Pantheacon sit in post and related
I attended Thorn Coyle's quickly put together sit in outside the cisgender only women at Pantheacon. Helluva a powerful experience. My post on the topic is up at dancingbull.net.
One thing to add in general: we had a book signing for the release of the Gender and Transgender in Modern Paganism book. It was so much fun! I was wow'd there were people there almost the entire time, browsing and buying the book.
I like the essay I wrote, but have never been entirely happy with its conclusion. This is because my own thinking was still in process by the date the piece was due. :-) I was struggling with my appreciation of separate spaces, and the ugliness I saw in this particular case. I've finally gotten some clarity that it's the ugliness - the hate speech where trans women are characterized as not-women, as potentially violent, as men trying to take from women - that is the core of the problem.
I also inherently dislike person A having the temerity to tell person B s/he 'isn't really a wo/man.' It's nasty stuff, but freedom of speech cuts both ways. Folks can have their separate spaces (though of course, all such spaces are criticized by someone, for assorted reasons, which I may or may not agree with).
It's the hateful, discriminatory words I will continue to protest.
(crossposted to g+)
One thing to add in general: we had a book signing for the release of the Gender and Transgender in Modern Paganism book. It was so much fun! I was wow'd there were people there almost the entire time, browsing and buying the book.
I like the essay I wrote, but have never been entirely happy with its conclusion. This is because my own thinking was still in process by the date the piece was due. :-) I was struggling with my appreciation of separate spaces, and the ugliness I saw in this particular case. I've finally gotten some clarity that it's the ugliness - the hate speech where trans women are characterized as not-women, as potentially violent, as men trying to take from women - that is the core of the problem.
I also inherently dislike person A having the temerity to tell person B s/he 'isn't really a wo/man.' It's nasty stuff, but freedom of speech cuts both ways. Folks can have their separate spaces (though of course, all such spaces are criticized by someone, for assorted reasons, which I may or may not agree with).
It's the hateful, discriminatory words I will continue to protest.
(crossposted to g+)