Exposing Transgender Idiocy...

Sometimes stories almost write themselves....  I was checking out the usual drivel that comes from the Transgender News mailing list when I came across an article entitled Exposing Cisgender Privilege by Nina Ember Nova.  Now with a title like that, you know it is almost certainly going to be a major bit of transgender idiocy.  And yes, it truly is.

Here are the examples of "cisgender privilege" that are alleged, and why they are so absurd:

1. Not having to face discrimination when going to bureaucratic offices because your gender identity doesn’t not match the sex marker on your id.

You know, one of the first hurdles a transsexual has to face is chaining paperwork.  Nobody claims it is fun, and yes, I was rather nervous, but the people I dealt with were professional about their job, and they simply followed the rules.  Now, for the first three years of my transition I was stuck with a driver's license that said 'M' because Alabama will not change the sex marker until you have had the surgery.  In that time, I had maybe two people notice it.  I was in a couple of car accidents, and got stopped a couple of times by a officer (once speeding, and once for an expired tag) and not once did they notice that it did not match my presentation.  Of course, I looked and acted like a woman.  Most discrimination occurs because they person looks like a "man in a dress."  Funny, but people find that a bit disturbing...
2. Be able to be called by the name and pronoun that matches your gender identity.

A trip to the probate judge's office took care of that.  My legal name has been Jennifer for quite a while now.
3. Not be called a pervert because of your gender identity is different from what was assigned to you at birth.

Actually, for the vast majority of transgender people they are called a pervert for exactly the opposite reason.  Their gender identity is male, and very obviously so, but they insist on dressing as, and pretending to be, a woman.
4. Not be bullied, sexually exploited, [abused] because you express your gender identity.

This is not because you express your "gender identity."  This is because of behaving in a manner that invites such abuse.  Funny, I have never had this experience because, well, I have not put myself in that position.  And on the rare occasion someone has tried to go there, I have let them know it was not going to happen.

5. Not be labeled “psychotic” because of your gender expression.

Maybe if you tried not acting like someone who is psychotic, it might help.  Believe me, the one's I have labeled as psychotic were not seen that way because of gender expression, though more than a few have tried to use their "gender expression" as an excuse for their behavior.

6. Be able to use certain facilities, such as the bathroom or locker room, and feeling safe and not be called a pervert, pedophile, or a rapist.
Guess what?  If you are being called a pervert, pedophile, or a rapist in the bathroom or locker room then you might want to get a clue and stay OUT OF THE LADIES ROOM until you are presentable enough to not cause people to be upset.  When I started my transition I never dreamed of just forcing my way into the ladies bathroom like, well like a pervert.  I eased into it, cautiously, until I felt confident that I was not going to cause a riot.  And if you have not had FULL SEX REASSIGNMENT SURGERY, then you have NO business being in a locker room.  It may be inconvenient.  It may seen fair to you.  But really, you walk around in a locker room where I am with your penis hanging out, and well, I carry pepper spray.  Your face, and an area that is clearly very precious are both getting a shot,

7. Your masculinity or femininity not be challenged because of your gender identity or trans status.

Maybe if you actually made an effort to appear as, and assimilate as, the gender you claim to identify with....  Ah, but they mention "trans status."  You see, they want, so to speak, to have their cake and eat it too.  They don't REALLY identify as women.  They want to force society to accept them as something they are not, and then they complain when people object.

8. Not be told that you are not man enough or woman enough because your genitalia does not “match” with your gender identity.

Maybe you should get a clue and stop trying to tell people that "women have penises."  If your gender identity is really what you say it is, then why aren't you seeking to correct it, and being patient until you achieve that goal.

9. Be able to walk down the street and not be targeted and be called a prostitute by the police because of your gender identity/trans experience.

You know, this is a lot less likely to happen if a) you dress like a normal woman, and b) you are not hanging out in an area where prostitutes are.  Funny, I have never once been accused of such, and I used to do outreach to transgender sex workers.  

10. Being able to go to the DMV and not legally be called the improper title (sir, madam, etc.) because of inaccurate identification.

This is a bit weird.  If you are going to the DMV, and it is not to update your identification then it strikes me that it is not the identification that is inaccurate.

11. Your birth certificate, the identity given to you at birth, matches your real identity and gender expression.

If you haven't had SRS then it should not be changed, and well, to be quite blunt, if you have not had SRS, and don't plan to, then it does match your real identity.  Birth certificates have NOTHING to do with gender expression.  If you have not changed your sex, you should not be able to change your birth certificate to lie about your sex.

12. Never having to go to court to prove who you are and get your id’s match your gender expression.

Well, boo hoo...  If you don't want to do that, then don't.  But don't call it cisgender privilege to not have to.

13. Be able to see people in the media who matches your gender identity who are not depicted as perverts, psychotic murderers, or the comic-relief/butt-end of jokes.

Okay, this shows what is really going on.  I see people in the media all the time that match my gender identity.  They are called WOMEN!!!  I would venture that about 50% of the people on TV are in that group.  So, what this kook who wrote this article is really saying and what puts the lie to all the rest, is that his gender identity is not really female, it is "trans."  He identifies as a dude pretending to be a woman, and complains that TV shows don't feature such people.

14. See a medical doctor anywhere who understands your health needs.

This has nothing to do with privilege, it is just a matter of choosing wisely.

15. Be able to undress in any designated safe space matching your gender identity without anyone seeing you as a threat, a sexual predator, or a freak.
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If you have a penis, stay out of the women's dressing area.  You have no business being there.  It is a safe space because people like that, who DO NOT HAVE A FEMALE GENDER IDENTITY ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THERE!!!!

16. Have access to medications and surgeries you need for your health, safety, and overall well-being and have it be covered by medical insurance.

Again, this has nothing to do with being "transgender."  It is a problem for a lot of people.

17. Find clothes easily and readily that matches your gender identity and expression.

Huh?  What, you mean like pantyhose with a place for you penis to fit into?  If you claim to be a woman, you should have no problem finding clothes.  If you claim to be a man, again, plenty of clothes.  Shoot, you can even find unisex stuff.  So, what is the problem?

18. Have a formal title, such as Mr., Ms., Mrs., Miss, that matches your gender identity and expression.

Again, it is clear that your gender identity is "none of the above."  So, don't be surprised if people have issues with you...

19. Being able to express your gender identity without the threat of being fired.

Try no insisting on dressing up in a manner that will upset your fellow employees and the customers.

20. Be able to join circles of men or women without the threat of being “exposed” and being harassed, shunned, bashed, and violently not accepted.

Well, since the person who wrote this clearly does not seem to identify as man or woman, that seems to be the cuase of rhis problem.

21. Not having to hear from parents “when you were a girl/boy then...” when you never identified as the gender given to you.

Cut your parents some slack.  This is hard enough on them.  If they are will to speak of your former sex in past tense, you are doing better than many....

22. Not be told you were selfish for not wanting to wear that dress/suit because it did not match your gender expression.

Again, people need time to adjust.  And yes, you might well actually be selfish...

23. Not have to come out to your parents, family, friends, and/or loved ones.

Then don't choose to be transgender.  And if you really are transsexual, sorry but that is part of the condition.

24. Be able to dress without having “tuck away” or “bind” anything.

Yes, just proudly have your penis erect under your dress...  After all, you are mighty fond of it.

25. Being comfortable in and not giving thought to a gender binary.

If you are not, then work to become so. If you don't want to, stop complaining.

Yes, this offers a great insight into what this is REALLY all about.  It is not a matter of need, but of choice.  And they want to force themselves on others.  They don't want to be women, they want to force people to abandon reality and make us accept and approve of their perversion.

Another Perfect Example...

Ah, "Cristan" William's website is the gift that keeps on giving.  Even when Williams is not posting questionable claims, and suspicious evidence to back them up, his eager followers can post some pretty hilarious silliness.  Here is one from a person going by the name Tess McGowan that just shows the absurdity of the transgender mindset:

I was just going to post something like this. We never get to see the faces of separatists because they live in seclusion until they get their surgeries in the hopes that they can live a “normal life”. However, once they get their vaginal surgeries, many of them will walk the earth still having masculine traits (physical and mental) because they have NO IDEA how to live as a woman. It’s quite funny and sad if you think about it, the fact that these people have such high hopes that vaginoplasty will somehow magically change their lives when it’s just one milestone.
I giggle at separatists.

Now, this shows the sort of invincible ignorance that permeates the transgender extremists.  I don't know anyone who lived in seclusion before getting their surgeries.   I suspect what this person means is that some live in stealth, not participating in silliness like gatherings such as "Southern Comfort" or "Fantasia Fair," and not having one's photo published on some of the sillier web sites.  In another words, they simply transitioned and completed a proper Real LIfe Test.  My life was pretty normal before and after surgery.


Now, the really hilarious part is some transgender person making a comment like "have NO IDEA how to live as a woman."  Good grief!  People like Williams have no idea how masculine they come across.  He has a "win at all costs" attitude that is totally male.  Others, such as the example at hand, present as silly parodies of women, "giggling" their way through life.  Actually, it is the true transsexuals who see vaginoplasty as a very important milestone, but I not met one who thought it would do anything other than making them more comfortable in her own body.  And while that may not be magical, it does make a big change in one's life.


I remember cringing at my last examination by my surgeons before my SRS.  Having them sit their and examine that part of my body was pure torture.  I never felt comfortable having it looked at. Not long after that, I was on an exam table with a rather gorgeous doctor taking out some stitches.  It suddenly occurred to me that even as he had his face literally right up in my crotch, I felt no discomfort, no shame, no desire to flee.  That might seem odd to some who is rather attached to his male genitals, but for me, it is was a pretty big change.


Funny though, I didn't have to learn to be a woman.  I didn't have to go to support groups or silly transgender gatherings for the thrill of being taught how to walk, sit, and gesture.  It came naturally to me.  Which had a lot to do with being miserable for the period before transition.


The bottom line is, this foolishness sounds like the classic "more woman than you" silliness that is so popular with transgender people.  They don't get it....you either or a woman, or you are not.  Their is not quantification of being a woman.  One is not a certain percentage of being a woman.  It is not something you learn, or build up points towards.  You simply are, or you are not.

Now This is Kind of Weird....

On the one hand, we have "Autumn" Sandeen....  He is just all upset because RuPaul made some nasty remarks about how transgender people should just get over their objection to being called a "Tranny."  In fact, Mr. Sandeen is so upset that he insists on spelling it "Tr**y."  Ironically, that bit of absurd theater sort of plays into RuPaul's arguments. 


On the other hand, we have none other than "Cristan" Williams defending the word.  Which is actually not that surprising since more often than not, Mr. Williams acts more like a misogynistic male than anything else.


Now, the word is an insult.  It is a diminutive for several words that begin with "trans."  I don't care for it personally, when it is used to refer to transsexuals.  I don't care for the way that many transgender kooks want to demand the right to use it to refer to themselves, but expect everyone else to not use it.  I also don't care for the tendency among African-Americans to use a certain term commonly referred to as the "N-word" to refer to each other.  I grew up in the South, and I saw the pain that word can cause.  Using it, whether you are white, black, or any other race, is not cute.  It is not clever.  It is not empowering.  It is just nasty.  It is a hateful word.


"Tranny" is not in the same class as the "N-word."  It is an insult, but it does not carry the long history that some insults do.  I don't like, I don't think people should use it, but I also think that transgender people should stop trying to play the victim.


Let's be blunt.  Transgender people, like Sandeen, and Williams, and any number of others, are trying to act in a way that they know is contrary to societal norms.  They are not expressing their true gender, but are trying to force people to accept them as something they are not.  They have NO desire to leave their pasts behind, and simply move into society as women.  They want to be transgender, not simply women.  They take delight in society's discomfort with their behavior, and enjoy nothing more than forcing people to smile, and act like they are really women, even as they look, act, and, let's be honest, identify as males.


True transsexuals are rare.  Transgender men who want to flaunt their behavior in society's face are dime a dozen.  They need to fact facts.  Their behavior is contrary to societal norms, and they are not making an effort to fit in.  If they insist on acting out, they should accept that a majority of people are not going to be comfortable with it.

The "Empire" Strikes Out

In 1979 a former nun turned radical lesbian-feminist named Janice Raymond wrote a book called "The Transsexual Empire."  In it, she viciously attacked transsexuals, and in particular, those who claimed to be lesbians.  Raymond, who was a lesbian-separatist considered them to be invading "women's space."  And ever since, some, particularly those who themselves identify as "transsexual lesbians" have been obsessed with Raymond and her views.


Personally, I find Raymond to be a bit of a bad joke.  Her book was ludicrous.  She has no understanding of the true nature of transsexualism, coming at the subject from the classic radical feminist position that socialization is the only factor differentiating men and women.  Raymond ignores the role that biology plays.  And, quite simply, Raymond was terrified that she might encounter a transsexual and not know they were born male.  For want of a better term, Raymond was terribly "heterophobic."  Sort of the lesbian equivalent of a man who loses it when he finds out the woman he is with was born male.  


Now, "Autumn" Sandeen, a pseudo-transsexual kook who pretty much fits the stereotypes that Raymond attributed to all transsexuals, is dragging up Raymond's diatribe again.  And, ironically, Mr. Sandeen is using it to attack true transsexuals.


At the heart of Mr. Sandeen's latest diatribe is his same tired insistence that he is a woman, albeit, a transwoman.  Of course, the problem is, "transwoman" is, at the very least, an oxymoron.  There is really no such creature.  Transgender, by its very nature, precludes someone who was born male from actually claiming womanhood.  It is an open repudiation of actually being a woman, and certainly of actually being a transsexual.  Those who identify as transgender tend to cling to their histories.  They want to claim to be women, while keeping one foot in their maleness.  And worse, they show utter contempt for anyone who does not wish to share in their bizarre behavior.


In the article, Mr. Sandeen quotes Sandy Stone, who was attacked by Janice Raymond in her book.  Stone was a sound engineer with Olivia Records, a music company specializing in women's music.  Stone was a post-op who, at the time, identified as a lesbian.  Stone has since married a man and is now a professor at an university in Texas.  A few years after Raymond's book, Stone wrote a diatribe entitled "The Empire Strikes Back: A Posttranssexual Manisfesto."


Now, in Stone's essay, there is a section where Stone seems to attack those who "pass."  This is something, of course, that Mr. Sandeen wholeheartedly embraces:

To "read oneself aloud" -- I embrace the concept for myself. It is a posttranssexual experience for me to embrace a transgender experience as my own, diversity-minded experience. I know that reading myself aloud, this being out and proud as both transsexual and transgender, has been defining for who I've developed into. I certainly will not pay the extremely high price of silence for personal acceptance within any portion of our broad society.

There are a couple of problems with the above statement.  First off, Mr. Sandeen is not remotely a transsexual, and secondly, for him to speak of being "postranssexual" is completely absurd.  You can't be "post" something you are not to begin with.  And clearly, Mr. Sandeen is not a transsexual.  If he is "posttranssexual," then he is, in effect, saying that he has completed his transition.  Since he is an intact male, he is effectively declaring himself, again, to be non-op.  A year or so ago, he had begun claiming he was surgery tracked, though he showed no apparent need to move ahead with any plans for surgery.  That seemed fishy at the time, and now he again seems to be taking a non-op position.


Likewise, another transgender extremist, "Monica" Helms, who was also, for a period, claiming to be surgery tracked, not only appears to have returned to the "they will take my penis when they pry my cold, dead fingers from it" camp, but also appears to be frantically opposed to the very idea of surgery being a covered benefit under insurance.


Mr. Helms launches into a bizarre, and completely dishonest diatribe about how insurance coverage for surgery would not make any difference.  First off, if it is covered by health insurance, it is covered like any other necessary surgery.  The claim that one has to pay up front, and is then reimbursed is an outright lie.  I know.  I had my surgery paid for by insurance, and my main out of pocket expenses where a $250 co-pay, and the cost of my dilators.  Everything else was paid for.  Now, not all medical coverage is as good.  If I had another plan, I would have paid more.  But if I had that other plan, I would pay more for any medical procedure.  If, say, I needed bypass surgery, I would have paid the same amounts.  


Why does Mr. Helms make these silly claims?  Because if his health insurance actually covered the costs of surgery, he would lose an excuse for keeping his penis.  He needs to maintain that illusion that he would have surgery, except it costs too much.  Never mind the fact that he bought a house, rather than seek surgery.  For a true transsexual nothing is more important than corrective surgery.  For someone like Mr. Helms, nothing is more important than finding an excuse to keep his penis.


Mr. Helms also raises the ridiculous claim about people being "non-ops" for health reasons.  This is also not remotely legitimate.  Yes, there was a time when people were denied surgery for reasons such as being diabetic (which I am), or being HIV positive (which I am not),  or other conditions.  As surgery for true transsexuals is increasingly recognized as medically necessary and not just elective doctors are more willing to take risks, and in most cases any contraindication is only a temporary situation.  People are "non-ops" because they are not transsexuals.  They want to keep their penises.  I had a friend who was a brittle diabetic.  Her blood sugar was very poorly controlled.  She had been denied surgery for years, but before she died, she convinced a doctor to remove her penis and testicles and complete everything except creating a vagina.  She didn't live much longer after that, and died of unrelated causes, but she was a transsexual.  Mr. Helms, is not.


As one commenter points out, by claiming to be transsexual, but rejecting surgery, they are undermining those who really do need it.  They either do not care that they hurt true transsexuals, or more likely, that is their goal.  They know they are not really transsexuals and they hate those who are.


So, why do they so desperately cling to the claim that they are transsexual?  Because they want the benefits that they believe transsexuals have.  They want to force society to grant them legal status as females, even though they have no intentions of giving up their penises.


It is ironic that people like Mr, Sandeen, and Mr. Helms, claim that being "out, loud, and proud" is about being honest, and yet they are anything but honest.  They want to claim the status of being something they are not.  They want to claim to be transsexuals when they have no desire to change their sex.  They want to change their birth certificates to indicate that they are female, while retaining their penises.  They want to change their passports, again without giving up their penis.  They want to claim to women, even though they are clearly, and happily, men.


They cannot possibly fool people into thinking they are really women, so they dig in and demand that people suspend reality and go along with their delusions.  And, again, they attack those who can successfully live as women.  And no, it is not about appearances.  It is about behavior.  I have met many who looked quite convincing, but who had such totally male attitudes that the illusion that they are actually women quickly fades.


This is why Raymond bothers them so much.  They are exactly the sort of men that Raymond saw all transsexuals as.  I would be willing to bet there were probably transsexuals that Raymond did not know were transsexuals.  Of course, the very idea of actually being a woman is lost on people like Mr. Sandeen and Mr. Helms.  They are men playing a game of dress up.


One of the issues that Raymond makes a big fuss over is privilege.  I always find this somewhat amusing.  For a classic transsexual, male privilege is as unknown as it is for any other woman.  We grew up being seen as, for want of a better term, "defective males."  We were labeled as "sissies" and while we were not, perhaps, treated exactly like females, we were not treated as normal males either.  Our status was, quite often, not unlike that that many women experience, but at the same time, lacking in many of the advantages that they had.  For example, we certainly lacked the protection from violence that, at least in the past, extended to females.  But we also were denied the sort of status that leads to privilege.  On the other hand, men like Mr. Sandeen, and Mr. Helms, were leading successful and happy lives in the military.  Apparently, they were crossdressers, and as sometimes happens, they have decided to take their "hobby" to the next level.


The bottom line to all of this is that it seems truly odd that some are so obsessed with being accepted by the tiny handful of kooks who make up radical separatist feminism (the sort who think all heterosex is rape and that men should be eliminated).  This is a group that is at the far extreme, and yet some waste an incredible amount of time worrying about the fact that they do not accept "transgender" people as "real women."  So what?  There are always going to be people who don't accept the concept of sex reassignment.  And shoot, I seriously doubt that the vast majority of people really accept kooks like Mr. Sandeen and his ilk as "real women."  I mean, seriously...a bunch of men, playing dress up, while making it clear that they were born men, that they intend to keep their penises, acting in a very masculine manner (and blissfully unaware of that behavior in most cases), and demanding that they be called women?  Granted, they are as looney as the extremist feminists that they obsess over.  Maybe that explains it all...

Huh?

In a recent post, "Autumn" Sandeen makes the assertion that gender identity and gender expression are two different concepts.  He them proceeds to try to argue pretty much the opposite.


He is trying to counter the very strong argument made by Ashley Love that pushing protections based on gender expression are harmful to transsexuals.  Love is absolutely correct.  Mr. Sandeen tries to argue the opposite.  In spite of his rather lame attempts to argue otherwise, the term gender expression covers people like transvestites or crossdressers.  It covers a behavior, not something that is intrinsic.


Clearly, whether someone crossdresses on occasion, or is a full time transvestite, like Mr. Sandeen, actual gender identity is not really an issue.  Now, Mr. Sandeen may claim to be a transsexual, and may claim to have a female gender identity, but the facts are obvious.  He has no desire to live as simply a woman.  He goes out of his way to make sure that everyone knows his past.  He flaunts the fact that he spent 20 years in the Navy, serving in a position that, at the time, was only open to males.  Up until the point, after his discharge, that he decided to go full time, he was living quite happily and successfully as a man.


True transsexuals, also referred to as classic transsexuals, lead very miserable lives prior to transition.  Even though they may be in denial, they simply cannot function in a male role.  Their brain is not sexual differentiated to think as a male, and it is difficult, if not impossible, for them to maintain the illusion that they are men.


This is why protections for true or classic transsexuals are important.  They have a medical issue that should be accommodated.  Crossdressers and transvestites choose to engage in a certain behavior that does not warrant the same protection.  Traditionally we do not protect behavior from discrimination, and we should not start.


Mr. Sandeen is an extremist.  He favors protections that are quite simply, absurd.  He has shown no restraint on issues like bathroom access.  It is one thing to allow transsexuals, in transition, to use the women's room, it is something entirely different to say that putting on a dress entitles a man to invade women's space.  Mr. Sandeen simply refuses to see that women might feel threatened by such a situation.  In fact, in his comments, he adamantly asserts that women do not have a right to feel safe in the bathroom, making the absurd comparison to segregated rest rooms.  He again shows his extremist position that holds that a chosen behavior, i.e. crossdressing and pretending to be a woman, trumps the right of women to feel secure in a restroom.  For a transsexual, using the women's room is a necessity...for a crossdresser, even a full time crossdresser like Mr. Sandeen, it is more akin to a thrill, something to be done regardless of who it harms.


The great irony is that Mr. Sandeen and his ilk claim to be women, but they have no understanding or concern for those they claim to be in common with.  Their attitude is more misogynistic than not.  


No, gender expression should not receive protections.  It is not the same, or the equivalent of gender identity.  To follow the sort of logic that Mr. Sandeen engages in, one would argue that pedophilia would have to be protected since it is linked to a type of "sexual orientation."  Of course, such a view is obviously outrageous.  But it is consistent with Mr. Sandeen's approach which equates behavior with intrinsic condition.