Transwomen, transvestites and ciswomen

Lately there have been much discussion on the net about how ciswomen treat us transwomen. It's been a very heated discussion sometimes bordering on flame war. As I myself have had very little experience of the persecution and hate others have been the victim of I've wisely more or less kept out of it. And this blog post shouldn't be seen as a part of that debate. Even if it I to a large extent was inspired by it.

Another inspiration is the descision of a lesbian BDSM club here in Stockholm, Club Wish, to ban male transvestites from their parties and to welcome transsexuals.

The third inspiration comes from a thread I started on a forum on the biggest LGBT community in Scandinavia, QX. I simply asked how ciswomen regarded us transwomen, as sisters or as intruders.

That outright hatred and transphobia should be condemned and it's proponents exposed is for me a given. My old idol Germanie Greer should be forced to crawl on her knees to Stonewall and beg forgiveness.

I'm going to concentrate my reasoning around transwomen, and transvestites which don't mean that I exclude other folks from the trans umbrella. And that 's just the problem: the umbrella.

When a ciswoman, straight, bi or lesbian, takes a peek under that umbrella what she sees is what the media wants her to see: Fab drag queens and sequin covered "trannies" in impossibly high heels. And sadly that is the picture the general public have of us: men in drag. Partly it's our own fault that they don't know better, in an effort to present a united front we have neglected to point out a fundamental difference:

Transvestites are men, identifying as men, born as men.

Transsexuals are women, identifying as women, with a birth defect that we need to correct.

I can understand a ciswoman who don't understand these differences and as a result don't want to allow a transperson into a women only space. It's my belief that once they are aware they'll welcome transsexual women, just like the girls at the Wish Club. The fanatics and idiots are practically impossible to convince and they often have their own dark agenda. What we can do is to educate the other ciswomen so they don't buy the crap Germanie Greer and her ilk is offering.

When some transvestites complain that they are discriminated against when not being allowed to take part in Club Whish's party I frankly don't understand them. They basically identify as men so why should they be allowed in a lesbian club?

But this means we all, all of us under the trans and gender bender umbrella, have to accept and celebrate not only what we have in common but also what makes each sub group unique. And we all have to come to the defence when a single one of us is attacked or treated unfairly. 

Let's chuck the umbrella in the bin, step out in the sun and let the world see us in all our beautiful diversity. Each of us a God or Goddess.

I am now going to put on a fireproof dress before I post this. ;-)

 Love, kisses, hugs and lashes until next time
Caisa