Lateral violence in the Trans*community

[Cindy]

Lateral violence = the rejection, bullying lack of cooperation between individuals and organizations.

I'm dealing with this at a political level in Australia in organizing a very important conference. (www.anzpath.org) the level of rejection, argument and down right verbal (and sadly physical) bullying is enormous between activist groups. Both trans* and LGBTIQ.

We need to understand it. We need to overcome it.

This is not an Australian problem it is world wide.

Why does it occur and how do we combat it?

[androgynouspainter26]

The short answer in my mind is that we are part of such an oppressed group that our community tends to be very reactionary at times-we fight petty battles over who can use the word "->-bleeped-<-" while the statistics remain as grim as ever.  Members of the transgender community often take offense very easily, and I think on our part we need to be very careful about which battles we choose.

On the other side of things, mainstream queer organizations tend to be insensitive to the needs of transgender people not due to prejudice (like we oftentimes assume) but simply because if you aren't transgender, it's very difficult to understand the experiences the transgender community faces, and how much needs to be done to address our needs.  Which is very silly in my opinion because the oppression faced by the mainstream LGB and trans* communities are basically caused by the same thing: We all violate traditional expectations surrounding gender.

These are just my thoughts, and I feel a bit sheepish at nineteen offering my thoughts to someone who's been organizing on our behalf for such a long time, but there they are nonetheless.

-Sasha

[Ms Grace]

I guess the first step is understanding what's at the core of it? It's pretty standard human behaviour regardless of the landscape or the situation (trans or not) but it seems particularly pointless when there's so much at stake and so much to gain/lose.

[Cindy]

quote
These are just my thoughts, and I feel a bit sheepish at nineteen offering my thoughts to someone who's been organizing on our behalf for such a long time, but there they are nonetheless.

-Sasha
unquote

You Sis are the future, I am the past. Your thoughts are the important thoughts. Your opinions are the important opinions.

Never ever be ashamed or reticent of that.

[V M]

Never cared much for bullies   

[FTMDiaries]

Cindy, if you can solve that problem, you'll be able to solve most of the world's ills. It's human nature to split into tribal factions, and it has ever been thus.

When forming special interest groups, we tend to identify ourselves not by what we have in common, but by how we differ. Think of the Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland (both Christians, but willing to kill each other over what is, to an outside observer, a minor tecnicality). Think of Sunnis and Shi'ites. Think of Liverpool fans vs. Man Utd fans. Think of Apartheid South Africa.

In every case, people who should be united in their common interests wind up hating, fearing, oppressing, killing each other for the most ridiculous reasons.

LGBTIQ groups? As I'm sure you're finding, each individual organisation believes theirs is the 'right' way of being LGBTIQ, and that everyone else has got it wrong. Not only that, they believe the 'wrong' ones are diverting attention and resources away from them and undermining their (more important) cause. This can make them belligerent.

So what's the answer? Well, politically, the only thing that seems to work on humans is to impose a greater authority from above that keeps all these factions in check by making them subscribe to a common set of goals and imposes sanctions against those who rebel; something like the UN. That's authoritarian, but sadly it's the only thing that has so far proven to work.

[Rachel]

Perhaps limited resources, multiple groups weekly aligned and passion on the "subject" effect perspective.

In Pennsylvania same sex marriage is legal with a judges decree and the Governor not blocking the decree. My initial feeling was happiness then a feeling of validity for acquaintances followed by I hope the LGBTIQ movement does not fall apart because there is so much work remaining for trans* rights.     

I guess my thoughts went from we won to that feels so good to how will this affect trans*.

When struggling for limited resources some can lose the ability to think and resort to use what has worked for them in the past which may be intimidation and violence. Perhaps when a person has more to lose acting like a beast then gaining when acting civil then they will behave. It was explained to me like this. If an person can refrain from temper and disrespectful behavior in front of a patient then they can behave that way with fellow employees. It was taught to us that peer pressure then disciplinary action cure the behavior one way or another.

Cindy, you are not the past, you are the present and a very strong and needed present.

[Ms Grace]

Cindy, you are not the past, you are the present and a very strong and needed present.

Indeed!

[suzifrommd]

I'd put it down to three factors:
* As others have said, scarce resources and especially scarce attention.
* Natural fractiousness on the part of groups that always had to fight to get what they want.
* But most important, their goals are not our goals. The things that concern us - ease of documentation change, bathroom rights, violence based on our appearance, lack of access to transition-related medical care, none of these are things that affect the LGB part of our community in any way. It's hard to get their cooperation because these issues do not affect their quality of life.

[Amy The Bookworm]

One thing I've thought of, is that at least some of the larger organizations may come around soon and start trying to help us more. This is because at least within the U.S., while there's still work to be done, the fight for equal marriage is just about over, and LGB people can now serve openly in the military. That's been these organization's big cash cow, and donations from liberal leaning people allow them to survive. But, as they solve issues, without a new one to turn to they lose donations and then their jobs, and some of the people at the tops of these organizations make a lot of money. The obvious choice would be for them to start helping us, if nothing else, to keep money coming in.

Of course ... I guess there's always the chance that trans issues won't bring in the same kind of funding and they'll be shut down anyway and we'll lose out because they didn't work to help us at the same time that they were helping themselves.

As for transgender organizations lashing out at other trans organizations ... I didn't realize this happened. That would shock me to see with how much we need to work together.

[peky]

Lateral violence = the rejection, bullying lack of cooperation between individuals and organizations.

I'm dealing with this at a political level in Australia in organizing a very important conference. (www.anzpath.org) the level of rejection, argument and down right verbal (and sadly physical) bullying is enormous between activist groups. Both trans* and LGBTIQ.

We need to understand it. We need to overcome it.

This is not an Australian problem it is world wide.

Why does it occur and how do we combat it?

Let me see: Muslim killing Muslim (Iraq), Christian killing Christian (Ukraine), Black killing Black (Ruanda), etc., etc., etc.

You can only combat by teaching young children be tolerant, the problem lies in that the older generation is always there ready to create the next generation of zealots by passing down the gospel of hate.

We can only hope that through sustained global education we will decrease the number and virulence of extremist... persistence in education is the key... the war should be (and it is fought) in the forum of public opinion...

[Lonicera]

For me, it's particularly saddening to see the impact of factors like minority stress on trans politics and community interactions. As others have said, the necessity of dealing with oppression seems to lead to trans people frequently developing perspectives and ways of analysing the world that are incredibly defensive. Often, people haven't able to afford trust, letting their guard down, giving people the benefit of the doubt, or other such things since their good faith has been abused. We then have issues like high social anxiety or extra vulnerability to criticism due to low self-esteem added to it. Flowing from that, I firmly place the root blame for conflict on our binarist and essentialist society that causes the initial issues then also happens to benefit from disunity.

Additionally, I expect that conflict may be exacerbated by the fact that we don't possess identical advantages or disadvantages despite all being trans. As with many other contexts, the people that are able to rise to the top of activism or academic thought tend to come from relatively narrow backgrounds of class, race, disability, etc. It seems to lead to the needs of many trans people being erased or their unique suffering being appropriated for overall campaigning. I imagine that treatment by a community you expect to empathise with you would alienate many people and lead to anger. It seems somewhat similar to the way that major LGBT+ organisations treat the rights of assimilationist middle-class gay people as imperative while regarding the rights of everyone else as negotiation tools.

Naturally, I think these are just two contributing factors and there are so many more, like political division over whether assimilation is desirable or whether we should be breaking down constructs, that cause conflict.

Edit: Noticed an error when revisiting topic to see new posts.

[Natkat]

I also had simular issues with this and asked a simular question on susan a long time ago.

my honest opinion is theres more into it than just so, so theres no simple answer but I have a couple of theories which can play a part.

1) first the diffrent groups in the lgbt+ are pretty diffrent and not always understood of each other.
a gay person may know everything of being gay but not what it like being trans, a trans dont know what it like being asexual, and so on, which can make the same prejugde simple because they dont understand, and because they is in another position of power and priviliged where there not vulnable anymore. (you also see this with mixed discrimination where people who exemple are black and agenst racism can be homophobic, or people who are gay can be transphobic and so on)

the key is simple understanding and being willing to learn about each other, but theres also an issue of diffrence in these privilige I mentioned before. A gay white, cisgender and gender conforming man who is monogamyous romantically and sexual into other men, dose surely not feel the same type of opression as a black, nonbinary trans non-binary guy who is poly, aromantic and asexual. in a way you can say there is a hiracy.
Certain countrys have gained the mark of being "lgbt friendly" but the truth is most are only friendly under certain conditions. such as gay marrige, adoption,permission to transition, and so on.

making a small piece of math saying: understanding of someone diffrent (ex a gay person understand someone trans) + also understanding there position = can be a challenge to get around, specially if you only hang around other gay, trans or whatever you are (people) and don't really care about the others issues.
---
then my other theory is simple Fear
I belive alot of the transphobia and so which came out is not just ignorance but simple fear and emotion taking over. I see many people who been put down so much that they now got used to it, both themself and for others that it normal to be threated badly. I also see the other way around people who really do NOT want to be threated badly anymore, yet the fear of it to happent can overtake them.

Exemple I seen many transexual people who are binary who had been discriminated non-binarys.
the reason is simple. they belive that that by viewing non-binary people would think they also are non-binary
and by viewing there non-binary way of seeing gender they are afraid people who is more easly adapted to the binary gender model wont take them serious anymore, and may not deal with them anymore.

another exemple could be a transwomen who is discriminated toward ->-bleeped-<-s because people somethimes think thats what she is, and she fear more acceptance toward ->-bleeped-<-s will gain her less acceptence as a transwomen again = fear.

I seen this alot of time within a minority. gay people looking bad on other gay people for giving a "bad rumour for the gay comunity" and so on. I think it only happent when you are a minority, I mean when was the last time you heard anyone say "she is making such a bad view on the straight people" - for anything a straight person did?

I think maybe it something more or less biological in humans that when you are scared you may react more drastical and harsh than normally. you also see it in how nazism got popular during a time where people was pretty desperate and how neo-nazism is rasing more and specially in the areas with the highest unemployment rates.
--
okay enough rample I hope this put some thoughts into it.

[luna nyan]

Cindy,

It sounds like you're having a great time herding cats.

Most of us agree at the LGBT community is extremely fragmented.  Now exclude the LGB and look at the T community, and there's further fragmentation there.
Binary, non binary, op, non op, and then throw on top of that other concomitant minority groups.

Too many differing specific agendas even though the overall agenda may be similar.  Failure to act as a united group means that government setting policy has no idea.  It's easy to cater for a unified group, but for a rabble, it's impossible, and I'm afraid to a certain degree, Trans issues may come across that way to government.