[su_cwtop]
The faggot, RuPaul Andre Charles, claims that trans people are “bitches” who need to “get stronger” with regard to his use of tranny. In an interview on WTF with Marc Marron, RuPaul said:
You know, if your idea of happiness has to do with someone else changing what they say, what they do, you are in for a fucking hard-ass road… I dance to the beat of a different drummer. I believe everybody — you can be whatever the hell you wanna be, I ain’t stopping you. But don’t you dare tell me what I can do or what I can’t — say or can’t do. It’s just words, like, ‘Yeah, you hurt me!’ Bitch, you need to get stronger. If you’re upset by something I said you have bigger problems than you think.”
Within drag culture, tranny has an in-group meaning that does not mean what the rest of the world means when they use the term. For the rest of the world, tranny is a term one might use while beating or killing a trans person. RuPaul believes that because his in-group context does not align with the rest of the world’s usage of the term, he should be able to associate the term with Logo’s brand.
Therefore, the standard RuPaul advocates for is that when a term has a non-slur meaning within the context of a smaller in-group culture, people shouldn’t question its use when members of that in-group use the term in the wider culture, even though the wider culture views the term as a slur.
In a recent HuffPo Live segment, a rap group who appeals to youth culture asserted that faggot doesn’t mean what gay men think it does. In essence, the group made the same argument RuPaul made regarding his use of tranny. The group said that in their in-group, faggot doesn’t mean what gay men think it means and therefore, their casual use of the term in the wider culture should be supported.
“In an ideal world, we’d be able to explain it and it’s all good. There has to be a category for everything, so us saying ‘faggot’ has to be homophobia… What a crazy world it would be in which we were the evolved ones? It all comes down to context.”
This group’s view of faggot isn’t new. Back in 2011, this same group said “I have gay fans and they don’t really take it offensively, so I don’t know. If it offends you, it offends you… Some people might take it the other way; I personally don’t give a shit.”
Defending in-group usage of fag, SouthPark devoted an entire 2009 episode to explaining that fag doesn’t mean what the larger culture thinks it means. Louis CK likewise advocated for his in-group youth culture use of faggot:
It should be noted that the rap group claims that faggot has a positive context while the SouthPark/Lois CK context is negative. However, both claim that faggot doesn’t refer to gay people. Therefore, according to RuPaul’s standard, those coming from youth culture in-groups should be able to use gay slurs without gay people confronting them.
However, when the then 26-year-old Amanda Bynes wrote, “Follow me on twitter you faggots!” RuPaul blasted Bynes tweeting, “Derogatory slurs are ALWAYS an outward projection of a person’s own poisonous self-loathing.”
But, for RuPaul, tranny is somehow different. When Lance Bass apologized for his use of tranny, Rupaul said:
[Laughter] It’s ridiculous! It’s ridiculous! Words — it goes back to grade school: Sticks and stones, you know the rest. The thing is you have to look at the ego, you have to follow the money, and the payoff. And the payoff is that the ego wants attention no matter what. It will try to get it wherever the hell it can, whether it’s positive or negative. So you have to ignore it basically — you have to starve it out. And unfortunately in our culture one person can write a letter to the network and they shut something down. It’s unfortunate. But I love the word “tranny.”
And no one has ever said the word “tranny” in a derogatory sense. In fact, you have to go to the intent of the person saying it. Of course Lance Bass, his intent would never be to be derogatory. Never. So, you know, that’s really ridiculous. And I hate the fact that he’s apologized. I wish he would have said, “F-you, you tranny jerk!”
It should be noted that Bass cited RuPaul’s usage of tranny in his apology.
[hr]My purposeful use of faggot with regard to RuPaul is meant to draw attention to the tension that can exist between in-group and out-group meanings. Being a gay man, RuPaul has undoubtedly had faggot used against him. For most LGBT people, the term gets its context from the fact that it is the go-to slur people use while they are beating and/or killing us. However, youth culture asserts that the term has a different meaning.
As a non-gay person, what are we to make of my use of faggot regarding RuPaul? Do I mean it in the rap group’s positive context, the Louis CK/SouthPark negative context or am I using it as an anti-gay slur? Herein lies the issue with the casual use of tranny.
The majority of people who use both tranny and faggot mean it as a slur. Moreover, these are the slurs people use when they are murdering us. When the non-trans gay man, Neil Patrick Harris said his deep voice sounded like a tranny to a largely cisgender heterosexual audience, what and more importantly, who was the heterosexual cisgender audience laughing at?
That, then seems to be the issue for the trans community. While a gay man might know who he’s laughing at, the trans community seems to know who the cis community is laughing at when a gay man uses tranny.
[hr]Note: A FAQ has been set up to address anticipated criticisms regarding this article on the author’s blog. However, you can see some of the FAQs in the below drop-down:
[…] wrote in […]
[…] but this is a relatively accurate depiction of how some Gay men think it isn’t a slur (Rupaul for example (TW: to prove a point, the title of the linked article contains an anti gay slur)). Of […]
[…] wrote in […]
Hmmm…just got a link only…ok….my apologies…dissent is good….and necessary. My apologies extended…and a newly attached zipper over my mouth and keyboard…an oral chastity device if you will.
Faggot says:
June 1, 2014 at 8:19 pm
Thank you so much for calling these disgusting faggots out. I hate these faggots as much as you do. You have show me the only solution thank you so much for being a voice for people like us who hate these faggots.
Faggot says:
June 2, 2014 at 9:30 pm
If unconditional surrender is all you will accept then you had better get used to disappointment.
Faggot says:
June 2, 2014 at 9:28 pm
It’s pathetic what you are doing. For anyone who doesn’t know. When a dissenting opinion is posted Dee Omally must come and put paragraph upon paragraph of nonsense to hide it. You really are pathetic.
I have lots to say and many to sway, but being a Dee-senter at the senter of attenshun is not the reason I write. I find myself a Dee-senter is a role I often play, for righting a wrong is why I fight. I will attempt to place, your Dee-sension at the top of the cue, for this format is beyond my control, but of the very special few, who give us a voice to be heard—never as followers deep in a herd. [not sure if pix can be pasted here but gonna paste “Faggot’s” comments]
http://wp.me/p1hX9t-2Z
[A very, very long must-read!]
Gay recalcitrance knows no limit so I finally had to say this: an exercise in futility, of course, but one that must nevertheless be waged.
*************************************************************
Because of course everyone knows that not calling a TV actor playing the role of cop a police officer is utterly and completely void of due respect right? And of course everyone knows that because we, trans females were born male, claiming that our experience is different than a TV/stage actor playing the role of female is bullshit right?
Exactly why of course we will always be but tra**ies…she-m**es…absolutely no different than those who make a living of well, living in both worlds at the same time, or as Ru Pablo not-Escobar would say “she-male”, am I feeling you? Will someone please send my my $ check for due compensation for my public drag performance?
You see [**** ******], since my very 1st post I knew exactly the viewpoint RuPaul, you and others like you have: the belief that “once born male, always male” which completely explains why you feel absolutely comfortable with dragging trans females…well…back into reality: no different than acting in “drag”.
How dare we defend the fact that our state issued ID now identifies us as female. Dammit, we don’t know our place right? How dare we enter female restrooms, gym locker rooms to do well the exact same thing as other females: use the toilet or take a shower. Dammit, we still don’t know our place, am I feeling you correctly?
How dare we ever forget that it’s not identity that we have….a female identity, but that we must obey our penis (if we still have one…of course that’s not your business)…that our penis brain is what rules the body, not the “brain brain”.
How dare we, being nothing but tra**ies and shem**es…..males pretending to act out in gender delusion that we are female, behave hypocritically and not let actors performing..on a stage…for $ or not….also “claim” to be female right? After all both of us are merely “acting out a female role” right?
Never mind that we take estrogen. Never mind that our ID now shows F. Never mind that drag actors truly are gender hybrids, costumed (forgive me if I am using the wrong words to describe what actors wear on stage)…never mind that they are costumed as female…which of course any Joe Schmuck male, gay or straight can be so costumed in about ten min. I mean to you guyz, dressing up is dressing up, no different than on Halloween or high school events right?
Never mind that we live in society, work in society, fuck in society, identify in society, appear in society, get addressed as ma’am in society as females that we now appear and identify as…never mind all of that. Never mind that, like trans children today, we never ever ever identified, agreed with, felt as male. Never mind that estrogen reduces our sex drive, penis size, testicles to a much smaller size—dammit we must know our place…males in female face & costume right Mr. [*** *****] bear?
We must know our place as “it’s, he/she’s, tra**ies, she-m**es” right?…because you see [***], it’s not a new revelation that you, RuPaul and many, many gay men know us to be nothing but whining, sweating, deep-voiced gay male transvestites, just like those next to you in the gay bar—your bear face getting warm yet? How dare we act so smug and look down on gay males in female-face by not disrespecting them and calling them female right? Who are we to ever think we are “real” females right? The audacity to impose our female-ness over actors…I suggest you go grab a squeeze ball so you can let off some steam, because I, Dee, have no fear and never hold back from pulling back on the sheets.
You [*** ****] are not fooling us. You [*** ****] are stupid, (literal definition, not name-calling). RuPaul, a gay man just like you is also very, very stupid. No, [***], you and RuPaul are fooling nobody but yourselves. Like Donald Sterling proved as he lost an NBA team, $ and genius aren’t always found in the same head. You see, for almost 70 years now, doctors and the government know that a trans female is not a drag queen. Drag queens can never be prescribed hormones, not of course unless like Carmen, they are transgender females performing in drag, which is of course not the usual case. Transgender females performing in drag are still…well performing in drag.
State and now federal government legally recognize us as female, but only after a doctor, the only sex expert in the room—unlike gay males such as your stupid self who pretend that a TV cop is really a police officer—government, stronger than any gay mafia begs to differ.
This is why mee, Dee will accept no compromise, no negotiation on allowing stupid gay men like you and RuPaul to drag us back into drag—because as you say we really are no different than drag performers—yes we know that to RuPaul and other stupid gay men, we will always be no different than a tra**y. This is why you and RuPaul, are the most dangerous opponents to trans females we have ever had.
This is why we, Trans Sisters United, the “fringe” know that you guyz have declared hostilities on us—don’t believe me, listen to Ru Pablo and yourself. This isn’t we, Trans Sisters dividing the community for if one thing has been made clear, there is no longer an LGB/Trans community. We, trans females will not and cannot every be associated with gay-sponsored transphobic filth, courtesy of RuPablo and those like you. You despicable human beings have grabbed us by our pretty hair and forced us girls to fight back. You have brought it on and it’s on baby. Calling this gay vs trans conflict a “fight among ourselves” is like calling WW II, after Pearl Harbor was attacked “a fight among ourselves”, meaning the US & Japan.
No sir, you guyz have transgressed and aggressed, forcing us into defense. You have, for years now, failed to respect our sex change/transition, and continue to do so. This fight is not about defending merely our honor…it is not about mee, Dee, but about trans females today and trans children as well: in 2014, a segment of the gay male population threatening our very survival and gender legitimacy, doing perhaps the dirty work of TERFS & TERMS, as we gain power, Gay, Inc will have none of it—dammit power will not be shared right?
You and RuPaul lack sincere maturity, unable to hold a conversation without a “fuck” tossed in here and a “fuck” tossed in there for good measure. This is exactly how middle school bullies talk, filled with vitriol and anger, or is my memory failing me? You tell your friends Bianca, Alaska Clusterfuck and RuPaul that they are so far on the wrong side of history that every one knows it but them. They are no friends of me or transfemales. You guys live in delusion, fooling only yourselves.
The video by Alaska Clusterfuck, coincidentally echoing that stupid gay man known the world over as RuPaul, Trans Enemy #1, was of course a “public exercise of love” toward Parker Malloy and the rest of us right? Oh, I am sure you have no clue what I am saying right? You know that video that Gay Voices pretended not to see before it was made public? The one that killed a “tra**y” with a blow dryer? Ya, I thought you would remember.
You see [***] little-weenie Bear…you tell the other little weenie RuPaul Andre Charles to look in the mirror and scream in fear because I may not be a drag genius but I’ve spent my entire life looking death in the face and conquering it. I am here….many walking the same road are not here, buried long ago. You let little-weenie RuPaul know that yes we understand loud and clear that video by Alaska….that we are to “fuck off and die” if we don’t like him calling us “tra**ies and she-m**es”….
…why he will never let “them tra**ies tell him Ru-Paul—the God of female mimicry” tell him what to do! After all we are not females, but the she-m**es he wants us to know we are right? Speaking in compliance with the very own “safe” terms long used by your ilk and RuPablo, I have two words for you, your transphobic kind and RuPaul: FUCK OFF FAGGOTS. (Words have been reclaimed right?)
Oh the only possible solution? That you go get your transphobic gay friends, ALL included here, without delay, go find a white napkin on a stick. You guyz have made your points, and we Trans Sisters United will NEVER accept anything less than UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER. Bigotry, no matter the source requires no less and has no space for compromise or negotiation. Take that to the bank and cash it in. Of course this will never happen so stand by for more enforcement, just as is occurring from LOGO, GLAAD and Huffington Post, and mee Dee.
Overuse of hyperbole and venting aside….nothing like looking at one’s self image to see the real face of bigotry….and scare thyself into reality….
This comment..I had posted elsewhere in response to a gay male who absolutely refused to distinguish real-world critical differences (off stage) between male-identified female performers and trans females. When I specified the critical differences—dress-up compared to grow-up (hormones)—as different but neither superior to the other, affirming that a male remains male no matter the costume—by stating this truth it was I who was being disrespectful. Apparently what has happened is that the TG “umbrella” has been stretched out so big that anyone regardless of gender identity can claim a gender, merely by vocal declaration.
Cognizant of how TERFS and others disparage us in like manner, I never have and will equate drag performances (a beautiful thing I hold because many are in fact gorgeous) as worthy of contempt. How can performance ever be so deserving if it is entertainment? On the other disparagement against racial groups or others cloaked as entertainment (Bianca vs Carmen for example), given real-world conflict is never merely “entertainment” and deserving of being so revealed. The reason making a distinction is so vital is because without the adherence to a standard, such as required primarily based on medical/legal grounds, then truly there can be no sex/gender change..only “she-m**les”…..based on birth sex. If such is the case, then no wonder bathroom bills are the subject, and deservedly so assuming no standards, of much debate. This ultimately impacts the safety of bonafide trans persons, for example when trans females get physically attacked for accessing the female restroom, despite valid ID as female.
It’s pathetic what you are doing. For anyone who doesn’t know. When a dissenting opinion is posted Dee Omally must come and put paragraph upon paragraph of nonsense to hide it. You really are pathetic.
If unconditional surrender is all you will accept then you had better get used to disappointment.
Thank you so much for calling these disgusting faggots out. I hate these faggots as much as you do. You have show me the only solution thank you so much for being a voice for people like us who hate these faggots.
Off topic, but necessary.
Please watch and SHARE the trailer to our hilarious 50’s B&W spoof: “Transsexuals from Space”.
Written, direct4ed and produced by a Trans so people would laugh WITH us–not AT us. Thanks for the SHARES!!!
“Written, direct4ed and produced by a Trans so people would laugh WITH us–not AT us. ”
Good luck with that. I don’t see it happening anytime soon. I’d like to be wrong, but don’t think I am.
This is a great post that says what I have been trying to say for awhile.
When a series of trans-frictional and contemptuous events unfold, such that betrayal by a purported ally is self-evident, circumstances mandate that the offended take pause, and conduct a breadth and width, levels-deep introspection from a neutral and objective posture. Such review is not only for determining who will lead, follow or clear the way, but to distinguish true friend from foe, establish group focus, determine group structure and chart future objectives. Any cause greater than one benefits exponentially more from member participation than not, and implicitly included is the solemn realization that many now and in the future stand to gain or lose from successive victories or defeats of group efforts.
DECLARATION OF TRANS INDEPENDENCE
It has been ordained upon man to possess certain immutable characteristics, including but not limited to race, color, sex, and gender identity. Throughout history, man’s unquenchable appetite for power has hardly wavered, restricting the use of no tool or ploy to subdue the masses—and is often the ulterior motive behind almost every endeavor, LGBT or not. Often, this is achieved at the expense of social units perceived as weak, not excluding those units that comprise the LGBT acronym. The state of the LGBT Union in May, 2014, as detailed below, is in a state that we, the Transgender community, hereby declare as no longer healthy, robust, or acceptable.
DULY NOTED:
Atrocities committed upon those who freely express a self-gender truth, sprout from hate in the mind, fueled by words dipped in vitriol, and executed through deed with final and lethal intent.
For-profit entertainment intended for broadcast, best described as on-stage cross-gender costumed titillation is just that—entertainment never intended as equivalent to full-time public assimilation of gender-transitioned persons in equivalent gender roles as cisgender counterparts.
Gender authenticity, whether actualized from transition or performed as entertainment, is never subject to judgment based on a superiority hierarchy; difference is not qualified as greater or lesser.
Mocking, bullying, and pejorative posturing, either verbal or physical, all breed a state of duress for persons with gender identity angst, and are often the result of obfuscation between gender-transitioned persons and others not sharing the same objective, namely others who retain a birth-sex identity, as typified in cross-gender entertainment roles and venues.
A significant number of loud and proud lesbian-identified persons incessantly exercise hostile verbal conduct targeting transitioned females, incessantly associate them with criminal proclivity, strenuously enforce a gender paradigm via verbal combat, and seek trans exclusions from legislative equality, with recorded successes, to great trans detriment.
A significant number of loud and proud gay-identified persons exhibit mockery, pervasive misgendering, and disparaging verbal conduct targeting transitioned females, and also seek and achieve trans-exclusive legislation at all government hierarchies, to the detriment of trans persons.
Current events (2014) reveal that the gay census includes a much higher number of trans-bigoted males, made clear from gay commentary in social media that gave little due consideration toward mitigating pervasive and common use of words known to contain transphobic meaning.
Successive waves of gay and lesbian civil successes culminating in open military service have come to fruition only at high cost to trans persons, resulting in T legislative dismemberment, repeatedly accentuating the role of T persons as sacrificial for the greater LGB good.
Faced with opportunity to demonstrate Trans alliance by voluntarily squelching social media broadcasts that could only be described as trans bigotry, Gay video gatekeepers turned a blind eye, doing the right and proper thing only after coerced to do so by higher authority.
It is well known that the optimum predictor of future events lies in the record of past events; maintaining the status quo—a current LGBT union—will elicit no constructive advancement of Trans equality, given a history of trans exclusion. To expect different and positive results following the same algorithm is not one that exudes health or sanity.
Taken in totality, based on historical trans exclusivity, and in the current context of non-constructive divisiveness, we the Trans community hereby declare in no uncertain terms our vote of no confidence in our LGB allies. We the Trans community, submit that the preceding itemized “duly noted” points of contention lead us to conclude that there is but one possible course of action: TRANS DECLARATION OF LGBT INDEPENDENCE
Whilst our LGB family advises us to “bend over and take it like a sissy”, we say “not so fast”. We will never, ever forget that trans vitriol emanates from males, period, gay or straight. While you focus on “words don’t kill”….I remind you about a video posted on HuffPo by a RP Drag Performer that directed our focus to this: “a hair dryer…that sounded like a firearm…that was pointed at a trans female….who suddenly had a red spot on his forehead…and fell down as if dead”. There could not possibly be a more somber game changer than that. Apparently hair dryers do kill…who was laughing?
*her forehead…
What is wrong with some people of the trans community? RuPaul never said the T word in a derogatory way. Did you even listen to the entire podcast? He said (his generation) was used to describe transvestites. Some of you are choosing a battle with the wrong people. And yes, there are some childish gay men that need to stop acting like teenage girls but there’s good out there. If anything, Ru has opened doors for many of the LGBT community and you should thank him for that. Why is there no mention of the T word used in the porn industry? Have you thought that may be one of the culprits behind transphobia? I sure see lots of porn when I google the T word.
Let me try to break it down for you in a way that is accessible:
What is wrong with some people of the gay community? I never said RuPaul used the T word in a derogatory way. Did you even read to the entire article? I said his generation used it to describe transvestites. Some of you are choosing a battle with the wrong people. And yes, I agree that there are some childish gay men that need to stop acting callous and even cruel, but I’ve never denied that there’s good out there. Ru has opened some doors for some of the LGBT community and I agree that he should be thanked for that. However, his mistake is pretending that when he promotes tranny and/or fag to the cisgender population, they experience these terms in the same benign way he does. When gay men promote a term the cis community uses to denigrate trans people to the cis community, the behavior cis people see being validated is the denigration of trans people. Ru makes the mistake of believing that the cis community is in on his inside joke. They aren’t and moreover, they won’t be.
You asked about the T word used in the porn industry. My last piece on tranny was an evidence-based review of the historical context of the term. You should read it and pay particular attention to the two questions at the end because the tension those questions focus on is precisely what this article is about.
Words I wish I could tattoo on every ****** forehead:
“…the behavior cis people see being validated is the denigration of trans people.”
There is a time to kiss ass, ;)….and a time to kick ass. We have been provoked toward the latter. It is humbling to see wisdom refuse the force of bigoted gravity, as exemplified by this comment, and many others.
With independence now at hand, I issue my 1st decree: Every able-bodied LGB brother and sister report to Dees-land first for census and second to the tattoo shop. 😉
*Dee-cree
But you called him a faggot anyway, because two wrongs always make a right.
Cue people saying ‘now you know how WE feel!’. Such progress! :-/
I think it was RuPaul who pointed the way to help our allies to “get stronger” is to use slurs against them. We’re just learning the lessons you’re teaching, both through RuPaul and through the silent complicity and even sometimes outright apologism of his fellow gay men, when he does this stuff to us.
Do you feel any stronger yet?
Tim sir, click portrait and rotate pic…to the right….hard to take comments seriously from a man lying down…..but while I am here, because of course I make but a rare 😉 appearance, the headline is actually an encapsulated quote…straight out of RPablo playbook…now could u please sit up so u can be taken more seriously? Tis hard to type when my laptop is not in landscape orientation…speaking of orientation…how are the cubs?
You are hypocrites call us faggots all you want. Sow hate and reap hate.
RuPaul has been sowing hate for some time now, one taste of the harvest and suddenly the mascara starts running.
SECTION II
ESCALATION & DECLARATION
Almost immediately following LOGO’s enforcement, a video, that can only be described as the epitome of public exhibition of trans hostility and aggression appears with an explicit message: “Fuck you, I will say what I want, and if you don’t like it, here take a bullet and die”. This is what we veterans call “an escalation of hostilities”, and this video set the tone and tempo for the conflict we are now in, making clear the aggressor and the defender, and who must come to the peace table, break bread, smoke an E-pipe and agree to cessation of hostilities. Words are one matter, but a simulated act of violence quite another. My take on the video? War had just been declared. The video so crossed the proverbial line that it too required enforcement by HuffPo, forced to be shelved. Most appalling? That it had made it past Gay Voices filtering and actually posted to HuffPo, with the world as audience is beyond reprehensible. If the Gay Voices gatekeeper fell asleep on post, then he is worthy of being neither gatekeeper nor Gay Voices Trans-mocker in Chief. Termites may have wiggle room, but this fact includes none. He must go. Perhaps there is a difference between trans-hostile videos and gay-hostile videos that require different thresholds, but again any difference defies my non-college-degreed ability to understand. Ultimately in due time, we the T will require independence from the LGB, costs included, and trans history will point to this video and a recalcitrant man as the pivotal moment where separation was no longer an option. In the meantime, we must endure the now-clear adversary who wears the name tag: “friend” and on the inside of the perimeter, so to speak of course.
OPPORTUNITY TO RECANT
Time moves on, often bringing with it a change of heart, repentance, a fresh look… or as I call it “peripheral and objective analysis”, where biases are set aside and empathy enters an otherwise resistant mind. Well, time is moving on, but RuPaul continues to tread water, even as it rises past his abdomen, metaphorically speaking. His latest interview makes crystal clear that not only has he not “learned” but remains quite the angry fellow, choosing to use expletives that serve absolutely no constructive purpose, except to underscore a trans-adversarial posture. He eludes due accountability, a common psychopathic trait, and essentially states it is we, the trans community with the problem…we who must get tough, who are wrong and oversensitive.
We are the “bitches”, a female-offensive word at that. Of course, RuPaul wouldn’t know this because after all bitches has only one meaning—an LGBT meaning, just like all the other terminology he feels entitled to use—publicly no less. We are after all, merely gay or formerly gay sissies engaged in the sport of female impersonation—male woosies that must grow a spine. Certainly, Murphy’s Law plays no role in embryonic development, and of course we all know that the notion that an embryo can possess opposite or conflicting male sexual organs was disproved long ago—intersex babies exist but in fables, of course . It is we, the trans community who are interfering with his legacy: the RPDR. We must know our place and protesting trans slurs apparently is not a proper or accepted role for trans persons. Perhaps, this is the exclusive duty and role of gatekeepers in HuffPo Gay Voices to perform.
WORDS KILL
Remember, we the trans community are not alone in dissent. We are joined by GLAAD, LOGO (who censored the RuPaul show), HuffPo (who “enforced” Gay Voices), and even many handsome gay men who “get it. We are well represented in the straight community as well—parents of trans children, real believers in Christ, and lovers of peace, and fellow crime fighters. They understand the pain of the word “faggot”, often levied against me and other trans persons, along with horrific trans slurs that replace newfound gender joy with the wounds of a childhood lost from gender angst . Words used in hate speech, against race, sexuality, or gender, are words that spew from the mouths of bullies. They are not 1st Amendment free-speech rights. They are used by murderers who have wielded a knife against trans females, repeatedly stabbing them until life has evaporated. They have been uttered by those who have placed a noose around black men. They have been said by those who have pointed a firearm and snuffed out transfemale lives. These are words that RuPaul, a gay black man, purportedly part of the LGBT is defending, and refusing to budge one millimeter. These are words with no room for compromise. These are words that feed a mindset that kills—gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans lives. Stop over-complicating an issue that has a simple solution.
And yes, the RPDR ship must set anchor, for sunset approaches……there is no room for Don Sterling to keep a basketball team, and no room for LOGO to keep a TV show, under the control of a now-proven delusional trans bigot. You know the rest…rabbits and termites might have wiggle room, but….
Si Senor….los conejitos y termitas tiened espacio, pero nuna hay espacio pard discriminacion y palabras que ultimatmente causan violencia. Todos seres humanos merecen su vida propia y sin tener que defenderse contra el odio.
I wrote the above to give strenthgh to my trans Latina sisters, who as I, disproportionately represent an American segment of the population who hae and continue to experience not imagined but real victimization (job loss 4 me), the costs of which exceed the ability to quantify.
Not unlike racial strife (not comparing race to gender) that produced real victims, what with real lives lost and economic opportunity costs that enriched their masters, we Latina trans hermanas/sisters and trans females as a whole have six-figure losses measured over time in the loss column. Again, “playing the victim” holds up only in the absence of real victims. This is far from the reality in the history of transgender persons, even in America, although thanks to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, trans equality is finally turning the corner. I work toward rendering “transgender” obsolete…gone for good. This will only happen when trans children grow up to be, not transgender, but the males or females they know themselves to be.
Espero que mis transgenera hermanas no se rajen, y siguan luchando. Que Dios las bendiga.
SECTION I
Another Dee-lightful lengthy commentary, so pull up a chair, pop some yellow teeth and munch. No seat belt required, but perhaps a squeeze ball.
There are 2 times when I write far too much: when excited or angry. This is a time for clarity, and clarity requires much more than “mere one-liners”, my apologies extended preemptively. This gay vs. trans “war” appears complicated but the solution is simple: slur words have no place on TV shows, or in public. If “you” can’t wrap your head around the reality that practically every word has one or more often completely different meanings, then “you” will remain befuddled by the entire framework of this conflict. I suggest you peruse the nearest dictionary to verify this as true.
SHADES OF GENDER
Within the trans “umbrella” exist various gender expressions, none of which is superior or inferior to the other, and with different real-world street-level consequences. The first is entertainment/performance. The second is private sexual fetish. The third is public freedom of opposite-gender expression. The fourth is public freedom of mixed-gender expression. The fifth is a complete sex/gender change, regardless of success. All five are beautiful and have their unique place. Facebook of course, disagrees and its 50+ gender derivatives serve to mock not empower the trans community, in a backhanded way of course. I first read about the RPDR controversy in a story about a TV segment comparing birth-sex females to drag queens. Having never performed or impersonated, growing up as a trans child without a remedy, I never in my wildest dreams imagined that a safe Drag show would one day be host to lethal trans terminology—lethal because such trans slurs are part of the lexicon of those who not-so-kindly voted in many trans lives into the TDOR.
ENFORCEMENT REQUIRED
The RPDR decided to juxtaposition a “real” female with a drag female impersonator. Problem: the show, exhibiting an extreme lack of judgment, opted for terminology that is without the slightest remote shadow of any human doubt, so very offensive to Tran’s females publicly that to argue that he was not aware of this will forever fall on my deaf ears. RuPaul’s continued recalcitrance, defiance, and unapologetic posture further confirms that I am indeed deaf. He was given a fair chance to “learn”, just like many other public personalities who did learn, and made adjustments. Not so with the RPDR, requiring that LOGO step in with enforcement, ensuring that the RPDR would not be host to trans slurs after all. Only later would it become clear that a trans victory had translated to a RuPaul defeat, at least from his perspective. How or why this is still defies my understanding, given that gay victories have also been won at the expense of bigoted defeats. Perhaps there is a difference with trans terminology that exceeds my limited comprehension. After all, I do not possess, and never will, a post-high school degree.
well done Christan! Well done! Funny how people scream “you’re being too sensitive” “Get over it”…. right up until you do that very thing to them. People are so unreasonable and hateful. Discrimination is fine as long as it’s not happening to “me” mentality. All those derogatory name are fine too , just not the ones directed at “me”. It’s a disgusting and disrespectful way of thinking! Or rather NOT thinking!
Thanks for your article , unfortunately the irony was lost on most.
Eve
Stop acting so victimized. Rupaul is joking and who are you to tell him to stop. Grow a sense of humor and learn to laugh. There’s war, famine, and disease in this world and you’re worried about words! Yes, you’re being too sensitive because it’s fucking words.
What an apologist! Ru doubles and triples down and when he loses the bet, his sycophants finally claim that he was just joking? The only joke I see here is you. Stop acting so brainwashed.
Don’t be offended. I’m only joking… you sheep. Please, little boy. Step away from the Kool-Aid.
Kidding!
Or not.
Ru said words have power when aimed at gays.
Or not… when he’s firing away at trans people.
But yeah.
Cristan, thank you for writing this article and enduring the resulting invective. Ironically, I originally though your title was a poor choice simply because it would prove to be such a distraction. While I fully supported the content of your post, I thought the title should have been worded differently.
I’ve since revised my feelings on the matter as I’ve watched this comment thread decay into such an inane sh*t show. Your words have catalyzed such a rampant display of cluelessness about cis privilege among cis people and trans people that I am simply stunned. It’s both discouraging and eye opening.
Keep up the provocative writing, Cristan. Although, I’m dreading the ignorance it will reveal among those who might otherwise be thought of as “community”.
Perhaps there’s a need for a series of cissexism 101 articles? People just aren’t getting it.
Dee is really trying to pimp her education skills over here and it’s really distracting.
Having no….well…some …but no college Dee-gree……I accept the compliment my dear…love back!
Dee-stracting? :p
Michelle Visage hosted the Hunty Games in Manchester UK yesterday/today and referred to herself as a biological woman because she has a vagina. She is not therefore excluding Trans women from this term. She is often thought of as male. Most of Manchester’s Queer and Trans communities were at the event. Ru Paul does not always get things right but the franchise is really bringing Trans debate to the LGBTQ communities and beyond. Don’t silence Ru Paul just make better programmes. Your life story for a starter. Never censor be creative …
Nobody is censoring him. Asking someone not to use a term on a public platform is not only not censoring, it is an exercise of free speech. You asking others not to make requests would have to be considered censorship if what people are doing is censorship.
I’m curious: after removing “you got she mail” from the show, was there a reduction in violence on transgendered individuals?
This is a great question. This article over analyzes the use of words that are used by drag queens and ignores the real issues, such as violence, poverty, and sexually transmitted diseases.
First of all, we are not “transgendered”, we are transgender people.
As far as an immediate effect of change in the safety and welfare of trans people, that is not the point… This is part of tearing down the cultural and societal stigma built up and reinforced over the ages. If gender variant gays cannot understand that, if they cannot be our allies, that is a pretty sick and perverted situation.
But a situation not unheard of. How many times does the victim of oppression become the oppressor? How many times does the one who suffers from discrimination turns around and discriminate against others?
Time to stop
Babs you’re blatantly full of bullshit. Gender variant gays are definitely still marginalized and aren’t your oppressor. You need to learn how to pick your battles because the gays are the closest to your group. Why don’t you tech gays what your issues are first rather than except us to know.
I love how all of your posts seem to insist that respectful language and social opportunity for trans people is an either/or proposition and have absolutely no correlation with each other. Really. Well done.
But in reality, words have been used to denigrate others for thousands of years, and such disrespect validates those who would take their hatred beyond words, as well as desensitizes everyone else to the struggles of other human beings.
I certainly will not waste my time and energy with any incomprehensible yahoo who ignores facts, serious intent and thinks that they know me. respect must be earned.
Babs sweetums, that works both ways. You keep insulting gay men and drag queens and don’t be so shocked and upset when they insult you back.
Normally I would say that two wrongs do not make a right, but this has been going much too long and RuPaul is doubling down on his overt disrespect for transgender people…. so therefore to label him with the F-word is entirely appropriate. Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire to put to put it out. Perhaps that is what it takes to get the message across! Keep the pressure on and kill his business brand, he should not profit from his transphobia!
Seriously!?!? His use of the word is NOT intended to discriminate!!!! Get the fuck over yourselves…This whole gay movement will implode… We are now fighting eachother and it’s ridiculous.
Contiguous existence by proxy does not always agape breed; five vertical phalanges dipped in a bowl of contempt, extended toward another doth not glisten with benevolence. To err to the extent of moral vertigo is experienced by all, yet empathetic elasticity even sans experience asks not for cognitive over-extension, but for discovery that both possessed a beating heart.
History records that many a parallel footpath ceased from seeking a competitive destination, turned, and intersected. Mind and heart became almost as one, begging not for sacrifice of free agency, and like glistening glory forgiveness abounded, producing profit for all.
History also records how parallel footpaths never ceased nor wavered, populated by bipeds blinded by forward vision, never cognizant of those in lateral proximity. At the culmination of the journey, with a destination shared by both, fate would have it that one would declare himself as King, and his followers royalty. Facing a perpetuity of involuntary servitude, and a vanquished state of affairs where oppression would be the alarm clock, and dignity vanished but for the ruling few, conflict stood up one day, and led the way to a bright new day….giving birth to the USA!
If the gay movement is dependent on disrespect of of trans people, let it implode.
Transphobia ? Really …?
You know, there comes a time when there is sufficient history to predict future events. Should a gay man be permitted to continue his onslaught and contempt, seemingly unabated, against an entire community? Should he be permitted to abuse his broadcasting privileges, demonstrating no remorse or personal ability to exercise restraint? Have we asked for too much by simply requesting that he back up and shut up? Are we wrong in stating, often brilliantly, that victimization of an entire group…yes slurs are victimizing…requires no adjustment from those at the receiving end of such public abuse, but from the perpetrator? Is he correct in saying, in essence, that he is above accountability for his actions…that we must own responsibility for his PDTH (Public Display of Trans Hostility)…or as he states “toughen up Bitches!”? Is RuPaul’s now-demonstrated trans recalcitrance symptomatic of the DSD (Donald Sterling Disorder), where plausible deniability so saturates his mind that objective peripheral analysis is impossible, so much so that it creates a delusion of innocence?
Is our system of American government structured such that race animus is held to account as enforceable via the NBA but trans animus is not? Are we asking too much in demanding that he cease and desist in mainstreaming the notion that there is only one type of female: those born female…a notion that reinforces rationalization for validating the “panic defense”? A defense that has tragically and historically been upheld within the justice system to establish that a trans life is not equivalent to human life? A defense that has allowed for trans murderers to elude criminal culpability? A defense that has imposed harsher penalties on animal abusers? Is our cause much greater than self, with a safe and equal future for trans children contingent upon our trans advocacy, passion, and above all courage to stand up to such deluded despots, gay or not?
I know that many of you share my tenet: “Life without courage is paralysis, and a life not lived.” I know that I am not alone in concluding that on the other side of this conflict is a madman, who lacks empathy symptomatic of psychosis, and believes that succe$$ constructs a barrier impenetrable from accountability. Aside from advocating for future trans generations, what drives my passion, is the presence of mind to know that I would be no less passionate in defense of my gay brethren, especially having no gender-based sexual restriction, although practically abstinent. Am I alone in understanding, by now, that to RuPaul we are all just a bunch of gay female-impersonating sissies? If so, how does this reconcile with the medical and legal wonderful corroborations that we so enjoy, despite the still-far-too-high costs of transition relative to equality in society?
***************************************************************
BREAKING NEWS: I, Dee, hereby publicly call for the cancellation of the RP Disaster Reality “show”. RuPaul’s latest salvo against the trans community follows having to be FORCED to discontinue transphobic segments of his “show”… a segment that was extremely damaging to trans females. A Huff You Tube video was FORCED to be removed, because it also was extremely damaging to trans females, serving to host a simulated trans execution, clearly designed as a “shot over the bow” toward the trans community.
Now, RuPaul’s latest interview, FAILS to demonstrate remorse or apology but more of the same: utter and appalling contempt toward trans females. There is no need to “play the victim” in the presence of real victims: the trans community, now publicly vilified for over 30 days, with no end in sight.
The RuPaul Disaster Reality “show” is now completely and utterly contaminated and now has a chronological record of unapologetically supporting transphobic slurs. The ability to broadcast is a privilege, never a right. I call on LOGO to immediately cancel this “enemy of the trans community” “show” because it is not host to LGBT inclusiveness, but to trans exclusiveness. This escalation of conflict between the Gay community and the trans community rests squarely on the shoulders of one man, and his bully pulpit. Based on abuse of broadcasting privileges, only one option remains: the RP Disaster Reality must go dark. As long as this TV disaster remains on the air, LOGO’s reputation as being LGBT friendly will remain in question, let there be no doubt.
As a veteran, courage is not part of me, it is who I am.
*Huff Post & You Tube video…
wow good job brutalizing that thesaurus.
Actually I’ve tested at College level English since the 9th grade….I have never, ever needed or used a thesaurus…so wow…I will accept the compliment….especially since I have never been convinced of the value of a college education…else I would have had one long ago…and I never will.
You’re too defensive and that is hurting the point you’re arguing. When anyone is too defensive it means their credibility should be questioned.
Never confuse a passionate synopsis for being overly defensive, especially when articulated by someone with 80 WPM typing ability (since 10th grade). Regarding my call for removal of a show directed by a recalcitrant male, with a trans-contemptuous history spanning years and accentuated by developments that have unfolded within the two months previous, yes I emphatically call for cancellation of his show. If Sterling is worthy of losing a basketball team for remarks made in private, RuPaul is beyond worthy of losing a show based on remarks made in public. Make no mistake, a rabbit may have wiggle room, but there is no wiggle in this room.
My goodness Dee honey, it’s a wonder you can type at all when you keep patting yourself on the back so much.
YOUR GENDER IS MALE
Ya, my back itches a lot….;) Actually, when no one around to pat it for you.. See, with all the disparagement going around….it is incumbent upon us to bolster credibility, else we will be written off as just another RPDR run-of-the-mill “tra**y”… and points will not be well taken…..
what a load of the biggest bollocks i have ever read.
you make me embarrassed for my fellow TS and publicly want to distance ourselves from whatever is attempting to go through your head.
also, the ability to broadcast is a right under the first amendment, not a privilege.
get over yourself; then come back to the TS community who doesn’t care over this matter.
“also, the ability to broadcast is a right under the first amendment, not a privilege.”
Oh, for Christ sake.
NO, It’s not a part of your first amendment rights to broadcast. Do some research.
The ONLY thing the first amendment guarantees is that you can speak out without government censorship. That’s ALL.
It DOESN’T guarantee you any kind of a platform to spout your free speech from. It doesn’t stop people from calling you out on it if they don’t like it. It doesn’t stop your employer from firing you from it (as shock jocks Kimberly and Beck recently found out).
RuPaul is an entertainment show. Not news. Freedom of the press does not fall into play here (again, like Kimberly and Beck found out). Freedom of the press also only covers that the government (not the press itself) can’t censor it.
You should try looking up the First Amendment sometime, Tim. It also protects the rights of people to peaceably assemble and petition. Something that were doing right NOW.
Hey where are all the people saying, “Oh, it’s just a word, get over it! It doesn’t bother me, it shouldn’t bother you! Words only affect you if you let them?” Seriously – any article on here about slurs thrown at transflok gets that response. I’m waiting to hear and see it here.
Its well past time to spit the so called TG umbrrella and take atleast part of it the hell out of the glbt. It time to find true alies and not those who just want to use us.
Except, of course, that the cishetero mainstream culture sees us as all the same, and there is a tremendous overlap between trans and non trans people. Not to mention that strictly speaking, loving or being attracted to someone of the same sex is opposite expectations based on the persons gender assigned at birth. Which if you think about it, makes being gay a specific subset of transgender*.
*the larger, non “TS” meaning of the word.
Why do you care what he is saying? This article is a waste of energy. There’s more serious issues to discuss and overcome than Rupaul’s comments. Our culture’s so sensitive to everything.
Wow. Minimizing, much?
Who cares. It’s only an issue if you make it. It’s just words that don’t change anything. Why be so defensive and hypersensitive and create a giant issue out of essentially nothing.
I’m not sensitive to it. I’m PR minded. With the mainstream being as uneducated at is it about trans people, we can’t have them using disrespectful terms to address us because a gay man said it was OK.
My gay, lesbian, and gender friends of all stripes, I beg of you to read the story, for I promise you that it is an al-legory.
Once, maybe twice upon a time, there was this place you see. Rumblings, murmurings could be heard—that it was there as a child that Dee would play.
Along the mother road many travel…to a place where time stands still. Amboy, they say it’s called—a ghost town and a highway..and oh so many the road did kill.
It is said that the ghost of a farmer lingers there, who made it home because it was so much warmer.
Bovine it is said he had….many a head, and to this day some say he said, while looking around..”mine…all mine”.
It is said he enjoyed skinny dipping, but never more than cow chipping. He would drop the cow chips below his trees, and watch them grow and grow and grow. Fertilizer, said others to him, who were much, much wiser. He looked around his farm in a happy mood, and declared that all was good.
Amboy is a desolate place, home to very a few face. The farmer had time to think…looked around and saw the dung. His marriage had begun to falter, some would say because of Walter. If my trees could grow and grow, perhaps my marriage new seeds it would sow. He found a wheelbarrow and soon enough in his living room there a bag soon hung.
His wife returned from work one day, and from her screams some still say, some mountains were seen to sway. She found the potato bag, empty except for all the dung. The farmer’s ghost is said to linger, for after that day no part of him was ever found, not even a finger.
One man’s fertilizer is another woman’s dung. Both saw the same thing but differently….both were right you see…although a different tune both indeed had sung. There is a time and place for many things…secrets, fetishes…sex…in private behind closed doors, even if such things the word abhors, such as John and Bill rather than John and Jill.
Not every conflict is about right and wrong, quite often it is about right, right that adds up to all that’s wrong. So if ever your sojourns take you to Amboy, there is the ghost of a farmer to this very day…whose legacy teaches us about all I had to say. A right thing here, and a right thing there….very often is a wrong thing over there.
*the world abhors,…
Don’t like the word ‘fa**ot?’ Don’t use the word ‘tra**y.’
What’s good for the goose…
Get it? This isn’t rocket science.
Yes! The loooooooooooooong and short of it……or as someone much, much wiser once said “treat others as you would like to be treated”, stated differently “love your neighbor as thyself.” Those who try to over analyze this are not wize but anal.
There are people that still think of the transgender community as fa**ots. Furthermore the gay community is not your enemy but if you cant to separate yourself then so be it. See how far you get without the rest of the LGBQ. I feel like the Trans community is creating waves with the wrong people, the very people that have always been their allies because face it, Trans people don’t even consider themselves apart of the LGBTQ
I get by just fine without the acronym people, but thank you. 😀
Of course the title and the fist sentence were a provocation. The purpose of that provocation isn’t difficult to understand.
The POINT is that it’s not okay to call Ru Paul f****t.
In many ways, I’m sitting on the side-lines of this fight, but in the last few months I’ve read many articles about the topic and interacted in their comments sections.
In one article, someone called Ru Paul a slur. Even when the WHOLE POINT of the article is that using slurs is not okay – many of the trans activists who read the title and first line are expressing opinions ranging from “understanding the point” to “not appreciating the tactics” all the way to rage, disappointment and withdrawal of support. This is happening on facebook and twitter and other places.
However, Ru Paul staunchly defends his use of slurs (not just one, but two – pretty much ALL slurs that are used exclusively for trans women in the English language) – and only a hand full of LGB folks took him to task. Many of the ones who did, did so sheepishly. Even trans drag performers standing up for themselves, did so apologetically.
The loud ones were talking about how transgender people should stop getting in the way, condescending that the reason trans rights have not progressed as far as gay rights is because trans activists aren’t as savvy as gay inc., complaining that they should shut-up in the name of “solidarity”, telling them to grow a thicker skin, calling them professional victims, threatening that “the mainstream” gay rights folks will no longer be “allies” if trans folks make a ruckus, etc so forth, ad nauseum.
I’ve heard many times, from those who have been involved in activists much longer than I have – who are invested in ways that I simply could never be – that a pattern has emerged where trans folks stand up for the rights and acceptance of gays and that this support is seldom reciprocated.
Seeing this dynamic – so starkly – has been a bit eye-opening. It’s not like it wasn’t expected, but seeing it unfold is different than entertaining a hypothetical.
The prevailing attitude about Ru Paul’s latest interview is that he said things that “needed to be said” to put trans folks back in their place.
Apparently, requesting that celebrities avoid transphobic slurs, especially on national television, is just too much to ask.
Sorry – but that’s a pretty damn low bar and, in a perfect world, Ru Paul would understand that the “problem” isn’t a “fringe” of malcontents, but his own dismissive, paternalistic and myopic attitude.
He has an army of people, ready to raise hell if anyone dare (even as a rhetorical device) associate his name with a slur. Yet, what does he do? How does he act?
Wow…what a lucid and accurate depiction of this “declared war”. I say declared because there have now been three salvos directed against us and every attempt to fight back only begets more angry attacks (as reflected by RuPauls constant expletives and trans contempt).
The reality is that we who are trans can never be “straight”…we are gay, lesbian or bi in one respect or another. We can never truly oppose the LGB community without opposing ourselves, sexually speaking. The other reality is that such trans reciprocation is never part of an LGB experience, being that a sex/gender transition is never a shared objective, unlike our shared sexual objectives. This is why without so much as blinking many LGB find it almost instinctive to be as fervent an adversary as man in the straight community.
Another assessment I made is that perhaps the fact that many trans persons have a shared gay history makes it easy for the gay community to see us as gays run amok. The reality is that many of us, self included, never had or have a gay history. We grew up with gender angst long before our sexuality was worked out and transitioned while “straight”. This is so very true even more so as trans children today transition before working out their sexuality as well.
I give up on trying to talk to a homophobic writer who calls people out but removes the chance to respond to said comments. Good luck on your non issue.
I’m not sure what you’re talking about. Removed you ability to respond? Have you not done exactly that?
To paraphrase RuPaul, “faggots need to get stronger.”
Sauce for the goose, sauce for the gander who dresses up like a goose on TV for money.
Faggots DO need to get stronger.
But she was dressing up like a goose in shitty neighborhoods in Atlanta to crack open the gender-prison long before she was getting rich on TV.
Ffs! I don’t think RuPaul meant to cause any offence, but he did and should apologise, instead he’s said to get over it. The T word is similar to the N word, and can be a slur or a word used within the community its referred to, but it really shouldn’t be used the way it was on RuPauls show. If that had been the N word, then this would be seen as a lot more cut and dried by a lot more people.
Curious, did you read the FAQs? Maybe you missed:
NEW! Criticism: If you really wanted people to understand why you used that term you wouldn’t have hidden half the article in a fold-down box!
Answer: When cis media presents tranny in the title of their media trans people are expected to make an effort and to go the extra mile to be accommodating. If the trans person wishes to be deemed reasonable, they must try to see the term in a different light (usually the cis person’s light). Valid criticism must be predicated upon an acknowledgement of a cis narrative; a trans person can’t simply assert that the presentation of tranny in the title of a story is problematic without being challenged. For example, even before the movie came out, trans people were told that they were wrong for not being happy with the movie, Ticked off Trannies with Knives. Trans people were told that because they’d not even seen the movie, they could not hold and informed opinion about Trannies.
By constructing the article in this way, it forces the observer to go the extra mile to be accommodating. Even though it’s just a simple click, should the observer wishes to be deemed reasonable, they must click a button to read the rest of the article. Many would probably agree that a valid criticism can’t be predicated on having read only half of this article. Constructing the article like this was the only way I could think of to, in some way, represent the system of privilege encountered by trans people in most cis media.
To be clear, this expectation of accommodation of cis people by trans people is part of the tension this article examines.
Your intent was to draw people in by calling him what you did. Brava for you, but this entire argument is about a few thought policing others. Guess what now you’ll be known as that homophobic trans blogger who used f*ggot to get attention. Cheers!
That’s a strawman argument. I was very clear about what my intention was. Here it is again: My purposeful use of faggot with regard to RuPaul is meant to draw attention to the tension that can exist between in-group and out-group meanings.
You kind of sound like someone who only read half the article because this issue is covered. Please read the other half.
Erm, I think my comment was agreeing with you that RuPaul was in the wrong, yet you seem to be attacking me for it, wtf?
I’m really sick of the thought policing. This article is about weaponizing PC politics.
You sound like a Fox News person.
You sound like someone who read only half the article.
I rest my case.
You are only speaking for a portion of the Trans community.
I guess you can yourself a pioneer of a lot of things. You cAn also call yourself a pioneer of bullshit.
Why don’t you draw more attention to undocumented Trans murders. Find a way to help Trans immigrants seek asylum and better lives. Finding ways to
Keep your Trans sisters who are sex workers safe from johns who infect them with HIV. Find ways to bridge the community.
Please pioneer that. Pioneer community building amongst Trans, their allies and advocates, instead of bifurcating issues and turning this into some witchhunt on the world.
Your computer in your desk in your house is not the world darling.
As a transgender woman You don’t speak for me.. You only speak for yourself. Get over yourself.
You’ve presented a false dilemma: if I write these articles, I therefore cannot be doing other things.
To be clear, I opened the first trans clinic for positive trans women in Texas, and pioneered several prevention programs for the at-risk trans population. I also fought for ADAP to cover trans medications. How many immigrants have you walked through the (very long) process of becoming a citizen? How many undocumented immigrants have you helped get asylum? How many homeless programs have you set up? How many trans murder cases have you assisted the police with? I could go on, but maybe you get the point. I’m probably the last person you want to come at with baseless accusations of not doing enough because you’d be hard pressed to find someone who’s done more.
I get that you’re unhappy with the article. I get that you want to make it personal. I also get that you sound as if you’ve based your outrage on exactly half of this story. You might want to read the other half.
This is by far the stupidest, most insensitive and most hateful thing I’ve read about this whole issue.
Check your white Privelege.
Your piece like you is very ugly.
Take more hormones, cause you’re looking very rough.
xoxo
Yes, wars get ugly, just as this comment…..full of vitriol, but lacking in substance….so what was in the spoon tasted rather bitter mind you?
Hyperbole. I suppose TA Editor, Monica Roberts needs to check her white privilege too?
Yo escribo y hablo Espanol….es mi primer lenguaje. I write & speak Spanish….in fact it was my first language….but speaking of privilege…isn’t Gay, Inc saturated by those of like privileges? {BTW…ur profile pic is so adorable…tough & yet pretty…turns me into jelly}
Wow. Did you just go there? Straight to an ad homonym attack on Cristan’s appearance?
Sensitive much? You really should read the discussion, it might give you an idea of how words have the power to harm.
Why do you hate white people so much? Because she is white she can’t have an opinion? You are racist.
And lets see a picture of your ass before you talk about someone else. Sounds like you got some self confidence issues yourself going on there. Especially with your own race.
OK…my other comments aren’t making it through the filtering: so let me tone it down: RuPaul has declared war on the non-drag trans community. Cristan, Parker Malloy, and I receive his message loud and clear, courtesy of the fa**ot RuPaul. He set the terms and so the goose and the gander must now compare privates.
What Cristan has done so well, a female after my own heart, is draw the line on the sand. Fa**ots on one side…trans females on the other….not because she says so but because RuPaul has said so. This is war…and war is not pretty. Rupaul didn’t hold back, and now neither will we. This isn’t about dropping to someones level…it is about fighting back against a fa**ot…who is unrepentant with his trans animus….his oral flatulence knows no bounds.
ADDED: many of you already have and will miss this point: this isn’t about homo or trans phobia. LGB & T is not an oxymoron, sexually speaking. It is an oxymoron however, in regards to gender objectives.
The point is: since RuPaul fails dismally to get the point that some words like “Tra**y” and “she-m*le” are so vitriolic outside of LGBT circles, the only option remaining, with dialogue having failed despite eloquently debated, is by turning back the clock and re-introducing terminology that has a horrific history within gay circles. This is precisely what Cristan has done. Although this too will fail in garnering empathy from RuPaul, sometimes a history lesson must taught.
From the mouths of gay bashers came this “F*** YOU FA**ot!” often accompanied by violence. From the mouths of trans bashers to this day comes this “F*** YOU TRA**y!, also accompanied by violence. Gay lives and trans lives have been lost from such vitriol. If you miss this point, I extend my fullest trans sympathies.
Thank you for speaking up on this, Dee. I really appreciate your voice here.
This is a brilliant and thoughtful article. I appreciate how the author incorporates controversial language into the descriptions as a means to trigger the readers to actually feel the tension, instead of just reading about it. I wouldn’t be surprised if this article sparks many important and necessary conversations.
I really appreciate that. Thank you!
Thank you Cristan! Sometimes the only tool left in the toolbox is the one labeled “appeal to emotion”. Faced with RuPaul’s etched-in-stone for-all-time trans animus, we have run out of options but to return the RX back for a taste test. While he continues to tell us that what is in the spoon tastes sweet as cane sugar, what you have done so brilliantly is said “No. Here, taste it for yourself”. Of course, many will miss the point, but many of us have concluded that it is a point long overdue.
Now, with RuPaul’s latest affirmation of trans animus, we know that he truly cared less about our feelings even as he sketched out his plans for a bit called “female” or “shem*le”. There is no turning back….RuPaul today, affirmed that not only has he drawn a line in the sand, but he has built a brick wall with faggots on one side, and trans females on the other.
The author needs to check her white privelage. Why is it when a PoC makes a statement about they feel, the white privelaged come out and attack them? Who are you to deny him a PoC transvestite the right to not call himself what he wants?
I’ve not once asserted that people should not use this term; what I have done is both document and point to the tension these terms inspire when in-groups assume that their meanings will translate to the wider community. The reality is that whatever meaning your in-group gives to these terms, when you speak to the wider community, you might not want to make the mistake of assuming that the rest of the world knows, accepts or understands the explicitly niche definition your in-group has assigned to that term.
Uh…pardon me, but where have you been dear? This entire declaration of war from RuPaul isn’t about denying him the right to call himself {choose 1 or more of a trillion names} at all, despite many falsely claiming that that is the reason for opposing him.
This is however, denying him the right to publicize, PUBLICLY on TV, words commonly used as trans slurs outside of LGB circles. Calling us whatever privately is one thing; calling us whatever publicly is an entirely different matter.
RuPaul has not declared a war on you or anybody. This was started by a fellow blogger who used unkind words about RuPaul. Nvm that’s been white privileged trans activists who started it begin with. RuPaul said what he felt about a word that he has rights to use as a transvestite. I’m sorry to tell you but you aren’t the only “trans” people out there. But go on thinking its a war, but before I leave you should check your victimhood.
Hyperbole. TA Editor, Monica Roberts has been all over this for years.
Strike once, and it might be unintentional. Strike twice (video) and it is probably intentional. Strike thrice (latest trans animus affirmation) and yes, your declaration of war is self-evident, replacing opinion with undeniable fact. Declaration of wars aren’t always declared, but affirmed, precisely what RuPaul has done. If the fellow blogger you refer to is Parker Malloy, then you are not chronologically savvy about the entire conflict started by a black, gay, transvestite, non transgender female impersonator when he abused his broadcasting privileges by attempting to mainstream trans phobic slurs.
Defending the unabashed, shameless (redundancy 4 effect), use of words known to be part of hate speech lexicon is never a right, except in the minds of those who have lost empathy and objective peripheral understanding and supplanted it with the intoxication of succe$$. Victim-hood, absent perpetrated acts is a symptom of delusion. Victim-hood, preceded by perpetrated acts, such as trans bullying (yes slurs are bullying), created by real-world perpetrators, makes victimizing self-evident.
If all the above is but a blur, remember that trans-demonizing speech is truly a slur.
Hold on a second…
White privilege? What kind of knee jerk ad hominem is that? Where does race have ANYTHING to do with this?
If any privilege is being abused, it is cisgender privilege and that is part of what the author is alluding to (among many others.)
Trans people, white and POC alike have come out against this language and Ru’s use of it, including former contestants Carmen Carrera, Monica Beverly Hillz, and other prominent POC’s such as Janet Mock Ce Ce McDonald and Fallon Fox.
Don’t insert race politics where they don’t belong. There are MORE than enough places dropping a “check your white privilege” can be used. This is not one of them. All it does here is tickle the “white guilt” button to try and silence someone who is making an unrelated and valid point.
And while we are at it, the term “transvestite” is rather pathologizing and antiquated, so unless you are calling Rupaul someone who is “suffering from a DSM recognized paraphilia, you may want to get the terminology correct.
Cadence: *drops the mic*
And boom goes the dynamite. 🙂 Well said indeed Cadence.
Interesting. Since you brought up race, wouldn’t a professional drag queen defending his use of the terms “tr***y” and “sh**ale” be similar to Al Jolson, famous blackface minstrel show performer, defending his use of the term “pickani**y?” Because tradition?
So, I would encourage folks to actually read the article AND the FAQs before strawmanning the hell out of me.
Thank you, that is all.
WHOAHWHOAHWHOAHWHOAHWHOAH NOT COOL, not cool at all. I do not care if RuPaul used the slurs first this is never justified. That word is as bad as the t word and has been the last word many of us transfolks heard too. Please retract or apologise for this vile piece.
From the FAQs right up there in the article:
Criticism: While I agree with your point, you didn’t need to use faggot.
Answer: I’ve noticed that most articles about the use of tranny are about definitions, freedom of speech issues, historical usages, etc. This is not what my article is about. I state, “My purposeful use of faggot with regard to RuPaul is meant to draw attention to the tension that can exist between in-group and out-group meanings.” The point of this article is the tension between in-group and out-group meanings. To drive my point home, the tension needed to be a palpable specter haunting each sentence.
Cristan will be obligated to retract and apologize for this “vile” piece under the same terms RuPaul has set: as in never.
One of the reasons trans women are being constantly bashed by the straights over our use of bathrooms is that closeted gay men still, to this day, use public toilets for hooking up and having sex with other gay men. Trans women didn’t sexualize the only place where a human can legally take a dump or a whiz, gay men did that.
So the gay male community’s obvious open contempt for trans women, and the way that they act embarrassed by non-masculine MAAB people, is entirely ironic, since it is the gay men who have long been the “shanda fur die goyim” in the LGBT community. They’re the ones who wouldn’t let the straights take a dump in peace, not us.
Transadvocate refers to RuPaul as a “faggot” to prove this misguided point and then we see the real homophobia come out of the woodwork in the comments section.
Oh PLEASE piss off,pointing out the inherent homophobia of closeted self-hating bathroom cruisers is not itself homophobia, and pointing out the femmephobia in the gay male community isn’t either. Intersectionality, you jackass, look it up.
I’ve been called “faggot” more times than you’ve been called your own name, most likely, and my first consensual sexual act was as gay as they come, so I have nothing but contempt for you and your accusations.
From the FAQs right above this comment section:
Criticism: You’re just being childish. This is all about saying, “see how you like it!”
Answer: Again, I’m very clear about what my purpose is. If you notice, the tension is created at the very beginning of the article and is, at that point, entirely left alone. My last article on tranny was an evidence-based review of the term’s history. That article ends with the following:
I am talking about the very tension on display in this article.
If you choose to believe that all I’ve done in this article is to name-call for the purpose of getting away with it in the way that RuPaul does, then at this point there’s probably nothing I can say or do to change your mind. I will say that the instinct to find insult embedded with the use of terms like faggot/tranny beautifully illustrates the reality of the word’s dominate context, regardless of what context smaller in-groups claim.
I don’t think so. I think the reason why cis people freak out over trans women in public restrooms is because they think we’re really men and consequently, they associate the aggressive sexuality and sexual assaults manifested by some cis het men with trans women and assume that we will behave accordingly. That, and the half-assed excuse that cis male rapists will start donning female attire and sneek into women’s restrooms.
I’ve not once heard a phobic cis person mention gay male cruising of men’s rooms as a justification for keeping trans women out of women’s rooms.
That first paragraph was supposed to be quoted. Oops.
The men’s room, not the ladies’ room. Even if trans women use the men’s room, we’re entirely unsafe in there because straight men assume that queer people use bathrooms in order to try to have sex with men, and they assume we’re in there to hit on them, and they flip out on sight.
I’m not buying it.
Trans women are bashed both inside restrooms and in the larger world. The primary reason is because we violate gender expectations for people who are assigned male at birth (which ironically, is also root cause of people’s objection to same sex relationships).
If you could somehow rid the world of all sexual activity that takes place in public restrooms, people will still continue to bash transwomen, regardless of what restroom they choose, just as they will continue to bash us outside the restroom, regardless of the environment.
Furthermore, butch and genderqueer women have to put up with plenty of bullshit when trying to use the women’s room and that has nothing to do with gay men in men’s rooms. Again, the root cause is social expectations surrounding gender conformity.
Whether you deign to “buy it” or not, it’s a fact that straight men have long felt their heterosexual integrity under siege in public bathrooms because of the inappropriate use of public facilities for evacuating bodily wastes by people using these bathrooms to have sleazy sex in them. Google the term “glory hole” if you think I’m off base.
What that does is to take the possibility of non op and pre op trans women from safely using the men’s room facilities to evacuate bodily wastes right off the table. Such places are “no go” areas for anyone who looks even slightly like they might be “queer,” because of a long history of straight men being harassed in such facilities.
And it ain’t trans people who have sexually harassed straight people in bathrooms, but it sure is trans people (especially trans women, and especially trans women of color) who constantly pay the price for that past harassment with suspicion of illicit sexual intent when using any bathroom facilities whatsoever.
Given that this entire comment thread is turning into such an awful sh*t show, I feel the need to make my position clear: I suspect you and I are on the same side in this discussion. I think RuPaul has managed to display what a privileged jerk he is through his attitudes and his language. (I even wrote a long comment challenging people’s upset over Christan’s language usage, but WordPress’ comment filters repeatedly ate it.)
Sadly, there are far too many clueless people, trans and cis alike, who are willing to hop onto the “stop hurting RuPaul bandwagon”. I didn’t think your original comment was very helpful, as it misplaced blame and potentially provided yet another avenue for the RuPaulites to whine over how the poor cis man has been abused by a bunch of mean ol’ trans people.
But, as this comment thread continues to descend into the pits of inane stupidity, I can see that the impact of your original comment is largely irrelevant at this point. The levels of cluelessness and pearl clutching on display by RuPaul’s defenders are of epic proportions. What a sad, shameful mess.
I think it’s pretty much impossible for me to drag the discussion down when it contains such gems as “you’re ugly” and “check your white privilege” as responses to a complaint about someone using transphobic slurs on TV. No pun intended by the term “drag down,” by the way, of course.
“If I am modeling anything” – “why that term was used”.
You don’t think this is exactly what RuPaul was saying? And you don’t find anything problematic or wrong with using the word and attempting to say what it means when you yourself are not part of the in-group it has been used to attack?
I’m gay and cisgender. You have no moral right to use that term, regardless of the kind of point you’re trying to prove. I accept your anger and it is valid. Gay cis men need to be woken up to the violence our community does to trans* folks. But this is not the way, and it only does harm where harm need not be done. Please retract this article or at least apologize for the use of the term – regardless of how effective or “tense” it made the article.
Thank you Brendan! 🙂
From the FAQs above (please read them):
Criticism: You’re just modeling the same behavior RuPaul is! You’re both gross!
Answer: Again, I totally understand the instinct for outrage. However, this is equivocation. RuPaul frequently privileges the use of tranny over the pain caused from his callous use as a point of personal privilege. I, on the other had, can’t recall the last time I’ve used faggot outside this very specific story for a very exacting purpose: illustrating the tension inspired by the casual use of terms people use while they murder us.
Criticism: How about a trigger warning?!?
Answer: I struggled with this. As someone who’s had these terms used against me while experiencing violence, they have a very tangible flavor and immediately bring up memories that aren’t happy. At the same time, I couldn’t think of a way to bias the reader before they even read the piece without employing this rhetoric. For the tension I am bringing front and center to only then contextualize, I felt that this was the only way to go about it. Without following the same narrative trajectory the media uses with reporting on tranny, I would not have been able to recreate the experience many trans people face each and every time tranny is used in the media.
When tranny is front and center before we even get into the story, video, movie, interview, etc, that trigger has already been pulled. Trans people are then expected to deal with it and contextualize the use in a way that is removed from hate. Recreating this experience for the cis – and especially for the cis gay community – was central to driving my point home.
I don’t believe this could have been accomplished without copying the way much of the cis media handles tranny.
“you have no moral right to use this term”
Precisely what we have been telling RuPaul….go tell him…he set the terms…
I feel the same as inuko. The choice of headline and first sentence may be counter productive to the intention. This is an easily remedied edit, would be a positive move for the thrust of the article, and may end up appealing to more readers.
From the FAQs right up there. Please read them…
Criticism: While I agree with your point, you didn’t need to use faggot.
Answer: I’ve noticed that most articles about the use of tranny are about definitions, freedom of speech issues, historical usages, etc. This is not what my article is about. I state, “My purposeful use of faggot with regard to RuPaul is meant to draw attention to the tension that can exist between in-group and out-group meanings.” The point of this article is the tension between in-group and out-group meanings. To drive my point home, the tension needed to be a palpable specter haunting each sentence.
Criticism: You’re just being childish. This is all about saying, “see how you like it!”
Answer: Again, I’m very clear about what my purpose is. If you notice, the tension is created at the very beginning of the article and is, at that point, entirely left alone. My last article on tranny was an evidence-based review of the term’s history. That article ends with the following:
I am talking about the very tension on display in this article.
If you choose to believe that all I’ve done in this article is to name-call for the purpose of getting away with it in the way that RuPaul does, then at this point there’s probably nothing I can say or do to change your mind. I will say that the instinct to find insult embedded with the use of terms like faggot/tranny beautifully illustrates the reality of the word’s dominate context, regardless of what context smaller in-groups claim.
Criticism: How about a trigger warning?!?
Answer: I struggled with this. As someone who’s had these terms used against me while experiencing violence, they have a very tangible flavor and immediately bring up memories that aren’t happy. At the same time, I couldn’t think of a way to bias the reader before they even read the piece without employing this rhetoric. For the tension I am bringing front and center to only then contextualize, I felt that this was the only way to go about it. Without following the same narrative trajectory the media uses with reporting on tranny, I would not have been able to recreate the experience many trans people face each and every time tranny is used in the media.
When tranny is front and center before we even get into the story, video, movie, interview, etc, that trigger has already been pulled. Trans people are then expected to deal with it and contextualize the use in a way that is removed from hate. Recreating this experience for the cis – and especially for the cis gay community – was central to driving my point home.
I don’t believe this could have been accomplished without copying the way much of the cis media handles tranny.
Criticism: You’re just modeling the same behavior RuPaul is! You’re both gross!
Answer: Again, I totally understand the instinct for outrage. However, this is equivocation. RuPaul frequently privileges the use of tranny over the pain caused from his callous use as a point of personal privilege. I, on the other had, can’t recall the last time I’ve used faggot outside this very specific story for a very exacting purpose: illustrating the tension inspired by the casual use of terms people use while they murder us.
I don’t watch rupauls show, but I did gear this particular rupaul interview..
I find this article gross as rupauls interview is taken completely out of context.
I believe there is mutual love & respect between the gay & transgender communities.
Well you’re wrong. The Transgender community is alienated constantly by the LGB community.
There is no respect. It’s only LGBT until the T part has an issue.
That’s not true at all, sorry. I’ve had half a dozen gay guys tell me that they want to oust trans people from the queer spectrum over the past few months, and (as you can see from my comments) I am one of the ‘nice’ ones.
I listened to the interview too. RuPaul’s words were offensive and he should absolutely know better.
(please note: my use of the term ‘nice’ here is meant in sarcasm. I don’t think that my angry brothers and sisters should modify their tone, and my concerns about this article are not meant to imply that we should all make nice and get along.)
I understand what this headline is conveying and I agree with the points highlighting the hypocrisy in RuPaul’s rhetoric, but still: not cool. Please don’t fight slurs by using them for linkbait. 🙁
I would say that your assertion that my use of faggot is clickbait is a strawman argument. I’m very clear about why that term was used.
However, I would cite your instinct to find fault with its use supportive of my thesis. Thank you for your comment. I really appreciate it especially considering the context of this article.
I agree with your thesis. I agree with every single part of this article except the headline and the first two words. You don’t have to model offensive behavior to prove a point because you prove the point within the article already.
The only purpose I can think of to model that offensive behavior is to evoke a strong emotional reaction, which is the same thing clickbait does; my conclusion was logical. I want to be able to link people to this article. Right now, I can’t.
[You don’t have to model offensive behavior to prove a point because you prove the point within the article already.]
Again, this is a strawman: [My purposeful use of faggot with regard to RuPaul is meant to draw attention to the tension that can exist between in-group and out-group meanings.] If I am modeling anything, I’m modeling the tension casual usage inspires.
I disagree that this article sans the tension would have been as effective. My entire topic is the tension itself. How better to illustrate my point about that tension than to present it as the palpable centerpiece of the article?
How is it a strawman to say that you are modeling offensive behavior to elicit an emotional reaction? You don’t even try to say.
You say that you are modeling ‘tension’ (emotional reaction) created by casual usage of slurs (offensive material). That is basically a rewording of what I said, but you call my summary a strawman as though that addresses my objections.
It doesn’t. It’s argument from fallacy and it reads as avoidant. If you don’t want to engage me, that’s fine, but it’s discouraging. I’m not the only person who wishes they could spread your well-made points without a headline that has slurs by an outgroup member in it.
Erm, you do realize people use the f-word while murdering trans people, particularly AMABs who are interested in men, right?