Is “T” Really Part Of LGBT?

Many gays and lesbians and also trans-people ask that question and Lavern Cox of “Orange is the New Black” has a good answer to that question, she wrote in the New York Times that,

Should the trans-rights movement be part of the gay-rights movement? Well, yes and no.
[…]
Everyone has a stake in ending the stigma against trans identities, but gay people may have a more personal interest. When kids are bullied and called anti-gay slurs, it’s rarely because the victim seemed to be attracted to members of the same sex. It’s because the child did not conform to gender expectations based on the sex they were assigned at birth. The bullies might yell “gay,” but it’s about gender expression.

I agree, when gays or lesbians are attack both verbally and physically it is not really about their sexual orientation but how they are behaving or appearance. As Ms. Cox said “The bullies might yell “gay,” but it’s about gender expression.” When someone is beating your head with a baseball bat they are not distinguishing between gay or trans… they just see “Gay.”

She also said,

Many in the trans community are fed up with L.G.B.T. organizations that continue to erase trans identity or just give lip service to trans issues. We need our cisgender allies – gay and straight – to treat transgender lives as if they matter, and trans people need multiple seats at the tables in the organizations that say they’re interested in L.G.B.T. equality; this absence has been painful since Stonewall…

What I see happening is that once “Marriage Equality” happens the funding dries up, we have to make the LGBs aware that our fight is their fight also. That human rights are for all people.

When we were trying to pass the Connecticut gender identity and expression non-discrimination law many gays and lesbians walked away because Connecticut now had marriage equality and an anti-discrimination law that protected sexual orientation and they saw no need to help us.