[My activism Tumblr can be found over at thatfeministdyke]
If you want your ask replied to privately, just put '****' before you start typing.
My name is: Michelle, but most people call me Dark online.
My gender-pronouns are: They/them/their.
I am: 26 years old, a feminist, liberal, an atheist, an omnivore, and an ISFJ.
The Feminist: Intersectional, body positive, pro-choice, and sex positive.
My privileged identities include: Female assigned at birth (trans* privilege), white, able-bodied, allistic (?), dyadic, monogamous.
My non-privileged/oppressed identities include: Gender-fluid, fat, gray-a, neuroatypical, and gay.
I have: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and Major Depressive Disorder.
I like: Pets & animals, animal welfare, pet care & pet care education, ~*SCIENCE!*~, anatomy & physiology, roleplaying, anime/manga, computer & video games, rock & metal music.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
The Not-so-Cliché-world of W.: Dear Cis Feminists
Would you please stop toting around vaginas like they’re some kind of crucifix protecting you from the patriarchy?
Your insistence on all things vagina in feminist spaces actively erases, marginalizes, and oppresses not only women with other genital configurations, but also non-binaries and men.
What I mean to say is that while vaginas are fucking important, awesome, and do face a very distinct oppression; your devotion to the vagina when not talking about that oppression actively oppresses other people.
So yes, have a knitted vagina, have a giant papier-mâché vagina, have cuntcakes, have “I <3 vagina” shirts, take pride in your own vagina; but just know this: Women with other genital configurations exist and you need to not erase them.
How to be a safe space for trans* people
- Never assume someone’s pronouns: Use neutral terms until you are told, or are able to ask for, someone’s pronouns. This applies to everyone — not just people you suspect are transgender or whose gender you are unsure of based on voice or appearance. You should be unsure of everyone’s pronouns until you know what to use, because not everyone can present as they’d like, or feels it necessary to present in a particular way for their pronoun.
- Avoid gendered language when talking to individuals: You might think slang like calling everyone “dude” or “girl” is playful and inoffensive, but many people feel uncomfortable with that language because it labels them with a gender they are not, or because it’s overly familiar. In addition, calling someone you perceive to be a woman pet names like “sweetie” can be very condescending. Calling a stranger “boy” has racist connotations if they are a person of color. This varies by region, but unless you know someone and how they would like to be referred to, don’t say it.
- Particularly avoid addressing strangers by “sir” or “miss: Saying “sir” or “miss” to be polite can easily misgender someone; “excuse me”, plus their name if you know it, can serve the same purpose in most situations. If you are going to be talking to that person longer, ask their pronoun.
- Use gender neutral language when talking to groups: Saying “ladies and gentlemen” is a start, but not everyone is a lady or a gentleman. Saying “everyone”, or referring to the audience by their roles (student, employee, parent, etc.) can substitute.
- If you do misgender someone, be graceful about it: Apologize briefly, use the correct pronoun, and continue. Don’t be long-winded, because that can draw attention to the mistake and rub it in. Don’t find excuses or argue.
- Allow people to use the bathroom they are comfortable with: You cannot tell somebody’s gender just by looking at them, and even if they identify as a particular gender, they may feel uneasy using that gender’s bathroom.
- Also have a gender neutral bathroomavailable for everyone’s use: Neutral bathrooms take the stress out of wondering if you are going to be harassed for taking care of a basic bodily function. But in order to be truly neutral, these bathrooms shouldn’t be segregated as “the transgender bathroom”. They should be freely available to anyone who needs them.
- Don’t allow sexist, transphobic, or homophobic jokes and comments: People may not mean these comments to be offensive, but they still hurt and make people feel like outsiders. Keep the space respectful of all genders and ways of presenting.
- Educate all people in the space on safe space rules: If you designate your space as safe, and then a guard starts telling someone they are in the wrong bathroom, or people are making rude comments about what they presume is in someone’s pants, your space is not safe for trans* people.
Does anyone have other rules, or comments to add?
Amy Dentata: veronicadire: amydentata: rumplestiltsqueer said: funny how no one...
rumplestiltsqueer said: funny how no one ever makes claims about trans men having an unfair advantage in sports where lower body strength is importa- oh, right, transmisogyny
Nobody cares about stamina, it’s all about MANLY STRENGTH BABY (or in this case, ASSUMED MANLY STRENGTH BABY). Go masculinity. Rah rah rah.
Oh, right, and scary, scary penises.
What is infuriating is this: it is pretty clear to me that trans women athletes are at a disadvantage compared to their cis opponents — and certainly at the higher levels of competition.
Okay, so this is taking it as a given that their cis competitors are somehow doping, in some way, to get a major T boost. They’re supplementing somehow. The trans woman is doing the opposite. Regarding whatever body mass she may have built up as a man, look, this is so obvious it pains me to type it: in sports where body mass matters, they weigh you. Fallon Fox has to cut and make weight, just like every other fighter.
I mean, it is almost as if the critics don’t want to understand.
I think we just solved this mystery, Scoob.
So… would it be better to talk to my gyno or my PCP if I’m looking to get my chest reduced? Would one or the other be better?
Do Not Poke the Tiger: autumn-fhtagn: “In examining reports of hate crimes against…
“In examining reports of hate crimes against transgender people, researchers found that 98% of all “transgender” violence was perpetrated specifically against people in the male-to-female spectrum[1]; of the 38 murders of transgender people reported internationally in 2003, 70% were women of color.[2]” [x]
And if we inferred about the race distinction in violence against CAFAB trans people, based on the 70/30 rate in CAMAB trans people, it would look like this:
But the only ones I see people listening to about anti-trans violence are CAFAB trans people.
(1) Currah, P., & Minter, S. (2000). Transgender equality: A handbook for activists and policymakers. New York, NY: National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and The National Center for Lesbian Rights.
(2) Goldberg, J. M. & White, C. (2004). Expanding our understanding of gendered violence: Violence against trans people and loved ones. Aware: The Newsletter of the BC Institute Against Family Violence, 11, 21-25.
(Source: marxvx)
Using anything other than a person’s pronouns when talking about them is a seriously shitty thing to do no matter how much you hate them.
Just a reminder.
(Source: ilahey)
Trans Women Couple Seeking Housing in Minneapolis/St. Paul
Hey folks!
Okay so I usually don’t do this kind of thing but we’re starting to get down to the deadline and I need all the help I can get.
Me and girlfriend Amber have had our housing situation change quite suddenly and we need to move to a new place for February!
We’re seeking a room to rent in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area that’s LGBT friendly (and preferably 420 friendly as well). We’re a quiet, tidy, easy-going transgender couple - both employed full time and own our own vehicles. We’re looking for a safe, welcoming environment.
Please send me or Amber an ask if you have any questions/concerns. Even if you’re in the area and you can only ask around your friends, your help is greatly appreciated!
California restaurant kicks out trans women, eats humble pie
By Matt Wood
Transgender Law Center assisted two transgender women in Los Angeles who were wrongfully asked to leave a restaurant in Burbank in October. While eating dinner, the two women, Jennifer Reid and Victoria Rose were approached by the restaurant’s manager and asked to leave, allegedly because their clothing was not appropriate for a “family restaurant.” The women rightly believed that they were being targeted because of their gender identity and contacted TLC for information about the law and their rights.
Transgender Law Center explained to Jenny and Victoria that the Unruh Civil Rights Act, California’s public accommodations law, prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity in business establishments – including transgender and gender nonconforming folks alike.
(Any place that provides goods and services to the general public is considered a public accommodation – this includes restaurants, grocery stores, health clinics, hospitals, health clubs, homeless shelters and most social services).
Armed with this information, Jenny called the restaurant’s Regional Manager and demanded a public apology from the restaurant manager, a refund for the meal she and Victoria were unable to finish, and a promise that the restaurant would do remedial training with all of their managers and staff so that no transgender person would face this kind of discrimination.
Less than 24 hours after that conversation, Jenny was contacted by the Regional Manager who made a personal apology and arranged for the Burbank manager to apologize to Jenny and Victoria in the restaurant in front of the Burbank restaurant staff. Jenny and Victoria were also given a refund and extra gift coupons. Even more impressively, Jenny was then contacted by the restaurant’s Regional Human Resources Manager who was impressed with how informed Jenny was, and had decided to use some of the information from Jenny’s conversation with the Regional Manager to institute sensitivity training for all management and staff at the restaurant chain, effective immediately. As a result of Jenny and Victoria’s courageous self-advocacy, this restaurant chain is now on notice that transgender customers must be treated with the same dignity and respect afforded to all other customers.
Jenny and Victoria’s experience is an example of how transgender and gender nonconforming people often experience discrimination in their communities when accessing public accommodations, including being refused service, being treated differently than their non-transgender peers, or being victims to harmful verbal and physical violence when simply trying to carry out their daily activities.
If you need legal assistance, please call the TLC legal hotline at
(415) 865-0176 x306, or via the online intake form at: http://transgenderlawcenter.org/help
Matt Wood is a staff attorney at Transgender Law Center
!!
“End racist and trans violence at the hands of the police”
(Source: sparklebutch)
