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:
- "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)
- "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)
- "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)
- "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.
This is a really good read so far and I'm so glad we're doing this! There have already been a lot of good takes in this thread so I'll just add a few thoughts for now:
Seeing how much language has evolved in 22 years should be a stark reminder for anyone who disparages people for experimenting with language nowadays. There's still such a long way to go and I have the utmost respect for anyone who is blazing new trails in the search for an identity they can relate with. If anyone on here disrespects neopronouns again, they can catch these fists. 😤
Like many in this thread I absolutely loved the calls for solidarity and the necessity of an intersectional movement. Oppression hurts everyone and we must fight all oppressions if we want any hope of achieving communism. Capitalism is a ruthless machine that will stop at nothing to alienate us from others and our own selves, but I've often found that if you can break down one type of alienation, the others follow suit. May we all one day be free to be ourselves in a loving and supporting community.
Finally, to quote Les:
To everyone who has ever stood up for the trans community, there aren't enough words to express my gratitude. I and many other trans people would still be closeted if we didn't know that allies are out there. Y'all are fucking amazing and we love you so much! :cat-trans:
(Also, I was tearing up a bit while reading Linda and Cynthia's stories. I felt so much love coming off of the page.)
I'm glad we are doing this and using this as an educational moment too. I better start seeing all the other people who said they'd do the reading commenting soon too. 👀👀👀👀
They're all just food hole sounds, simply make a different sound with your food hole and ascribe different meaning to it. Humans have literally been doing it since the dawn of humanity. Language changes, libs can :cope:.