Part Three: Ashley Love And Anti-Defamation
by: Autumn Sandeen
Sun Jan 09, 2011 at 14:00:00 PM EST
http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/18391/part-three-ashley-love-and-antidefamation Homophobia and transphobia are the ugliest when they come from inside the community. "->-bleeped-<-" isn't a word I apply to myself, nor do I find it charming. But I won't tell other trans people what they can and can't call themselves. And denigrating them for being drag queens, genderqueer, non-op or anything other than "your" idea of what a True Trans Person is smacks of transphobia and homophobia. "You" don't own the word "trans" just because you went through some version of it.
...Ashley, what I'm hearing you and others express is an all-out condemnation and hateful, homophobic and transphobic jihad toward anyone who uses the word "->-bleeped-<-" for any reason. I don't hear any room for any other opinion, or acknowledgment of any other trans experience than your own. It's shrill, ugly, dismissive and typical of fundamentalism. Hopefully, your activism will mature with time. For now, you're a bit over the edge.
~Calpernia Addams in a Facebook comment thread (November 13, 2010)
If you've ever seen the movie Soldier's Girl, you may remember who Calpernia Addams is. If you know anything about the murder of Barry Winchell, you may remember who Calpernia Addams is. Calpernia Addams was a showgirl in 1999 -- she came to her trans identity through drag community. Addams made her comments above after Ashley Love, in a Facebook comment thread stated this on November 13, 2010: