GLAAD-Backed Anti-Marriage Activist Explains Difference Between Trans & Transgender

“GLAAD-backed” because you can see that little GLAAD icon on his page, you may have heard he’s nominated for a GLAAD media award, and GLAAD doesn’t seem to care about the factual basis of his award-nominated journalism.

“Anti-marriage” because maybe you’ve seen the advertisements all over his page (and we’ll be exploring activism by association momentarily).

As it turns out, anyone who opposes transphobia is a “trans activist” according to Bil Browning. Even when transphobia is the last item on a list of concerns that cover rape-apologism, fat-shaming, serophobia, racism, and about everything else. Even when there is no demonstrable evidence that anyone involved is actually trans, transsexual, two-spirit, transgender, a crossdresser, or even a drag queen.

I’ve taken this logic to suggest that anyone who advertises against marriage equality is by default an anti-marriage activist.

Additionally, as it turns out, requesting journalism be fact-based and differentiate between all trans people and activists-inspired-by-the-previous-actions-of-anonymous-alleged-trans-people (sometime within a week of reporting) makes you part of the Trans Mafia–apparently a group of trans women led by Kat Rose “who know no bounds to their pack mentality and conspiracy theories” (who knew?). See how making it about the “Trans Mafia” guides the conversation away from the reasons Savage was glittered and the facts surrounding that incident (or the accepted common use of glittering as a tactic by gay and queer activists who don’t see another way to get their point across)?

After playing hooky (and actually making an open thread about it), Browning finally addressed the misinformation on his site, but instead of apologizing, retracting, or correcting, he claims he was talking about activists who associate with trans issues, not activists who were transgender.

Decide for yourself:

I’m personally done chasing this one around the room. There are no allies here. There probably never will be, and frankly, I don’t see why there should be. There is no alliance, solidarity, or accountability. Browning knows he’s in a position of power (GLAAD seems to have no problem with) where it really doesn’t matter what he meant when he (or anyone else) wrote about trans activists, enemies of the trans community and the Trans Mafia in his post berating the trans community for glittering Savage (I guess Kat Rose coordinated the whole thing, being the Mafia leader, huh?). And I get that we can go back and forth on who’s the biggest bully, but really this is so immature, I’m ashamed and embarrassed for the grown adults perpetuating it.

No, I don’t think the Browning, Towle, Jervis, Aravosis, Avery, Becker, Polaski ring of misinformation has anything to do with any gender identity law. But I do think it has a lot to do with basic respect that seems to be perpetually missing in action.

Claiming they are “trans activists” by virtue of opposing transphobia is a line of crap. More importantly, it’s a convenient excuse to weasel out of talking about serophobia, rape-apologism, racism, and all the other real live problems in our community. I guess that’s what Vote for Marriage NC is paying for.

When Joe Jervis objected to the way I characterized his actions on Twitter, you might have noticed I tried to clarify immediately and apologized for being unclear in my original post (my comment was within 20 minutes of his objection). When Bil Browning discovered there was a misogynist ad on my site, I took it upon myself to resolve the issue (the same day he pointed it out).

Why is it that none of these men will just admit that they’ve made a harmful mistake and move on? Why do they continue to deny any wrongdoing? Why is the LGBT+ community structured in such a way that they are permitted to do so?

I’d like to reiterate again that I have no understanding for why any self-respecting trans woman would write for his site, and I have no understanding why GLAAD silently endorses this behavior. This is a shining example of why many trans women, myself now definitely included, want very little (if anything) to do with the gay or LGBT+ communities. There is no alliance, no solidarity, no accountability.

This–

opens the door for this–

Apparently ENDO didn’t get the memo that “trans activists” means activists talking about trans issues, not the “trannies” themselves (“shemales” as Avery calls us in his article–because 22 year old trans women just have to put up with that language since teh poor 22 year old college mens can’t handle respecting women they sleep with). I wonder if everyone else was clear on that…. My guess is no.

Honestly, I don’t feel safe in LGBT+ and gay spaces, especially when rape-apologism is overshadowed and permitted by more than one person’s transphobia, and anti-defamation organizations reward inciting such hate. If the possibility of getting glittered keeps you away from trans issues, shit, I’m really sorry someone dumped confetti on Dan Savage. After reading a person (presumably involved in gay or LGBT+ activism) encourage the rape and dehumanization of trans women as a comment on a dishonest article about this incident (and after watching all the derails around the dishonesty of that reporting), I don’t know that I’ll go back to activist spaces where men hold unchecked power either. This incident has served to greatly clarify that for me.

cross-posted from Trans Femmergy