Recently comedian Vicky Wagner posted this on social media: When criticized, she said: "I appreciate your opinion but Caitlyn had 65 years exp being a man in a man's world. She had male privilege. Has nothing to do with respect. Has to do with jokes. No one is off limits and I can't censor my self. Expected some flak. We should be able to laugh at ourselves. I have plenty of Gay and Lesbian jokes so why are Trans offlimits?… Read more.
Facebook recently came out with a way to "rainbowify" your Facebook icon to show support for the Supreme Court's ruling on marriage equality. Soon after, a way to "celebrate trans pride" was also released. Recently a friend of mine, Shadi Petosky, posted on Facebook something that expressed my feelings about the trans flag perfectly: "I'll never use the trans flag on my photo or in any context. It's anti-feminist, not one flavor of feminism wants to continue codefying baby pink… Read more.
I'm not sure why the Hillary Clinton campaign is sending me their LGBT related emails (I've never solicited this), but it seems as if I've been put on her press list. Today I received this: It's an email from the Clinton campaign, reminding us that Clinton is the candidate best suited to tackle "LGBT" rights. In case the campaign needs a lesson on what the LGBT acronym means: L is for lesbian G is for gay B is for bisexual… Read more.
On Facebook and Twitter, I've seen some criticism of the SCOTUS ruling on marriage equality from trans people. The script may vary depending on the audience, but here's an example. Rebecca Juro posited this on Facebook: "The LGBT civil rights movement as we know it just came to a screeching halt now that SCOTUS has legalized marriage in all 50 states. LGBT working families and especially trans people are on our own now. Now that the rich gays have what… Read more.
The United Kingdom's conservative weekly magazine, The Spectator, recently published a post written by Brendan O'Neill (Editor of Sp!ked). The piece’s title gives you a hint to its tone: Trans activists are effectively experimenting on children. Could there be anything crueler? Can you think of anything more cruel than telling a five-year-old boy who likes Lady Gaga that he might have gender dysphoria? Or telling a nine-year-old tomboy who hates Barbie and loves Beckham that she might really be… Read more.
"Are you now or have you ever been a TERF?" screams the title of the latest missive from the NewStatesman. The implication of the headline is that trans people are silencing through McCarthyistic tactics. The definition of McCarthyism: 1. the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, especially of pro-Communist activity, in many instances unsupported by proof or based on slight, doubtful, or irrelevant evidence. 2. the practice of making unfair allegations or using unfair investigative techniques, especially in order to restrict… Read more.
Trans-exclusionary radical feminist thought leader, Janice Raymond, once famously said: "All transsexuals rape women's bodies by reducing the real female form to an artifact, appropriating this body for themselves." All transsexuals rape women's bodies? Last I checked rape was non-consensual, forced sexual intercourse. Raymond's use of it as something less than that should be considered an insult to the victims of rape everywhere. Now Gallus Mag is claiming: on Veteran's Day the person on the left: is a terrorist.… Read more.
Recently Rebecca Juro wrote a post at the Advocate called "No, Obama's Executive Order Is Not a (Total) Win" that I find extremely short-sighted and politically naive. Soon after the election in 2008 of President Barack Obama, many started to question President Obama's claim as a "fierce advocate" for the LGBT community. I have my issues with the President (mainly on issues of privacy and his use presidential power). But in realm of LGBT advocacy, he has lived up to… Read more.
Is the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's executive director, Rea Carey, a Trans-Exclusive Radical Feminist? If I was a Christian and "liked" Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church on my Facebook page, would you think I was a radical anti-gay Christian Fundamentalist? Rea Carey's Facebook page: If it's difficult for you to see, here's a close-up of one of her "likes": if you're not sure who Cathy Brennan is, she's about as iconic in trans circles as Fred Phelps is in gay ones.… Read more.
I recently received an email from Mara Keisling asking me to join the: "National Center for Transgender Equality and the Transgender People of Color Coalition in Washington, DC on June 17, 2013 to lobby for basic job protections and fair treatment in the U.S. immigration system." In years past, the lobby days put on by the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition, GenderPAC, and the National Center for Transgender Equality, were invaluable in educating both citizen lobbyists and the US Congress about… Read more.
The Human Rights Campaign has a history of making moves that make it seem like it is becoming more and more trans aware/friendly/positive. After all, they hired Allyson Robinson: and they gave Lana Wachowski the HRC Visibility Award: So they're on our team, right? They're our allies? Apparently team trans hasn't "educated" HRC's e-mail Communications Coordinator, David Salisbury. Salisbury apparently thinks this is appropriate behavior for an HRC employee: Can you say institutionalized transphobia? Or maybe the Human Rights Campaign… Read more.
Over the last few days I've seen a lot of anger from the trans community over the Roseanne Barr controversy. I do understand the anger. We are often portrayed as being sexual deviants who just want access to women in bathrooms and showers. I do understand the fear we live under, every single time we attempt to urinate. I get it. But when you do something like this, in response to hatred: or this: or this: and especially this: and… Read more.
I heard that question asked over and over on Twitter last night after Roseanne Barr tweeted: Well, the short answer is, "where do I start?" Barr is speaking of is Colleen Francis. Francis was using the sauna in a women’s locker room inside the recreation center at Evergreen State College when a few girls from a local swim team complained. What do I find transphobic about Barr's statement? I've not seen ONE media… Read more.
What would you say if I told you that right-wingers on Facebook were throwing transphobic, misogynistic slurs around like this: "a nasty two cent slut ....h. mmmmmm" "Whoopie should have held her down and Joy could've bitch slapped her. Can't stand Maddow." "That horse faced wench needs to put a stopper in that pie hole." "... Maddow isn't a woman. It incubated, popped through someone else's chest and somehow learned to speak." "If she weren't so sadly skinny, I'd think… Read more.
Even though RuPaul Andre Charles is a drag performer who lives his off-stage life as a man, he seems to think he can speak for the transgender community. In an interview with Michelangelo Signorile, Rupaul said of Lance Bass (apologizing for using the word tranny): "It's ridiculous! It's ridiculous! I love the word "tranny" And I hate the fact that he's apologized. I wish he would have said, 'F-you, you tranny jerk!'" As Monica Roberts of Transgriot (and a contributor… Read more.
I was alerted to a transphobic statement from Neil Patrick Harris. Trans Femmergy posted Neil Patrick Harris: I've never sounded more like a tranny in my life. She said: Nope. But ya do sound just like lots of other trans misogynist gay guys that don't give two shits about the lives of trans women (Dan Savage and Don Lemon come to mind immediately). Check out the video link available here (I don't embed trans-haters). Great job, NPH. Thanks for using… Read more.
The list of The Transadvocate contributors is growing by two today! Please Welcome Matt Kailey and Jennifer Carr! Kailey is a transsexual man and an award-winning author, blogger, and community leader, as well as a nationally recognized speaker and trainer on transgender issues. He blogs at Tranifesto. You can learn more about him here. Jennifer Carr is a writer, blogger, public speaker and advocate for gender diverse individuals. She is also "proud mother of a child who knew she was… Read more.
Yesterday I wrote a post about Kelly Osbourne's transphobic rant in the Glamour UK. There were many attacks on my character by the Kelly Osbourne Twitter Army, but one tweet questioned my use of Angie Zapata in criticizing Kelly. I told Osbourne that: @MissKellyO R U denying U used "chick w/ a dick" or tranny? Do U know how awful ths words R & how they dehumanize us to the point of death? The Transadvocate @MissKellyO and you should learn… Read more.
Recently the daughter of Ozzy Osbourne, Kelly Osbourne, opened up about her "humiliation": "Having to tell them (my parents) my fiance had cheated on me with a tranny who sold his/her story to the press (was the most uncomfortable moment). It was so humiliating. Everyone kept telling me that Luke was cheating on me, but I never believed them. It's hard enough to get your head around someone cheating on you, but when someone is a chick with a d**k?… Read more.
I've been keeping tabs on the continuing drama between Gina Grahame vs. Calpernia Addams and Andrea James and it's getting pretty ugly. The argument seems to have blown up after an email that Grahame sent TYFA Concerning James' work on "Likin Big Dicks". James is a board member of TYFA and Grahame was concerned that the video wasn't appropriate for a board member to be affiliated with. What happened after the email was a lot of "she said, she said"… Read more.
I recently posted "Transphobic Radical Hate Didn't Start With Brennan: The Sandy Stone-Olivia Records Controversy" to point to the past of anti-trans radical feminist bigotry. Pointing out the past is important in building a unified future. You can't simply ignore people inside the "LGBT" community who foster hatred and fear against you. There are lesbian radical feminists in the community that wish to "challenge the practice of transgenderism". I don't wish to silence dialogue, but there's a certain line of… Read more.
When Cathy Brennan recently published her transphobic missive to the UN at radfem Hub, it reminded me of a similar kind of radical feminist transphobic screeds from the past. In 1977 Sandy Stone was the focus of a controversy concerning her inclusion into the Olivia Records women's collective. The following letter, "Open Letter to Olivia" and Olivia's response were posted in "Sister: West Coast Feminist Newspaper" in the June-July edition of 1977. "Dear Olivia: We are writing concerning your decision… Read more.
Watching this recent CNN story on reparative therapy and the damage it did to George Reker's poster child (Kirk Andrew Murphy), I was struck by the similarity of this story and a child that NPR covered about childhood gender identity issues. "Bradley" was treated by Kenneth Zucker for gender identity disorder. Does this: "So, to treat Bradley, Zucker explained to Carol that she and her husband would have to radically change their parenting. Bradley would no longer be allowed to… Read more.