The furore around the Stonewall Journalist of the Year award going to Julie Bindel has highlighted in Europe the same complete lack of concern that the LGB_QI world shows transpeople that was seen by the Human Right’s Campaign’s lack of support for a trans-inclusive ENDA in the US. What we’re seeing here is an institutialisation of the transphobic and cissexualist attitudes shown by the LGB communities in general.
I’m not saying that all gay, lesbian and bisexual people are transphobic, just as I wouldn’t claim that all heterosexual people are transphobic, but there is a hard right in the LGB community, further compounded by the intersection with the hard-right radical feminists, which is, frankly, extremely transphobic. This already makes places where transpeople are not welcome or are just not safe and whilst that is just not right (in the same way that sexism, racism or anti-semitism wouldn’t be right), I guess it is something which the trans community is pretty used to and has to fight hard against.
What is just not acceptable is that societies which are meant to be LGBTQI societies so easily act as LGB_QI societies (or even worse as just LGB societies). Be honest with us, Stonewall and HRC: If you want to act as just LGB societies, do that. Don’t pretend that you’re trans-inclusive and do things like this. That’s worse than figurative back-stabbing, it’s destroying people’s lives. Giving legitimacy to people such as Julie Bindel is giving legitimacy to ideas which would ban us from making the changes we need to survive. You’re playing with people’s lives, here. It’s that simple.
I’ve identified with the LGBTQI world for a long time since I am bisexual but transphobia and cissexism in this world is driving me away. I tread with fear in spaces which should be inclusive (and even worse, are touted as such) and I’m just not going to put up with this.
More reading:
Questioning Transphobia – Transphobia in the LGB Rights Movement and Breaking the Camel’s Back
Sarah, the Bringer of Tea – Down with this sort of thing, too
Sarah, the Bringer of Tea – On Activism
Bird of Paradox – Transphobe Bindel Nominted as Stonewall’s Journalist of the Year
Transadvocate.com - What the Hell is the UK’s Stonewall Thinking?
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Thanks for that, Lisa. I agree, wholeheartedly. Isn’t it deeply sad that the trans world effectively has to have its own LGBQ movement because of this transphobia?
It helps to explicitly identify the (cis) LGBQ movement vs. (trans) LGBQ, and LGBTQ as a whole, too. That is that trans people are frequently gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, or genderqueer, but are not accepted in cis LGBQ spaces or politics because of transphobia.
Yes, it is.
It’s deeply wrong.
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