Speaker For The Diodes - October 23rd, 2013

05:24 am - QotD

"The message here is clear. Bigotry and transphobia? Possibly annoying, but really nothing to worry about. Calling out bigotry, however? That's a major disruption that needs to be stopped. The real problem with the discussion wasn't all the people declaring that transgender people are mentally ill and denying them their basic identity. It was that anyone got at all upset about it.

[...]

"[A]ll of this has a particularly bitter ring to it for the trans community. It is, after all, another instance of the most innocent seeming and yet destructive trick in the transphobic arsenal - the manufactured debate about time and place. The trans community sat through years of this at the hands of the larger GLBT community, as trans issues served mainly as the first thing that would be offered as a concession in any political negotiation. Trans issues were actively treated as the thing to deal with after marriage equality. But there's a larger trick involved. Trans issues aren't appropriate for federal non-discrimination laws because they'd imperil passage of laws to protect sexual orientation. They aren't appropriate for Wikipedia, because they have to win victories elsewhere first. The process of telling trans people that their concerns were inappropriate for a given venue goes back as far as 1969, when Jim Fouratt cut trans people out of the formation of the Gay Liberation Front immediately after the Stonewall riots.

[...]

"Often, of course, the harmful effects of this are coupled with talk about how this isn't some slight against trans people. It's just the rules, as those arguing for transphobia kept saying during the naming debate.

[...]

"[T]his is the situation Wikipedia has given us. Vehemently and hatefully denouncing the validity of trans identities? OK so long as you don't reference their genitals. Arguing passionately in favor of misnaming Chelsea Manning while covering up the fact that you work for her jailer? Not even worth mentioning. But knowing trans people? Means you're too involved to take administrative actions regarding trans people. Being willing to call out transphobia and hate speech for what they are? Means you can't even edit on trans topics."

-- Philip Sandifer, "Wikipedia Goes All-In on Transphobia", 2013-10-22 [ thanks to bcholmes for linking to this (and quoting different, also-important bits than I did)]