TRANScendent

Random angry cis women, for some reason: I can’t believe white trans women would do this to me. >:(

Trans men: um, actually, it’s me, I—

Angry cis: Trans women are trying to take away my femininity >:(

I mean sometimes they do yeah. I know a white guy with monolid eyes and zero known Asian ancestors and he absolutely experiences anti-Asian racism on a fairly regular basis because people think he’s mixed Asian/white. I know a woman who was told throughout her life that she was Native as an adoptee with no known history or background who experienced incredibly violent amounts of anti-Native racism until she discovered as an adult through DNA test that she is 100% white. I know white people who tan incredibly dark in the summer comparatively that are constantly accused of being mixed race and experiencing racism due to that, usually anti-Mexican racism perpetrated against white people with Greek or Italian ancestors.

If you think cis butches don’t experience both transphobia and misogyny and homophobia for daring to be women who break gender roles while still holding onto their womanhood you’ve sorely misunderstood just how bad butches have it in this world sorry. If you don’t think cis queens experience transphobia and homophobia and misogyny for daring to be men who break gender roles while being loud and proud about it and still holding onto their manhood then you’ve sorely mistaken just how bad they have it in this world as well.

Not to mention all of the cis men who wear dresses and skirts and makeup and nail polish and heels simply because they like them who experience all of these things. All of the cis straight women who simply just exist but something about them doesn’t pass society’s “woman enough” test, leading to them being caught in bathroom bills and sporting rules and being attacked by people who mistake them for being transgender or gay.

Just like how straight people experience homophobia to such a degree that they literally beat their children out of any potential deviance from rigidly upheld gender roles and let politicians make jokes on national TV about how they’d drown their pre-teen kids if they came out as LGBT. Do you really think a straight kid still figuring themselves out hears that and doesn’t internalize that homophobia? Doesn’t rigidly hold themselves to some impossible standard so that no one could ever possibly think they’re gay? You don’t think straight teenage boys who maybe don’t pass some bully’s straightness test are getting the shit kicked out of them for “being gay” when, surprise, they aren’t? You don’t think all those kids being attacked by their priests and coaches and teachers are being told “this wouldn’t have happened if you weren’t gay” when they’re literally not gay? Do you know how many straight kids had close calls at my school that famously expels all gay kids, because someone made up a believable enough rumor? Do you know how many of them still got their shit kicked in even though administration ultimately decided to let them stay?

All bigotry is violent and all bigotry catches people it doesn’t “intend” to and hurts them as well. It doesn’t matter what someone’s label is, or if they even have one. It matters if the person enacting the violence is doing it because their victim didn’t pass whatever “acceptable enough” test they didn’t know they were being subjected to.

So, this is a particularly long post, but it’s an absolutely IMPORTANT ONE. PLEASE REBLOG! LIKING IS USELESS!

In a particularly scummy move, the Kids Online Safety Act is going to be put into the must pass end of year spending bill: www.axios.com/…

The two laws best positioned to get rolled into big year-end legislative packages, according to advocates and lawmakers, are:

The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), which would require platforms to guard kids from harmful content using new features and safeguards and to make privacy settings “on” by default for children. The law also mandates privacy audits and  more transparency about privacy policies.

At first glance, the bill doesn’t sound bad, since it’s about helping “protect children” online. But like every “protect the children” type law, this would censor the internet of anything “harmful” to children aka any LGBT, NSFW, or whatever the Right doesn’t like, force everyone to upload their govt ID’s to even access anything online, and surveil everyone else. Gutting everyone’s privacy in an era where we see massive state violence and encroaching fascism globally. This is not only pushed by the same people (Senator Richard Blumenthal and Marsha Blackburn) who created the awful EARN IT Act, but also has many of the same flaws, such as pro-censorship, anti LGBT resources and content, and pro-mass surveillance.

But the biggest problem, as Mike Stabile has pointed out, is HOW the mechanism to which this works: The State Attorney General.

This addition would allow states like Texas and Florida to sue companies for having LGBTQ+ content, along with sex education resources, incentivizing these platforms to ban that content. To be more specific, the bill allows the state attorney general to sue if they believe that platforms do not protect minors from a list of harms that includes politicized terms like “grooming” which, as we’ve seen can include any sort of LGBTQ information, entertainment or literature.

RuPaul on TikTok?

A clip on transgender youth on Facebook?

A gay character in a Disney movie?

Suicide hotlines for gay youth?

Cue a suit from Texas or Florida targeting the entire web.

And the problem is that given the current political climate and the cruel behavior of a number of GOP aligned political groups in positions of power, this only ends up making things RIPE for abuse and mass censorship (since companies will probably end up choosing to acquiesce to their demands rather than risk being subject to liability) not to mention the damage this would cause to children who might need resources regarding LGBT or sex education.

Furthermore, the definition of “sexually exploitative material”, “grooming”, and “child porn” has been used in the past year to target transgender people, drag queens, and the wider LGBTQ+ community by likening their very existence as sexually violent. Yet another way this bill’s language will be used to target a community that is already facing violence. Every night, Fox News blasts a story on “sexualization of children “ to fear-monger around the LGBT community. One needs to not look any further than the right-wing ecosystem to see how KOSA would easily be weaponized.

This article by Mike Masnick on Techdirt also goes further into KOSA and its adjacent bills.

To make matters even worse, on top of the usual suspects of NCOSE (a far right group disguised as an anti sex trafficking org, who are infamous for being religious nutjobs who HATE anything to do with sex or LGBT. They used to be called Morality in Media) supporting this travesty of a bill, it’s been revealed that the Senate leader is claiming there’s no opposition.

This is literally giving the fascists a dangerous tool to abuse, all for the sake of political brownie points against ‘Big Tech’. A tool that far right groups like the Heritage Foundation have OPENLY stated will abuse to silence LGBTQ+ or sex-ed content for youth everywhere if it passes.

The ONLY way this works is by making sure who is and isn’t a minor is to have some form of age-verification scheme. And the only way to do that is through a third party like ID.me which has recently come under scrutiny for, you guessed it, data leaks. So everyone who accesses anything online will be forced to upload their govt IDs. How is this protecting anyone’s privacy?

With all that said, what can we do?

Well, the same thing we did for the EARN IT Act; we make a LOT of noise, and get the word out.

If you have read all of the above and want to fight this, sign this open letter against KOSA.

And PLEASE call your Senators at (202-224-3121).

There is a call script with phone numbers here.

Fax them, email them. Tell them they MUST oppose this bill. CONTACT any major human rights, LGBT, and cybersecurity related organizations aligned and let them know about this bill, and the harm it can cause to LGBT rights and children!

EMPHASIZE THE HARM TO CHILDREN WHEN YOU CONTACT PEOPLE, SINCE THEY’RE TRYING TO CLAIM THAT THIS WILL HELP PROTECT CHILDREN’S PRIVACY, WHEN IT DOES THE EXACT OPPOSITE.

i'm 35 years old. i've been IDing as trans or something similar to trans for nearly 20 years. i was probably calling myself FTM while you were playing tag during recess, anon.

i WAS a girl. i IDed as a girl early in my life. i recognized myself as a girl, called myself a girl, lived as a girl, and was a girl. who then IDed as a man. hence, F t M.

spend more time worrying about yourself instead of strangers on the internet, anon.

sorry not sorry if this comes off as needlessly hostile, but i've been getting a lot of shit from a lot of teenage trans kids about the language i use to describe my own goddamn experience, and i'm growing real fuckin weary of it.

i have elder trans friends who call themselves transsexuals and transvestites and trannies. are you going to seriously go to a 60-year-old trans person who survived the reagan years and tell her she's not allowed to use certain language to describe herself because it might offend the delicate sensibilities of some teenager on the internet?

So yeah, anon, "FtM" may be a slightly older term from the 2010's and earlier, and you may not identify with it, but as Leslie Feinberg said, we are choosing our own self-definitions. That includes the outdated or unpopular self-definitions.

And besides, why wouldn't you want a plethora of terms to be able to choose from to describe yourself? So many of us grew up without even recognizing we were trans because we didn't have the language to describe what we were feeling, and now that we do, you'd take those words away simply because YOU don't identify with them? You'd further limit how your community describes itself and identifies, as if we haven't already dealt with enough suppression of identity?

GRAVITY FALLS MEETS OVER THE GARDEN WALL MEETS SCOOBY-DOO MEETS HILDA-ISH VIBES

TRANS JEWISH MLM LEAD (voiced by a trans actor)

PAN AUTISTIC PAKISTANI LEAD WITH ANXIETY

LGBTQ+ REP

POC REP

DISCUSSES MENTAL HEALTH

PARANORMAL ELEMENTS

GHOSTS AND DEMONS AND MONSTERS

EMILY OSMENT PLAYS A DEMON WHO WANTS TO LITERALLY GO TO HELL

MUSICAL EPISODE

ONE OF THE SHOW EXTRAS IS PATRICK STUMP AND I DIDN'T REALIZE UNTIL HE STARTED SINGING

THE DOG TALKS AND HE'S KINDA POSSESSED AND IT'S FUCKIN ALEX BRIGHTMAN AS BOTH OF THEM

THE MALE LEAD SINGS A WHOLE-ASS SONG ABOUT HOW HE ISN'T CRUSHING ON HIS MALE LOVE INTEREST WHILE ALSO FANTASIZING THEIR WEDDING LIKE COME ON PEOPLE

and as of the last pride i attended a few years ago in the same city, do you know who stood in the dead center, away entirely from protesters and violent people, openly brandishing RIFLES? it was the fucking cops.

Hi! Wanted to share an important experience I had recently that I think you should know about, especially if you’re a fellow petite trans guy or similar!

I just got an awesome gynecologist who works with all sorts of people, including trans guys and such. She made me feel very safe, comfortable, and heard! One of the things she asked me during my visit was if I had anyone in my family who has/had Osteoporosis - a condition that makes your bones weak and brittle.

I had no idea why that would even matter, but both of my mom’s parents did, and I found out later that my mom has Osteopenia (sort of a halfway point between healthy bones and Osteoporosis). My doctor nodded and then explained that since 1) Osteoporosis runs in my family, 2) I am a trans guy taking weekly testosterone, and 3) I am petite at 5′0″ and 100-110 lbs, I should get a bone density scan done. Huh??? Why???

Did you know that estrogen actually protects your bones by suppressing reabsorption of the bone itself?? It works with the osteoblasts needed to create new bone! She explained that those of us with smaller bodies naturally have less hormones, and thus less estrogen to begin with, and when you start taking testosterone for a long time, it stops the estrogen, which stops protecting your bones. Damn!!!!

Now, because studies on trans bodies, especially over long periods of time, are in a growing field, we become part of the data. There’s not a lot to read on the subject yet, just like the similarities between being on testosterone and going through menopause. 

My doctor looked at me in all my confusion and said, 

“I bring all this up because I have a couple of trans male patients who have developed Osteoporosis by the time they’re 30.”

Let that sink in. (I’m almost 26.)

The scan took all of 5 minutes, completely harmless, got to keep all my clothes on. A few days later and I get a result that my pelvic bones are fine, but that my spine has “MINOR Osteopenia” and that I should do the following things to prevent worsening:

Take Vitamin D3

Take Calcium (preferably with food, but supplements are okay too)

Do weight-bearing exercises (“In regard to weightbearing exercises, we think the best is walking and/or running, hiking, and yoga. Swimming or biking is not recommended as a weightbearing exercise.”)

While this looks like a simple “eat better, get more sunshine, exercise more!” bit, (which I guess it sort of is??) it’s also… a little scary? Research on trans bodies has never before led me to this possible conclusion, and I wanted to make sure other people knew about this possibility as well, so they can ask their doctors questions to stay healthy!!

Chapter 1: Prologue: Why LGBTQ Historic Sites Matter by Mark Meinke

Chapter 2: Introduction to the LGBTQ Heritage Initiative Theme Study by Megan E. Springate

Chapter 3: Introduction to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) History in the United States by Leisa Meyer and Helis Sikk

Chapter 4: The History of Queer History: One Hundred Years of the Search for Shared Heritage by Gerard Koskovich

Chapter 5: The Preservation of LGBTQ Heritage by Gail Dubrow

Chapter 6: LGBTQ Archeological Context by Megan E. Springate

Chapter 7: A Note about Intersectionality by Megan E. Springate

Chapter 8: Making Bisexuals Visible by Loraine Hutchins

Chapter 9: Sexual and Gender Diversity in Native America and the Pacific Islands by Will Roscoe

Chapter 10: Transgender History in the US and the Places that Matter by Susan Stryker

Chapter 11: Breathing Fire: Remembering Asian Pacific American Activism in Queer History by Amy Sueyoshi

Chapter 12: Latina/o Gender and Sexuality by Deena J. González and Ellie D. Hernandez

Chapter 13: “Where We Could Be Ourselves”: African American LGBTQ Historic Places and Why They Matter by Jeffrey A. Harris

Chapter 14: LGBTQ Spaces and Places by Jen Jack Gieseking

Chapter 15: Making Community: The Places and Spaces of LGBTQ Collective Identity Formation by Christina B. Hanhardt

Chapter 16: LGBTQ Business and Commerce by David K. Johnson

Chapter 17: Sex, Love, and Relationships by Tracy Baim

Chapter 18: LGBTQ Civil Rights in America by Megan E. Springate

Chapter 19: Historical Landmarks and Landscapes of LGBTQ Law by Marc Stein

Chapter 20: LGBTQ Military Service by Steve Estes

Chapter 21: Struggles in Body and Spirit: Religion and LGBTQ People in US History by Drew Bourn

Chapter 22: LGBTQ and Health by Katie Batza

Chapter 23: LGBTQ Art and Artists by Tara Burk

Chapter 24: LGBTQ Sport and Leisure by Katherine Schweighofer

Chapter 25: San Francisco: Placing LGBTQ Histories in the City by the Bay by Donna J. Graves and Shayne E. Watson

Chapter 26: Preservation of LGBTQ Historic & Cultural Sites – A New York City Perspective by Jay Shockley

Chapter 27: Locating Miami’s Queer History by Julio Capó, Jr.

Chapter 28: Queerest Little City in the World: LGBTQ Reno by John Jeffrey Auer IV

Chapter 29: Chicago: Queer Histories at the Crossroads of America by Jessica Herczeg-Konecny

Chapter 30: Nominating LGBTQ Places to the National Register of Historic Places and as National Historic Landmarks: An Introduction by Megan E. Springate and Caridad de la Vega

Chapter 31: Interpreting LGBTQ Historic Sites by Susan Ferentinos

Shinjuku Boys (1995). Tatsu, a transgender man, jokes with his barber about his changing appearance, and his newly masculine features.

TRANSCRIPT:

BARBER: So you go regularly to the hospital for your hormone injection? TATSU: [nods] BARBER: Does it hurt? TATSU: Not at all. BARBER: You have more facial hair. It must be the hormones. You’ll get a moustache soon. TATSU: I’ll look distinguished! They’ve made quite the difference. I never thought I’d change so much. Most customers say I’m like a man. BARBER: Really? TATSU: [laughing] They say, “You look like a man. You’re not cute.” BARBER: [laughs]

Australia is currently petitioning to make it that all gender confirming surgeries for transgender individuals are covered by Medicare. This is absolutely huge as surgeries are super expensive even with private health insurance.

It doesn't ask for an address or phone number or anything so I think anyone in the world can sign for it? But I'm not entirely sure.

EDIT: yeah you gotta be a citizen, so if you're outside the country, if you could reblog this to reach more Australians, this would be amazing!

Here's the petition link:

Petition information:

the use of gendered language, whether in law or in company guidelines, has been used as an excuse to exclude trans people from various kinds of reproductive healthcare. there have been stories of abortion providers pointing to the use of “pregnant women” in all clinic literature to justify not giving trans men assistance. there are issues where “women’s health clinics” will refuse to accept referrals for anyone who doesn’t have “F” on their records, which of course includes many trans women. there are in turn stories of trans women being unable to access “male” prostrate cancer screening.

language in this sort of capacity needs to be as factual and neutral and carefully constructed to avoid loopholes as possible. at this stage in my life, as a non-woman capable of pregnancy, i don’t really CARE anymore if you talk casually about pregnancy as something that happens to women. but i DO care if the medical system writes out some guidelines that, in only acknowledging pregnant women as a possibility, open me up to the possibility of being denied care by transphobes who can claim they’re just following the rules.

it’s for reasons like this that some people don’t get their gender markers changed, but that in itself creates dangerous situations when their marker doesn’t match their presented gender - I’ve heard horror stories of people getting arrested after being pulled over by a cop who thought they were lying about their identity.

Transcript:

Heyo! With pride month starting, here's a quick comic on pride Etiquette, a short guide / general tips on treating lgbt+ people, for the new, curious, and those who forgot!

1) Treat people's identities as the indisputable truth. Even if you don't think they fit the definition, even if you don't understand (the identity), even if you think they're lying, even if they're a bad person. It's not your job nor your business to tell people what to call themselves. Unless they ask for your opinion, only the individual can make that decision.

*There's very few times when an identity can actually be harmful. This includes predatory labels, labels that are bigoted by definition, or people identifying with culture-specific labels when they're not part of that culture. Otherwise, leave them be!

2) Respect and use people's pronouns, regardless of how you feel about them! If you don't know how they work, ask! If you accidentally misgender someone, correct yourself and move on! No need for lengthy or dramatic apologies. However, also make sure to ask when it's appropriate to use them! Someone may not be out to parents, certain friends, etc, and will ask you to purposefully misgender them for safety.

3) LGBT+ people are not responsible for someone else's anti-lgbt+ views! Strange, unbelievable or confusing identities do not cause bigots to be bigots- the lgbt+ community was made because we don't fit society's box, don't fall into the trap of forcing people into another one! If they're not actually hurting anyone, then leave them be!

4) You're not expected to learn every single lgbt+ term / identity. Nobody knows all of them, not even lgbt+ people, so don't worry about it! Simply learn and ask questions as you go!

5) If you're curious about someone's identity, ask if they're comfortable with questions first! There's no harm in educating yourself, but sometimes we get tired of being walking encyclopedias!