Tag: transphobia

Tag: transphobia

Transphobia & Narcissistic Stupefaction

January 30, 2025 ·

Listen to the article, Narcissistic Stupefaction. Until now, I've struggled to name the psychosocial process undergirding the movement that is MAGA. However, I think I've found a term that succinctly identifies the problem: Narcissistic Stupefaction. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a pastor killed by Nazis in a concentration camp, noted that fascists were, in the dictionary definition of the term, stupid saying: Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One may protest against evil; it can be exposed and,… Read more.

Gender-Critical Policy Causes Brain Damage in Trans Youth

May 6, 2024 ·

Interventions designed to prevent, halt, or reverse non-cisgender experiences are known as conversion therapy. The scientific consensus is that these practices are “pseudoscientific,” and experts on torture have identified these pseudoscientific practices as “torture.” As such, these interventions represent Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), which are scientifically demonstrated to cause brain damage, life-long disabilities, and significantly shortened lifespans. In short, severe emotional abuse is torture; conversion interventions are severe emotional abuse, interventions designed to prevent, halt, or reverse non-cisgender experiences are… Read more.

Debunking the Dialectic of Design and Dimorphism

January 23, 2024 ·

In this article, I will debunk the five arguments fascists currently use to target transgender people. All fascist movements are predicated upon the myth of categorical purity. Because the material reality of individual humans is not one defined by discrete category, fascism always seeks to conflate people with words and category. It is for this reason that fascism is incompatible with human flourishing. Read more.

Proof: The Facts of Life vs the Cisgender Debate

November 3, 2021 ·

Dave Chappelle’s cisgender enablers repeatedly assert that anti-trans “jokes” are "just jokes" and not an essential aspect of the dehumanization process. So, let us put cisgender media’s claim to the test. The pushback against supporting the dehumanization of trans people began with a trans employee for Netflix writing, “I work at @Netflix. Yesterday we launched another Chappelle special where he attacks the trans community, and the very validity of transness – all while trying to pit us against other marginalized… Read more.

JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, announces that she is a TERF

December 20, 2019 ·

JK Rowling has long hinted that she sympathized with sex essentialist so-called "radical feminist" idea that nobody's phenotype is transitioned when trans people medically transition, and thus, trans women are males and trans men are females. However, Rowling has now openly announced her public support of TERF ideology: The backstory for this seemingly innocuous tweet is that a TERF activist, Maya Forstater sued to be given the special right of consequence-free speech. Such suits are a relatively new frontier of… Read more.

Phalloplasty

October 24, 2019 ·

The topic engenders polarized debate within the transgender community. Nowhere more than on internet support groups where, in the same thread, you will see some regard it as lifesaving and others as “frankendicks” that lack sensation and are “never good enough.” This body shaming would be unacceptable in any other context, yet it is routine with phalloplasty. There are several possible reasons for this. The scarcity of surgeons and funds to pay for surgery can cause some to decry these… Read more.

Sorry haters, Americans increasingly support trans people

June 13, 2019 ·

Amid rollbacks of federal protections for transgender individuals, a new survey finds Americans have grown increasingly more supportive of rights for transgender people. Sixty-two percent of Americans say they have become more supportive of rights for transgender people over the last five years, compared to just 25% who say they have grown more opposed. Despite the Trump Administration’s ban on transgender personnel joining or enlisting in the military not in their assigned gender at birth, the survey finds more than… Read more.

Bathroom bill makes BETO break promise to not swear 🤬

April 23, 2019 ·

Known for dropping F-bombs during live TV events, Beto made a promise to stop cursing in public speeches. However, he broke that promise when the topic of bigoted anti-trans laws came up at a recent town hall held in Alexandria, Virginia. Expressing outrage over Republican-led anti-LGBTQI bills, Beto exclaimed, “In Texas, we just evaded a transgender bathroom bill! Seriously! After all the shit – sorry, the STUFF that’s happened!” At that point, the presidential candidate realized he’d just cursed, and… Read more.

Unethical Trans Doc Exposed 

March 5, 2019 ·

It’s hard to say exactly when Dr. Christopher Salgado, board certified and celebrated genital reconstruction surgeon, started to post questionable things on his Instagram account (@sexsurgeon). The account was taken down after the first complaints and deleted shortly thereafter, but he may have started as early as October 2018. During this time Dr. Salgado posted multiple pictures of himself in surgery, including one for Valentine’s Day in which he posed the patient’s dissected penis into the shape of a heart… Read more.

Transition causes strokes! Or you know, not.

February 20, 2019 ·

The newest claim making the sex essentialist activist rounds is that transition will probably cause you to have a stroke or heart attack. TERFs and other sex essentialist activists, from the political right to the skeptic-bro left, point to a new trans study from the Netherlands: The forthcoming study to be published in March 2019 said that trans women and men may be at higher risk for cardiovascular events and that, "oth physicians and transgender individuals should be aware of… Read more.

TERF suing Twitter for special right to harass trans women

February 14, 2019 ·

Meghan Murphy, a Canadian TERF, is suing Twitter for the special right to harass trans women on Twitter. Murphy is represented by Republican operative and past editor of the Heritage Foundation's Policy Review magazine, Harmeet K Dhillon. Joining Murphy's suit is Noah Peters, attorney for a White supremacist who previously sued Twitter for not hosting his racist tweets. The TERF lawsuit seeks to have Twitter, “cease and desist from enforcing its unannounced and viewpoint discriminatory ‘misgendering’ rule” and stop “enforcing its 'Hateful Conduct Policy' arbitrarily and in… Read more.

Liberty Counsel demands anti-lynching protections be stripped from trans people

January 10, 2019 ·

Speaking to an evangelical news outlet, Mat Staver, president of the multi-million dollar hate group, the Liberty Counsel, said that transgender people shouldn't enjoy the "special right" not to be lynched under a Senate bill that makes lynching people a federal crime. Specifically, Staver is offended that lynching, "involving actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability" would be criminalized. See page 7 of the document below: [su_document url="https://www.transadvocate.com/wp-content/uploads/BILLS-115s3178es.pdf"] Staver seemed to claim that… Read more.

Drag Queen Evangelical Pegging Christmas Extravaganza!

December 24, 2018 ·

Today we consider a recent article wherein Dr. Kelsy Burke tells us that, “Evangelicals love pegging!” Also, we cover the hysteria at Houston's City Hall over Drag Queen Story Time and talk about how social media crackdowns may affect our community. The TA Podcast is an intergenerational show featuring a trans Baby Boomer, Gen Xer, and Millennial that considers the issues affecting the lives of trans and intersex people. Subscribe to the TransAdvocate Podcasts and Audio Essays here:… Read more.

Actual medical group supports trans kids while media seems to only listen to fake medical groups

September 17, 2018 ·

By Cristan Williams Today, the actual medical group, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released several pieces of evidence-based guidance to support the care and protection of transgender youth. This included a detailed press release, user-friendly info kit, and a citable evidence-based review of the best practices for trans care for youth. A google news search returns one website that's covering AAP's important news while dozens of sites covered a… Read more.

Texas GOP’s Trans Panic: Beto & Sri

September 9, 2018 ·

While the GOP in Texas has recently made it clear that they intend to persist in promoting the various lies that support transphobic "bathroom bills," they've taken their anti-trans hysteria further by claiming that various cisgender Democrats running for office are perhaps transgender. Perhaps most well known is the specularly failed attempt to make a photo of Beto wearing a 90s-era grunge dress while in his punk band Foss a political issue. Self-described "deplorable" and "Tea Party Original" GOP candidate for Texas… Read more.

WPATH responds to Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD)

September 6, 2018 ·

The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), the decades-old organization that issues the international standards for medical and psychological care for trans people, responded to the media hype over a "study" that purports to have discovered a new pathology it calls "Rapid-Onset Gender Dysphoria" (ROGD), saying ROGD, "is distinct from the gender dysphoria observed in individuals who have previously been described as transgender." The "study" (such as it is) asked largely anonymous commenters from 3 anti-trans sites"In recent years,… Read more.

TERF Academic Rewrites History

September 4, 2018 ·

TERF activist censors Radical Feminist voices to sneak hate into the classroom. Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist (TERF) activist, Sheila Jeffreys has written a new academic book that claims to inform readers of the various ways TERF culture, "has all been disappeared from history." Chief among those Jeffreys' claims to have the power to disappear TERFs from history is an "influential men’s cross-dressing rights movement which enforces men’s access to lesbians wherever we seek to meet or network." To support this fact claim,… Read more.

TransAdvocate UK: Media hysteria about trans people

July 12, 2018 ·

Updates from the UK division of the Trans Advocate:   The Conservative government came out this week calling for a consultation on how to best reform the Gender Recognition Act, or G.R.A. of 2004. This comes at a time when the "debate" over trans rights in the UK is front and center in the TERF friendly UK press. The transphobic rhetoric centers over access to, quote, "women's only spaces" end quote. However, the GRA does not even deal with public… Read more.

Read the pro-trans letter from Congress to the TSA here

July 11, 2018 ·

We have written before about the humiliating ways the TSA have sometimes interacted with trans and intersex bodies. Apparently, some in the US Congress have become concerned about this ongoing problem. Last month, Representatives Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) and Joe Kennedy III (MA-04) requested information regarding the agency’s treatment of transgender travelers in a letter to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Administrator David Pekoske. As you may know, in 2015, the National Center for Transgender Equality surveyed 28,000 transgender individuals, 53 percent of… Read more.

Right-Wing & Anti-Trans Feminist YouTube Shooter Conspiracy

April 16, 2018 ·

Yes, they worked to make people believe the YouTube Shooter was a trans woman and the mainstream media didn't want you to know, but that's a symptom of a larger problem. On April 3rd, 2018, an armed shooter opened fire at the Youtube headquarters in California. Shortly afterward, as is becoming an epidemic in our current online culture, conspiracy theories and misinformation made the rounds faster then verifiable information could be gathered. There were claims that the shooter was Muslim,… Read more.

SBF: Dr. Cretella doesn’t like some scholarly, peer-reviewed research on trans suicide

April 8, 2018 ·

The Slowly Boiled Frog is biting commentary from David Cary Hart reflecting upon issues affecting the LGBT community. I should have known that this was inevitable. The headline at Christian Post- reads, "Doctor Slams Trans Study That Claims Using Preferred Names Reduces Depression, Suicide." I wrote about this last Saturday. Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin concluded: … In one of the largest and most diverse studies of transgender youths to date, researchers led by a team at The… Read more.

Gender Nation: Transphobia, Termination, and Tinder

April 2, 2018 ·

Gender Nation is a bi-weekly column by Gwendolyn Ann Smith, the founder of the Transgender Day of Remembrance, reviewing news affecting the trans, intersex, and genderqueer community. A questionable search leads to lawsuit A lawsuit against a Louisiana prison claims that a transgender visitor to the facility was ordered to strip and reveal her genitalia before she would be allowed to leave. China Nelson visited her brother, an inmate at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, Louisiana in September of 2017.… Read more.

Houston GLBT Political Caucus throws trans people under the bus

March 16, 2018 ·

Unfortunately, it appears that the Houston GLBT Political Caucus, like HRC before them, is throwing the transgender community under the bus. Members of the Caucus Board encouraged candidates in the current election to support and seek the endorsement of the anti-transgender group, the Baptist Ministers of Houston Area and Vicinity (there are several variations of their name). The Baptist Ministers of Houston Area and Vicinity (HBVHAV) ran false anti-transgender advertising during the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) fight, falsified petitions… Read more.

Rapid onset gender dysphoria and other myths

March 11, 2018 ·

The anti-trans movement created a new pathology they're shopping around to various (mostly right-wing) news outlets. It's called "rapid onset gender dysphoria" and you catch it from websites like DeviantArt, Tumblr, and Reddit. A great takedown of this internet illness was published by the Advocate and I encourage you to check it out. Having said that, I want to focus on the more obvious, yet overlooked flaws of this concocted condition: it asserts itself to be both "rapid onset" and "gender… Read more.

Singal’s Florida: You’re very wrong about trans kids

February 25, 2018 ·

UPDATE (4/20/22): This article was updated to respond to spurious recommendations from the Florida Department of Health, which assert the same debunked claims this article fact-checks. Having learned that the mainstream publication The Atlantic has paid professional anti-trans concern troll Jesse Singal to write about trans issues, I want to address his well-worn arguments before he can make them. To do so, I will assert and then substantiate a few things: The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)… Read more.

SBF: Children have rights Mr. Perkins

February 20, 2018 ·

The Slowly Boiled Frog is biting commentary from David Cary Hart reflecting upon issues affecting the LGBT community. Tony Perkins will argue vociferously that a fetus has rights. Mr. Perkins doesn't seem to think that a teenager has any rights at all. A child, Mr. Perkins, is entitled to quality medical care provided by competent and qualified practitioners. Perkins has decided to comment on a case in Ohio where a transgender boy has been terribly abused by his parents. His father… Read more.

Why they ALWAYS talk bathrooms

January 19, 2018 ·

The TransAdvocate produced a short documentary to examine the political right's propensity to focus on bathrooms when it comes to trans equality. The reality is, the political right always focuses on bathrooms, privacy, and sexual safety concerns when taking a stand against equality, no matter the oppressed population. This documentary examines, from a historical perspective, why this political rhetoric works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHzrPGyiwqo Podcast Extra Transcript In Illinois, one of the states that joined North Carolina in suing the Obama Administration for… Read more.

TransAdvocate 101

Having observed numerous conversations predicated on fundamental misunderstandings concerning trans advocacy, I put together this TransAdvocate 101 to compliment our Trans 101. If cis and trans advocate communities wish to better communicate, we need a foundation from which informed conversations may take place. Therefore, I will succinctly: 1.) Describe the three fundamentals informing our approach to trans advocacy; 2.) Describe the differences between the cis and trans experience as it relates to “gender identity;” 3.) Describe the… Read more.

Arsonist TERF thinks trans women are immoral & should be beaten

January 15, 2018 ·

As readers might be aware, the UK media is engulfed in a new and ongoing round of media-created trans panic of the same type that lead to the death of Lucy Medows in 2013. Already, media hysteria coupled with the concern trolling homunculus that is all things "gender critical," has pushed a trans teen caught in the UK media's crosshairs to desperation. Riding the wake of this media madness is Linda Bellos, a sex essentialist "radical feminist" who took to an… Read more.

Remembering who we are

January 14, 2018 ·

You can hear anti-queer people bloviating nonstop about who they think we are and after a while, this psychological erasure is can take its toll. Today we remember who we are with: A new segment examining the avalanche of sex abuse scandals in the anti-queer movement. Ray Hill's 2007 Transgender Unity Banquet speech on remembering who we are. An essay by the radical feminist John Stoltenberg titled What the trans moment has to offer radical feminism. And Gwen Smith’s Gender… Read more.

2017 Trans Day of Remembrance

November 20, 2017 ·

For many years, the trans community's one event was a memorial service and while we now celebrate numerous aspects of trans lives, November 20th remains the trans community's oldest community tradition. What follows is the 2017 Remembrance Booklet produced by the Transgender Foundation of America's TDOR data collection project: [su_document url="http://www.new.transadvocate.com/wp-content/uploads/booklet.pdf" width="440" height="640"] Violence against trans people remains a defining aspect of trans lives and the Trans Day of Remembrance is our community's opportunity to bear witness to end-result of the anti-trans hate… Read more.

[Audio Essay] On The Make-It-A-Slur Campaigns: Are Misogynist, Homophobe & TERF Slurs?

November 8, 2017 ·

This week's podcast is an audio essay: On The Make It A Slur Campaigns: Are Misogynist, Homophobe & TERF Slurs? By: Cristan Williams Narrated by: Nikki Delgado Duration: 25 minutes Essay Summary: Anti-equality activists, seemingly from the left and right, have worked together to make certain feminist and queer language taboo. In this audio essay, the TransAdvocate takes a deep dive into the ways in which anti-equality activists work together to coordinate efforts to control the… Read more.

Are Misogynist, Homophobe, & TERF slurs?

November 4, 2017 ·

Into the nexus of the 'gay alt-right feminist' movement I received notice that an opinion leader in the sex essentialist activist community had linked to one of my articles titled, You Might be a TERF if... The article lists explicit instances of ideological hate and real-life violence (up to and including attempted murder) carried out in the name of a form of sex essentialist 'feminism' that developed in the US during the mid-to-late 1970s. The Feminist Current, a site substantially dedicated… Read more.

Violence, Nonviolent Action, and Social Reaction: A Nonviolent Amazon Perspective

September 18, 2017 ·

In a TransAdvocate article entitled "On the Ethics and Utility of Violence," an anonymous contributor makes the case for such violent acts as punching Richard Spencer, a white supremacist who has invoked Nazi slogans, in the middle of an interview while he was assaulting no one and posed no physical threat to anyone. Far from a "victory," I find that act of violence a surrender to the ethos of patriarchy and domination, as opposed to the values of feminism, democracy,… Read more.

African Voices: Well behaved women rarely make history

August 23, 2017 ·

Well behaved women rarely make history: A Botswana transgender woman made history after filling a monumental constitutional case against the government for refusing to legally change her gender marker. By Miles Tanhira In her High court application against the department of Registrar of National Registration, Tshepo Ricki Kgositau who is the Executive Director of Gender DynamiX, a regional transgender right organisation based in Cape Town, South Africa, argues that the State has a duty to fully realise the constitutional protection of… Read more.

Why is the self-righteous set so persistently dishonest about trans access?

August 17, 2017 ·

By David Cary Hart It's Claire Cretin, uh, Claire Chretien again (I know, mine is a sophomoric display of opprobrium). At the ultra-orthodox Catholic LifeSiteNews Chretien asks the rhetorical question (and answer): “Should men go in the girls’ restroom? This mom says no way.” That is a compound lie. This is about school access. Chretien's intent is to suggest that adult men will be using girls' facilities. The second part of the lie is that this isn't about men or boys. This is about whether… Read more.

TERF legal team attempts to CENSOR the TransAdvocate

April 25, 2017 ·

The Trans Exclusionary (self-identified) “radical feminist” lawyer Cathy Brennan sent, via her attorney, a cease-and-desist letter, asserting that the following statement from a TransAdvocate story titled, Fake “Radical Feminist” group actually paid political front for anti-LGBT James Dobson organization is false and must be removed from the story: This is not the first time TERFs have worked with anti-feminist/LGBT groups in targeting transgender kids. In 2014, TERF attorney, Cathy Brennan and her “radical feminist” organization worked with the anti-abortion/LGBT group the Pacific Justice Institute… Read more.

We’ve been here before: child molesters & the political right

April 4, 2017 ·

This was the era of Anita Bryant's crusade against lesbians and gays. "As a mother," Bryant said, "I know that homosexuals cannot biologically reproduce children; therefore, they must recruit our children." This was the predominant belief; this notion that gays and lesbians need to "recruit" people to grow in numbers, and therefore are grooming children. It was very effective, as it tapped into primal fears that one's own sons and daughters could be in peril from a menace that the… Read more.

Religious extremist attacks cis woman for using unisex bathroom

March 24, 2017 ·

A cisgender man connected with a Florida Christian convention accosted a cisgender woman with a Bible as she exited an "All Genders" restroom at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando.  The man, shouting about Biblical interpretations of gender while waving his bible around wildly, apparently assumed the cisgender woman was a transgender woman who was participating in a nearby LGBT media convention. The incident came to light when the hotel publicly apologized to the LGBT media convention, on behalf of the… Read more.

The TransAdvocate takes action at the Texas Capitol

March 5, 2017 ·

On March 13, 2017, the TransAdvocate will meet with numerous members of the Texas Legislature --both Democratic and Republican-- concerning anti-LGBTQIA bills recently filed during this legislative session. Particularly of concern for both the trans and intersex community are bills designed to force trans and intersex individuals to use public accommodations based upon the sex designated on one's birth certificate, regardless of transitioned status. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAqCJHVgd9k Regarding SB6 and other anti-GLBTQIA bills, the TransAdovcate's Editor, Cristan Williams said, "These bills are creating… Read more.

#DiscoSexology Part VIII: Interview the Author of The Last Time I Wore A Dress

February 21, 2017 ·

[su_column size="1/2"] [su_button url="http://www.new.transadvocate.com/part-vi-interview-with-gender-infinity-co-founder-the-rise-and-fall-of-discosexology-dr-zucker-camh-conversion-therapy_n_19773.htm"  style="flat" background="#333333" color="#ffffff" size="10" wide="yes" center="yes" radius="0" icon="icon: mail-reply" icon_color="#ffffff"]Disco Sexology, Pt. 7: Affirmative Therapy [su_column size="1/2"] [su_button url="http://www.new.transadvocate.com/part-ix-the-circular-logic-of-disco-sexology-the-rise-and-fall-of-discosexology-dr-zucker-camh-conversion-therapy_n_19923.htm" style="flat" background="#333333" color="#ffffff" size="10" wide="yes" center="yes" radius="0" icon="icon: mail-forward" icon_color="#ffffff"]Disco Sexology, Pt. 9: Conclusion By Cristan Williams   Upon completion of this series, this work will be released, in its entirety, as both an audio and ebook. Installment Preface Welcome to the eighth installment in this series on… Read more.

#DiscoSexology Part VII: Interview With Affirmative Therapy Pioneer

February 15, 2017 ·

[su_column size="1/2"] [su_button url="http://www.new.transadvocate.com/part-vi-interview-with-gender-infinity-co-founder-the-rise-and-fall-of-discosexology-dr-zucker-camh-conversion-therapy_n_19773.htm"  style="flat" background="#333333" color="#ffffff" size="10" wide="yes" center="yes" radius="0" icon="icon: mail-reply" icon_color="#ffffff"]Disco Sexology, Part Six: Gender Infinity [su_column size="1/2"] [su_button url="http://www.new.transadvocate.com/part-viii-interview-the-author-of-the-last-time-i-wore-a-dress-the-rise-and-fall-of-discosexology-dr-zucker-camh-conversion-therapy_n_19904.htm" style="flat" background="#333333" color="#ffffff" size="10" wide="yes" center="yes" radius="0" icon="icon: mail-forward" icon_color="#ffffff"]Disco Sexology, Pt. 8: Committed for GID By Cristan Williams Upon completion of this series, this work will be released, in its entirety, as both an audio and ebook.… Read more.

Campus Free Speech and Sophistry

February 4, 2017 ·

  By M. A. Melby As an educator, it is my duty to give all students an opportunity to learn and to succeed. In service to this duty, Universities are legally required to maintain a non-hostile environment. I am also devoted to imparting information that may be incongruous with my students strongly held beliefs. With the goal of meaningful instruction and students’ personal growth in mind, I may encourage frank discussions on… Read more.

#DiscoSexology Part II: The Timeline

January 22, 2017 ·

[su_column size="1/2"] [su_button url="http://www.transadvocate.com/part-i-the-rise-and-fall-of-discosexology-dr-zucker-camh-conversion-therapy_n_19556.htm" target="blank" style="flat" background="#333333" color="#ffffff" size="10" wide="yes" center="yes" radius="0" icon="icon: mail-reply" icon_color="#ffffff"]Disco Sexology, Part One: Introduction [su_column size="1/2"] [su_button url="http://www.transadvocate.com/part-iii-the-report-controversy-the-rise-and-fall-of-discosexology-dr-zucker-camh-conversion-therapy_n_19672.htm" target="blank" style="flat" background="#333333" color="#ffffff" size="10" wide="yes" center="yes" radius="0" icon="icon: mail-forward" icon_color="#ffffff"]Disco Sexology, Part Three: Controversy By Cristan Williams   Upon completion of this series, this work will be released, in its entirety, as both an audio and ebook. Installment Preface Welcome to the second installment in… Read more.

Johns Hopkins Resumes Trans Care

October 14, 2016 ·

Johns Hopkins was an early pioneer in American trans care until anti-LGBT activist Paul McHugh began working at the hospital. In 1979, McHugh was able to end trans care at Johns Hopkins and later wrote that it was his goal to force the closure of the hospital's gender program saying, "It was part of my intention, when I arrived in Baltimore in 1975, to help end it." McHugh went on to describe his professional assessment… Read more.

Is Sadism Popular With TERFs? A Chat With An Ex-Gendercrit

July 29, 2016 ·

BY Rani Baker @destroyed4com4t Let’s get this out of the way: deep down, I believe everyone is earnestly trying to do things that are right and protect things that they value. I mean, I kinda have to believe this on some level to keep functioning. I don’t subscribe to the idea of good and evil or social struggles that have a clear cut hero and villain. Life is complicated and fluid, and… Read more.

The media is lying about why NC is being sued

May 15, 2016 ·

By Cristan Williams @cristanwilliams Almost without exception, all news stories covering the US Attorney General's suit against North Carolina omits the rather significant fact that when North Carolina took federal money tied to the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and Title IX, they signed a contract with the federal government explicitly agreeing to not discriminate on the basis of “gender identity”. Unlike what you may have heard, this breach of contract is… Read more.

What the US Attorney General actually said about trans people & fighting NC in court

May 10, 2016 ·

On Monday, May 9th, the United States Attorney General, Loretta Lynch came out swinging against North Carolina's commitment to discriminating against trans people. The speech that AG Lynch gave is incredibly striking and stands as a singular moment in the history of trans advocacy. While numerous sites will pair soundbites with their own commentary and others will inevitably misrepresent her words, we at the TransAdvocate wish to simply let the AG's words… Read more.

Fight back: Report Mississippi & North Carolina HATE here!

April 24, 2016 ·

By Autumn Sandeen & Cristan Williams Anti-trans activists in both Mississippi and North Carolina have passed laws that effectively remove trans people from public life. Making it legal on a state level to discriminate against trans people in employment, housing, goods, and services while making it illegal for trans people to use public hygiene facilities that correspond with their transitioned status ensures that trans people cannot function within society. We at the TransAdvocate believe that the evidence shows that erasing trans people from… Read more.

The TSA: a binary body system in practice

January 3, 2016 ·

Traveling While Trans: The False Promise of Better Treatment By Dr. Cary Gabriel Costello Back in 2012, I wrote about the problems I regularly encountered as a trans person when going through TSA security screening at airports. Since that time, we've been promised, much has changed. The TSA has formally stated that it will not discriminate on the basis of gender identity. Passengers are to be screened based upon their gender presentation. Any pat-downs are to be conducted… Read more.

Fact check: study shows transition makes trans people suicidal

November 2, 2015 ·

A 2011 Swedish study proves that trans people are more suicidal due to transition, are likely rapists and that trans women exhibit male socialization. Or does it? Perhaps you've heard that a Swedish study found that trans people who access medical care are more likely to commit suicide. Writing for the Wall Street Journal, former Johns Hopkins chief psychiatrist and anti-LGBT activist Dr. Paul McHugh cited a Swedish study to make the following fact assertion: A 2011 study… Read more.

Study: Trans kid’s gender implicit; govt report condemns conversion therapy

October 17, 2015 ·

A recent study found that the gender identity of trans children is as implicit as the gender identity of cis children. A study with 32 transgender children, ages 5 to 12, indicates that the gender identity of these children is deeply held and is not the result of confusion about gender identity or pretense. The study, led by psychological scientist Kristina Olson of the University of Washington, is one of the… Read more.

The NY Times goes concern trolling

August 26, 2015 ·

On August 22, 2015, the NY Times ran an article by Richard A. Friedman titled, "How Changeable Is Gender?" One might be excused for mistaking the piece as an earnest call to the medical community for better interventions for the trans community. Alarmingly, Friedman warns readers that science has found that post-operative transsexuals are at significant risk of suicide and moreover, maybe medical treatment isn't actually the right approach after all, especially for trans kids. Friedman gravely recounts a scientific study that… Read more.

InfoWars: California Green Party “Slaps” “Cisgendered” Men!

August 7, 2015 ·

Or not. Perhaps you've seen this image floating around the Internets today:   As InfoWars reports, "The California Green Party is attracting controversy after posting an image on its official Instagram page which promotes 'free slaps' to be metered out to ‘straight white men’." However, when this image came out, the California Green Party didn't have an Instagram account. In fact, the first time the image showed up on the internet was when it was posted to 4chan. If… Read more.

So, someone called you a TERF. Now what?

July 26, 2015 ·

There are many things possible in the universe. If you are called a TERF it could be that the person who said it is actually a self-loathing misogynist who hates feminism and puppies. It could be that the label was unfairly or inappropriately applied. It could also be that someone used the term to point out your casual trans antagonism or unconscionable jackass bigotry. Who the hell knows? Regardless, you have been told over and over again that once… Read more.

See Tumblr TERFs justify threatening to murder a trans kid

July 23, 2015 ·

Tumblr TERF, radfem-momma apparently thinks it's okay to threaten trans kids with murder as long as you lie about the reason.   BACKSTORY: This post has to do with Tumblr TERFs trying to make the abuse a trans kid experienced by adult MichFest TERFs seem somehow okay. The abuse was witnessed by multiple individuals, specifically members of the Lesbian Avengers and a MichFest performer and member of Sister… Read more.

Psychiatric abuse of transgender people: a case from Russia

July 6, 2015 ·

The reality of trans pathologization in Russia By Yana Kirey-Sitnikova Note: The article contains descriptions of violence and involuntary medical treatment. Psychiatric treatment of transgender people has recently received attention in media and medical literature in response to strong international campaigns for depathologization, organized by transgender activists. The debates grew even stronger surrounding the drafting of the 5th version of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), which resulted in the replacement of “Gender Identity Disorder” with arguably less stigmatizing… Read more.

Rowan Atkinson makes more sense than BBC’s “Woman’s Hour”

April 19, 2015 ·

Why TERF ideology is child abuse and how the media supports it. By  Natacha This article discusses the clash of ideology and lived experience as exemplified by a recent BBC radio program in the UK. This article uses the term Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist (TERF) to distinguish between the trans-supportive Radical Feminism of Andrea Dworkin, Catharine MacKinnon, The Olivia Collective or the West Coast Lesbian Conference and sex essentialist anti-trans feminism of Janice Raymond, Sheila Jeffreys and/or the… Read more.

Repeating the cycle at MichFest: The clash of two feminisms

April 12, 2015 ·

The yearly struggle the trans community experiences with MichFest has been taking place for so long, some of us have trouble remembering why MichFest's "womyn-born womyn" policy was such a painful issue for the feminist and trans communities in the first place. The very notion of "woman-born woman" is now so ubiquitous that many of us have forgotten that its roots span all the way back to when MichFest's organizer took part in attacking a feminism that was trans… Read more.

Romance Writer Roslyn Holcomb Says She Would Have Shot Trans Woman In Planet Fitness Locker Room

March 27, 2015 ·

One of the fairly regular commenters on GenderTrender is Roslyn Hardy Holcomb, a published writer of color. She's been interviewed by USA Today, she has twenty-three books reviewed on Goodreads, and you can buy her books on Amazon. Basically, she's a moderately well-known author in the romance genre. She apparently is also a trans-exclusionary radical feminist, abbreviated as TERF. Holcomb made a comment on the GenderTrender post “We must look, act and live the part” about the Planet Fitness… Read more.

#CisPrivilege, UK’s Green Party and freedom of speech

February 15, 2015 ·

Some of you might remember that Germaine Greer, a TERF the Radical Feminist Andrea Dworkin took to task for trying to pass off patriarchy as feminism, made some small waves for appealing to the patriarchal vagina smell trope in order to claim that trans women aren't real women. However, what's making waves throughout the UK is that Green Party activist Beatrix Campbell, along with numerous other activists, are appalled that the trans community dared think they had the same rights… Read more.

Sex Essentialism: TERF patriarchy and smelly vaginas

January 28, 2015 ·

TERFs battle over who has the correct vaginal odor in order to determine female validity. I've noted many times that while Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists (TERFs) like to speak on behalf of Radical Feminism, the type of so-called "gender critical feminism" they offer is at war with the roots of Radical Feminism. For example, pioneering Radical Feminist opinion leader Andrea Dworkin was supportive of trans women, ensuring that her 1980s-era pro-woman… Read more.

As #LeelahAlcorn’s mom talks to CNN, Leelah’s Reddit posts come back to haunt her

January 2, 2015 ·

While her mom talks to CNN to profess her love and support, Leelah's Reddit posts paint a homelife defined by bullying and fear. Much has been written about Leelah Alcorn's suicide note* which identifies conversion therapy and unsupportive parents as contributing factors to what happened to Leelah. Under the weight of public condemnation, Leelah's mother, Carla Alcron told CNN that "e told him that we loved him unconditionally. We loved him no… Read more.

Gender Critical Feminism, the roots of Radical Feminism and Trans oppression

December 8, 2014 ·

Gender Critical Feminism (GCF) is a euphemism for Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminism (TERF). There is no ideological difference between the TERF and "Gender Critical Feminist" (GCF) movement; they are one in the same. GCF teaches that because sex is a natural binary, intersex people are actually just deformed men and women and trans people are always the sex they were assigned at birth. As Janice Raymond’s acolyte Sheila Jeffreys wrote, “sex” is fixed and referring to trans women with female pronouns is… Read more.

Trans people have 99 problems, and Facebook is just one

November 20, 2014 ·

A personal reflection on the abuse of weaponization of Facebook’s “Real Name” Policy By Emmagene Cronin I woke up Monday morning, the first day of Trans Awareness Week, as I do everyday before I’m off to classes. I get myself out of bed after hitting the alarm a few times, and then I trot downstairs to make myself some coffee and read a news story or two while I try to wake up from the lack of sleep I know I just… Read more.

Fact Checking Janice Raymond: The NCHCT Report

September 18, 2014 ·

It has long been asserted that the iconic TERF opinion leader, Janice Raymond, played a part in bringing an end to the public and private coverage of transgender medical care, resulting in measurable death and suffering within the trans community. Unsurprisingly, Raymond rejects any assertion that she has blood on her hands. Over on TheTERFs.com, Raymond objects to the following assertion: “It was only after the NCHCT published Raymond’s bigotry in 1980 that… Read more.

I Am Jazz: an amazing book for trans kids

September 14, 2014 ·

Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings recently published a book for trans kids titled, I Am Jazz. The beautifully illustrated story is based on the real-life experiences of Jazz. Laverne Cox said that the book is an “essential tool for parents and teachers” and that “I wish I had had a book like this when I was a kid struggling with gender identity questions.” Cover: I Am Jazz I had an opportunity to both review the… Read more.

The Curious Demands of the Womyn in the Woods: Unpacking the Statement of the Michigan Womyn’s Musical Festival

September 12, 2014 ·

The Demands of Michfest's Lisa Vogel: A Response & a Good Faith Offer of Support By Emmagene Cronin   The end of the 39th annual Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival (MWMF of Michfest) has arrived, and the trans community has been left with a list of “demands” from the Festival itself. To the unknowing reader, this list would seem like the extension of an olive branch, and glimmer of hope for reconciliation between two presently oppositional factions within the feminist movement.… Read more.

WATCH: School board bigot squirm

September 11, 2014 ·

In what has to be one of the most facepalm-inducing interviews I've ever watched, Canadian school board trustee, Sam Sotiropoulos attempted to explain why he's not a bigot for promoting bigotry. The above interview occurred after Sotiropoulos posted a few transphobic tweets. Psychiatry expert: ‘scientifically there is no such thing as transgender’ http://t.co/huWbDpd6bl Where's Bill C-279? http://t.co/4JRejJhuW6 — Sam Sotiropoulos (@TrusteeSam) August 30, 2014 The article Sotiropoulos promoted states, "Dr. Joseph Berger has issued a statement saying that from a medical… Read more.

#TERFweek Redux

August 19, 2014 ·

In the post announcing #TERFweek, we specified goals for the week. These goals were: Raise awareness about this movement of hate and the groups it forms. Educate people about its tactics. Collectively speak out against its bigotry. Encourage the Feminist, Radical Feminist and Lesbian communities to speak up about the aggressive colonization their communities have faced at the hands of this movement. #TERFweek has accomplished this and so much more. Actual Radical Feminists stepped forward to share their painful… Read more.

How TERF violence inspired Camp Trans

August 17, 2014 ·

In the middle of a cool August night in 1991, Nancy Burkholder was thrown out of the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival (MWMF) because she’s a trans woman.  Burkholder was Janis Walworth’s friend and she was outraged that MWMF’s would engage in anti-trans discrimination. Walworth, a cisgender radical lesbian feminist,  immediately began to educate MWMF attendees about trans people. After coping with threats of violence and dealing with having her consciousness-raising… Read more.

A TERF’s fist gave rise to trans-inclusive women’s music festivals

August 17, 2014 ·

What follows is a continuation of my interview with Radical Feminist lesbian icon, Robin Tyler. In the previous piece, Tyler talked about being beaten by TERFs for trying to protect a trans woman from their assault. In this portion of the interview, Tyler describes how a TERF's fist at the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival (MWMF) led her to conclude that it was time for her to start her own women's music festival.… Read more.

That time TERFs beat RadFems for protecting a trans woman from their assault

August 17, 2014 ·

Robin Tyler is an iconic Radical Feminist lesbian who talked with me about the ways she confronted TERF violence and oppression against trans women. We discussed Tyler’s involvement with the 1973 West Coast Lesbian Feminist Conference. For some context on why this particular conference was so important, Susan Stryker sums it up well: Elliott also served on the organizing committee of the West Coast Lesbian Feminist Conference, planned for April of 1973 in Los Angeles, and she had… Read more.

TERF hate and Sandy Stone

August 16, 2014 ·

Sandy Stone was a problem that Janice Raymond, author of The Transsexual Empire: The Making of the She-Male, decided to take care of. Raymond felt that Stone -- an out trans woman who was part of the radical feminist lesbian separatist music collective, Olivia Records -- didn’t belong. Raymond engineered a smear campaign that nearly destroyed the Collective and put Stone’s life in jeopardy, culminating in armed TERFs asserting their intention to murder Stone. Olivia Records was a successful… Read more.

Critical of “Gender Critical:” Part V of the ‘Sexing the Body is Gender’ Series

August 15, 2014 ·

Many of the TERFs I’ve had the displeasure of meeting move through life belligerently sexing physical phenomena and behavior (especially rape) while simultaneously (and ironically) proclaiming themselves to be critical of gender.  For TERFs, there is no difference between mentally contextualizing a body as a sex attribute and the body itself. TERFs have such a long history of, with all the asperity of a hellfire creationist, asserting that sexing everyone is better/different/more natural than gendering everyone that I hold no hope they will see past their own… Read more.

Making trans-hate sound reasonable

August 15, 2014 ·

By Natacha Kennedy Michelle Goldberg’s awful article in The New Yorker will be considered by many to be just another example of the sort of biased rubbish trans people have come to get used to from the media. This kind of article is the sort of thing that (dis)graces plenty of TERF (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists) sites and marginal online publications that try to be ‘edgy’or ‘iconoclastic in the knowledge that having a go at trans people is the last… Read more.

Debunking TERF Essentialism: Part III of the ‘Sexing the Body is Gender’ Series

August 13, 2014 ·

Part III of the 'Sexing the Body is Gender' Series: Debunking TERF Essentialism In Part II, what gender is and is not was discussed and the ways in which we contextualize our bodies were reviewed. In this section, essentialism arguments regularly asserted as being self-evidently true are reviewed and deconstructed. When appealing to a substance – say, genetics, chromosomes, etc. – as being a sexed essence which defines how we collectively regard the… Read more.

Mom confronts TERF bigotry aimed at her family

August 13, 2014 ·

By Debi Jackson Although I have been part of the LGBT community for the last three years since my daughter transitioned from male to female, I still seem to learn something new every day. Take, for example, my recent discovery of a group that some call TERFs, or Trans-Excluding Radical Feminists. Within the last few weeks, I’ve become a target of hate from some who watched a video of me giving a speech about my daughter’s transition. Most of that… Read more.

#TERFweek: Debunking TERF Tropes

August 12, 2014 ·

TERFs tend to behave much like a fundamentalist echo chamber so that once a new malicious anti-trans trope is created, it is quickly disseminated and replicated until the trans community and/or allied communities must waste their time addressing the fallacies. Therefore, the TransAdvocate has put together this list of debunked anti-trans TERF tropes for your reference. The Cotton Ceiling: TERFs assert that Planned Parenthood conspired to helped teach trans people how to force lesbians to have sex with them and this amounts to corrective… Read more.

What a 90s Cartoon Can Teach Us about TERFs

August 12, 2014 ·

By  Lisa Kalayji Do you remember the 1990s MTV cartoon Daria? If you're old enough and young enough, you probably do. For those who missed it or are enjoying the memory slippages which apparently start at a lot earlier age than our parents told us they would, Daria was a cartoon series about a highly intelligent, cynical, and socially outcast teenaged girl, and she has something to teach us about the logic which gives rise to trans-exclusive radical feminism. In… Read more.

Contextualizing the Body: Part II of the ‘Sexing the Body is Gender’ Series

August 12, 2014 ·

Part II of the 'Sexing the Body is Gender' Series: Contextualizing the Body If one is talking about something that has chemistry and mass, one is not talking about the thoughts in one’s head. In this series, I will make this simple distinction knowing that there is robust and nuanced discussion around whether there is a biological predisposition that causes trans people to experience our bodies in the way we do. For the purpose of this post, I will make a distinction between that which we take to be… Read more.

#TERFweek: Remember Filisa Vistima

August 12, 2014 ·

Before you read further, I need to state a strong Trigger Warning: The following post recounts the circumstances surrounding the suicide of a trans women. Filisa Vistima was a 22-year-old transsexual woman from Seattle who had not been able to access the type of trans medical care she needed. She volunteered at the Lesbian Resource Center (LRC) and on March 6, 1993, Filisa took her own life after handling feedback from TERFs demanding that people like her be banned from the Center.… Read more.

#TERFweek: Let’s not repeat our history

August 11, 2014 ·

The following article was published in 1974. Note the way the overall public held anti-trans views in contempt. Note the dismissive way the author of this article reported on TERF bigotry. I think this article serves as an important cautionary tale because I can't help but note that today, like in this 1974 article, some feminists and trans folk seem to think TERF anti-trans dogma is irrelevant. Please never forget the damage they've caused. They are as hubris as they are cruel; TERFs have repeatedly shown that they… Read more.

Quit attacking your allies!

August 11, 2014 ·

I have seen various version of this phrase. "Quit attacking your allies!" - many, many times.  I've only been involved heavily in trans activism for about two years.  How and why I've become as invested as I am is a long story; but at the end of the day, I am a woman who was assigned female at birth.  I am cis.  So, it's odd that this statement has been directed at me, but it often has.  It's also something… Read more.

Intro to the ‘Sexing the Body is Gender’ Series

August 11, 2014 ·

About a decade ago, the feminist community came up with the term Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist (TERF) as a way to halt the default colonization of Radical Feminism and feminism itself by TERFs (and this move by feminists is, of course, claimed to be incredibly insulting). Now, under a wave of new awareness of the hate group hiding among them, feminism is becoming more vocal about its recrimination of TERFs. Old TERFs and TERF allies like Sue Hyde and Gloria Steinem have openly recanted their TERF rhetoric and… Read more.

#TERFweek starts now!

August 11, 2014 ·

What it is #TERFweek is a week of education, raising awareness and openly talking about the abuse our communities have endured at the hands of the Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist movement. From Monday, August 11 to the 17, we invite everyone to share their experience with the TERF movement using the #TERFweek tag. We hope that all our diverse communities will take this opportunity to speak with one voice, united in standing in opposition to the hate and very real harm this group has caused. Why… Read more.

National justice orgs say: End trans exclusion policy at Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival

August 8, 2014 ·

The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) has joined the Gay & Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the Nation Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and several other social justice organizations in petitioning that the trans-exclusionary policy of the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival (MWMF) end. In recent years, the MWMF trans exclusionary policy has been rebranded as merely a trans-exclusionary "intention." In the face of MWMF's continued anti-trans policy intention, the nation's leading equality organizations have joined Equality Michigan in petitioning the… Read more.

Et tu, Caroline Criado-Perez?

August 6, 2014 ·

At first, I wasn’t going to write a response piece to Caroline Criado-Perez (CCP) article concerning the term “cis”, because many of her ideas were similar to those in Sarah Ditum’s post I recently responded to. Then I realized those similarities should be pointed out. There are patterns emerging where otherwise respected feminists are injecting thinly veiled transmisogynist bigotry within self-congratulatory “bravery” narratives, as well as, patronizing pro-trans-sounding platitudes.  So, when trans activists respond to their seemingly conciliatory knives-in-the-back… Read more.

Houston trans-inclusive equity ordinance survives

August 5, 2014 ·

Houston Mayor Annise Parker and City Attorney David Feldman announced that the effort to overturn equality failed to collect enough valid petition signatures to put minority rights up for a popular vote in the upcoming November election. Even though the Houston Area Pastor's Council (HAPC) has threatened to sue, due to time constraints, there is no possible way that the equality ordinance will be on the November 2014 ballot. From lgbtqnation.com It was widely reported that the HAPC was able… Read more.

Hair does not make the woman, Sarah Ditum

July 5, 2014 ·

The appearance of Lavern Cox, a prominent trans woman activist and actor, on the cover of Time magazine was a great moment in trans advocacy.  Although Chelsea Manning was the first trans woman to be pictured on the cover of Time, the context of Lavern Cox photo was a bold statement.  Beside her name were the words, "The transgender tipping point: America's next civil rights frontier." Sarah Ditum, a feminist journalist from the UK, reacted to the photo in… Read more.

World’s experts condemn the McHugh hoax

July 4, 2014 ·

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) recently ran an op-ed by the right-wing anti-transgender psychiatrist, Paul McHugh. McHugh purposefully misrepresented the research he cited in his article, misleading WSJ readers, and the wider population into believing the lie he was selling. When the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) learned of the McHugh hoax, they responded. While WPATH Board Member, Dr. Dan Karasic, responded to McHugh and the WSJ published the response, they refused to publish the part where WPATH notes that McHugh misrepresented the research… Read more.

Anti-LGBT bigot caught engaging in election fraud in Texas

June 30, 2014 ·

Engaging in fraud in order to overturn LGBT and especially trans equality in cities throughout the nation is nothing new for anti-equality bigots. In the past anti-equality efforts, election fraud was limited to purposefully deceiving voters about trans equality or intimidating voters. Recently, the TransAdvocate documented an anti-equality activist using county property to attempt to circumvent a Texas election law. The Houston Area Pastor's Council (AKA, the Texas Pastor's Council, AKA, the US Pastor's Council) is the Texas-based anti-queer group that is heading up… Read more.

Clinging to a dangerous past: Dr Paul McHugh’s selective reading of transgender medical literature

June 15, 2014 ·

In a June 12th opinion article in the Wall Street Journal, well-known anti-transgender psychiatrist Dr. Paul McHugh attempts to make a case against supporting hormonal and surgical transition for transgender individuals. McHugh, professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University, has been actively working against the medical treatment of trans people since the 1970’s. As the university’s chief psychiatrist, he was instrumental in closing the Johns Hopkins Gender Program in 1979, one of the first programs of its kind, citing… Read more.

Declining Southern Baptist Convention continues tradition of bigotry, now targeting trans people

June 12, 2014 ·

The past president of the Southern Baptist Convention Ed Young and current pastor of Second Baptist Church in Houston recently joined Pastor Kendall Baker and David Welch in denouncing Houston's recent Equal Rights Ordinance.  Young claimed equality in Houston was a "staggering moral issue" because equality, according to Young, Baker and Welch, discriminates against cisgender heterosexual Southern Baptists like himself.  At a rally for ending equality, Young proclaimed, "The verbiage of the proposed ordinance is couched in non-discrimination language but, without question, discriminates… Read more.

Pastor who warned of “transgender predators” sexually harasses and assaults women

June 10, 2014 ·

Houston recently passed a nondiscrimination ordinance protecting the following 15 classes: Sex, Race, Color, Ethnicity, National Origin, Age, Familial Status, Marital Status, Military Status, Religion, Disability, Sexual Orientation, Genetic Information, Gender Identity, and Pregnancy. A leader in the opposition to equality is Pastor Kendall Baker. Here he is speaking before Houston City Council: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJF20AWc0Pk When speaking against equality, Pastor Kendall Baker mentioned that he had just ended a 20+ year career with the City of Houston due to failures of the Office of the Inspector… Read more.

The Playbook: Equality comes to Houston, the fringe freaks out, threatens to kill Mayor [UPDATED]

June 5, 2014 ·

On Wednesday, May 28, 2014, the Houston City Council approved a sweeping non-discrimination ordinance barring discrimination against 15 protected classes, including an explicit protection against discrimination due to one's religion. The city's right-wing community immediately claimed to be oppressed, threatened to recall everyone who voted for the ordinance and pledged to put their own religious protections up for a popular vote in the November election. More worrisome, the Mayor of Houston… Read more.

Monica Jones, AZ Transgender Woman convicted of Walking While Trans

April 14, 2014 ·

Just days after Monica Jones was shown in this video protesting the failed religious discriminatory law in Phoenix, she was offered a ride while walking to a bar. The driver turned out to be an undercover police officer who then arrested her for "manifestation of prostitution'. This law is a vague statute which enables officers to arrest woman for no other reason than asking if they are police. The law is used to feed people… Read more.

Increasingly, anti-trans = anti-abortion: #protransprochoice

April 11, 2014 ·

The right to body autonomy and being free from oppressive gender stereotypes is an issue that's near and dear to my heart. I've noticed that the same hubris people who stand in the way of trans people are generally the same people who are standing in the way of the right to safe and legal abortion services for many of the same reasons. The Pacific Justice Institute, the very organization that hounded a trans kid to the brink of… Read more.

Laura Jane Klug, transgender teacher at Lumberton Texas ISD suspended for no reason

April 10, 2014 ·

Laura Jane Klug (image: Facebook) Lumberton Texas ISD suspended Laura Jane Klug, a transgender teacher at the intermediate school. Mainstream news reports say parents complained about her transgender status, but Ms. Klug thinks something else prompted her dismissal. Ms. Klug, in a phone conversation, told the Advocate about her hiring "The school was fully aware of my transgender status when they hired me. I made a point of making that clear to them by showing… Read more.

Transgender Woman Repeatedly and Violently Assaulted in Long Island

April 9, 2014 ·

Ms. Dier Recently I talked with a transgender woman, Ms. Dier, who was repeatedly assaulted by two employees of the Irish Times Pub in Holbrook, Suffolk County New York on the night of March 14, 2014.   She was with a group of friends and was asked for her identification by the establishment’s bouncer.  She complied with the request and handed the bouncer her valid New York State Drivers Permit.  “He took my ID and continued… Read more.

We need storytellers who are not cisgender men: why David Marcus’ views are misguided and misinformed

April 7, 2014 ·

In his latest piece for TheFederalist, arts writer David Marcus takes on what he believes to be a great injustice: the inclusion of trans people in a list of playwrights developed to demonstrate that perspectives beyond those of men actually do exist and are readily accessible. The list, a public google document titled “We Exist,” was developed in response to a recent comment by a director at a gathering of professional DC theater folks that there are too few… Read more.

Transgender college student Andraya Williams humiliated by Piedmont campus police says enough is enough

April 1, 2014 ·

Andraya Williams Subjected to discrimination, intimidation, humiliation and stonewalled by North Carolina Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC), transgender student Andraya Williams tells the TransAdvocate she's had enough. On March 19th, Ms. Williams was detained by a campus school guard while exiting the lady's room bathroom telling her that they had heard reports of a man in the restroom and asked her for her college ID. Ms. Williams then presented her ID, which clearly identifies her… Read more.

ATLAH Church Protested: Pastor Throws Verbal Stones

March 31, 2014 ·

Human rights advocates braved the elements Saturday in Harlem to show their angst over the church sign promoting violence against the LGBT, and for good reason. Just 20 blocks away, last year, fists were thrown at a transgender woman who lay dying on pavement stones. Islan Nettles was taken off life support by her mother a short time after. This is the violence that the ATLAH church promotes and this very sign, the one demanding violence, was most likely seen by the people… Read more.

Right wing group considering repeal effort targeting Maryland’s new transgender inclusive law

March 30, 2014 ·

The day after the Maryland House of Delegates passed legislation making discrimination against transgender people illegal, one group has decided to take action against it. The bill, SB 212 "Fairness for All Marylanders Act of 2014" amends the state's law to include gender identity in the workplace, housing, and public accommodations. The Baltimore Sun is reporting that the conservative group MD Petitions emailed supporters telling them: "The good news is that we don't have to accept this bill as law – there is another… Read more.

Everyone, even fans, are appalled with Rupaul’s ‘shemale’ contest

March 26, 2014 ·

Everyone, except GLAAD that is Rupauls contestants yucking it up after being told they will be using a transphobic slur in determining whether a person is a 'real' woman or a psycho case Rupaul, the clown in pancake makeup has figured out a way to be even more obnoxious.  Perhaps he feels that he should fill the vacuum left by the passing of Fred Philps and become the country's next most hated man? Maybe,… Read more.

Crossfit’s “scientific” refusal to allow Chloie Jönnson to compete in women’s division not actually supported by science

March 21, 2014 ·

In a situation that recalls the recent controversy around MMA Fighter Fallon Fox, Chloie Jönsson, a trans woman, was recently banned from competing in the women’s division of Reebok’s CrossFit athletic competition, a high-intensity endurance fitness challenge with a cash-prize of $250,000. She is now suing Crossfit for $2.5 million for discrimination. In the letter to her lawyer, obtained by TMZ, CrossFit contends that:  This is simply wrong as a matter of human biology and if you can’t see… Read more.

The Irish Times Pub employees violently deny a trans woman entrance on St Patricks weekend

March 16, 2014 ·

Andi Dier. a transgender woman from New York was roughed up by the employees of The Irish Times Pub and Restaurant in Holbrooke as they bruskly removed her from the premise. Ms. Dier says they used transphobic slurs and tried to take her I phone after seeing she had recorded part of the incident. They then stole her state-issued ID and had it not been for a stranger outraged over her treatment, she says the employees would have kept it. Most… Read more.

TERF: what it means and where it came from

March 15, 2014 ·

Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists (TERF) are quick to make fact assertions about the term, TERF. According to TERFs, the term is a slur and use of the term makes one a misogynist.   Others assert that the term is insulting, hyperbolic, misleading, and ultimately defamatory. Allen actually calls for more people to recognize radical feminists as a hate group and then pointedly adopts the term Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist (TERF) to refer to them throughout the article. Make no mistake, this is a slur.… Read more.

Arizona Transgender Woman Monica Jones on trial for refusing “Project Rose”

March 14, 2014 ·

Monica's troubles began one night after protesting Arizona’s failed religious anti-LGBT legislation while walking to a bar. An undercover officer engaged her in a conversation which led to her being charged with "manifesting prostitution”, AKA walking while trans. Since Jones hadn't been previously charged with similar 'crimes' Ms. Jones was offered a deferral if she enrolled in the Catholic/police/university "Project Rose" and successfully completed it. However, Ms. Jones is fighting back refusing the plea and religious programming despite being repeatedly harassed… Read more.

TERFs offer only hyperbole

March 13, 2014 ·

TERFs are well-known for referring to their rhetoric as being "gender critical." You might think that this means that they are critical of gender in all its forms. However, TERF criticism of gender seems to only ever extend to others (usually trans people). There is a great line in SLC Punk that gets at the heart of a critique I recently made: Brandy: Aren't you, like, rebelling against society? Stevo: Put that simply, kinda, yeah. Brandy: Wouldn't it be… Read more.

#JD4PJI: The downfall of the Pacific Justice Institute and the sweet victory of trans youth

March 7, 2014 ·

The one thing that you have to realize is that everything the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) did to a trans kid in Colorado was about PJI's desire to stop a law in California that codified equality standards for trans children. Law makers in California proposed legislation that would help ensure that California's trans children would be able to have a school experience free from institutionalized oppression. PJI hated this idea and decided that were going to fight it every… Read more.

The shame of Sheila Jeffreys’ hate

March 6, 2014 ·

University of Melbourne Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist (TERF), Sheila Jeffreys is being called out for her racist comments by the indigenous Australian community. Jeffreys asserted on a radio show that being trans is like blackface. A genderqueer member of the Indigenous people of Australia told the Star Observer: There is a fear that racist, misogynistic, queerphobic and transphobic people will take her message as truth and enact these prejudices against trans-identified Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. By reducing transgender identities to that… Read more.

Religious Bigots: Intersections of Trans, Racial and Feminist issues | PodCast

February 26, 2014 ·

[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/136808690" params="color=ff2c00&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true" width="100%" height="166" iframe="true" /] Hey there folks this is Cristan Williams with another TransAdvocate podcast. Today I have a few topics I want to touch on. We'll talk about the Arizona "right to discriminate" bill. Specifically we'll hear the office of the bill's sponsor, Senator Yarbrough, say that his bill will protect the right of the Ku Klux Klan to institute racial segregation based on "religious belief." We'll talk about why a recent… Read more.

Trans medical care = mutilation?

February 19, 2014 ·

A reader writes: I was wondering if it would be possible to open a discussion seeking articulation explaining why and how surgical alteration is different from genital mutilation. I feel insufficiently equipped to defend the difference. Here's the deal: body autonomy. I - not some random person - get to decide what body modifications constitute "mutilation." I don't want a pierced septum and if someone held me down and forcibly priced it, I would view it as "mutilation" regardless if… Read more.

Full SFGN Interview: ‘I am not a bigot’ Says Gender Identity Watch’s Cathy Brennan

February 12, 2014 ·

Recently the South Florida Gay News interviewed me for an article on the TERFs, Cathy Brennan and her group, Gender Identity Watch: The Web is where this feud appears to have escalated with Brennan trading barbs between journalists and advocates from the transgender community who claim Brennan and her blog are insensitive. “I believe the petition served to clearly demonstrate that many thousands of feminists view the GIW team to be a hate group,” said Cristan Williams, editor of Transadvocate.com. “I… Read more.

Transgender Pathologization

February 2, 2014 ·

By Kat Haché @papierhache NOTE: Content warning below. Yesterday, I came across an article in the LA Times regarding the National Transgender Discrimination Survey’s study of the elevated risk of suicide in the transgender community.  To briefly summarize, the statistics are shocking: 41% of transgender/gender non-confoming individuals have attempted suicide, a rate of 9 times the national average The risk was higher for those who had suffered discrimination or violence For those driven to homelessness, the risk was even higher, at 69%, for those… Read more.

Transgender Woman Attacked in Astoria Queens

January 20, 2014 ·

By Jennifer Lopez Suspects | Credit: DCPI On January 8th, 2014 a 30 year old transwoman whom wishes to remain anonymous for now, went to the Neptune Diner in Astoria Queens, New York City to eat an early morning meal with a friend.  Her friend, a 32 year old cisgender man, went to the restroom.  According to Deputy Inspector Kevin Maloney of the 114th Precinct in NYC that is when three other patrons in the diner… Read more.

PJI pushes debunked lies to the press. Again.

January 18, 2014 ·

Ex-gay groups are pounding their high chairs insisting that AB 1266 is not in effect. They claim that merely because they turned in signatures - valid or no - AB 1266, the California law codifying protections for trans children in schools, is on hold. The media and liberal politicians are doing their best to scare school officials into implementing AB 1266 right away. The media is reporting that AB 1266 is now in effect and must be implemented by every… Read more.

Fool me once: Toronto Star doubles down on their anti-trans hoax

January 10, 2014 ·

By Cristan Williams @cristanwilliams In its landmark 2009 decision on responsible communication in the public interest, Canada’s highest court asserts this principle: “Freedom does not negate responsibility. It is vital that the media act responsibly in reporting facts on matters of public concern, holding themselves to the highest journalistic standards.” If the Toronto Star does not live up to this responsibility in everything it publishes — in the newspaper, on its websites and through social media — we undermine our… Read more.

Monica Roberts’ Speech To Houston City Council

January 9, 2014 ·

Speech To Houston City Council January 7, 2014 By Monica Roberts Happy New Year and good afternoon to you Mayor Parker, distinguished members of City Council, and my fellow Houstonians. I am Monica Roberts, a proud native Houstonian who grew up and resides in District D. I’m standing at this podium today because I’m one of the people that Mayor Parker talked about in her inauguration speech last week and was inspired by it to do so. As a transgender resident of… Read more.

Toronto newspaper pushes trans hoax, claims no duty to fact check

January 6, 2014 ·

On Saturday, the Toronto Star's "ethics" journalist, Ken Gallinger, unquestioningly published the incredible claim that an elderly Toronto women was hit on in the YMCA women's locker room by a male-bodied individual who was walking around the women's locker room fully nude, replete with erection. Fact checking is not what we do here at the Toronto Star! The article claimed that the nude and erect individual was allowed into the women's locker room because they merely… Read more.

New lies: Anti-LGBT sites assert courtroom victory and claim California trans law is now on hold

January 3, 2014 ·

It all began with the Media Matters "Misinformer of the Year" winner, the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) issuing a press release claiming that because they turned in 600k+ signatures (some valid, some demonstrably not), the California law codifying protections for trans children was put on hold: PJI compounded their campaign of lies by then giving the false impression that they had won a courtroom legal fight against the California Secretary of State: After calling the California Secretary of State, the… Read more.

CONSPIRACY: PJI front group sues California because county offices were closed on holiday

December 20, 2013 ·

By Cristan Williams @CristanWilliams Gina Gleason, director of the Faith and Public Policy and Watchmen "ministries" of Calvary Chapel church1, asserted that her church's group, the Privacy for All Students (PFAS) coalition is suing the California Secretary of State because PFAS turned in their petitions late. PFAS signature gatherer hiding face after being caught fraudulently misrepresenting the issue to voters, a crime under California election law. The law (AB 1266) protecting transgender children says schools must treat transgender students as equal to cisgender students.… Read more.

The Specificity Critique

December 18, 2013 ·

The Paradise Post decided to feature one the more ridiculous talking points on offer by anti-equality forces. The "Specificity Critique" is when bigots decry trans equality laws for being policy instead of procedure. I find it ironic the same people who decry the claimed tyranny of Big Government are the same who decry the fact that they aren't micromanaged by the State in the roll-out of trans-inclusive policy. The specificity critique is the last fig leaf of a bigoted ideology. In… Read more.

Fact Checking: anti-trans “parents of students” speak out at school board meeting

December 11, 2013 ·

By Cristan Williams @cristanwilliams Charlotte Burrous, a reporter for the Canon City Daily Record asserted that parents of students spoke out at a school board meeting: Parents of students in the Florence-Penrose School District expressed concern during Monday's regular board meeting about a transgender Florence High School girl who has been granted permission by the school, and the district, to continue to use the girls' restroom at the school. Yeah, they're talking about Jane Doe: Before… Read more.

Eavesdrop on a right wing anti-trans training camp: teaching fear mongering and lies

November 29, 2013 ·

Recently, an equality effort in Florida was defeated by appealing to the 'trans people = rape' meme. As it turned out, appealing to this meme was deliberate and is, in fact, part of a curriculum currently being taught to anti-LGBT activists. The TransAdvocate obtained audio from one of the training sessions given by the Christian Family Association (CFC) on October 5th, shortly after their successful defeat of a Florida equality measure that included trans people. The curriculum taught at this training… Read more.

Interview with Delta county “castration” school board member: turns out she’s linked to anti-LGBT groups

November 25, 2013 ·

Recently Katherine Svenson, a Delta county School Board member in Colorado, found herself the topic of controversy after remarking that trans kids should be castrated before they use the restroom. What news reports failed to note was that Svenson is the co-founder of an anti-gay ministry: Cached 2010 copy of TellASIA founding members Here's some of what TellASIA spends its time doing: It so happened that the dates of the final conference coincided with the date when South… Read more.

A Community of the Heart: Intersectional feminist speech from San Antonio TDOR

November 23, 2013 ·

What follows is an amazing speech given by Graciela Sanchez on realizing liberation through building a "community of the heart." Sanchez, a self-identified lesbian Latina queer spoke on the intersections of oppression and of social justice. [soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/121478145" width="100%" height="166" iframe="true" /] The last page of the Houston and San Antonio TDOR booklet This speech was taped by the TransAdvocate at the San Antonio, Texas Trans Day of Remembrance on November 21, 2013, held in the Metropolitan Community… Read more.

Southern Poverty Law Center: Monitor Gender Identity Watch as a Hate Group

November 22, 2013 ·

As a feminist organization, Secular Woman promotes gender equality. We stand against and combat sexism, hate, intolerance, and misogyny. Transgender women are women. Cisgender women are women. We do not, in any way, view the existence of transgender women, genderqueer individuals or transgender men as a threat to the safety of women, female identity, or the goals of feminism. As intersectional feminists we acknowledge the privilege that cisgender people experience. We aim to dismantle the axis of oppression that this… Read more.

Media from protesting the Pacific Justice Institute’s hate

November 21, 2013 ·

The Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) is the ex-gay group who recently bullied a Colorado trans kid to the brink of suicide. At the same time, PJI was working to strip protections for all trans children in California. The PJI-backed coalition worked tirelessly to paint trans children as threats, sexual deviants an unstable. Their campaign of lies, fraud and intimidation produced over 600,000 signatures in support of discrimination against trans children. Unsurprisingly, California's school district has seen a recent uptick of anti-trans crimes targeting… Read more.

Another California trans student attacked, trans community responds: #JD4PJI

November 16, 2013 ·

Just a week after the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) backed coalition turned in over 600,000 signatures to repeal protections for trans children in California, a trans student was caught on tape fighting for her life as a group of bullies attacked her. PJI is the ex-gay organization that recently bullied a Colorado trans kid to the brink of suicide. The attack comes days after a California genderqueer student was set on fire for wearing a skirt. School officials say that… Read more.

Popular TERF front group is fake

November 15, 2013 ·

Would you be surprised to learn that a wildly popular front group TERF attorney, Cathy Brennan runs is fake? The group, Organizing for Women's Liberation (OWL) claims to have received well over 100,000 FaceBook likes and is the more palatable face of Cathy Brennan's hate group. OWL mixes anti-trans messaging in with news reports chronicling rape and brutality against women, thereby linking "trans" to real violence against women. The reality is that OWL is a fake group whose "like" numbers… Read more.

Add intimidation to the lies, fraud of the anti-AB1266 effort as signature gatherer caught bullying trans advocate

November 14, 2013 ·

The TransAdvocate has documented numerous unethical and/or illegal actions by Pacific Justice Institute backed movement seeking to repeal protections for trans children in California. We've caught them bullying a trans kid to the brink of suicide in an effort to manufacture talking points. We've caught them committing election fraud over and over again. We've caught them lying in the press and lying to the public and today, we've  uncovered evidence of signature gatherers attempting to intimidate a trans advocate when she asked… Read more.

Colleen Francis and the infamous Evergreen State College incident

November 13, 2013 ·

The mere mention of the incident should send shivers down your spine. Trans people who support protections based on gender identity should feel nervous when Colleen's name is mentioned. If you're trans, you should hope that this incident fades into the distance and is never brought up in polite conversations. For the uninitiated, here's a recap from Fox News: A Washington college said their non-discrimination policy prevents them from stopping a transgender man from exposing himself to young girls inside… Read more.

Ask Matt: Coming Out as Trans after Coming Out as Gay

November 13, 2013 ·

A reader writes: “I am a 39-year-old gay male. Ever since high school, I have geared being more like a female. It was tough when I came out as being gay. I got teased and made fun of in school. My mother accepted me being gay. “I have tried to be a full-time male, but just was not happy with it. I drank a lot as well. A year ago I decided to start the process of transitioning. I have… Read more.

Transgender women in women’s restrooms: A purely imagined harm

November 12, 2013 ·

By Zinnia Jones This August, California passed the School Success and Opportunity Act, a law mandating that transgender students must be included in school activities on the basis of their identified gender rather than their assigned sex. This includes playing on sports teams consistent with their gender, as well as the use of facilities such as bathrooms and locker rooms. Conservative groups predictably painted this as an outrage, raising the terrifying possibility that trans girls might use girls’ restrooms – which is supposed… Read more.

Restoring your faith in humanity: supporting Jane Doe

November 12, 2013 ·

Before PJI: Jane Doe (front row, middle) with school friends. The Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) is the ex-gay organization who claimed that a trans kid (who I refer to as Jane Doe) in Colorado was harassing cisgender girls in the restrooms. Media outlets published PJI's story without fact checking their claims, prompting members of the right-wing community to call for the death of Jane Doe. While PJI’s claims were proven false, the public animosity PJI inspired by and focused on Jane took… Read more.

California school students & faculty support genderqueer student set on fire & who continues to be misgendered in the press

November 10, 2013 ·

Sasha Fleischman, a genderqueer senior at Colorado's Maybeck High School, fell asleep in the rear of a bus heading for East Oakland. Sasha's skirt was set on fire by a 16 year old named Richard Thomas, resulting in 3rd-degree burns. Sasha was hospitalized and must have skin grafts. Sasha will remain hospitalized for several weeks, but should be home for Thanksgiving. "Sasha is getting good care, and has a good prognosis for recovery," Trevor… Read more.

Right-wing gets it wrong. Again.

November 9, 2013 ·

Some of you may be shocked to learn that staff at Heritage Middle School in St. Leonard, MD are forcing school children to crossdress in order to make them understand the hardship trans and gay people are facing. It must be true because here's a photo of the school children: "These Two Children Were Paired As A Post-Op And Pre-Op Transsexual Couple" Horrifying, isn't it? Right wing activist groups thought so: Who's PFOX you ask? Well, PFOX is… Read more.

Update of California referendum targeting trans children

November 8, 2013 ·

Since election day we've gotten numerous requests for updates on what's happening with the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) backed effort to repeal the California law defining protections for transgender school children. The law (AB 1266) protecting transgender children, which California Gov. Jerry Brown signed in August, says schools must treat transgender students as equal to cisgender students.  A PJI-backed coalition of anti-LGBT groups calling itself "Privacy for All Students" has circulated 100s of thousands of anti-trans petitions throughout California. Their goal… Read more.

PJI given brushoff by the Colorado School Board

November 8, 2013 ·

The Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) is the ex-gay organization who claimed that a trans kid (who I will refer to as Jane Doe, for reasons of safety) in Colorado was harassing cisgender girls in the restrooms. Media outlets published the story without fact checking PJI's claims, prompting some to call for the death of the trans kid. While PJI's claims were proven false, the public animosity PJI inspired and aimed at Jane Doe took its toll. Jane Doe was placed on a suicide watch. PJI acknowledged… Read more.

Cathy Brennan’s TERF group promotes PJI fundraiser

November 7, 2013 ·

The group TERF attorney, Cathy Brennan represents is promoting PJI's fundraising efforts: Brennan had previously acted as PJI's mouthpiece, delivering PJI statements to the TransAdvocate. Additionally, Brennan outed the name of the trans kid during the height of the bullying she was enduring, an act even PJI refused to do. This fundraising video features individuals PJI asserts are subject to police investigation for possible online criminal activities targeting a trans youth. This video targets the same trans youth who who was… Read more.

PJI fundraising video targeting suicidal trans kid goes viral

November 7, 2013 ·

The Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) is the ex-gay organization that stirred up the right-wing word when it claimed that a trans kid (who I will refer to as Jane Doe, for reasons of safety) in Colorado was harassing cisgender girls in the restrooms. Right wing media outlets jumped at the story without fact checking PJI's claims, prompting members of the right wing community to call for the death of the trans kid. As a result of PJI's bullying Jane Doe was placed on a suicide watch. Even… Read more.

Spot anti-trans signature gatherers in California? Report it at 866-377-0578!

November 2, 2013 ·

The TransAdvocate has documented the dirty tricks anti-trans groups are playing in California. We documented how the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) falsely claimed that a trans girl had been harassing cis girls in the restroom so they could use it to scare Californians into rejecting AB 1266, the law protecting trans children. We documented how the PJI lied about there being a police investigation targeting the trans girl. We interviewed and fact checked PJI, proving that they were dishonest time… Read more.

Victoria Brownworth: this is who you pay to write about queer issues?!?

November 2, 2013 ·

Before you read further, check out this Storify wherein Victoria Brownworth claims that I am a pedophile who pays to have sex with children: Earlier this year, I wrote a piece about cisprivilege and how it showed up in a print article wherein Victoria Brownworth was curious about what the genitalia of a trans kid looked like - someone she says she believed to be a minor - and… Read more.

Meet the financial backers of the effort to discriminate against trans kids in California

November 1, 2013 ·

NAME OF CONTRIBUTOR PAYMENT TYPE CITY STATE ZIP EMPLOYER OCCUPATION AMOUNT TRANSACTION DATE SEAN FIELER MONETARY PRINCETON NJ 8540 EQUINOX PARTNERS PARTNER $80,000.00 9/25/2013 PACIFIC JUSTICE INSTITUTE MONETARY SACRAMENTO CA 95827 $10,000.00 9/23/2013 HAGMAN FOR SENATE 2016 NON-MONETARY CHINO HILLS CA 91709 $7,013.73 9/26/2013 HERMAN ROWLAND, SR MONETARY FAIRFIELD CA 94533 JELLY BELLY CANDY COMPANY CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD $5,000.00 9/26/2013 CHRISTINE HALLADAY MONETARY NEWHALL CA 91321 SELF HOMEMAKER $1,000.00 9/24/2013 ROBERT MACK MONETARY HILLSBOROUGH CA 94010 UNEMPLOYED $1,000.00 9/27/2013… Read more.

PodCast: Reviewing media bias and an interview on Swirl Radio

October 30, 2013 ·

[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/117840029" width="100%" height="166" iframe="true" /] In this podcast, I review the way in which the mainstream media has responded to the TWO right-wing hoaxes which spread the trans bathroom meme in mainstream media. Also, there's a short interview I did for Swirl Radio - a Clear Channel radio show - and an excerpt from the radio interview that followed my on: an interview with Cathy Brennan, the TERF opinion leader.   Tip this TransAdvocate! Writers… Read more.

PJI caught lying… yet again

October 28, 2013 ·

The Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) is the ex-gay organization that stirred up the right-wing word by claiming that a trans kid (who I will refer to as Jane Doe, for reasons of safety) in Colorado was harassing cisgender girls in the restrooms. Right wing media outlets jumped at the story without conducting any fact checking, prompting members of the right wing community to call for the death of the trans kid. Last week, PJI made the following statement on the notorious right-wing site, World Daily News: Transgender… Read more.

Debunked: LA peeping tom trans kids

October 28, 2013 ·

In the seemingly never-ending morass of falsehoods coming from the likes of the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI), a new claim of trans harassment is being pushed in the media by members of the PJI-backed coalition of organizations who are trying to dismantle protections for California transgender school children. In this iteration of the trans bathroom meme,  it's claimed that LA school girls are being harassed by a trans kid who crawls up and over the bathroom stalls in order to watch… Read more.

‘Hate group’ supporters under police surveillance for bullying?

October 25, 2013 ·

The Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) is the ex-gay organization that stirred up the right-wing word by claiming that a trans kid (who I will refer to as Jane Doe, for reasons of safety) in Colorado was harassing cisgender girls in the restrooms. Right wing media outlets jumped at the story without conducting any fact checking, prompting members of the right wing community to call for the death of the trans kid. Yesterday, the TransAdvocate learned that Jane Doe is under suicide watch. Also, the PJI just issued… Read more.

What happens when PJI is confronted by parents?

October 24, 2013 ·

The Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) is the ex-gay organization that stirred up the right-wing word by claiming that a trans kid (who I will refer to as Jane Doe, for reasons of safety) in Colorado was harassing cisgender girls in the restrooms. Right-wing media outlets jumped at the story without conducting any fact checking, prompting members of the right-wing community to call for the death of the trans kid. While I interviewed Matthew McReynolds, staff attorney for PJI earlier this week,  McReynolds was first interviewed by the… Read more.

TransAdvocate interviews the Pacific Justice Institute

October 21, 2013 ·

I wanted to go ahead and get this interview out there ASAP. I'll make a more in-depth post soon - including how PJI responds to Jane Doe's mother and what they think about ex-gay and ex-transgender conversion therapy (clue: they think it's worth fighting for). Here's the interview:   [soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/116441769" width="100%" height="166" iframe="true" /]   UPDATE: An amazing Reddit user has transcribed this entire interview!   Tip this TransAdvocate! Writers for the TransAdvocate work hard to… Read more.

Family of Colorado trans kid targeted by harassment hoax speaks up

October 20, 2013 ·

I’d like to introduce you to a 16 year old high school student who I’m going to refer to as “Jane Doe.” I’m calling her "Jane" because, after an ex-gay organization orchestrated an international smear campaign against her, numerous individuals have stated that she should be beaten and killed. Jane recently moved to a small Colorado town with her two moms. Jane transitioned from male to female two years ago with the blessing of her therapist. In October 2011, Jane… Read more.

California signature gatherer caught lying to trick people into discriminating against trans children

October 19, 2013 ·

Groups who want a legal right to discriminate against transgender children seem to be pulling out all the stops. An ex-gay group, the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI), recently went on an ugly smear campaign targeting a Colorado trans kid in what seems to be a ham-handed effort to manufacture talking points for their California battle against trans children. While the campaign was proven to be a hoax, it nonetheless resulted in the conservative community calling for the beating death of the innocent… Read more.

YOUR HELP REQUESTED: HRC condemns fake trans harassment charges, ex-gay group dodges my fact checking, family & friends open up

October 18, 2013 ·

Today, HRC has joined GLAAD in condemning the false reports of trans harassment by an ex-gay/creationist group, the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI). The PJI is the organization at the center of an international effort to malign one transgender kid. Last week, the PJI issued the right-wing community talking points for use in their fight for their right to discriminate against trans children. In their letter, the PJI claimed that they were concerned that the school was helping a trans kid harass cisgender girls. Right wing media outlets jumped at the story without… Read more.

GLAAD condemns fake “report” of harassment by transgender student

October 17, 2013 ·

GLAAD condemned the false report by the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) which claimed a transgender kid was harassing cisgender girls in Colorado. PJI is the ex-gay/creationist organization at the center of an international effort to malign one transgender kid. Last week, the PJI provided the right-wing word with the ultimate talking point against protecting trans children when they claimed that a trans kid in Colorado, assisted by the public school system, harassed cisgender girls in the restrooms. Right wing media outlets jumped at the story… Read more.

Anti-gay activist group admits trans school “harassment” is fake

October 16, 2013 ·

Okay. Maybe the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) doesn't think that they're admitted their charge of "harassment" is fake, but I'll let you be the judge. The PJI is a right-wing activist organization and huge supporter of the ex-gay movement as well as the debunked practice of conversion therapy. Recently, the PJI stirred up the right-wing word by claiming that a kid in Colorado was helped by the public school system to harass cisgender girls in the restrooms. Right wing media outlets… Read more.

TERF supports anti-gay activist group

October 16, 2013 ·

Cathy Brennan, an opinion leader in of the Trans Exclusionary RadFem movement has chosen to side with the ex-gay organization, the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI):   Fails to mention this story was recanted   Worse, Brennan volunteered to serve as the mouthpiece of the right-wing anti-gay activist organization: Trans people are "inherently intimidating and harassing" and no, we've not actually supported anything we've said with any evidence, but trust us. We wouldn't… Read more.

Daily Mail pulls story, Examiner prints retraction, Fox News keeps the lie going

October 15, 2013 ·

On Sunday, October 13, 2013 the Daily Mail published a story titled, Girls ‘harassed’ in school bathroom by transgender student told his rights trump their privacy, but pulled the article after it became apparent that the story fabricated. An early promoter of the lie was David McCaine at the Examiner:   On October 11, David ran with this story without fact checking. The TransAdvocate took him to task for his irresponsible behavior and I've just learned that David has done the right thing:… Read more.

UK’s Daily Mail Removes False Trans Harassment Story

October 15, 2013 ·

On Sunday, October 13, 2013 the Daily Mail published a story titled, Girls 'harassed' in school bathroom by transgender student told his rights trump their privacy: The story, exposed by the TransAdvocate as a lie concocted by right wing ideologues, elicited the following responses from the Daily Mail readers: Give him a throat punch when no one is looking. Tell it to use the boys room! Is anyone surprised by this? What happened to the days when boys and girls were… Read more.

Todd Kincannon, Former South Carolina GOP Executive Director: American trans people should be interned in camps

October 15, 2013 ·

Former South Carolina GOP Executive Director, Todd Kincannon has publicly declared that some Americans should be interned in "camps." Kincannon went on to refer to a trans person as a "goddamn he-she" and stated that trans people were "disgusting mentally ill weirdos." While certainly worded with cruel intent, how does Kincannon's message of exclusion differ in substance from the stated position of the South Carolina GOP? The South Carolina Republican party is very clear about their views of LGBT people and their stated… Read more.

Trans Student Attacking Girls in School Restroom! Or, you know… not.

October 14, 2013 ·

The push for radical transgender rights in schools is trumping privacy rights at one Colorado high school. A male student at Florence High School who claims to be a transgender has been harassing girls in the bathroom. When parents complained, school officials said the boy's rights as a transgender trumped their daughters' privacy rights. - charismanews.com Right wing news outlets are falling over themselves to bemoan the sad state of our public school system now that the law allows transgender… Read more.

TERFs & Trans Healthcare

October 12, 2013 ·

While there are many who feel that morality must be built into law, I believe that the elimination of transsexualism is not best achieved by legislation prohibiting transsexual treatment and surgery but rather by legislation that limits it and by other legislation that lessens the support given to sex-role stereotyping, which generated the problem to begin with. Any legislation should be aimed at the social conditions that initiate and promote the surgery as well as the growth of the medical-institutional… Read more.

[UPDATED] Cotton Ceiling: Uncovering the trans conspiracy to rape lesbians

September 27, 2013 ·

The mere mention of the "cotton ceiling" should send rapey shivers up your spine. If you've not heard of it here's the lowdown from feminists: Transgender cotton ceiling rapists hold male-only (Planned Parenthood-sponsored) seminars, write books, host lecture tours, and endlessly spam lesbian websites and blogs with rape and murder threats over lack of male “inclusion” in lesbian social gatherings, lesbian organizing, lesbian events, lesbian music festivals, and – most importantly- lesbian bedrooms. http://tinyurl.com/ms5289e Planned Parenthood Toronto is helping to sponsor… Read more.

You might be a TERF if…

September 24, 2013 ·

I've noticed that there seems to be some confusion about what a Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist (TERF) is so, here's a quick guide to help you figure out if you're someone who pushes TERF ideology, which is to say, someone who's a TERF. Chances are that you're a TERF if you believe that you're a feminist when you... 1.) Claim that trans women are cis men, that trans men are cis women and purposefully misgender trans people. 2.) Out trans… Read more.

Creating a world without fear

September 23, 2013 ·

TW: transphobic violence Like a lot of people, I was transphobic when I was younger. Society had conditioned me to be. There were men and there were women, and anyone who didn’t fit into the narrow definitions of one of those categories was abnormal, abhorrent, a freak. I remember (much to my shame) pointing at people I saw on the bus who didn’t look like what I thought a man or a woman should look like and laughing at them.… Read more.

On Trial in Texas: The Transitioned Status of Trans People

September 19, 2013 ·

Me & Judge Frye Today Phyllis Frye (America's first out trans judge) and I met up with Nikki Araguz at the 13th District Court of Appeals for the hearing on how Texas will view the transitioned status of trans folk. For the uninitiated, here's how we got here and why this case will likely affect YOU. Court began at 2:00 in the afternoon. The court was made up of a 3 judges and since this is… Read more.

Sometimes it doesn’t get better

September 16, 2013 ·

Sometimes it doesn't get better, sometimes life shit on you until you break and there’s nothing you can do. I'm not going to lie to you and tell you it gets better because it might not get better, but i do want to tell you one thing. Even if it never gets better you are worthy. You are worthy of love and respect and compassion and a fair chance and human dignity, your value as a human being is not… Read more.

If you live in Texas, YOUR transitioned status is up for appeal

September 16, 2013 ·

This very important case has been dragging on for a couple of years now and here's the recap: 1.) It all started April, 19 2010 with this: Back in 2010, an intersex person wanted to marry a woman and the El Paso clerk  didn't know if it was legal to issue a marriage license because this person had initially been sexed male, but had genital reconstructive surgery and had proof of her intersex status. So, the El Paso clerk wrote… Read more.

“Award Winning” Journalist Victoria Brownworth Caught Lying YET AGAIN!

September 7, 2013 ·

Victoria Brownworth, self proclaimed "award winning" TERF journalist (though she calls herself RadFem), hates me. Like, a lot. I wrote the following factual account of how she used her privilege to coerce a trans minor (actions Brownworth herself describes as both creepy and wrong) to expose his genitals to her: Gawking at TransKid’s Genitalia is “Freedom of Speech” says Philly PD Instead of owning her privilege and/or lapse of professionalism, she went on the offensive: She… Read more.

Sheila Jeffreys and the myth of where trans care comes from

August 30, 2013 ·

Sheila Jeffreys has for years claimed that trans surgery is the product of some malevolent conspiracy: could be likened to political psychiatry in the Soviet Union. I suggest that transsexualism should best be seen in this light, as directly political, medical abuse of human rights. The mutilation of healthy bodies and the subjection of such bodies to dangerous and life-threatening continuing treatment violates such people's rights to live with dignity in the body into which they were born,… Read more.

Asking Yet Again Why the SPLC Will Not ‘Go There’ Regarding Exterminationist TERFs

August 29, 2013 ·

SPLC will when it comes to a “gay-bashing, revenge-seeking black nationalist” who works at the Department of Homeland Security. An employee at the Department of Homeland Security runs a racist website in his spare time and advocates the mass killing of white Americans, gays, and black leaders he believes are traitors, according to a report by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Ayo Kimathi, a small business specialist at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a branch of the DHS, is a “gay-bashing, revenge-seeking black nationalist” who runs… Read more.

San Antonio: not as mature as their children

August 28, 2013 ·

San Antonio adults standing up for their right to discriminate. For the past month, the adults of San Antonio have been wringing their collective hands in very public displays of "concern" over a city ordinance that would extend equality to *gasp* trans citizens. While the notion of trans/cis equality has set the adult's tongues awaggin, their children already extend this equality to trans children. San Antonio ISD has, for some time now, had a trans-inclusive policy… Read more.

California Trans Bill Freak Out

August 27, 2013 ·

Supposedly, as the RadRight narrative goes, the California bill protecting trans kids in school is anarchy and madness. Unsurprisingly, TERFs and H-BSers jumped on that narrative: You know what? BS. Here in TEXAS - yes, conservative TEXAS - we've had these California-style policies in effect for YEARS. And you know what's happened? Nothing... Except trans kids got to go to school without having to face institutionalized bigotry. Yup, from kindergarten to high school, here in Texas towns like Houston, trans kids… Read more.

How Many of of the Trans-Hating Bigots Passing Themselves Off as Radical Feminists are Actually Women?

August 22, 2013 ·

I ask this question based on several reasons. I am seeing the exact same wording from the “Radical Feminists” that I am seeing from the Christo-Fascist Organizations that have words like Family and Concerned in their title. I’ve seen this before back during the right wing  Schlafly et.al. campaign against ERA, which passed itself off as a grassroots organizing effort, when it was actually a well financed campaign. ALEC and the Tea Party. The hijacking of “Susan B. Anthony” a… Read more.

Libertarian Feminism and trans people

August 21, 2013 ·

The TransAdvocate recently featured a piece by Radical Women. The group touched on many radical positions on gender and the transgender experience. In this piece, the TransAdvocate interviews Sharon Presley, Executive Director of the Association of Libertarian Feminists (ALF). ALF was formed in 1973 by Toni Nathan, the first woman to have received an electoral vote in a US Presidential election. Look for interviews and pieces by various Feminist opinion leaders in the near future! If you as a… Read more.

Unpacking Transphobia in Feminism

August 9, 2013 ·

NOTE:  Radical Women wanted to share this article on the TransAdvocate so that people understand that not all radical feminist women are TERFs. Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminism (TERF) is a relatively small - but extremely dedicated - hate group which passes itself off as feminism to create, support and promulgates negative opinions about trans people. Formed in 1967, Radical Women is a socialist feminist grassroots activist organization that provides a radical voice within the feminist movement, a feminist voice within… Read more.

Hypocrisy, Hate and Harm #no2h8splc

August 6, 2013 ·

The above is a picture of militant lesbians and gays protesting against a movie that promoted false gay stereotypes. March 18, 1970 Ladies' Home Journal Sit-In Above is what happened when a bunch of RadFems righteously took over the offices of the Ladie's Home Journal because it was a vector for promoting false stereotypes about women. Protesting negative stereotypes of cisgender women in the media has a long and proud tradition among feminists. Queer Nation's New York… Read more.

Buddhist Bigots, Buddhism and Trans Folk

August 3, 2013 ·

Editor's Note: This is part of a TransAdvocate series on religion. This series seeks to explore how various religions conceptualize trans and how trans people conceptualize religion. There is an ex-trans temple in Thailand that is trying to chant, meditate and bully the trans out of trans people. Wat Kreung Tai has a special program for male-bodied trans people between the ages of 11 and 18. The Kreung in Wat (Wat = monastery in Thai) Kreung Tai has a certain connotation that’s is significant in their reparative… Read more.

LifeSiteNews’ Ben Johnson misrepresents “Christian position” on transgender people, fails to actually cite the Bible

August 2, 2013 ·

Editor's Note: This is part of a TransAdvocate series on religion. This series seeks to explore how various religions conceptualize trans and how trans people conceptualize religion. Eunuch Ebed-Melek successfully argues against the rest of King Zedekiah’s court and leads a team of 30 men to rescue the prophet Jeremiah from a well. (Jeremiah 38)   By Daniel Gonzales Ben Johnson of LifeSiteNews is in a tizzy over Pat Robertson’s declaration that transgender people altering… Read more.

Not Against Stealth But For Being Out

August 1, 2013 ·

Editor's Note: This is part of a series on "stealth." The goal of this series to examine the nuanced ways trans opinion leaders conceptualize stealth and how they feel about it. Suzan Cooke kicked off the series with her article, The Many Shades of Stealth. It should be noted that TA is not endorsing any one view, definition or conceptualization. As with the elephant parable, each perception presented in this series represents one representation of the truth; taken together,… Read more.

For the last time: VICTORIA BROWNWORTH IS NOT A TRANSPHOBE!!!

July 26, 2013 ·

Victoria Brownworth is an award-winning journalist who likes to write about transwomen who live on the edge of society due to bigotry which means that nothing she does can ever be transphobic. Furthermore, she writes for the Philadelphia Gay News (PGN) - which (of course) means that she doesn't have cisprivilege (which isn't real, BTW). In one of PGN's Brownworth articles, she recounts how she talked a trans minor into exposing himself to her because she felt it was her privilege (even though… Read more.

You’re Only as Transitioned and Stealth as the Next Person Says You Aren’t

July 26, 2013 ·

Editor's Note: This is part of a series on "stealth." The goal of this series to examine the nuanced ways trans opinion leaders conceptualize stealth and how they feel about it. Suzan Cooke kicked off the series with her article, The Many Shades of Stealth. It should be noted that TA is not endorsing any one view, definition or conceptualization. As with the elephant parable, each perception presented in this series represents one representation of the truth; taken together,… Read more.

Boycott Putin’s Russian Winter Olympics #FreePussyRiot Balaclavas for everyone

July 25, 2013 ·

The growing parallels between Hitler and Putin's charade duping world leaders, who are all to willing to pretend there was nothing so wrong with Nazism or Putin's Anti LGBT laws that a Boycott of the Olympicswould have been necessary, is well, mind boggling. Nothing has changed, with the Olympic committee or world leaders who remain more concerned with their egos, prestige and cooperate connection$ than human rights, life or dignity. The biggest difference between then and now is social media where… Read more.

The TERF Empire Declares War Against Trans People

July 25, 2013 ·

Trans pioneer Dallas Denny published an article on TA about expressing her misgivings about the upcoming publication of a book promoting  Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist (TERF) hate. She just received a chilling response from a group of  TERF academics declaring war on trans people. The anonymous author declares war on me and for that matter on all transpeople. He or she and his or her six compatriots claims that they will raise an army of graduate students who will oppress me… Read more.

Passing and Stealth: Two Words to Lose? Part Two

July 24, 2013 ·

Editor's Note: This is part of a series on "stealth." The goal of this series to examine the nuanced ways trans opinion leaders conceptualize stealth and how they feel about it. Suzan Cooke kicked off the series with her article, The Many Shades of Stealth. It should be noted that TA is not endorsing any one view, definition or conceptualization. As with the elephant parable, each perception presented in this series represents one representation of the truth; taken together,… Read more.

A Rant About MTF “Stealth”

July 23, 2013 ·

Editor's Note: This is part of a series on "stealth." The goal of this series to examine the nuanced ways trans opinion leaders conceptualize stealth and how they feel about it. Suzan Cooke kicked off the series with her article, The Many Shades of Stealth. It should be noted that TA is not endorsing any one view, definition or conceptualization. As with the elephant parable, each perception presented in this series represents one representation of the truth; taken together, it's… Read more.

The Many Shades of Stealth

July 22, 2013 ·

Editor's Note: This is part of a series on "stealth." The goal of this series to examine the nuanced ways trans opinion leaders conceptualize stealth and how they feel about it. Suzan Cooke kicked off the series with her article, The Many Shades of Stealth. It should be noted that TA is not endorsing any one view, definition or conceptualization. As with the elephant parable, each perception presented in this series represents one representation of the truth; taken together,… Read more.

What Chad and Amiyah Can Teach Us About Respecting Trans Women

July 21, 2013 ·

TransGriot Note: Interesting article from one of the people I had the pleasure of meeting during OUT on the Hill last year, Anti-Intellect, concerning the ignorance bubbling up once again in the Black gossip blogosphere concerning this recent photo Chad Johnson took with girl like us Amiyah Scott The guest post at Funky Dineva is entitled 'What Chad Johnson and Amiyah Scott Can Teach Us About Respecting Transgender Women'. It's a call for the Black community to chill with the… Read more.

The Letter

July 20, 2013 ·

When I learned Routledge Press was planning to publish a book about "transgenderism" by Australian academician Sheila Jeffreys, I was astonished. Why was I astonished? Because Jeffreys considers transsexual surgery a human rights violation, has called medical intervention with transgendered children eugenics and McCarthyism, and refuses to use appropriate pronouns when referring to us, cynically claiming she is seeking “clarity.”  I identity FTMs and MTFs by the pronouns that demonstrate their sex class of origin for the sake of clarity. –FTM Transsexualism… Read more.

Memo to Proven Liar Victoria Brownworth

July 19, 2013 ·

A former Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader won her defamation lawsuit against a gossip website and its operator, with a jury awarding her $338,000 in damages Thursday. Jurors in federal court in Covington found that posts about Sarah Jones on the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based website thedirty.com in 2009 were substantially false. The jury of eight women and two men also found website operator Nik Richie acted with malice or reckless disregard in posting the submissions he said were anonymous. One post alleged Jones had sex with every Bengals… Read more.

I Am The Transsexual Your Boyfriend Wants to Be With: On Thought Catalog’s Transphobia Problem

July 18, 2013 ·

I wake up, like any other woman, run my fingers through my long, bed-head hair, wishing I could stay asleep, and go to pour some cereal and coffee for breakfast.  I decided to check my Twitter and my Facebook page, and in my feed, I see a Thought Catalog post that looks interesting.  I click, I read, I find a little bit of inspiration. This has been a fairly accurate description of many mornings that I have spent before school or work,… Read more.

Justice For Slain Türkçe Transsexual DORA İÇİN : Protest March July 12th

July 11, 2013 ·

I was contacted via twitter by the first and as of this time the only Turkish transgender TV reporterMichelle Demishevich, who told me of some terrible news. A well known transsexual Dora Özer, has been murdered in Aydin Turkey. Source Travesti Club: July 9, 2013 Time: 23:00 'in the transvestite DORA ÖZER murder was the last straw now. Site Hacifeyzullah district town of Kusadasi AYDIN ​​Altıngüvercin… Read more.

Gawking at TransKid’s Genitalia is “Freedom of Speech” says Philly PD

July 4, 2013 ·

A much older adult, who was famous in the eyes of a kid, talked the minor into exposing themselves to the adult. The adult then took a good long look - long enough to memorize the details of the kid's genitals. The adult then wrote an article featuring the explicit details of what the underage kid's genitals looked like. While this might elicit a strident response from folks who care about things like the age of consent, the use of… Read more.

Victoria Brownworth, PGN, and Trans Kids

June 25, 2013 ·

Victoria Brownworth has been in the news lately because she is a Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist (TERF) who has a history of interpreting the trans experience for disempowered trans people. What follows are excerpts from her 2008 Philadelphia Gay News article, Trans youth: Risking life and limb published online July 4, 2008. "Devon tells me he should have been a boy... He's handsome and, in the loose shirt, no one would ever guess he was born female... I ask him how old he is. He… Read more.

PGN! TERF Victoria Brownworth Teaches Us About Transphobia?! What, Julie Bindel wasn’t Available?

June 25, 2013 ·

Having read The Philadelphia Gay News (PGN) article by Victoria A. Brownworth titled "Victims of the night: Stories of trans sex workers"  I was very impressed by the authors personal investment in her neighbors well being. Her writing indicates a deep compassion for the most marginalized of our community, Tiffani, a black transgender working woman and offered many teaching moments. I was totally cool with her piece until I read the comments and began wondering why trans people were so upset with… Read more.

TERF Appropriation of the Trans Day of Remembrance

June 11, 2013 ·

Our friend Lee is back with another awesome critical commentary comic: On May 13, the TransAdvocate wrote about the appropriation of the Trans Day of Remembrance by Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists (TERFs). Cathy Brennan, contributor to the Radfem2013 conference, has sunk to yet a new low.  She is now trying to exploit the death of our sisters (Transgender Day of Remembrance – TDOR)  to further her justification of transphobia. She wants us all to believe that it isn’t transphobia that kills us, it… Read more.

[UPDATED] Anti-Trans Radio Show Dropped From SiriusXM!

June 7, 2013 ·

UPDATE: I just received a statement from Clear Channel! See below... On June 3rd - just days into Pride Month - the Clear Channel radio show Lex and Terry, broadcast by SiriusXM,  began discussing the gay/trans panic issues saying, There's a teen that shot a tranny after finding out that it was a man after they had a little sexual encounter. A co-host responded, I don't blame him. I would have shot his ass too. [soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/95574012" params="" width=" 100%" height="166" iframe="true" /] The gay/trans… Read more.

[UPDATED] SiriusXM Broadcasts ClearChannel Support for Trans Murder

June 5, 2013 ·

6/6/13, 1:10 PM UPDATE: Sign the petition demanding that Clear Channel issue a public apology! 6/5/13, 8:30 PM UPDATE: I've spoken with Senior Vice President of Communications at SiriusXM and he has made it clear that they do not support the comments of the Lex and Terry show and have taken steps, via an official statement (see below), to distance SiriusXM from the show. Sirius satellite radio, founded by out transwoman Martine Rothblatt, bought XM satellite radio in 2008… Read more.

Indonesia’s Trans Muslims

June 4, 2013 ·

Here's a documentary focusing on our Indonesian trans sisters.   They have been catching hell there lately, and the anti-trans attitudes whipped up by fundie Muslims even affected a 2010 international trans conference held there. The anti-trans hatred is felt even more keenly by our Indonesian trans sisters who are Muslims who simply want to be themselves and practice their faith. http://youtu.be/SJTzMHDaOlg Cross-posted from TransGriot Read more.

Responding To: Is It Wrong to Perform at Michfest?

June 3, 2013 ·

At its core, Thompson’s argument — and Vogel’s — is essentially based on gender identity and socialization. It contends that being assigned female at birth is a life experience that differs from that of being assigned male. “The internal struggles and social pressures are different,” says Thompson. “We live in a patriarchy. That is still true. And that has real, cultural effects." Syd Mutcher, another Michfest participant, agrees, saying that trans women are informed by their boyhoods and by male… Read more.

So SPLC, When Are You Going To Declare The TERF’s A Hate Group?

June 2, 2013 ·

And how many more Black and Latina trans women have to die before you do so? How many more transpeople have to suffer from anti-trans discrimination before you step up to the plate and do what you should have done years ago? How much more hate speech do they have to publish online at RadFem Hub and Gender Trender before you call them on it? You have four decades worth of evidence that point out the TERF's are a hate… Read more.

A Challenge to GallusMag, Editor of GenderTrender

May 31, 2013 ·

Apparently I've made the big time. I discovered that GallusMag, self-identified RadFem (TERF), TERF opinion leader and co-founder of RadFemHub, has attempted to troll me on her infamous TERF blog, GenderTrender. According to GallusMag, I have huge sweaty balls, I'm a man, I hate lesbians and gays, I hate feminists most of all, I have a sexualized image of myself as a woman, that I'm known for my advocacy for men's rights, that my greatest desire is to be a… Read more.

A Shezow Game: Spot the TERF!

May 30, 2013 ·

Horror of horrors: there's a cartoon wherein a boy puts on a ring that dresses him up like a female superhero. You just know that's going to bring out the RadRight/TERF fringe to proclaim that this show signals... Here's some of the reactions. I've taken these comments from a well-known RadRight blog and a well-known TERF blog. Which comment came from which? Can you guess correctly? (answers at the end) Oh, that's just so terrific. Maybe they can get… Read more.

Will the real Brennan please stand up?

May 28, 2013 ·

Will the real Brennan please stand up? Many trans folk are aware of Brennan for her attempts to overturn trans equality protections, her targeting, outing and trans-shaming  of non-cis folk and for claiming that cis privilege doesn't exist because not all butch lesbians can access all the privilege that comes from not being trans. About a month ago, Brennan began contacting me. She sent me her personal phone number and email saying that should I ever have questions, I should… Read more.

The TERF Appropriation of the Trans Day of Remembrance

May 13, 2013 ·

A TERF hate-tracking site recently raised a warning that Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist (TERF) leaders are attempting to appropriate the Trans Day of Remembrance: Cathy Brennan, contributor to the Radfem2013 conference, has sunk to yet a new low.  She is now trying to exploit the death of our sisters (Transgender Day of Remembrance – TDOR)  to further her justification of transphobia. She wants us all to believe that it isn’t transphobia that kills us, it is male violence. While it is true that the majority of… Read more.

The Towlenut Gallery

May 5, 2013 ·

Even when The Towle has a reasonable post on a trans issue – here, the Cemia Acoff murder – one can count on the Chorus du Transphobique to show what the entitled really believe that they have the right to do, namely to exclude, humiliate and discriminate against in precisely the same way that they expect Gay, Inc. to prevent themselves from being excluded, humiliated and discriminated against. David Hearne declares: A person is dead, and somebody has his panties… Read more.

Three More April African-American Transwomen Deaths

May 3, 2013 ·

I'm beyond sick and tired of being sick and tired of the near genocidal levels of anti-trans violence that are taking away far too many under 30 transwomen of color before they've had a chance to live their lives.  We are not only losing them, but their potential contributions and talents toward building all the communities we intersect and interact with.   TransGriot  April 5, 2013 29 year old Kelly Young, 30 year old Ashley Sinclair and 20 year old Ce Ce Acoff until this… Read more.

Misogyny, it’s not just for breakfast anymore.

May 2, 2013 ·

Recently I came across an interesting story in my newsfeed. It seems Sir Richard Branson, of Virgin Air lost a wager to Air Asia Group CEO Tony Fernandes. Sir Branson bet Mr Fernandes over whose Formula 1 team would be ranked higher in the 2010 Championships. Branson lost the contest and as a result, he must serve as flight attendant on AirAsia’s Perth to Kuala Lumpur flight. It all seems a bit of fun. The proceeds from the flight go… Read more.

What Hate Looks Like

April 29, 2013 ·

15-year-old Raymond Buys shortly before his death Raymond Buys was sent to an infamous right-wing training camp for effeminate boys. "I sent my son on this course to make him a better man, to give him a better future..." said Buys' mother, Wilma Buys. Buys in camp uniforms Upon admission to the hospital, Buys had had brain damage, cigarette burns all over his body, a broken arm, numerous bruises and resembled Nazi concentration camp survivor. He died… Read more.

Seven Transphobic Tropes Debunked

April 29, 2013 ·

I've discussed in the over 6500 posts on this blog (and had fun eviscerating ) these seven transphobic tropes that seem to constantly pop into articles about this community and radfem hate screeds. Questioning Transphobia has a excellent series of articles that eviscerate the seven most common anti-trans arguments.  And you know as a TransGriot public service I'm going to make it easy for you to find them. Thanks to Questioning Transphobia's Queen Emily for the hard solid thinking and… Read more.

HBS: Play Ground for Frauds, Bullies and Self-Loathing Transsexual-Transgender People and wannabee Transsexuals

April 27, 2013 ·

Yesterday I posted a piece titled: Django Unchained: House Slaves Like Stephan and the “Girls” of HBS. I’ve seen the damage of all the abuse and bullying play out across the various trans-communities. I’ve seen the suicides, I’ve seen the substance abuse.I’ve gotten really sick of these bullies claiming some sort of right to decide who is or isn’t transsexual based on some sort of purity test that they, themselves would likely fail. I first came on line in the summer of… Read more.

Revisiting ‘the fallacy of cis privilege, again.’

April 27, 2013 ·

I've noticed that TERFs tend to lie. Like, a lot. As in, metric tons of BS. TERFs far and wide are currently gnashing their collective teeth over the reality that their hate-fest conference (#RadFem2013) was booted from its venue for the second year in a row. Instead of being an emotional adult about their situation, they instead (of course) chose to construct a narrative wherein their bad behavior had nothing to do with their eviction; instead, they're victims of a conspiracy. In other words,… Read more.

Django Unchained: House Slaves Like Stephan and the “Girls” of HBS

April 25, 2013 ·

Tina and I watched Django Unchained over the weekend. My take on it is that it is much closer to the reality of slavery in America than Gone With the Fucking Wind. No matter how far up the bigots assholes you have your tongue in the end you are still a transsexual/transgender person.The acting was brilliant. Samuel L. Jackson played the slimmest simmering stereotype of a house slave ever shown in a movie.  A Black person, a sycophant simmering ass kissing… Read more.

Reality Check: Fallon Fox and the Transgender Advantage

April 13, 2013 ·

  Those in her corner cite studies that show that testosterone production is diminished by several years of estrogen therapy, while adversaries contend that those studies are flawed, and that she has an unfair advantage in muscle mass. - MMA Fighting Look, she’s huge! She’s not just huge, she’s got a fucking man’s face. I mean, you can wear all the lipstick you want. You want to be a woman and you want to take female hormones, you want to… Read more.

Trans Exterminationalists In Their Own Words

April 11, 2013 ·

One of the things that mystifies me is why The Southern Poverty Law Center hasn't declared Trans Exterminationalist Radical Feminism as a hate group.   Could it be because the rumor may be true that a TERF works for SPLC and squashes the subject every time it comes up in SPLC circles? SO if you think I being harsh when I call this group of rad fems Whyte Womyn Gone Wyld, trans oppressors or wonder why I have zero tolerance for their hate… Read more.

Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival

April 9, 2013 ·

Most of the Womyn that come to fest really don't care whether you're straight or not as long as your not trans. - D.M., Festival Supporter, July 4, 2012 More Context: MWMF TERFs organizers supported the targeting of a Radical Feminist, Lesbian-separatist music collective for being trans-inclusive and led to armed TERFs threatening the life of a trans woman. Lisa Vogel's fist inspired trans-inclusive Women's Music Festivals MWMF violence led to the creation of Camp Trans while Leather Dykes and the Lesbian Avengers offered bodyguard… Read more.

50,000 Deaths

March 27, 2013 ·

Technology on the Social and Ethical Aspects of Transsexual Surgery By Janice G. Raymond Assistant Professor of Medical Ethics and Women's Studies Hampshire College/University of Massachusetts Amherst, Massachusetts June, 1980 Note: If you're looking for the article that proves that Raymond helped strip insurance coverage of trans care from public and private insurers, that article is located here. The subject of transsexualism, whether raised in the public forum or in the academic or medical communities, has been viewed… Read more.

Logic Be Damned: MMA Fighter Fallon Fox and the PC Conspiracy

March 10, 2013 ·

The MMA world has been a-buzz after learning that MMA fighter Fallon Fox is trans. A popular site for all things MMA recently posted an article that was quite good. The author sought out the informed opinion of experts and the resulting article was both insightful and balanced. However, the follow-up article failed in every way the first succeeded. Instead of using the informed opinion of a professional who has first-hand knowledge of the physiology of post-transition trans folk, the site used the opinion of Dr. Johnny Benjamin. Benjamin took great pains… Read more.

Ask Matt: Why Do Trans People Make Me Uncomfortable?

February 25, 2013 ·

A reader writes: “I am a straight male and consider myself fairly liberal. One of my best friends is openly gay and I have never felt uncomfortable around him. Yet the thought of being around a transgender person is extremely uncomfortable to me and I don’t exactly know why. “I can understand the scientific reasoning for having a different gender than one’s do-dads would imply, yet some part of me cringes whenever I hear the words “tr***y, transgendered or transsexual”… Read more.

Fox News and Massachusetts Family Institute Slam New Student Transgender Policy

February 21, 2013 ·

The Fox News headline "Students Who Refuse to Affirm Transgender Classmates Face Punishment" sets the stage for this "Cultural War" against trans people written by Todd Starnes. Deconstructing Fox lies. The headline of Starnes article is a lie. There is no wording in the new policy mentioning disciplinary actions of any kind. Todd Starnes writes "The new rules would also prevent teachers and administrators from telling parents with which gender their child identifies." That's a lie. According to the Massachusetts Nondiscrimination… Read more.

Interview With an Actual Stonewall Riot Veteran: The Ciswashing of Stonewall Must End!

February 18, 2013 ·

The POTUS noted Stonewall in his 2013 inaugural address: We the people declare today that the most evident of truth that all of us are created equal -- is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls and Selma and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King… Read more.

I Believe There’s An LGBT Community, But…

February 18, 2013 ·

One of the ongoing arguments I hear and I reject whether it comes from the LGB end of the spectrum or the trans end of it is that 'there is no LGBT community'. Granted I've railed more than a few times on this blog about some of the contentious history that has occurred between elements of it, but the evidence is overwhelming that an LGBT community exists. While I believe there is an LGBT community, at the same time I… Read more.

Stonewall Plus 1

February 10, 2013 ·

August, 1970 Readers knock, praise the big parade Editor: As a subscriber and reader of your paper, I would like to comment on the Christopher Street West Parade held last Sunday (June 23) here in L.A. I consider myself pretty well up on what is happening regarding current affairs relevant to our segment of society, and I felt this type of demonstration was a great idea. I guess I thought too soon. That parade did more harm than good. By… Read more.

Nadine Williams South Wales Transgender Woman Cleared of Rape Charge

February 9, 2013 ·

Nadine Williams, a transgender woman has beencleared of rape and two counts of sexual assault which she was accused of doing before transitioning while presenting as Dean, a male. Ms. Williams who spend 6 months remanded to pretial confinment iwith men while waiting for the trial simply said she was relieved the "torment" was finally over. The unfortunate articles I've seen to date have misidentified Nadine as a 'transgender man,'  further adding confussion by misgendering with male pronouns. But as a testament to her character Nadine… Read more.

Stonewall Plus 22

February 9, 2013 ·

What better way to spend Pride week than looking at drag queens on the site where it all began? The Stonewall Inn (formerly New Jimmy's) presents Extraordinary Women, a fab photo exhibit of "the most glamorous" transvestites and transsexuals of New York and Amsterdam by artist Remsen Wolff. Stonewall Inn owner Jimmy Pisano remarked, "Transvestites, transsexuals, gays and lesbians stood shoulder-to-shoulder here, so it's appropriate to salute their fearlessness here." 53 Christopher St. Through June 30 - Outweek, July 3,… Read more.

Fox News vs Trans Health Care Needs

February 8, 2013 ·

The real story: Long-standing medical and psychiatric literature demonstrates clear benefits of medical and surgical interventions to assist gender variant individuals seeking transition. However, transgender and gender variant people are frequently denied medical, surgical, and psychiatric care related to gender transition. Access to medical care (both medical and surgical) positively impacts the mental health of transgender and gender variant individuals. Discrimination and lack of equal civil rights is damaging to the mental health of transgender and gender variant individuals. For… Read more.

Being Fearlessly Out and Trans is a Revolutionary Act

January 31, 2013 ·

On one of the trans Facebook groups I monitor a post was put up about the gruesome murder of transman  Evon 'Yung LT' Young.  One person remarked in the comment thread under the post that's why she never leaves her home, and of course my response to that comment triggered this post. That's what the haters want...They want you to cower in fear locked up behind your doors. Your most revolutionary act as a trans person is to be fearlessly out… Read more.

Insidious: Extreme Pressures Faced by Trans People

January 27, 2013 ·

Studies show that the trans population lives under extreme psychological pressures unseen in even active military personnel. Fifty-five percent of trans people  were found to live with social anxiety. Within the general American population, similar types of anxiety are experienced by only 6.8%  of the population while these levels of anxiety were found to exist at a rate of 8.2% among military personal. Levels of social anxiety experienced by population. This graph compares the social anxiety transgender people feel against… Read more.

“So, what was Stonewall?”

January 25, 2013 ·

In the wake of the President Obama's historic speech referencing Stonewall, NPR ran a piece asking and purporting to answer the question, "So, what was Stonewall?" The article calls upon Martin Duberman, now 82, to retell the story of Stonewall. Martin Duberman published the first history of Stonewall in 1993. His history significantly featured trans folk. Bizarrely, the NPR author Liz Halloran seems to rewrite Duberman's history, spending many lines minimizing the trans aspect of Stonewall:  "I liked the mix of people," he said. "It was not… Read more.

The ‘Trans Cabal’ Replies

January 22, 2013 ·

This video has been compiled by TransBareAll as a response to recent transphobic articles in the press. We don't aim to debate the merits of freedom of speech, or the rights and wrongs of different sides of an argument. Instead we want to show the real impact of the way language is used, how it can affect the people it targets. In the media (and society in general) there are some words which we never use, such as the 'N'… Read more.

PLEASE! ‘Come For’ Us!

January 20, 2013 ·

There’s a laughably pathetic piece of nonsense making the rounds right now – emanating from one of the usual pits of transexterminationistic insanity.  I have no intention of linking to it, but this is the beginning of it: First they came for Janice Raymond and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t an academic. One doesn’t really need to be an expert on the Holocaust (or even Godwin’s Law for that matter) to see where its headed, but the supporting cast includes Mary… Read more.

They’ve Got Form (Part I)

January 19, 2013 ·

Regarding the recent brouhaha over Julie Burchill's recent article in the Observer, republished (and then taken down) on the Guardian website, and re-re-published at her request in the Telegraph, an article referring to Trans people as "Shims" and "She-males", "Dicks in chick's clothing" etc... The Guardian said it best, the last time this happened. Or rather, one of the last times - it happened again and again afterwards too. On January 31 the Guardian's Weekend magazine published the first of two articles by the… Read more.

Transwomen Are Fighting A Two-Front ‘War On Women’.

January 18, 2013 ·

Much attention has been focused on the 'War on Women', the anti-woman political policies the conservative movement and Republican politicians have been pushing for years and implementing once they gain political control of state legislatures. And yes, being that we are now estrogen based lifeforms, they affect trans women as well.. Girls like us have been fighting a two front war. Since the 1970's we've had to deal with the War on Transwomen whose reprehensible foot soldiers are radical feminists in addition to… Read more.

Sounds Like a Threat to Me

January 17, 2013 ·

The problem is that the very imagery of what she’s referring to is so weird that I honestly can’t tell precisely what its a threat of. Guardian columnist Suzanne Moore has launched an outspoken attack on PinkNews after it published a story about the killing of a trans woman in Brazil. Linking to Wednesday’s story, Moore tweeted from her account @suzanne_moore Read this piece of shit and Pink News will hear from my lawyers in the morning I am back to sort this out and to… Read more.

Tipping Point On RadFem Transphobia?

January 17, 2013 ·

The British Transphobic Feminist Troika unleashed their hate speech upon the world last week probably thinking they would get pushback from the trans community they and their acolytes could spin and demonize them with until it quickly blow over. Not this time. This time it isn't just our British trans cousins who are pissed off about the transphobic scribblings.   They got reinforcements from various trans bloggers around the world and pushback from the surprising direction offeminists, allies and other justice minded folks tired of the… Read more.

The Observer Screws Up

January 16, 2013 ·

There are things one does not do in a national newspaper. One does not call Blacks "uppity ni**ers". One does not state as fact that Yids drink the blood of Christian children. And one does not publish articles like this one. Starting with a quote illustrating a complete lack of anything redolent of white feminist privilege "Sod that, we're having lobster and champagne at Frederick's and I'm paying," I told her. Half a bottle of Bolly later, she looked at me… Read more.

‘Don’t Call Us, and We Won’t Call You’ – Law Enforcement and the Trans Community

June 18, 2012 ·

A couple of years ago, I attended a community forum in Denver that was set up so that trans people could meet with local police and discuss our community’s concerns. The police representatives present were from a newly formed “diversity”-type unit that was created to work specifically with marginalized communities, including LGBT communities, and to investigate possible hate crimes or crimes that appeared to specifically target members of these particular communities. The officers and detectives in attendance were friendly, attentive,… Read more.

What They Call “Womyn-Only” Space is Really Cisgender-Only Space

May 21, 2012 ·

One of the things that has irked me about the renewed “debates” about women-only space is that the defenders of “womyn-born-womyn” (WBW) policies keep utilizing specious counter-examples to try to defend their position.  For example, those of us who are criticizing a non-inclusive women’s space are asked:  “would you critique a transgender-only space?  No???  You’re a hypocrite!”  Apparently those who espouse this position need a reminder of Social Justice 101. Women-only space is necessary.  Women are oppressed under the patriarchy,… Read more.

Transmisogynistic Media Report on Murdered Trans Woman From Detroit Local Fox Affiliate

April 4, 2012 ·

Update April 4, 4:00 AM: I propose we start a twitter campaign criticizing the Fox affiliate station for putting together this disrespectful and transphobic report on Coko’s murder. Please tweet to FOX 2 News (https://twitter.com/#!/FOX2News) your criticisms and questions, and be sure to use the hashtag: #RespectCoko Please be polite but firm in your critique. A suggested tweet: Your report on trans woman Coko William’s murder was transphobic and extremely offensive. @FOX2News apologize now! #RespectCoko **************************************************************** Update April 4, 3:30… Read more.

Feminism Must Be Led by Love, or Not At All

April 2, 2012 ·

Recently, I have experienced a round of attacks by some radical-identified feminists and lesbian feminists for my writings and transgender advocacy.  There is a long history of conflict between transgender/transsexual people, especially trans women, and radical feminists and lesbian feminists that dates back beginning in the 1970s.  The pinnacle of this battle was when lesbian feminist Janice Raymond published her notorious book The Transsexual Empire: The Making of the She-Male in 1979.  For nearly 15 years, Raymond’s anti-transsexual screed often… Read more.

Blake Lively, Stop Using The T-Slur

February 6, 2012 ·

Blake Lively back in 2009 used the problematic T-word in a 2009 Allure magazine interview in which I wrote a post taking her to task for it at the time. It's three years later, and obviously Miss Thang didn't get the message or learn from the recent experiences of Neil Patrick Harris, Kelly Osbourne or Lance Bass. Lively did it again in another interview for the March issue of Elle magazine she's on the cover of. She had this problematic… Read more.

The Criminal Behavior of the Serial Exterminist

January 20, 2012 ·

as if you needed to read any more...     THE CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR OF THE SERIAL RAPIST From 1984 to 1986, FBI Special Agents assigned to theNationalCenterfor the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC) interviewed 41 men who were responsible for raping 837 victims. Previous issues of the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin provided an introduction to this research (1) and the characteristics of the rapists and their  victims. (2)  This article, however, describes the behavior of these serial rapists during and… Read more.

Aftermath of a Boycott: Moving the Discussion Forward on Trans Issues

January 10, 2012 ·

Today's guest post comes from Savannah Garmon. Garmon is a physics researcher and trans activist who presently lives in Toronto but calls Texas home.  She likes social justice, cats, beer, and runs her own blog at leftytgirl.wordpress.com. Most of us are familiar at this point with the events around the boycott declared on Xtra! by trans activists following editor Danny Glenwright’s unfortunate decision to post Lexi Tronic’s birth name on his Facebook wall, his initial refusal to remove it despite… Read more.

Neil Patrick Harris Sounds Like A Transphobe

December 2, 2011 ·

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.

I Can’t Get Over Being Told to ‘Get Over It’

November 9, 2011 ·

It’s amazing what’s expected of us as trans people. We’re supposed to watch our trans sisters succumb to unspeakable brutality on a constant basis. We’re supposed to ignore the fact that we can be legally fired in thirty-eight states simply because we’re trans. We’re supposed to “understand” when we are denied admittance to public places or refused public restroom access based on our appearance or our paperwork. And we’re supposed to “get over it” when someone uses offensive language to… Read more.

Kelly Osbourne Gets Called On Her Anti Trans Rant

November 4, 2011 ·

Kelly Osbourne recently opened up in a Glamour UK interview about being cheated on by her ex-fiancé Luke Worrall and let loose some transphobic commentary while doing so. “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… Read more.

Kelly Osbourne’s Transphobic Rant: Humiliated by Chicks With Dicks and Trannys

November 1, 2011 ·

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.

No, I Still Won’t be Watching “Dancing With The Stars” (With or Without Chaz Bono)

September 5, 2011 ·

It is beyond sad that some people, trans and non-trans alike, think that Chaz Bono’s upcoming appearance on the stupid reality show “Dancing with the Stars” amounts to anything more than a hill of beans.  As trans people suffer tremendously from systemic and institutionalized discrimination and oppression (alongside many non-trans people) the trans “issue du jour” (after Lady Gaga’s appearance in male drag on the VMAs…yawn) is the fact that D-list “celebrity” Chaz Bono has been offered a slot on… Read more.

We Have a Dream

August 28, 2011 ·

Please note at writing, the planned dedication service for the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial has been postponed. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.… Read more.

Clear Channel Eats Crow

August 27, 2011 ·

Here’s the text of the Clear Channel apology letter: We would like to apologize for remarks made on KTBZ that has caused distress to people in the Houston Transgender Community. We addressed the insensitivity of both content presented on air with our staff and the manner in which we responded to concerned members in the community. No offense was intended. Cristan, we want to thank you and members of your organization for reaching out and enlightening us to foster a… Read more.

WWTGSKWaHD? (What Would Tolstoy, Gandhi, Sakharov, King, Walesa, and Havel Do?)

August 8, 2011 ·

I dread writing this post. Not because it is laborious, or texting on my personal resources, but because my sensibilities are afflicted by the subject matter. It is neither my desire nor intent to further inflame an already hot topic. There are plenty willing and so capable of stoking that fire. It is my only desire to offer a consideration, a course of action which may or may not resolve the matter, but it will define us as a community… Read more.

SEIU Political Director and Progressive Maryland Board Member Calls Trans People “Circus Freaks”

April 15, 2011 ·

I've seen vitriol spewed in my decade or so of transactivism, but it's usually spewed most venomously by the right wing. SEIU Political Director Mark McLaurin spewed this vitriolic chain of transphobic/mysogynistic/hateful comments on Dana Beyer's Facebook page concerning TransMaryland/TransUnited/Out of state supporters of fixing or killing HB235. "Ohhhhh so it wasn't spineless lawmakers who killed the bill but rather your uncannily strategic merry band of out of state circus freaks who, heretofore havent been able to organize anything more… Read more.

Gay Agendas and The Trans-Sisters of Perpetual Adoration

January 4, 2011 ·

When I heard that "Kathleen" over at Pam's House Blend was banned for allegedly outing an anonymous blogger that just happened to be affiliated with GayINC, I was shocked... for all of about thirty seconds.  As someone that's been inside the belly of the "GLBT blogger beast", I can tell you that there is a coordinated message that is put out by GayINC that is generally followed by the bloggers that are "in the know." As with traditional media these days, access… Read more.

Trans Exclusionists: It’s Your Turn

December 2, 2010 ·

Today's guest Transadvocate is polerin. Her bio on Twitter states: "Trans woman, radical lefty, wannabe cartoonist, geek, phreakNIC director, web developer, person. Will eat for food, and rock your face off. Or on. On is good." Inspired by the TERF’s posting and commenting at The Magazine Project. You insult us. You claim we are ruining everything. You sourly say “Well I’m glad YOU are happy but everyone else is mistaken.” You describe us as the scum of the Earth… Then… Read more.

The Rabid, Transphobic Hate-Mongering of the Anti-Pornography Movement

October 24, 2010 ·

Todays Guest Transadvocate is Dr. Joelle Ruby Ryan. Ryan describes herself as a "transgender, Feminist, Queer, Fat+, Activist, Educator, Writer, Speaker and Firebrand". She is also the author of Gender Quake: Poems and the co-producer of three autobiographical films. This weekend, there was a conference at the University of New Hampshire entitled “Pornography as Sexual Violence.” I was asked by the key organizer to co-present a panel with David Jacobsen at the conference. I titled the session Pornography and LGBT… Read more.

Tribeca Film Festival Promotes Exploitation of Transgender People

March 22, 2010 ·

The Tribeca Film festival has announced it's 2010 lineup of films and "Ticked-Off Trannies With Knives" is among them. "When a group of transgender women are violently beaten and left for dead, the violated vixens turn deadly divas in this hilariously campy homage to the exploitation films of the '70s and '80s ("Transploitation," anyone?). Loaded with bodacious bods and extreme violence, this revenge fantasy proves that it takes more than balls to get even." And guess what, it's billed as… Read more.

Transphobia? Only On CBS

February 12, 2010 ·

First they aired a tranphobic episode of The New Adventures Of Old Christine, then CBS News decided to ditch the accepted guidelines of the AP Stylebook to write this ugly little post, and now this: CBS was recently criticized for airing an anti-abortion ad during the Super Bowl while refusing to sell ad time to a gay dating site.  CBS's repeated promotion of ugly stereotypes of transgender people show an obvious disregard for our community. When GLAAD gave the The… Read more.

Opponent of Gainesville’s “Bathroom Bill” Arrested For Bathroom Voyeurism

October 21, 2009 ·

From the Gainesville Sun: The CVS Pharmacy manager who allegedly admitted Friday to filming women in his store's bathroom was an active participant in the 2008 charter amendment to "keep men out of women's restrooms." Jonathan Matheny, 27, was charged with one count of video voyeurism after a customer told police she had discovered a cell phone equipped with a camera under a pile of tissues in the CVS bathroom at 125 S.W. 34th St. Can you say projection? Maybe… Read more.

The Hate We Fight Abroad, The Ignorance At Home

September 7, 2009 ·

In the context of the "war" for our equality, trans-people have to fight the war on two fronts. There's the kind of hatred that is espoused by morally corrupt people on the right wing conservative side (the "abroad" part of the fight). It's  found at places like Pat Dollard's blog. On a post about a transgender woman running for mayor you see hatred so open and bare, it's sickening. We are seen as "icky": "As Tony Snow would say 'Just… Read more.

Filmmaker Kevin Smith Loves Brazilian Transsexuals!

September 4, 2009 ·

At least that's the comment he made on Twitter: Are you Brazillian (sp)? I'm only into Brazillian (sp) Trannies. Pre-op. As I've stated before, I think celebrities that make these kind of jokes will reap what they sow in comments around the internet. Celebrity sites will report what the star joked about in jest as a fact, not as humor. Lady Gaga is the perfect example of this (from The Sun): "She also said in a recent web blog: 'I… Read more.

Megan Fox is a Transsexual! Lady Gaga is a Hermaphrodite! Daniel Radcliffe is a Tranny Chaser!

July 15, 2009 ·

In my search of twitter for transgender/transsexual content for the Transadvocate on Twitter, the tweet: "ZOMG Megan Fox is a transsexual!" comes up repeatedly. The genesis of this meme is from Megan Fox herself: I am pretty sure I am a doppelganger for Alan Alda. I'm a tranny. I'm a man. I'm so painfully insecure. I'm on the verge of vomiting now. I am so horrified that I am here, and embarrassed. I'm scared. Another celebrity rumor suggests that Lady GaGa… Read more.

A Strange Brew – Pam’s House Blend Now Serving: Privilege

June 30, 2009 ·

There's been a controversy brewing over at Pam's House Blend, and the flavor of the day is privileged. It all started with the post "Jumping Into The Deep End Of The Language Pool", then "Aravosis Needs To Issue His Own Apology To Trans People Before Citing TGs Regarding Fed LGBT Issues", and continued with "Enough Already". You can read it all yourself but the bottom line is this, if you dare cite white gay male privilege, you're not welcome to… Read more.

Counting the Cost

February 27, 2008 ·

If my previous post seemed a little scattered and emotional, there's a reason for it.  The first trans community function I ever attended was a TDoR function, as was the first event I ever MCed outside a support group.   I've been sensitive to transphobic violence at every step, and my own transition began with violence.  But seeing the settings for it shift to schools was not something I was prepared for. At or around November 20th of every year, the transgender community commemorates a day of remembrance (TDoR) for transgender folk who have died as a result of transphobic or homophobic violence.  Since that memorial, fifteen more homicides involving transgender victims have occurred: Read more.

“Sometimes, We Just Have to Pay Full Price.”

February 21, 2008 ·

My partner is a nut about sales. If it isn't on sale, it doesn't get purchased. So sometimes, when we run out of a breakfast staple and such, I have to remind her of that basic fact of life: "sometimes, we just have to pay full price." And then, the phrase comes back to haunt me. This usually happens around the evenings, these days. She's been talking about returning to work in a capacity which would take her out to job sites with contractors and crew, some of whom could know from her previous 20 years of work in that trade that she is trans. And I've been having troubling dreams about both that and my own job, where I've been back for several months with no trouble beyond the occasional rude exchange, and now all of a sudden I'm dreaming repetitively about getting shot in the head. The latter is not something I'm actually afraid of during the light of day, so I'm wondering what is bringing this all on. Am I sensing something nasty coming, or am I just reading the trans-related news way too much? And that's when that dirty little voice says to me, "sometimes, we just have to pay full price." And that's when I start thinking about how far we've come... or haven't as the case may be. The first GRS surgeries were performed in the 1940s, and with the rise of Nazi Germany and its pogroms, the invention of "stealth" soon followed. We've been in hiding ever since. Don't get me wrong -- I'm on record as defending a woman's and man's right to go stealth if they feel it's best for them. We earn that. But the wholesale movement toward stealth -- the lack of barely anybody to stay behind and educate the masses -- has meant that we've only made small strides during that time. The first known piece of trans-inclusive legislation didn't happen until 1993, and most of those strides have been since then. And without adult transfolk there to lay that groundwork, a crisis has developed. Because now it is children on the front lines. Read more.

Hatred Poured Out On Our Children

February 16, 2008 ·

Over the last few days since it was learned that an 8 year old is transitioning at a school in Colorado, quite a few blogs have been pretty ugly about it. I wrote about some of these blogs on the post Targeted Families, Targeted Lives. Last night I learned that a 10 year old, Cameron McWilliams, committed suicide. Cameron had asked for permission to wear make-up, and been teased after he was found wearing his half-sister's undergarments. His mother said… Read more.

Targeted Families, Targeted Lives

February 13, 2008 ·

I really can't believe all the ridiculously negative things I've been hearing about the 2nd grade student that is transitioning at school. Here are a few examples: Public schools have been involved in a sick propaganda campaign that encourages and collaborates with the advancement of mental illness in children. - Stop The ACLU.com It is a basic fact of biology, sex is immutable. If you are born a male, you will die a male. There is absolutely nothing any mortal can do about that. Yet for some strange reason, we seem to think that are sex is like a pair of socks, which can be changed on a whim. Putting a dress on a boy, having him the girl’s room and calling him a female name, can not and will not make this John Doe into Jane Doe. It has can’t be done and it has never been done. School systems should be in the businss of teaching life and not pandering to delusions. Putting a dress on a young man and calling him by a girl’s name will not make him into a female. It will only make him into a boy with a dress.We are what we are, and we can not change what we are by wearing or not wearing a dress. Stop pandering to utter foolishness. - Bits Blog It makes one wonder what is happening to our culture when a 2nd grade boy decides he has to dress up as a girl and his public school chooses to accommodate his feelings. - Dallas Blog The original purpose of the public schools was to indoctrinate children in being “Good Americans.” At the time, this meant Protestant patriots who worked for work’s sake. Now, public schools are still indoctrinating little “Good Americans,” but this time it means supporting the idea that man is first, last, and all-importantly a sexual animal whose desires, no mater how perverse, need to be sated without consequence or guilt. First, it was Sex Ed. Then condoms and abortion referrals. Then, GLBT clubs and gay proms. Now, this satanic doctrine is manifesting itself in the policy of a public school in Colorado allowing a sexually confused second grade boy to come to school dressed, and addressed, as a girl. - Fish In A Barrel Read more.

Can You Ever Leave Behind the Evil Twin?

February 6, 2008 ·

Don't you just love that phrase, "used to be a man?" GARRICK Jacobson was in custody at Sydney's Surry Hills police station when he apparently discovered his girlfriend used to be a man. Within hours of being released on bail, he went to her apartment and started "belting the hell" out of her, Downing Centre Local Court heard yesterday. Read more.

The (lack of) space between homophobia and transphobia

January 30, 2008 ·

I asked to cross post this post from Bilerico. It  was written by Alex Blaze Through an unlikely chain of blog posts, Waymon's entry about a gender identity inclusive anti-discrimination ordinance in Montgomery County, Maryland, started a discussion that made it halfway across the blogosphere to one of the more popular radical feminist blogs out there. Heart, the aforementioned radical feminist blogger, writes about the real transbigotry in an attempt to take advantage of the T-folks' internal disputes to distinguish the good transwomen from the bad ones. As a queer boy who fully came out among feminists and feminisms (at times misguided), who thought that Judith Butler and Leslie Feinberg were just the bomb, and who saw connections between transgender experiences and oppressions and gay experiences and oppressions as so obvious as to be taken for granted, I was pretty surprised when I was introduced to this (hopefully limited) brand of feminism that characterizes transwomen as men who lived as women part-time just to better oppress them and transmen as nonexistent, and, when they are, see the Gendercator. Read more.

With Apologies to Radical Feminists

January 24, 2008 ·

Recently, I commented on a post at Bilerico: You want to get technical Sue? In the strictest definition, you're not female. The distinction between the "sexes" is that a female has the ability to produce ova, and the male has the ability to produce produces sperm. Your "sex" isn't based on an organ but on your reproductive ability. For that matter, your neo-vagina isn't even an "organ." An organ is tissue or a group of tissues that constitute a morphologically and functionally distinct part of an organism. Your "vagina" isn't a social construct, it's a surgical construct. And an incomplete construct at that! Go find your bartholin glands.... And in the above scenario, the woman wasn't afraid of genitals, but because of other physical characteristics. It's more about passing privilege than genital configuration. And judging from the pictures I've seen of you, ya got your own passing issues. So you might want to jump off that high horse of yours. Pretty strong statement eh? I said this in response to Sue Robins, who said: A ladies locker room is no place for Man and if you have male genitals you are a Man end of story. Read more.

With “Defenders” Like This…

September 26, 2007 ·

Alice Dreger Destroys Academic Freedom in Order to Save It It is an old adage that “crime, once exposed, has no refuge but in audacity.” This appears to be the thinking behind Alice Dreger’s latest attempt to stifle criticism of J. Michael Bailey’s pseudoscience in the name of “academic freedom”. Joelle Ruby Ryan recently issued a Call for Proposals for a proposed panel of the National Women’s Studies Association entitled The Bailey Brouhaha: Community Members Speak Out on Resisting Transphobia in Academia in Beyond. In it, she accurately summarises the history of the “controversy” around Bailey’s The Man Who Would Be Queen: The Science of Gender Bending and Transsexualism, as follows: While Bailey's book The Man Who Would be Queen was released in 2003 to overwhelmingly negative reviews, the book caused a stir for its assertion that trans women can be split into two groupings: "homosexual transsexuals" and “autogynephilics." Trans activists and allies mobilized and took Bailey to task for his bogus claims and helped to document a compelling case against him. Many considered it an open-and-shut case until the 2007 appearance of an article by Bailey colleague and intersex researcher Alice Dreger, who published a lengthy apologia for Bailey in the Archives of Sexual Behavior and castigated trans women activists for their attempts at "ruining" Bailey. In response, Dreger declared that the CFP was “laden with factual errors and misrepresentations about the history of the Bailey controversy and my work”, of which she could identify none, and points to her own dubious “scholarly history” (to be published by a journal controlled by Bailey, Blanchard, and Lawrence) and a breathtakingly inaccurate New York Times article that I have discussed previously as reliable sources of information. Dreger repeats her unsupported and unspecified claims of misrepresentations (in one case “profound” misrepresentations”) and factual errors throughout her correspondence on the subject with Emi Koyama on the Women’s Studies listserv WMST-L, and falsely claims that Bailey’s critics attempted to censor him. She does not enlighten interested readers about the scientific status of Bailey’s claims or his defamatory responses to criticism. She closes the e-mail exchange by endorsing a veiled threat directed at Ryan by Emi Koyama(1): What is the “academic freedom” that Dreger defends so fiercely as to resort to threats and blatant misrepresentations? Is it the freedom to publish scientific findings and engage in scholarly discussion without state or institutional censorship? Clearly not. That right has not been impinged upon. No one is calling for censorship of Bailey’s work, nor has any censorship occurred. The book remains in print, for all to see. Bailey’s right to fetishise “controversy” over science remains inviolate. Read more.

Freak Of The Week: The Tabloid Media

September 24, 2007 ·

Give 'em an act with lots of flash in it And the reaction will be passionate Give 'em the old hocus pocus …. Give 'em the old three ring circus” — Richard Gere as Billy Flynn in the song "Razzle Dazzle" from the movie “Chicago” What the hell is up with being trans? Seriously, why is it such a heinous scandal to have someone attached to anything hinting of crossdressing or transsexualism? One would think that in 2007 we’ve progressed beyond that stage, but clearly that’s not so. A couple of items jumped out at me this week prompting this rant. One was a tabloid (Star or Enquirer, can’t remember which) with a blaring headline replete with photos showing a sad looking Cher, and an alternate photo of daughter Chastity Bono in what appears to be a man’s suit. The headline was: Cher’s Heartbreak Over Chastity’s Sex Change Decision. The other item concerns photos released of Oscar DeLaHoya and trumpeted as lead story on Entertainment Tonight for multiple nights in a row, even bleeding over into the nightly six o’clock local news at one point. The photos have what appears to be the boxing champ in a fishnet bodysuit, spike-heeled pumps and even wearing a wig with a jaunty fedora in one photo. Read more.

Closets Are For Clothes, Stealth Is For Planes

September 9, 2007 ·

Recently, I read a blog post about an FTM complaining about being judged by other transgender people about living "stealth." To those of you who feel the need to live secretly, I say this; if you wish to live your life in a closet that is your choice. But don't be surprised when I judge you for this. For as long as folks with passing privilege hide in their closets, there will be a stigma attached to transgender people because… Read more.

I’m A Bitch, I’m A Lover

August 31, 2007 ·

Meredith Brooks once sang: " I’m a bitch, I’m a lover I’m a child, I’m a mother I’m a sinner, I’m a saint I do not feel ashamed I’m your hell, I’m your dream I’m nothing in between You know, you wouldn’t want it any other way" But I guess there are some gay men who aren't channeling Meredith. From the Washington Blade's "Bitch Session" "It’s transgender people that need the gay and lesbian movement to succeed not the other way around. They are a minority within a minority who couldn’t get very far without us yet they always arrogantly fail to recognize that! Learn some humility instead of being so damn uppity. To the transgender activist who had the gall to say that gays and lesbians can’t move forward without them: The fact is transgender activists have opposed gay rights legislation in the past simply because they weren’t included! Despite their being as bad as Christian conservatives or selfish brats, we often managed to succeed without them! They should thank us for forgiving them for this and allowing them to retard our progress by including them now!" Read more.

Not A Feminist By Birth Or Biology

August 3, 2007 ·

I've been over at Feministing all day, writing responses to "You learn something new every day." The post is a response to The BBC's recent coverage of a debate with Julie Bindel. Julie believes that sex reassignment surgery is a "mutilation." The debate over there is one of the best I've ever encountered. There's a whole lot of cross talk and listening, and very few personal attacks. This is the first time I've ever posted about this in a forum where I didn't feel like I was talking to a wall. I've included some of the comments, and my responses, under the cut. Read more.

As If You Needed Any More Proof: Randi Rhodes III

July 27, 2007 ·

From the Wednesday, July 25th edition of the Randi Rhodes Show When someone apologizes for a "bad joke" and understands their mistake by making the following comment... " This is my second attempt at posting a reply because I feel awful about your PERCEPTION of who I am. Can YOU imagine that? Being misunderstood? I am honesty sorry if my attempt at humor failed." - Randi Rhodes" Would they continue to air this? http://www.transadvocate.com/audio/Annisaman.mp3 I think not. Read more.

Wyoming (IN)Equality

July 26, 2007 ·

What the heck is up with Wyoming Equality? From their front page: An equality group is promoting The Michigan Womyn's Music Festival? For those that don't know, the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival is a "womyn born womyn" event that specifically excludes transwomen. In recent years they've softened their "no transwomen" policy from "DO NOT ENTER," to "WE TOLD YOU NOT TO ENTER, BUT YOU CAN BUY A TICKET." If you don't believe the politics behind Michfest is transphobic, just take… Read more.

Woman’s Space To Hate With Heart

July 25, 2007 ·

Things I learn from the radical feminist blogosphere: -" Male-to-female transsexuality/transgender is really about men’s rights. It has nothing to do with feminism. As such, as feminists, just as we oppose men’s rights, in general, we oppose this manifestation of men’s rights as well." - "Radical feminists are no more “transphobes” than we are “manhaters.” To allege that we are is to indulge in sexist, misogynist, anti-feminist propaganda." - " Female-to-male transsexuals/transgendered persons are situated much differently than male-to-female transsexuals/transgendered… Read more.

There’s Something About Transphobia

July 25, 2007 ·

I'm continually amazed at the hatred and bigotry shown by the Fox Broadcasting Network. The fall lineup includes the inherently transphobic series, "There’s Something About Miriam." The series first aired in the 2004 in the UK and features six men who try to win the affection of 21-year-old Mexican model Miriam. In the final episode it is revealed to the suitors that Miriam is a preoperative transsexual woman. [kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/2ACJL41x3QE" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /] The series originally ran in the… Read more.

Randi Rhodes Redux

July 5, 2007 ·

I guess Randi's transphobia isn't something new. I edited the clips down (I edited them for time, I did not rearrange or manipulate the content). If you want to hear the segments unedited, watch the youtube videos below. I find it rather ironic that Randi's reaction to Ann Coulter's personal attacks is to attack Ann's body, gender identity and sexuality. Podcast: http://podcasts.transactivists.com/TAR/media/2007-07-05_tacoulterrhodes2.mp3 [kml_flashembed movie="http://youtube.com/v/K7VCwqJlJIo" width="425" height="350"/] [kml_flashembed movie="http://youtube.com/v/KBf9eUk7_GI" width="425" height="350"/] oh, and for you gays and lesbians that are feeling… Read more.

Trans-panic Defense Alive And Well In Palm Beach

July 3, 2007 ·

It looks as if the trans-panic defense is alive and well in Palm Beach. From the Palm Beach Post: Two strangers met outside a bar on Clematis Street in West Palm Beach. One of the strangers turned out to be a 17 year old male and the other was a 39 year old transwoman. "The teen says that she got into their car, and performed oral sex on him in the back seat while his friend drove. They ended up… Read more.

Randi Rhodes’ Transphobic Moment

July 3, 2007 ·

Listening to "progressive radio," you don't really hear to many examples of out and out transphobia. Listening to Randi Rhodes on Air America Radio I heard her mock Ann Coulter, insinuating she was a transsexual. This is insulting to Ann Coulter on a purely personal level, and it's demeaning of anyone trans because of the stereotypes. Just goes to show you that ignorance, bigotry, and transphobia isn't exclusive to right wing Republicans. http://podcasts.transactivists.com/TAR/media/2007-07-03_tacoulterrhodes.mp3 Read more.

What’s In A Word? Context, Ya Fag!

June 15, 2007 ·

I know I have this obsession with words. I've never particularly liked Queerty.com because it's posts on transfolk generally border on bad taste/transphobia. The most recent edition sports this headline: When I think of the use of the word tranny, I think of the words of George Carlin: [kml_flashembed movie="http://lads.myspace.com/videos/vplayer.swf" width="430" height="346" fvars="m=598001949;type=video"/] The point being, if you are a transgender person and you say tranny, it's acceptable because the intent isn't negative or hateful. But if your not, it's… Read more.

It’s All Greek To Me: The Transgender – Homosexuality Death Match

June 8, 2007 ·

In reading the recently published "Interview: Transgenderism Emerging on the Heels of Homosexuality in Media" at the Christian Post, I sat amazed with my mouth agape at the following statement. "When you look at Scripture for example, when Paul talks in 1 Corinthians 6:9 about the following group of people will not inherit the Kingdom of God. One of those groups of people he calls the “soft men.” Now the meaning of that essentially, in its historical context, is men… Read more.

Confessions of A Ex-Ex-Transgender

June 5, 2007 ·

You've probably heard of the ex-gay movement. You may have even heard of the ex-ex-gay movement. Odds are slim that you know anyone that is ex-transgender. But have you ever known anyone that is ex-ex-transgender? You have if you've read this blog. In 1997 I confessed to my wife that I'd cross-dressed most of my life. After her initial shock wore off, she began to accept and integrate this part of me into our marriage. This was an activity that… Read more.

Radical Feminist Christ

June 2, 2007 ·

Until someone puts actual empirical data along side radical feminist doctrine, I refuse to call it a theory. It  isn't a theory, it's a religion. And it's about as believable as there being a man named Jesus Christ that rose from the dead after three days. If your wondering, THIS is the genesis of my reason to post. Now, let us pray. Read more.

City of Brotherly Love, Sisterly Hate?

May 10, 2007 ·

What the hell is the problem with the Philadelphia Police Department? The police covered up the events that led to the murder of Nizah Morris in December of 2002. The city settled in a federal lawsuit that alleged that police and rescue workers contributed to her death. On March March 21, 2007, (according to witness accounts) Roland Bottom repeatedly ran over Erica Keel after ejecting her from his car. A medical examiner's report supports these accounts, classifying it as a… Read more.

The Man Who Would Be Jester

April 13, 2007 ·

First he said: * "Homosexual transsexuals tend to have a short time horizon, with certain pleasure in the present worth great risks for the future." * "Prostitution is the single most common occupation that homosexual transsexuals in our study admitted to." * "The more resourceful and attractive transsexual prostitutes are call girls." * "Nearly all the homosexual transsexuals I know work as escorts after they have their surgery." * "As for shoplifting, homosexual transsexuals are not especially well suited as… Read more.

Nappy Hoe’s and Presidential Faggots

April 12, 2007 ·

In my post, "Just Wondering" I asked where the outrage was concerning Michael Savage's attack on on transgender people. It's two weeks later, and I'm still asking myself the same question. Ann Coulter - Called one man a faggot. Don Imus - Called a team "nappy headed hoes." Michael Savage - Called a murdered transwoman a psycho freak. "Yeah, process of becoming a woman -- psychopath. should have been in a back ward in a straitjacket for years, howling… Read more.

Just wondering…

March 26, 2007 ·

Why has GLAAD make such a big deal about Ann Coulter's slur of John Edwards and the Superbowl candy bar commercial, but has been silent on Michael Savage's rampage against transgender men and women. Their front page features this: But where is the same call to action against those stations that carry Savage? His comments are MUCH WORSE than anything that has come out of the mouth of Coulter. http://www.transadvocate.com/files/2007/03/savage-20070323.mp3 SAVAGE: The wages of sin are death. You're gonna cut… Read more.

Little Ole’ Bigot

March 18, 2007 ·

A southern, right-wing, anti-abortion, Dominionist bigot recently wrote this post denouncing Joanne Nemecek for supporting her spouse in transition. I'm not sure she'll actually let it out of moderation (sooooo typical of right wingnut blogs), so I wanted to post my response here. "I would be amused (how you support a war that has killed thousands, yet you're pro-life?...pfftt... too funny), if this wasn't all so pathetic. First of all, I love your use of idols (a representation or symbol… Read more.

Where Did I Leave My Crow Bar?

March 11, 2007 ·

The Journal of Lesbian Studies is calling for submissions to the upcoming "Lesbians and Body Image" issue. One of the questions really caught my eye: " What differentiates body image situations where it is seen as desirable to change your attitude (i.e., "accept your body") vs. where it is seen as desirable to change your body (i.e., transsexual surgery)? What determines whether someone identifies as a butch lesbian or a FTM transsexual?" Is it possible to ever "accept your body?"… Read more.

Best. Comment. EVER!

March 2, 2007 ·

"If these religionists would just read their Bibles, they would see that God has no problem with making a woman out of a man. In fact, He was the first to do it." - Phil, a commenter over at Shakespeare's Sister. Phil's point out of the hypocrisy of the clergy who chose to speak for God at a Largo city commission meeting. City manager, Steve Stanton, was the topic of the nights meeting. Roundly praised for his work, he's being… Read more.

Can I Just Piss, Please?

February 14, 2007 ·

[kml_flashembed movie="http://lads.myspace.com/videos/vplayer.swf" width="430" height="346" fvars="m=893028993;type=video"/] This movie is right on! It's ridiculous i have to choose between going to jail or possible physical violence, just to go pee. If you like this vid you should go over to PlanetOut Short Movie Awards Audience Awards and vote for "Wrong Bathroom." Tip - Maria Read more.

I Ain’t Got No-Body

February 11, 2007 ·

(I wrote this post a while ago, but forgot to put it up.) Call it synchronicity or blind luck, but at times multiple posts converge into one line of thinking for me. The Kim Nixon case is one such intersection. Ms. Nixon was rejected from the Vancouver Rape Relief Society training program when they found out that she was transgender. Ms. Nixon brought a suit against the center. You can read more about that here and here. I found the… Read more.

Momma Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Trannies!

January 31, 2007 ·

The right wing blogs are a fire with the story of a german 12 year old that is transitioning from male to female. Here is a sample:"This is wrong. A boy decides he is a girl--a boy--and psychiatrists and doctors agree to get on with the hormones before he has even had a chance to experience puberty and perhaps come to different conclusions." - - SecondHand Smoke "This is just sad. I doubt the boy is truly happy." - Right… Read more.

Wars, and Rumors of Wars

January 22, 2007 ·

In the haze of my early AM internets blog reading I came across this post: "I'm coming out of a depression, so I'm very vulnerable, and I might not be seeing things clearly. Maybe by this time next week, I won't feel this way. But I've really had my fill of blogs. I guess I should have stopped reading blogs that feature regular doses of infighting. But Laurelin's right: there's a thin line between stirring and silence." I've felt the… Read more.

“You kind of like me, don’t you, Chuck?”

January 18, 2007 ·

Charles revisited the transgender/feminism debate, this time centering on the "Language Around Trans, How it Works, How it Doesn't...." Little Light said: "Honestly, I don't feel comfortable getting involved in this discussion until the trans people in it actually have our words honored. In the previous thread, most of the trans folk involved dropped out quietly in frustration, and part of the reason is that our arguments and statements were not actually being engaged with. " I agree with Little… Read more.

Taking A Dive For The Cause

January 12, 2007 ·

It was New Years Eve when I learned of this post, and I've spent the last 13 days digging around the radfem blogosphere reading all the posts that sprouted from that initial post. One post in particular caught my attention. As the thread developed you could see each side digging in for the long haul. As of Thursay morning, I stopped posting there because I could feel the negative energy building, which started to wear on me physically and mentally.… Read more.

Playing Nice Here With Radical Feminists

January 9, 2007 ·

Ya know, maybe it's because I've read every goddamn post on the radical feminists take on transgenderism, but I'm pissed. I won't denigrate this blog with my rant. If you want to read it, it's here. I've read the following posts: Any Excuse to Denigrate Lipstick 275 comments Queer Dewd Layeth The Bitchslap Down For Sex-Positive Feminism Twisty Goes to Camp: A Very Special Episode 96 comments Okay. 316 Are Feminists Allowed to Be Partnered with Transmen and Transwomen? 310… Read more.

Any Excuse to Denigrate Radical Feminism

January 7, 2007 ·

For the past week or so I've been digging through just about every post I could find about this post on I Blame The Patriarchy. I was planning on writing a mega-post in response to the different blog posts I found, but today I found this post by ampersand at Amptoons.com. Ampersand breaks it down better than I ever could. "Argument #1: The argument from freeform, irrational hatred of transsexuals. Luckynkl provided such an exaggerated example of drooling, bile-soaked hate that if I hadn't known her for years, I would suspect she's a sock puppet intended to discredit feminism. Here's a couple of examples, drawn from a dozen or more similar statements: ‘You want to know how men can hurt women? **chuckle** You're joking, right? Oh wait. I'm supposed to believe men in drag are women. And if you put on a werewolf mask, will you also expect me to believe you're a werewolf? This is about what all this nonsense amounts to. In short, trans are nutjobs. The bathroom is about the last place I want to be alone with a male nutjob. These unfortunate, but seriously disturbed individuals belong on the 5th floor in a straight jacket. Not in a women's bathroom.' In this case, the important part of Lucky's argument isn't the argument itself (which is based on the nonsensical notion that men — or transwomen — who are apt to break the law by being violent against women in public bathrooms, will be stopped by the sign on the ladies' room door). Lucky's real argument here isn't what she says. It's her derisive, sneering tone: the point is to let transwomen know that they are "men" (in Lucky's view, men are evil) and that they are semi-human objects of contempt. The most reasonable reply to Lucky's argument is (to quote Brownfemipower): Fuck you. Lucky's a bigot and an asshole; the difference between Lucky and a Klanswoman is only in which oppressed minority her hate is focused on. (I should note that although Lucky was the most extreme, several feminists joined her in her hate-fest.)" Read more.

Minus My Humanity

January 3, 2007 ·

Why not just say a singaporean woman...or man? Hell, even "transsexual woman" would be better than "transsexual." I guess it's easier to see "transsexuals" as some kind of mutant rather than a person. To a person that isn't trans, it may be hard to understand why the semantics at play here are important. I agree with Rush Limbaugh, words do mean things. Writing this way will dehumanize Kamaruzaman Bin Mohamed Noor. Stripping away a person's humanity makes it easier to… Read more.

For The “It Could Be Worse” file…

December 9, 2006 ·

A cleric who married a female-to-male transsexual and a woman was attacked by enraged Muslims in Bogor. Prior to the attack the mob had gathered at the Al-Muawanah mosque to discuss what should be done with Abdul Halim. A spokesman for residents, Habib Muhammad bin Agil Alatas, said the meeting at the mosque had been done at the invitation of police. There it was decided that the land on which Abdul Halim's mosque and school stood belonged to the community… Read more.

Common Sense or Science? You Choose!

December 7, 2006 ·

Generic Confusion's author, Greg wonders about allowing gender dysphoric children to choose their gender: "What are parents to do when their child says he's tired of being a child, and wants to be a roadrunner? What if their child wants to go around naked?" I responded: Is wanting to be a roadrunner, a diagnosable mental disorder? Is wanting to be be naked, a diagnosable mental disorder? Does one "grow out of" mental disorders? You've linked to some pretty conservative blogs,… Read more.

Re-thinking Gay Image

May 27, 2006 ·

by Caillean Maureen McMahon I'm old enough to remember. It does not seem that very long ago that Russian Orthodox leaders commanded the sympathy of the world as they attempted to keep their faith and practices alive in the face of the Soviet Government's "scientific atheism." It was only yesterday that Russian Jews were desperately trying to emigrate to the US , to Canada or to Israel because of persecution. We applauded we empathized with their desire for freedom and… Read more.

The Gay Tax by Caillean Maureen McMahon

April 22, 2006 ·

The Gay Tax Today, I had a moment of unusual clarity. Like a lightning bolt in the sky, the darkness of the tangled alliances and motivations involved in the opposition to same-sex marriage was illuminated for me and I finally understood it all. It is about a tax. The opposition to gay and lesbian civil partnerships, domestic partnerships, marriage, benefits and adoptions is not about protecting the "sanctity of marriage" or "keeping children in the best environment." The demand that… Read more.

Crain Brain Drain

January 18, 2006 ·

I really had to laugh at the complete arrogance and hypocrisy Chris Crain showed in his recent Editorial entitled: "A year of living dangerously." I focus on this one sentence in particular, "I also learned the hard way how the impact of hate crimes is felt differently, and more broadly, than other violent crimes." Please explain to us how you have learned anything, Chris. You showed that you are relentless in your opposition to transgender people being covered by hate… Read more.

“J’Accuse”

January 14, 2006 ·

"J'Accuse" One of the more recent developments in the struggle for Gay and Lesbian Rights has been the overt opposition of the African Anglican Church, the so-called "Global South" toward our ambitions. Conervative Episcopal Bishop after Bishop in the United States seem to be harking to the enticing rhetoric of the "African Mission" or "Anglican Global Communion," an anti-gay and anti-Canterbury movement in the Anglican Church and moving toward recognizing Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria as their spiritual leader. The… Read more.

A call for protest in Bangalore India (From Sangama)

January 8, 2006 ·

Dear friend(s) BANGALORE PROTEST DETAILS: Time: 5 PM Date: 9th January, 2006, Monday Place: Mahatma Gandhi Statue, MG Road Most of you are aware about the homophobic and moralistic attitudes of Lucknow Police, that lead to the arrest of 4 gay/bisexual men in Lucknow under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. In the FIR Police have mentioned 13 more people's names and mobile phone numbers. This has created fear and panic among sexuality minorities in Lucknow - many of… Read more.

The Irish Essay

January 4, 2006 ·

By Caillean McMahon A few thoughts on the issue of gay marriage: First of all, nearly all of us support the idea that same sex couples ought to have the right, or have the right to marry even if the laws of a nation deny that right. That said, I've a few observations: In re: the argument about the term "wife" Yes, the feminist tradition that is the bedrock of modern Lesbian activism always had a knee jerk and visceral… Read more.

Antigay Ammendment introduced in PA

December 10, 2005 ·

Two friends of mine have lost partners to death in the last year and a half. In each case they found that the legal protections that they set up to try and cover at least some of the benefits granted by marriage were inadequate. Both of my friends had to deal with legal and financial traumas in the wake of one of the most devastating losses that a person can experience. We have few protections legally without marriage. To give… Read more.

THE TRANSBUSTER

October 22, 2005 ·

Chris Crain’s editorial lamenting that HRC apparently has finally decided to put their money where their mouth was and decide to become a GLBT rights organization and not just a rich gay white male rights organization, actually brought a smile to my face. His nit-picking over Mara Keisling’s numbers in the Hate Crimes Bill and his complaint of “trans-jacking”, would almost be funny if it weren’t for the damage that such naïve divisiveness brings to the LGBT community. He just… Read more.

Open Letter to Windows Media

September 26, 2005 ·

By Autumn Sandeen Dear Windows Media Management, I find it difficult to believe that Windows Media truly believes "Newspapers should reflect all aspects of their readers' lives" and that its "superior editorial content and community involvement sets apart". Although your organization's print and e-publications cover transgender issues (and obtain transgender readership as a result), Windows Media's homepage specifically states "Window Media publications provide comprehensive coverage of issues, news and entertainment of interest to lesbians and gay men." I'm… Read more.

A Line In The Sand

July 17, 2005 ·

by Caillean McMahon Pennsylvania Gay and Lesbian Alliance This well may be the least popular editorial that I have ever written. Having said that, having warned the "gentle reader" that I am about to drop a match onto the gasoline of well-defended complacency, it is time to begin. Today's news carried a piece on the outing of Senator Santorum's aide as gay. It is not a stunning revelation in and of itself, for we have been treated to other gays… Read more.

“Pat, The Whole LGBTQI Spectrum of People Are Important In Society!”

July 2, 2005 ·

Transgender people ain't necessarily homosexual people By Autumn Sandeen Today I read an article in the Argus (A California bay area newspaper) entitled "Homosexuals Important In Society," by PFLAG's Pat Skillen. As a transgender person, I was frustrated a bit by the title and the message of the article; the writer used the acronym GLBT throughout the piece, referenced murdered transgender teen Gwen Araujo, but associated the term GLBT only with being homosexual. For example, one quote from the article… Read more.

Bait and Switch

June 13, 2005 ·

The "Focus on the Family" website recently published a "news story" concerning the recent HRC report that discusses the increasing number of major corporations adding gender identity and expression into workplace non-discrimination policies. This supposed "news" piece starts out by saying "At first, it sounds reasonable - workplace equality for homosexuals. But prying under the veneer of tolerance reveals an agenda that goes way beyond equality." The article goes on to quote Margaret Stumpp, a senior vice president at Prudential… Read more.