Hello comrades!
I think it’s important for our comrades to have a safe place where they can ask questions about trans identities and trans issues in good faith.
The first step in garnering support is education, however asking every single trans person to constantly take on the burden of educator is, frankly, ridiculous, especially when so often the questions are not being asked in good faith, and there are very real consequences to the spread of misinformation.
As such, I know that there are likely comrades here who have questions they have been too scared to ask, or feel like it would be inappropriate to pose to some stranger.
Trans or questioning comrades are also welcome to ask questions here, of course, and are welcome to answer any questions they feel comfortable answering. The thing about the trans experience is that it is different for everyone. We all have different material conditions, we all have different interactions with ourselves and the world around us, and so, of course, there is no universal truth that governs what it means to be trans.
I can’t guarantee that we’ll have an answer for everything, and I can’t guarantee that the answers we do have will be satisfactory, but I can guarantee that as long as you are asking out of a genuine desire to inform yourself and learn more, then I will do my best to engage with you as a comrade and an ally.
So, not sure if I’d really describe it as a schism, but yes, resentful people do indeed exist for a variety of reasons. Personally, I am on the ‘not really passing to well’ side (I get ‘ma’amed’ about… 20% of the time I guess? Nowhere near enough for my liking) and I personally am deeply envious of those who have better access to healthcare than me, either through being more affluent or living in a place with the care, or simply being younger and coming out earlier. It’s a shame (albeit understandable) that some people let that envy they have turn into hatred. I can’t speak for the other side but I have seen people like that - essentially they are re-enacting the same attempts that the gay community went through (and is still undergoing tbh) to be ‘acceptable’ to the straights.
In any case, I wouldn’t say it’s on the level of splits within the left, apart from the ‘should we fit in with the cissies’ thing. Personally, I say no, no marginalized group achieved liberation by being well behaved for their oppressors. But I’m not gonna have a fight with someone who just wants to stealth, so long as they leave me alone to be loudly and obnoxiously trans.
Oh and in my experience, ML trans folks are just as toxic, fractured and annoying as other trans folks, possibly more as many have a tendency to want to be ‘right’ - ideological purity is a helluva drug. schniff
thanks for sharing your experience on passing and pass/not-pass resentment. i totally agree with the sentiment about how to achieve liberation, and the fact that you can’t blame people for just wanting to get by and live their best life. and that’s really surprising about the ML trans community, i wouldn’t have expected that although ofc there’s eventually going to be drama and contradictions within any community.
Yeah it’s sad, but the worst experiences I’ve had with other trans people (in terms of personal interactions) have been with MLs (or at least, claimed MLs). Like I said before, I think that, at least some of the time, it’s a genuine desire to be ‘doing the right thing’ or whatever, that twists into just being an asshole. Affects other “leftist” types and liberals too, but most of the libs aren’t trying to talk politics at you when you’re at a social event :P