially. Transgender is transgender. Genius is genius. Tall is tall.
There is no reason for transgender blacks or whites, genius blacks or whites, tall blacks or whites.  This is pushing the racial divide where it does not need to go. People are people and people of all race share many and varied characteristics. I'm so tired of the race card showing up everywhere in everything.

Really LindaCON?   Spoken like somebody full of vanillacentric privilege.   Transgender is NOT transgender when race and class are in the mix.   All you have to do is pay fracking attention, which you obviously didn't in terms of this article.   

As I said to LindaCON and will repeat here, we persons of color are tired of the racism aimed at us by people who think, look, act and share your heritage on an almost daily basis that makes articles like the one I wrote necessary in the first damn place.

I find it amazing but not surprising that I write an article in an iconic African-American magazine to celebrate African-American trans pioneers, and LindaCON in her vanillacentric arrogance and the unnamed person who posted the HuffPo piece still had a problem with positive ink being aimed at the African-American trans community.

The sad part was that article wasn't even up 48 hours before y'all had to make it about the 'white peepul'.

Race matters in the GLBT community as well. Deal with it.

White transpeople have been dominating the narrative of who is trans since 1953.  It's why I had to write the EBONY.com story in the first place because we have been whitewashed out of the trans community historical narrative.

It's past time we Black transfolks have our moments in the sun.   We want and need the opportunity to tell our stories, celebrate our heroes and sheroes, and talk about our history just as you have done for the last almost six decades without you peeps of Eurocentric heritage getting huffy about it when we do.  

We are more than just tragic transsexuals.  We have and are continuing to make and shape trans history.  Contrary to your vanillacentric opinions, it ain't always about you white transpeeps, and y'all need to deal with that.reality.  You have also had almost 60 years to toot your own trans horns and celebrate your icons and history. Can't we non-white transpeople get some ink and attention and proudly do the same? 

Seems like the answer to that question is no. 

TransGriot Note:  Photos are of Miss Major, model Tracy Africa Norman, and Tona Brown with President Obama

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