Transgender people still find themselves in the unenviable spot of being the most economically underprivileged, the most discriminated against and the most harassed in the workplace. Transgender people are at far greater risk of being physically and sexually assaulted.  Transgender individuals are more likely to be denied access to public accommodations from health care to public restrooms, from restaurants to educational facilities. All of this is further impacted when those individuals are trans people of color. **

I’m already pretty unpopular with a great many people because of my evolving views about words that are attached to the trans experience, oh and the fact that I wrote an Open Letter To RuPaul.  The whole thing has been exacerbated by the fact that I am not really keen on such language being heavily used and glorified by RuPaul and her incredibly popular show on the Logo Network. I mean, heaven forbid that a woman, not to mention a trans-woman, have an opinion or even worse a dissenting opinion about her own experiences and the terms that define them without being deemed “Hysterical” or being told to “Calm Down Mary” (that’s the one that really gets me hot).

For the last few weeks I’ve been trying to process everything surrounding RuPaul, her show and her vocalizations. I’ve even seen many RPDR Alum, many whom I know personally and a few that I call sisters, make comments about about it all. But “Mother Ru” has taken to Twitter and the Podsphere to make sure all of those who find her use of some word offensive know just what she thinks about them. I have finally decided that it was time to raise a little more hell.

The following are a just some of her tweets that express her opinion.

Although I don’t disagree entirely with some of these tweets I do find many of them typical of the Cisgender Gay Male Culture that is heavily and increasingly infused with Drag Bravado. Firstly, let me address the first tweet I’ve included. I do agree in part that the word “tranny” is just a word and that the intention behind words is the key component to propel offense forward into full fledged offensiveness and bigotry. Look, I’m not super offended by the word myself, as I’ve said before, but what I am increasingly offended by is the appropriation of the “trans-experience” by cisgender men who may or may not don the female illusion. Our experiences are our own. Many of them gut wrenching and far more difficult to endure than a vast majority of cisgender individuals.

Although, admittedly in some regions,  “The word ‘tranny’ has never just meant transsexual.” it has evolved to refer to those of us who are “trans-bodied”. A simple Google Search will show you that, after weeding out the wiki information and news relating to RuPaul and this kerfuffle, that the word’s most common results yield transsexual prostitution and porn. Far be it for me to condemn sex-work and  those who participate in the sex-industry whether legally or as part of the underground economy. My feelings are if the participant chooses without coercion and/or being in a state of desperation then go for it. Do it safely and responsibly, but do it.  I do, however, completely and utterly condemn the objectification, sensationalize and fetishization of trans-bodies.  It is misogyny pure and simple and it legitimizes attitudes that demean and devalue trans-bodied people, especially those bodies that are feminized.

RuPaul also called into question the use of the word community.  I am in full agreement that the LGBT community isn’t quite the cohesive unit depicted by the majority of LGBT advocacy groups.  I have seen community happen within these groups but I have seen more division. The gays hate the lesbians. The lesbians hate the drag queens. The drag queens hate everyone. The bisexuals are not even legitimated by any of the gay men I’ve met, and they’re always the butt of the joke.  Yet everyone in this group are on a journey centered around their sexual orientation.  I am well aware that it is not an easy journey for many.  I have seen first hand the struggle of same sex attraction, but the Trans journey is explicitly differentiated by the struggle around ones gender.

The socialization of one whose gender is incongruent to the individual’s physical anatomy is complex at best.  Being socialized in an manner that is contrary to the intimate understanding of who a person is in regards to gender is exceptionally damaging and confusing.  The journey takes dips and turns through the deeper schisms created by an unapproving society and misunderstanding if not destructive family unit. To add insult to injury the outward expression of a gender identity that is in opposition to assigned gender can be as mild as embarrassing and as extreme as fatal. Gender identity and the road to transition holds far more difficulties due to the idiosyncrasies of living outwardly within a society that clings to the rigidity of a gender binary idealism. Therefore any expression contrary to outwardly perceived gender becomes not only offensive but detested to the point of physical harm.

Returning to RuPaul’s comments, the most offensive to me was the last.  He claims to have been transitioning since day one. He has not, nor is he transitioning in the sense in which he used the term.  If he had transitioned there would not be the vast catalog of recent photographs depicting him as male.  RuPaul is a cisgender gay male.  He has the privilege of removing his costumes and moving through a society as a male who was born with male anatomy.  That is NO way affords him the egregious honor of transitioning.  It may however provide him with a bit of experience of being marginalized due to gender expression which has been counteracted by the economic privilege and celebrity that he has been privy to throughout his career.  Saying that is not to diminish his rise from poverty and struggle; however, it is has been greatly tempered by it.

Many have expressed their dismay over the contentious dialogue over words like Tranny and Shemale.  They’re tired of hearing the disagreement.  This exhaustion is mostly directed toward those of us who are transgender. Cisgender Gay Men have been flippantly and rudely dismissing our concerns with cries of “Drag Is Offensive”, “They’re only words” and my personal favorite “Calm down Mary” and some are attacked with their past use of the language they have come to abhor.  Just for the record, I have used the word on many occasions. I have recently come across some material in which I admittedly used “tranny”.  As humans we have the joy of evolving and our journeys become changed due to circumstances in our lives.  It’s what makes the human experience so glorious.  Our ideas change.  Some of you reading this have in past probably voted in opposition to how you would now.  I hesitantly divulge that I, once, voted Republican. (I still have people that I call friends that vote Republican.) Even the Bible give us examples of this 1 Corinthians 13:11 “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.”

Furthermore, as adults we know that words hurt.  That they perpetuate inaccurate stereotypes and prejudice.  All we have to do is look as far as the recent indiscretions of Donald Sterling and of course the recent anti-bullying campaigns to know that words DO in fact hurt and words that were once acceptable become the opposite.

I believe that a negative statement is poison. The air between you and me is filled with sounds and images. If that were not so, how is it that I can turn on a television right now and see what’s happening in New York? That means sounds and images are in the air, crowded, jammed up like bats. And Oprah, I’m convinced that the negative has power. It lives. And if you allow it to perch in your house, in your mind, in your life, it can take you over. So when the rude or cruel thing is said—the lambasting, the gay bashing, the hate—I say, “Take it all out of my house!” Those negative words climb into the woodwork and into the furniture, and the next thing you know they’ll be on my skin.
        -Maya Angelou December 2000 Issue of O Magazine

What many cisgender gay persons lead by RuPaul are doing is, truthfully, Bullying.  They are bullying those of us who are no longer or never were involved in the drag culture.  They are shaming us for having an opinion that does not coincide with their world view.  I, as do many of us, live and work within hetero-normative circles.  That makes us far from what RuPaul refers to us as “Fringe” People.  It makes us men and women who are trans-bodied. It makes us brave and passionate individuals who are committed to equality.  My commitment to the cisgender gay population is visible in my fight for marriage equality.  I have stood beside my LGB brothers and sisters in the battle to abolish Prop 8. I have be there alongside many of you who criticize me for my opinions in regards to the Trans-Experience and the ways to which we are referred. Would your views change if I told you that I am offended by the use of the f’ word?  I’m also offended by the use of the n’ word and any other pejorative.

This whole experience doesn’t have to be a divisive.  It can be a way for us to actually grow in community.  A way for us to foster understanding. It is not my desire nor goal to incite separation.  I do not play the victim in this debate.  I express my opinions and will call bullying what it is at the cost of being loathed by some. Despite RuPaul’s celebrity and regardless of how he’s “payin’ the f%kin’ light bill” at Logo he should be held responsible for bullying.  Logo SHOULD distance themselves from him and his oppressive attitudes toward transgender people who are not part of the “drag culture” as should much of those in the LGB community. Advocacy groups should avoid endorsing this type of behavior despite economic and celebrity status. 

 The attitudes held by RuPaul and many other cisgender people are just an example of the larger problem. The devaluing of those who don’t fit within the gender binary is just one part. The continually dismissive attitudes are greatly influenced by a society that teaches us to undervalue the female perspective and diversity although giving lip service to the contrary.  Essentially, it’s “trickle down bigotry”. Our government is, to this day, arguing over the societal value of the Latino population. They redraw district lines and change rules that inhibit the economic downtrodden and people of color from participating in the political process. They constantly debate and control what women do with our own bodies with little or no input from women. They ignore violence perpetrated against trans-bodied people with the thoughts of “It’s their own fault” and attempt legislation to keep us from using public restrooms. So, how could cisgender individuals esteem trans-bodied people when at every turn they are provided confirmation that those who differ from the Caucasian cisgender patriarchy are not worthy of participation in society?

It is time for us to have a place at the the table and to have a voice that is heard and respected as equal not just for us but for the betterment of all of society.  The more we become inclusive and push towards an increasingly egalitarian civilization the better we all become.  The enhanced our valuation of diverse human experiences becomes the more our country and the world around us will diminish in stress, angst and hatred and will become increasingly beneficial and rewarding place in which all of us may experience life, liberty and pursue happiness.

**Much of this information and far more can be found in a study done by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force entitled “Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey”