There's no GL in team either…
I don't often talk about my trans politics, mainly because I'm trying to sell books and there's a LOT of inconvenient truths that get brought up when I have to discuss my needs. So if you don't want to see me talk about these things, I'll let you skip this one with an early cut.
Lately, I've been accused of not having a team spirit with the GL folks, and I want to make it clear, even to my gay and lesbian friends: there is no team spirit to crush, because there is no team. If you have to ask why, Google ENDA, and then filter the results to look at GL political blogs. See how there's no trans calls for trans-only protection bills? We called for full inclusion for everyone. So you can see how it's all on gays and lesbians making the strident calls to abandon the trans factions in a vain, shallow bid for political expediency. Which means you said "We'd be better off without those freaks holding down our chances."
Do you notice how much gays and lesbians first appropriate our numbers to give them more clout, and then denigrate us and erase our needs to promote their own opinions of us? And when we complain about this mistreatment publicly, even the GL people who don't support these tactics still voice resentment at us for "poisoning the well." We're expected to forgive them for the attacks made by their more vocal members, and ALSO not defend ourselves from those attacks. So even "good gays" end up being hypocrites, claiming they support the BT folks when they really help to push us down as well.
GL lobbies press Obama to "evolve" his views on gays and trans, but most don't have any trans board members. Nor do they listen to criticism of their harmful policies. Trans critics are frequently dismissed by our GL allies as complainers, and we're always told, "We've got some transsexuals who fully support us, so you're obviously wrong." Which leaves unsaid: "the large numbers of you complaining are not as important as the few token trannies we've signed on."
People, keep in mind that there are transsexuals who swear Bailey is telling the truth and they're really autogynophiles. Those people are deluded and sad. And the transsexual who supports a gay-only agenda while sporting a collection of knife wounds inflicted by allies is a sad, deluded person who will be victimized over and over by signing off on these trans-exclusive policies.
As a transsexual and bisexual, I need nothing less then full federal protection from discrimination in all facets of my life. I need the right to not be bullied in school codified. I need the right to not be fired for having long hair and painted nails codified. I need the right to not be kicked out of my apartment for leaving home in a skirt codified into law. The trans kids coming after me need this even more than I do, and we don't have any use for gay marriage, or for an end to DADT. We need an end to discrimination, and a commitment to really stop bullying instead of just paying lip service to the idea.
But instead of supporting our kids, ALL our kids, the GL lobbies focus only on the needs of a few tax paying adults. They even abandon GL kids and GL POC because their needs for protection from discrimination SHOULD come before the right to get married. But GL lobbies think their fucked up priorities are just fine for the whole queer spectrum. This despite years of criticism from the affected factions. You accuse the politicians of living in a bubble, but your own political bubble is pretty rose-tinted too.
For all these reasons, I would like to formally request that the GL lobbies stop using the BT label. We can still be friends and talk about other things. But if you want to drum up my support for gay marriage, get lost. You lost my support a few years back, and instead of admitting you have a problem within your own ranks, most of the GL people I've dealt with have accused me of throwing around baseless accusations or spreading bad blood.
There's bad blood between us all right, but it wasn't me making the daily political attacks. And it will not be me apologizing for pointing out that the GL lobby is just as bullying to their BT allies as the GOP. That's fucked up, but it's even more fucked up that instead of admitting you have a problem, you abuse your "allies." If you think the answer to solve this is to shout at me that I have a poor attitude, then you are part of the problem.
So once more with feeling, and speaking as a bisexual bigender transsexual: GL people, stop accusing trans and bi critics of ruining the team spirit and stop including us in your political statements. You ruined the team spirit by fucking us over on every single legislative session. You want to fix that? Start by saying "my bad" and meaning it. Start by hiring some trans and bi representatives to serve on your committees and boards, and then actually listen to those members instead of dismissing their concerns as less equal than others. You can start to rebuild the team by actually treating us as part of your team. Right now, that's too much to ask, so no, there is no GLBT team. There is the GL, and then there are the factions they've abandoned in favor of a gays-only agenda. (Transsexuals, gender queers, bigenders, bisexuals, asexuals, and the intersexed.)
