Tag: Trans

I Have Thoughts About the Rowling Implosion

I won’t spend a lot of time recounting the public record about JK Rowling’s recent forays into gender identity politics, there’s a pretty good and reasonably unslanted account of the major and more recent events in the controversy here. This controversy is one of the most written-about dustups between an author and their fans ever; one of the most focused-on stories of any sort this year short of the Corona pandemic and the US Presidential election. I don’t know that there’s a lot left to say on the subject. Still, I’ve been asked for my opinion about this several times, and it’s taken me until now to feel like responding.

That’s because my feelings on the subject are complex and I balk at the idea of being any sort of spokesperson for trans folk, or anyone but myself. I am a contrarian by nature, so I’ve had to sit with this for a while, deal with my trepidation about what Harry Potter’s real mom might be saying about me, a trans woman who has always felt a strong affinity for Our Young Wizard and his gaggle of friends. I’ve finally taken the time carefully sort out the ways in which I might agree or not with consensus opinion.

Some of you may remember this piece by me, which I have referred to a few times, about distinguishing between an artist and their work. This should establish that I make a fairly clear distinction between whatever public statements Rowling’s made and the world she created, which I’ve spent so many pleasant hours in, and which I will yet almost certainly devote some hours to in the coming years. I won’t comment further on Harry Potter in this context. I feel it’s a separate issue from what Rowling has said about trans folk in the last few months (and the opinions which we trans folk were fairly certain she held for some time before she Came Right Out and Said Stuff.) I will not be pretending, as I see that many have, that her work was never good, or that I knew she was a transphobe all along. Neither of those statements would be true.

But to get to the point, Rowling’s basic premise in posts on Twitter and on her blog – that trans women make her feel unsafe, and that young trans people may be making a mistake – are both well-known canards. She’s a good writer, so she makes those arguments in fine, writerly form, but she doesn’t vary from standard, long-since-debunked tropes, no matter how well she writes them. She references sources but doesn’t cite them, nor does she offer any counter to her own assertions so that we can judge them for ourselves. Her best defense is that she “has transwomen friends” who agree with her. The more one looks into what she’s saying, the more you just see a lot of carefully-worded jingoism framed as concern.

There’s no evidence she can cite, or that any of those who have made these charges previeously can cite, that show that men pretend to be women to invade public restrooms and commit rape. It simply doesn’t happen.

And really, why would these supposed cross-dressing rapists bother? If a public restroom is going to be the venue for a sexual assault, there’s no need to jump through all of the hoops a transgender woman has to jump through just to commit it. Just break down the door and go be a monster. I would think that female dress would be the opposite of an enhancement of this experience for the sort who is willing to consider the crime to begin with. Rape is a crime of power, and to that end an assertion of the most toxic masculinity. The two notions of dressing as a woman and committing rape are extremely dissonant. My assertion here is supported by the evidence: again, there are virtually no incidents of sexual assault committed in this manner.

In fact, it is far more common for trans folk to be subjected to violent assault simply for being who they are. I could, if I were so inclined, post links to videos of trans women being subjected to assault for attempting to use the public restroom that aligns with their gender. I am not so inclined, sorry to disappoint.

As for youth being “seduced” into transitioning “before they’re certain,” examples of this are extremely rare, and once again far outstripped by tragic counterexample. The suicide statistics among trans folk are often quoted and don’t need to be restated here. (Here’s a link to The Trevor Project’s factsheet about trans suicide prevention so that you will at least go to The Trevor Project’s site. Consider supporting them, please.

Childhood development experts place the age at which children generally develop an understanding of themselves as gendered beings at between 2 and 5 years of age. A teenager knows who they are gender-wise. Incidents of post-transition regret and detransitioning are extremely low. The idea that people only know what gender they are at some arbitrarily created age of consent is ridiculous in the face of the best evidence we have.

So don’t be fooled by Rowling’s seemingly reasonable tone and claims of concern for the safety of cis women and vulnerable teens. They are, upon examination, unconvincing covers for shockingly standard anti-trans tropes, none of which are worthy of the person who created one of the most embracingly humanist pop culture worlds of the last half-century.

Transphobia is deadly to trans folk. The evidence shows that trans folk are NOT a danger to anyone else.

And that’s what I think about that.

[ND] [ED]

Books I Like #3

The Complicated Geography of Alice by Jules Vilmur

Self-Published, 2014

geographyalice

This is my favorite transition memoir. I found parts of it as blog posts at Daily Kos, back when I read that thing, and when I learned that author Jules Vilmer was about to self-publish a book-length version, I was thrilled. The realized object is no disappointment.

It tells the story of Alice, a troubled teen who had been wearing a “boy suit,” and her mother, who accepted her immediately, without a moment’s hesitation, and the story of Alice’s transition and traumas over the next few years. There is humor and sadness, love, joy, and tragedy in this book, and you experience it right along with Jules and Alice.

The aspect of this memoir I find most unusual and compelling is that it’s told through the eyes of someone who loves a trans person, rather than being a first person account. In this case, a first person account wouldn’t be possible, and that is also compelling. This is a story that Vilmer had to tell, and she tells it marvelously.

If you follow the link through from Jules’ site to Amazon, it appears that you can still buy the book in paper. I’m proud to own my copy, and I eagerly point you to your own opportunity to read it.

I Need You to Vote Yes on 3

An appeal to voters to respect the human rights of transgender people in Massachusetts by voting yes on Question 3 in the upcoming state election on Tues. Nov. 6, 2018.

In just under three weeks, voters in Massachusetts are going to undertake an enormous responsibility. You who share this state with me will be deciding whether I, as a transgender person, and those like me, are going to be subjected to legal banishment from public spaces or whether we are going to be allowed to remain equal citizens before the law.

I feel fairly confident that the people in my state will make the right decision. Freedom For All Massachusetts has out-raised its opponents by about an 8 to 1 margin. Recent polling suggests that roughly 3/4ths of voters in this state are planning to vote yes on Question #3, but are confused about what their yes vote might mean.

The Secretary of State’s internet page with summaries of the ballot questions as they will appear on the ballot provides the simplest explanation of the measure’e effects:

“A YES VOTE would keep in place the current law, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity in places of public accommodation.

“A NO VOTE would repeal this provision of the public accommodation law.”

So, yes: this is Massachusetts’ “bathroom bill”, and it’s what I’ve come to expect from the good people of this state — a resounding “hell yes!” and a bracing hug to those of us who need this kind protection under the law, because even here, unfortunately, there are those who consider me a threat. Fortunately, I know that for the most part the people of this state have my back.

Even so, we can’t take a victory for granted. Throwing money at a campaign does not guarantee a victory at the polls. Strongly positive poll numbers can dissipate, or may be inaccurate. So I’m making this plea.

Please vote YES on Question #3. Help this state continue to be one of the safest places in the world for people like me. Understand that a loss on this referendum will create a backlash domino effect that will have repercussions against trans folk in places far distant from this state.

Massachusetts has, and has always had, an orientation towards justice and the power of moral leadership. Remember that same-sex marriage, which began here in 2004 with Goodridge v. Department of Public Health culminated in the Supreme Court of the United States echoing Goodridge with their decision in Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015, declaring that same sex marriage is guaranteed by the 14th amendment to the US Constitution. Question #3 is no different. If the electorate of this state ratifies it, the justice it represents will resound throughout the nation for trans people everywhere.

For all of us who have so much at stake, make your way to the polls this November 6th and, along with all of the other ways in which we must repudiate the encroaching of fear, suspicion, and bigotry that is so starkly and startlingly on the rise in this country, add your vote to the rolls of those who stand with us, to defend our humanity and our right to be safe in public spaces.

Thank you.