Is it merely a coincidence that the volume of those suffering from trannyism are WHITE STRAIGHT MIDDLE CLASS MEN???? That the trannyism disorder is an identity disorder grown out of the "special snowflake syndrome"??? Why among the GLBT is the trans group the only group that primarily consists of heteropatriarchal middle/upper middle class white males??? Where are all the poor minority gay men with this disorder? Where are the numbers of minority females with this disorder? Could it be that this is a disorder of race and class? That most who cannot afford (non wealthy hetero whites) this disorder will likely never develop it???

I've personally witnessed infighting within various trans communities of what exactly constitutes as trans by trans. Have seen with my own eyes men telling other men who IDed as trans-women but stated they couldnt afford to begin "medically transitioning" that they were in fact NOT trans until they have electrolysis/female hormones/SRS/FSS etc! Bascially declaring if you cannot afford to "transition" you cannot in effect BE trans! And like everything else in our patriarchal society the majority those who have most of the power and money are WHITE HETEROPATRIARCHAL MALES! So should we be surprised at all that highest number of trans ID'd are WHITE HETEROPATRIARCHAL MIDDLE CLASS MALES???? I think not

!

This was posted on the MWMF board recently. I have promised that I wouldn't post there any more, so I'm not addressing it there.

I would, however, like to make an observation. Where does this white woman get off erasing trans*women from Mexico to Argentina? What about the Hijra and Kathoey in India and Thailand? The Two-Spirit Native Americans? All the other Trans* women from all over the world who are not white, not European. How about the Trans*women of all ethnic origins who are not close to being Middle-Class? Could it be that she is looking at Trans* through a window of privilege - namely those Trans* who have access to the Internet?

I would like to point out that she does, actually, bring up a valid point about various trans* communities. There is a level of elitism expressed. The ones who can afford SRS questioning the identity of ones who cannot. Her observations are viewed through a cis lens and that lens has warped and distorted the discussions. Removing the influence of the gatekeeper medical establishment who have a vested interest in making SRS not just an option, but THE goal for Trans*.

Before taking to task white, middle-class Trans* - perhaps she should check her own racist assumptions about Teh Tranz. Perhaps she should view the economic and social realities of trans* folks of color.

TODR - Why I'm Pissed

Yesterday was the Transgender Day of Remembrance. Most every person who reads this will be aware of the TODR and written about it or read something powerful about it. I have always had a link to the Remembering Our Dead site because it's that damn important to me.

I'm angry because we are still being killed. I am angry that our murders don't get solved. I am angry that the G the L and the B pay token attention to our issues.

But that's not why I'm PISSED. I'm PISSED because our lives are still erased by the media. Our names are written "IN QUOTES" like a nickname. We are "gay men" who "dressed as women". Our lives, our humanity, our identity is constantly questioned by cis-sexual society to the point we get no relief even in death. When we are murdered, we are somehow partly to blame.

The men who "admire" us are oddly absent at a TDOR. Our lives are only as valuable as their next orgasm. We are only allowed to be the sexy silly dolls of their little fantasy land. When the lights come on and their dreams are over, they are absent, silent, afraid.

At the end of the last TDOR I spoke to a couple friends about safety. I found out that the number of Trans*women I personally know who have been assaulted sexually is 100%. Yup ALL of us every age, every occupation, every socio-economic class. Most of us have been hit or threatened with violence by an intimate partner. Half of us have had our status as Trans* used as ammunition to coerce us into staying in a relationship, or not reporting violence.

I want to have an answer, and mostly I'm pissed that I don't.