WTF Advocate?

I shouldn't be surprised after 15 years in the TBLG community to see the Advocate failing when it comes to talking about trans issues.

But this disastrous May 22 op-ed from cisgender woman Suzan Revah swimming in vanillacentric privilege and appropriation was an eye-rolling experience that I fortunately read on an empty stomach. 

It was also highly insulting to read that jacked up op-ed when three girls like us who share my ethnic background were killed last month and we are two weeks from the first of the five accused killers of Evon Young being tried in Milwaukee.

When the backlash swiftly came from trans folks calling out the BS in the comment threads, the White Women's Tears came out from Revah and the 'poor defenseless white woman' had people (predominately gay men in that Advocate comment thread) rushing to defend her.  

And naw Suzan, trans people correctly pointing out where you massively failed in this piece.doesn't make us 'haters', and it's mighty white of you to part your lips to say so. 

To borrow a snippet of Gemma Seymour-Amper's comment that encapsulates much of what trans peeps who responded to the jacked up post had to say: 

FYI, the entire trans community stopped reading when you called yourself a "normal Real Girl", because when that's the mindset you hold, everything you say about trans issues after revealing that fact is immediately and automatically invalidated by your immediate dismissal of the authenticity of trans women as women, and as female, for those who think that making that distinction is going to save them from the inevitable march of public opinion.

We only get that far, because I've chosen not, at this particular moment, to point out the absolute overweening arrogance of The Advocate (once again) in choosing a white, cis, and from what I can tell from this pathetic and demeaning article probably heterosexual, person to speak for the trans community, as if we are incapable of speaking for ourselves. Kyriarchy, much? Oh, well...I guess I *did* just point it out, didn't I?

Note to the LG community, let me make this point crystal clear on behalf of my trans brothers and sisters. 

You do not EVER get to determine for me and my transpeeps what is and isn't offensive to the trans community.  We do.   We are also the final authorities as to what is and isn't trans because they are issues that we are intimately familiar with and have major impacts on our lives.   We don't like our existence trivialized, and those of us in the non-white trans community have a major problem with it especially since it's our trans women who are taking the brunt of the anti-trans discrimination and dying for it.

If you claim to be an ally, there are times when you need to be in sit down and shut up mode, respectfully ask us what help we need and when we tell you, then you make it happen.

Advocate, did it ever occur to you or the editors that let this full of fail piece fly that the best way to discuss trans issues on your site is to (gasp) have real live trans people write the fracking op-ed's?

The Trans 100 List is a nice place to start if you are clueless in finding transpeople that can expertly discuss the issues that affect our community.

You may wish to consider that point the next time you feel the need to do an op-ed piece on trans issues that doesn't piss us off in the process.
 

It's Not 'Unwarranted Bitching' To Point Out Trans Peeps Weren't Mentioned In The POTUS' Speech

One of the snide comments that is coming from elements of the gay and lesbian community in the wake of the President Obama's historic speech and trans folks pointing out we weren't mentioned in the speech is we need to stop engaging in as this person put it, 'unwarranted bitching'.

Hmm, the rainbow scented cisprivilege is strong with you, isn't it? 

It's not 'unwarranted bitching', it's the trans community speaking an unpalatable truth that y'all GL peeps want to deflect by handing out rainbow flag wrapped white chocolate candy bars and trying to denigrate us for pointing out the obvious. 


Transpeople also spent time, effort and precious money in 2012 getting this president elected to a second term.

It would have meant a lot to the trans community if we had heard our president echo what Vice President Biden said during the campaign about the trans movement being the civil rights issue of our time or just acknowledging we exist in the 60th anniversary year of Christine Jorgensen returning from Denmark to New York.  .  

Rev. David Weekly also had this to say about the trans community feeling politically Left Behind again at his Sherman's Wilderness blog

I do not know the person who made this comment. I do not know what letter of the TLGBQIA population describes him, if any. What I do know is that I remember and participated in raging protests and marches with the gay and lesbian community for decades over similar frustrations about exclusion and discrimination. I have preached inclusivity in every church I ever served. I have marched in Pride parades, phone-banked for Marriage Equality, and protested and testified during legislative sessions in more than one state house. I listened to friends lament the secret support of other administrations, who hired gay and lesbian staff under a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. It was not enough for them, either. This time around, I am grateful my gay and lesbian friends have a President willing to claim them by name, out loud, and proud.

And this is my point. Friends are proud to name one another. Friends stand-up for each other, defend one another, and protect each other from harm. While I well understand the consequences of political fall-out from being too progressive, too inclusive, and too far ahead of our current culture; I still do not feel good about the word “transgender” being left out. This is not “unwarranted bitching:” this is grief.

Check out the post here.

On Being Transgender - Part II

TransGriot Note: Guest post from Denise Norris and her follow up to the previously published December 5 On Being Transgender one

Labels

While nearly everyone hates “labels,” they serve a valuable role in social organization.  I have identified three basic classes of labels.  In order of their value to a social group they are: Organizing, Defending and Contempt.

We often label ourselves in an effort to get our needs met. We use labels to advertise our primary alignment/position within a social structure and what our needs are as part of that structure.  By advertising our label, we seek other people of similar alignment and needs to form voluntary associations.  In Unity there is Strength.  These are Organizing labels.

The very act of labeling ourselves implies the automatic creation of the “not-us” label for outsiders.  We may perceive that some of the not-us are preventing us from getting our needs met and we label them as an enemy by using a specific term.  By grouping our perceived enemies under a label, we can advertise for supporters in the battle for our needs.  Any Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend.  These are Defensive labels.

Defensive labels, when taken too far and without the counter-balance of Organizing labels, can become Contempt labels.  Contempt labels are often used to define outsiders in such a way as to empower the labeler at the expense of the labeled.  When we use these labels to acquire a false sense of empowerment, we do so at the expense of members of the not-us population.  False empowerment, instead of increasing the empowerment of the group, only gives the illusion of empowerment by disparaging the not-us or another group with derogatory defensive labels without actually increasing the self-esteem or confidence of the labeler.  We hold members of the labeled group in Contempt.

As an example of this, I have witnessed Transgender individuals being called ‘Sissy’ by cisgender bullies.  Does the labeler actually gain self-esteem when they disparage the transgender?  I think not, they only gain the false sense of power by having the appearance an increase due to the lowering of those around them.  Imagine someone standing in the 4ft deep section of the pool.  Are they really any taller if they simply drain the water out of the pool? Clearly the answer is no.  Seeking to elevate ourselves at the expense of others is delusional thinking.  Like snorting a line of cocaine, we only feel better for a short time and then the realization that we are actually no better off set in, so rather than actually do something that increases self-esteem and empowerment, cut another group of people off at the knees.

Transgender is an alignment of interests

Since repurposing in the 1990s, who exactly is Transgender has become a social hot potato with everyone pointing in different directions and at different people. Some Transsexuals will point at crossdressers while saying “Not us!”  Others will point at themselves and say “Not them!”  Crossdressers point at the transsexuals and say “Over there.”  Some will announce “That’s us.”  Cisgender society in the United States points mainly to transsexuals when they think of Transgender, but in India and the East, Transgender can even include effeminate gay men (ie Kothi).  In fact, Transgender was originally intended to be the label used to describe the sociopolitical alignment of interests between multiple groups who face discrimination, harassment & violence due to having non-conforming gender expressions.
 

This alignment was created because society already grouped us into one community usually with the derogatory label similar to a “Man-in-a-Dress” which justified the discrimination, harassment and violence against us.  The intent was to take away society’s label for us and replace it with one of our own choosing.  That choice was eventually to be Transgender.  We are aligned as Transgender because society defines us as such.  As Transgender, rather than submit to discrimination, harassment and violence, we fight back on all fronts including legal, social, political, and cultural by defining ourselves with our own label.

Who should identify as Transgender?

In 1994, the Charter of The Transexual Menace (http://tinyurl.com/Menace-Charter) defined “the Gender Community as consisting of anyone who breaks or challenges the traditional rules governing the behavior of the genders, be it sartorial, erotic, psychological, physiological or otherwise. “

Nearly twenty years later, we have a term for “the behavior of the genders, be it sartorial, erotic, psychological, physiological or otherwise” – we call them “Gender Expression”.  It was an early attempt to define the emerging alliance with phrase “Gender Community” representing Transgender.

Recognizing the need to enlist sympathizers and supporters in the crusade to fight discrimination, harassment and violence, the charter also said that “A person need not be a member of the Gender Community to be a Member of The Transexual Menace.” This was an early attempt to enlist allies in the alliance.

At this point, we can modernize the answer of the question “Who should identify as Transgender?” with:

Anyone who perceives they have been, are being or will be discriminated, harassed or suffer physical harm because of their gender expression.
 

Before going further, let’s take a moment to explore the significance of Gender Expression as the basis of transgender.

Expressions of Gender

In the RationalWiki, Gender Expression is defined thusly:

 

Gender expression is the manner in which individuals "perform" their gender roles. That is to say, an individual may identify as a particular gender, but that individual may express that gender in various ways.

 

 For instance, Chuck Norris and Michael Moore are both male, and to the best of anyone's knowledge, both unquestionably identify as male. However, both express this gender far differently from each other, although there are commonalities between the two. Again, both Norris and Moore express their gender in a much different way from a drag queen, even though all three identify as male.

 

 Judith Butler, in her book Gender Trouble, stated "There is no gender identity behind the expressions of gender; ... identity is performatively constituted by the very "expressions" that are said to be its results." This strongly suggests that what we perceive as gender has little direct attachment to the deeper gender identity of the individual. Many of our expressions of gender are culturally based performances, according to Butler, and while many take these for granted as part of the natural gender, in fact they are overlaid on gender and not truly connected.

 

 An example of this cultural difference is the longstanding assumption in Western culture that males are better at math and hard sciences than the arts-oriented females. However, in Japan and other Asian countries, the reverse is assumed to be true.  Neither are based very closely on actual test results, and are in fact cultural assumptions based on gender. Individuals may live up to these expectations precisely because they are part of the expected performance of their gender roles, rather than anything inherent in gender itself.

 

 http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Gender_expression, Accessed Dec 12, 2011

Everyone expresses gender even non-expression is an expression.  And the gender they express does not always represent their core gender identity.  This is not always obvious to cisgender individuals, but some transgender individuals often define themselves by their incongruity between their core gender identity and their predominate gender expression.  “I am a woman trapped in the body of a man.”  Since cisgender individuals as a rule don’t have this sort of disharmony between identity and expression, they tend to judge gender identity solely as a function of their requirements for acceptable gender expression.  When society sees a gender expression that falls within their requirements, it is said to be conforming.  Gender expression outside the accepted cultural values is non-conforming.

Discrimination, harassment and violence begin to occur when the gender expression falls outside the accepted norms for that culture.  The further from the median expectations the expression falls, the more likely the non-conforming individual will experience discrimination, harassment and violence

The Theory of Passing

Actively seeking to achieve a conforming gender expression is frequently known as passing or blending within the Transgender alliance.  The term passing comes from the experience of people of color who had sufficiently light-skin to pass as a member of the empowered white society.  Many of us seek to pass as a member of the empowered cisgender society.

The problem with passing is that it can take on obsessive proportions as we try to become fully cisgender empowered or cis-privileged.  This progression is often driven by the deep frustration of not being able to achieve cis-priv.  The person eventually achieves a state of pseudo-cisgender when that someone is like cisgender, but not really and they have the qualities of cisgender and yet at the same time they are not cisgender.  Pseudo-cisgender to describe a place that approaches cisgender, but can never really reach it. Sort of like the speed of light – Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity says we can get real close to, but never actually travel at, the speed of light.  My Theory of Passing says the same goes for cisgender and cis-priv – real close, but never actually achieve it.

 

Rather than chase cis-priv, Transgender is about creating empowerment as ourselves - trans-privilege.  We achieve trans-priv every time we stand up to discrimination, harassment or violence using legal, political, cultural, physical, etc… means.  Every win in court, every law passed, every diversity training done, every pride day marched, we empower ourselves and others in the Transgender Alliance.

A Voluntary Alliance of People Involuntarily Lumped in the Same Bucket

There are many different groups within the transgender alliance; most of us share mutual needs and others have unique needs. It is vital to remember that while we label ourselves for our unique needs, we freely have joined together to achieve our mutual needs.  While we label those with unique needs as Transsexual, Crossdresser, Intersex, etc…, we are bound together by our mutual needs to stop harassment, discrimination and violence.

Transgender is a voluntary alliance of people with non-conforming gender expression which arose as a reaction to discrimination and harassment/violence from society at large.  Transgender is also an involuntary community of people gathered into one category by society – the same society who frequently sees anyone with a non-conforming gender expression as queers, faggots, sissies, men-in-dresses, dykes, or perverts.

This dichotomy puts pressure on the unity of transgender with people who prefer to stand-alone and outside the alliance.  Society, with its need to sort and categorize, promptly puts the stand-alone people back into the alliance, whether the stand-alones like it or not.  Justifiably resentful of being categorized into a groups they wish to avoid and knowing full well the futility of trying to convince society of their apparent-to-them uniqueness, they turn on the Transgender alliance trying to undermine and destroy it so that they can get their unique needs met first.

Unfortunately this pressure creates a fragmentation within the transgender alliance and people put their unique needs before the mutual needs.  Resolving the mutual need for protection of non-conforming gender expressions will resolve 90% of the needs for any one group.  Once this main objective is accomplished, it becomes simpler to address any remaining unique needs.

When I joined the Automobile Association of America, it didn't make me change what car I drive or any less transsexual, white, tall, financially stable, or any other sociopolitical, physical or cultural attribute.  It did make me more empowered as the AAA fights for the rights of drivers (and I get free towing).  There are Automobile Associations in many countries around the world, each addressing local needs, but the mission remains the same overall.

Suppose that instead of Transgender, there is the Trans Association of America (apologies to my trans-siblings in other parts of the world, but stay with me for the moment) whose membership was anyone who perceives they have been, are being or will be discriminated, harassed or suffer physical harm because of their gender expression. 

TAA's mission is to provide or fight for legal, educational, political, social, health, etc. benefits for it's members in order to stop discrimination, harassment and violence against non-conforming gender expression.

Would you join?

This is what Transgender really is after removing the nonsense.

Meeting discrimination, harassment and violence against non-confirming gender expression head on and winning that battle will cover 80% or more of the needs of all the member groups in the Transgender alignment.  Individuals in our member groups will be able to live openly without fear.
 

This is not gradualism, but a realistic assessment of the situation as we lack the numbers to get all our needs met at the same time. As a movement, our strength is in our numbers and by forming a voluntary association of people whose Gender Expression is non-conforming; we increase the likelihood that our mutual needs – Stopping Discrimination in Employment, Healthcare, Housing, & Public Accommodations and Preventing Harassment and Violence against us – will get met.

***
Author’s Note:
This is starting to turn into a lengthy series of mini-essays revolving around the general theme of Being Transgender.  Each section has to be read holistically with the other sections to get the entire gestalt of what I am trying to present. For TransGriot readers, please visit http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2011/12/on-being-transgender.html for Part I of this series.

I don’t know how many parts are still unwritten but if you want to contribute ideas to my writing, stop by https://www.facebook.com/groups/trans.reboot/ and join in the discussion on Transgender – Rebooted/Reloaded.
-Denise Norris

Chasing Pseudo Cisprivilege

One of the things that sends the transsexual separatist crowd into a frothing rage is when you point out the cold hard reality to them that no matter how much they want to deny it, how much money they spend,  how much surgery they do or try to erase that history, we were all born with male bodies and spent some time on that side of the gender fence.

And pointing out that simple fact sets them off.

Something else that sets them off is when you point out their obsessive quest to regain the cisprivilege they lost when they transitioned and try to exercise it in the new gender role.

Cisgender bodies of either gender exist with privilege and general qualities assigned to them by the parent society.  And what is cisgender privilege you ask?   It's according to Kristen Schilt, 'the set of unearned advantages that individuals who identify as the gender they were assigned at birth accrue solely due to having a cisgender identity and presentation.' 

For example, it is presumed by society that if you are a cisgender female, you have been one from birth, you have XX chromosomes, you possess a uterus and other internal reproductive organs, when you hit your teen years you began to develop into your adult feminine body, you began to have periods in a regular cycle that occur on average every 28 days, you will one day get married, bear 2.5 children and as you move deeper into adulthood will experience menopause.

You also have societal advantages and human rights above and beyond those of trans women based on that cisgender status. 

These cisgender characteristics are presumed as universal and immutable, but nature has a way of throwing curveballs at our nice, neat binary assumptions concerning gender   There are ciswomen who don't have XX chromosomes or meet some of those benchmarks society says they should meet to be considered women.

And when ciswomen want to sling their privilege around, they will deploy in a heartbeat misgendering insults based on those memes like a weapon at women they don't believe measure up  So will the TS separatists when you remind they came out of mommy's birth canal in male bodies.      

Moving on.

Two months into my transition that began in April 1994 I had a discussion about it with one of my white fundie co-workers in the breakroom near our northside Terminal C gates.  I was aware that she had been part of a small cadre of women in my department who went to my duty manager and tried to deploy the bathroom meme to keep me out of the women's bathrooms and failed so I was on Defcon 2 intellectual alert when she approached me.  

At the time I transitioned I was seven years into my airline career and she asked me why I was transitioning and not being the male person in her mind God made me. After blowing up her faith based arguments, pointing out God made transpeople and discussing my lived experience, she deployed the 'you'll never be female because you can't have children or menstruate' argument that was common with trans opponents in the early 90's.

I quickly pointed out there are women who can't have children, can't have periods for various reasons, and then pointed out that her narrow definition of womanhood based on physiological characteristics would erase her own mother who was going through menopause at the time from the ranks of womanhood.   

I would have another encounter with a co-worker two weeks later that continues to resonate with me as well
.

I was having a conversation with a Newark based African American flight attendant co-worker of mine while we were seated in the lobby area waiting for the plane to arrive.

We were seated away from her crew and at the time POC airline employees treasured those moments when we got to talk to other POC employees because the airline business is still a predominately white world. 

She asked me how my transition was going and as I told her about some of the frustrations I'd encountered, she smiled and matter of factly told me I was just like her.   


"What do you mean I'm just like you?" I exclaimed. "You were born and raised as female from birth and no one mocks or questions your gender identity or presentation."  

'That's true," she replied. "But despite being born with a uterus,  I'm unable to conceive and can't have children. That's makes me in society's eyes just like you."  

She then proceeded to break it down that even though I wasn't going to have periods or give birth to a child, like her I would still experience all the drama that female bodied people get dealing with a male-dominated society.  I was still going to face sexism, sexual harassment, have to cope with people discounting my intelligence, and that's before we even get to the set of circumstances and the unwoman meme Black women have to constantly fight.

And while she broke it down I had the epiphany that pretty much guides my post-transition life.  If I continued to chase pseudo-cisgender privilege and pile on self imposed pressure to pass 100% of the time as female, it would be as futile and frustrating a quest as Don Quixote jousting windmills. The windmill would always win. 

Not even ciswomen pass as female 100% of the time, and if they tell you they do they're lying to themselves and to you.  Contrary to the lie the radfems like to pimp about transwomen, the cisprivilege I had in a male body I lost once I transitioned and it will never come back.  Neither would I experience feminine cisprivilege at the level ciswomen do because I wasn't born female and the virulent hostility and ignorance of society aimed at transwomen for now ensures I won't.  

So from that day forward I focused on being the best Moni I could be.  Yes, I am a proud African-American trans woman and I'm now on the feminine side of the gender fence where I needed to be.  

But the reality is I spent some time on the other side of the gender fence.  My body morphed on the outside to my current femme configuration to match the gender identity between my ears and I express my femme self quite well, but like every trans woman I still have a prostate gland that has shrunk due to HRT.  I have a skeletal structure that makes me heavier than a comparable 6'2" ciswoman. 

There was and still is resistance to accepting me and my transsisters as the Phenomenal Women we are in sectors of our society based on the fact we did spend time on the other side of the gender fence.

So trying to deny that reality is an exercise in futility.  Those of us who transitioned in the 60's, 70's, 80's and early to mid 90's won't be able to produce pictures of ourselves as little girls blowing out birthday cake candles, being members of the Girl Scouts, cheerleaders, discuss the age we had our first period or began developing breasts, joining a sorority or some of the other female rites of passage.    

So far from lamenting it and trying to come up with cover stories to hide it in a futile chase for pseudo cisgender status that will evaporate the nanosecond your trans status is revealed, I and increasing numbers of transpeople are being open and honest about being out and proud transwomen. 

I know I'm far happier and more well-adjusted because my evolving feminine persona has a rock solid base of reality undergirding it and not the quicksand.of shame, guilt and obfuscation.
 
So yes, it's time for transwomen to stop chasing pseudo cisprivilege and consider pondering this gender conundrum in another more constructive way..

It's time for us to be out and proud about being Phenomenal Transwomen secure in ourselves, our self-images and our own bodies.