 |
| Ann Coulter: Not a "tranny." |
First, background. I was an officer of this organization for I think two years (Or was it three? I'm pretty sure it was two, but I was an officer in a lot of clubs and orgs in College: First Attempt so I may be wrong). In the three years I was involved in it, I became kind of that go-to token trans guy who you talked to when you wanted to understand some trans issue and helped people who wanted to understand radical queer politics. So while I was there, there wasn't all that much crap being said and done to our trans population. Yes, there was cissexist garbage, but it was easily controlled because there were people who were advocating. When I left, a different trans guy (who technically is an author of this blog, too, although he hasn't written anything) kind of took over. Now he's gone, too.
So what we have now is a nice little hotbed of unchecked cis-queer depravity. In particular there are two themes. One is misgendering and use of terms like, for example, "lady" to refer to an FTM. The one I'm talking about here now, though, is the word "tranny" which flew around no less than four times on Monday.
I was really, really pissed off about this. When I told the president, who told the advisor, they were also very pissed off about it. So it'll be brought up and that's that. I would still like to talk about it, though, because it's not like this is a problem that ends with one little college group. This is something very, very common and it ain't good.
First, I'll start by stating the obvious: There are people who identify with the word "tranny." That's not the problem. I used to... not so much anymore. Gay trans men often identify as "trannyfags," for example, which I think is a ridiculously over-cute use of two words which have developed into very nasty slurs. But it's not the identification that bothers me. It's the use of "tranny" by queer people and allies just because they're queer or allies and they think it's okay.
I guess there's a gradient of sorts, so I'll start with the nasty ones I've heard lately and then explain why more positive uses aren't necessarily that positive. The first is this:
If you ever, ever use the word "tranny" as an insult, just quit it right now.
Maybe you're in this category and are freaking out a little that, oh my God, you're a shitty ally. This is a process. You can still be a good ally if you redeem yourself by recognizing that you've said shitty things, apologizing or better yet making a concerted effort to not be that way in the future. And although I think it should be blatantly-fucking-obvious that this is not appropriate, I'm willing to let you claim ignorance just this once if you promise to quit it.
But if you learn that this is shitty and continue to do it, congratulations, you're a shitty ally.
There are some excuses I've heard which I'd like to share with you. The first was when an "ally" started making fun of somebody who was being a bigoted dick by saying he "looked like a tranny." I was new-ish to the trans world, but this made me extremely uncomfortable. Finally later I said "You know, that's not very appropriate. You know that I'm trans, right?" To which she responded "Yeah, but at least you admit it."
Let that sink in or a moment while I go into some others.
Another time it involved a serious case of romantic deception. The person in question was not transgender identified but did use crossdressing to pick up straight men. When a friend of mine who this guy targeted told the story, much "fun" was had by jeering that he was being "hit on by trannies."
Let that one sink in, too.
There's also the fun trend of talking about women who aren't well-liked and referring to them as "trannies" as a way to smear them. Leftists especially love insulting Ann Coulter in this way, many of whom somehow think they can do this and still be trans advocates.
Now that you've ruminated these three stories, think about why I would be so pissed that so many queer people are using these exact same attacks. Queer people and straights alike too often use "tranny" as a catch-all insult for "ugly" women. This is not only misogynistic by rating a woman's dignity based on her looks, it's utterly transphobic because it equates "trans" with "ugly." So fucking quit it.
There's also a trend of using "tranny" as an insult to pit "good" trans people against "bad" trans people. "Oh, Jack, I know I just called this woman a 'tranny,' but you're one of the good ones." Around here I've heard it used to refer to conservative whack-job trans people whereas liberal trans people are totally not "trannies." Or it's used for trans people who don't disclose, because "good" trans people always alert everybody in a five mile radius that we're trans. Or it's used for "ugly" or non-passing trans people. Most of these are not legitimate excuses for anger, some are. But you just fucking can't insult my whole community as one large blanket and think that you're not being cissexist. So fucking quit it.
The short story here, before I get into less obscene uses of the word "tranny," is that if you are cis (not trans) no, you can't use that word as an insult. I don't care what other context you're using it in. I don't care how Democrat you vote, I don't care if you're a supporter of gender-neutral housing and bathrooms, I don't even care if you're dating a trans person. You can't.
As a positive, there are select few uses of "tranny" that are acceptable. Actually, scratch that, I can think of one: If somebody's self-identification is "tranny," then you can use it to refer to that person. Okay, I'll add that if you're complaining about how shitty it is that people use the word "tranny," then you can use it then, too. But only those two times.
But there are times when queer people and allies think it's totally cool. For example, I was cruising URNotAlone one day and a friend of mine walks in all chipper and happy. She recognizes the site because I'd cruised it often, and says with a big smile on her face, "Looking for more trannies?" Double take, yes, I did one. Where the hell did that come from? I didn't know. But her demeanor suggested that she saw absolutely no problem with that because she wasn't using it in an insulting manner. I think, in fact, that she assumed she could because she had a rapport with the trans community. If she'd said "transfolk," for example, I would have simply said "yes" without batting an eye.
Here's the problem with stuff like that. It's not that you're a terrible ally, it's just that you may be a bit clueless about what is and isn't appropriate for an ally to do. One of those things is just flat out assuming that you have every right to use words other queer people can outside of self-definition. I can't speak for every trans person out there, but I can tell you one thing: I know absolutely no cis people who have the rapport with me that they would need in order to use the word "tranny" in that manner. None. So if you were wondering if you have that kind of relationship with me, well, there's your answer.
Finally, a note on the media. Sometimes people think "tranny" is okay because it's used in the media whereas words like, say, "faggot" really aren't so much anymore. That's bullshit. The reason some words fall out of fashion is because bigotry against the people they represent is falling out of fashion, the same reason you only really hear the "n-word" coming from the mouths of bigots and villains. Trans people are still brutally ridiculed in the media, but that's because people are transphobic, not because the use of those words is less hurtful and ridiculous.
So honestly? Stop it. If you're allies, please act like allies.
