A few days ago, I was disturbed to hear of a petition on Change.org started by gay and bisexual men calling on LGBT groups to “drop the T” being circulated. ThinkProgress has called it a “Devious new conservative plan” and points out an apparent connection to right-wing thinktank “The Federalist,” but the authorship of the petition remains unknown out of a need to validate the perception that they might “face retaliation” for their views; thus we may never know for sure if this was indeed the case.
For my part, I am operating under the far less convenient but far more likely assumption that this did, in fact, originate from a group of gay and bisexual men. I have encountered a disturbing amount of transphobia, misogyny, and stunningly provincial attitudes toward gender among the gay community; I had to cut off several former friends when I came out trans because they showed themselves to be very obnoxious, unpleasant, and closed-minded people when they showed me their true colors. The sad fact is that although most of my gay and bi friends have been wonderful and supportive, there are plenty of people in the LGB community that show an extremely nasty side of themselves when the subject of trans* comes up.
More disturbing still was the fact that the framers of this petition (and indeed, many trans-exclusive Radfems or TERFs I’ve encountered) are employing outdated information, bad science from proponents of conversion therapies, and a general ignorance of what transsexual and transgender people are and represent.
Take this gem of ignorance, for example:
The infringement of the rights of individuals, particularly women, to perform normal everyday activities in traditional safe spaces based on sex; this is most pernicious in the case of men claiming to be transgender demanding access to bathrooms, locker rooms, women’s shelters and other such spaces reserved for women.
Here we have a perfect example of a right-wing talking point lifted verbatim from the playbook of groups like the Family Research Council. It preys on a cartoonish nightmare of neck-bearded perverts getting a free pass to leer and peer in the ladies’ room simply by “claiming to be transgender.” It has no basis in reality, of course; even in hella liberal, trans-awesome, keepin’ it weird Portland, you just don’t see obviously straight, cisgender pervs lurking in the ladies’ room pretending to be transgender. It doesn’t happen. Period.
It’s one thing when straight cis ultra-conservative Evangelicals fall for this tripe, but it’s another when gay and bisexual men- up until recently a group that was marginalized and accused of being sexual predators themselves- could believe a lie so cynically conceived by the same mavens of moral panic that tried to keep them from having the rights they’ve fought so hard for. It’s sad to think that a portion of the gay community has embraced the ideology of its unquestioned enemies.
Luckily, the organizations targeted by the petition have rejected the call to “drop the T” and only about 1605 people have signed the petition (short of its goal of 2500). However, it bodes poorly for what may become of the LGBT community now that gay men in particular are enjoying a level of social privilege they have not experienced before.
I genuinely hope this will be a wake-up call to the leaders of the LGBT community to mend these divides before they become a barrier to progress, equality, and dignity. Don’t let our successes cause any of us to forget what we fought for and, just as importantly, what we fought against.