A lot of rhetoric gets thrown around by the left-wing liberals of this continent (being North America) about the “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender” movement. (There are of course other letters to this particular alphabet, such as Intersexed (insultingly and classically called “hermaphrodites”), Genderqueer (those who identify as neither gender, or both), 2-Spirit (a differing Native American description of what we call “transgender”), Queer (not conforming to social expectations of man/woman), and so on. But on the whole, every piece of literature out there has to deal with “LGBT Communities,” “LGBT Rights,” “LGBT Pride,” and so on, yet nobody really stops to think, “what does gender have to do with sexuality?” (Similarly, what does Intersexuality have to do with sexual orientation as well?)
It's a common misconception from everyone across the political spectrum to assume that “transgender” is somehow a form of sexual deviancy. After all, many transsexual individuals move towards getting Sex Reassignment Surgery, so obviously transgender/transsexualism is a form of sexuality. I mean hell, “sexual” is right there in the word “transsexual.”
But it is a completely false assumption to label transgendered people as sexually deviant. I myself am a transgendered woman, yet I do not hate my reproductive system and see myself as a lesbian woman.
Gender vs Sexuality
A woman can love a man, another woman, both, or all genders. (straight, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual) A man can love another man, a woman, both, or all genders. (again: straight, gay, bisexual, pansexual). How is it different when it concerns a transgendered woman or a transgendered man? Can a transgendered man or woman not see themselves as gay/lesbian, bisexual, or pansexual?
From a use of simple logic you can see how identity differs from sexual orientation. The presentation of a cisgendered gay man vs. a cisgendered straight man does not differ all that much. The presentation of a cisgendered gay man vs. a transgendered straight woman (assuming both are “men”, which is entirely incorrect) is completely different; because the transgendered woman sees herself as a woman. Because she is a woman. So how does she fit into the sexual orientation “community” when she is straight and loves men? What does her identity (transgender) have to do with lesbian, gay, or bisexual?
The “Community” and “Allies”
It is important to remember that the reason why transgendered people got themselves added to LGB was because they were (and are) seen as allies. Transgendered people were seen as sexual deviants, as were lesbians, gays and bisexuals, and so with similar forms of oppression from the psychiatric and social mainstream it became an easy match.
But what I've personally seen through my experience moving through “LGBT” spaces is that while LGB have essentially had an “easier” time overcoming oppression through a solidified human rights movement, transgendered people still remain ghettoized within that “community”, seen and not heard.
A transman I know reels at the mention of the “C-word,” as he calls it. He sees it as a copout of recognizing the differences within a particular minority group for the sake of solidarity, and I personally agree.
Some gay men see transgendered women as confused gay men, independent of their actual sexual orientation. Many lesbian women, one of the more famous ones being Janice Raymond, see transgendered women as “men” who are attempting to “invade the female space”, like “rapists.” More uncommonly, transgendered men are seen as “gender traitors.”
Are these popular opinions? I would disagree and say they are fringe at best. But they still represent a very vocal voice of the LGB “community.”
In another bout of opinion, one thing that strikes me hard is a telling sign of the “community” being apathetic towards transgendered people is what happened when homosexuality was delisted in the Diagnostics and Statistics Manual, the “big book of psychology.” It was delisted, and transsexuality added in its place as “gender identity disorder.” Yet nobody fought back against that. Transgendered people have now gone through years of reparative therapy at the hands of Dr. Kenneth Zucker and Dr. Ray Blanchard, who believe that transgendered people can be “cured” of their transgendered tendencies. They also see male-to-female transsexuals as homosexual men, independent of things like... if they were lesbian transsexuals. Or happy after transitioning. Challenging gender roles is strictly verboten.
T vs T
Within the “transgender “community””, there is, of course, infighting. What constitutes “a transgendered person”? Are those people who are not diagnosed with “Gender Identity Disorder” under the medical model “legitimate”? Are transgendered people not on Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) “really” transgendered or just “hardcore” cross dressers? How do we reconcile seeing gender as a social construct while conforming to the opposite genders habits in an attempt to fit in with a cisgendered, “biologically determined” society?
Some go back even further and claim that those who do not undergo Sex Reassignment Surgery are somehow less legitimate in their identities than those who do. Some claim that they are a “type 6: true transsexual” and wave it like a flag. Some see themselves as the other gender, yet present androgynously, bringing the ire of people who conform to the gender stereotypes down upon them.
Solidarity within the T minority is almost non-existent except as the institution level in many places, which is usually under the medical model.
In my opinion, the reason I see for this is that we, as transgendered people, are culturally oppressed at every turn. We thus have to construct a brick-wall identity. When some transgendered people perceive a “challenge” to their identity as trans by someone else, they take it personally. It quickly escalates to mortal combat at each side gets more and more personal. It's a defensive mechanism, from a society that constantly assaults their identity with one-word insults like “fake”, “shemale”, “tranny”, and so on. Thus a constant validation of identity becomes nigh-necessary for any type of emotional survival. And so, trans turns on trans.
Separatists, or “Radical Transgenderism”
Transphobia differs from homophobia in a lot of ways, mostly that it is more pervasive and tied to emotion. Sexual orientation, as former Prime Minister Trudeau put it, exists in the bedroom.
Gender identity exists in the public realm. The clothes, the mannerisms, the name, the designation on your identification, the pronoun on your mail, the pronouns. It exists when someone greets you as “Sir” as a transgirl or “Ma'am” as a transguy. It exists when you're picked out of a crowd because you're a slightly shorter, more effeminate guy, or a taller girl with broad shoulders and a deeper voice. It exists when someone says “you're REALLY a man” or “you're REALLY a woman”, claims that your identity is fake, and so on.
My own view of the situation is that there needs to be solidarity in the transgendered minority insofar as transgendered rights and representation in the wider culture goes – but this cannot be done while we exist attached and defenceless to the sexual orientation minority. There are of course extreme differences regarding different forms of oppression within the transgendered minority, such as race, class, ableism, religion, heterosexism (beyond transphobia) in general, and so on.
Perpetrating the LGBT misnomer does nothing but harm transgendered people, by sexualizing their identities much to the glee of the reactionary medical community and social right wing; allowing them to say we're “like homosexuals, but worse.”
Identities need to be separated from sexuality. T needs to be separated from LGB. Transgendered, transsexual, intersexed, genderqueer, two-spirit and androgynous (TTIG2SA) individuals from all walks of life need to rise up to form their own “community”, and say “we are our own persons, and we are not defined by our sexuality.”
Some may disagree and say that it would “split” the community and force allies away from us. I say it is crucial to our survival as a distinct class of people who face different forms of oppression and barriers. With a homogenized (no pun intended) voice with the sexual orientation minority, our message and purpose is lost. We need a distinct voice if we are to be recognized as a distinct class of people, independent of any other minority.
LGBP for sexual orientation minorities.
TTIG2SA for gender identity minorities.
No comments:
Post a Comment