6 Ways Trans Women Are Helping Deliver Gender Equality
By Marcie Bianco March 21, 2014
http://www.policymic.com/articles/85835/6-ways-trans-women-are-helping-deliver-gender-equality?utm_source=policymicFB&utm_medium=main&utm_campaign=sociala 🔗 [Link: policymic.com/articles/85835/6-ways-trans-women-are-helping-deliver-gender-equality/]The movement for women's equality has occurred primarily within the LGBT community over the past decade, with the discourse of "equality" often framed in terms of marriage. DADT and DOMA were both federally repealed, and the marriage equality movement has a nearly invisible state-organized apparatus, thanks to two Supreme Court's decisions this past summer. As Chris Geidner illustrates in a spectacular marriage equality map at BuzzFeed, 17 states have legalized same-sex marriage, with nearly a dozen more debating the issue at various circuit court levels.
As a lesbian, I can't help but wonder if the LGBT movement co-opted much of the feminist movement's energy and resources. Not to mention how a particular strand of queer politics within the LGBT movement is arguably disparate in both intent and objective from the politics of the feminist movement — the latter of which is profoundly geared toward the desires of "Lean In"-oriented white cisgender women. As Jessica Valenti wrote in a recent article at the Nation: "The corporate interpretation of feminism has more to do with cheerleading all women's accomplishments than ending patriarchy and pushing for equal rights."
This is where the trans community makes all the difference, with its unprecedented legal and legislative inroads at the state and federal level over the past couple of years.I believe this community — particularly trans women — will deliver gender equality to us all on a federal level.