Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Trans Inclusion and Desire
Posted by Xander at 11:34 PM
http://xsarkisovathespaceinbetweenyouandme.blogspot.com/2012/01/trans-inclusion-and-desire.html (http://xsarkisovathespaceinbetweenyouandme.blogspot.com/2012/01/trans-inclusion-and-desire.html)
We've come a long way in the last decade as various diverse communities that support many beautiful ways of embodying and living queerness.
From the early days of trans liberation, Stonewall, Compton's Cafe, and the start of the LGBT** rights movement.... depending on where you live, we now have established spaces wherein trans folks have become increasingly more included and desired in what were formerly binary gendered, exclusively gay male and lesbian spaces.
Trans men, male and masculine identified folks have reaped the benefits in a change in knowledge and acceptance regarding the sexuality and status of transsexual and transgender community members. T-guys and trans-masculine types have gone from being cast out of lesbian spaces in the early 70s, to a hot commodity in many queer women's spaces. This is due in no small part to the deconstruction of masculine norms, a greater understanding re: queer masculinities, a blossoming of multifaceted queer sexualities, and de-stigmatization of the process of trans health and transitioning. Many trans guys have also benefitted from deliberately busting out of male gender norms, flirting and flaunting their gender queerness as well as range of queer, gay, bi and pansexuality. While trans guys who date and have sex with cis (gay, queer, straight etc.) men have had some success and even fetishization of desire...this does not appear to be the case for many queer, lesbian and bi identified trans women.