Right Wing Discrimination?

[BeverlyAnn]

Last night in group we were discussing the the blog about "Shrek 3" and Erin asked an insightful question of us.  With the growing acceptance of gay and lesbian people in the corporate world, with more and more companies giving domestic partner benefits and including G/L in their equality statements, is the right wing starting to give up on GLB and shifting their focus onto T?  In other words, are they beginning to feel they have lost on the anti-gay/lesbian fight and are now moving towards transgender being their new whipping boy/girl?  Are we their new cause (in their pointy little heads) of the evils in the world?

What do you think?

Beverly

[Renae.Lupini]

If we are then I am more than happy to take that place in society. To go from a vague idea of something between drag queen and crack whore to the one thing that strikes fear into the hearts of conservatives is a huge milestone in my opinion. The more they complain about us the more exposure we get in front of the public. It will allow people to be better informed on what is to be TG/TS instead of letting day time TV tell the story for us.

The one thing that is going to separate us out on our own is going to be that GLB folks are defined by their sexual preference. Now that more people are understanding that being TG/TS has nothing to do with sexual identity and instead a more personal identification of the human condition. We got thrown into the GLBT arena based on the assumption of outdated assumptions that we were are merely gay men who went a little too far.

I think it is going to very interesting to see where the TG/TS movement goes in the next couple of years. We are gaining more face time with America and we are getting a louder voice to tell the world who we really are. Five years ago I told people that one day being TG/TS won't be that big of a deal and will become even trendy to test your gender. People thought the metrosexual phase America went through was a shock, wait until this goes mainstream.

[Renae.Lupini]

The one thing that is going to separate us out on our own is going to be that GLB folks are defined by their sexual preference. Now that more people are understanding that being TG/TS has nothing to do with sexual identity and instead a more personal identification of the human condition. We got thrown into the GLBT arena based on the assumption of outdated assumptions that we were are merely gay men who went a little too far.

What I imagine happening, at least in terms of denouncing transsexuals, is them coming across the Blanchard theory and using it to cultivate disrespect of how people identify.

Look at the gay community right now in America. The religious fundamentalists and hard core conservatives don't agree with it at all. The rest of America doesn't care. So, there is going to be smear campaigns against us. Let the ignorant and misinformed make asses out of themselves. The rest of society see how ridiculous it is and don't let the lip-service condemnations affect their views of who we are.

[seldom]

Talking with HRC's Workplace project they are shifting gears towards transgender issues.  They say they have been very successful with getting partnership benefits and sexual orientation non-discrimination policies in place.  388 Fortune 500 corporations have the partnership benefits in place. 

Since they have been so successful here, and they have established ties to these companies, they are now working on transgender issues more and more. 

The right wing will always hate gay people, as much as they hate us, but the truth is, is that society, especially my generation sees republicans and the right wing for what they are: facist bigots.  Basically society is growing up.  If the right wing gives up on gays and targets trans folks, it will be seen as just as intolerant by the new generation.  Trust me, everybody I encountered in my age group is extremely accepting.  It was parents, who are older, who were not. 

[BeverlyAnn]

Five years ago I told people that one day being TG/TS won't be that big of a deal and will become even trendy to test your gender.

That kind of goes along with how our discussion progressed.  That if someone developed a genetic process to shift genders (a la some of John Varley's stories where you went into the shop, purchased a new gender and walked out an hour later), how many non-tg people would take advantage of it to shift back and forth.  We all believed a LOT of people would do it.

Beverly

[Pysgod]

The one thing that is going to separate us out on our own is going to be that GLB folks are defined by their sexual preference. Now that more people are understanding that being TG/TS has nothing to do with sexual identity and instead a more personal identification of the human condition. We got thrown into the GLBT arena based on the assumption of outdated assumptions that we were are merely gay men who went a little too far.

What I imagine happening, at least in terms of denouncing transsexuals, is them coming across the Blanchard theory and using it to cultivate disrespect of how people identify.

Look at the gay community right now in America. The religious fundamentalists and hard core conservatives don't agree with it at all. The rest of America doesn't care. So, there is going to be smear campaigns against us. Let the ignorant and misinformed make asses out of themselves. The rest of society see how ridiculous it is and don't let the lip-service condemnations affect their views of who we are.

Hey....I care. And I am not a religious fundamentalist or a hard core conservative. I think the fundies do smear campaigns because they are compensating. Since they can't force people to practice their ideas of religion. They figure they might as well use it as way to spread hate. Of course fundies are idiots. Big smelly ones. Like the Phelps for instance. I wish bad things would happen to the scumbag Fred and his wife who isn't much better. And I feel sorry for the kids mixed up in learning stupidity.

[HelenW]

I believe the more that the GLBT community makes gains in the world, the louder our critics will holler.

I liken it to the dying screams of the last dinosaur.

If they don't completely disappear (and they probably won't) their hatred will become more and more extreme which will make them less and less popular.  Pretty soon They'll wither away to insignificance.

Oh, to see that day soon!

hugs & smiles
helen

[Cindi Jones]

I don't think that they'll give an inch on the Gay thing, or the abortion thing, or the transsexual thing. They live their life believing in absolutes.  They will not waver.

Our best strategy is to watch them make hay of it all.  Helen has it right. They are fools and sooner or later, the world will catch on.  Our strength will be their diminished numbers.  It's a battle of attrition..... except, we don't have to fight!  It's a one sided war.  Don't you just love it?

Cindi

[Squirrel]

I agree with Cindi

S