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A lot of that hit home for me, but, as a white trangender woman, I was a little disappointed that the transgender issue wasn't brought into the equation very often throughout the article.
And I was rather offended when he mentioned all the gay "heroes" of Stonewall...and DIDN'T mention sylvia Rivera, who STARTED Stonewall, by throwing a high-heeled shoe at a cop. and he didn't mention his gay "heroes" of Stonewall were the ones who willingly gave over the "drag queens" to the cops at Stonewall, while THEY snuck out the back door!!
Yeah, there must be a lot of pain in being gay. I wouldn't know, I never have been gay. There must be a lot of pain in being black. again, I wouldn't know, I never have been. And it must be REALLY painful to be a gay black man. I wouldn't know, I haven't been there.
But I did not feel there was NEARLY enough sensitivity given to how painful it is to be transgender. Worse...how painful it is to BE, at least on outer appearance, to be white male (read: empowered) and to give that all up to be who WE really are...women!! And to have people constantly questioning our sanity, and thinking that male empowerment was the biggest thing we transgender women gave up! no, the biggest thing WE gave up was our HUMANITY...many no longer see us as even being HUMAN.
And those who victimize us, disenfranchise us...they feel no guilt or shame about it, because they are doing it to someone they have already deemed was not HUMAN, and therefore, not worthy of human dignity, compassion, kindness or even courtesy.
Many, even among my friends, and fellow churchgoers (yes I am a Christian) think that I am very brave for "doing what you did." No, I tell them...I am not brave. I made a simple choice. A choice to die as a man, or live as a woman. I chose to live. That is not brave. That was survival.
What is BRAVE is standing up against those who would oppress us, and DEMANDING our place, rightfully, and our treatment, rightfully...demanding our humanity back.
I really wish that the author of this article had explored a bit more, the real pain transgender people go through. I'm tired of our pain and suffering being ignored, minimalized, and shunted aside by the gay-and-lesbian crowd.
As one fellow transsexual once put it, in a room full of gay men and lesbian women, where I was the only other transsexual..."YOU didn't pay 30 thousand dollars to be YOUR brand of queer!" "YOU didn't go through YEARS of psychological therapy to be given PERMISSION to be your brand of queer."
I gotta quit this here, or I am going to lose it, but I tell you, I'm very angered that this issue was not explored more in the article.
We transgenders have endured so much in TV, particularly TV advertising...and we are ALWAYS the freaks...the ones to be laughed at...NEVER treated respectfully. At least y'all have Queer Eye for the Straight Guy!! WE HAVE NOTHING!!
Well, nothing except the Bud Light "girls" and, of course, lest we forget the Dunkin Donuts man with a finger over his moustache, speaking in a obviously falsetto voice, and wearing a dress that looked like it was made from recycled Holiday Inn drapery fabric, "Do you make your doughnuts fresh every day, like Dunkin' Donuts?? No? Good!!"
Jesus Christ, I can't begin to tell the damage that shit did to my psyche. Damn it, though, he acts like only gay and lesbian people have been crapped on by the TV. I can tell you WE transgenders have had it a lot worse...and now, WE are the only group it is STILL okay to make fun of...even now, we still have the Bud Light commercials, and we STILL occasionally see the Dunkin' Donuts man.
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