Dear followers
(and those who might be interested in the long talk about what makes a community)
I have to say, being a trans activist here in Central Eastern Europe is not an easy task (although I am perfectly aware it’s not easy anywhere, I just want you to know where my perspective comes from). Although funding opportunities may be a bit easier, especially giving the fact how our region has always been portrayed, there is one particular matter that bothers me and has been bothering me for a long time.
It concerns activism, politics and fighting for our issues in various spaces, areas, you name it. And the issue is – do we actually need the T in LGBT?
(And please forgive me, but I will not speak on behalf of the I, my experiences do not make me a legitimate speaker for this very issue. Although I work for one and cooperate with another TIQ organization, this post concerns my personal feelings and only the experiences I can relate to).
As a pansexual (bi* politically, because try to use the word pansexual during a political event, am I right?) trans person, I experience these brief moments in life when the (cis)LGB agenda aligns with mine. I do get energetic when we talk about equal marriage and access to appropriate measures to tackle hate crime and discrimination and I know that it’s not simply “gay marriage” nor is it actually “equal marriage” since it still does not tackle the quite obsolete issue of prohibited polyamory. I cannot, however, get on board when I hear people claiming “equal marriage is the biggest struggle of our century”. Because you know it’s not. You know that some people cannot even afford the “privilege” of LIFE, the “privilege” of safety.
I am perfectly aware that no one is safe in a world where heteronormativity and cissexism reign supreme. But, honestly, even if the L, G, B and T agenda intertwines on a number of occasions, I am really tired of organizations labeling themselves as LGBT and then focusing on the “T” by doing one workshop per year on one single matter that is a trans-specific issue, instead of working on including the T agenda in their already established activities. If you work on preventing hate crime and hate speech or advocating for a new law – be aware that it could also be a trans* issue and take the extra mile to teach yourself on how to include others in your activities.
Ask, research, find trans communities to ask them, try to understand what we are all about. But never, never ever try to do anything on someone else’s behalf. It’s not only shameless and ignorant, it is plain wrong.
And here’s where my biggest problem arises. When I think about some of our struggles – legal gender recognition, being discriminated, surviving violence, hate speech and hate crime, parental issues – I see that we are not being understood, we are often being put into “T drawers” and not even asked about our involvement in these subjects. “This doesn’t concern you, it’s not a trans issue!” (Yes, HRC, we still remember). And much of it comes from the fact that a number of LGBT activists have absolutely no idea what makes an issue a “T issue”.
We tend to say “LGBT” but very often the “T” magically disappears when it is too complicated for a single issue. I think my favorite example was a conversation I had with one activist from our region and the fact that one of their organizations was at that time discussing the topic of surogacy (this is the wording used during that very conversation) and whether the organization would have a supportive stand on it.
So I immediately asked: ‘What were you discussing in this particular topic?’
And the answer: ‘You know, when two gay men pay another woman to carry their child and then she resigns as a mother, leaving them to take care of the baby’ (Honestly, I didn’t even think about tackling that “GAY” there)
Follow-up question: ‘Did you discuss this from a point of view of a cis man and a trans man having their own genetical baby, but carried by someone else so that it is their DNA is someone else’s body?’
The confused face was all I needed to know about the LGBT aspect of that discussion.
There’s no reason to get upset, though. Trans lives, trans bodies and trans issues ARE complicated. But mostly to those who have no experiences with them, especially not the experience of being trans, of living the horror of going beyond what is considered stable and unchangeable. We might make it seem easy, but for many, it is the greatest struggle of their lives.
With that said, do we always need the T in LGBT? Should T issues pop up when a LGB matter can be connected to a T issue and in other cases we can just go on with our agenda? Or maybe it is the cisgender activists who need to learn that it is actually perfectly ok to say “we work for cisLGB stuff, we have no expertise in trans* issues”? Maybe it’s just an matter of finally teaching cisgender people about their cisgender status?
I’m struggling with this question and am very curious what others have to say.
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