Be a Trans Advocate

The Human Rights Campaign Just Needs More Education About Transphobia

December 9, 2012 · Marti Abernathey

The Human Rights Campaign has a history of making moves that make it seem like it is becoming more and more trans aware/friendly/positive. After all, they hired Allyson Robinson:

and they gave Lana Wachowski the HRC Visibility Award:

So they’re on our team, right? They’re our allies?

Apparently team trans hasn’t “educated” HRC’s e-mail Communications Coordinator, David Salisbury. Salisbury apparently thinks this is appropriate behavior for an HRC employee:

Can you say institutionalized transphobia? Or maybe the Human Rights Campaign just needs more education….

Gender Orientation, Identity, and Expression

I've witnessed many arguments and misunderstandings explode over the conflation of these THREE dimensions of what we in trans discourse collectively refer to as gender: Gender Orientation: One’s subjective experience of one’s body, including its sexed attributes. Gender Identity: Identity labels used when socially constructing sexed…

Exploiting The Transgender Dead: Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition's Rent-A-Corpse Page

I used to be outraged when the non-profit sector of the "LGBT" community tried to exploit the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), but after repeated attempts (1, 2, 3, 4) I have come to expect it. This year's attempt comes…

Transphobic Jokes, Context, and the Free Speech Canard

Recently comedian Vicky Wagner posted this on social media: When criticized, she said: "I appreciate your opinion but Caitlyn had 65 years exp being a man in a man's world. She had male privilege. Has nothing to do with respect.…

WWLT-TV, I Find Your Lack Of AP Stylebook Trans Understanding Disturbing

Why in Hades is it so hard for professional journalists to get this breathtakingly simple concept? Per the AP Stylebook: transgender-Use the pronoun preferred by the individuals who have acquired the physical characteristics of the opposite sex or present themselves…

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

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…

Five Attributes of Trans Allies

Last week in my Transgender Studies class, and also at a Diversity Day presentation that I made on the Auraria Campus, we talked about allies. In my opinion, allies are an important component of any group. They add numbers, they…