I was recently introduced to Toby Johnson's ideas around gay perspective and how having to resolve identity as being different opens up our perception to being able to see things from outside the situations. (he explains it much better) A lot of implications form that for anyone who is different and the gifts that brings. So, will we ever get to where we don't feel "different" or "other" and what will happen when that happens? Labels can really trip up our thoughts but identity is a lot more than labels. Lots of stuff to think and feel about!
Many trans folk I have encountered made it clear to me that they do not consider themselves queer, since their "situation" is a medical issue, not one of sexual orientation.
And I've had exactly the opposite experience. Many of the conversations that I've had with transfolks have been about how gender identity and sexual orientation become even more bizarre.
The fact that it gets classified as a medical issue and a psychological problem to me seems degrading. Why isn't it acceptable to just live as the gender you choose, change your body however you like and just move on with life? People have all kinds of medical procedures that no one bats an eye about, but SRS requires a psychiatric diagnosis before it will be performed... I think there will come a day when the psychiatric community will look at what they've done in classifying trans-identity as a disorder in shame.
I should clarify that the folks I refer to definitely do not consider it a psychological problem, or psychiatric. Perhaps I should have said anatomical, because the consensus seemed to be that there wasn't anything wrong with their minds, just their bodies.
I should also clarify that when I said "many trans folks," I should have been more specific. It's actually most FTM trans folks who have made it clear that they don't classify themselves with gays, lesbians, or bisexuals because their "situation" is an anatomical issue, not one of sexual orientation. (Even though some of those same FTM trans folks actually identify as gay, since they like men. Don't get me started, really.)
Everyone can have a place in the movement, both radical and conservative. Attacking one part only causes enemies of equality to laugh at us. There are many stores in DC for clothes. Why not have one that sells things spreading a queer message? I wonder if the people who painted "Stonewall" realize that when the Stonewall riots happened, the gays weren't bashing each other, they were bashing their direct abusers. To me, attacking an equal rights organization while invoking the name of Stonewall is spitting in the face of those who took action in the riots. The time they spent planning that juvenile action could have been spent creating real change, which HRC employees spend countless hours every day doing.
The point is that they're not spreading a queer message. They're spreading an assimilationist message.
Though you're right, the gays weren't bashing each other. But there were plenty of men and women in marriages of convenience that did nothing. They just sat back and watched while these other folks, the fringe folks, went to jail, got beaten half to death and rioted to just be left the fuck alone.
And I'm sorry, HRC is not creating real change. They're creating bumper stickers.
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I was recently introduced to Toby Johnson's ideas around gay perspective and how having to resolve identity as being different opens up our perception to being able to see things from outside the situations. (he explains it much better) A lot of implications form that for anyone who is different and the gifts that brings. So, will we ever get to where we don't feel "different" or "other" and what will happen when that happens? Labels can really trip up our thoughts but identity is a lot more than labels. Lots of stuff to think and feel about!
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The fact that it gets classified as a medical issue and a psychological problem to me seems degrading. Why isn't it acceptable to just live as the gender you choose, change your body however you like and just move on with life? People have all kinds of medical procedures that no one bats an eye about, but SRS requires a psychiatric diagnosis before it will be performed... I think there will come a day when the psychiatric community will look at what they've done in classifying trans-identity as a disorder in shame.
Reply
I should also clarify that when I said "many trans folks," I should have been more specific. It's actually most FTM trans folks who have made it clear that they don't classify themselves with gays, lesbians, or bisexuals because their "situation" is an anatomical issue, not one of sexual orientation. (Even though some of those same FTM trans folks actually identify as gay, since they like men. Don't get me started, really.)
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There are many stores in DC for clothes. Why not have one that sells things spreading a queer message? I wonder if the people who painted "Stonewall" realize that when the Stonewall riots happened, the gays weren't bashing each other, they were bashing their direct abusers. To me, attacking an equal rights organization while invoking the name of Stonewall is spitting in the face of those who took action in the riots. The time they spent planning that juvenile action could have been spent creating real change, which HRC employees spend countless hours every day doing.
Reply
Though you're right, the gays weren't bashing each other. But there were plenty of men and women in marriages of convenience that did nothing. They just sat back and watched while these other folks, the fringe folks, went to jail, got beaten half to death and rioted to just be left the fuck alone.
And I'm sorry, HRC is not creating real change. They're creating bumper stickers.
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And how the hell did I miss the Dyke March? Why did I skip that for Capital Pride when it bored the pants off me last year?
*vows to go to the Dyke March next year*
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