Before we get into the nitty gritty, I want to start out this week's discussion by thanking you all for participating in the group reading thus far. I have been trying get this off the ground for a while and it's nice to finally see it take off and more specifically see it be used for educational purposes following a community-wide struggle session on trans issues. I never would have anticipated such immense pushback from the community on such a minor issue; I saw a lot of misconceptions, hate, and outright refusal to listen to and understand those affected by the matter.

Seeing it all unfold in real-time was very surreal and alienating and I suspect a lot of other trans people here felt that way too. But like your stereotypical Christian who turns to the Bible in times of confliction and confusion, I looked to comrade Leslie Feinberg for guidance and found a few little passages that really stood out to me on the matter of the struggle sessions:

  1. "Together, I believe we can forge a coalition that can fight on behalf of your oppression as well as mine. Together, we can raise each other's grievances and win the kind of significant change we all long for. But the foundation of unity is understanding." (pg. 6)
  2. "Misconceptions have been a barrier between our communities. In order to have any real dialogue, it means we must all listen carefully to each other." (pg. 22)
  3. "None of us can ever be free while others are still in chains. That's the truth underlying the need for solidarity. Trans liberation is inextricably linked to other movements for equality and justice." (pg. 48)
  4. "Revealing the need for solidarity takes patient education." (pg. 50)

While the response was alienating, seeing cis folks participating has been very reassuring that there are people here willing to listen to the struggles of trans people, challenge their own misconceptions on trans issues, and strive to be better allies to help fight on our behalf. And I'm grateful for the trans folks who are willing to participate in this and have a dialogue with anyone who is seeking to better understand our lived experiences. I truly appreciate everyone involved with this educational session. You're all based as fuck. O7

Now that all the mushy gushy shit is outta the way, drop as many quotes, thoughts, comments, concerns, ah-ha moments as you like in the comments and shoot to be actively commenting on other people's notes throughout the day as well.

This thread will be featured for 24 hours then will remain pinned in !transenby_liberation for the remainder of the week until next Saturday. Rinse and repeat.

original thread
pdf download
epub download

  • Shmyt [he/him,any]16•4 years ago

    I'm going to come at this from a cis angle because that's most of my experience, besides being bi and having friends and family identify as trans and nonbinary. So transenby comrades please chime in if I'm saying anything thats whack: I'm here to learn how to be a better comrade to everyone.

    I was really hooked by page 6 and i think it's a great place to start with other cis people or just libs in general

    "And if you do not identify as transgender or transsexual or intersexual, your life is diminished by our oppression as well. Your own choices as a man or woman are sharply curtailed. Your individual journey to express yourself is shunted into one of two deeply carved ruts and the social baggafe you are handed is already packed. So the defense of each individual's right to vote their own body, and to explore the path of self expression, enhances your own freedom to discover about yourself and your potentialities."

    I can't count the number of times I've heard people claim gender or sexuality can only be expressed in hyper specific ways, but later hear these exact people upset about how they are criticised on their lack of a characteristic or trait, how they get humiliated or are in the closet about a sexual preference or act or their love of something or their hobbies. Keeping identities gated and separate punishes anyone who strays outside the lines in an attempt to make those outside the ruts stand out more and get pushed back in line (phrased really well on page 30-31). I always wonder how many people are scared away from professions they would excel in due to gender and sexuality stereotypes about them (like fashion, conconstruction, math, nursing, childcare, etc).

    Page 19-21 similarly jumped out to me with the long explanation of how gender binary and cishetnormativity literally criminalizes people appearing different and puts them into dangerous situations just on the basis of having a gender marker on your id. Realising that if I got stopped on my way to comiccon and was dressed in a way that made me look unlike my license I would be subject to a shit load of hassle, probably way way more if the costume was androgynous or feminine, there's a nonzero chance they find drugs or alcohol or a 'weapon' on me. A trans person doesn't have the ability to show a costume contest ticket every day of the year, and a trans person is far more likely to be subject to violence because lots of transphobes are cops. Applying that to someone who is bipoc makes the problem even more apparent with how likely they are to be harassed.

    It was a really good section that paired with the earlier bits about why even cis people absolutely should be supporting initiatives that linerate trans people like removing gender markers on identification or making name changes and new licenses easier and cheaper. Linking the ease of doing this to how easy it was to remove race from id was a great point.

    Page 24-25 was a good wakeup call for me as I've been guilty of classifying drag as "exagerated gender" before and linking this discussion back to 'expressions of gender shouldn't include judgement' is really helpful for people like me to unlearn those societal categories. People described as 'sex symbols' present gender at a very high degree but there isn't judgement about the femininity of Marilyn Monroe or the masculinity of Arnold Shwartzennegar being "exagerated to the point of caricature" it is only expression, and we should treat all expression in the same way, regardless of our own preferences.

    I really enjoyed the calls to intersecrionality and total community support from page 43 onwards: especially "none of us can be free while others are still in chains" on page 48. As leftists we are fighting for everyone - as lgbtq+ people we are fighting for everyone, as trans and nonbinary people you are are fighting for everyone - its an important call to make loudly and frequently so we aren't overtaken and infiltrated by reductionists like stupidpol, or nazbols.

    Side note: I loved seeing the anticapitalism sprinkled throughout, just lots of lovely little bits recognizing how much of the oppression is caused by trying to cling to the prejudices capitalism builds as a distraction (page 30 was my favourite one because I love Jurassic Park references).

    • marxisthayaca [he/him,they/them]15•4 years ago

      And if you do not identify as transgender or transsexual or intersexual, your life is diminished by our oppression as well. Your own choices as a man or woman are sharply curtailed. Your individual journey to express yourself is shunted into one of two deeply carved ruts and the social baggafe you are handed is already packed. So the defense of each individual’s right to vote their own body, and to explore the path of self expression, enhances your own freedom to discover about yourself and your potentialities.”

      I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard people claim gender or sexuality can only be expressed in hyper specific ways, but later hear these exact people upset about how they are criticised on their lack of a characteristic or trait, how they get humiliated or are in the closet about a sexual preference or act or their love of something or their hobbies. Keeping identities gated and separate punishes anyone who strays outside the lines in an attempt to make those outside the ruts stand out more and get pushed back in line (phrased really well on page 30-31).

      Not to sound like a humble brag, but I have been a pretty involved parent, so much so that I attended my wife’s baby shower (even my wife told it was traditionally a woman’s only thing) and was sort of the “host” thanking people, helping them located, announcing when we’d move to new games, etc.

      My wife was told so many times that I wasn’t like “most guys”, “my husband wouldn’t do this”. Same thing happened when we started going out on dates, and she’d tell her coworker friends, they were...impressed, and a little jelly?

      It feels nice. But you also can’t help but feel for the poor guys who don’t know what they are missing, or that refuse to be more involved in their own families because caring is seen as a feminine act.

    • D61 [any]10•4 years ago

      classifying drag as “exagerated gender” before

      I came across that and now find myself a bit conflicted.

      I've read/heard in the past (as described by drag queens themselves - though I can't remember the source), that drag was basically turning up gender expression to 11. Not to parody but to shine a spot light on aspects of gender that they cherished. Like a body builder who is super ripped or .. well.. anything else that somebody does with such passion and care that they become almost super humanly adept at it.