Misgendered trans woman takes off her top to see if the world sees her as a man. Guess what happens next.
Andrea Jones of Morristown, a transgender woman who had gender reassignment surgery, kindly asked the authorities of Tennessee to let her change the gender on her driver’s license from male to female.
No, said the local Tennessee Department of Safety office.
Andrea got so angry that she walked out to the parking lot and removed her shirt. If she truly was male, she argued, that should be permitted.
No, again. The police arrested her for indecent exposure.
However, the police did not recognize her as a woman either, saying that “Mr. Jones continued to yell that he had the right to show his breasts in public and wanted to be recognized as a female.” That’s some serious misgendering, right there.
She is considered a female by the Social Security office, but a male by the Department of Safety and the police.
If Kafka had been alive today, he would have written a book about this. The mindless stupidity of transphobes never seize to amaze us.
Not only does it add some much needed inclusivity to video games, but it also is an outlet for queer players of The Sims who are going through the personal struggle of coming to terms with their identity that lets them truly be seen. Now, anyone struggling with gender dysphoria can create a Sim with top surgery scars or a binder, live a little like that in the game and maybe start to feel a real sense of self.
There are obviously also a lot of trans people who use Sims to explore and express their gender identity before (or without) transitioning, and who will not make use of these additions. That is fine too.
Regardless: Electronic Arts (EA) deserves praise for taking the needs of trans people seriously.
Sara Rose Gibbs has published a very interesting thread over at Twitter on how she, as a non-menstruating cis woman was attacked by transphobes for daring to say the obvious: Not all women menstruate.
I’ll never forget the first time I accidentally waded into a discussion on trans issues. It was a few years ago, I hadn’t really encountered the transphobic crowd before. Someone posted complaining about the term “people who menstruate” to describe, well, people who menstruate.
The poster wanted to call them WOMEN. Embarrassingly, I knew very little about trans identities. So I wasn’t thinking about trans men or non-binary folks who might still have periods when I said I didn’t understand the problem with the term.
Not all women menstruate
I was thinking of myself - a cis woman who’s infertile. I thought it was both logical & inclusive to say “people who menstruate” because not all women do - & it can be very painful when people assume things about your reproductive system when it simply doesn’t work.
What followed completely shocked me. Suddenly my mentions were full of people screaming at me - awful things designed to cause maximum hurt. They called me a handmaiden, told me I was erasing women. One woman told me I was “divorced from my womanhood”.
Learning about transgender exclusion
So I looked into why they were saying these things. And that’s when I started to follow trans folks on here, watch trans YouTubers, start reading articles etc. I felt embarrassed that I hadn’t known what the discussion was about but also the bullying had been so intense, full on, cruel & personal that it left me in tears for days. And I’m a Jewish person on the internet. I thought I’d heard it all. I felt instinctively that it was important to defend whoever those nasty bullies were targeting.
So trans people didn’t galvanise me into action, not initially. It was the transphobes. I may not have known anything about gender identity or transitioning - but I sure as fuck knew bullying when I saw it. And I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels that way.
Follow up to thread
Just a follow up as this gained a lot more traction than I thought! The purpose wasn’t to centre myself (and I’m so so sorry if I came off that way) just to illustrate how the bullying mentality of that horrible movement is creating more trans allies than enemies.
Bit more context because it’s relevant - I think this was specifically in regards to some sort of workplace initiative for accommodations for people who menstruate. My point was if that survey had just gone out to women, that could have been distressing to people like me as opposed to telling people that if you menstruate and want to feed back via this survey thing (if I’m remembering right) you can opt in, rather than have salt rubbed in the wound if it doesn’t apply to you or being left out if it does but you’re not a woman. Seems thoughtful.
Note the way nearly all transphobes, to the right or to the left, insists on reducing a woman’s identity to bodily functions. This was the way traditionalists kept women under control in the 19th and 20th century. Women were nurturing life-givers, for sure, but they were also emotionally unstable, intellectually weak and unfit for positions of power, all because of their bodies.
For some 200 years feminists have tried to get out of this body trap and show how women are the equals of men in any part of life. But now, because of irrational transphobia, there are even women who try to reduce the worth of women to a fully functioning uterus, all in attempt to keep trans women out. We see that this narrative also invalidates many cis women. This is truly sad.
«As identical twins, Miguel has gotten to see a mirror to himself transition before his eyes. The siblings have been sharing this unique relationship with the world for years, appearing in an installment of the My Trans Life docuseries back in 2018.»
«Since the original American version of Drag Race debuted in 2009, the RuPaul led reality series has been a platform for some incredible trans performers. Some have come out since their appearance on the show, others showed their trans pride whilst competing on the show and some even reveal their status whilst on the show.»
J&B, a Scottish whisky brand, has launched a new TV ad in Spain. The video presents transgender acceptance in a way that is affirming, uplifting and full of hope.
The independent Moscow Times reports that transgender and non-binary people in Russia have faced rising harassment and physical abuse since the start of the war in Ukraine.
Transgender women still officially classified as men may be drafted into an army that is known for its homophobic and transphobic attitudes.
These attitudes are reflected in the Putin regime’s propaganda, which now presents the war against Ukraine as a war against decadent liberal values.
They are basically repeating TERF arguments about a gender ideology contaminating trans kids. New Russian legislation aims at banning pro-LGBT public statements. The political atmosphere is toxic, to say the least.
The best way for trans women to avoid military service is to change their documents to be legally identified as a woman, but that is not easy to achieve. The legal process of gender reassignment in Russia can cost upwards of 20,000 rubles (US$ 326),
A small network of LGBT support groups and NGOs have played a key role in helping trans people since the outbreak of war, providing legal advice as well as psychological and financial support.
“The demand for emergency psychological help has grown sharply,” says Alexander Voronov, the head of St. Petersburg-based LGBT group Coming Out.
Keep in mind that not all Russians support the insane war in Ukraine.
The Miss Universe competition, a brand once owned by Donald Trump, has been taken over by Thai trans celebrity and businesswoman Anne Jakapong Jakrajutatip.
Her content conglomerate JKN acquired The Miss Universe Organization for $20 million from media giant IMG, according to Reuters.
Anne Jakapong Jakrajutatip has been open about her life as a transgender woman. She set up the Life Inspired For Thailand Foundation to advocate for the rights to dignity and opportunities for transgender people.
Des Moines TV reporter Nora J.S. Reichardt has come out as a transgender woman on TV, introducing herself to viewers by saying, “To gradually come into a role where I am feeling more and more at home in my body than I really ever did before has been amazing to get to experience and share with people.”
Advocate reports that Dwayne Wade – the former US professional basketball player – has submitted a petition to a Los Angeles County court to legally change the name and gender of his transgender daughter, Zaya Wade.
Dwyane Wade and his wife, actress Gabrielle Union, are strong supporters of their daughter and transgender rights.
“First of all, me and my wife, we are proud parents of a child in the LGBTQ+ community,” Dwyane Wade told Ellen DeGeneres on the latter’s talk show in 2020. “We’re proud allies as well. We take our roles and our responsibility as parents very seriously.”
