Transwomen are making news. Oh, not in your local paper, the only time you'll see a mention of transgender people there is when a transman gets pregnant or yet another one of our sisters is killed because her perceived gender fails to match her genitalia.
Yes, I said "one of our sisters". That shouldn't be a controversial statement in an equality movement, but it is.
Transgender activists face a long hard road to acceptance by society in general, and even by the LGBT community. Sweden is proposing mandatory sterilization during sex reassignment surgeries, Olympic athletes are being tested to ensure their genitalia and chromosomes match their declared gender, and the state of Virginia may prosecute a transwoman and her husband for their marriage. Transgender workers have been left out of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and once again the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival (one of the largest gatherings for women's music in the country) has come and gone without allowing transwomen or transmen inside the grounds.
That's far from the worst of it: apparently transwomen get what they deserve when they're murdered.
There's some good news as well, but it's in the minority.
The ongoing conflict between the feminist and trans community isn't helping either movement.
Are trans activists reinforcing gender norms or breaking them down? The best article I've seen on that issue, and the larger question of how transmen and transwomen fit into the feminist community, is here.
I leave you with this quote from Audre Lorde:
"Within the lesbian community I am Black, and within the Black community I am a lesbian. Any attack against Black people is a lesbian and gay issue, because I and thousands of other Black women are part of the lesbian community. Any attack against lesbians and gays is a Black issue because thousands of lesbians and gay men are Black. There is no hierarchy of oppression."
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