Synopsis:
Approaching his 30’s, Passion, a black trans musician two years into his medical transition, juggles his newfound identity as a black male and the societal expectations that come along with it. Though him and his ska band enjoy local success in Oakland, Ca, Passion is discontent with remaining local and wants to extend the band’s fame beyond the bay area. However, his best friend and band mate, Shields, cannot fully accept his transition which heavily affects the success of the group as he constantly pressures Passion into living stealth and adopting a misogynist demeanor. Afraid of ruining the chances of success for his band and feeling unsure of his own masculinity, Passion begrudgingly begins to closet himself. When he encounters a local queer activist named Uni that reminds him of the beauty of gender fluidity, it propels him to take action in his career as a musician, reconsider his friendship with Shields, and openly embrace his trans identity and non-traditional expression of masculinity.signal booost
Jess’ Big List of Gender Terms!
gqid:
It’s finally here! This is my ongoing list of gender terms, hopefully people like it and find it helpful. My plan is to update and add to this list as time goes on so check it out and tell me what you think! If you have a term you think ought to be added or edited or just a typo I missed just shoot me a message.
Check out the PDF of the list here: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0Bx_PqZ8BOrCKcWVodnFPMFZSdUU
And you can see my professional (-ish) blog at, jessmbear.blogspot.com, though there’s almost nothing on there at the moment but I plan for that to change soon.
• Agender: Some agender people would define their identity as being neither a man nor a woman while others would define agender as not having any gender.
• Androgyne: As a gender identity it can overlap with an androgynous gender expression but not always. Androgynes may define their identity in a variety of ways, feeling as if they are between man and woman or a totally separate identity.
• Androgynous: Having neither a clearly masculine or feminine appearance or blending masculine and feminine.
• Bigender/Trigender/Pangender: People who feel they are two, three, or all genders. They may shift between these genders or be all of them at the same time.
• Binarism: Erasing, ignoring or expressing hate towards people who identify outside of the gender binary. Also supporting the incorrect idea that the only legitimate genders are man and woman, and ignoring all others.
• Boi: This is a term used in a variety of ways by a variety of communities though it generally communicates a level of identification with maleness and/or masculinity. However, because of the versatility of this word this isn’t always the case.
• Bottom surgery: Any of a variety of gender-related surgeries dealing with genitalia. They can include: vaginoplasty, phalloplasty, vaginectomy, metoidoplasty, orchidectomy, scrotoplasty and others.
• Butch: A masculine gender expression which can be used to describe people of any gender. Butch can also be a gender identity to some.
• CAFAB/FAAB/AFAB: Coercively assigned female at birth, female assigned at birth, and assigned female at birth. These terms refer to what gender you were assigned at birth (in this case female, thus you are expected to be a girl/woman), and are important because many trans* people use them as a way to talk about their gender identity without being pinned down to more essentialist narratives about their “sex” or what gender they “used to be”.
• CAMAB/MAAB/AMAB: Coercively assigned male at birth, male assigned at birth, and assigned male at birth. These terms refer to what gender you were assigned at birth (in this case male, thus you are expected to be a boy/man), and are important because many trans* people use them as a way to talk about their gender identity without being pinned down to more essentialist narratives about their “sex” or what gender they “used to be”.
• Cisgender: Someone whose gender identity matches the gender they were assigned at birth, someone who is not trans*. Cisgender is often shortened to cis.
• Cisgender Privilege: The privileges cisgender people have because their gender identities match their assigned gender and because they are considered “normal”. For example, cis people don’t have to worry about violence and institutionalized discrimination due to their gender identities.
• Cissexism: Erasing trans* people and their experiences, and/or expressing hatred and bigotry towards trans* people.
• Cissexual: Sometimes this term is used synonymously with cisgender, other times it functions as an opposite to transexual in referring to someone who has done nothing to physically change gendered parts their body. Some find this term to be inaccurate or questionable as it puts a lot of the focus of trans* identity on physical transition.
• Cross dresser: Someone who dresses as and presents themselves as a gender other than the one they typically identify with. Cross dressing can be purely aesthetic, sexual, a facet of someone’s gender identity, or have other meanings.
• Demigirl: Someone who identifies with being a girl or a woman on some level but not completely.
• Demiguy: Someone who identifies with being a boy, guy, or a man on some level but not completely.
• Drag: Taking on the appearance and characteristics associated with a certain gender, usually for entertainment purposes and often to expose the humorous and performative elements of gender.
• Dyadic: Used as an adjective, this refers to non-intersex people.
• Dysphoria: Unhappiness or sadness with all or some gendered aspects of one’s body, or in response to social misgendering. Some trans* people experience dysphoria, some don’t.
• Female bodied: A term for someone assigned female at birth. Though still occasionally used this term is very problematic as it genders bodies non-consensually and plays into cissexism (in that breasts or a vulva, for example, are considered inherently female).
• Femme: A feminine gender expression which can be used to describe people of any gender. Femme is also be a gender identity to some.
• Ftm/f2m/female to male: A term usually synonymous with trans man but also occasionally used by other FAAB trans* people. This term is problematic to some FAAB trans* people as they feel they were never female and because X to Y terms can put too much focus on traditional means of physical transition.
• Full Time: Living as and attempting to pass as your true gender identity one hundred percent of the time. This term is problematic to some because it can put a lot of the focus on the physical aspects of trans* identity and ignore the processes many people go through to accept themselves and to come out if they choose to. It is also a term that is getting to be a bit outdated but it’s still used in some communities.
• Gender: A complex combination of roles, expressions, identities, performances, and more which is assigned gendered meaning. Gender is self-defined as well as defined by our larger society and how gender is embodied and defined varies from culture to culture and from person to person.
• Gender assignment: The gender we are assigned at birth, usually based on genitals alone. It is assumed that our identities should and will match this assignment but this isn’t the case for most trans* people.
• Gender attribution: The act of categorizing people we come into contact with as male, female, or unknown. Gender attribution is questionable because it can lead to misgendering people unintentionally because one can never know a person’s gender identity just by looking at them.
• Gender binary: The pervasive social system that tells us there can only be masculine cis men and feminine cis women, and there can be no alternatives in terms of gender identity or expression.
• Gender expression: How one expresses their gender outwardly and/or the facets of a person’s expression which have gendered connotations in our culture. There is no right or wrong way to express your gender.
• Gender fuck: The act of messing with gendered expectations on purpose; the intentional crossing, mixing, and blending of gender-specific signals.
• Gender gifted: This term can be used very broadly to include any and all trans* and/or gender non-conforming people. It is a celebratory word that highlights how amazing it can be to have a unique and non-normative gender.
• Gender identity: An individual’s internal sense of what gender they are. One’s gender identity may or may not align with their assigned gender, and one’s gender identity is not visible to others.
• Gender neutral pronouns: Pronouns other than the usually gendered he or she. Some examples are ze/hir/hirs, and they/them/their but there are many others.
• Gender nonconforming (GNC): Not fully conforming to gendered social expectations, whether that be in terms of expression, roles, or performance.
• Gender panic: The fear and revulsion some experience when presented with a person who does not meet their expectations for gender performance, expression, identity or roles.
• Gender role: Cultural expectations for what people should do with their lives, what activities they should enjoy or excel at, and how they should behave, based on what their gender is.
• Genderfluid: This term can be used as a specific identity or as a way of articulating the changing nature of one’s gender identity or expression. People who are genderfluid may feel that their gender identity or expression is constantly changing, or that it switches back and forth.
• Genderless: A term very similar to agender but sometimes with more of a focus on not having a gender.
• Genderqueer: This term can be used as an umbrella term for all people who queer gender, as a somewhat similar term to gender nonconforming, or as a specific non-binary gender identity. As an umbrella term is can include gender nonconforming people, non-binary people, and much more. As a specific identity it can generally be understood as a gender that is neither man nor woman, possible in between the two or seen as a totally separate gender altogether.
• GSM: An acronym standing for gender and sexuality minorities. GSM is a useful term as it is succinct and it is very inclusive, including people who are gay, queer, bisexual, intersex, pansexual, asexual, lesbians, transgender/trans*, genderqueer, gender non-conforming, kink, polyamorous, and more.
• Hermaphrodite: An out of date and generally offensive term for intersex people. Some intersex people may seek to reclaim this term but as a rule, if you’re not intersex don’t use it.
• Intergender: Those who feel their gender identity is in between man and woman, is both man and woman, or is outside of the binary of man and woman. This term is sometimes used by intersex people who are also non-binary.
• Intersex: A person born with any manner of supposed “ambiguity” in terms of gendered physical characteristics. This can include reproductive organs, genitals, hormones, chromosomes, or any combination there of.
• LGBT: A common acronym which stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender/trans*. There are other variations similar to this acronym, such as LGBTQQIAA which stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/trans*, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, and ally.
• Male bodied: A term for someone assigned male at birth. Though still occasionally used this term is very problematic as it genders bodies non-consensually and plays into cissexism (in that a flat chest or a penis, for example, are considered inherently male).
• Misgender: The act of attributing a person to a gender they do not identify as. So if you were to call someone a man but they were in fact non-binary, you would have misgendered them. You can cut down on misgendering people by trying to not practice gender attribution, and by asking people their preferred pronouns and terms when appropriate.
• Mtf/m2f/male to female: A term usually synonymous with trans woman but also occasionally used by other MAAB trans* people. This term is problematic to some MAAB trans* people as they feel they were never male and because X to Y terms can put too much focus on traditional means of physical transition.
• Neutrois: This is an identity generally having to do with feeling one does not have a gender, a gender identity, or a defined gender. Some people who identify as neutrois also identify as agender or genderless, and some neutrois people desire to minimize their physical gender markers and to have a more gender-neutral appearance.
• Non-binary: Non-binary people are those who identify as a gender that is neither man nor woman or who are not men or women exclusively. Non-binary can refer to a specific gender identity or it can function as an umbrella term which can include (though not always) people who are genderqueer, agender, bigender, neutrois, and others.
• Outing: To out oneself is to share an identity that was previously unknown to people, usually referring to sexual orientation or gender identity. You should never out someone without their consent.
• Passing: When used by trans* people it can either mean that one is being read as the gender they identify as or that one is being read as cisgender. For example, a trans man who people read as a man, most likely a cis man.
• Preferred pronouns: The pronouns one prefers to be called, whether they be he, she, they, it, ze, ey, or any other. It is preferable to always ask someone their preferred pronouns if possible, and to not make assumptions about a person’s pronouns. Always be sure to respect a person’s preferred pronouns, use them, and apologize if you slip up.
• Pre-op/post-op/non-op: These terms refer to what gender-related surgeries a person has had, plans to have, or does not want to have. Pre-op (pre-operative) means the person plans to or wants to have some form of gender-related surgery but has not yet, post-op means they already have had some form of gender-related surgery, and non-op refers to trans* people who do not desire any gender-related surgeries. These terms should not be used to define a trans* person nor should they be applied to trans* people without their consent.
• Sex: One’s sex usually refers to the gender one was assigned at birth based on the gendered parts of one’s body such as genitals and sometimes chromosomes. The category of sex is still used in trans* spaces but some feel it is a limiting and inherently cissexist classification because it genders people and their bodies non-consensually.
• Sexual orientation: Refers to who one is sexually attracted to. Gender identity and sexual orientation may affect one another but they are not the same. The term transgender does not refer to sexual orientation, it refers to gender identity and/or expression.
• Stealth: To be stealth is to live as the gender you identify as but to not be out as trans*, in affect it means passing as cisgender. Often people go stealth for safety reasons or so that they can have things like job and home security, something a lot of trans* people don’t have.
• Stud: A term used by people of color, and primarily by African Americans, referring to people, often women, who are masculine or butch. Though many studs identify as women and with the lesbian community, not all do.
• Third Gender: In some cultures third (and fourth and so on) genders may be commonly accepted alongside man and woman. Some people in western cultures may identify as third gender as well, however it’s important not to erase the multitudes of genders present in the world.
• Top surgery: This term can refer to any gender-related surgery dealing with a person’s chest such as breast implants, mastectomies, and breast reduction surgeries. This term is more commonly associated with mastectomy procedures however.
• “Tranny”- A derogatory term used against trans women and some other MAAB trans* people. Some MAAB trans* people are interested in reclaiming this word but as a general rule, if you’re not MAAB and trans*, don’t use it.
• Trans*: This term has a similar meaning to transgender but the asterisk is meant to show a more inclusive attitude towards the multitude of people under the transgender umbrella.
• Trans man: A man who was assigned female at birth.
• Trans woman- A woman who was assigned male at birth.
• Transexual: This term often refers to binary trans* people (trans men and trans women), or to trans* people who physically transition in any way. While still a preferred term for many, some people dislike the term because of its connection to the medicalization of trans* people and the focus it can put on physical transition.
• Transfeminine: Usually a MAAB trans* person who identifies more with a female and/or feminine identity/experience. This word is also sometimes used as an umbrella term for most or all MAAB trans* people, however this is problematic as not all MAAB trans* people are feminine identified.
• Transgender: An umbrella term for people whose gender identity or expression don’t match the gender they were assigned at birth.
• Transition: To transition can mean a lot of things but a broad definition is the process trans* people may go through to become comfortable in terms of their gender. Transitioning may include social, physical, mental, and emotional components and may not fit into the narrative we are used to seeing. Transition may or may not include things like changing one’s name, taking hormones, having surgery, changing legal documents to reflect one’s gender identity, coming out to loved ones, dressing as one chooses, and accepting oneself among many other things. Transition in an individual process.
• Transmasculine: Usually a FAAB trans* person who identifies more with a male and/or masculine identity/experience. This word is also sometimes used as an umbrella term for most or all FAAB trans* people, however this is problematic as not all FAAB trans* people are masculine identified.
• Transmisogyny: Originally coined by the author Julia Serano, this term highlights the intersectionality of misogyny and transphobia and how they are often experienced as a dual form of oppression by trans* women and some other MAAB trans* people.
• Transphobia: The fear or hatred of trans* people or those perceived as such.
• Transvestite: Often used synonymously with cross dresser this term is usually derogatory and isn’t preferred by most people today.
• Two spirit: A term specific to Native/First Nations cultures and people which some lesbian, gay, queer, pansexual, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and gender non-conforming people identify as. This term should not be used by non-Native/First Nations people.
This is definitely the best gender dictionary I’ve ever seen. “dual” was misspelled in the transmisogyny definition, and the cis privilege one should be slightly reworded (because cis women do face violence and institutionalized discrimination for their gender identity, just not for being cis)
As with any glossary of gender terms, there are going to be some issues here - at any rate, it is a great reference list for getting started in exploring these concepts!
I’m really that I found this. Very informative. And my roommate talks about “studs” all of the time and I wasn’t completely sure what that meant… Now I know. :)
ARE YOU INTO PUNK? ARE YOU BLACK? ARE YOU A WOMAN?
If you answered yes to these questions, hit up my inbox! I am filming a short documentary on female afropunks, and am looking for participants to be interviewed. If you are not an female afropunk, but know someone who is and would be interested, feel free to pass this along!
Please reblog to get the message out!
The Safe Space Network
Links
This List will be updated as we find, receive or create new resources. If for any reason you would like to voice a complaint, or a concern over the behaviour displayed by these blogs, I direct you to our ask box:
Trans*:
- http://www.transhousingnetwork.com/
- http://genderedintelligence.tumblr.com
- http://t-r-a-n-s.tumblr.com/
- http://fuckyeahtranspride.tumblr.com/
- http://requiressomeassembly.tumblr.com/
- http://transclothesexchange.tumblr.com
- http://transpoc.tumblr.com/
- http://transpride.tumblr.com/
AMAB/ Transfeminine/MTF
- http://tuckingandotherskills.tumblr.com
- http://fuckyeahcutetranschicks.tumblr.com/
- http://transcatharsis.tumblr.com/
- http://mtfbutches.tumblr.com/
- http://fuckyeahmtfs.tumblr.com/
- http://mtfconfessions.tumblr.com/
AFAB/ Transmasculine/FTM
- http://artoftransliness.tumblr.com/
- http://fuckyeahftmsofcolor.tumblr.com/
- http://tumblr.transguys.com/
- http://fuckyeahftms.tumblr.com/
- http://youknowyouretrans.tumblr.com/
- http://theftm.tumblr.com/
Trans* Femme
Gender Variant/Non-Binary
Genderqueer/Genderfuck/Genderfluid
- http://genderqueer.tumblr.com/
- http://genderqueerid.com/
- http://fatgqs.tumblr.com/
- http://gender-queer.tumblr.com/
- http://genderqueeries.tumblr.com/
- http://genderfuck.tumblr.com/
- http://fuckyeahgenderqueers.tumblr.com/
- http://genderfluidity.tumblr.com/
Neutrois/ Agender / Androgyny
- http://neutrois.tumblr.com/
- http://agender-earthworm.tumblr.com
- http://fyandrogyny.tumblr.com/
- http://practicalandrogyny.tumblr.com/
LGBTQ/ Queer (General)
- http://lgbtqadvice.tumblr.com/
- http://www.queerbois.com/
- http://queerwatch.tumblr.com/
- http://queersecrets.tumblr.com/
- http://everyoneisgay.com/
- http://lgbtqconnections.tumblr.com/
- http://blackgayproblems.tumblr.com/
Lesbian
- http://fuckyeahlesbiancouples.tumblr.com/
- http://dailylesbiandose.tumblr.com/
- http://girlswholikegirls.tumblr.com/
- http://ilovelipsticklesbians.tumblr.com/
- http://fuckyeahasiandykes.tumblr.com/
- http://butch-in-progress.tumblr.com/
- http://onlylivinglesbian.tumblr.com/
- http://lesbihonest.tumblr.com/
GayBisexualPansexual
- http://pansexualpride.tumblr.com/
- http://pansexualftw.tumblr.com/
- http://fuckyeahpansexuals.tumblr.com/
- http://pansexualparty.tumblr.com/
- http://fuckyeahpanproblems.tumblr.com/
FemmeSex Education
- http://fuckyeahsexeducation.tumblr.com/
- http://sexreeducated.tumblr.com/
- http://thesexuneducated.tumblr.com
- http://positiveconnotation.tumblr.com/
- http://sexetc.tumblr.com/
- http://consensual.tumblr.com/
- http://fuckthedisabled.tumblr.com
- http://safersexuality.tumblr.com/
Other
Have any sites that we should know about?
~Maddy
Any corrections, thoughts, feelings or comments can be directed to;
Thank you so much for putting this together!
I am tired of fighting with my friends. I am tired of arguing that someone groping and slapping my butt isn’t “what I have to expect”, just because I’m at a bar, and the one attacking my butt has a drink in the other hand. I am tired of hearing “boys will be boys” and “when you’re dressed like that …” and “that’s just what guys do”. I am tired of trying to drown those sentiments in loud, repetitive no’s, screamed over and over again, till my throat is sore and my voice weak – just to hear them repeated, as soon as exhaustion threatens to silence me.
I am tired of being afraid. I am tired of seeing someone writing something offensive, sexist, racist, ageist, ableist, somewhere online. I am tired of seeing those writings getting likes and lol’s, and SO TRUE’s. I am tired of being consumed by confusion and anger, typing, typing, typing and typing a seemingly endless response, including research, links and statistics, and then hesitate clicking “submit”. I am tired of knowing that I hesitate because I am afraid of the flood of responses that will come. I am tired of knowing that I will be bombarded with lighten up’s, stop whining’s and get a sense of humor’s for so long, that I will start to wonder if I am indeed wound up too tight, a nagger and humorless. I am tired of the fact that I’m afraid of being called a cunt, even though I don’t find genitalia insulting or demeaning.
I WEAR MAKEUP BECAUSE I KNOW IT MAKES YOU UNCOMFORTABLE.Fuck you for constantly asking me why I wear so much makeup on a day to day basis. Fuck you for questioning my gender and asking me if I want to be a woman. Fuck you for making me feel bad about myself. Fuck you for thinking I use cheap foundation. Fuck you for never having my right shade. Fuck you for telling me my makeup is too much for the workplace. Fuck you for saying I shouldn’t wear makeup. Fuck you for saying “guy’s won’t find this attractive.” Fuck you for saying I look so much better without it. Fuck you for thinking the only reason I wear makeup is because I’m insecure. Fuck you for thinking men shouldn’t wear it. Fuck you for clocking my chin contour, I tried motherfucker.
My face is beat everyday and if you shame me one more fucking time about the pigments I decide to slather all over my face that day I will legitimately whoop your ass.
Are Prisons Obsolete? By Angela Davis
In this extraordinary book Angela Davis challenges us to confront the human rights catastrophe In our jails and prisons. As she so convincingly argues, the contemporary U.S. practice of super-incarceration is closer to new age slavery than to any recognizable system of ‘criminal justice. Download Link below and available for a minimal time.
http://www.4shared.com/office/uMxqwjNc/file.html?refurl=d1url
Please Re-Blog!
One of my favourite books. Always gotta re-blog Angela Davis!
just downloaded this for my paper. thank g0d for tumblr.
finally got a copy of this at the anarchist book fair and just started reading it two days ago and oh my god. i can already tell this will be a book i keep close. angela davis//radical abolition goddess.
Fat Acceptance
The people who are most shamed and oppressed for being fat are working class people of color and working class white people. Many of which either live in food deserts in urban areas or live in rural areas where grocery stores may be scarce or difficult to get to if you don’t have a car/ have limited transportation options.
But fat acceptance bloggers and activists seem to always be class privileged white people or class privileged people of color. Who are young. Have relatively easy access to grocery stores/ food. Do not have children. Are not disabled. Etc.
I feel like the majority of fat acceptance posts I see are pictures of young, fat, able bodied people in bathtubs filled with donuts or pictures of fat white people with pies on their tits or something.
Which is great.
But people talking about fat acceptance and body positivity seem to always be people who have agency over their bodies and what they put in it/ what they do to it and what others do to it.
I want to see more fat acceptance and body positive work that focuses on food justice and accessible healthcare issues. I want to see the discussion of fatness and bodies be dominated by fat people who do not have great amounts of power and control over their food sources and the food that is realistic for them to be able to buy, prepare, and consume.
I think that there is a huge disconnect between the work that I see most fat acceptance activists doing and the reality of food deserts, poverty, shitty public school lunches, unhealthy fast food, attacks on poor communities that take land to create urban gardens, and the rampant rates of diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart disease in working class communities of color.
I’m fucking tired of reading class privileged fat people talk about how they can eat whatever they want, when they want, in whatever quantities they want. Do yall even understand the kind of privilege you have to be able to say that and live that? To be able to eat whatever the hell you please whenever the hell you please?
People’s bodies, and what they choose to do with their bodies, should never be policed or shamed. But will fat acceptance bloggers and body positive bloggers please fucking start recognizing that people of color’s bodies are policed and shamed from the goddamn second we are born?
And on a different note: If you run a body positive blog and regularly post pictures of non-Black people with dreads you are fucking up. I see that shit all the time. Stop that fuckery. You are not being body positive if you are posting some fucked up racist cultural appropriation shit.
YEP. And +size clothes bloggers going on about “oh look, great clothes for fatties, only $100 for this dress!!!” *vomit*
All of this. Just all of this.
things brand new people should know about poc criticism of the occupy movement
this
this post about indigenous activist criticisms of occupy that came out in october;
the decolonize oakland website;
the occupy wall street poc commitee;
in front and center: critical voices of the 99%;
brown power at occupy wall street about poc activists working to change the language of the original ows declaration.
tequila sovereign with some background about occupy oakland’s interaction with indigenous activists
- Use public restrooms without fear of verbal abuse, physical intimidation, or arrest
- Use public facilities such as gym locker rooms and store changing rooms without stares, fear, or anxiety.
- Strangers don’t assume they can ask you what your genitals look like and how you have sex.
- Your validity as a man/woman/human is not based on how much surgery you’ve had or how well you “pass” as non-transgender.
- You have the ability to walk through the world and generally blend-in, not being constantly stared or gawked at, whispered about, pointed at, or laughed at because of your gender expression.
- You can access gender exclusive spaces such as the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival, Greek Life, or Take Back the Night and not be excluded due to your trans status.
- Strangers call you by the name you provide, and don’t ask what your “real name” [birth name] is and then assume that they have a right to call you by that name.
- You can reasonably assume that your ability to acquire a job, rent an apartment, or secure a loan will not be denied on the basis of your gender identity/expression.
- You have the ability to flirt, engage in courtship, or form a relationship and not fear that your biological status may be cause for rejection or attack, nor will it cause your partner to question their sexual orientation.
- If you end up in the emergency room, you do not have to worry that your gender will keep you from receiving appropriate treatment, or that all of your medical issues will be seen as a result of your gender.
- Your identity is not considered a mental pathology (“gender identity disorder” in the DSM IV) by the psychological and medical establishments.
- You have the ability to not worry about being placed in a sex-segregated detention center, holding facility, jail or prison that is incongruent with your identity.
- You have the ability to not be profiled on the street as a sex worker because of your gender expression.
- You are not required to undergo an extensive psychological evaluation in order to receive basic medical care.
- You do not have to defend you right to be a part of “Queer,” and gays and lesbians will not try to exclude you from “their” equal rights movement because of your gender identity (or any equality movement, including feminist rights).
- If you are murdered (or have any crime committed against you), your gender expression will not be used as a justification for your murder (“gay panic”) nor as a reason to coddle the perpetrators.
- You can easily find role models and mentors to emulate who share your identity.
- Hollywood accurately depicts people of your gender in films and television, and does not solely make your identity the focus of a dramatic storyline, or the punchline for a joke.
- Be able to assume that everyone you encounter will understand your identity, and not think you’re confused, misled, or hell-bound when you reveal it to them.
- Being able to purchase clothes that match your gender identity without being refused service/mocked by staff or questioned on your genitals.
- Being able to purchase shoes that fit your gender expression without having to order them in special sizes or asking someone to custom-make them.
- No stranger checking your identification or drivers license will ever insult or glare at you because your name or sex does not match the sex they believed you to be based on your gender expression.
- You can reasonably assume that you will not be denied services at a hospital, bank, or other institution because the staff does not believe the gender marker on your ID card to match your gender identity.
- Having your gender as an option on a form.
- Being able to tick a box on a form without someone disagreeing, and telling you not to lie. Yes, this happens.
- Not fearing interactions with police officers due to your gender identity.
- Being able to go to places with friends on a whim knowing there will be bathrooms there you can use.
- You don’t have to convince your parents of your true gender and/or have to earn your parents’ and siblings’ love and respect all over again.
- You don’t have to remind your extended family over and over to use proper gender pronouns (e.g., after transitioning).
- You don’t have to deal with old photographs that did not reflect who you truly are.
- Knowing that if you’re dating someone they aren’t just looking to satisfy a curiosity or kink pertaining to your gender identity (e.g., the “novelty” of having sex with a trans- person).
- Being able to pretend that anatomy and gender are irrevocably entwined when having the “boy parts and girl parts” talk with children, instead of explaining the actual complexity of the issue.
— Law Center (via mermaid-vision)
