The transphobic “Gender Critical” war-on-inclusivity harms cis people, too.

You’ve seen the tweets [edit for 2023: “tweets” were messages on Twitter, a defunct platform which often tolerated transphobia]. Some brand, hospital, medical association, or influencer on social media talks about “pregnant people,” “people with cervices,” or “people who menstruate.” Immediately after the post goes live, an army of transphobic “gender criticals” scream that women are being erased.

But, are they?

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What is wrong with a few symbols of queer oppression at SF Pride?

This year [2022], at San Francisco Pride, organizers decided that cops can march in the parade, but not in uniform. That has, unsurprisingly, angered some, who point out that gay cops should be able to celebrate pride, accusations of non-inclusivity towards the Pride organizers, and condemnation by politicians who are scared of losing the vote of the people who displaced the queer community.

A crowd of people on a street, none clearly visible, with three rainbow flags in the foreground. — Photo by y y on Unsplash

I’ll start by noting I’m not from SF, and so my opinion is of obvious limited value here. That said, I do know a bit about queer history, and I’m going to use the example of this Pride event to give my take on an issue that, sadly, we must revisit every damn year.

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What Do You Mean It Isn’t About Sex?

A while ago, I mentioned to another trans person, in passing, that I did not medically transition for sexual reasons. As someone who was transitioning in large part to have sex in ways that matched her gender, she was kind of shocked: why would another woman go through all of this, if it wasn’t about sex?

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What Does Transgender Research Really Say?

The UK news organization, Daily Mail, reported that seeing trans people on TV caused young people to seek out medical transition.

Except, no, the actual research didn’t.

First, let me link to what I’m talking about:

Science reporting is notoriously awful (ironically the linked paper also mentions the Daily Mail’s bad reporting of another science issue, the false link between the MMR and autism that destroyed public confidence in vaccines). There isn’t a simple reason for this, but it is worth looking at.

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Occasional Travel Required

I‘m preparing to travel for business. As a trans woman, it’s not just flight delays and lost luggage I’ll be thinking about.

Let’s walk through the process of a hypothetical business trip, from the perspective of a US-based business woman (of trans experience) who needs to fly to a meeting. I’ll be your tour guide today, and I’ll point out some of the ways that being a trans woman can add stress to the process. I ask that you play along with me, by putting yourself in the position of a trans woman for this trip.

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