I think the author paints with an overly broad brush, are there TREF (Trans-exclusionary radical feminists)…? Yes. Are the anti-trans gays and lesbians…? Yes. Are there HBSer (Harry Benjamin Syndrome)…? Yes.
But if you look at any social movement you will see the same type of pushbacks from those who do not believe in the movement. Civil rights, immigrant rights, marriage equality, gay and lesbian rights, and trans rights, they all face negative pressure from without and from within.
Which leads me to the article I want to talk about…
When the gender inclusive non-discrimination bill was going through the legislative process in 2011, major funding was from the Gill Foundation, Love Makes a Family, Planned Parenthood, and the ACLU. The first two are LGB organizations. ctEQUALITY was the organization that lead the effort to pass the bill, it was funded by the above organizations, it was led by a gender queer woman and its member organizations were LGBT organizations, non-profits, churches, and trans organizations.
Some will say that I treat Republicans with a broad brush but I see a difference between race, immigrant, and LGBT people and a political party. Race, immigrant, and LGBT people to a certain extent you don’t chose to be black or LGBT while you chose to be an immigrant, however being an immigrant is not exclusive, anyone can become an immigrant. However, a political party has a party platform that puts forth their beliefs and if you choose to join the party then you agree to their platform. The Republican platform is anti-LGBT and anti-women so by joining the party you approve to those tenants.
But if you look at any social movement you will see the same type of pushbacks from those who do not believe in the movement. Civil rights, immigrant rights, marriage equality, gay and lesbian rights, and trans rights, they all face negative pressure from without and from within.
Which leads me to the article I want to talk about…
Why Trans Activists Can’t Trust The LeftWhen the bill to ban conversion therapy was voted on in the House and Senate it had strong bipartisan support, in the Senate all 18 Republicans vote for the ban.
The Establishment,
By Sam Riede
July 7, 2017
From moderate liberals’ self-centered tantrums to far-left radicals’ conspiracy theories, it’s impossible to deny that the left has a transphobia problem.
Even though I’ve been an out trans woman since 2015, and knew I was queer ages before, this year marked the first time I attended a Pride parade. Checking my usual cynicism at the door, I went all in, marching exuberantly with my partner and her wife in the Equality NY contingent behind NYC Mayor Bill deBlasio. Everyone should experience a joyful Pride at least once, I figured. (My partner agreed heartily, rollerblading the entire parade route on less than four hours of sleep.)
[…]
Little did I know that less than two hours later, when #NoJusticeNoPride activists blocked the tail end of the parade to call attention to violence against trans women of color, deportations, and the ongoing corporatization of Pride, 12 of them would be arrested by the NYPD. As those same Pride bystanders — standing outside the bar where Black trans activist Marsha P. Johnson, “The Saint of Christopher Street,” resisted arrest and started a riot that would change the world — watched the arrests, they cheered again. Not for the protesters, but for the police. Judging from photos, at least one of those arrested was a transfeminine person of color.
[…]
The cisgender Left, those who claim to support trans people and our struggle for civil rights, are quick to cheer our oppressors when that support becomes inconvenient.
Okay, nowhere does it say you have to be a liberal to be LGBT, just like nowhere does it say you have to be a liberal if you are black, and there are probably a good number of immigrant who are conservative.
Just because you share one trait with a community does mean you share all the traits with the community.
When the gender inclusive non-discrimination bill was going through the legislative process in 2011, major funding was from the Gill Foundation, Love Makes a Family, Planned Parenthood, and the ACLU. The first two are LGB organizations. ctEQUALITY was the organization that lead the effort to pass the bill, it was funded by the above organizations, it was led by a gender queer woman and its member organizations were LGBT organizations, non-profits, churches, and trans organizations.
It’s not that this is new information, exactly; The Establishment’s own Katelyn Burns reported earlier this year on how quickly liberals sought to blame Hillary Clinton’s election loss on transgender activism. While support for trans rights has ostensibly increased on the left, many still predicate their allyship on trans activists catering to their needs. A Facebook post by D.C. attorney and Catholics for Equality co-founder Phil Attey recently went viral in trans social media groups when Attey demanded to be called “non-trans” instead of “cisgender,” a term which is not pejorative. “If you want to keep us as allies,” Attey wrote, “start by not calling us things we don’t like.”I would rewrite to say “how quickly some liberals sought to blame Hillary Clinton’s election loss on transgender activism.”
Some will say that I treat Republicans with a broad brush but I see a difference between race, immigrant, and LGBT people and a political party. Race, immigrant, and LGBT people to a certain extent you don’t chose to be black or LGBT while you chose to be an immigrant, however being an immigrant is not exclusive, anyone can become an immigrant. However, a political party has a party platform that puts forth their beliefs and if you choose to join the party then you agree to their platform. The Republican platform is anti-LGBT and anti-women so by joining the party you approve to those tenants.
I know of no one on the cis-left who would every cheer on oppressors of anyone. Of course I hang with communists, socialists, anarchists not with mainstream white women like the ones cheering the arrests of the No Justice No Pride folks. As a matter of fact many of us white queers joined with the Black Lives Matter movement, the Stonewall Warriors out of Boston to rightfully return PRIDE to our foremothers Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, Storme', and other POC who fought at Stonewall.
ReplyDeleteI think the writer of this article is a tad bit messed up as far as calling out who was doing any cheering. No one on the left, and let me repeat that no one on the left, would ever support the cops over our own people. Perhaps when Sam is out and about more a light will turn on and a new understanding of what is what will take place.So please do not confuse us with the mainstream LGBT movement as we are as far removed from them as we are removed from cops, straights, institutions, legislative bodies, and good old amerikkkan apple pie. We like those who fought at Stonewall want to topple and transform not win acceptance within the countries institutions. (a fine point that is lost on the mainstream but that is another story when the great split happened)
P.S I have been resisting the corporatization of PRIDE, and all the trappings of what this has become for so many years and I know far more years than Sam Ride has been out.