Do We Have To Do Trans 101?

Do we have a responsibility to train people about being trans? Do we have to always be doing outreach?

My answer is no. We are under no obligation to help others understand what it means to be transgender. Many of us like doing outreach while others don't and that is okay but no one should be forced or looked down upon if they do not.. An article in Slate is about that,

Transgender People Are Not Responsible for Educating You
By Parker Marie Molloy
July 10, 2014

Last month, Andrew Sullivan wrote a piece titled “Engaging the T,” in which he lamented how difficult it is to write about or discuss transgender topics. The article, which focuses on actress Laverne Cox’s disinterest in discussing which surgical procedures she’s had done, refers to trans people as “furious,” “touchy,” and “neurotic.” He includes lines like, “Sorry, Laverne. But if you’re out there explaining yourself, you’ve gotta explain all of it.” By “all of it,” Sullivan is referring to the intimate details of Cox’s body.

“Most people are just completely ignorant, and have never met or engaged a trans person, and so their misconceptions and misunderstandings are inevitable and not self-evidently a matter of bigotry or prejudice,” Sullivan rightly notes. “I think we should be understanding of this, as open as we can be, and answer the kinds of questions some might feel inappropriate or offensive. That’s the basis for dialogue, empathy, and progress.” There’s a problem with that second half, about how trans people should open up and answer the inappropriate questions: It completely ignores the fact that there’s already a wealth of information on trans people and their experiences available out there, information you’d already know about if you’d bothered to look.

A classroom is different than a television studio or a checkout line, as the saying goes there is a time and place for everything. But even in a classroom satisfyingly curiosity is not teaching, whether or not you had surgery is not important to understanding what it is like being trans. While the process or the requirements for surgery and what the surgery involves is important. I have done hundreds of outreaches for the for a LGBT speakers organization and I have answered the question if I have had surgery but I am always weighing whether I want to answer the question directly or sidestep the question and answer instead why people cannot or don’t want surgery. Most times I do both, answer the question and tell them why many people cannot have surgery or don’t want surgery.

The article goes on to say,

The genital inquisition is just one of the reasons we need to stop allowing people to use "I'm just trying to be educated" and "How will I learn if you won't teach me?" as cover for prurient curiosity. If you are serious about your trans education, get online or open a book. What's the difference between a gender-fluid individual and a bi-gender individual? What does "dysphoria" mean? Why do some trans individuals get reconstructive genital surgeries while others don't? What does "cisgender" mean? All of these questions can be answered in a matter of seconds. If you truly want to be an ally to trans people, you’ve got to start by doing your homework.

Whether or not you had surgery does not define you and I think that is the point we have to make.