Transgender Rights Are Gay Rights

[Shana A]

Transgender Rights Are Gay Rights
by Nathan Tabak May 20, 2010 07:45 AM (PT)

http://gayrights.change.org/blog/view/transgender_rights_are_gay_rights

"I don't see what trangender rights have to do with me."

That's a sentiment I've heard time and time again from many of my gay friends. And that's a mild slur, compared to the ones who denounce transgender people as diseased or "freaks."

While many gays and lesbians are fully accepting of transgender men and women, there's no question that transphobia is a major issue in the gay community. There have been a fair number of articles on this subject, including a three-post series by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss, which I highly recommend. Seeing as many gay people I personally know have trouble relating to the trans community, I felt it was worth arguing against the idea that the T is somehow completely unrelated to the LGB.

[Kaelin]

Interestingly, I was at a meeting yesterday, and a person said something that was somewhat of a counterpart to the opening quote of this link, wondering why churches weren't more accepting of TGs than GLBs.

It's not particularly profitable to try to jockey ahead in the hierarchy of "getting rights first," or keeping score.  The important idea is that everyone under the umbrella should have the basic rights otherwise guaranteed to everyone else.  The politics/game of getting what you want can cloud this thought, but it is relevant to acknowledge and keep in mind what the ultimate goal is (or should be).