Trans Politics, Trans Activism, also 'rolling is this transphobic?' thread

hey not to turn this too much from specifically trans issues, but as someone whose parents would say they loved me but consistently threw me to the wolves, this has been something i've been thinking about and noticing for a long time. i'll just say that family is cover for incredible amounts of inflicted pain, more than most people either realize or would care to admit to.

xp to kate, that's a fantastic post that gets to some of the most common dymanics between parents and children and some of the cultural and historical reasons for them. if you've experienced it yourself and you start seeing enough of it all around you, you might start to relate to polemics about the nuclear family like this one: https://www.versobooks.com/products/2890-abolish-the-family🕸🕸. or dj sprinkles / terre thaemlitz who has written some similar things.

ugh, thx for the info

from a friend in Portland OR

"I thought living in Portland would protect us. I thought that the scary stuff was happening (waves arm) over *there*. Alas, I was wrong. This week, some parents apparently learned there is a non-binary kid in the second grade. They were so terribly upset at the idea that an 8yo, 61lb child, who loves baking, making handmade doll houses out of duct tape and cardboard, playing d&d with their sibling and being held until they fall asleep was coming to school each day as themself that they felt entitled and compelled to DO something.
This child, who at barely 4, was nearly incapacitated with worry and anxiety as they asked “would it hurt your feelings if I told you I am JUST they/them and NOT she/her?”. This child who never once has complained about being misgendered by adults, but instead shrugs and says “Lots of grown ups have never known a they/them. It takes time to learn new things”. This child who does their sibling’s chores with them sometimes so they can all reap the rewards of a week well done. This child who loves to eat apple slices in bed. This child who LIVES to see other people feel loved, seen, appreciated, comfortable.
These ADULTS were so upset and intimidated by this tiny peaceful child that they raised their voices to other adults. They disrupted the peace of a family evening, they disrupted the learning environment of a school day, they sent their children to school emboldened to corner and intimidate a child younger than themselves.
Thankfully, the levies held and my most tender and perceptive child has no idea the things that went down around them this week. They don’t know that their sister honestly weighed her ability to physically fight a clutch of older boys. They don’t know how many hours I have spent on the phone or writing emails or leaning on my own friends for safe space to process this. They are blissfully unaware and singularly focused on their upcoming first soccer game today. They are so excited to play with their friends. They have no idea the army of families and teachers and school and church leaders who have been made aware and are linking arms around them. Eliza is precious to many of us but Eliza is also just a kid. A tiny, brave, soft, funny, sushi loving, detail remembering, creative, cuddly, audiobook obsessed kid who just wants to be. There is no political agenda here. There is no statement or motive aside from Eliza being Eliza. Safe, happy, alive.
If you think its not happening absolutely everywhere, you, like me, are wrong. If you think there is ANY place for a child to be in the at-large community and also be immune from this hate and bullshit, you are wrong. As much as I want to buy a boat and set sail to everywhere else, I see these moments as a chance for others to join this revolution. This is a chance for people to practice standing up and speaking up and looking out for others. This is a chance for people to arm themselves with the love they feel for a soft and silly child and stand up to fascism and hate.
It takes time and practice to learn to be brave and to put others ahead of yourself. As much as we were raised to believe it is the fundamental good within us all, it is a skill. Courage, resistance, integrity…all require tremendous practice. This is a moment to practice. This is a moment for others to practice. A moment for families to consider how they will talk about this stuff with their children and teach them the ethics of everyday life. Do I wish I could have lived a long happy life only observing this shit from afar and waxing philosophical about it? You fucking bet. But am a humbled to see the people lining up to love my tiny kid? Absolutely."

i'm in portland, or and i had that same moment last month. i'm pissed about it. i'm really pissed.

but i also had a great weekend here, for the record, going to a great local convention with lots of trans and queer and neurodiverse and disabled people in a space that was welcoming and accommodating to all of us, and five years ago, people tell me, it wasn't like that. i'm really happy and grateful for that, for seeing this sea change in so many places.

emergency genocide

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/government-politics-issues/2023-04-13/emergency-rules-limiting-transgender-care-in-missouri-set-to-take-effect-this-month

i was reading albert glasser's autobiography last night (yes, this is the sort of thing i do in my leisure time) and i was struck by this passage:

My Dad was working on a job fixing some rain gutters, when suddenly the word went out that the Cossacks were killing the Jews in a nearby village ! My dad and all the other men in the area would drop what they were doing, grab their guns which they always kept handy and go running as fast as they could to help out! When they got there and my Dad saw the dead bodys in the streets and the wounded trying to defend themselves, then he got REAL MAD !!

i quote this not to make any sort of direct comparison - i don't think such things are genuinely possible or helpful - but because, for me, it sort of encapsulates the difficulty i face in trying to explain how i feel about things like what's happening in missouri. i guess you could say it makes me REAL MAD, in roughly the same sense that albert glasser's dad was REAL MAD !!

there is a terf cunt wearing a sandwich board with a megaphone and a film crew currently parading around in front of SOAS trying to engage with members of the public, apparently an Internet person called b*llboard chr*s.

I was late on my way somewhere so couldn't do anything more than flip him off as I passed, hopefully a sinkhole will open up somewhere.

Oh great, the one week I’m away and can’t go down there with a big bucket of suck to chuck at him…

The campaign of cruelty continues:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed one of the most draconian bathroom bills in the country into law on Wednesday, subjecting anyone in the state over the age of 18 to criminal trespassing charges if they don’t use the public bathroom that matches the sex they were assigned at birth.

The new law, which DeSantis signed just weeks before he is widely expected to announce his 2024 presidential run, applies to government buildings, schools, colleges and detention centers. A previous draft had included private businesses such as restaurants and gas stations.

Fully expect DeSantis to outlaw men urinating while sitting next

and what are the enforcement measures? looking up someone's birth certificate because they took a leak at the library?

steely flan (suzy) at 6:58 17 May 23

Oh great, the one week I’m away and can’t go down there with a big bucket of suck to chuck at him…

The only place I received any resistance in London today was, of course, a university.

This is University College London. I’ll have some footage up in a day or two. pic.twitter.com/fuIoa2Vgsf

— Billboard Chris 🇨🇦🇺🇸 (@BillboardChris) May 17, 2023

billboardchris.com... not billboardcrhis.org?

That means he's trying to profit off this somehow

Damn autocorrect, that obviously should have been SICK.

ugh this idiot is from vancouver and i happened to observe his public meltdown as it unfolded on his company’s facebook profile. he started off by buying jlo billboards around here and then crystallized into this deranged professional provocateur terf. CBC mentioned him without any context in an article about a trans rally and linked to his twitter account (where he among other things doxed a transgender activist) and i got them to change it to something more appropriate.

on behalf of vancouver i would like to apologize for this asshole.

lol jkr billboards, not jlo

jlo billboards a much better investment ofc

ugh this idiot is from vancouver and i happened to observe his public meltdown as it unfolded on his company’s facebook profile. he started off by buying jlo billboards around here and then crystallized into this deranged professional provocateur terf. CBC mentioned him without any context in an article about a trans rally and linked to his twitter account (where he among other things doxed a transgender activist) and i got them to change it to something more appropriate.

on behalf of vancouver i would like to apologize for this asshole.

― scanner darkly

ahhhh, as someone in pdx it's pretty clear to me that said asshole doesn't represent vancouver bc. a certain percentage of people are just fucking batshit crazy.

i wish it was true but he isn’t a one off idiot (just the most ridiculous one), and my understanding is his schtick was the result of him hanging out with some local terfs (at least it provided for some mild entertainment in the form of infighting caused by some of them distancing themselves from his persona and the tactics he chose).

also there is a pretty well established anti LGBTQ2S machine sponsored by money flowing from the ultra conservative metro vancouver suburbs.

i wish it was true but he isn’t a one off idiot (just the most ridiculous one), and my understanding is his schtick was the result of him hanging out with some local terfs (at least it provided for some mild entertainment in the form of infighting caused by some of them distancing themselves from his persona and the tactics he chose).

also there is a pretty well established anti LGBTQ2S machine sponsored by money flowing from the ultra conservative metro vancouver suburbs.

― scanner darkly

ahhh that's disappointing, one of the hardest things about the current, ah, extinction burst is seeing how far transphobia is reaching into places where it just doesn't belong. there is a transphobia machine here and it does have impact on people's lives.

thankfully there is a very strong and vocal opposition as well.

here is a good write-up on the ass-hole if you're curious: https://www.antihate.ca/chris_elston_bc_man_taking_anti_trans_hate_tour_across_canada

god it really is all about the grift with these scum

https://www.newsweek.com/boycott-target-beats-taylor-swift-itunes-1803423

That said...

Despite cheers from some conservatives, iTunes sales numbers are considered a dated metric for tracking the success of music, since most modern consumers prefer the use of streaming services to buying digital songs. Songs with overt conservative political themes have regularly reached to upper ranks of the iTunes charts, as older audiences tend to be more likely to buy songs, and only a relatively small number of consumers need to do so in order to impact chart performance.

Yeah, the article does much to undercut the headline

If it also undercuts the sense of “accomplishment,” then that’s at least worth it

good article, lame headline. also, "the debate" on the sidebar. any media outlet that is still pushing the "debate" narrative, well... i mean, i don't think i need to say anything more at this point, honestly.

Newsweek is a weird and unpredictable publication these days. The headline and content being at odds seems par for the course. Could reflect conflicting internal agendas, could reflect total incompetence, who can even say.

Meanwhile, a local trans activist in my town is part of a federal anti-discrimination suit: https://tennesseelookout.com/2023/05/26/lawsuit-tennessee-employee-health-insurance-plan-discriminates-against-transgender-enrollees/

Got some heavy hitters on the legal team, led by the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund. Another case like it in North Carolina led to a judge's order to change the state plan to cover gender-affirming care. That's still under appeal. I assume all of this is headed to the Supreme Court.

Newsweek is a weird and unpredictable publication these days. The headline and content being at odds seems par for the course. Could reflect conflicting internal agendas, could reflect total incompetence, who can even say.

It's not the same magazine as the one that went by that name when you were a kid

https://dianeravitch.net/2020/10/25/the-new-republic-newsweek-has-turned-into-a-zombie-magazine/

so what you're saying is that magazines with overt conservative political themes are more prevalent, as older audiences tend to be more likely to buy magazines?

Oh yeah, I know all about Newsweek's "evolution." But even at that — or because of it — it can have things from clashing ideological perspectives. I assume it's because they have so few actual employees or contributors now that there's not a ton of quality control, no real editorial coherence, and the biggest goal anyway is obviously click-baiting for whatever sad little ad revenue they can generate.

Happy Under No Circumstances Look At Any Comment Threads On Social Media Month!

^^^truer words were never spoken.

pic.twitter.com/M9YnIZxyUI

— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) June 1, 2023

also would be REAL NICE if the judge who promised a quick ruling on whether to impose an emergency injunction on some of the recent anti-trans laws passed in FL (in Doe v Ladapo) would fucking rule soon.

Clinton-appointed judge.

This isn't politics, exactly, but a nice essay a good friend of mine wrote about parenting her trans daughter: https://www.hellogloria.com/essays/parenting-trans-teenagers

that's really cool! stories like these are a lot of what keeps me going in these times. thanks for sharing.

The DeSantis of the East... this one is not just about minors, but adults as well:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/24/vladimir-putin-signs-law-banning-gender-changes-in-russia

xxp that's so lovely :)

I gotta say, it's so nice to see some more positive trans stories on this thread, which is of course mainly full of negative shit about being trans. now of course i do realise that being trans can be very hard indeed but i just want to point out that it can also be absolutely fucking marvellous. since i started my transition i've been happier than i ever have in my life.

I just wanted to point this out because so much of the media coverage of trans issues is so fucking grim - when we're not being attacked the focus is on how awful it is being trans - off the top of my head i can't think of a single piece in the national uk media about trans joy, dunno what it's like in other countries. and again i do realise that there are a lot of ways that life is hard for trans people in a way that it just isn't for cis people, but also being trans is really awesome too :) and i just wanted to point this out because i suspect that a lot of cis people who don't know many trans people don't really get to hear that side of things

right, like, to anyone who reads enough of my posts it's pretty obvious that i'm having a rough time of it right now, and being trans is part of it, but not in the way people think. pre-transition my entire life was kind of centered around me hating myself and thinking of myself as disgusting and worthless, and that kind of thing just doesn't _work_ anymore. i'm being put in this position where i kind of have to learn to like and respect myself and i'm extremely pissy about that.

i do talk a lot about the trans genocide and it is, in fact, very bad and people need to take it seriously and out of all the trans people in the world i'm one of the ones who is probably _least_ at risk from it. the most serious problems i have are a lot more personal and specific than genocide, and none of them are caused by my being trans. well, except for how fucking hard it is for me to get cypionate. i mean i'm sure valerate is fine, but i'm doing _great_ on cypionate and it pisses me off that nobody's fucking making it.

So the Miss Italia beauty pageant has banned trans competitors, stating that entrants must be "female from birth"...and in protest, a bunch of transmen have enrolled to compete.

Trovo geniale che le persone #trans FtM si stiano iscrivendo a #MissItalia avendo come sesso assegnato alla nascita quello femminile. È un vero e proprio atto politico di protesta e visibilità, non scontato o dovuto, che centra il punto rispetto alle affermazioni di #Mirigliani.

— Gianmarco Capogna 🏳️‍🌈 (@gmarcoc) July 22, 2023

Translation: "I find it brilliant that people #trans FtM are enrolling in #MissItalia having female as their sex assigned at birth. It is a real political act of protest and visibility, not taken for granted or due, which hits the mark with respect to the statements of #Mirigliani."

Just popping in to note that the online edition of the Daily Telegraph has Graham Linehan performing stand up outside the Scottish Parliament as the main story in the News Section... and in the Scotland section... and in the Arts section... and in the Culture Wars section (yes, they have a Culture Wars section)... the exact same story with the exact same photograph.

A new-ish acquaintance– I am organizing a reading for her— just had this published. CW: SI, conversion therapy.

https://www.thecut.com/article/what-i-learned-in-conversion-therapy.html

Thanks for sharing table. Indianapolis is... not a great place to be trans. I'm glad your acquaintance made it through.

on consideration, "i'm sorry i told you your queer child is going to hell, my wife has cancer" is the single most hoosier statement i have ever heard in my life. the only way it could be more hoosier is if it was immediately followed up with "so, you going to the pitch-in next week?"

Great, if not surprising, insight into the "conversion therapy" experience. The article felt like it ended too abruptly.

Is there a particular reason that "trans folk" is so often used, as opposed to "trans people"? I can see how "folks" is clearly preferable to, say, "ladies and gentlemen" as a term of plural address, but I've never understood if there was a political or other reason for "trans folk" being so prevalent.

tbc, I have no objection to the term*, I'm just curious if I'm missing something!

*well, I do sometimes think the non-use of "people" feels a little othering, but afaict this wasn't imposed on trans people from the outside (I could very well be wrong about that)

no clue, i didn't know it was used that often. i say it myself but i'm scottish so tend to say folk instead of people :)

I guess "persons" has more focus on the individuality, and "people" more on group / majority, and "folks" has a casual vague all-encompassing "whatever you are" about it that makes it trendy in all contexts right now.