What Trans Movement ?

http://www.advocate.com/print-issue/current-issue/2015/07/14/what-trans-movement

The Advocate/BY Jen RichardsJuly 14 2015 4:30 AM ET

"The open secret of trans activists and organizers is that we spend as much time navigating horizontal harassment and internal politics as we do on our proper outward-facing efforts. What is a steady state of affairs for those of us on the inside occasionally rises to public awareness, such as with the "->-bleeped-<- wars," a fight over the use of a word that some claimed with affection and others saw as a vicious slur. Or the "no platforming" of feminists who are critical of trans people. Or the exclusion of trans women from the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival.

Anything done by or for trans people, or any issue that intersects with gender, is inevitably attacked. The battlefields are social media and op-ed sections, and the stakes are control of discourse and who gets to represent trans people.

Internal tensions are not unique to any group of people, but the feeling is more pitched among trans people than elsewhere, a feeling echoed privately by people in all corners of the social justice movement."

good article

The article made some valid points. One desire that someone I know has is to bring all transgender groups together  as a unified front.  If there are a few things that all groups can agree on then it's a start. I stress the same thing if there is ever going to be a legitimate third party in America. People need to put their egos and agendas aside and work for a common cause.

While I read the article a few thoughts came to mind. Each person's trans experience is different. There is no such thing as a 'typical trans experience'. Race and class has to be dealt with because the vast majority of trans women murdered are women of color. When I read the Transgender Day of Remembrance list, that fact is born out. For me personally, going stealth isn't an option. It doesn't make sense to finally come to terms with being transgender and then go back in the closet, so to speak. This is for me personally.

I agree with you Gennee and am humbled by the descriptors that fit too well that include race and privilege.  Finding some degree of unity is critical as is listening to and respecting one another.  Finding that common ground seems all too easy as the discrimination and prejudice we experience is pervasive and lopsided.  Poverty, gender and race are factors in success and we didn't get to chose our origins.

Stealth is not an option for me either and it keeps me in good company.  I feel that having a place to share and explore with the facilitation we experience here is a good start.  Being one of those privileged white women (sort of) I am reminded of how much more difficult it is to walk in another girls shoes.  Literally and figuratively!

My hope is that a comprehensive movement for and by transgender people will continue to gain awareness and support for real legislative change.   That change is often proceeded by the masses changing their hearts and minds before the politicians as in marriage equality here.  So much to do on a Friday night and for the rest of our days....

Quote from: gennee on July 31, 2015, 09:26:30 PM
People need to put their egos and agendas aside and work for a common cause.

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Interesting article. Certainly true that the trans rights groups in our area have spent more time criticizing each other than agitating for trans rights.

A lot of the issue is that many trans people don't *want* to be trans people, they just want to live normal lives, so allying themselves with a "movement" seems like giving in to an identity they reject.

There's more to it than that. Look at these forums. I don't think a year goes by when someone here doesn't go off and start another forum because they can't stand it here. The internet is full of the shells of aborted attempts to create trans resource sites in response to quibbles and dissatisfaction with the sites that are already there. I think there's something about dysphoria and gender transition that makes us naturally combative, though I can't say I understand it.

I think if we could find a way to make our collective voice heard, the way the black, latino, and feminist communities have, our lives would improve immeasurably.

To me one of the problems is this severe separation within the community if there really is a community of stealth vs. non stealth. the haves and the haves not. Its not an intentional problem. Lets face it only a small minority can achieve perfect stealth through either genetics, money or combination of both. the rest whether it less the 50% or greater or much great have to deal with the medical necessity of transition without the comfort of being invisible. It seems to me the only way for the community to move forward is in sheer numbers . You ask the question on the forums about being trans and the majority will say they strive  not to be seen as trans , but as cis. that in it self is such a contradiction to forming a community of support for everyone. It is just physical impossible for some , no matter what the numbers are to " pass the stealth test". how possibly can you have a community that needs to be totally open to change societies perception and laws when the goal is to basically not exist. Not exist because there is no trans we are all cis. Nothing wrong at all being stealth , but the harsh reality is that the others get disenfranchised . Please believe me this is just how I see it and there is absolutely no intention what so ever of arguing about an individuals right to live as they so desire. This is a tough problem. The truth is that we need a community or the suicides and the murders will never stop.

there is a challenge for us when would be activists, mentors and role models are invisible but the biggest obstacle IMO still seems to be accepting ourselves as is, not just after finishing school

yes, and I think if we could just accept trans as a fact of the human condition with no negative connotation , but rather as a fact of life we'd be closer to the goal of realizing the full human potential that nature gave us life for.

I came out to my cousin last night and one of the things we discussed was Caitlyn Jenner. My coz said there thought she was in it for the money. I told her that, yes, she was making money because TV is how she makes her living, but also, in a real way, she martyred herself for our benefit. Certainly she could live a lot more privately than she does. Instead she advocates for us. I think we tend to expect "the perfect transgender person" for our spokesperson, but how can we really expect that when we're all so different? We need to support those brave enough to be out there, acknowledge our diversity and not try to shame those who manage to go stealth. All by ourselves we're a big tent. We need to be inclusive.

I'd lay the blame for the infighting on transphobia, cisnormativity, and basically the whole procrustean gender system.

Some specific ways that the transphobia, etc., in society lead to infighting among trans people:

1.  We are all saturated with cisnormative and transphobic ideas and prejudices (not to mention racist, sexist, ....)  Trans people (usually) manage to reject -- or rather, come up with narratives that contradict -- those ideas, etc., that cause them individually the most pain, but there are all those other ideas, etc., floating around.  And the supposedly rejected/contradicted ideas have a nasty habit of coming back, sort of like the Terminator.

2.  As a result of the trauma trans people suffer due to all that transphobia, etc., they tend to be more easily triggered.  Not only by the sort of transphobic things that come out of us when we least expect it, but also by the narratives that other trans people come up with to deal with the external and internalized transphobia they experience.

3.  Trans people are constantly being threatened by cis society, and hope that they can at least count on other trans people not to do anything they would find hurtful.  So when (inevitably), trans person A does or says something that triggers or hurts trans person B, person B is going to feel betrayed much more than they might if some random cis person had said/done it.

I suspect that if, someday, trans people are finally free of internalized transphobia and have healed the wounds that external transphobia has caused, we won't see these divisions.  Of course, by then transphobia, etc., will be historical curiosities, to be found only in the dustbin of history, and we won't need so much solidarity.

tl;dr: ya can't win.

In the meantime, I hope we can be gentle with one another.  As they say about Sendmail (and RFC's in general): be conservative in what you send, and liberal in what you accept.

Can only agree with those posts and appreciate the thought behind it.