Can We All Get Along And Work For Positive Change?

TransGriot Note: I had my say about that Tumblr post, and as promised here's the guest post by Beth Morgan with her take on it.


Parts of it I understand/like, parts of it are problematic.

But as long as people who identify as lesbian or feminist (I do not identify as lesbian, I'm not sure what I fall under nor do I care, but I definitely identify as feminist) misgender trans* people, can you really be surprised that trans* people aren't going to feel so sympathetic about lesbians' problems? (Also, disclaimer: I am not trans*. So any lesbians or trans* people who want to comment on this, please do! We definitely need your voices in this conversation way more than mine.)

It's a two-way street: feminists, lesbians, and women need to be more sympathetic, less anti-trans*/transphobic, and do less bullying (of trans* people or anyone else) and less misgendering (of trans* people). And trans* people (of any assigned birth sex, any genitals, any chromosomes, any gender identity, etc.) also must be sensitive and sympathetic and not bully women and they must be careful not to be misogynistic or anti-lesbian/lesbophobic.

All the communities (lesbian, feminist, queer, and trans*) have their good people who may or may not necessarily agree with the other communities about every stance but are careful to be sensitive and not to misgender, be misogynistic, bully, etc.

Unfortunately, all the communities seem to have their bad apples who like nothing more than to hate and divide and bully and be misogynistic (self-explanatory, hopefully) and transphobic (not just "I don't agree/believe in transsexuality/transsexualism/transgenderism/etc.," but I'm talking straight-up exposing them on their Internet with their given birth names and saying how they hope such and such trans person dies).

We must work together. Society (mainly the straight white rich Christian male "the Man" "the 1%") works to divide lesbians and feminists and other queer people and bisexual people and trans* people and gay people and everyone so that they don't focus on the big picture of working together for everyone's rights.

I know, easier said than done.

But for all the hours that people spend online in all the communities, bashing each other (whether it be in the form of blogs or other media that are created to misgender and reveal past identities of trans* people, or blogs or other media that are created to bash women and be misogynistic), we could instead be using all that time and energy (and money, if any is involved) on doing useful things like passing ENDA (which would protect lesbians and trans* people, at least if they keep the trans* protections in, which we should work for) and protections not just in jobs but also protection for LGBT+ (lesbians and trans* people included) people in housing and public accommodations. And for that matter, we could work on getting the ERA for women, too. Or maybe people could volunteer at places that are bettering the lives of women, lesbians, trans* people, etc.

Yeah? Maybe?

Or is it just easier to be assholes to everyone who is different from us (lesbians, women, trans* people) instead of actually trying to affect real positive change anywhere?

I'm not trying to erase the voices of lesbians or [other] feminists here (nor am I trying to erase trans* voices either). I just hate seeing so much hate thrown back and forth between all the communities when they all have a lot in common, and that if they combined all their forces for good, could actually have a chance of creating positive changes in all the communities involved."