Thank you so much. I was so sad when my trans son said he did not want to go to the women's march in 2016 bc he was worried it would not be inclusive. That broke my heart, because as a pro-choice activist, I have always felt a kinship with him and with trans activists. For years I did not talk about my abortion. I often have that feeling that I'm sure my son has, where a person seems so nice, but if they knew this thing about you, they would not be. Actually, I also feel this way sometimes about being an incest survivor. Some people react very negatively to that. It's hard for me to imagine that everyone doesn't have some kind of experience like that, and they could relate to what it's like.
I am reminded of how, in 2008, when the right was smearing Obama as a secret Muslim, it was Colin Powell who said that Instead of trying to prove he's a xain, he wished Obama would just say, "So what? There's nothing wrong with a Muslim president." If critics of a reproductive rights law that protects the right to make your own decisions about sterilization say that would help trans people, our response should be, "So what? There's nothing wrong with helping trans people." Or better yet, "Yes, and that is essential."
I'm going to include this nugget...some members of our local NAACP (I'm a member) do not want to advocate too strongly for LGBTQ rights, in general, because they are afraid it will dilute the civil rights efforts. But I agree with CD, everyone's bodily autonomy is under assault here and our rights are all linked together. In the past, I believe this is how we were divided against one another.
Also you are not an asshole. I’m looking back over my responses to the ads that have played here in Ohio to check myself. And found that, unintentional as it may have been, I did nudge trans issues under the bus once or twice in my “that’s not what this is about” rhetoric.
So I may be an asshole. Thoughtless version. But still an asshole.
Thank you for drawing my attention to it and giving me the words to articulate a better message going forward.
Oh, CD - this has been on my Read This, Dammit list (aka, my Tabs) since you published it. So glad I made time this morning to read it.
Around the time you spoke in Portland, I was wrapping up work with the Feminist Women's Health Centers, one of which was in Pdx. Trans issues were starting to come up in both conversation and practice in the clinics more and more, but then were shoved aside - of course, because GAAAHHHH we are so short sighted! - in lieu of clinic security issues and trying to figure out how to get in on the Managed Care monies. Admittedly, the extremists were murdering clinic staff around the country (Dr David Gunn in Florida; Dr John Britton and his escort James Barrett; Leanne Nichols and her coworker in Brookline MA, who's name is not coming to me right now) , and burning/poisoning our clinics (poisoning by buteric acid in Chico CA). So maybe we had some high priority issues that shoved other things out of the way.
But it wasn't ok.
I have known for years that these issues are all part of a piece: bodily autonomy and access to the health care we need, on our own terms.
And I've known for years that the Religious Conservative Extremists and will slander and destroy any of us who don't play along with their version of society, specifically by destroying the right to control of our bodies. And those on "our" side do it too, by denying the obvious cross section of our many issues, and picking apart our support for each other (have I known a few TERFs in my time? yes I have!).
But I don't think I've ever been able to articulate it in any clear way. Oh, I'll blarp out a piece of it from time to time, mostly captured by the sentiment that the Religious Right does not include us in "their" world, and never will. But I've been unable to really grasp it, either in my own head, or in my writing.
So thank you eleventy thousand time for this piece, Crip Dyke. You've helped me frame my own thoughts better, and given me a ton more to ponder.
Thank you so much for your work. My specialty has always been domestic violence and management of gender segregated service environments. My dad was a doc, but I've never done anything health care related (other than an internship in a nuclear medicine department that one year). It takes all of us, and you did something I didn't or couldn't. So, yeah. Thank you.
Well, to be honest, I didn't do health care either. I ran an office with an 800 line, and took calls from (mostly) women all over the place looking for clinics, doctors, research resources, other 800 lines, etc etc etc., plus coordinated some activities between the clinics in our network. The 800 line part was really interesting - every thing from "I need a pro-choice doctor in the middle of bumfuck Montana" to "can you connect me with academic researchers in my field of interest" to "is it true what my husband said about female orgasms?" It was a period when very few people were on the internet, and when the internet was very hard to use. This was before google, and search engines to find things were just not what we've become used to.
So, 800 lines were important, and I ran one until the funding supporting my office had to be shifted to clinic security. But about that time, websites with these resources started getting much easier to find, so my office wasn't needed in the same way, either.
But hey, thanks for the thanks. We all do our part, hopefully, and muddle along towards a better world. You've certainly done that for me in your many posts, and by sharing your many insights.
Great post, CD! I have long believed that abortion rights are deeply tied to our bodily self-determination. In particular, I have always said that if they bring back abortion, they will bring back the draft. Thank you for hashing out the relationship between abortion rights and trans rights so complete!
Thank you so much for this. I’ve not seen Trans Rights framed as Reproductive Rights but they so clearly are. This goes beyond just being inclusive with language surrounding those who can become pregnant. As always, if a right can be stripped from one person, that right can be taken from all.
I enjoyed reading this article, and appreciated the information and viewpoint. If nothing else it prompted me to seek info on the website of our local (more or less) PP affiliate, to confirm that it explicitly lists gender-affirming care among its services. However, here in Florida this is a problem at the moment.
wow! This is truly powerful and true. I hope everyone on Wonkette reads it. My profession (in the arts) has always had a certain amount of diversity (not as much as we would like but a lot more than just about any other profession). When I was a student I went to a famous festival and while I was standing around I heard someone say (and I’m paraphrasing, it was 1981) “Oh there is so and so, last year he was here as a “woman”, this year he is back as a man and is also engaged the woman he is with (and yes they used those pronouns)”. As I grew up in San Francisco this was not a new idea to me, nor was I shocked. He looked like a guy and seemed pretty happy with the attractive woman next to him. Then in 1992 I got my present job. When I arrived there was this guy named R…as I knew nothing I was not confused by this. It turned out that for 25 years he had had this job as a female and then a few years before I showed up he had gender affirming surgery and he looked totally manly to me. The only issue was the men who were part of his section…they had all been together from the beginning (25 years of R as B) so they occasionally lapsed into using his dead name (it was not malicious, they just saw him as the same person they had always known). What I did learn was that he became the incredibly happy person that I knew after he’d transitioned. One of the other things I love about this story is that he was with the same woman before and after transition. However, no one ever talked about the transition (and I would certainly never ask him either) so I had no idea about the necessity of sterilization. What you have written about is so, so important. I won’t forget this.
Thank you so much. I was so sad when my trans son said he did not want to go to the women's march in 2016 bc he was worried it would not be inclusive. That broke my heart, because as a pro-choice activist, I have always felt a kinship with him and with trans activists. For years I did not talk about my abortion. I often have that feeling that I'm sure my son has, where a person seems so nice, but if they knew this thing about you, they would not be. Actually, I also feel this way sometimes about being an incest survivor. Some people react very negatively to that. It's hard for me to imagine that everyone doesn't have some kind of experience like that, and they could relate to what it's like.
I am reminded of how, in 2008, when the right was smearing Obama as a secret Muslim, it was Colin Powell who said that Instead of trying to prove he's a xain, he wished Obama would just say, "So what? There's nothing wrong with a Muslim president." If critics of a reproductive rights law that protects the right to make your own decisions about sterilization say that would help trans people, our response should be, "So what? There's nothing wrong with helping trans people." Or better yet, "Yes, and that is essential."
I'm going to include this nugget...some members of our local NAACP (I'm a member) do not want to advocate too strongly for LGBTQ rights, in general, because they are afraid it will dilute the civil rights efforts. But I agree with CD, everyone's bodily autonomy is under assault here and our rights are all linked together. In the past, I believe this is how we were divided against one another.
Thank you.
Also you are not an asshole. I’m looking back over my responses to the ads that have played here in Ohio to check myself. And found that, unintentional as it may have been, I did nudge trans issues under the bus once or twice in my “that’s not what this is about” rhetoric.
So I may be an asshole. Thoughtless version. But still an asshole.
Thank you for drawing my attention to it and giving me the words to articulate a better message going forward.
Thank you for helping me see how much more I need to learn.
Oh, CD - this has been on my Read This, Dammit list (aka, my Tabs) since you published it. So glad I made time this morning to read it.
Around the time you spoke in Portland, I was wrapping up work with the Feminist Women's Health Centers, one of which was in Pdx. Trans issues were starting to come up in both conversation and practice in the clinics more and more, but then were shoved aside - of course, because GAAAHHHH we are so short sighted! - in lieu of clinic security issues and trying to figure out how to get in on the Managed Care monies. Admittedly, the extremists were murdering clinic staff around the country (Dr David Gunn in Florida; Dr John Britton and his escort James Barrett; Leanne Nichols and her coworker in Brookline MA, who's name is not coming to me right now) , and burning/poisoning our clinics (poisoning by buteric acid in Chico CA). So maybe we had some high priority issues that shoved other things out of the way.
But it wasn't ok.
I have known for years that these issues are all part of a piece: bodily autonomy and access to the health care we need, on our own terms.
And I've known for years that the Religious Conservative Extremists and will slander and destroy any of us who don't play along with their version of society, specifically by destroying the right to control of our bodies. And those on "our" side do it too, by denying the obvious cross section of our many issues, and picking apart our support for each other (have I known a few TERFs in my time? yes I have!).
But I don't think I've ever been able to articulate it in any clear way. Oh, I'll blarp out a piece of it from time to time, mostly captured by the sentiment that the Religious Right does not include us in "their" world, and never will. But I've been unable to really grasp it, either in my own head, or in my writing.
So thank you eleventy thousand time for this piece, Crip Dyke. You've helped me frame my own thoughts better, and given me a ton more to ponder.
Thank you so much for your work. My specialty has always been domestic violence and management of gender segregated service environments. My dad was a doc, but I've never done anything health care related (other than an internship in a nuclear medicine department that one year). It takes all of us, and you did something I didn't or couldn't. So, yeah. Thank you.
Well, to be honest, I didn't do health care either. I ran an office with an 800 line, and took calls from (mostly) women all over the place looking for clinics, doctors, research resources, other 800 lines, etc etc etc., plus coordinated some activities between the clinics in our network. The 800 line part was really interesting - every thing from "I need a pro-choice doctor in the middle of bumfuck Montana" to "can you connect me with academic researchers in my field of interest" to "is it true what my husband said about female orgasms?" It was a period when very few people were on the internet, and when the internet was very hard to use. This was before google, and search engines to find things were just not what we've become used to.
So, 800 lines were important, and I ran one until the funding supporting my office had to be shifted to clinic security. But about that time, websites with these resources started getting much easier to find, so my office wasn't needed in the same way, either.
But hey, thanks for the thanks. We all do our part, hopefully, and muddle along towards a better world. You've certainly done that for me in your many posts, and by sharing your many insights.
Great post, CD! I have long believed that abortion rights are deeply tied to our bodily self-determination. In particular, I have always said that if they bring back abortion, they will bring back the draft. Thank you for hashing out the relationship between abortion rights and trans rights so complete!
Thank you so much for this. I’ve not seen Trans Rights framed as Reproductive Rights but they so clearly are. This goes beyond just being inclusive with language surrounding those who can become pregnant. As always, if a right can be stripped from one person, that right can be taken from all.
I enjoyed reading this article, and appreciated the information and viewpoint. If nothing else it prompted me to seek info on the website of our local (more or less) PP affiliate, to confirm that it explicitly lists gender-affirming care among its services. However, here in Florida this is a problem at the moment.
wow! This is truly powerful and true. I hope everyone on Wonkette reads it. My profession (in the arts) has always had a certain amount of diversity (not as much as we would like but a lot more than just about any other profession). When I was a student I went to a famous festival and while I was standing around I heard someone say (and I’m paraphrasing, it was 1981) “Oh there is so and so, last year he was here as a “woman”, this year he is back as a man and is also engaged the woman he is with (and yes they used those pronouns)”. As I grew up in San Francisco this was not a new idea to me, nor was I shocked. He looked like a guy and seemed pretty happy with the attractive woman next to him. Then in 1992 I got my present job. When I arrived there was this guy named R…as I knew nothing I was not confused by this. It turned out that for 25 years he had had this job as a female and then a few years before I showed up he had gender affirming surgery and he looked totally manly to me. The only issue was the men who were part of his section…they had all been together from the beginning (25 years of R as B) so they occasionally lapsed into using his dead name (it was not malicious, they just saw him as the same person they had always known). What I did learn was that he became the incredibly happy person that I knew after he’d transitioned. One of the other things I love about this story is that he was with the same woman before and after transition. However, no one ever talked about the transition (and I would certainly never ask him either) so I had no idea about the necessity of sterilization. What you have written about is so, so important. I won’t forget this.