It’s really strange being reminded that “when I first heard about trans rights” is a thing that may have happened for some folks who I think are around my age only after the anti-(LGB but really gay) movement swung hard to go after trans people - ThreadSky

melissagiragrant.com • 5 hours ago

It’s really strange being reminded that “when I first heard about trans rights” is a thing that may have happened for some folks who I think are around my age only after the anti-(LGB but really gay) movement swung hard to go after trans people

Reposted from Hunter Walker

An important point here is that I never thought of myself as intolerant. I always wanted to be completely supportive of trans rights. However, I found myself wondering and worrying about various technicalities and potential problems for getting to a better place.

Comments

operationriskyou.bsky.social•5 hours ago

In the 70s, trans women were the heros of some TV shows. The Love Boat even shared a kiss between Doc and a character who while played by a cis woman, was supposed to be trans. I didn't think anything of it as a teen.

bexsol.bsky.social•5 hours ago

It was also propagated by certain journalists and orgs like the NYT that exploited the political project for clicks and fame. They swallowed their journalistic integrity for money and relevance when legacy media/journalists were in decline.

kissphoria.bsky.social•4 hours ago

i'm glad this guy isnt transphobic anymore but like do you want a cookie

justincarinci.bsky.social•4 hours ago

Watching soulless politicians shrewdly targeting scapegoats and refining the target as it loses effectiveness: from LGB people existing in general to just gay marriage, to trans people. They abandon the messaging on a dime when acceptance of any targeted group nears even in polls.

kimoco.bsky.social•5 hours ago

I will say that due to the small number of Trans people in this country most Americans likely do not know anyone who is trans, not as a family member or friend anyway. Regardless, I wish more people would just be OK with everyone living their lives as they see fit and not hurting anyone else.

jaykaydee.bsky.social•5 hours ago

Yeah I mean, a close childhood friend's sibling transitioned so long ago I can't remember; basically my entire adult life it's been something I was aware of that seemed fairly obvious (people are who they say they are)

melissagiragrant.com•5 hours ago

I think this is also a mildly embarrassing kind of public declaration to make, but I had old and new friends come out as trans when Clinton was still president…. and not a single person was “asking” any of these “questions” about “youth transition” or sports

dervala.bsky.social•5 hours ago

Yes. And when public figures like writer Jan Morris transitioned, it was not a thing, even in the UK.

A friend made a documentary called No Dumb Questions, about kids interacting with an aunt during her transition. Oprah brought her on because it was heartwarming.

Up to about 2012?

khandozo.bsky.social•5 hours ago

A friend sent me a (British) mystery novel published in 1979 in which a trans woman is one of the heroes and the only person who is bigoted toward her is the villain.

allierosea.bsky.social•4 hours ago

Sounds a lot like real life, honestly. We need superhero movies like this. Instead of retelling the same stories every 7 years.

melissagiragrant.com•5 hours ago

My point is, I think most non-trans people prior to 2015 or so had a different set of “questions” about trans people, if any, and the “questions” since 2015 are part of a political project even ostensibly “tolerant” people joined in on. The “questions” were deliberately propagated…

ciara2001.bsky.social•2 hours ago

Yup, I started medical transition in '94, not to say there weren't transphobes about or that it was all fun and games then, but most people's questions were along the lines of "oh, you're trans... What's that?"

djharvey81.bsky.social•5 hours ago

Yep. I forget how many years ago this was, but a small town in South Dakota had an openly trans boy on the school football team and nobody cared until the conservatives started whipping up the anti-trans propaganda.

melissagiragrant.com•5 hours ago

…and the purpose of these questions was to chip away at even minimal gains for trans people, to make “trans people” an object of political debate, and then to displace trans people from political debate or being perceived as having any political authority when it came to their own fucking lives

scohoe.bsky.social•4 hours ago

I am someone who didn't know anything about trans people, until the Louis Theroux doc showed me they are similar to Gay people knowing they are born a way and dealing with that fact of their life personally.

scohoe.bsky.social•4 hours ago

And now, hearing anti-trans rhetoric reminds me of what I heard them say about gays when I was growing up in texas in the 90s, mental illness, etc.

melissagiragrant.com•5 hours ago

Abandoning these “questions” is not about becoming more individually tolerant, it’s also about being crystal fucking clear that you oppose the political project that popularized these questions

sporranpeace.bsky.social•4 hours ago

bloody well put

cripdyke.bsky.social•5 hours ago

Ah, sorry. I posted thinking your previous comment was your last.

This makes a more sensible summation. I shall delete the other thing I said.

melissagiragrant.com•5 hours ago

I missed it—and had to give the thread a better ending too

sigmundfrood.bsky.social•5 hours ago

I think anyone wondering what the image of trans people was for Millennials pre 2015, should just watch Ace Ventura. I’m not even kidding when I say that, it perfectly sums up how fucking awful we were to trans people without even thinking about it.

sigmundfrood.bsky.social•2 hours ago

Holy hell The Crying Game was a full 2 years before and actually tried to be respectful. Maybe we should do away with comedy as a genre.

melissagiragrant.com•5 hours ago

Anyway here’s what I remember blasting out the “2 in 20” dorm windows (2 in 20 because 1 in 10 sounded lonely? but we were also just one floor lol) around these times

Comments

Posting Rules

Reply