Hello Members, I post this for another member of TGH who I had this interesting conversation with. With her permission I wish to share with you all. Being a topic this type of discussion, there will be no personal attacks on the writer. Please post your replies and thoughts without any insults to others.
Please do not stray from the original passage. Hijacking this post will result of your reply being deleted. Everyone one has a right to be heard so please post your reply only once. You may edit your post if need be at anytime.
-Hello Vanessa! I read your message on a house divided. Interesting points you made. Some I agree with and I don't. I hope you're a fair and balanced lady when you read my personal feelings. Please keep in mind that good people can disagree. I have been to a lgbq event and parade, etc. I went during daytime and it was rather mild for public viewing. My friend went at night time and told me it was very degrading, perverted, and utmost sickening in his opinion. He went with me in daytime. Personally I feel that lgbq gets more benefits from TG's than TG's receive from being associated with them. Lgbq is strictly sexually oriented. The public has trouble separating TG issues from sexually oriented people. How do we fully explain that we're different when they ask why are we associated with lgbq? Even though I may be transbian and/or lesbian oriented the fact is until I fully transform into a female I'm not a lesbian and therefore don't qualify to be represented by lgbq. I feel as a TG we need to have our own national organization separate to represent our own agenda to educate and attempt to gain understanding and acceptance from society. As my own individual self, I feel most strongly pertaining to my own opinions. I respect others who may differ but I ask for their respect of mine in return. I just wanted to express my interest on this subject. I hope you respect my feelings on this matter. Be blessed and thank you for TGH!
P.S. When speaking on being united with others we need to consider if we reap benefits in a positive light for our own cause or do we draw more negativity from this unity???? Personally I feel we draw more negativity and we do need our own national organization to represent our own agenda and not an opposing agenda that we currently are and will endure in the future!
Ladies.....thank you for your input on this subject. In the animal world, sub-sects are the norm. Wolf...canine....breeds of dogs. Maybe humans should do like-wise???? To me transgender is somewhat confusing.....maybe it should be "switchgender" a word that is not as ambiguous????
Maybe the world would understand this better. As far as I know...this isn't part of the current sex-ed program (is it?). Gay/Lesbian is pretty well understood, but the rest? Should we present as a separate, educational group??? I am unsure. Transgender Heaven was designed for friendship, assistance with trans G. issues and as an educational site for the general public...n'est pas? Would this not muddy, already muddled waters?? Plain quick and short answers are what the public wants. Great long technical explanations easily bore them and they tune out and reply on stereotypes. To be sure....a question of how to do this needs more study and thought.ย Just my 2 cents worth........
Lady Veronica
The author does raise some valid points and I do think we need our own voice.ย But does that mean we loose strength in trying to stand alone.ย In lifes circumstances there are times when you really need to be able to lean on a shoulder and the LGBQ communities together are a strong sympathetic group.ย Do we have differences, most certainly, but are we getting better support from any other communities?
There are groups out there that are striving to bring our cause to light on its own and I'm happy to be involved with many through my friends in DC.ย I have no idea where my path is leading other than to my goals in transition, but how my advocacy will be manifested is still in the works.
Hugs, Cloe
While I agree with you that sometimes it is good to "coat tail" on to other organizations for support, my personal experience (Which isn't much) has been that these organizations are primarily focused on the LGBQ and not so much on the T.ย This is partly our fault, as most non-cis women/menย only want to blend in, live their lives as comfortably as possible and don't go looking for a spotlight.
There is a PRIDE group where I live and they are fairly well involved in community activities.ย They are also considerably younger than I am, are mainly LGB and that probably accounts for where most of their focus is directed.ย Are there any ladiesย who have had different experiences with local groups?ย Additionally, the media still presents a biased view of the entire LGBTQ community that really doesn't do us a lot of good.ย Recently Orlando held their PRIDE week and associated events.ย The media did mention it, but the snippets of tape they ran just showed individuals partying.ย That type of exposure doesn't do much to change the public's perceptions....of any of us.
One of the underlying points that should be considered is that with the particular cross we have to bear, there is scientific and medical facts that point to a medical cause.ย As previously stated, there is still are stigmas and erroneous perceptions attached to the term "transgender", and my personal opinion is that more needs to be done in the area of education.
Thank you for continuing the discussion, and I hope it reaches more people who will throw climb up on the soap box with me (whether agreeing or opposing) and help stimulate the discussion.
Hugs.....DeAnn
I've never been to a pride event, but do feel that I wouldn't fit in. There does seem to be two distinct Transgender camps, of which I'm not sure the two can integrate. One, is the confident young persons group (The world is a changing place after all) who do seem to fit into the LGBTQ grouping. Hopefully helped by the fact that they have recognised / diagnosed early and been able to transition without the poison of age. And my god, if Youtube is to be believed, don't they want the world to know!
The other transgender group would be for people like me. Who didn't discover ourselves until much later on in life, where we've struggled to come to terms with ourselves and integrate. We just want to get on with our lives. I have a gut and no hair. I spent twenty years forcing myself to be as masculine as possible. I don't feel pretty, I want to be, but also just want to be normal, blend in. Gain confidence rather than have it thrown at me. I'm not loud and proud. I'm me. I'm also not going to force that Pronoun shite on anybody. Call me how you see me. Atleast it's honest and hopefully acceptable. The first time I get called She / Her / Miss will feel like a huge win and will not be forced. If this life has taught me anything, its patience. I don't feel the need to make myself a target.
Where we come together as a grouping, is that we transition to normalise ourselves. The whole LGBTQ thing just seems to be a political agenda to highlight and make us stand out. I hate attention seekers and so do the general public. This is where we as Transgender, differ. We do our thing and move on.
Obviously, just my opinion. I don't wish to offend.
While transphobia certainly exists in the LGBTQ community, it is really no different than any other community.ย Look at the treatment of bi people as a further example.ย To splinter off make no sense, reinventing the wheel, when there are already organizations like Lambda Legal, Human Rights Campaign etc. with massive infrastructure in place to push for rights across the board for the LGBT community.ย Splintering would be to further isolate a whole community which already experiences far too much isolation in every day life.ย If anything more allies would be welcome.ย I know in Springfield MO, the local NAACP has teamed up with local LGBT rights groups to add their voice to ours, coming together as minority groups.ย To me splintering would be a massive step backward and a huge mistake.
Ladies this is my limited opinion on the issue and not meant to offend anybody.
The lbgtq as an organization is the best option for support at this time. If anyone can point to any other organization out there that fights for the rights of all of us, I am more than willing to support them, but to fight to separate ourselves in my opinion is self defeating. I understand the points made by all of you, but my pragmatic side tells me that being a part of a larger group does not divide us, it makes us stronger. The present government here would like nothing more than to divide us, making it easier to further divide us and overturn many of the protections and rights that were so very hardly earned. The organization while hardly perfect, is still our best hope to maintain those hard won victories.
Now while some of us believe they do not truely represent the transgender population as well as the others is a point of debate. Being gay is an identity descision, being lesbian is the same, bi the same, Queer the same, and transgender the same. Its who we are, and does not define us sexually, you can be trangender and attracted to men or women, or both. Gay, bi, lesbian in my opinion is just an expression of their individuality as well.
But together we are stronger than weaker as individual groups.
Thats my humble opinion
Traci
Very interesting thoughts coming out here. I can to a certain point agrre with the authorโs explanation though. I am living my life 24/7 authentic as trans female and one thing that I have picked up ever since I came out as transgender and that is the general perception of cis people in particular thinks being trans means you are automatically gay, lesbian or some sinister object from outer space. Iโve even been labled a pedophile inderectly but that was snubbed instantly as I went into self preserverance mode to defend myself.
Getting back to the point, being trans doesnโt automatically lable you as anything else than what you may or may not be. Should we be seperated from GLBTQI? Yes! Because we are who we are but that in itself comes with another issue- Isolation. Being Isolated as a single group although we are true to ourselves will make it much harder for us to get the necessary support structure we need.
Should we remain part of the GLBTQI group? Yes! Itโs a wider spectrum where we are safer and under the umbrella we are not really labled as such. We have wider options of being accepted and assistance where needed. In conclusion- my opinion is we remain under the GLBTQI umbrella where we are in a safer haven and not in direct conflict with anybody that wish to stamp a spesific lable on us. In my own situation I am a transgender woman with zero interest in sex or a sexual relationship with anybody be it male or female. I am who I am, not who someone else think I may be!
