When Extremists Collide

Well, it seems that the kooks at "Transadvocate," well Mr. "Cristan" Williams and Mr. "Autumn" Sandeen decided to put on a performance by having a protest at the offices of the Pacific Justice Institute.  Clearly, Mr. Williams was anticipating a massive protest judging from his rather optimistic bit of artwork that accompanied the announcement of the event...

Instead...well, instead there was a total of 10 protestors, including Mr. Williams and Mr. Sandeen....

Quite a contrast...

So, we have an extremist religious right group, that has no real understanding of transsexualism being picketed by an extremist transgender group (somehow, I am not sure 10 people would exactly qualify as much of a group) who, well, have no real understanding of transsexualism.

I did get a real laugh out of Mr. Williams' enthusiastic prose....

Those who chose to call out PJI’s obdurate behavior were trans allies, parents, youth, war veterans, clergy and attorneys as well as 100s of virtual protesters who used the #JD4PJI tag to draw attention to PJI’s bullying.

Well, let's see....  The, uh, "trans allies" part sort of goes without saying...Mr. Sandeen and Mr. Williams would both qualify as parents....Mr. Sandeen could sort of, kind of, be called a "war veteran" if you stretch the meaning and I suppose at least one other might have served in the military, though that is not certain....there are a couple kids there, no doubt when they should have been in school....one of the people was a theology professor who decided she is really a "dude" so I guess that would qualify as "clergy" singular...If more than one of these is actually an attorney, I would be surprised (actually, none of them look likely to be) so that whole spiel is a bit of obvious spin.  I wonder if PJI even knew they were out there?  I seriously doubt they cared.

I can imagine both Mr. Sandeen and Mr. Williams eagerly anticipating the massive crowd that would show up.  I also would suspect they were quite disappointed that it turned out to be a total bust.  I wonder how many news organizations they contacted, only to have, quite obviously, no one show up to cover this momentous event.  I wonder if they contacted the LAPD to warn them that there would be a huge rally that day?  Seriously, this is more than a little hilarious.

Oh, and I checked, and apparently Pacific Justice Institute did not care enough to even mention this event....I guess even they thought it beneath notice.

I Don't "Misgender" People

In reaction to an article on "Cristan" Williams' rather sudden, and somewhat bizarre, endorsement of theories that hold that transsexual women have brains that are sexually differentiated at odds with their bodies (this would be something of a reversal of his previous positions, I was taken to task for using "incorrect pronouns" when referring to Mr. Williams.  Of course, this is not the first time this accusation has been made.  

But, I would contend that no, I do no such thing.  While some might disagree on grounds of political correctness, I don't think I am using the wrong pronouns at all.  Nor, for that matter, do I think that anyone is automatically entitled to demand the use of pronouns based on their "preference."  This, of course, is a major tenet of "transgender activism."  And, as which most of transgender activism, I disagree vehemently.

As I have pointed out, the entire transgender paradigm is basically an artificial social and political construct.  It has no basis in reality.  This, for example, is very much brought out in an article that is cross-posted to The Transadvocate blog.  In it, a woman who is "gender queer" identified, who is dating a "trans woman" talks about the politics involved.  Yes, even simply dating a "trans woman" becomes a political matter.  What a complete load of silliness.  But this, is, of course, identity politics at its most extreme.

And that is the problem in much of this...people who identify as women as part of some social/political play-acting demand rights that they have no real claim to, all so they can force their bizarre behavior on society as a whole, which then, based on false claims made by these freaks and perverts, assumes that transsexuals are just like that.  And then they wonder, or at least pretend to wonder, why transsexuals want no part of their silliness.

No, I believe that concepts like male and female, man and woman, have real meanings, and are not just labels that can be claimed on a whim.  I don't believe there is some inalienable right to be called a woman, or a man, if one is not.  If someone makes more of an issue of being trans than an effort to be a woman, then why should I call them a woman?

I don't choose which pronouns I use based on whether or not I agree with someone.  If that were true, then I would, for example, refer to one blogger very differently than I do.  As much as I vehemently disagree with that person, I don't see them as male.  Misguided?  Yes.  Politically extremist?  Without question?  Insane?  Very likely.  But male?  No.  I believe that person has allowed her political leanings, coupled with an overblown ego that is devastated by the realization that she is not the alpha transsexual she once thought she was to allow her to seek the adulation she receives from basically abandoning what she once espoused to influence her...that, and possibly more than a bit of senility or dementia, but no, not being male.

On the other hand, as I say, when someone is more concerned with hanging on to their past, and reveling in their "gender transgression," why wouldn't I see them as men?  Because, quite frankly, that is what they are.

Reaping What You Sow

Well, Riki Wilchins, who gave the world "Transexual Menace" (though now even Wilchins is using "Transsexual Menace" seems to be coming face to face with reality.  Wilchins has been very active lately, writing about the issue of testosterone blockers, and how they may bring an end to the nightmares faced by transsexual youth, and then in another article, writing about having to deal with children's question about whether or not Wilchins is a "boy or a girl" when claiming to be a "mother."  

Now, Wilchins basically made a career out of being very publicly "gender queer" even as Wilchins went through transition and had sex reassignment surgery.  I quickly came to see Wilchins as one of those people who was not worth focusing much attention on...sort of like "Kate" Bornstein, who I suspect regrets having transitioned and who is trying to deal with now being a man trapped in a woman's body...sort of a bizarre, almost Twilight Zone twist if there ever was one.

Wilchins never really made an effort to assimilate, or "pass" as Wilchins puts it.  Now, as I have stated before, I have come to realize that "passing" is very much a transgender concept.  It is basically an assertion that one is not really a woman, but is fooling everyone else into thinking one really is.  That is why I say, "I simply am," rather than "I pass."  I am not fooling anyone.  I am not trying to.  And, quite frankly, I don't have to.

Wilchins, who has a six year-old daughter who has been confronted by children saying "you can't be her mother."  Wilchins, interestingly enough, is upset by this.  Could it be that Wilchins really was transsexual, but got caught up in a bizarre political/social revolution, and now, as they say, "the chickens have come home to roost?"  Could Wilchins have made a bad choice?  Is Wilchins, as they say, now "hoist by one's own petard?"

If so, it would certainly be a rather ironic situation.  Wilchins did a lot of damage to transsexuals.  Wilchins was one of the more obnoxious voices pushing for gender upheaval when most of us just wanted to get on with normal, quiet lives.  Wilchins actively sought the spotlight when most of us wished to avoid it, and quite frankly, wished Wilchins would just shut up.  

Among other things, Wilchins was active in Camp Trans, and attempt by a group of transgender males to force their way into the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival.  It should be noted that more than a few post-op transsexuals have simply ignored the "womyn born womyn" and attended the festival.  Camp Trans, as evidenced by some nasty graffiti painted on one of the camp's kitchens, was about intact males forcing themselves on the festival.

So, someone who made a career out of "not really being a woman" is forced to face the reality of choices made.  Sad in a way, but also rather satisfyingly ironic.  A morality tale for the transgender community.  You really do "reap what you sow."