Especially radfem activists like Cathy Brennan who purport to support and fight for trans* rights. (read the comments sections of the following articles, too. Enlightening... and disheartening)
http://www.transadvocate.com/separatists-and-fundamentalists.htm?fb_comment_id=fbc_10150606343043475_22546224_10150606882783475#f2ed1393a8I'm sorry, what? Transwomen aren't women? Transwomen have the capacity to rape a woman and should be barred from woman-only facilities? A penis is not a necessary prerequisite to become a rapist. I was raped by a woman.
http://www.transadvocate.com/come-to-think-of-it-ive-never-seen-morgan-meneses-sheets-and-cathy-brennan-in-the-same-room-at-the-same-time.htmCan you run that by me one more time?
Trans rights aren't as important as GL and women's rights? That was the general feeling I got from these articles and Cathy's comments.
"It includes trans*, I swear." Do you honestly expect the trust to still be there after GL activist leaders have abandoned us in the past for the furtherance of GL goals? "Wait, it will come... Incremental progress... Don't rock the boat or we both will lose... We care, truly..." Sure, but GL activists seem to care much more about GL rights. It's to be expected, I suppose.
If you're not for us, you're against us and filthy, dirty, discriminatory neanderthals. If you don't support our views of how this should be handled, you're anti-gay oppressors. If you don't support gay rights despite being tossed to the wolves, you are lower than an escherichia coli bacillus... I'm sorry, what? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
Look at what's been going down in Maryland. "Yes, it includes transgender..." but there were no trans* individuals on the board that met to report to the governor. Look at the proposed legislation, it's about sexual orientation, not gender identity. Oily glad-handing GL lobbyists like Cathy Brennan do absolutely nothing to hold, gain, or re-gain trans* trust of GL activists.
Do you expect everyone to accept your promises of future rights? Will the GL lobbyists stick with us THIS time? Will we be tossed aside again if we become a stumbling block to GL rights? Have you read, understood, and grokked the NTDS results? Exactly how many trans* individuals are involved in your local programs and do they have top-level input? How many do you know on a personal level? Are they welcome in your home? Have you invited them over for dinner?
The trust was given, but now it's gone. Earn it back.
I feel that trans* have been so marginalized that we're just the edge of a piece of paper by now. Be wary of paper cuts.
