Trans Politics, Trans Activism, also 'rolling is this transphobic?' thread

Extraordinary this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ou_xvXJJk7k

Made it one second into that

not enough money in the world to get me to click that. I know who those people are and they all wish me harm. That's all I need to know.

The interesting thing to take from that video, which may or may not come as a surprise, is the extent to which British TERFdom is being funded by US right wing orgs. Which is relevant because these ppl all claim to be pro-choice, pro-gay rights feminists.

They all suck, no exceptions.

xp, yeah there's very much a blissfully ignorant "I will team with the leopards on this particular topic, but surely they won't turn around and eat my face, right?" going on with UK Terves.

I'm kinda reminded of the allegiance between anti-porn feminists and the Christian Right in America back in the 70s /80s. The issues are obviously very different, but the willingness of such groups to align themselves with the far right is, sadly, nothing new.

Yes, I think the alliance between TERFs and right wingers is a public thing, and if you'd ask them they'd probably talk about tactical necessities and fighting the bigger enemy first and etc.

But what was new to me was finding out how often notable voices on the UK terf scene are directly funded by right wing orgs - this imo takes them out of Useful Idiot territory and into bad faith/grifter territory.

Not that their ideology would be any less hideous if it was in good faith ofc.

xp I wouldn't say the issues are *very* different- most of the anti-porn/sex worker radfems were terfish (dworkin less so than others) and are still a presence in contemporary movement- and terfs have always treated sex workers much like they do trans women (unsurprising considering the number of trans sex workers and the challenge both groups pose to bourgeois cis white womanhood's claim to hegemony over feminism) i.e. calling for state and/or vigilante violence against them (burchill calling for "prostitutes" to be shot for betraying "women" is one of the more telling and explicit examples)

sidenote those radfems made appalling choices in their tactics, targets, and collaborators, and willingly or not helped set the stage for where we are now, which means their better critiques and insights got lost and are still largely unaddressed in contemporary feminism - except, maybe ironically, from work-abolitonist sex workers who reject both criminalisation and (neo)liberal (sex-)work-as-empowerment bullshit as well as calling out the dworkinesque misogyny-disguised-as-critique-of-such rhetoric of "used holes" etc that is still as rampant and unchallenged among terfs/swerfs as it is among men

Ugh, Oklahoma: https://erininthemorn.substack.com/p/oklahoma-could-force-trans-people

A terrifying new bill was released late Wednesday night in Oklahoma that would ban gender affirming care for a huge number people. Oklahoma SB129 would ban gender affirming care under the age of 26 years old. Gen Z would be entirely banned from gender affirming care under this bill. This prospect is terrifying because Gen Z has been the most open about transitioning and a bill like this would medically detransition a huge portion of Oklahoma’s transgender population.

Good article from Parker Molloy on David French's hiring by the NYT: https://www.readtpa.com/p/david-french-nyt-anti-lgbtq

Yeah that is by far the worst thing about French. Well, that and his abortion stance. (The irony if you can call it that is that a lot of French's critics on the right routinely brand him as being pro-LGBTQ because he one time said he didn't think drag queen story hours should be illegal.)

it's good and no criticism of the writer or the piece but it's such a fucking drag that articles like this need to include so much hedging and qualification (whether out of legal or professional necessity or just well earned caution) and will *still* be taken as vile slander and abuse by the enemy, who meanwhile gets endless money and kudos for pissing all over everyone

seems like the nyt is going the guardian route right down to the firing and hiring practices. can't say i'm surprised, the alleged trans-positivity of american liberalism always looked extremely perfunctory and politically opportunistic and internally conflicted from a distance, i'm sure many are as relieved to jettison it as they were their tepid semi-support for BLM

I made the mistake of reading three comments from purportedly gay/lesbian/lib posters on this piece.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/06/opinion/lgbtq-rights-activism-alabama.html#commentsContainer

hard to tell the conservative trolls from the gay ladder kickers these days

Quite an episode. A Terf gave a speech quoting "The Big Lie".

Some attempts to say the anti-trans activist quoting Mein Kampf is actually criticising Nazism, but she helpfully turns up in the replies to clarify that she was simply giving Hitler appropriate credit for an idea that she believes is correct. https://t.co/mnmlAzwjhu

— Dave (@MediocreDave) January 16, 2023

That so many people believe that Trump won the election is testament to the power of his hypnotic suggestions. He primed them to support him becoming president for life. How he did this is set out in ‘Comply with Me: Trump’s Hypnosis Toolkit Exposed’. pic.twitter.com/g3oBSQugzK

— Lisa Morgan (@futureseeing) November 9, 2020

lol

Didn't pull this out but yeah..

imagine pulling out The Big Lie in an argument and failing to understand that Hitler wasn't talking about himself, he was accusing Jewish people of using "the big lie".

Great idea mentioning Hitler in the first place.

yeah it always goes well

🚨🚨 TONIGHT 🚨🚨

Especially important to turn out if you're cis.

We'll be there throughout. DM us if you want to find us, and let us know if you have any particular welfare needs.

Love and solidarity ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 pic.twitter.com/fYAowCP1qv

— Lesbians and Gays Support the Migrants (@lgsmigrants) January 18, 2023

Glasgow is also having a Trans Rights protest on Saturday at 11am at Buchanan Galleries

xposted from the US politics thread, a great piece by Tom Scocca on US media's transphobic turn: https://popula.com/2023/01/29/the-worst-thing-we-read-this-week-why-is-the-new-york-times-so-obsessed-with-trans-kids/

A fabulous piece. I linked it in the politics thread.

yeah I saw that! Hopefully this gets attention. He did a great job of linking it to the earlier media panic over cancel culture (as well as the Times' past bullshit crusades)

The Times has been homophobic going back to the 70s. Jeet Heer dug up some examples of them saying the exact same things about homosexuality that they are now saying about trans issues.

It's especially galling to me because the Times was the first place I ever worked with a trans coworker — Donna Cartwright. She used to come and do overtime shifts in our department sometimes.

https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/zk51vh06v

speaking of the times
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/01/theater/tonys-justin-david-sullivan-and-juliet.html

That's a great Popula article, it really nails Jesse Singal

…you’ll see that mere discomfort with the way you are “supposed” to act or dress as a boy or girl, and a desire to act or dress differently, means you’re trans (if you want to be), even if you don’t have gender dysphoria. Sure enough, a lot of people, particularly young ones, seem to come out as trans much more to make a statement about their desire to transgress gender boundaries than because they are suffering serious anguish at having a (fe)male body or being seen by others as (fe)male.

Some of these people aren't even miserable!

luv 2 tell other people what 2 do

thanks for that pamela paul editorial nyt, you just killed a couple more of my friends

hi btw

Hi Kate. Been pretty depressing over here on Shitty Transphobe Island lately. I didn't want to update this thread just with bad shit so didn't post about it, but Brianna Ghey has been weighing heavy on my mind. Everything sucks.

Turned on the radio the other day and caught a BBC News bit about Sturgeon's resignation. And of course the first of two completely impartial talking heads they spoke is a raving terf. Of fucking course. I wanted to punch my radio.

hi Kate, it is good to see you around again <3

sorry about the world and everything

Tennessee is fast-tracking its ban on gender-affirming care for minors, already passed the state Senate and basically assured to pass the House next week. I covered a rally against that and our criminalizing-drag bill organized earlier this week by our local pride group — it had good turnout, lots of spirit and anger, but at the moment in this state we're decisively headed backward on all LGBTQ rights. Don't see it turning around any time soon. Feels grim.

I was at a vigil in Glasgow for Brianna Ghey tonight and the turn-out was a lot higher than I (or seemingly the organisers) expected. Which is good - it sends out the message of support and love we need to send out - but I can't believe in 2023 we still have to do this stuff, that "let people exist as their authentic selves" is now seen as a political position and not just a basic tenent of human existence.

I'm afraid "let people exist as their authentic selves" has been a political position for a long-ass time. Much too long, I agree.

the murder itself has really fucked up my sense of safety too. I'm not trans, but I am a gay man and I'm not exactly the type who can or even bothers to try to mask it in my mannerisms etc. I've learned when to police myself - to know the kind of environments I'm not welcome in, to know when to adapt my behaviours, even when to deepen my voice and be careful with my language. I know not to walk home alone at night with headphones on because I'm possibly a target. I know to text my friends when I get home. I'm sure women, POC, etc have similar experiences about feeling like potential "targets." Nobody ever actively sits you down to teach you these things - you learn them instinctively, as a measure of precaution to protect yourself. There's direct bigotry, but we live in the shadow of ambient bigotry - the knowledge that the potential to be assaulted and attacked is always present and you can never really be 100% certain it won't happen to you. What has happened to Ghey - ie being attacked, in broad daylight, for simply existing - feels like a confirmation of the possiblity of those worst fears coming true. It's fucking terrifying.

That's not to say this is about me at all - I have so much more privilege than anyone in the trans community has today. But it makes those abstract fears feel so much more real. And if it's messing me up, I can only imagine how awful, how frightening, and how depressing it must be to want to simply exist as a trans individual in a world where your identity is literally attacked to the point of murder.

It’s really been a bad fucking week for it.

I saw this, just now, and this feels like something, even if it isn’t.

For Brianna ❤️

Taken far too young. Our club and town sends our condolences to her loved ones pic.twitter.com/wbwRgzzegG

— Warrington Wolves (@WarringtonRLFC) February 16, 2023

I appreciate people who can form cogent and thoughtful and responsible thoughts about this when I'm just struggling to suppress violent feelings about the british establishment the entire time

This kind of thing is relentless in the British media:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/02/11/west-busy-woke-rights-combat-russia-life-frontline/

A Ukrainian soldier has warned the West is too busy fighting for transgender and feminist rights when they should be preparing for the threat of Russia invading countries beyond Ukraine.

"Today it’s Ukraine. Tomorrow it’s Poland, Germany. We’ve already destroyed more planes than the British Army has in total and Russia keeps fighting," said Artem, 32, who is just about to join his brigade stationed in Bahkmut.

Adding: "If you will not help Ukraine now, you will fight Russia in five years. If you’re thinking about human rights, transgender, feminists you’re not thinking about your country."

"If you’re thinking about human rights, transgender, feminists you’re not thinking about your country."

is quite the sentence.

Glad to see Artem from Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and the Daily Telegraph agree on that one.

I know the telegraph's rep but wow

The Telegraph has gone completely culture wars batshit in the last few years.

It Is Journalism’s Sacred Duty To Endanger The Lives Of As Many Trans People As Possible https://t.co/e8aZ5CSrhi pic.twitter.com/2wq3dBnI7Q

— The Onion (@TheOnion) February 17, 2023

“ A Ukrainian soldier has warned the West is too busy fighting for transgender and feminist rights“

He will be so relieved when he finds out the West spends no time at all fighting for these

Glinner is absolutely furious about The Onion right now, so job done there.