Disposable

[Shana A]

Disposable
Filed by: Mercedes Allen
April 22, 2009 9:30 AM

http://www.bilerico.com/2009/04/disposable.php

It's not really "murder" if the victim is disposable.

That's the theme that keeps resurfacing when trans panic defenses are used to effectively stave off any chance of serious sentencing for the murder of a woman who happens to have a penis or a man who happens to have a vagina. We're supposed to accept that the victim was asking for it, or even maliciously deceiving people in such a way as to deserve the outcome.

In watching comments to the Angie Zapata murder trial (yes, I know she was the victim, but she also appears to be the person on trial), Zoe Brain observes:

    It's not enough that the killer go free: the victim's family must pay compensation, and the victim "charged posthumously."

This is a paraphrase of some comments being made at one of many locations where the trial -- said to be the first in North America to test hate crimes law protections of transgender people -- is being reported.

[Lisbeth]

Something I have experienced in dating, both before my transition in homosexual encounters and since my transition as a trans female, is how sometimes partners who you don't really know and who are fully aware of what they're doing can sometimes become volatile in an instant. The most likely time for this is right after orgasm, after the head clears and a person settles into a moment of awareness. Those people who aren't so comfortable with the possibility that they might be gay (bi?) or that they suddenly don't consider their partner a "real woman" can do a 180 degree spin on you in the bedroom, and some girls (and guys, although it doesn't happen as often to transmen) experience this in the form of violence. I've been lucky, and only experienced this in the form of the sudden onset of loathing, spite, aloofness and hostility, although part of being lucky has probably had to do with recognizing when there was a danger, and knowing how to carefully negotiate my way out of the room/situation. And having those things certainly doesn't necessarily guarantee a safe outcome.

I understand some of those feelings because it can even happen to trans-people themselves. I went through a short period when I was waking up every day with my partner, and started asking myself, "What in the world am I doing?" Thankfully, that period passed.

[tekla]

Obviously someone didn't read ahead in the American Government book.  Yeah, justice works very slowly.  It does - for the most part - work very well, for exactly that reason however.

certainly doesn't necessarily guarantee a safe outcome
And what does?  Except for your ability to judge from situation to situation?