Why I Care About Trans Day of Remembrance as a ("Cisgender") Gay Man
By: Dan Schulman
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/blog/keshet/2012/11/08/why-i-care-about-trans-day-of-remembrance/Later on in the week, one gay man reluctantly asked me, "Why do we have to include the 'T' in LGBT?" It sounded like a chore. I almost choked on my curry.
And then the next question: "Why should a gay man care about trans issues?" Gulp. "What is a gay man's responsibility to trans people?"
This wasn't light dinner conversation. No one intended to be rude. It just wasn't obvious. He knew to include the "T" but didn't know why. To satiate their hunger for an answer, I put down my fork.
[...]
Unfortunately, it's not enough to be a human ally. Trans issues resonate with me more strongly as a gay man. Not only can I understand a feeling of terror at the thought of telling my friends and family about my "dark, deep secret," but I can identify with feeling oppressed and repressed. In middle school, I was taunted for having a "high-pitched" voice. In high school, I was made to feel like an outsider because I didn't play a sport, which didn't conform to preferred gender norms. This type of homophobic gender policing is directly connected to transphobia. It is tied to a fear of gender variance.
