tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9064426786105852152024-03-17T19:59:57.009-07:00TransFusionDr. Cary Gabriel Costellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14478058791195474381noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-906442678610585215.post-53352446597412223672023-08-30T15:51:00.004-07:002023-08-31T17:40:56.151-07:00On Flat Earth Studies, "Rapid-Onset Gender Dysphoria," and Bad Science<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8fqUir4uLP-oFB0vF8GVGNoNWd9c2TxI8IqJSH-U3LN5JPe0E29iMFMhQsFyJ-GqIdd0gVivyBYqhXndiCamU8Yxcc9vLMIU4ISnr43uEP4PCOdliSSMAxcBQOUq6VAls1tAfo0WVDxKt8iLWozP9f-39NhRjkPonGX0ZAGG83npngH9xbIITdkashRM/s1024/trans%20young%20person%20with%20flag.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8fqUir4uLP-oFB0vF8GVGNoNWd9c2TxI8IqJSH-U3LN5JPe0E29iMFMhQsFyJ-GqIdd0gVivyBYqhXndiCamU8Yxcc9vLMIU4ISnr43uEP4PCOdliSSMAxcBQOUq6VAls1tAfo0WVDxKt8iLWozP9f-39NhRjkPonGX0ZAGG83npngH9xbIITdkashRM/s320/trans%20young%20person%20with%20flag.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[Illustration by MidJourney]<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In the past couple of years, <a href="https://www.hrc.org/resources/attacks-on-gender-affirming-care-by-state-map" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">almost half of the states</a> in the US have banned the provision of gender-affirming care for minors. This explosion of transphobic legislation keeping trans youth from working with care providers who support them has been based on two central myths. </p><p>One of these myths is about what sorts of care trans youths access. This panicky myth is that little kids are walking into clinics and being hustled into "mutilating surgeries" and dosed with "experimental and dangerous drugs." (The reality is that most of the care received by gender-dysphoric young people is supportive talk therapy, with a modest subset of patients accessing puberty-suppressing drugs that have been prescribed without controversy for many years to cisgender youths. Surgeries on trans youths are very rare, and most of these are chest reconstructions on 17-year-old trans boys. A vastly larger number of cisgender 17-year-olds get plastic surgeries on their chests every year to support their gender identities, as they are cis boys unhappy with the breast tissue they have grown, or cis girls unhappy with small or uneven breasts.)</p><p>But I want to talk to you about the second myth, which is that children are being rushed into medicalized gender transitions when in fact they have "<a href="https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2023/08/experts-blast-so-called-rapid-onset-gender-dysphoria-as-junk-science/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">rapid-onset gender dysphoria</a>" caused by "social contagion." The claim is that teens go online and read that it is cool to be transgender, and decide to go along with the fad. Or a cool kid at their school transitions and gets social attention, so they say they're trans too. Then they are hurried into the "medical transition complex" with tragic results because this was just a passing immature delusion of theirs. The proof is that their parents report that their child was "normal" and gender-conforming, until one day they suddenly declared they were transgender and wanted to use a new name and pronoun and transition.</p><p>If you have ever tried to support a young trans person, it will be patently obvious to you that this is false. Coming out as trans is really scary for young people. Trans youths face a whole lot of stigma and harassment at school, and at home they may (rightly) fear that their parents will reject them. Only a third of trans minors report having parents who accept them in their identified genders. For this reason, trans youths often try to hide their identities from their families, and conform to their parents' desires for how they present themselves. So when they finally decide they can't hide anymore and must come out, or someone outs them, their unsupportive parents are shocked. As the senior mental health practitioner quoted in this <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/evidence-undermines-rapid-onset-gender-dysphoria-claims/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Scientific American article</a> states, “It is not [an issue of] rapid-onset gender dysphoria. It’s rapid-onset parental discovery.”</p><p>"Rapid-onset gender dysphoria" is not a real diagnosis. It has been rejected as such by the American Psychological Association. But again and again, when bills banning access to gender-affirming care have been debated and passed by state legislatures, "rapid-onset gender dysphoria" has been cited as proving the ban was necessary. This remains the case as we speak.</p><p>This brings us to the central point I want to make as a social scientist, and that is the problem of terribly bad "scientific reports" being generated and occasionally even published in academic journals, specifically in order to promote bigotry and conspiracy theories. The claim made by those who deploy these studies is, "You say science supports providing gender-affirming care to minors? Well, your science is wrong, and we have good science on our side! Your science is produced by corrupt gender ideologues and big pharma! Ours is produced by brave independent researchers!" And transphobic politicians are happy to dismiss the position of 98% of experts in the field, so long as they are handed some published study they can enter into the record.</p><p>And that is why it is important to note that one of the two "scientific studies" cited all the time now when transphobic bills are passed (because these two managed to get published) has now been retracted by the journal that published it, The Archives of Sexual Behavior. The reason the journal retracted the article is because the "researcher" who collected the data did not go through the required step of protecting the study subjects and getting their informed consent. But really, that is the tip of the iceberg.</p><p>Neither the retracted study nor the earlier study published in 2018, which coined the term "rapid-onset gender dysphoria," actually studied trans young people. Instead, they looked at posts in online groups made up of parents who opposed their children gender transitioning, and surveyed parents in these groups. This means the data they gathered was biased and invalid. </p><p>The retracted study had two authors--one being a controversial psychologist who has been publishing long-critiqued homophobic and transphobic claims for years, Michael Bailey. (Bailey, for example, has framed being gay as a disorder that should be cured, prevented, or selectively aborted.) The second author was not actually a psychologist or academic at all. She used the pseudonym Suzanne Diaz, and is the mother of a gender dysphoric child who was a member of the group for parents who opposed allowing minors to gender transition from which she gathered surveys.</p><p>Now, let's be clear: it is ok for people to study subject pools with whom they sympathize! Doctors who are cis white men are "allowed" to study cis white men patients; jazz-aficionado sociologists are "allowed" to study jazz musicians. But researchers need to disclose their social position and potential conflicts of interest. They are supposed to lay out what potential biases they may have. And if 98% of researchers say XYZ, while the author's conclusion is that XYZ is wrong and in fact the opposite is true, they absolutely must acknowledge this and make a convincing argument for why the scientific consensus is incorrect. </p><p>Most of all, surveying people from a group for flat-earth believers cannot tell you if the Earth is truly flat and not a globe. You have to study the actual Earth for the research to come to a valid conclusion. And academic journals should not be publishing invalid articles. This is especially true when those articles are being published in order to support a political campaign, and will impact the lives of thousands, unlike most scientific journal articles, which will only be read by a small pool of academics.</p><p>I am glad the Bailey and Diaz article was retracted. But it did great damage in the few years in which it was in print. We have to do a much better job of reviewing submissions that contradict scientific consensus. Sometimes a consensus can be wrong, and careful studies should prove that! But the burden of proof should be a high one, and publishing an article concluding that people may fall off the edge of the Earth based on interviewing people in Facebook groups for flat-earthers does not meet that burden.</p><p> </p>Dr. Cary Gabriel Costellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14478058791195474381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-906442678610585215.post-298465843323815662023-08-23T13:28:00.005-07:002023-08-26T09:49:47.366-07:00The Extent of the Assault on Trans Rights in Florida<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQewht1N1GBpnsDzLlRqHGDGhSkmZTTXx9ueG8BPQkNOYEnzsSXREN5T-8EfLEYlW4TOlNmU9C6DkvOqgADKC6OKrpEp91Y3A1BfvGulN688jNHV34AFeO5xbxB60ga6-X3Bc3HCCk9tfTq7ddEQNK3RpSG1SHuBOwT-f6ArxHK4IeOegQvcwUnB9f9do/s360/Florida%20in%20flames.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="360" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQewht1N1GBpnsDzLlRqHGDGhSkmZTTXx9ueG8BPQkNOYEnzsSXREN5T-8EfLEYlW4TOlNmU9C6DkvOqgADKC6OKrpEp91Y3A1BfvGulN688jNHV34AFeO5xbxB60ga6-X3Bc3HCCk9tfTq7ddEQNK3RpSG1SHuBOwT-f6ArxHK4IeOegQvcwUnB9f9do/s320/Florida%20in%20flames.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><div class="xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs x126k92a" style="font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #2e5387;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">This is a status report for you on just how bad things are now for trans people in Florida. It is so much worse than most Americans are aware.</span></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #2e5387;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">The school year is about to start up. Schools must implement </span><a href="https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/education/2023/08/10/transgender-school-bathrooms-laws-florida-students/70552809007/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: #d5a6bd;">HB 1069</span></a><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">, which requires public K-12 schools to adopt the policy that “a person’s sex is an immutable biological trait and that it is false to ascribe to a person a pronoun that does not correspond to such person’s sex.” They must also enforce </span><a href="https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/04/14/transgender-public-accommodations-bills-do-more-than-simply-restrict-bathroom-use/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: #d5a6bd;">HB 1521</span></a><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">, which requires people in public </span><span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: inherit;"><a style="cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit;" tabindex="-1"></a></span><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">buildings, including schools, to only use bathrooms and locker rooms designated for the binary sex they were assigned at birth, and a ban on trans girls and women </span><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/01/politics/florida-transgender-sports-ban-ron-desantis/index.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #f3f3f3;" target="_blank">playing sports</a><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"> in their lived genders.</span></span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #2e5387;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">For K-12 teachers, using a pronoun or title (like Mr. or Ms.) that doesn't match the binary sex assigned at birth is an offense punishable by suspension of their teacher's license. Using a bathroom that does not align with their sex assigned at birth is banned. What the punishment will be is determined by the school district. But the Florida State Board of Education has instituted a policy that state university professors who use a bathroom not matching their birth-assigned sex twice must be fired.</span></span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #2e5387;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">K-12 teachers are not allowed to mention LGBTQ+ issues. If a student talks to them about being trans, they have to report it to the student's parents. Students cannot use any name other than their full legal name on their birth certificate without signed parental permission. And parents are only allowed to give permission for students to use nicknames that are gendered to match the child's sex assigned at birth. Students cannot join a school gay-straight alliance without signed parental permission. </span></span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #2e5387;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Passed but currently under litigation</span><a href="https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/breaking-florida-senate-passes-extreme-gender-affirming-care-ban" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"> </span><span style="color: #d5a6bd;">is a bill</span></a><span style="color: #d5a6bd;"> </span><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">that goes beyond "merely" banning providing gender-affirming care to people under 18. It makes the provision of such care a felony and requires the revocation of the medical license of any doctor who provides it. As a result, many Florida clinics have ceased providing any trans care, </span><a href="https://apnews.com/article/florida-transgender-health-care-adults-e7ae55eec634923e6593a4c0685969b2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: #d5a6bd;">including to adults</span></a><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">. This bill declares a parent's bringing a child to a doctor for trans-affirming care to be child abuse, with the threat of taking children from their supportive parents. And it allows divorced parents in other states who do not have child custody, but who claim that the parent with custody is allowing or intends to allow the child to access gender-affirming care (i.e. that parent accepts the child's trans identity) to kidnap the child, take them to Florida, and have the Florida court issue a new child custody order taking precedence over the prior order in another state.</span></span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #2e5387;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">It is truly horrendous. This is segregating trans people out of public life, legally detransitioning educators, equating acknowledging that LGBTQ+ people exist with pedophilia, censoring knowledge, tormenting children, denying people healthcare, and fostering kidnapping. And a batch of states are right behind Florida in this evil.</span></span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #2e5387;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">People need to know how bad things are, because people they love are going to be burned by it. </span></span></div></div></div><p><span style="background-color: #2e5387;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><br /> </span></span></p>Dr. Cary Gabriel Costellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14478058791195474381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-906442678610585215.post-15492115985512426532023-04-27T07:23:00.005-07:002023-04-28T11:33:24.581-07:00Why the Deluge of Transphobic State Laws?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc037ZbovLIrgUDd-7FJ-ov5WvxKbHh0-mtBiF45J6iOfBqJPynCx8R2UfqJ4KWLlJz3c5zHSDIdmTTV-l2PzfRtxLU6SiD8-ZkwomZe-vuT23EK0kK6xz8MrdUHyVokBrzKEnsGTPFM4ED5o4-m_yT673SFa7y5bfoVGZJFiu-JDmeGiulXo2fxp_/s1024/DrMew_slime_mold_in_the_shape_of_an_orange_cheeto_2.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc037ZbovLIrgUDd-7FJ-ov5WvxKbHh0-mtBiF45J6iOfBqJPynCx8R2UfqJ4KWLlJz3c5zHSDIdmTTV-l2PzfRtxLU6SiD8-ZkwomZe-vuT23EK0kK6xz8MrdUHyVokBrzKEnsGTPFM4ED5o4-m_yT673SFa7y5bfoVGZJFiu-JDmeGiulXo2fxp_/s320/DrMew_slime_mold_in_the_shape_of_an_orange_cheeto_2.png" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>OK, what is this thing?</div><div><br /></div><div>I need to do more thinking about this, but it's been hard, because the stunning flood of transphobic state laws (<a href="https://www.them.us/story/everything-that-happened-in-anti-trans-legislation-this-week-april-15-21" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">over 500</a> introduced this year and it is only April) has been kind of like standing under a waterfall. It's hard to think and write when you can't grab a full breath.</div><div><br /></div><div>But I do have an idea that I need to flesh out. And, speaking of fleshing out, this is a slime mold, drawn to order by the AI MidJourney. Maybe it reminds you of something?</div><div><br /></div><div>Slime molds are creepy entities that are actually a mass of single-celled organisms joined together temporarily to make up a more complex, large body that can move, seek out food, and reproduce. And oddly, I think they can help answer a key question. </div><div><br /></div><div>How can you possibly get <i>that many transphobic bills and laws</i> in four months?</div><div><br /></div><div>So here is my thought: Donald Trump gave us a human embodiment of an alternative type of politician: one not interested in governing (much too boring! geeky! compromising! a beta male thing! contemptible!). Trump instead wanted the presidency as a platform for celebrity that could generate the two things he desires--adulation and monetary profit. And he would get those not by "being presidential," but by being outrageous, a WWE character delivering constant drama. He would provide aggrieved conservative fans of patriarchy and whiteness with the thrill of a ringside seat as he smacked down their perceived enemies and kicked them in the face. "The libs" would howl and cry, and Trump fans would drink their delicious tears and get a sadistic thrill.</div><div><br /></div><div>His fans roared and applauded. But for the rest of us, it was ghastly. Not just painful, as we got kicked at, but tacky and gross. Trump was the embodiment of that "<a href="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71l1DNuO9uL.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Calvin peeing</a>" car window decal, taking a whizz on the dignity and ideals of American democracy as he bullied the vulnerable.</div><div><br /></div><div>Around a third of Americans could not get enough of the Trump Show. Not all Republicans--there was a sector who found him exhausting and distasteful. They just hated Team Blue and stayed loyal to Team Red, in some weird sports metaphor of how democracy operates, even when the quarterback was a schmuck.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the end, Trump lost his bid for re-election--let us thank the stars.</div><div><br /></div><div>But thousands of little politicians out there are fans who aspire to be the next Trump. There are some big names, like the governors DeSantis of Florida or Abbott of Texas, or the federal Representative and professional troll Marjorie Taylor Greene. But most are pipsqueaks unknown on the national stage. Representatives in state legislatures whose names are barely recognized in their home districts, let alone intoned on the national news. They aspire to Trumpish fame, but come across as impotent caricatures, posing on tacky Christmas cards with the whole family wearing matching outfits and matching semiautomatic rifles. They are mere amoebae.</div><div><br /></div><div>And that's where the slime mold metaphor comes in. These tiny state representatives aspire to stomp like a giant, smashing norms of civility and hearing shrieks. So they have given up their vaunted individuality to do it. The ameoba-politicians have merged into legislative slime molds. Slime molds do not have brains, but these legislative conglomerates do not need a brain to act: there are PACs and "think tanks" out there that have come up with a plan and drawn up model legislation. They provide the ostensible brain.</div><div><br /></div><div>The reason this is so destructive for trans people is that those entities acting as brains have fixated on us as the safest target to throw to the lions. Sure, there is action on other culture-war targets, like demonizing immigration and terminating education about racism as supposedly harming white children and violating “parental rights.” But abortion has proven an electoral losing topic, and of the various marginalized groups to kick at, trans people are deemed the smallest, least-supported group, so the safest one to stomp. </div><div><br /></div><div>So these national culture-war organizing brains have sent the same message to all the Trumpy slime molds in state legislatures at once: here are the bills to pass. Ban support of trans kids as child abuse. Ban trans youth from playing sports as an attack on cis girls. Ban use of Medicare by adult trans people. Ban discussions of gender identity and sexual orientation in schools as "sexualizing children." Force schoolteachers and counselors to out trans kids to their parents. Shift the <a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/presidential-campaign/298417-the-overton-window-and-how-trump-won-the-nomination/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Overton window</a>, and in time you can ban all gender transition and roll back protections for LGBQA people, but don't worry about that yet. Just merge and Hulk up and smash trans people, and you can be that big orange kaiju you so long to be!</div><div><br /></div><div>And now all these red state legislatures are passing a flood of nearly-identical transphobic bills.</div><div><br /></div><div>That's my basic read of the situation. A slime mold metaphor.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Dr. Cary Gabriel Costellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14478058791195474381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-906442678610585215.post-76310289152658323752023-04-07T12:54:00.003-07:002023-04-07T21:09:20.329-07:00Drag Bans 40 Years Ago and Today: The Case of Annie Lennox<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ3ocJsYpN5C79-1JBUImLEYm4gw9qxmo2ip_aABcnSXjl1LWFO8VaePUr4n7ZTM1_5Z8COiWhkp0m1I8x2afOzCoBKq0kaw7jyCeQ0WuV7_WtmX9odFYHBZVKaVPA6dyd29Q_2JpL7CsajpWcbWSqI9Yfmo5h9Amf7mg1UVeR0vclAcEVZGnxq7fT/s663/love%20is%20a%20stranger%20still%20annie%20lenox%20femme%20wig.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="372" data-original-width="663" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ3ocJsYpN5C79-1JBUImLEYm4gw9qxmo2ip_aABcnSXjl1LWFO8VaePUr4n7ZTM1_5Z8COiWhkp0m1I8x2afOzCoBKq0kaw7jyCeQ0WuV7_WtmX9odFYHBZVKaVPA6dyd29Q_2JpL7CsajpWcbWSqI9Yfmo5h9Amf7mg1UVeR0vclAcEVZGnxq7fT/w400-h225/love%20is%20a%20stranger%20still%20annie%20lenox%20femme%20wig.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6f593X6rv8&ab_channel=EurythmicsVEVO" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">This is the video</a> for the 1982 Eurythmics song Love is a Stranger. It became a hit on MTV in the US in 1983--and then got pulled by the station.</p><p>The video starts out with Lennox in this classic femme "blond bombshell" look, but a minute into the video, she pulls off the blond wig, revealing slicked-back short red hair. By the end of the video, she is also sans lipstick and wearing butch mirrored sunglasses and a suit and tie.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkUErsDJd5EDSFgpCBBOEf_GIRRYF-SldXYtDtSU9Qq26S52F-SMbMEKAohNG67U1_XFxXCMRO0IZsSvvrk5WHA1jvrfBVeeIzxB2A1RbcVCZWBzk7U5Isf2GF8o08fLpNiSo4HxWYkkXA4dQR9ZHEP5Kmtsj6UJjcqKMbwBFicQ7N0mL5rNuuaqke/s1600/love%20is%20a%20stranger%20still%20annie%20lenox%20butch%20suit.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkUErsDJd5EDSFgpCBBOEf_GIRRYF-SldXYtDtSU9Qq26S52F-SMbMEKAohNG67U1_XFxXCMRO0IZsSvvrk5WHA1jvrfBVeeIzxB2A1RbcVCZWBzk7U5Isf2GF8o08fLpNiSo4HxWYkkXA4dQR9ZHEP5Kmtsj6UJjcqKMbwBFicQ7N0mL5rNuuaqke/w400-h266/love%20is%20a%20stranger%20still%20annie%20lenox%20butch%20suit.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>It's a gender-queering video. That was true of a lot of the other British synthpop videos that were in heavy rotation in the early 80s on MTV, from bands like Culture Club and Adam and the Ants. But the wig-removing reveal had been a classic of "female impersonator" drag shows intended for mainstream audience consumption since the 1920s. And leaders of American conservative evangelical Christian congregations gave sermons about the evil of MTV destroying teens' morals that used the Eurythmics' video as key evidence of depravity. They presumed Annie Lennox was a man in drag, called this degeneracy, and generated outraged letter-writing campaigns from congregants to MTV.</p><p>So the station pulled the video, bowing to this pressure and announcing the decision that "crossdressing men" were not suitable material for their programming, which children could view.</p><p>Residents of Britain thought this was hilarious: proof both of Americans' backward religious prudery, and ignorance, since Annie Lennox was assigned female at birth.</p><p>The Eurythmics' response was initial disbelief, followed by Lennox publicly stating that she was not in fact a man, though it shouldn't matter. But MTV agents said she needed to prove it. Lennox was rightly affronted (were they implying she should undress for them?). Eventually she had a certified copy of her birth certificate mailed to MTV, and after more internal debates among corporate staff, the Love is a Stranger video was put back into the broadcasting rotation.</p><p>The thing is, while the outraged evangelicals of 1983 were incorrect about Annie Lennox's birth-assigned sex, they were not wrong about her being in drag. The entire video is an exploration of femme drag and masculine drag.</p><p>And here we are, 40 years later, with US state legislatures in red states enacting laws against drag, because minors might see it, and that would supposedly be intolerable "grooming" activity, "sexualizing innocent children."</p><p>What I'd point out is that the whole MTV fracas just made the video more popular. The irony is that people shouting "don't say gay!" all the time are saying "gay" all the time, leading kids to have schoolyard conversations about what it is that these adults say they shouldn't hear about. All the public discussion about not letting minors gender transition means that more young people than ever are aware that this is a possibility, giving them tools to articulate their own gender identities. </p><p>Let's be clear: it also terrifies kids to see the rage and hate on adult faces aimed at people like them. It is very scary to come out as a youth, with adults screaming that they will not allow you rights.</p><p>And it's pretty depressing that gender-policing bigots on the political right are not only engaging in the same activities they were 40 years ago, but now they are spewing hundreds of state bills and laws banning books, forcing teachers to misgender their students, banning trans kids from participating in healthy athletics, etc. etc. etc.</p><p>This is driving a whole lot of people, whether young or adults, into the closet. But that closet is now huge! A third of the students at my midwestern university identify as something other than a cis straight person, even if many of them are only out about that in private spaces and trusted social circles.</p><p>And in those secure spaces they are doing what Lennox did in this video of 40 years ago: defying the gender police.</p>Dr. Cary Gabriel Costellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14478058791195474381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-906442678610585215.post-87590122933794027822023-03-15T18:25:00.004-07:002023-03-15T18:28:19.395-07:00Considering an Ancient Transgender Saint<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGAi-2knamzB05BTzYqEic1tWXJz_4oiOvY22o-1p_4UFZwKY13Ta7kdShCzjAY76eBr2taeGZbuOACgLoRn2L1NF_dU9mlpuDQI3ZjFPa1eT3V6POlZ2mLOj02TyoRVxqloZiHTi28xOYBhupkx1Uyf0w59kvuAi-x7JBYSEjtIUxUEZAoTQzgcpQ/s1280/Saint%20Euphrosyne.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1024" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGAi-2knamzB05BTzYqEic1tWXJz_4oiOvY22o-1p_4UFZwKY13Ta7kdShCzjAY76eBr2taeGZbuOACgLoRn2L1NF_dU9mlpuDQI3ZjFPa1eT3V6POlZ2mLOj02TyoRVxqloZiHTi28xOYBhupkx1Uyf0w59kvuAi-x7JBYSEjtIUxUEZAoTQzgcpQ/w333-h416/Saint%20Euphrosyne.jpg" width="333" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><br /></span></div><span style="background-color: #305488;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15px;">This is Euphrosyne of Alexandria, a saint in the Catholic and Greek Orthodox faiths. St. Euphrosyne was assigned female at birth, in the year 410, and was raised as a girl. But at age 18, Euphrosyne, with the assistance of two monks, entered a monastery, with shaved head and wearing men's garb, and became known as Brother Smaragdus. Smaragdus was highly respected for achieving a "perfect ascetic life." He was understood by the monastic community in which he lived for 38 years to be a eunuch. Those to whom he provided spiritual counsel included his own father, who did not recognize him. But on his deathbed, Smaragdus confessed his identity to his father, and asked his father to bury him so his secret would be preserved. His father was so moved by this revelation that he gave away all his possessions and became a monk himself, living in the cell that his child had occupied before him.</span><br style="font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><br style="font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15px;">Miracles were reported to take place at the tomb. Then people learned that Smaragdus was also Euphrosyne. Did the church then revile this miracle-worker? No. They canonized this gender-transitioning person as St. Euphrosyne, framing them as a woman who had lived as a man in order to preserve "her" celibacy and in service to God.</span><br style="font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><br style="font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15px;">The Greek Orthodox prayer to St. Euphrosyne is, "The image of God was faithfully preserved in you, O Mother. For you took up the Cross and followed Christ. By Your actions you taught us to look beyond the flesh for it passes, rather to be concerned about the soul which is immortal. Wherefore, O Holy Euphrosyne, your soul</span><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15px;"> rejoices with the angels."</span><br style="font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><br style="font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15px;">This is not a modern story of medicalized gender transition. And how Smaragdus/Euphrosyne understood themself, we cannot know. But what we <i>can</i> say is that the contemporary claim that Christianity requires people to live in the sex they were assigned at birth contradicts Christian history. And not just church history, but the contemporary practice under which people pray to St. Euphrosyne today. It is the interior soul that matters, not the flesh, says the prayer--and changing lived genders is one way to reveal that.</span><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15px;"> </span></span></span><p></p><p><br /> </p>Dr. Cary Gabriel Costellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14478058791195474381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-906442678610585215.post-48127743917549316942022-11-25T10:07:00.020-08:002022-11-26T08:16:33.609-08:00Why Calling the Colorado Springs Shooter "They" Doesn't Mean "We Lose"<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhICj7-cEcnt5EQ9-T_FPKXJ_kWYp-B0P9SBc1zZWH_QrFNon_lyVTLxHzxinn7wFkZaxzDOgLB9niBjOKIPv61xjRRG5F5fzvFo1yZharqMJCXrGEN2VtnsWybs2widQgiFkSHnoe89XeZYYhxGj6aLIKspIdexEy4NrioEJ_7IbqpbrtmYLOnei_K/s1200/Anderson%20Aldrich%20Colorado%20Springs%20shooter%20nonbinary%20post.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhICj7-cEcnt5EQ9-T_FPKXJ_kWYp-B0P9SBc1zZWH_QrFNon_lyVTLxHzxinn7wFkZaxzDOgLB9niBjOKIPv61xjRRG5F5fzvFo1yZharqMJCXrGEN2VtnsWybs2widQgiFkSHnoe89XeZYYhxGj6aLIKspIdexEy4NrioEJ_7IbqpbrtmYLOnei_K/w400-h400/Anderson%20Aldrich%20Colorado%20Springs%20shooter%20nonbinary%20post.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p>On the weekend before Thanksgiving and the night before Transgender Day of Remembrance, Anderson Lee Aldrich burst into Club Q in Colorado Springs. Aldrich was wearing tactical gear, armed with an automatic rifle and a handgun, and spraying bullets. Five people were killed and 17 others shot before unarmed patrons at the club--a cis straight man, a trans woman, and an apparently cis gay man--subdued the shooter. <br /></p><p>LGBTQ+ people all over were traumatized. In an era of ever-expanding attacks on queer and trans folks and our allies as "groomers," and of laws being passed to try to erase or segregate trans youth and adults, the attack underlined how we are not safe from hate.<br /></p><p>On the political right, the media and social media had little to say about the mass murder. Tucker Carlson did bring on a guest to say that events like this would continue to happen as long as "these people keep trying to get their hands on children." But mostly the right wing just ignored the story that didn't fit their narratives that guns are good and trans people are bad.</p><p>Then, a few days after the mass murder, in a flurry of court filings, the shooter's legal team said that Anderson Aldrich is nonbinary, and should be referred to as Mx. Aldrich and "them." And rightwing social media posters went wild, suddenly bursting with interest in the incident. The left had thought they had scored a point on the right, but psych! The point goes to Team Red! Posters were gleeful. Oh, this was perfect, what a move! Aldrich had caught the left in a trap, a glorious Catch-22. Either "the libs" would have to admit that trans people are unstable and dangerous wingnuts, or admit that people who are obviously male can say they're trans when it is not true, and thus have free access to spaces reserved to protect women and girls if society recognizes trans rights.<br /></p><p>Watching the flood of rightwing social-media celebration about this news was really hard. People were doing the verbal equivalent of gleeful jigs, while I had been mourning, and supporting scared students who are trans, nonbinary, gender-nonconforming, and/or queer, all week. Few of the exultant posters were even bothering to give lip service to caring that people died, people were maimed, a community was in mourning. It was just "Haha, gotcha gotcha gotcha!"</p><p>And I know it can be really hard to respond to this. So many trans and queer folk are exhausted and don't have the energy reserves needed to muster an analysis and develop a response. The exultation of bigots was retraumatizing. And well-meaning Americans who just don't know much about gender-variant communities don't know what to think. Should they call the shooter "they" or not? What was going on?<br /></p><p>So let me explain why calling the shooter "they" doesn't mean the trans community loses, and in fact has the potential to educate others and move things forward. And it by no means lets Anderson Aldrich off the hook for the consequences of their hateful and heinous actions.<br /></p><p><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">The Context</span><br /></p><p>First, let's step back and get a better picture of Anderson Aldrich.<br /></p><p>This is a photo of Aldrich with some family members:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtJZEspQ_MpNtHFdxfnSgHmk17877izHTC3MW2PZu7H57tr4hWjBVpZJMi8hlpWQUjMIxFo2vguS23m5ON6Vc8Hps4oQ-4DINCYClccb0XnfU-kapAGjWvjyp9KlDfHuOrktlcfl4LpgcEqjXWcMZ-QXESzEZ7I2j0KmCTT33OjJDSwFYzfEQRSBnR/s449/anderson-lee-aldrich-and-randy-voebel.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="377" data-original-width="449" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtJZEspQ_MpNtHFdxfnSgHmk17877izHTC3MW2PZu7H57tr4hWjBVpZJMi8hlpWQUjMIxFo2vguS23m5ON6Vc8Hps4oQ-4DINCYClccb0XnfU-kapAGjWvjyp9KlDfHuOrktlcfl4LpgcEqjXWcMZ-QXESzEZ7I2j0KmCTT33OjJDSwFYzfEQRSBnR/s320/anderson-lee-aldrich-and-randy-voebel.webp" width="320" /></a></div><p>The photo was one of the very, very few of Aldrich that people were able to locate after the shooting. This is unusual, especially given the many public controversies Aldrich's family was involved in, and Aldrich's own prior livestreamed threats to blow up their house and their family a year ago. Those arrest records were sealed, even though Aldrich was a legal adult at 21, and it seems internet content was scrubbed as well. </p><p>In any case, in the photo above you see that Aldrich's face has been circled, along with that of their grandfather, outgoing Republican California State Assemblymember Randy Voepel, self-declared "super-MAGA." Randy Voepel was infamous for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Voepel" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">proclaiming</a> that the January 6th attack on the US Capitol was the first battle in the next Revolutionary War against tyranny. Here's Voepel in his regalia:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKN-bzZKY4Ol78-TtXw9sEvYr9nuW8xqRyhJjgMVz5Y99Ml5fBzBqoS0vvNiDIVt_J7rEtWf_VVVMuaaTP6yKp6f7Z3u9kBb7T-hkWEonRw0cSnFH5BDWzdTnMp0tdF4NGEOeaC2z6C_Cn-qW1y7M3ode19acfkoYfGniiQx0uNQSbXA9zE2t-R7nc/s1644/Randy%20Voepel.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1644" data-original-width="1535" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKN-bzZKY4Ol78-TtXw9sEvYr9nuW8xqRyhJjgMVz5Y99Ml5fBzBqoS0vvNiDIVt_J7rEtWf_VVVMuaaTP6yKp6f7Z3u9kBb7T-hkWEonRw0cSnFH5BDWzdTnMp0tdF4NGEOeaC2z6C_Cn-qW1y7M3ode19acfkoYfGniiQx0uNQSbXA9zE2t-R7nc/s320/Randy%20Voepel.jpg" width="299" /></a></div><p>Randy Voepel's daughter, Laura Voepel, is Anderson Aldrich's mother. Her life story is pretty boggling. It includes being active in communities of the Church of Christ of Latter-Day Saints (i.e. the Mormons, of which Aldrich is a registered member as well). It involves marrying an MMA fighter who had already been arrested for battering her--Aldrich's father--then divorcing him soon afterwards. It also includes a long list of charges being brought against her--for drunk driving, for arson, for "criminal mischief," for refusing to appear in court. Here's a photo of her in her youth:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTx6HkeQ2JvFPhLBEZt8zKghokcMLpo9Z_tnKmvh9dBa0HqqhtIEH26Fmrdc2h8MmeQJSCfpeQ0EQqgUQmt8A_dY0CzwFABoOW4D5EJ0uscRjET5ZulSnzeGZP8Yq1gh90_-m93NGSoX9tCN_iiI-fviFpD4AInb6E1TiE68-J45n7-xQKZc-O2pkL/s2000/colorado-springs-shooter-mother-laura-voepel-young.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="2000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTx6HkeQ2JvFPhLBEZt8zKghokcMLpo9Z_tnKmvh9dBa0HqqhtIEH26Fmrdc2h8MmeQJSCfpeQ0EQqgUQmt8A_dY0CzwFABoOW4D5EJ0uscRjET5ZulSnzeGZP8Yq1gh90_-m93NGSoX9tCN_iiI-fviFpD4AInb6E1TiE68-J45n7-xQKZc-O2pkL/s320/colorado-springs-shooter-mother-laura-voepel-young.webp" width="320" /></a></div><p>In 2008, when Anderson Aldrich was 7 years old, police responded to a call about a home invasion. They found Laura Voepel lying on her bed, with her wrists and legs bound in duct tape. According to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/22/us/colorado-suspect-background-aldrich-invs/index.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">news reports</a>, "Voepel initially told police a man had put string around her neck, bound
her with tape and placed a knife on her chest. She admitted the
following day, however, that she had been under the influence of
narcotics and fabricated the incident because 'she was lonely and wanted
attention,' a police report states." </p><p>Not exactly a role model for veracity or stability. What about Aldrich's father? He is Aaron Brink, known as "The Frijolero" in MMA circles, and as Dick Delaware in his second career, as an actor in pornographic videos. As an MMA fighter, he won 29 fights and lost 27, and as an actor, he had supporting roles in Spiderman XXX: A Porn Parody, Thor XXX, and many other films. Here he is in a safe-for-work promo photo for the Thor XXX film, wearing what appears to be a fantasy Viking tactical vest, with bonus six-pack abs:<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixwgF2U6uy8BesG3oC9hAp5jME-eWuVuuHctRcQLwtxs7rfvaa6IFbk4a98ej5guMt3FnurhrSq844ZHA7lFb9JecpHQ_SpoxDk7vMNurpcfghTaCPDmh_CSt_weJVUsvDRk1XkeIzLuXk2ZZazC8SQkaFNlaoMh3jVrOMXKczdPA-C03Z5WRYag-n/s375/Aaron%20Brink%20as%20Dick%20Delaware%20porn%20star%20in%20Thor%20XXX%20(SFW).JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="245" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixwgF2U6uy8BesG3oC9hAp5jME-eWuVuuHctRcQLwtxs7rfvaa6IFbk4a98ej5guMt3FnurhrSq844ZHA7lFb9JecpHQ_SpoxDk7vMNurpcfghTaCPDmh_CSt_weJVUsvDRk1XkeIzLuXk2ZZazC8SQkaFNlaoMh3jVrOMXKczdPA-C03Z5WRYag-n/s320/Aaron%20Brink%20as%20Dick%20Delaware%20porn%20star%20in%20Thor%20XXX%20(SFW).JPG" width="209" /></a></div><p>That all seems pretty amusing. What's not amusing is that he was abusive to his family, spent time in jail, was addicted to meth, and says he taught young Anderson Aldrich that one must respond to any challenge from others with overwhelming physical violence--to be the dominator and not the dominated. When informed that his offspring had committed the atrocity in Colorado Springs, Brink <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/aaron-brink-pornstar-dad-of-colorado-club-q-shooting-suspect-anderson-lee-aldrich-spews-homophobia?source=twitter&via=desktop" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">responded</a>, “They started telling me about the incident, a shooting involving
multiple people. And then I go on to find out it’s a gay bar. I said, ‘God, is he gay?’
I got scared, ‘Shit, is he gay?’ And he’s not gay, so I said,
‘Phhhewww…’” He said he couldn't tolerate a gay son, as a Mormon and conservative Republican. <br /></p><p>Anderson Aldrich grew up in a family of unstable adults who desperately craved attention--and tended to get what they wanted, as conservative white people with connections and means. Randy Voepel got elected to the California State Assembly to seek to promote his ultraconservative brand. Laura Voepel never did any jail time for any of her charges and convictions. Aaron Brink got to be a B-list celebrity, with acting credits in some mainstream films as well as <a href="https://www.adultfilmdatabase.com/actor/dick-delaware-30989/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">340</a> pornographic videos. This was a family of contradictions. They were Mormons who called themselves ultra-social-conservatives, yet Laura Voepel and Brink were also lawbreakers who were addicted to drugs, alcohol, and thrills. The theme of extremes of conforming gender expression in the family photos is really evident--along with its usual companion, fragile masculinity, which resulted in physical abuse.<br /></p><p>At some point, Aldrich moved in with their mother's parents, who were apparently the most stable option. So Aldrich grew up in the home of "ultra-MAGA" Randy Voepel. At 16, they changed their name, with their grandparents sponsoring the name change to Anderson Aldrich. Laura Voepel says the name change was intended to sever ties with Aaron Brink, whom Aldrich feared. Brink says Aldrich wanted a different last name due to being upset as a good Mormon that Brink was a porn star, and that Brink agreed to sign the name change papers <a href="https://www.lowkickmma.com/aaron-brink-club-q-shooter-mormon-dont-gay-ufc/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">because</a> "I let my son down."<br /></p><p>It is clear that by this time, Aldrich was being teased and bullied about having a porn star dad by classmates.Someone created a YouTube channel in Aldrich's old name, and <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/11/22/club-q-suspect-anderson-aldrich-changed-his-name/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">posted</a> a racist, homophobic video on it entitled "Asian homosexual gets molested by floating piece of f*ckle." There is little information on what transpired, but whatever harassment was going on, it did involve fag-baiting Aldrich, seeking to humiliate them by portraying them as gay and thus supposedly displaying failed masculinity and low social value. (This doesn't mean Aldrich was actually "gay"--<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dude,_You%27re_a_Fag" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">fag-baiting </a>one another is a ubiquitous practice among boys in American middle and high schools, and among gamer bros everywhere.) In any case, Laura Voepel was concerned, and posted in her Mormon women's social media group, asking for recommendations for someone who could coach Aldrich in boxing, and for therapist recommendations.</p><p>And at some point, Aldrich started to acquire weapons, ammunition, body armor, and tactical gear. </p><p><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">The Bomb Threat and First Attempt at Notoriety and Suicide by Cop</span></p><p>In June 2021, Aldrich became extremely upset, because they found out their grandparents were going to move to Florida. Aldrich was now 21 years old, 6'6" tall, living in their own rental apartment, and possessing weapons. They reacted with a rage combining a toddler's temper tantrum with an armed adult's menace. Aldrich went to Laura Voepel's house and threatened to blow it up with a homemade bomb, killing them both. <a href="https://gazette.com/news/blow-it-to-holy-hell-footage-shows-anderson-lee-aldrich-live-streamed-2021-bomb-incident/article_80702994-69fd-11ed-b8e1-2bbc9a9c49f8.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">News reports</a> describing Aldrich's own video of the event show that, "'This is the day I die,' he can be heard telling his mother. 'They don't give a f*** about me anymore. Clearly.'"</p><p>So Aldrich provoked Voepel to call the police. And what followed was a very familiar scene. We've all seen it in many other mass shooting events committed by white supremacists and incels and others in the manoverse online network of young far-right edgelords and 4chan chuds. Aldrich was wearing body armor, carrying a long gun, and livestreaming the entire event, hoping to go viral. “If they breach, I’ma f***ing blow it to holy hell,” Aldrich <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/blow-holy-hell-footage-shows-045800656.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">told</a> the camera as police arrived outside. Police cleared people out of the 10 surrounding houses. Here's a screenshot from Aldrich's livestream:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisUewc-V7nltkoxhlvQGhOJc0vkCySw6ThjONE6YgfSkXz84fKLMPh9gVun2hz3d7y5kqYqwn7FDgwC4q-u4N3XQhp6bpsUeZRCwZFF9Ld2kJIT35dAxuOnmce4_-4wji0NU_BtJouTo7DzWV2dG7qT9s-jgC7UFbp8VJpcRq3bbalpHZ1-Eo0bePa/s682/Anderson%20Aldrich%20bomb%20threat%20livestream%20screenshot.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="398" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisUewc-V7nltkoxhlvQGhOJc0vkCySw6ThjONE6YgfSkXz84fKLMPh9gVun2hz3d7y5kqYqwn7FDgwC4q-u4N3XQhp6bpsUeZRCwZFF9Ld2kJIT35dAxuOnmce4_-4wji0NU_BtJouTo7DzWV2dG7qT9s-jgC7UFbp8VJpcRq3bbalpHZ1-Eo0bePa/s320/Anderson%20Aldrich%20bomb%20threat%20livestream%20screenshot.JPG" width="187" /></a></div><p>But the whole event fizzled. There was no bomb. There was no suicide by cop. Police brought in crisis negotiators, and Aldrich eventually put down their weapons and walked out to be arrested without incident. The result was not a period of internet fame and notoriety. Instead, Aldrich's well-connected and well-funded grandparents managed to get the charges dropped, and the case sealed as if Aldrich were a minor. Further steps seem to have been taken to scrub the internet of information about Aldrich and/or the event, including convincing news organizations to remove stories about the bomb threat.</p><p>But it seems clear that this outcome, which is what Aldrich's family wanted, is not really the one Aldrich wanted. That's why we see a more dramatic repeat of the attempt to secure fame through a blaze of violence, with a deathwish attached. This time, Aldrich realized that you don't get much attention from the manoverse or news media by just threatening your own family, and attacked a vulnerable community instead. They attacked an LGBTQ+ club in their area on the weekend of the Transgender Day of Remembrance. </p><p><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Is Anderson Aldrich a Member of the Trans Community?</span></p><p>Aldrich's lawyers say their client is nonbinary. It's clear how the transphobic political right views this announcement. They don't believe it on two levels. First, they deny the validity of nonbinary identities generally. And secondly, they don't believe that Aldrich actually identifies in this way. They frame the claim as a tactical lie meant to trap trans/nonbinary/gender-nonconforming communities and our allies. If we say what they are thinking--there's no way this militia-looking dude really means it--the posters say that means the left must agree that people lie about their gender identity, and thus trans people must be segregated and excluded from public life. Society must protect cis women and girls from men pretending to be women and using trans-protective laws to supposedly prevent society from doing anything to stop them. That would put an end to trans rights movements, they crow.<br /></p><p>So, cackle the transphobes on social media, if "team groomer" is to avoid that outcome, we'll have to call sly Aldrich "they" and treat him as if he is a member of the trans community. And in that case, the shooting can't be considered a hate crime! Instead, the right will say it proves the left harbors violent domestic terrorists--a charge the left is always annoyingly making about the right. <span class="ILfuVd" lang="en"><span class="hgKElc">Touché</span></span>! Oh, and if the right calls Aldrich a he, the sad, entrapped lefties will have to defend Aldrich's right to be called "they", even though they know he's really a dude! How delicious! Mwahahah!<br /></p><p>So, say the transphobic posters, gather around friends, and get out your popcorn--let's see which bad option the libs choose. . .</p><p>And here is the response we can give:<br /></p><p><span style="color: #d5a6bd;">We will refer to Anderson Aldrich as "they." This will not destroy the case against them. When a person states that they are trans, it not allow them to harm people. Instead, the trans community and our allies will stop them from committing harm, and deliver them for justice. <br /></span></p><p>We in the trans community have had to engage in a great deal of thinking about identity, and how to tell an identity is "real". We are so often faced by people questioning the reality of our identities as we consider transition, and by transphobes challenging our lived genders after transition. And so we've learned things. </p><p>One fundamental thing we understand is that nobody can tell how a person identifies except that person. If someone says they identify as a Christian, or a geek, or heterosexual, or nonbinary, you can't get into their head with them to verify they are telling the truth. Of course, this begs the question of why anyone would lie about their identity. Yes, of course that happens. People have concealed their true identities to escape oppression throughout history. They could be a Jew during the Spanish inquisition passing as a Christian, or a gay man living in 1950s America, when gay sexuality was illegal and being known to be gay got you blacklisted from employment, hiding in the closet and presenting as straight. Conversely, a person could assert having an identity they really don't have to try to get some kind of advantage. Someone might want to be in a relationship with another person who they have learned is really into geek culture, for example. Or they might want to escape a hate crime prosecution after committing mass murder at an LGBTQ+ club. <br /></p><p>But <i>stating one identifies</i> as something and <i>being a member of a particular community</i> are different things. Community membership is something we can verify objectively. Can the person claiming they are a geek tell you what aspects of geek culture they are passionate about? Do they spend a lot of time chatting on internet forums with others who are into that type of geekery? Do they attend fandom conventions, or makers events, or play weekend sessions of Dungeons and Dragons with fellow tabletop gaming geeks? Are friends and family aware they are a geek? Do they have a collection of favorite geeky t-shirts? Do they defend the honor of the community when they hear people making jokes about geeks?</p><p>So: does Anderson Aldrich really identify as nonbinary? We can't know. But was Aldrich a member of the trans/nonbinary/gender-nonconforming community? No. Nobody at Club Q recognized them. They did not march in pride parades or wear nonbinary flag tshirts. Instead, their Instagram shows an image of a Pride flag on fire. Their dress and demeanor were those of rightwing anti-LGBTQ+ militia fans. They did not defend the honor or safety of queer and trans people under threat. They <i>were</i> the threat. They tried to kill as many LGBTQ+ people as they could with an automatic rifle. They committed a hate crime against the community.</p><p>Well then, why am I referring to Aldrich with the pronoun "they"? Because despite the fact that they were an enemy of the LGBTQ+ community, they could be telling the truth about their identified gender. They could be immersed in extreme rightwing culture, depending on support from ultra-MAGA grandparents and Mormon parents--and yet have realized in their heart of hearts that they were nonbinary. If you had a father, however estranged, who thought it was a worse thing for you to be "gay" than for you to commit mass murder, and you realized you were nonbinary, might you not wind up experiencing extreme self-loathing? </p><p>It is plausible to imagine that a person immersed in a culture of extreme transphobia who realized they were themselves a nonbinary trans person, who was already unstable and armed, would feel, not love for the trans and queer community, but increased hate. There were people who had come out and were happy, having fun at drag shows, supporting one another through the Trans Day of Remembrance, looking forward to an all-ages brunch where young people would get to be themselves and feel safe and accepted. How dare they get to enjoy something a person like Aldrich could not--that Aldrich had already missed out on, with their years as a minor now past? How enraging that these out LGBTQ+ people felt pride where Aldrich felt shame! <br /></p><p>So: Aldrich could be lying about being nonbinary, as his mother lied about being a victim of a home invasion, for attention and plaudits from a cackling rightwing audience, and to try to get out of the hate crime prosecution he deserves. Or they could be telling the truth about their identity--and have committed a crime of doubled hate, against proud and open LGBTQ+ people, and against themself. </p><p>Since we can't tell which is the case, the right thing to do is to refer to Mx. Aldrich in the way they have indicated accords with their identified gender. In this way we model that respect for identified gender is a right, just like the right to a fair trial with an attorney. We don't withdraw those rights just because we are horrified by a crime, or don't like a person. Respecting people's right to a trial of a jury of their peers, and their right to be referred to by the pronouns they say they use, doesn't mean that person gets away with committing evil acts. It means that when we hold them accountable, we have done so in a just and civilized way.<br /></p><p>And consider this: if Aldrich is in fact cisgender, they now have to live their lives being misgendered, and called "they" when they think of themselves as "he". They have to face familial disgust. The masses of transphobes now laughing with them as owning the libs will move to laughing at them, and in time, as Aldrich has to go on asserting that they really mean it, they are nonbinary, through the months or years that court cases against them proceed, they'll become a figure of disgust to those they now delight, held up only as a supposed example of how trans people are "crazy."</p><p>And if Aldrich is not trying to pull some Super Genius scam, and they are indeed nonbinary, and for the first time in their life they are using their identified pronoun publicly and openly, and we nod and employ it--well. What could be more self-punishing than committing an atrocity on a community you hate because they can be out and happy and you believe you cannot--and then finding out that you<i> can</i> come out and have your gender accepted, at least by LGBTQ+ people, but you have destroyed your chances of finding community by shooting community members in rage and hate?</p><p>Aldrich is not a member of the LGBTQ+ community. How about another claim that rightwing talking heads now intone, that as a nonbinary person, Aldrich a leftist, not a
conservative, and liberals must now own that their side has domestic
terrorists? Rightwing media are currently scolding that the left has been blaming the
right for this shooting, and must now apologize to the right, and heap
the shame they tried to foist on rightwing media and politicians on
their own heads. </p><p>This is ridiculous. Aldrich was immersed in rightwing militia culture, and wanted to go out with a bang, spraying bullets at people they hated. They picked an LGBTQ+ club on the eve of Transgender Day of Remembrance because like the rest of us, they have been bombarded with messaging from the transphobic right that queer and especially trans people are evil groomers. They prevented an all-ages drag brunch from happening in an act of domestic terrorism that looks just like the mass murders perpetrated against people who are Black, Latine, or Jewish by rightwing white supremacists. Like the mass shooter at the Pulse LGBTQ+ club in Florida, it is possible that they were internally conflicted. The Pulse shooter may have experienced same-gender attraction; Aldrich may be nonbinary. But whether or not that is the case, which we cannot truly know, they were terrorists full of hate for LGBTQ+ people because of homophobia and transphobia spread by bigots who are on the political right. Politicians and media figures who support hate are the ones encouraging hate crimes, and blaming the victims is reprehensible. <br /></p><p><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">What we must not do</span></p><p><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">There are some things I see people doing--largely allies rather than trans, nonbinary, and/or gender-nonconforming folks--that I think are counterproductive, though the people are well-intentioned. And we should push back against these things.<br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">One is to focus on Aldrich's body. The fact that they are 6'6" and very bulky and look male is held up as belying a nonbinary identity. That's just wrong. Nonbinary people can have any sort of body, and many do not medically transition. And it is such a major theme of transphobia to attack trans people assigned male at birth for having male sex characteristics like broad shoulders or big feet, which is not something anyone can change. Once you've gone through puberty, you get dealt a hand that you have to live with, including sex characteristics that may cause you great distress, and there are no medical transition procedures to narrow a wide pelvis or drop a foot in height. Attacking Adrich for their bodily characteristics just entrenches a harmful trope.</span></p><p><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">A second is to say there's no way someone whose father would prefer that they shoot up a queer club than be queer is nonbinary. Someone raised by a "super-MAGA politician" is declared obviously cis and straight. That's ridiculous. The reason places like Club Q are so important is because there are so many trans and queer people whose bigoted families reject them, leaving them to patch together a family of choice in spaces like LGBTQ+ bars and cafes.<br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">And a third is to argue that a person who is LGBTQ+ by identity can't be an anti-LGBTQ+ bigot, proving Aldrich is cisgender and lying. Well, have you noticed how huge the <a href="https://gayhomophobe.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">list</a> is of politicians who have both sponsored hateful anti-LGBTQ+ bills, and been caught having gay sex? Those politicians don't get a pass on their evil homophobic actions because they were secretly gay. It's an open secret that men who express rabid hate against transfems and gay men are very often covertly attracted to them. That doesn't make the impact of their hate any less.<br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">And if a clandestinely nonbinary person shoots up a club full of queer and trans people in a fit of selfhating, LGBTQ+-hating rage, their secret identity doesn't make it any less of a hate crime. Nor does revealing it after the fact. </span></p><p><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">In conclusion, why we should call Aldrich "they"</span> <br /></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">I myself will remain agnostic as to Aldrich's true identity. It's not something any of us can ever really know, since we can't share their brain, and who would want to. . . I'm skeptical just because faking minority identities and thinking that that gets you privilege over cis straight white people is a fantasy of rightwing culture warriors, that they often try to put into practice. One example would be last year's <a href="https://trans-fusion.blogspot.com/2021/03/transphobes-on-social-media-thrill-to.html" target="_blank">"superstraight" campaign</a>, in which edgelords on 4chan organized a campaign to declare that they had a sexual minority identity called "superstraight" that meant they could only be attracted to cis people, and that since they were "born that way," their disgust at the thought of sex with trans people had to receive deference from the left, and civil rights protection as part of the "LGBSS" community. Yes, "SS" is also the abbreviation used by infamous Nazi death squads--that was part of the "fun."</span></p><p><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">But it is possible Aldrich could be a self-hating nonbinary person filled with rage and hate at out and proud LGBTQ+ communities, of which they were not a member.</span></p><p><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Either way--what we want to model are two things. First: we accept it when people tell us what their identified gender is. And second: that this doesn't mean a person who says they are trans gets away with any evil act they engage in. That's a fantasy of the transphobic, homophobic right. </span></p><p><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">A few years back, there was a cis man who was a member of alt-right trolling online groups. He was married to a woman and had kids. And he started entering the women's locker room at my university gym, wearing his khakis and button-down shirts, in his stubble and Great Clips men's haircut. He was in touch with a conservative legislator, it turns out, and was hoping to "prove" that trans-protective school policies put cis women in danger, as any man could just enter their locker room and stare at naked women there, and nobody could stop him.<br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">You know who stopped him, and protected the women in the locker room from a man with bad intentions? Trans people at my university. It was trans community leaders who told him his online connections had been tracked. That his wife could be informed of his activities. That the police could be informed. That there would be someone allied with us in the locker room at all times, waiting to document his presence, and if the network found out he entered again, then those steps were going to take place.</span></p><p><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">He didn't try again. <br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">This is a modest example of what is revealed by the subduing of the Club Q shooter by unarmed patrons: trans folks are not "fragile snowflakes." We have dealt with a lot of difficult stuff, we have learned we must rely on ourselves to protect one another, and we are not weak. We will stop evildoers in our midst, whatever they claim their identities to be.</span></p><p><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">So: we should call Anderson Aldrich Mx. Aldrich, because everyone, even a murderer, has a right to state what pronouns they use, and have that automatically take place. And we can do so because we have full confidence that what pronoun a person uses matters not at all when it comes to subduing them if they shoot at us, or arguing forcefully that they be charged with a hate crime for murdering us. <br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"> <br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p>Dr. Cary Gabriel Costellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14478058791195474381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-906442678610585215.post-82444708071664802732022-07-09T08:41:00.004-07:002022-07-13T15:49:49.853-07:00Inclusive Language Erases No One<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirwK5k9KpggcCuZkLfsHZfx-ziLTS8Kx9lzsPciko6JQnYJMUr98N_N3upyidwKbmnwHF52aJUkheVHzYY_Ff9ZKSxK-785p8938GSbsJvbeW5u6cKzNonxhtSSCJoGPJ3ZyjH4TmA0ng-d3ocFlXlJ8-BdEqjymV0WHiYGPiWSYBtVT7FfRgF8zzw/s1200/This%20is%20not%20a%20woman.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirwK5k9KpggcCuZkLfsHZfx-ziLTS8Kx9lzsPciko6JQnYJMUr98N_N3upyidwKbmnwHF52aJUkheVHzYY_Ff9ZKSxK-785p8938GSbsJvbeW5u6cKzNonxhtSSCJoGPJ3ZyjH4TmA0ng-d3ocFlXlJ8-BdEqjymV0WHiYGPiWSYBtVT7FfRgF8zzw/s320/This%20is%20not%20a%20woman.png" width="320" /></a></div><p> </p><p>Recently, Bette Midler wrote a viral tweet that read, “WOMEN OF THE WORLD! We are being stripped of our rights over our bodies, our lives and even of our name! They don’t call us ‘women’ anymore; they call us ‘birthing people’ or ‘menstruators’, and even ‘people with vaginas’! Don’t let them erase you! Every human on earth owes you!” </p><p></p><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Let's be real: nobody is, as the transphobes claim, walking around telling women, "You can't say you're having a women's night out tonight and will be hanging out with the ladies! You have to say you're having a menstruators' night out and will be hanging with the people with vaginas!" Not a single trans person is saying that. </div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><br /></div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Inclusive language about body parts is used in a specific context: when talking about a body part and medical care related to it. When medical guidance is being given in a pamphlet or on a website, and it's about getting menstrual periods, care providers have become aware that young people may avoid reading that advice, or may read it and feel hopeless, because they are nonbinary youths or trans boys and it refers to everyone who gets a period as "girls." So they write, "When a person gets their first menstrual period. . ." </div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><br /></div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Medical educators are not worried that cis girls will read the inclusively-worded menstrual health advice and say, “I don’t know if this applies to me. Is a girl a ‘person’?” That’s a strange concern to claim to have. </div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">When I write "pregnant people" rather than "pregnant women," when discussing abortion, it's because I want to recognize the nonbinary people and trans men who might become pregnant and seek those services. I know there are lots of people who roll their eyes, and say "You're catering to some tiny minority!" And there are some who say, "You are erasing women, and denying that it is we who give all life!" As Midler says, "every human owes women" for the gift of life.</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">But that's not true at all. My daughter owes her existence to my former uterus, and I'm a trans man. Nor was I ever actually female, having been born intersex. People who insist that if I gestated a baby, that means I am a woman, are not just denying that identifying and living as a man means that yes, I am a man. They are ignoring the complexities of physical sex diversity.</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Now, here's the irony. What language that includes trans and intersex people does is to say, "A woman and a uterus are two different things. Some people have uteruses, but are not women--they're nonbinary people or trans men. Some people are women, but don't have uteruses--they could be trans women or cis women who had hysterectomies or intersex women assigned female at birth who never had a uterus. Anyway, it's weird to reduce womanhood to having some bodily organ. Women are so much much more than walking uteruses!"</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Now, what do trans-exclusionary people claim? "How dare you speak about 'people with uteruses!’ You're calling women walking baby factories--nothing but containers for wombs!"</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><br /></div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Actually, we're doing the exact opposite of that. So, rest assured, being respectful of trans people is 100% compatible with being respectful of cis women! We all agree: you can't equate a woman with a uterus.</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Right now we are seeing a flurry of nasty tweets and transphobic media columns (there was a doosy recently in the NY Times, which Midler said inspired her tweet, and which I'm not going to dignify with a link). They all claim that it's the transgender agenda to erase womanhood by referring to "pregnant individuals" instead of "mothers-to-be." That's not true--it's in the same vein of lies as "They won't let you say Merry Christmas anymore!" that has been a Fox News staple for so many years now. Nobody is asking cis women not to call themselves women. Nobody is asking Christians not to celebrate Christmas.</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Being inclusive of a minority does not erase the majority. Yes, the majority of children who play American peewee football are boys, but girls play too, and it doesn't erase boys from the earth to speak of "kids who play football" rather than "boys who play football."</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">When we move from saying "mankind" to saying "humankind," we are not erasing men. When we say "pregnant people" instead of "mothers-to-be," we are not erasing moms. We're just trying to make everyone feel welcomed and seen.</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Trans people and our allies agree with cis feminists when they say, "A woman can't be reduced to a uterus!"</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">We're not the ones doing that. Direct outrage at people who are actually oppressing women--not at intersex and trans and nonbinary people! Please.</div></div>Dr. Cary Gabriel Costellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14478058791195474381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-906442678610585215.post-41905104370241975972022-06-12T12:58:00.005-07:002022-06-12T23:04:11.793-07:00My Left-Handed Grandmother and Other Stigmatized Schoolkids<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK0Cp47S6lojg148MWP6GSB6V-BmEBUwaAYU2PTRJhq3NKidUvYp-GHazp62tbkH3X3xhulzA8YYzEivsfPDSAXLXSd8EHnFzcsRK4AP0QWPlAypbEGv_U8-cyyRtWFpmZosE4W8Gi4UjiYhrDJPnxK7xP2Kk8VPr4XWoNLgtK816D5z_OsX8Up6GT/s3264/Grandma%20Ray%20as%20a%20young%20child.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK0Cp47S6lojg148MWP6GSB6V-BmEBUwaAYU2PTRJhq3NKidUvYp-GHazp62tbkH3X3xhulzA8YYzEivsfPDSAXLXSd8EHnFzcsRK4AP0QWPlAypbEGv_U8-cyyRtWFpmZosE4W8Gi4UjiYhrDJPnxK7xP2Kk8VPr4XWoNLgtK816D5z_OsX8Up6GT/w480-h640/Grandma%20Ray%20as%20a%20young%20child.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><p></p><p>I love this photo of my grandmother, <span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh a8c37x1j fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d3f4x2em iv3no6db jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" dir="auto">
who was born in 1901, and immigrated to the US as a tot. Sweet, yes? But
wait! I'm posting this to tell you that she was adjudged a rebellious
delinquent at the ripe age of six.<br /><br />Why? Well, because she
started school--and kept picking up her pencil in her left hand. Every
time the teacher saw her do that, the teacher would hit her hand hard
with a ruler and yell at her for being disobedient. And yet, Rachel
would do it again. She was judged wayward and ungovernable by her
teacher--a child who would never amount to anything. Another "unruly,
ignorant, immigrant Jew."<br /><br />Facing such stigma, eventually my
grandmother trained herself not to use her naturally-dominant left hand,
and to write with her right. But her introduction to schooling had been
traumatic. <br /><br />I tell you this story now because it helps explain
why, at the time my grandmother started school, only about 3% of
children were reported to be left-handed. As the social stigma
associated with being left-handed came to be seen as unfair and
unnecessary, that rate would rise. In 1920 it was 5% of American children who were found to be
left-handed. By 1930 it was 7%. In 1940 10% of schoolchildren were
left-handed, and by the early 1960s, the rate was a bit under 12%, at
which point it stopped rising. It's still a bit under 12% today. You can see the change over time in this chart:</span></p><p><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh a8c37x1j fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d3f4x2em iv3no6db jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" dir="auto"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvs2YQ_FdzXcdAj6Z1Pv6g3r-_Of3yQ7rwqKjWiyobxhC0m06CZfGr1K8GY_aQJRvFuf3U1O1qfVO2ig6_fJkkGYRMMMCzuZF4SunUTaP0Elr4ixc_27Ic0fFdFhoivclZz4AcHYBZc76CMZ_rDEe8Qt8MCPhCNt_H0qjQqDOqWy3jkG7f5WdNPXHI/s1280/history%20of%20left-handedness%20in%20the%20US.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1023" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvs2YQ_FdzXcdAj6Z1Pv6g3r-_Of3yQ7rwqKjWiyobxhC0m06CZfGr1K8GY_aQJRvFuf3U1O1qfVO2ig6_fJkkGYRMMMCzuZF4SunUTaP0Elr4ixc_27Ic0fFdFhoivclZz4AcHYBZc76CMZ_rDEe8Qt8MCPhCNt_H0qjQqDOqWy3jkG7f5WdNPXHI/w400-h320/history%20of%20left-handedness%20in%20the%20US.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Today,
there's a great deal of social commentary about the fact that the
percentage of youths with gender-expansive identities--transgender,
nonbinary--is rising substantially. On the political right, a whole lot
of people are screeching that this is due to their being "groomed" by
adults and duped or seduced into having these "unnatural" identities.
But even on the left, a lot of cis people are uneasy about the increase,
and consider it a strange "fad."<br /><br />Both of those perspectives
presume that there is something bad or at least dubious about
trans-identification and its rise. I'm here to point out that actually,
it's the fact that more people--especially young ones--see clearly that
there is nothing wrong with being a gender minority, that accounts for
the rise. If you see the social stigma and shame aimed at trans and/or
nonbinary people as unnecessary and unfair, you will accept
trans-identification with a smile or a shrug. And when people aren't
being punished for their gender identity being atypical, they'll go
ahead and express that, and the rates will rise. <br /><br />There's nothing
sinister about that. And yes, I use that the word "sinister" to remind
people that it is simply the Latin word for "left". Being prejudiced
against left-handed people is a weird, ancient superstition in Western
culture. It's a lot older than prejudice against gender-expansive
identities. <br /><br />Don't panic when young people aren't right-handed.
Don't panic when they aren't cisgender. They'll be fine--if you let them
be who they are, instead of torturing them for being atypical.<br /><br /><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"></span><br /><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"></span><br /><p></p>Dr. Cary Gabriel Costellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14478058791195474381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-906442678610585215.post-70344941641276792362022-03-27T14:59:00.022-07:002022-08-19T11:54:16.106-07:00The Real Problem When it Comes to Trans Kids and Athletics<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /> <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHgVdGCcpopKAE1WpAQ2hmkqXQV1QnYAadfA2B6_qZSvmRLi9-noLjU2TFC7rYaFspoQuiNojqMG2RKeAyKArWYO3ral7s4Tx2gF6ZyiFHrgyQKKYypdVLjTPT_TxOsPv8jP-wOeDske63cZZO2AwV5A3BNwVVSArUk6eAEIOoKfJnmaaqfWlRNtHu/s1200/the%20real%20problem%20of%20trans%20girls%20in%20sports.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHgVdGCcpopKAE1WpAQ2hmkqXQV1QnYAadfA2B6_qZSvmRLi9-noLjU2TFC7rYaFspoQuiNojqMG2RKeAyKArWYO3ral7s4Tx2gF6ZyiFHrgyQKKYypdVLjTPT_TxOsPv8jP-wOeDske63cZZO2AwV5A3BNwVVSArUk6eAEIOoKfJnmaaqfWlRNtHu/w400-h400/the%20real%20problem%20of%20trans%20girls%20in%20sports.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">At the time I write this, <a href="https://www.deseret.com/u-s-world/2022/3/26/22996780/transgender-sports-bans-full-list" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">12 states</a> now ban either trans girls, or all trans youth, from participating in school athletics. Eight more currently have bills pending, and others have bills waiting to be introduced.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Attacking trans youths, especially trans girls, is all the rage in America's "red states." This is claimed in the most outraged tones to be necessary to protect cis girls. Trans girls are misgendered as "males" and framed as barging into girls' spaces. Lawmakers say the people of their great states are panicked over the need to protect cis girls' privacy, and outraged that "biological females" participating in sports will no longer be able to win trophies or ribbons, because of "males' natural advantage."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Context</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Generating sex panics to energize conservative culture warriors is nothing new. Between 1998 and 2012, the same states now banning trans girls from sports <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._state_constitutional_amendments_banning_same-sex_unions" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">banned</a> <a href="https://gaymarriage.procon.org/state-by-state-history-of-banning-and-legalizing-gay-marriage/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">same-gender marriage</a>. These discriminatory laws were called "Defense of Marriage" acts, and it was claimed that allowing people of the same gender to form legal families would somehow imperil the family as an institution and destroy moral values. My own lieutenant governor, Rebecca Kleefisch, stated, "This is a slippery slope. . . at what point are we going to be OK marrying inanimate objects? Can I marry this table, or this, you know, clock? Can we marry dogs?" To allow same-gender marriage was to condone bestiality and table-marrying.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The movement to ban same-gender marriage was bigoted and ridiculous--as bans on trans kids' sport participation are bigoted and ridiculous. Allowing two people of the same gender to marry actually strengthens investment in families, protects children, and does exactly zero to harm marriages between women and men. But claiming that supporting LGBTQ+ families would somehow destroy society was extremely effective in generating political energy and funds for conservative political candidates.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And before the panic about same-gender marriage on the right, there was panic about laws that would prevent job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The 1970s and 80s saw the "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Save_Our_Children" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Save Our Children</a>" movement and its spinoffs, which claimed that because "homosexuals cannot procreate," they sought access to children to "convert" to homosexuality via pedophilic abuse, and were seeking bans on discrimination so they could access vulnerable children as teachers or scouting leaders. This slander about pedophilia was very useful in funneling evangelical Christians and large amounts of money into Republican campaigns, and so Republican politicians keep stoking it, decade after decade. Consider what Gov. Ron Desantis' press secretary Christin Pushaw <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/03/12/florida-dont-say-gay-bill/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">recently tweeted</a>, in defending Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill that bans discussions or children's books mentioning sexual orientation or gender identity in elementary schools. She claimed, "The bill that liberals inaccurately call 'Don't Say Gay' would be more accurately described as an Anti-Grooming Bill. If you're against the Anti-Grooming Bill, you are probably a groomer or at least you don't denounce the grooming of 4-8 year-old children. Silence is complicity. This is how it works, Democrats, and I didn't make the rules." The term "grooming" refers to preparing a child to be sexually abused-- recycling the same old claim made by "Save Our Children" decades ago. LGBTQ+ people are seeking to get at your children, to abuse and convert them. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And before sex panics about LGBTQ+ people, America had developed a long tradition of justifying racial segregation and racial terrorism as necessary to protect white women and girls from Black men, framed as <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2015/06/the-deadly-history-of-theyre-raping-our-women-racists-have-long-defended-their-worst-crimes-in-the-name-of-defending-white-womens-honor.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">monstrous sexual predators</a>. I've written before about how tactics deployed against trans people in the U.S. today are heavily modeled on those <a href="https://trans-fusion.blogspot.com/2012/01/transphobia-racism-and-segregation.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">developed to oppress African Americans</a>, after the end of slavery and the withdrawal of Reconstruction. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #ffade5;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">The Problem</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So, America has a long history of using panics about sex, gender, and sexuality to keep the conservative masses politically engaged. I know it's nothing new. But I hear a lot of cis people who mean well say that as if it is supposed to be comforting when it comes to state bans on trans youth participation in sports. "Don't worry, they're always saying this about someone." Either I'm told that they'll lose interest eventually and turn their attention to some other target, or I'm served some narrative about progress being inevitable. And anyway, I'm told, there aren't really a lot of kids being affected--the bans are symbolic. Basically, we're being trolled and should just ignore the trolling.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">OK, let's look at these claims one by one.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Progress is unfortunately not inevitable; it requires a deep investment of time and energy. But even if it were, this blasé mindset ignores the tremendous damage done to people's lives during the long years while that progress is being fought for--including years in which other hate campaigns take center stage. It's true that to keep levels of political outrage high, conservative politicians and influencers shift their focus around to keep the news fresh. But when news cycle is focused elsewhere, the discriminatory laws and policies don't fade. Nor do the negative interactions marginalized people have with bigots go away because the particular flavor of hate aimed at them isn't a media focus at that moment.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Then there is the idea that not many people are affected, or the impact isn't serious. The spotlight in evaluating the impact of bias gets focused on the many who do not survive. <a href="https://lynchinginamerica.eji.org/explore" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Over 4000</a> Black people were lynched in acts of white supremacist racial terrorism between the end of Reconstruction and 1950. <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dawnstaceyennis/2021/05/19/terrible-time-for-trans-youth-new-survey-spotlights-suicide-spike---and-hope/?sh=c211c2c716ea" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">More than half</a> of all trans youth reported that they had seriously considered suicide in 2020, and<a href="https://www.thetrevorproject.org/survey-2021/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> about 1 in 5</a> trans youth of color reported having attempted to kill themselves.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But I think the focus on mortality both understates and misstates the problem. Well-meaning cis allies are correct: very, very few trans kids are getting kicked off of their school athletics teams now as these bans are being passed. And nobody dies of being kicked off a team.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But the reason so few kids are getting kicked off teams is because, formally or informally, almost all trans youths are <i>already</i> being kept out of school athletics. Tennessee passed a law banning trans youth from sports, despite the fact that the transphobic activist organizations and legislators<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lawmakers-unable-to-cite-local-trans-girls-sports-914a982545e943ecc1e265e8c41042e7" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> could not find a single example </a>of a trans girl ever participating in Tennessee school sports. Neither could <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/549649-nd-governor-vetoes-transgender-sports-ban" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">North Dakota</a>, or <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/22/politics/indiana-transgender-sports-ban-veto-governor-holcomb/index.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Indiana</a>, but their legislatures passed bans. Utah found exactly <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8711343/utah-transgender-youth-sports-ban/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">one trans girl</a> participating in school sports. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">This demonstrates the real problem, which is that trans girls aren't overrepresented in sports--they are drastically underrepresented.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Trans boys and nonbinary kids assigned female at birth are also deeply underrepresented--even though the "logic" of trans sport participation bans doesn't apply to them at all. The claim is that "biological males" inevitably beat "biological females," giving all trans girls, trans women, and nonbinary folks assigned male at birth an unfair advantage. This myth has been <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/trans-girls-belong-on-girls-sports-teams/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">debunked</a> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/nonbinary.trash.boy/posts/5682775795071177" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">at length </a><a href="https://intersexroadshow.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-problematic-ideology-of-natural-sex.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">elsewhere</a>. (And that one trans girl athlete in Utah? She works hard, but her performance is totally middle of the pack.) In any case, by that "logic", transmasculine youth should be at a sport disadvantage, with cis boys having an innate advantage over them. But because bigots like to cloak their bigotry in an appearance of fairness, many of the trans sport participation bans apply to all youths.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So, trans kids of all birth genders and all identities are being kept out of sports. Individual principals or coaches or school boards may have formally banned their participation. But it's rarely necessary. Because trans kids see clearly what is going on. It has been made crystal clear to them that if they try to participate in school athletics, peers will attack them in locker rooms, adults will spit at them in school board meetings, their parents will be targets of hate and perhaps death threats, and now that they might be removed from their family homes, because familial support of trans youths is being <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politics-and-policy/texas-governor-calls-citizens-report-parents-transgender-kids-abuse-rcna17455" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">framed as child abuse</a> by right-wing culture warriors. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Trans girls do not present a threat to cis girls in sports. But because they are claimed to do so, almost all of the many thousands of trans youth around the country do not participate in athletics. As usual, conservative culture warriors <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DARVO" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">reverse victim and offender</a>, and abuse the marginalized. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I don't really think I need to tell you this, but <a href="https://health.gov/sites/default/files/2020-09/YSS_Report_OnePager_2020-08-31_web.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">participating in athletics is healthy</a> for children and adults, while being inactive is not. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So: these bans may just formalize what is already the praxis. Trans kids are already kept from sporting participation. But the same was true of same-gender marriage bans. States passed them despite the fact that same-gender marriages weren't being performed. The importance of this legal discrimination is that the act of campaigning about and passing discriminatory laws is meant to create fear and silence. To cause people to stay in the closet. For the privileged to erase and "cancel" the marginalized, while claiming that it is they, the privileged, who are the real victims, the real targets of "cancellation."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Telling trans folks to just ignore these bills as trolling because there are few trans kids affected ignores the fact that the vast majority of trans kids, of every birth sex and every gender identity, are already affected.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's really important that we see the real problem here for what it is. Because framing transfeminine people as a threat generates energy for right-wing politicians and for TERF influencers addicted to the "culture war," trans kids are vastly underrepresented in school sports. They have been segregated out formally, and terrorized informally into self-segregation. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Young people need our support and encouragement, not to be terrorized. People who recognize the humanity of trans kids should be pointing this out every time some bigot starts with the TERF/right-wing claims that their actions are motivated by care about girls' and their participation in sports. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Dr. Cary Gabriel Costellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14478058791195474381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-906442678610585215.post-44969807257233623042022-01-20T14:05:00.006-08:002022-01-20T15:27:20.050-08:00On Anti-Androgens and Covid-19<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEha-kJv_fEAAqkoAai3Qh1NPOCljC5i0O78aMTSO9NJLtaKGVBiVy3J_TrPthmPSpHQ4Y-RcOGSoIIhauKSMqEDkrAPmmT9zpI8YiIooV-WDScHK0KXMnF2uG2f8Y3jyrdd3WNNW2pVyMoIZnHICukzfLFpQxk-v9EoDCZIO3IgPUVmFFntwWdmp0O_=s1000" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEha-kJv_fEAAqkoAai3Qh1NPOCljC5i0O78aMTSO9NJLtaKGVBiVy3J_TrPthmPSpHQ4Y-RcOGSoIIhauKSMqEDkrAPmmT9zpI8YiIooV-WDScHK0KXMnF2uG2f8Y3jyrdd3WNNW2pVyMoIZnHICukzfLFpQxk-v9EoDCZIO3IgPUVmFFntwWdmp0O_=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div data-contents="true"><div data-block="true" data-editor="7grn8" data-offset-key="2rpm1-0-0"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2rpm1-0-0"><span data-offset-key="2rpm1-0-0"><span data-text="true">Perhaps you learned this past week that among the self-"treatments" Americans opposed to vaccination have been using for cases of Covid are <a href="https://www.them.us/story/spironolactone-covid-19-hrt-fox-news" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">anti-androgens</a>. </span></span></div></div><div data-block="true" data-editor="7grn8" data-offset-key="48e6u-0-0"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="48e6u-0-0"><span data-offset-key="48e6u-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div data-block="true" data-editor="7grn8" data-offset-key="2eleu-0-0"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2eleu-0-0"><span data-offset-key="2eleu-0-0"><span data-text="true">Anti-androgens are medications that block the body's production of testosterone. They have lots of uses recognized by the medical profession: as part of a medical transition for trans women; to suppress testosterone production in cis women whose bodies are making a lot of it and who don't like how that manifests; to slow the process of balding; to treat hormonal acne. </span></span></div></div><div data-block="true" data-editor="7grn8" data-offset-key="a35e1-0-0"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="a35e1-0-0"><span data-offset-key="a35e1-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div data-block="true" data-editor="7grn8" data-offset-key="6hgc7-0-0"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6hgc7-0-0"><span data-offset-key="6hgc7-0-0"><span data-text="true">Taking them to try to treat Covid is not among these medically-recognized uses. </span></span></div></div><div data-block="true" data-editor="7grn8" data-offset-key="ar99c-0-0"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ar99c-0-0"><span data-offset-key="ar99c-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div data-block="true" data-editor="7grn8" data-offset-key="egq3p-0-0"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="egq3p-0-0"><span data-offset-key="egq3p-0-0"><span data-text="true">Some observers--especially in the trans community--have been chuckling or groaning or tearing their hair to see that a subgroup of people who are often highly transphobic have been ganking spirnolactone dosage and scheduling information off of transition information websites. Some suspect that a person who takes anti-androgens according to information they got from a transfeminine education site, all the while claiming to despise trans women and to be the most "alpha male" person ever, might as well be holding up a sign saying "Hi! I am selfhating, trans, closeted, and in denial!" That is an excellent point.</span></span></div></div><div data-block="true" data-editor="7grn8" data-offset-key="9mvrh-0-0"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="9mvrh-0-0"><span data-offset-key="9mvrh-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div data-block="true" data-editor="7grn8" data-offset-key="dhaol-0-0"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="dhaol-0-0"><span data-offset-key="dhaol-0-0"><span data-text="true">But what I wanted to focus on here is the underlying belief that has led those pushing "alternative" medical treatments for Covid to put anti-androgens on that list. That belief is a truism you hear all the time in discussions of Covid lethality. And that truism is that "males are more likely to die of Covid than are females." </span></span></div></div><div data-block="true" data-editor="7grn8" data-offset-key="4j932-0-0"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="4j932-0-0"><span data-offset-key="4j932-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div data-block="true" data-editor="7grn8" data-offset-key="6h7cr-0-0"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6h7cr-0-0"><span data-offset-key="6h7cr-0-0"><span data-text="true">It isn't actually true. </span></span></div></div><div data-block="true" data-editor="7grn8" data-offset-key="73mv9-0-0"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="73mv9-0-0"><span data-offset-key="73mv9-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div data-block="true" data-editor="7grn8" data-offset-key="dellq-0-0"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="dellq-0-0"><span data-offset-key="dellq-0-0"><span data-text="true">Or, ok: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/19/health/covid-gender-deaths-men-women.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">it is true in some places at some times, but false in others</a>. In Texas, it has been true during the entire pandemic. In Connecticut, it was true during some months of the pandemic and false in others. In Massachusetts, it is women who have died at higher rates from Covid. There are more states in the US in which Covid has proven more fatal to men than women than the reverse, but it's highly variable by region and point in the pandemic. </span></span></div></div><div data-block="true" data-editor="7grn8" data-offset-key="11bl8-0-0"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="11bl8-0-0"><span data-offset-key="11bl8-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div data-block="true" data-editor="7grn8" data-offset-key="fuhaa-0-0"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="fuhaa-0-0"><span data-offset-key="fuhaa-0-0"><span data-text="true">Do you know what doesn't vary by region and month? Biological sex characteristics. If testosterone was making people more vulnerable to Covid, that would be as true in Massachusetts as it is in Texas. </span></span></div></div><div data-block="true" data-editor="7grn8" data-offset-key="djg9d-0-0"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="djg9d-0-0"><span data-offset-key="djg9d-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div data-block="true" data-editor="7grn8" data-offset-key="7qbar-0-0"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7qbar-0-0"><span data-offset-key="7qbar-0-0"><span data-text="true">What does vary regionally are social factors. What does the gendered division of labor and occupations look like in a given area of the country? And which of those gendered jobs involve heightened risk? (We often think of "dangerous jobs" being those that involve heavy machinery or violence, but caregiving jobs that are framed as feminine, like working in an elder care facility, or daycare center, or as a nurse's aide, are both highly stressful and associated with high exposure to disease.) Also varying by region is gender expression. How do men perform masculinity? Does it involve considering actions like handwashing "sissified," or not seeing a doctor until symptoms have become dire? Or are washing your hands and seeing a doctor deemed nongendered, commonsensical activities?</span></span></div></div><div data-block="true" data-editor="7grn8" data-offset-key="brrl9-0-0"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="brrl9-0-0"><span data-offset-key="brrl9-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div data-block="true" data-editor="7grn8" data-offset-key="2sf33-0-0"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2sf33-0-0"><span data-offset-key="2sf33-0-0"><span data-text="true">Suppressing testosterone production does have real effects--ask any trans woman on HRT, or cis woman with PCOS, who is taking spiro. Over time, it thins body hair production, for example. But those effects do not include making you wash your hands and wear a mask more diligently! They do not magically change the gendered division of labor in your region of the nation.</span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2sf33-0-0"><span data-offset-key="2sf33-0-0"><span data-text="true"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2sf33-0-0">The presumption that if a gendered difference is noticed in some kind of health outcome, it must be biological and universal is, to be blunt, stupid. The ideology of biological essentialism blinds people to the empirical reality that what it means to be a man or a woman or any other gender is largely social. This is not to deny that biological sex characteristics are real! Estrogen really makes breast tissue grow. Testosterone really makes facial hair grow. But hormones do not cause employers to pay people in jobs coded as masculine more than they pay people in jobs coded as feminine. They do not make girls like pink and boys like blue. And they don't make you wear face masks more or less often.</div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2sf33-0-0"><br /></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2sf33-0-0">Taking anti-androgens will not magically cure Covid. I can't say I'm surprised it has been proposed to do that by conspiracists on social media--having watched people fervidly believe in and seek out such "alternative treatments" as bleach solutions and horse de-wormer over the course of the pandemic.</div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2sf33-0-0"><br /></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2sf33-0-0">What does sadden and annoy me is how there have been a bunch of medical studies looking at the idea of taking anti-androgens to prevent or treat Covid. Early in the pandemic, when we knew little about the coronavirus, its understandable that medical researchers would be grasping at straws. But it is now clear that the higher mortality rate for men that was observed in some studies is not at all universal, and doesn't appear in 11 US states. Medical researchers should know that if some phenomenon is gendered one way in state X, and the opposite way in state Y next door, and this shifts over the course of a year, then it is strongly social in causation, not due to chromosomal variance. </div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2sf33-0-0"><br /></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2sf33-0-0">But the demand for "alternative treatments" of Covid has been high, and the public's beliefs about testosterone inflate its importance and <a href="https://www.katrinakarkazis.com/testosterone-an-unauthorized-biography" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">paint it in magical terms</a>, for reasons rooted in patriarchy and the framing of testosterone as the "essence of maleness." And so, while most medical researchers consider the proposal that anti-androgens can prevent or cure Covid to have <a href="https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/update-anti-androgen-therapy-coronavirus" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">been</a> <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jdv.17249" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">disproven</a>, a subgroup persists in asserting this claim--and they get lots of attention from conspiracists and tabloid-style journalism.</div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2sf33-0-0"><br /></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2sf33-0-0">And that is how, recently, advice from "alternative medicine" influencers--a few of them <a href="https://video.foxnews.com/v/6290779450001#sp=show-clips" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">doctors</a>--to treat Covid with androgen blockers went viral. </div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2sf33-0-0"><br /></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2sf33-0-0">Anti-androgens will not save you from Covid. They'll slow your balding, if that's your thing. (It's not mine. I'm very happy with the balding hairline testosterone HRT granted me!) But a person who avoids vaccination, masking, and social distancing, thinking they can just take that bottle of spironolactone they acquired to cure Covid if they catch it. . . well, that person can die. <br /><br />And among the factors we can blame for their death--along with MAGA intransigence and the rage for conspiracies and quack doctors profiteering--are magical beliefs people have, about testosterone in particular, and physical sex characteristics in general. </div></div></div>Dr. Cary Gabriel Costellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14478058791195474381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-906442678610585215.post-36527401472481002942021-05-09T12:09:00.003-07:002021-05-10T15:25:50.989-07:00Reconsidering Mother's Day<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBfVkSl4jhKPqe3yDSti0cUqq-1XhV7IZvwmjSYeHMOwJQ8nTuI0D5GgZ1es8aWa9_W-AIVuXPKKSDZuXn6naCrA12Lt6Kny1AyoiMo_7ls5iKy-qp3eIm3LkDvT19zDp6lKt-4XdJkQs/s940/Let%2527s+Deconstruct+Mother%2527s+Day.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="788" data-original-width="940" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBfVkSl4jhKPqe3yDSti0cUqq-1XhV7IZvwmjSYeHMOwJQ8nTuI0D5GgZ1es8aWa9_W-AIVuXPKKSDZuXn6naCrA12Lt6Kny1AyoiMo_7ls5iKy-qp3eIm3LkDvT19zDp6lKt-4XdJkQs/s320/Let%2527s+Deconstruct+Mother%2527s+Day.gif" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>As a gestational parent, I am among many who have ambivalent feelings about Mother's Day.</p><p>The issue with this holiday is that it compounds so many things that need to be considered separately. So let's deconstruct Mother's Day!</p><p>First: the history. The contemporary Mother's Day holiday was actually established to celebrate feminist activism--specifically, women's advocacy of peace over war, and the movement for votes for women, which would give these peace advocates a political voice. It arose out of the volunteer work of Victorian women. The Victorians invented the idea of "separate spheres," where (white) men would work outside the home for pay, and (white) women be confined in the home, to raise children and do domestic labor without pay. Victorian feminists framed their activism as an extension of their vaunted maternal duties, and hence as right and proper. Antifeminists called their activism improper, unwomanly, and disordered. So the idea of making a holiday to celebrate mothers' volunteer labor was in fact quite political. It was feminist.</p><p>But within a few decades of its founding in 1907, the radicalism had been drained from Mother's Day. It was commercialized, and became a day for giving mothers floral arrangements, jewelry, restaurant meals, and other gifts. By the 1950s, it was a sentimental holiday celebrating stay-at-home motherhood--now something feminists were critiquing. <br /></p><p>This remains the case today, but unlike the Victorian era or 1950s, we are not living in an era of separate-spheres binary gender arrangements. Heterosexuality is no longer compulsory. Fathers are now expected to participate in child care. The fact that women in mother/father coparenting couples still do a disproportionate amount of the domestic labor is something that many women have been tearing their hair over during the pandemic. And some parents are trans and/or nonbinary.</p><p>So let's deconstruct what gets celebrated on Mother's Day into its component parts.</p><p>There's being a gestational parent. Pregnancy is hard work that gets little accommodation in the U.S., and that's not fair. Giving birth remains dangerous, most especially for marginalized parents. In my home state, Black individuals giving birth are 5 times as likely to die as Anglo white individuals. Latine gestators are 3 times are likely to die giving birth than Anglo white individuals. Pregnant trans men and nonbinary individuals in my state are treated with disdain and incomprehension by medical care providers, which most certainly also increases their risk, although nobody has funded a study of this. </p><p>But we should not just focus on the danger of dying as a result of giving birth. Gestational parents make physical sacrifices when they endure pregnancy and labor. As the phrase goes in the world of sport, we "give up the body." Pelvises can separate, spines can be injured, sacroiliac joints are harmed--and these injuries often result in chronic pain, for years or for life. People endure genital tears, or major surgical wounds, and their healing can be complicated. Stress incontinence can be a lifelong issue. </p><p>But an ideology has developed in the contemporary U.S. that to demand recognition and accommodation of the work, exhaustion, pain, nausea, temporary disabilities, and permanent disabilities associated with pregnancy and delivery is a sign of being a bad employee who does not deserve respect, good pay, or promotion. Pregnancy and delivery are treated as private choices which must not impinge on employee duties. Parental leave is treated as a vacation, not as an entitlement to paid sick leave from employers.<br /></p><p>In this context, it is important that we have an annual reminder that we should be honoring the risks and pain endured by gestational parents to bring new lives into the world (and not just with cards, but with laws ensuring accommodations). The problem is that some of those who are making sacrifices that go unaccommodated are not mothers. Gestational parents who are not women go largely unrecognized by the medical establishment and by government agencies. And by honoring gestational sacrifice under the rubric of "Mother's Day," celebrants validate and participate in this exclusion. Gestators who are men or nonbinary wind up either having our gender identities denied by people sending us "Mother's Day" cards, or get no recognition of what we have done at all.<br /></p><p>Another problem is how honoring the work and the sacrifices of those who bear children gets conflated with so many other things in Mother's Day.</p><p>For example, there's domestic labor. In the 1950s reconception of Mother's Day, mothers are framed as "homemakers," and on this one day a year, father and the children cook the meals, do the grocery shopping, and wash the dishes, to give Mama one day of out 365 as a vacation day. That's an eyeroller of a number of vacation days for Mother. Now consider today, when the majority of mothers have paid jobs. Unlike their white middle-class counterparts in the 1950s, white middle-class fathers married to women today do a substantial amount of childcare today, changing diapers and giving kids their baths. But the wives of these men today remain responsible for the lion's share of other domestic chores, like washing and folding laundry, or cleaning the bathroom.</p><p>The unwillingness of cis men married to women in the U.S. today to step up and do more manifested during the pandemic in many women becoming unemployed, not because their workplaces shut down, but because schools did, and their husbands simply would not engage in childcare during work hours, or do more chores, even though, with entire families at home for months on end, the amount of dishes and mess went way up. Husbands and employers conceiving of childcare and domestic chores as optional for men and mandatory for women put great pressure on women whose husbands had jobs that paid enough that the family could survive for a time on just his income to leave the workforce and become fulltime housewives. Many were very unhappy about being pushed into a patriarchal family arrangement by husbands who would not step up and share the burden of increased domestic duties.</p><p>These gender politics deserve to be seen. And the value of doing domestic labor should be honored. But if we honor them under the rubric of "Mother's Day," we wind up naturalizing and supporting an unfair division of labor by binary gender, rather than critiquing this arrangement.<br /></p><p>There are also people who are neither mothers nor women who have suffered greatly from this equation of mothering with doing the domestic work. For example, a primary caregiver and domestic laborer may be nonbinary. Or they could be a "standard" cisgender, endosex father who is a single parent. About 1 in 5 single parents today is a man. </p><p>Single parenting is always a struggle. During the pandemic, it was a terrible position to be in, as schools and childcare shut down, yet single parents had to work to support their children. And in this case, it was single fathers who were in a particularly poor position, because their status gets treated as incomprehensible by many employers, who refuse to make any accommodation at all for a man's parenting responsibilities. </p><p>Again, by honoring the performance of parenting and domestic labor under the rubric of "Mother's Day," we participate in the exclusion and nonrecognition of people like nonbinary parents and single dads.</p><p>So: the celebration of "Mother's Day" is really a celebration of three different things. One is the traditional meaning of the holiday, as a day to honor women's volunteering and feminist activism. The second is to show respect for the sacrifices made by gestators. And the third is to recognize the performance of childcare and domestic labor--the value of that unceasing work that receives neither pay nor employer deference.</p><p>My solution to this would be to get rid of Mother's Day, or that silly holiday, Father's Day, invented just because men were pouty about women getting a special day with no men's parallel, and consumer capitalists being in favor of more holidays and more spending.</p><p>I'd replace these holidays with a greater number of more specific ones. I'd have a Childbearer's Day that seeks greater social recognition of the labor performed and sacrifices made by gestators--especially recognition in the form of employer accommodations and paid leave. I'd have a Caregivers' Day, to recognize the labor of childrearing, and not act as if bringing children into the world marks the end of the sacrifices required to raise them. And I'd have a Domestic Labor Day, where we all march to call for the recognition of this work, and for it to be performed equitably. None of these holidays would be gendered, so that parents of all genders who gestate, raise children, and do domestic labor would be honored. And then I'd have one gendered holiday, to restore the original intent of the Victorian founders of "Mother's Day," which was to celebrate women's activism. I was thinking International Women's Day might serve, but it is evolving into another trite Mother's Day-style holiday of posting pictures of flowers. There's a Women's Equality Day that celebrates the day the 19th Amendment gave women in the U.S. the vote, but that is kind of narrow, and makes it seem like the need for feminism ended in 1920. So I suppose it's best to just be straightforward, and call it Feminism Day.<br /></p><p>Instead of one holiday, I present you with four! Deconstruction is festive.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Dr. Cary Gabriel Costellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14478058791195474381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-906442678610585215.post-43883631658086573302021-04-10T18:56:00.007-07:002021-04-27T16:13:50.267-07:00Creating Social Panics to Entrench Bias: A Brief History<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0qyzNYSrCTaNm-3RPoRoTv0DNLWmVKp7aBA-6M18rjskY835J1QiSLFUDqE83Pf2Sc3HmszVdfD_6CNx8GaNU6vH4p2r4mpyOkMe4TlJwHXvEaq3Jvtn9W8wv3_XPpTzL2zu_W8euDYI/s1080/trans+panic+flag.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="566" data-original-width="1080" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0qyzNYSrCTaNm-3RPoRoTv0DNLWmVKp7aBA-6M18rjskY835J1QiSLFUDqE83Pf2Sc3HmszVdfD_6CNx8GaNU6vH4p2r4mpyOkMe4TlJwHXvEaq3Jvtn9W8wv3_XPpTzL2zu_W8euDYI/s320/trans+panic+flag.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>Creating social panics about sexual problems that don't actually exist has been a favorite of reactionaries in the U.S. in response to civil rights movements.</p><div dir="auto"><div class="ecm0bbzt hv4rvrfc ihqw7lf3 dati1w0a" data-ad-comet-preview="message" data-ad-preview="message" id="jsc_c_ib"><div class="j83agx80 cbu4d94t ew0dbk1b irj2b8pg"><div class="qzhwtbm6 knvmm38d"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh a8c37x1j keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d3f4x2em fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb iv3no6db jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id hzawbc8m" dir="auto"><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto">In the 1950s, reactionaries claimed that ending racial discrimination would lead to white women getting <a href="https://slate.com/human-interest/2015/11/anti-trans-bathroom-propaganda-has-roots-in-racial-segregation.html" target="_blank">sexually-transmitted infections</a> from Black women in public bathrooms. If schools were racially integrated, they said, white schoolgirls would get syphilis from Black girls in shared school bathrooms.</div><div dir="auto"> </div><div dir="auto">These claims were racist and ridiculous. But many white people believed them, and this fear was harnessed to generate waves of resistance against racial integration.<br /></div><div dir="auto"><br /></div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto">In the 1970s, reactionaries claimed that prohibiting sex discrimination with the Equal Rights Amendment would mean that <a href="https://www.vox.com/2015/12/30/10690802/bathrooms-equal-rights-lgbtq" rel="" target="_blank">public restrooms</a> could no longer be<a href="https://archive.thinkprogress.org/how-the-religious-right-learned-to-use-bathrooms-as-a-weapon-against-justice-fa8db0e7e949/" rel="" target="_blank"> segregated by gender</a>, which would lead to widespread rape of women by men.</div><div dir="auto"> </div><div dir="auto">The ERA would not have banned gendered restrooms--that was a lie. But bathroom panic was a main reason the ERA failed to pass.<br /></div><div dir="auto"><br /></div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto">In the 1980s, reactionaries claimed that protecting people from employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation would lead to gay and lesbian teachers and scout leaders sexually abusing children. Gay men were said to be pedophiles who would somehow be empowered to assault boys in bathrooms by employment nondiscrimination. A "crusade" against this was led by Anita Byrant, dramatically named "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Save_Our_Children" target="_blank">Save Our Children</a>!".</div><div dir="auto"> </div><div dir="auto">This was homophobic nonsense. But masses of parents were filled with panic and hate, which slowed and reversed antidiscrimination efforts.<br /></div><div dir="auto"><br /></div></div><div dir="auto"><div dir="auto">In the 2000s, reactionaries claimed that allowing same-gender marriage would destroy the American family and <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gop-rep-links-same-sex-marriage-and-bestiality/" target="_blank">enable bestiality</a>. Politicians equated same-gender marriage to claiming a right to <a href="https://www.advocate.com/news/daily-news/2010/10/27/gop-candidate-gay-marriage-just-marrying-clock" target="_blank">marry a table</a>--something only a society that had lost all sense could support. </div><div dir="auto"><br /></div><div dir="auto">It was the reactionaries' assertions that were nonsensical. But between 1998 and 2012, 31 states passed <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._state_constitutional_amendments_banning_same-sex_unions#:~:text=Only%20three%20constitutional%20bans%20on,All%20three%20amendments%20passed." target="_blank">state constitutional amendments</a> banning same-gender marriage due to panic that the institutions of marriage and family would be destroyed by. . . marriages and families.<br /></div> </div><div dir="auto">Now reactionaries claim that respecting trans students' lived genders will "destroy female sports," and laws that ban trans girls from playing sports with other girls have been introduced in <a href="https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/politics/2021/03/29/dozens-of-states-consider-laws-banning-transgender-women-from-team-sports" target="_blank">over 30 states.</a> You know what the real problems are? Sports for girls and women are <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/megan-rapinoe-transgender-sports-bills/" target="_blank">underfunded and disrespected</a>. And as for trans children and adults, we suffer poor health due to exclusion from gyms and athletic activity. Far from the mythic domination of sports, transfeminine girls and women are at particular risk from harassment and lack of a safe place to change or shower that keeps so many from being able to exercise where other people can see them at all, let alone compete in sports.</div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto"><br /></div><div dir="auto">And then, somehow simultaneously with presenting trans girls as a threat to cis girls, reactionaries claim that their goal is to protect trans kids, who are said to be victims of terrible medical experiments, in which evil parents conspire with mad doctors to mutilate their bodies. Republican politicians are <a href="https://khn.org/news/article/flurry-of-bills-aim-to-set-limits-on-transgender-kids-and-their-doctors/">writing laws</a> that hold no minor can understand what they are saying when they assert a trans identity--that it's like saying they want to be a dinosaur when they grow up. And they are pretending that evil doctors are pumping tots' bodies full of adult hormones and cutting up their genitals. None of this has any relation to reality. Nobody is doing genital reconstruction on kids (unless they are born intersex, and this is forced on them as infants, but that's another story). Nobody is giving adult hormones to elementary schoolers. </div><div dir="auto"><br /></div><div dir="auto">The fact is that medical transition services for pre-pubertal kids consists of psychological support. Then, at adolescence, youths and their families are offered medication that simply postpones pubertal changes. This makes no permanent alteration to a youth's body--it just prevents bodily changes from taking place that cause despair. Some pubertal developments, like voice change in a transfeminine youth, are irreversible. Others, like breast growth in a transmasculine youth, can be surgically addressed, but that's much more invasive than simply postponing pubertal changes. That's why the American Medical Association <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-arkansas-law-and-similar-bills-endanger-transgender-youth-research-shows/" target="_blank">supports puberty suppression</a> for trans youth.</div><div dir="auto"><br /></div><div dir="auto">But if you look at commentary about these bills, there are masses of comments from enraged and panicked adults and fulminating politicians claiming that abusive parents are making monsters out of little children with scalpels and drugs. The reactionaries claim they are not motivated by bigotry, they just want to protect children. But passing a law that states that a person's sex is "genetically encoded at the moment of conception" and "cannot be changed," as the <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/04/08/states-consider-bills-medical-treatments-transgender-youth/7129101002/" target="_blank">law passed in Arkansas</a> banning transition-related care for minors does, makes it clear that what this is really all about: enshrining the misgendering and rejection of trans people in law. The proposed law in North Carolina would even require schoolteachers to <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2021-04-09/republican-state-lawmakers-push-wave-of-bills-targeting-transgender-youth" target="_blank">immediately inform a child's parents</a> if they observe the minor exhibiting "gender nonconformity," making the policing of binary gender stereotypes a state employee duty.</div><div dir="auto"><br /></div><div dir="auto">Once again, we see a panic about sex and the cries of "what about the children!" being used to spread bigotry, dressed up in concern trolling. Anita Bryant claimed to be motivated by her "love of homosexuals" to be trying to save them by promoting homophobic discrimination. Transphobes today claim they are motived by care as well. But the fact that banning recognition and care for trans youth is likely to lead to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/transgender-rights-legislation-surge-youth-mental-health/" target="_blank">increased despair and suicidality</a> doesn't deter them at all, because "care" is not the real motivation here. Bigotry is, fanned into a firestorm by a social panic.</div><div dir="auto"><br /></div><div dir="auto">The thing you have to remember about sexual panics is that they are not spontaneous or random. They are purposefully generated by people with power to prevent social change.</div><div dir="auto"><br /></div><div dir="auto">We have to call out these manufactured panics for what they are. Putting current faux fears in the context of past ones can help make it obvious. So share these histories!</div></div></span></div></div></div></div>Dr. Cary Gabriel Costellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14478058791195474381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-906442678610585215.post-55545508633123095152021-03-06T19:58:00.013-08:002021-03-19T12:49:34.167-07:00The 4chan "#SuperStraight" Troll Campaign<p>On March 6th, 2021, the hashtag #superstraight was one of the top trending topics on Twitter in the U.S. and Canada. There was a #SuperStraight Discord server bursting with activity. #SuperStraight TikToks were suddenly appearing. </p><p>What is "SuperStraight," you might ask?</p><p>Supposedly, #superstraight people are a newly-recognized sexual orientation group who are only attracted to cis men or cis women. The claim is that anyone who defends LGBT rights must recognize, respect, and fight for the rights of SuperStraights. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg21uZir8XCtrx08RDhEKmiFcp5qvYlGhEKA23pPf3Ykmcv0PyNiZYHRJaD-BUk6jfTS7wLZWO4ta2BcKFUMQBEY-LVRtFyj-BlqN1_ofr3FjWahiXMLh-EwXv-jI-w-ZM9cxkXSYaa640/s686/SuperStraight+India+astroTERFing.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="686" data-original-width="592" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg21uZir8XCtrx08RDhEKmiFcp5qvYlGhEKA23pPf3Ykmcv0PyNiZYHRJaD-BUk6jfTS7wLZWO4ta2BcKFUMQBEY-LVRtFyj-BlqN1_ofr3FjWahiXMLh-EwXv-jI-w-ZM9cxkXSYaa640/w345-h400/SuperStraight+India+astroTERFing.png" width="345" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Soon, the #SuperStraight posts were joined by posts from people claiming to ally with, or have identities as, #supergay, #superlesbian, or #superbi, being also only attracted to cis people.</div><p>But let's be clear. The #SuperStraight campaign is really is a trolling attack hatched in the cesspit of the /pol board on 4chan. Here you can see it being discussed there on March 5th (warning: slurs galore):</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzQr5M1S5puEG5MO_VKrPQdiq3mBUBmatdk-WxK6bJVBCSxdW0vBdRCieYprNc4xdhjMua4Pt-cNjH7-eTXGhz01ZrjpgTZDXGfV9TnMyjWSn35YNhi6Gh49zcDFOHAYioTEqNHF0UYlk/s810/Superstraight+4chan+pol+troll+SS+logo.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="409" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzQr5M1S5puEG5MO_VKrPQdiq3mBUBmatdk-WxK6bJVBCSxdW0vBdRCieYprNc4xdhjMua4Pt-cNjH7-eTXGhz01ZrjpgTZDXGfV9TnMyjWSn35YNhi6Gh49zcDFOHAYioTEqNHF0UYlk/w324-h640/Superstraight+4chan+pol+troll+SS+logo.png" width="324" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">Let's examine this post. At the top, you can see the trolling logo proposed for the #SuperStraight campaign. That's a </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schutzstaffel" rel="nofollow" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">Nazi SS flag</a><span style="text-align: left;">, only tinted in the colors of the PornHub logo for lulz. </span></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaqhkgT_oBaHxQP6bQdnFrYuuVeHNWUfTyrPdRC4NWUg6EGZHUdNfacSJz9ENN6vAMARfy5ZTZVaPt4qwZSA121Df9lXH89dWh6dhRJLeyJwlBm38WD83m7RkmUmP6E1ZkK_eFjYPGpY0/s1600/SS+x+PornHub+equal+SuperStraight.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaqhkgT_oBaHxQP6bQdnFrYuuVeHNWUfTyrPdRC4NWUg6EGZHUdNfacSJz9ENN6vAMARfy5ZTZVaPt4qwZSA121Df9lXH89dWh6dhRJLeyJwlBm38WD83m7RkmUmP6E1ZkK_eFjYPGpY0/s320/SS+x+PornHub+equal+SuperStraight.png" width="320" /></a></div><p>Below the fascist troll-logo (which board members decided to replace with a plain orange and black graphic when actually taking the campaign "live" on social media), you see the overview of the goals of the troll campaign. The plan is to astroturf social media--that is, to claim to be an emerging grassroots campaign of people who feel they belong under the protective umbrella of the LGB community. The hope is that posts from 4chan "SS agents" will lead ordinary social media users to jump on the bandwagon. Everyday transphobes can reconceptualize themselves as "victims of trans violence," and instead of sitting silently, not wanting to show the world what bigots they are, be activated by pride, and speak up! This will, the 4channers believe, "redpill" zoomers (that is, it will reach members of Generation Z, currently the under-24-year-olds, and awaken them to the supposed evils of progressivism, setting them on the road to eventual misogynist white supremacy). Meanwhile, the 4chan trolls hope, cis lesbian, gay, and bisexual people will feel compelled to defend a fellow sexual orientation group, rejecting trans people as their enemies. Instead of an LGBT community, they'll speak of an LGBS sexual orientation community. This will allow transphobic cis LGB people to stop hiding their transphobia, since it will now be considered "woke!" Mwahahah.</p><p>How will this be accomplished? The claim is that the "SS agents" will "use the left's tactics against themselves." That's not actually accurate. The tactic being employed is that of the generic social media "gotcha" post. Such social media posts are popular among people of every conceivable political stripe today, in which a people seek to invalidate their enemies by portraying them as hypocritical. For the 4chan fascists, this means taking common rallying claims used by trans, LGBTQ+, or progressive communities, and deploying them against trans people.</p><p>The central conceit of the #SuperStraight campaign would be a twist on the transmisogynist classic: portraying trans women as sexual predators. The "superstraights" would be cast through a #MeToo lens, as well as that of the brave sexual minority coming out. The claim would be that trans people are trying to force cis people to have sex with them. For too long, the cries of cis straight men that they struggle every day with sexual harassment and coercion from trans women have been ignored, but now they are uniting and demanding to be heard!</p><p>Put that way, on its face, this seems a massive eyeroller. (Riiight, the trans ladies are forcing you to get all those boners, collect all that porn, and hoot at them on the streets!) But the goal would be not to state things that baldly. Instead, the plan was to exploit the fact that when transphoblic lesbians claim that they face sexual coercion and harassment from trans women, they get listened to, and cloak the #SuperStraight posts in this language.</p><p>Now, here is the thing. Many people, myself included, have written and advocated about how sexual orientation is based off of gender, not genitals. When you meet someone and find them attractive, the chances are very high that they are wearing clothing at the time. You do not see their genitals. And the central truth of trans experience is that it is our gender identities, not our genitals, that determine whether we are women, or men, or nonbinary people, or agender. When someone says, "I am only attracted to real men, not trans men," that is a transphobic statement (it calls trans men "fake" men). It's also almost certainly false, in that some trans men when dressed are indistinguishable from cisgender men, and as likely as they to be found attractive by a transphobe. On the other hand, many trans men are visibly transgender, and are not passed as cis people. But why should this be seen as "bad," and as making them unattractive? The only reason a person who is generally attracted to men would assert that they cannot be attracted to trans men is internalized transphobia.</p><p>It is indeed true that lots of people have internalized transphobia, and consider trans people gross. There is no doubt they really feel that way. But this is no different from the many other forms of social bias that strongly shape whom people are attracted to--ableism, fat phobia, racism and colorism, etc. These are potent, but they are not "sexual orientations." To define your identity around only being attracted to light-skinned blonde people is called "white supremacy," and is not some innate "Aryansexuality." If a person says they only date non-Jews, they are not a "gentilesexual," and asserting this does not make me a "gentilephobe."</p><p>So, as a trans person, I object very strongly to people saying that they are proud of only being attracted to cisgender people. Crowing "people like you sexually repel me!" is cruel, and the sort of thing only a bigot would trumpet to others. People who are kind and opposed to bigotry are instead aware that all of us are socialized to have internal biases, and that we need to work on those, not take glee in them.</p><p>But you know what this does not mean? It does not mean I have the slightest interest in a relationship or hookup with a transphobe, least of all one standing in front of me saying, "People like you repel me."</p><p>Yet for years, <a href="https://trans-fusion.blogspot.com/2015/06/terfs-of-times.html">TERFs</a> have been attacking trans women and framing them as predators by making false claims that trans women objecting to transphobic disgust are somehow engaging in sexual harassment. A TERF spits that she is a lesbian, and that she would never date a trans woman because trans women are actually men. A trans woman responds that she is indeed a woman, not a man, and that her lesbian identity is no less valid than a cis woman's. The TERF then claims that the trans woman is demanding to have sex with her personally, revealing how "trans women are sexually predatory men."</p><p>This TERF attack is the tactic the "SS agents" seek to exploit. So we see:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwjIc6GajZdmIEPfLSTjUWyRlxTcNad8vI5LMeStEFTLcrHka91GXD1Ljkyrts8lp42z0pYuo9eEnF3NkbZpzD74fP7XY9e_O7X9aCuahGd7QzVtyzwq9qJVGz12KRb3HydALn_fCAyiA/s589/superstraight+no+one+shoudl+be+pressured+for+sex.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="60" data-original-width="589" height="41" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwjIc6GajZdmIEPfLSTjUWyRlxTcNad8vI5LMeStEFTLcrHka91GXD1Ljkyrts8lp42z0pYuo9eEnF3NkbZpzD74fP7XY9e_O7X9aCuahGd7QzVtyzwq9qJVGz12KRb3HydALn_fCAyiA/w400-h41/superstraight+no+one+shoudl+be+pressured+for+sex.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Along with posts framing trans people as demanding that uninterested cis people have sex with them, there are posts making 100% unsubstantiated claims that people coming out as superstraight are being terrorized by rape threats by violent trans people:<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyfbiGH4_T4fzoJ1CGfdxdh6ElncoBLHhP2Bv2wvagfh-eufLXyARrYq2wJxfT4erOQz0QQaAQnrUlPst3g1agJcO5JCrhkC4MYB_X6eN3qWA-j9HV7QjVJYYXiy7nLzKwiQtxjP_m1E4/s577/superstraights+suffer+from+rape+threats.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="577" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyfbiGH4_T4fzoJ1CGfdxdh6ElncoBLHhP2Bv2wvagfh-eufLXyARrYq2wJxfT4erOQz0QQaAQnrUlPst3g1agJcO5JCrhkC4MYB_X6eN3qWA-j9HV7QjVJYYXiy7nLzKwiQtxjP_m1E4/w400-h269/superstraights+suffer+from+rape+threats.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Note the graphic, which seeks to twist the rallying cry that trans rights are human rights into a claim of a human right to be a bigot. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ostensible "superstraight" cis men argued for the need for safe spaces for (cis) women--not to protect them from cis men, but from vicious trans/nonbinary attackers:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggOmzsazx2ANl117L-ax_Z5NLSiSPGgEvMMf1BPmAir0CamKmPTRZwUb8DnIraINp3U9Ppa91tp4dggL_1mZ_JHoMN18XKkb-PCBdoFGKzij1MYoZR2Yzb_2ll84S99_VjE4IX2absSMU/s592/superstraight+safe+spaces+needed+from+trans+bigots.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="439" data-original-width="592" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggOmzsazx2ANl117L-ax_Z5NLSiSPGgEvMMf1BPmAir0CamKmPTRZwUb8DnIraINp3U9Ppa91tp4dggL_1mZ_JHoMN18XKkb-PCBdoFGKzij1MYoZR2Yzb_2ll84S99_VjE4IX2absSMU/w400-h296/superstraight+safe+spaces+needed+from+trans+bigots.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The 4chan "gotcha" tactic unrolled as planned. There were saccharine allyship memes:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBj2wuVV-98d-DdKMRRGR13ZhvW-CyIrohWMpva7umMEEGGuVxH698Hfj3jF_KO9knzGOwXunHpDbm_E45ZLZ_U7__77SVacbFapXG7ScrVaVg-urlAA0atUSiqdjIDzV3KVgdjTf98AU/s640/ally+meme+for+superstraight.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="581" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBj2wuVV-98d-DdKMRRGR13ZhvW-CyIrohWMpva7umMEEGGuVxH698Hfj3jF_KO9knzGOwXunHpDbm_E45ZLZ_U7__77SVacbFapXG7ScrVaVg-urlAA0atUSiqdjIDzV3KVgdjTf98AU/w363-h400/ally+meme+for+superstraight.png" width="363" /></a></div><div><br /></div>And there were humor memes, claiming allied empowerment in demanding recognition of a shared "sexual orientation" of telling everyone how much trans people repel you, whether you were superstraight, superlesbian, supergay or superbi:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinaSs8eiGxMCnJc5p7ri3wSmEl2pYEOKkjm6urqgZsflfzPJt4ZXY4ivRDXRYp8FQinDwn9njbgwovfbGAr5u_zr9g8mIvUo8VpFOVsdALy9CK-zkl4cP8zw5JxuBJRwZ1AV2nNaZtXR8/s666/superstraight+supergay+meme.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="666" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinaSs8eiGxMCnJc5p7ri3wSmEl2pYEOKkjm6urqgZsflfzPJt4ZXY4ivRDXRYp8FQinDwn9njbgwovfbGAr5u_zr9g8mIvUo8VpFOVsdALy9CK-zkl4cP8zw5JxuBJRwZ1AV2nNaZtXR8/w400-h225/superstraight+supergay+meme.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And indeed, the TERFs jumped right on the bandwagon with #superlesbian posts:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm9GNZ6M30W3GK9cDIbJaou7EllUQNb9bGDO3SPXqhZECayYvvG11IoajnS_bxVIgZ-TqAN8AKNLqkoIORpEWz_Wd2pxaNX23zVQrO81LThS0O3q1gnAnrZCiyPCDu9JJODdblRNlxeBE/s592/superstraight+superlez+hates+neovagina.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="153" data-original-width="592" height="104" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm9GNZ6M30W3GK9cDIbJaou7EllUQNb9bGDO3SPXqhZECayYvvG11IoajnS_bxVIgZ-TqAN8AKNLqkoIORpEWz_Wd2pxaNX23zVQrO81LThS0O3q1gnAnrZCiyPCDu9JJODdblRNlxeBE/w400-h104/superstraight+superlez+hates+neovagina.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">From both the 4chan astroturfed fake accounts, and from the TERFs who eagerly piled on, came claims that #SuperStraights were benefitting from male privilege in getting their "suffering" at the hands of trans people acknowledged where that of TERFs had been ignored:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhThqdtG9yFxLeAmPRbbqeSchpzkq-I81H4MsICFNRnCDQluEoBm1MOsBbt-7LSrjG562zXIpPzKZ-84lfzFpDkXkaiEc3OjYzeETSKFL_xa6yLfTaBKyXFo_ph82PuD5bIyklkbd0j8m4/s599/nobody+paid+attention+to+LGB+harassment+but+now+superstraight.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="223" data-original-width="599" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhThqdtG9yFxLeAmPRbbqeSchpzkq-I81H4MsICFNRnCDQluEoBm1MOsBbt-7LSrjG562zXIpPzKZ-84lfzFpDkXkaiEc3OjYzeETSKFL_xa6yLfTaBKyXFo_ph82PuD5bIyklkbd0j8m4/w400-h149/nobody+paid+attention+to+LGB+harassment+but+now+superstraight.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">These posts snuck in claims that cis lesbians and gay men have been crying out in vain for years about trans people trying to coerce them into sex--a TERF slander, weirdly and falsely being claimed to be shared by LGB people generally. These posts also followed the tropes employed in varied social media campaigns challenging privilege, seeking to use that to cloak the fact that cis people are the privileged group with respect to trans people. This is a classic <a href="https://dynamic.uoregon.edu/jjf/defineDARVO.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">DARVO</a> move, reversing oppressor and victim. DARVO is the the long-favored technique of abusers--one that became way too familiar to all under the Trump administration, as turning every callout of his behavior on its head was Trump's daily occupation. That is why the /pol 4channers are so enamored of the man: he was their Troll in Chief.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So, many more social media posts by the 4chan "SS agents" and the various other transphobes who joined in followed other themes common in posts by trans advocates, LGBT allies, feminists, progressives, and the like. Using the DARVO tactic, they reversed victim and offender.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">People who pushed back against this trolling attack, arguing that being sexually repulsed by trans people is a bad thing, a product of socialization, and something to seek to overcome rather than take pride in, were attacked as pushing "conversion therapy" on people with a superstraight orientation:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWTf_l1NuxBENvdhMH3Qp_Ep6m33I1ccUnR8b5Xfk4zvj0s17suelyfIZae-dTjNxarTvJ3mpINds0WWH5HAd18ALsH0O_YQAELDzhyphenhyphenboZfsCnFUcxMloTmsNZXMzCnMNZUPHkeqOGdFs/s603/superstraight+conversion+therapy.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="436" data-original-width="603" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWTf_l1NuxBENvdhMH3Qp_Ep6m33I1ccUnR8b5Xfk4zvj0s17suelyfIZae-dTjNxarTvJ3mpINds0WWH5HAd18ALsH0O_YQAELDzhyphenhyphenboZfsCnFUcxMloTmsNZXMzCnMNZUPHkeqOGdFs/w400-h289/superstraight+conversion+therapy.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">People who pushed back and called out #SuperStraight posts as obvious transphobia were insincerely labelled "SERFS"--"Straight Exclusionary Radical Feminists" who were oppressing brave SuperStraights--and critiques of TERF attacks mirrored back at trans allies.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG9_TC2h18A0CSSIJih1b6Y4Ptzdr1zlB0EtTwOx822oVZSWWhJrQ01dylDKlU94wXovzfhD3E_9a2GjfHlamBb3oWbQouzcQUW0qA5DNax391o30djzb-Nb5FQBpoK3ZY5uDT0paGZAA/s604/SERFS+attack+superstraights.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="161" data-original-width="604" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG9_TC2h18A0CSSIJih1b6Y4Ptzdr1zlB0EtTwOx822oVZSWWhJrQ01dylDKlU94wXovzfhD3E_9a2GjfHlamBb3oWbQouzcQUW0qA5DNax391o30djzb-Nb5FQBpoK3ZY5uDT0paGZAA/w400-h106/SERFS+attack+superstraights.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>People who rejected as ridiculous the claim that "SuperStraights" were an oppressed group who should be recognized and protected as LGBTQ+ were framed as biased gatekeepers:<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjljpyvqI1snRKpRvNPEO-NqERin1Nvztsl89XMwzRatWDc_DCiei_2c6PhLcySOUqMn8d5fRN53-APoG4h1N8aESF6h82Yrxe7ttAob6GmAlU268j2VwGeq3UYorc4s5BXl0QGO1rXZfQ/s585/superstraight+you+don%2527t+get+to+pick+who+is+lgbtq.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="177" data-original-width="585" height="121" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjljpyvqI1snRKpRvNPEO-NqERin1Nvztsl89XMwzRatWDc_DCiei_2c6PhLcySOUqMn8d5fRN53-APoG4h1N8aESF6h82Yrxe7ttAob6GmAlU268j2VwGeq3UYorc4s5BXl0QGO1rXZfQ/w400-h121/superstraight+you+don%2527t+get+to+pick+who+is+lgbtq.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">Trans-allied critiques of transphobes who make outlandish claims about trans people, that ask if the bigot has ever actually spoken with a trans person, were also reflected back, DARVO-style:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBb0XJR4S5PbpgS73-QhLSbXEf0FDNl_rEvb16ZXvjQE00LCdeT_ohX1sjFqvj-R8zqObtNXO4efozXAcjrO_3EgP8q86Ot3NlFQ0reWjsyiKjpQ7F7PIZejrbD1Ku5KmQw2FStw-qzP4/s597/superstraight+have+you+ever+talked+to+a+straight+person.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="111" data-original-width="597" height="74" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBb0XJR4S5PbpgS73-QhLSbXEf0FDNl_rEvb16ZXvjQE00LCdeT_ohX1sjFqvj-R8zqObtNXO4efozXAcjrO_3EgP8q86Ot3NlFQ0reWjsyiKjpQ7F7PIZejrbD1Ku5KmQw2FStw-qzP4/w400-h74/superstraight+have+you+ever+talked+to+a+straight+person.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">The "SuperStraight movement" was claimed to have finally united LGB and straight people by revealing their shared dismissal of trans "bullshit", a cause for relief and celebration:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRF_bUiyVGn13ZKJTPb89d5s36lvBEVy94EXeo-ngQwqn3GEYrc-DJImHfKU5153ZbkNAN516z2OOczm-U4_e6MRkAJqcuuNDLoQ-DZ-V7gS3zkf7U7vS1Pcs1BntxhyphenhyphenthFWWLzevlgmU/s592/superstraight+has+united+lgb+and+s.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="161" data-original-width="592" height="109" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRF_bUiyVGn13ZKJTPb89d5s36lvBEVy94EXeo-ngQwqn3GEYrc-DJImHfKU5153ZbkNAN516z2OOczm-U4_e6MRkAJqcuuNDLoQ-DZ-V7gS3zkf7U7vS1Pcs1BntxhyphenhyphenthFWWLzevlgmU/w400-h109/superstraight+has+united+lgb+and+s.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And in general, people who were trans/nonbinary or their allies who pushed back against the #SuperStraight trolling were attacked with "gotcha" posts, claiming that they were hypocrites for disrespecting someone based on their "sexual orientation":</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijZkBYWe60zCgyBBkVIEYMHSW-nLNTe7iEzwOO0HLiHJ-loVHdznFu3dQaD_buiAc47Lj32tKk_dUwcIh9pDwccE_fLELoePitKSGVBug9EWfI6oQfTnldt3jas9wkhzl4xNZz_nKVoDY/s589/superstraight+gotcha+post.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="418" data-original-width="589" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijZkBYWe60zCgyBBkVIEYMHSW-nLNTe7iEzwOO0HLiHJ-loVHdznFu3dQaD_buiAc47Lj32tKk_dUwcIh9pDwccE_fLELoePitKSGVBug9EWfI6oQfTnldt3jas9wkhzl4xNZz_nKVoDY/w400-h284/superstraight+gotcha+post.png" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Bonus points there for using a Harry Potter meme, now that JK Rowling is a central spokesperson for TERFism!<div><br /></div><div>Whether this was a short viral flash in the social media pan, or if people will take up and actually identify with the terms superstraight, superlesbian, supergay, and superbi, only time will tell.</div><div><br /></div><div>What I am hoping is that people will identify it from the start as a 4chan /pol troll. This campaign was initiated by literal fascists using an SS logo. "Superstraight pride" is 100% akin to the "straight pride" parade organized by Milo Yiannopoulis, or to "white pride" racist organizations. Just look at this "superstraight pride flag," modeled off of the Nazi war emblem:</div><div> </div><div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha8_iUdeyzH4cJDUo1M0JXHcEFgVwPEVb3PgisvkxfhvOF-3t3o0vZ4kbt61HLDewZsylkCi80-cCACu9KPfJ0YIp13AaTWiEFTkP8mNui1h5-nHOvgzONpMzPxzOE_sT9C_yZmgPorvc/s794/superstraight+white+supremacist+flag.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="794" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha8_iUdeyzH4cJDUo1M0JXHcEFgVwPEVb3PgisvkxfhvOF-3t3o0vZ4kbt61HLDewZsylkCi80-cCACu9KPfJ0YIp13AaTWiEFTkP8mNui1h5-nHOvgzONpMzPxzOE_sT9C_yZmgPorvc/w320-h188/superstraight+white+supremacist+flag.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div> </div><div>Compare:</div><div> </div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTQ2UzJJijEYRqoNYJExkAWOOu5iu0-pQLAWoU6I9eD-pWpAjfVlHPQwHdCHquQrUnlm0xzxk5tyQ3zAz3b4tqLVfrAJprTjAxO8uyLKiiyE89mAzYtov0wNrbWcYNJ7vK8KUZsmoYPFE/s800/Nazi+war+flag.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTQ2UzJJijEYRqoNYJExkAWOOu5iu0-pQLAWoU6I9eD-pWpAjfVlHPQwHdCHquQrUnlm0xzxk5tyQ3zAz3b4tqLVfrAJprTjAxO8uyLKiiyE89mAzYtov0wNrbWcYNJ7vK8KUZsmoYPFE/s320/Nazi+war+flag.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div> </div><div>Or behold the profile of a Facebook spreader of #SuperStraight memes, overloaded with Nazi references:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmjiGtIBteIvIq0XPZdeWpFHgYUMbsLFPm9GNBAdw95fJoqPwnXMlEhQTXuORXNlJ1nsZ9MCEseSI9_Jt6wTSPS31ocS-rZdSQhsH1yD6wkQ0IHO6_2mSEQ-_X828FQeuzH2oQpd0Ar98/s916/FB+superstraight+troll+with+SS+logo+and+pepe+pronoun+nazis+name+removed.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="459" data-original-width="916" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmjiGtIBteIvIq0XPZdeWpFHgYUMbsLFPm9GNBAdw95fJoqPwnXMlEhQTXuORXNlJ1nsZ9MCEseSI9_Jt6wTSPS31ocS-rZdSQhsH1yD6wkQ0IHO6_2mSEQ-_X828FQeuzH2oQpd0Ar98/w512-h257/FB+superstraight+troll+with+SS+logo+and+pepe+pronoun+nazis+name+removed.png" width="512" /></a></div><br /><div>The #SuperStraight campaign is a fascist trolling effort, as insincere as they come. Spread the word. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div><div><div><div><br /><p><br /></p></div></div></div></div></div>Dr. Cary Gabriel Costellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14478058791195474381noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-906442678610585215.post-62794829537563747732019-09-04T09:05:00.000-07:002019-09-04T09:05:20.320-07:00Debunking Silly Claims about Testosterone<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnm9dUwbXfrKVk9avcaq-_bz_mCi-DARnulNUJM0s7STnk_V8AavKPwn67XjaB3k4_CoORkdIIi4eBaS3t6EIBmmoyX12-Vcgx2s8aooBcvqEmPMBWhyphenhyphenASpWTzP3k7UYO9S5zATFvy9DU/s1600/Roid+Calm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnm9dUwbXfrKVk9avcaq-_bz_mCi-DARnulNUJM0s7STnk_V8AavKPwn67XjaB3k4_CoORkdIIi4eBaS3t6EIBmmoyX12-Vcgx2s8aooBcvqEmPMBWhyphenhyphenASpWTzP3k7UYO9S5zATFvy9DU/s320/Roid+Calm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
As someone who takes exogenous testosterone regularly, and is all too
familiar with the fears and stereotypes people express about what will
happen to the personalities of those who gender transition using
testosterone, I feel zero surprise about the results of <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/07/when-it-comes-to-moral-decisions-testosterone-doesnt-seem-to-do-much/" target="_blank">this study</a>:
testosterone does not make people less empathetic! Nor does it make
people more likely to chose whatever course of action requires more...
action.<br />
<br />
From the article discussing the study, which looked at subjects making moral decisions about which lives to save in the famous <a href="https://philosophynow.org/issues/116/Could_There_Be_A_Solution_To_The_Trolley_Problem" target="_blank">Trolly Problem</a>: <br />
<br />
"'The results of the current study yielded no evidence in support of any
of the four preregistered hypotheses,' write the authors. Those given
testosterone were no more likely to prefer taking action than those
given the placebo. It was predicted that they'd also be more prone to
make utilitarian judgements that minimize total casualties; this wasn't
true, either. Another hypothesis suggested that those given testosterone
would be less sensitive to moral prohibitions, such as not choosing to
kill someone. In fact, the results suggest the exact opposite is true." <br />
<br />
That researchers thought having higher levels of testosterone would cause such consequences is the fac<span class="text_exposed_show">t that makes my eyes roll.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="text_exposed_show">
Testosterone, like all hormones, has real biological effects! But our
society is so invested in an essentialist, patriarchal, binary gender
ideology that people believe testosterone causes a ridiculous range of
gigantic, multicausal phenomena: power, competitiveness, strength,
bravery, callousness, violence--everything people love and hate about
our conception of masculinity. Those who love patriarchy want
testosterone to define an eternal male power that must be deferred to.
For essentialist feminists who see women as innately less problematic
than men, testosterone is instead the cooties hormone that makes people
abusive, impulsive, and smelly.<br />
<br />
People naturalize a set of gender
relations and stereotypes that are very historically and culturally
specific and deem them eternal effects of a hormone. It's just silly. It
makes as much sense as saying capitalism is caused by insulin or
socialism by melatonin.<br />
<br />
I can tell you that I personally am a
much calmer and less angry person now than when I was full of
progesterone and estrogen. I did not lose my empathy. I did not become
more competitive; if anything, I because less so. I did not lose
interest in complex moral reasoning. I did not become obsessed with
beer. I did not lose the ability to coordinate colors. I did not decide
feminism is a load of hooey.<br />
<br />
I did get a lot hairier though.</div>
Dr. Cary Gabriel Costellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14478058791195474381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-906442678610585215.post-6772480216070059012019-08-29T09:53:00.000-07:002019-09-01T09:51:33.473-07:00Protecting Bigotry as "Sincere Religious Belief"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0EeDp5bfEA1HDloXJ_IuTFDUJbOFzF5SC7u4dOAREwp3iPQ8Z2TGDq4FekUbmnKlUKW0nWCkzkdh_hvfEdJIdj0x2D6XMKjdhcyBPINCuWUeWZ9FJKLICHf911Olm8E1_52Tj0-Gr9cE/s1600/Bigoted+sincere+religious+beliefs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0EeDp5bfEA1HDloXJ_IuTFDUJbOFzF5SC7u4dOAREwp3iPQ8Z2TGDq4FekUbmnKlUKW0nWCkzkdh_hvfEdJIdj0x2D6XMKjdhcyBPINCuWUeWZ9FJKLICHf911Olm8E1_52Tj0-Gr9cE/s320/Bigoted+sincere+religious+beliefs.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
It has become so familiar today. Americans aching to discriminate cry out piteously that they are the real victims. Stopping them from discriminating is oppression! It's religious oppression--or, to be more specific, anti-Christian bias.<br />
<br />
This week, the Trump administration's Department of Labor released a <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2019-17472.pdf" target="_blank">new proposed rule</a> allowing corporations and groups that do business with the government wide <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/8/16/20806990/trump-religion-lgbtq-discrimination-rule" target="_blank">latitude to discriminate</a> on the basis of "sincere religious belief." Earlier this summer, the Trump Department of Health and Human Services <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/02/upshot/conscience-rule-trump-religious-exemption-health-care.html" target="_blank">finalized a rule</a> allowing employees of health care organizations to refuse to treat people based on their beliefs and "moral conscience." <br />
<br />
Central in the public arguments for these and other similar policy
rulings have been people who are trans, nonbinary and/or queer (with the
usual transmisogynistic focus on transfeminine people). The specter is raised of businesses being forced to employ "men in dresses" who violate religious sensibilities and scare off clients. Clinic staff will be forced to respect and use patients' pronouns even if they believe their religion demands patients be mispronouned!<br />
<br />
Administration spokespeople claim that the Trump administration rejects
discrimination--yet it opposes passage of the Equality Act which would make
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity
illegal. Why? <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2019-08-27/trump-taylor-swift-equality-act-vmas" target="_blank">Because</a> the Equality Act "is filled with poison pills that threaten to undermine parental and conscience rights." In other words, the Equality Act is "poison" because it would prevent evangelical Christian parents from sending their queer and trans children to conversion therapy, and prevent white evangelical bakers from refusing to sell cakes to same-gender couples. Preventing discrimination would harm a "conscience right" to discriminate! Ah, the logic of these times.<br />
<br />
But the phenomenon of justifying bigotry with religion was hardly invented in the Trump era, and has a long history, stretching back even before the Revolutionary War. Racial slavery was <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-33/why-christians-supported-slavery.html" target="_blank">justified</a> on religious grounds. There was the paternalistic lie that Africans torn from their homes and pressed into forced labor learned to embrace their enslavement because it replaced "heathen superstitions" with Christian salvation. There was the claim that dark skin was the "curse of Ham" or "mark of Cain," and that God intended the descendants of Ham or Cain to experience eternal suffering. And there were claims that various mentions of servants, bondservants and slaves in the Bible meant that God approved of slavery. (This ignored the facts that racial slavery in the Americas was very different from the typically temporary enslavement in ancient times, and that the Biblical story that does discuss an equivalent is that of Moses leading the Jewish people in a slave revolt, in which God punished the Egyptians with plagues for not giving the enslaved Jews their freedom).<br />
<br />
Racial segregation was also justified on religious grounds. White evangelicals based this claim that the Bible required racial segregation on Acts 17:26, which reads in its entirety "And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the
face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and
the bounds of their habitation. . ." White evangelical racists claimed that these words meant that God created all humanity, but separated them by race, placing "bounds" around them, and that anyone arguing for desegregation was an <a href="https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/evangelical-history/is-segregation-scriptural-a-radio-address-from-bob-jones-on-easter-of-1960/" target="_blank">agent of Satan</a> opposing God's plan. Consider this photo of a pro-segregation rally from 1959:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbka06StNkrQrJ_cBXt7785nZgwShCOPqUwgGSqLXOLgbIBmGS2Y9qGvcStgy57wg-Zo40NzdgoWgfWWq1kcNnmBh-LTsvKLZ7M6uPfuz6j1SNa4LgPxwsQvRwlaM0LmL7zTUTy6elVI0/s1600/race+mixing+march+of+the+anti-christ+1959.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="428" data-original-width="590" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbka06StNkrQrJ_cBXt7785nZgwShCOPqUwgGSqLXOLgbIBmGS2Y9qGvcStgy57wg-Zo40NzdgoWgfWWq1kcNnmBh-LTsvKLZ7M6uPfuz6j1SNa4LgPxwsQvRwlaM0LmL7zTUTy6elVI0/s400/race+mixing+march+of+the+anti-christ+1959.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
In the middle, you will see a sign reading "Stop the Race Mixing March of the Anti-Christ." That marching "Anti-Christ," supposed enemy of all Christians, would be the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.<br />
<br />
The fact that King was a Christian pastor brings up an important point. It is true that racial slavery and segregation were both justified by Christian arguments from the Bible. But the groups that fought for the abolition of slavery and for the civil rights movement that brought down segregation were both full of Christians (African American, white, and of many races) who based their positions on scripture as well. And today, the vast majority of white evangelical churches have abandoned former claims that the Bible justifies slavery or racial segregation. (The standard approach is to say that the former racist religious claims were never really made by many evangelicals, that most white evangelical churches and organizations were just going along with the common behavior of the time, and that the sin that they own as white evangelicals was going along with what everyone else was doing, instead of critiquing an un-Godly society.)<br />
<br />
These histories show us a couple of things. One is that great evil has been justified in the name of Christianity throughout American history. (And we could list many more examples. Colonialism. The separation of indigenous children from their families and communities to "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Indian_boarding_schools" target="_blank">assimilate</a>" them in mission schools. Framing Hitler as <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/05/israel-embassy-pastor-said-hitler-was-sent-by-god.html" target="_blank">an agent of God</a> sent to cause the nation of Israel to be refounded so that the End Times can come as predicted and the born again raptured into heaven while the Jews burn in hell.)<br />
<br />
The other thing we can see is that each of these movements for evil have been opposed by Christians who base their opposition in scripture. Christian scholars today say, "[T]here’s a gaping chasm between saying that <i>“Christianity provided the moral justification for slavery</i>” and saying that slavery “was justified in the name of Christ.” It’s the difference between saying that a <i>religion itself </i>provides the justification for an action and saying that <i>people claim the religion </i>justifies
the action. Just because people attribute their actions to Christianity
or Islam doesn’t mean that the religious justification that they
provide is actually authentic Christian (or Muslim) theology." In other words, Christian bigots get the Bible wrong.<br />
<br />
But at the times of slavery and of Jim Crow segregation, racist Christians heard this argument from Christian abolitionists and civil rights supporters--and were supremely unpersuaded. The <a href="https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/evangelical-history/is-segregation-scriptural-a-radio-address-from-bob-jones-on-easter-of-1960/" target="_blank">counterresponse</a> of major 20th century white evangelical leader Bob Jones to Christian supporters of the civil rights movement? "These religious liberals are the worst infidels." Christians working towards racial justice and integration weren't just ignorantly misinterpreting the Bible, they were willful agents of evil rejecting religious truth, the sorts of sinners that churches used to burn at the stake. Christians who married outside their own race were like Judas, betraying Jesus.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiITBYsY1VYj7_qdMhbrMNEe9R3r-j6Rv7Q5DkcNXqD78NL93nHU36j5cVl4n7YhB21bmUXzRqcKnUZvpC42gpbx4yTndbwdC2sFYJ814JHyVvAgKBLQNEQTuBDP7u-wkqvJmqX0R9EvMg/s1600/Bob+Jones+U+policy+against+interracial+dating+and+marriage.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="644" data-original-width="1077" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiITBYsY1VYj7_qdMhbrMNEe9R3r-j6Rv7Q5DkcNXqD78NL93nHU36j5cVl4n7YhB21bmUXzRqcKnUZvpC42gpbx4yTndbwdC2sFYJ814JHyVvAgKBLQNEQTuBDP7u-wkqvJmqX0R9EvMg/s400/Bob+Jones+U+policy+against+interracial+dating+and+marriage.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Bob Jones University policy against interracial dating and marriage, repealed in 2000</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So: in every American conflict over the rights of the marginalized, there have been Christians on both sides, each claiming the other side is wrong about what the Bible says. <br />
<br />
Disagreements about how religious doctrine should be applied to social life on earth are nothing new. <br />
<br />
This is, after all, why the
Constitution requires the separation of Church and State. The founders
who drafted it had just fought a war of independence against Britain, in
which the British saw the Americans as heretics. Americans lived in
British colonies; the official religion of Britain was the Church of
England; the head of the Church of England was King George. By rebelling
against the King, Americans were told, they were traitors not just to
Britain, but to God. It is due to this experience that the American Constitution was drafted to contain provisions for freedom of religion--and also against the establishment of religion as law.<br />
<br />
This is why the longstanding religious exemption to the nondiscrimination policy for businesses working with the federal government has always been framed very narrowly. Ordinarily, companies doing business with the government are not allowed to discriminate on the basis of religion. But under the traditional federal religious exemption, a Jewish charity working with a federal agency that has a kosher kitchen in their facility is allowed, as required by Jewish religious rules, to hire a rabbi to come inspect it to certify it is kosher, and not open the hire to people who are not rabbis. On the other hand, policy language and court decisions have stayed out of the business of trying to decide which religious belief is theologically correct. If there is substantial disagreement about what the religion requires, then the nondiscrimination exemption is not granted. Only widely recognized, codified tenets of a religion can be the basis of a request for an exemption.<br />
<br />
The <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2019-17472.pdf" target="_blank">new rules</a> written by Trump administration members are tossing that understanding out the window. The new federal contractor exemption policy allows for a vastly expanded right to discriminate. There are a bunch of ways in which it does this, but I will focus on two. Instead of just allowing businesses to restrict a job opening to a co-religionist, businesses are now allowed to require their employees to follow the claimed religious beliefs of the employer. In other words, they are allowed to fire you for being in a same-gender relationship, or embracing and supporting your trans child, or anything else they claim is counter to "adherence to religious tenets as understood by the employing contractor." That's true even if you share the same religion with the employer, but believe that you are acting in accordance with religious precepts, and your employer's interpretation of religious doctrine is wrong.<br />
<br />
And that leads us to the most shocking element of the new policy. Instead of only allowing exemptions for officially recognized, little-disputed, codified religious practices, now contractors are allowed to discriminate based on any belief they personally sincerely hold. The old policy kept government out of battles over religious belief by refusing any claim based on a belief that is contentious. They new one keeps government out by accepting any and all beliefs, so long as they are "sincere."<br />
<br />
And that is scary, because a lot of people sincerely believe all kinds of repellent and bigoted things.<br />
<br />
Consider a 2014 (pre-Trump) <a href="https://www.prri.org/research/employer-contraception/" target="_blank">survey</a> by PPRI regarding Americans' opinions about whether businesses should have a right to refuse services to various sorts of people, based on the business owners' religious beliefs. While a large majority opposed the idea that businesses should have a right to discriminate against patrons, a disturbingly substantial minority spoke up for such a right. For example<br />
<ul>
<li>21% of white evangelicals stated businesses should be able to deny service to atheists</li>
<li>16% of Midwesterners believed businesses should be allowed to discriminate against Jews</li>
<li>13% of Gen X respondents said businesses should be able to refuse to serve African Americans</li>
<li>26% of white evangelicals supported businesses being able to discriminate against "gays and lesbians" </li>
</ul>
While this seems disturbing enough, that was then, and this is now. <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2018/06/05/majority-americans-oppose-religious-refusal-service-except-white-evangelicals/673982002/" target="_blank">By 2018</a>, 51% of white evangelicals voiced support for businesses having a right to refuse to serve LGBT people based on "religious freedom." The percentage had nearly doubled. A comparison of total American support for a claimed religious entitlement to discriminate <a href="https://www.prri.org/research/increasing-support-for-religiously-based-service-refusals/" target="_blank">in 2019</a> is pictured in this graph:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAXLyprGKndM1d5gEei-ddOTGZzUamSJnT3Q-Fq3bmLOp0Rza7zfZ0kkq6ABvahp5hbNouFoZsk8XN2XtS0p84tuy_hlZfVyU5Viinp27cFFW0DXfCc9fK6vMj8nLU9zC04OTVi1Nvf24/s1600/PPRI+2019+religious+right+to+refuse+service+increased+support.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="493" data-original-width="756" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAXLyprGKndM1d5gEei-ddOTGZzUamSJnT3Q-Fq3bmLOp0Rza7zfZ0kkq6ABvahp5hbNouFoZsk8XN2XtS0p84tuy_hlZfVyU5Viinp27cFFW0DXfCc9fK6vMj8nLU9zC04OTVi1Nvf24/s640/PPRI+2019+religious+right+to+refuse+service+increased+support.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Another troubling fact: in the <a href="https://morningconsult.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/180549_crosstabs_BRANDS_SCOTUS_v3_DK.pdf" target="_blank">2018 survey</a>, both Republicans and white evangelicals counterfactually asserted that Christians face substantially more discrimination in society that LGBT Americans. Over a few years that have felt very, very long, this pattern has gotten ever stronger. Victim and victimizer are reversed. Are white evangelicals being targeted by domestic terrorists, banned from the military, subjected to conversion therapies by their parents, beaten in the streets for being white evangelicals? It's the same <a href="https://dynamic.uoregon.edu/jjf/defineDARVO.html" target="_blank">DARVO</a> tactic under which white supremacists frame families seeking asylum from violence as dangerous invaders, and "redpilled" men frame themselves as the pitiful victims of systemic oppression by women.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuzS68XOJbDEeGq7leI8qcwpU3sKuxxcG560xOnxFRvNy8oCJsfWl8ZBzn8AmO4p88-xZvHlQrIIfyZsf11bGrgFc4RTVeyCOEwJuOyel88-crYbOtuvhufjR3ljOwAUkDVlSPcSdVZbY/s1600/women+praying+against+antidiscrimination+with+transmisogyny+no+men+in+women%2527s+bathrooms+shirts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="614" data-original-width="1024" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuzS68XOJbDEeGq7leI8qcwpU3sKuxxcG560xOnxFRvNy8oCJsfWl8ZBzn8AmO4p88-xZvHlQrIIfyZsf11bGrgFc4RTVeyCOEwJuOyel88-crYbOtuvhufjR3ljOwAUkDVlSPcSdVZbY/s400/women+praying+against+antidiscrimination+with+transmisogyny+no+men+in+women%2527s+bathrooms+shirts.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christian women praying that a generic Houston antidiscrimination law will not pass, wearing transmisogynistic t-shirts reading "No Men in Women's Bathrooms"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There is something it is very important to recognize, though. And that is that while white evangelicals in the U.S. claim to speak for all Judeo-Christians, they very much do not. The percentage of Catholics in 2018, for example, who supported allowing businesses to discriminate against people identified as LGBT was 28%--still depressingly high, but not the 51% of white evangelicals. Many Christian denominations explicitly name discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity as sin, including Lutherans, Episcopals, Anglicans, and the Alliance of Baptists. So do the Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist branches of American Judaism.<br />
<br />
White evangelical leaders are in fact well aware that
while they speak to the media and their flocks as representing all of
Judeo-Christian belief in opposing LGBTQ+ rights, this is really not the case at all. A 2019 <a href="https://www.pewforum.org/fact-sheet/changing-attitudes-on-gay-marriage/#religious-affiliation" target="_blank">Pew study</a>
shows that same-gender marriage is supported today by 61% of Catholics, 66% of white mainline Protestants, and, in fact, 29%
of white evangelicals. Another 2019 survey asked people their opinion on
the position--supported by evangelical leaders and adopted by the Trump administration--that the law should not protect LGBTQ+ people from discrimination. A large majority of Americans of all religious groups disagree. According
to the 2019 <a href="https://www.prri.org/press-release/new-landmark-survey-of-50-states-finds-broad-support-for-lgbt-rights-across-the-united-states/" target="_blank">PRRI survey</a>,
"Among major religious groups, the strongest supporters of LGBT
nondiscrimination protections are Unitarian Universalists (90 percent),
Jews (80 percent), Hindus (79 percent), Buddhists (75 percent), and
religiously unaffiliated Americans (78 percent). Even majorities of
faith traditions that have been historically more opposed to LGBT rights
support these protections. Fully seven in 10 Mormons (70 percent),
along with 65 percent of black Protestants, 60 percent of Muslims, 54
percent of white evangelical Protestants, and 53 percent of Jehovah’s
Witnesses favor LGBT nondiscrimination laws." (The same study found that
55% of white evangelicals and 54% of Mormons favored allowing small
business to deny services to LGBT people, showing inconsistency in
some people's responses. But in any case, white evangelicals and Mormons were the only two out of all
American religious groups in which a majority voiced support for a
religious exemption to nondiscrimination laws for businessowners, and those majorities were not large ones.)<br />
<br />
The beliefs of white evangelical Christians set them apart from the American religious norm. <br />
<br />
In particular, many people have noted that American white evangelicals have become strangely obsessed with sex, gender and sexuality. Their political activism centers rejecting gender egalitarianism, premarital sexuality, contraception, abortion, same-gender relationships, nonbinary gender identities, and gender transition (except in the case of children born intersex, in which case seeking sex change surgery is made mandatory). This is formally codified in the <a href="https://cbmw.org/nashville-statement" target="_blank">Nashville Statement</a>. Putting it less formally was the Modesto, CA "straight pride parade" organizer Don Grundmann, who <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/another-city-may-get-a-straight-pride-parade-this-time-its-pro-western-civilization/ar-AAENVca" target="_blank">said</a>, there are "two religious views of the world. One is Christianity, which is represented by heterosexuality, a culture
of life, and its opponent is the LGBT movement, which is represented by
an opposing religion and an opposing view of life.” Having a egalitarian stance toward sex, gender and sexuality is a "religion," and evangelical Christianity is its inverse. A popular white evangelical approach to this today is to frame a demand for heterosexuality, cisgender identity, limiting sex to the marital and procreative, and requiring wifely submission to a husband as a sort of zero-th commandment: implicit, but the foundation of all Christianity.<br />
<br />
A friend of mine who is an Anglican priest said bluntly that this should be understood as anti-Christian. Jesus says nothing in the New Testament about contraception,
abortion, same-gender relationships, nonbinary gender identities, or
gender transition. But he has a great deal to say about duties to feed the poor, visit the sick and imprisoned, care for migrant people, and love all of humanity. That's why my priest friend devotes herself to serving, without judgment, people who are suffering at society's margins--homeless, trans, addicted, undocumented, dying in hospice, survivors of sexual abuse. To spend one's energies judging, vilifying and seeking to exclude people is the exact opposite of what she reads Jesus telling people to do throughout the New Testament.<br />
<br />
Also, she says making up a fundamental commandment that is nowhere in the Bible and calling it Biblical is heresy.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7szJsjPDfjJzSIqflX4Y1PHqqd3WkYAxYKxeAQ3j0dhjY035E1kaZpkvXJ6PE0ti6WYwJtNKxEbhcpOVDj93C980w4RkB24de2mvkCQVVUqb22KbYwl9Q4DKSuhehszctRYDRj5-WZe0/s1600/would+jesus+discriminate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="724" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7szJsjPDfjJzSIqflX4Y1PHqqd3WkYAxYKxeAQ3j0dhjY035E1kaZpkvXJ6PE0ti6WYwJtNKxEbhcpOVDj93C980w4RkB24de2mvkCQVVUqb22KbYwl9Q4DKSuhehszctRYDRj5-WZe0/s320/would+jesus+discriminate.jpg" width="226" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christians at a Pride parade</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As we have seen before, battles for freedom, justice and equality in America regularly have Christians on both sides, each claiming the Bible supports their position. Personally, I find my priest friend's theology vastly more convincing. But the problem is, there is no doubt that most religious bigots sincerely believe that God is on their side.<br />
<br />
So, is opposition to queer, trans, nonbinary and intersex people the "religious position" in the U.S.? Clearly not. Is it the Christian position? Not according to a majority of Christians. But under the new Trump administration rules, medical practitioners and clinic staff can turn us away, and businesses fire us or refuse us service, so long as they claim being LGBTQIA+ is against their religious beliefs. And of course, they can do the same to any other marginalized group.<br />
<br />
Consider, for example, these two other examples just this week:<br />
<br />
In North Carolina, a <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tasneemnashrulla/billy-graham-rule-lawsuit-north-carolina-religious" target="_blank">sheriff's deputy</a> was assigned to train a new co-worker. He refused to work with the new deputy because she was a woman. His supervisor told him training the new deputy was a job requirement, and he had to do it or he would be fired. He still refused, and he was fired, and now he is suing for religious discrimination. He claims to be following the "Billy Graham Rule"--that a man and woman who are not married must not be alone together. His lawsuit states that he “has a sincerely held religious belief against working alone in his
patrol car in isolated areas with a female who is not his wife.”<br />
<br />
Under the white evangelical position that Trump is happily allowing Mike Pence to promulgate, not only is the man who was fired in the right, but entire businesses can choose to hire only men, lest a man and woman who are not married wind up in a room alone together.<br />
<br />
And then there's this example: a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/24/us/marysville-jean-cramer.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=US%20News" target="_blank">candidate</a> for a City Council position in Marysville, Michigan stated during a candidates' forum that her aim would be, to "[k]eep Marysville a white community as much as possible" and to keep out the "foreign-born." After the forum, when speaking to the local newspaper, she explained that her position was based on her being a Christian. “What is the issue is the biracial marriages, that’s the big problem. And there are a lot of people who don’t know it’s in
the Bible and so they’re going outside of that.”<br />
<br />
Interracial marriage has been legal since the <i>Loving v. Virginia </i>Supreme Court case in 1967. Mildred and Richard Loving had been arrested after traveling from Virginia, where interracial marriage was banned, to Washington DC, where it was legal, to get married. The judge in the Virginia county criminal court that found them guilty <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loving_v._Virginia" target="_blank">wrote</a>, "Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and
he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with
his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact
that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races
to mix."<br />
<br />
I'm sure the judge in the Loving case was sincere in his religious belief, and that the Marysville candidate is, too.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTBZ0zBrcTclXrx0sDuOj-HnCDiuM18DrqTHJ3X098qG3uz-NFO1IXZCmrL4zEd9WMMCTRNbcW1oCX4jaSlBR30kSdAQeuvyFCpCXdF8sRbM_VGVseGWeIXy2EJq1Zeiv-pAGFJ-owl50/s1600/mildred+and+richard+loving.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="1024" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTBZ0zBrcTclXrx0sDuOj-HnCDiuM18DrqTHJ3X098qG3uz-NFO1IXZCmrL4zEd9WMMCTRNbcW1oCX4jaSlBR30kSdAQeuvyFCpCXdF8sRbM_VGVseGWeIXy2EJq1Zeiv-pAGFJ-owl50/s320/mildred+and+richard+loving.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Richard and Mildred Loving</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Frankly, I can't imagine how one could see persecuting people by denying them the right to marry, refusing to work with them, torturing them in attempts to "convert" them, or refusing them access to lunch counters or bathrooms or medical services could be embraced as a "moral conscience." According to the religious precepts of my faith, all of these are acts of evil which I am required to oppose and seek to repair.<br />
<br />
But while my religion is an important personal motivator for my secular actions, I completely oppose the idea that religious beliefs should determine what people are allowed to do in civic society. In a nation where people have very differing religious and ethical beliefs, this will render nondiscrimination laws useless. White supremacists' "conscience" tells them that racial discrimination is a great good. Eugenicists' "conscience" tells medical practitioners to withhold treatment from disabled people so that they will die rather than reproduce. Whatever form of evil and discrimination you can imagine, someone out there has a religious justification for it that makes sense in their mind and that they sincerely believe.<br />
<br />
You would think white evangelical Christian leaders would see that the position they are pushing through <a href="https://www.politicalresearch.org/2016/08/18/dominionism-rising-a-theocratic-movement-hiding-in-plain-sight" target="_blank">dominionist</a> activism can be used against them, just as it can against other groups. I am sure there are many people in the U.S. whose conscience tells them a business should to refuse to bake a cake for people who have refused to bake a cake for a same-gender couple.<br />
<br />
Actually, however, I am sure white evangelical Christian leaders see this very clearly, and lust after it. Because in our weird historical moment, white evangelical Christians, other Trumpist Republicans, and the entire internet manosphere is in love with a victim narrative. Remember, that's where this post started: with piteous claims that antidiscrimination laws are persecuting Christians. We live in an era where a whole lot of white people see themselves as the "real victims" of racism, where "redpilled" men see themselves as victims of systemic oppression by women, etc. etc. etc. For white evangelical Christians, this takes the form of a faith-under-fire narrative, under which they can paint themselves as noble martyrs. The thing is, being a martyr in the "War on Christmas," where the wounds one suffers are receiving greeting cards that say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas," lacks much gravitas and is kind of embarrassing. How much better it would be to face real discrimination, being denied service at a bakery and getting to have a sit-in!<br />
<br />
The vision of opponents of social justice movements today is that being a member of an oppressed group is lucky and fun, something that will get you political power and social media fame and free government handouts. The privileged are oppressed because they lack this oppression!<br />
<br />
As those of us who face actual marginalization know, the reality is vastly different. It looks like refugee children being ripped from their parents' arms and kept in cages. It looks like being bullied and beaten at school and rejected by parents, leading<a href="https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/142/4/e20174218?sso=1&sso_redirect_count=1&nfstatus=401&nftoken=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000&nfstatusdescription=ERROR%3a+No+local+token" target="_blank"> over 40% </a>of all trans/nonbinary youth to attempt suicide. It looks like being stereotyped as dangerous, overpoliced, and treated unequally by courts so that <a href="https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/un-report-on-racial-disparities/" target="_blank">one in three</a> African American boys can expect to grow up to spend time in prison, as opposed to one in 17 white boys. Oppression isn't fun, it doesn't make you famous, and you don't get to laze around on mythic lakes of "free government handouts for minorities." If white evangelical Christians were to really experience systematic oppression in the U.S., they'd learn that.<br />
<br />
But that lesson has not been learned, so here we are.<br />
<br />
And that is why everyone who wants discrimination in the U.S. to be illegal must fight the "sincere religious belief" and "moral conscience" exception policies being enacted by the Trump administration tooth and nail. And while white evangelical Christian leaders aren't concerned, and are in fact psyched by the idea that these exemptions will mean people like them actually get discriminated against, too, I suggest we make it clear we are fighting on everyone's behalf, including that of their followers. Because while it might very well be satisfying to give people a taste of their own medicine, a nation where every person is free to spit on their neighbor is a dystopic nightmare.<br />
<br />
It's also hardly what I believe the words "love your neighbor as yourself" mean. But since oppression and cruelty have a long history of being supported by religious justifications, we have to step outside of religion into the laws of civic society to end discrimination--and religious exemptions defeat that purpose. Dr. Cary Gabriel Costellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14478058791195474381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-906442678610585215.post-49737692784678542922018-02-05T07:17:00.000-08:002018-02-05T07:18:14.219-08:00American Attitudes Towards Trans People Are Not Great<div class="_5pbx userContent _3576" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="js_1u">
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<br />
<br />
Americans
seem to have the impression that LGBT people in the U.S. have more
rights and get more respect than in most places. In particular, I've run
into many Americans who think that trans rights have been advancing
here at mach speed. If they're transphobic, of course, they frame this
as some horrible threat to society that must be undone. But I've
encountered a lot of cisgender Americans who understand themselves as
generally supportive of the LGBT community who still say that the pace
of change when it comes to trans issues has been so fast it's hard for
them to keep up, so let's just slow down. The U.S. may be the most
socially advanced country, but we don't need to get crazy.<br />
<br />
Well,
this fall an <a href="http://www.finchannel.com/society/71094-global-attitudes-toward-transgender-people" target="_blank">international study</a> was conducted in 27 countries on
attitudes towards trans people. And what it shows is that rather than
being the most "advanced" in its acceptance of trans people, the U.S.
population has a much more negative attitude towards trans people than
the norm.<br />
<br />
Consider these findings:<br />
<br />
1. Americans are the
most likely to say they would intentionally misgender trans people (call
a trans woman "he," a trans man "she," and refuse to use any
gender-neutral pronoun). For example, there are almost twice as many
Americans who say they would intentionally misgender trans people than
there are Australians or Canadians who say this.<br />
<br />
2. Americans are
three times more likely to say being trans is a mental illness than are
citizens of Italy, Spain, Argentina or France.<br />
<br />
3. Americans are more likely than study participants in any of the other surveyed countries to frame being trans as "sinful."<br />
<br />
4. "Americans are the most likely to say that society has gone too far
in allowing people to dress and live as one sex even though they were
born another (36%), while people in Japan are least likely to agree with
this sentiment (9%)."<br />
<br />
So, you may hear people telling you that
America is "way out there" when it comes to trans rights, and needs to
slow down. In fact, the U.S. is dragging way behind the international
community when it comes to accepting and supporting trans people.<br />
Americans need to know that, step up, and do better.</div>
Dr. Cary Gabriel Costellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14478058791195474381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-906442678610585215.post-51031589423981961802018-02-03T07:21:00.000-08:002018-02-03T17:57:23.193-08:00When #MeToo Celebrities Fail Trans Women<div data-contents="true">
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<span data-offset-key="3tigm-0-0"><span data-text="true">If celebrities are going to profit off of being the figureheads for our collective traumas, then we have the right to demand they do it right.</span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="f63pk-0-0"><span data-text="true">Trans people are sexually victimized at a sadly high rate. All victims of sexual harms deserve to be respected and represented by those treated as the spokespeople of the </span></span><span class="_5zk7" data-offset-key="f63pk-1-0" spellcheck="false"><span data-offset-key="f63pk-1-0"><span data-text="true">#MeToo</span></span></span><span data-offset-key="f63pk-2-0"><span data-text="true"> movement. Unfortunately, that's not the case. I want to speak out about a nasty case of ally fail that took place this week, when a presumed spokesperson for abuse victims shouted down a trans woman.</span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="3brqq-0-0"><span data-text="true">This is Rose McGowan. You probably know who she is, but if you don't, she's best known as an actor playing one of the attractive witch sisters on the aughties show <i>Charmed</i>. Recently, what she's been famous for is being one of the victims of sexual assaults by Harvey Weinstein. Weinstein kept the story of his assault of McGowan quiet for a decade through a combination of paying her settlement money and hiring agents to keep the story out of the press. That McGowan was sexually assaulted was horrible. That Weinstein could get away with it, appalling. McGowan was victimized and she has my complete empathy for that.</span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="2f5e1-0-0"><span data-text="true">When the news that Weinstein had assaulted and sexually harassed at least 8 women finally broke last October, McGowan initially refused to comment. But after a few days, she became part of the breaking wave of celebrity women speaking out about having been sexually assaulted or harassed by powerful Hollywood men. This was the start of the </span></span><span class="_5zk7" data-offset-key="2f5e1-1-0" spellcheck="false"><span data-offset-key="2f5e1-1-0"><span data-text="true">#MeToo</span></span></span><span data-offset-key="2f5e1-2-0"><span data-text="true"> movement. Rose McGowan became a hero of the movement on Twitter, when her account was suspended for 12 hours for allegedly violating Twitter's privacy policy, in the midst of her sending a flurry of tweets about Weinstein. This led to mass outrage about the silencing of victims of sexual abuse. McGowan's actions were one element triggering the birth of </span></span><span class="_5zk7" data-offset-key="2f5e1-3-0" spellcheck="false"><span data-offset-key="2f5e1-3-0"><span data-text="true">#MeToo</span></span></span><span data-offset-key="2f5e1-4-0"><span data-text="true">, and I respect that.</span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="dgb6u-0-0"><span data-text="true">The </span></span><span class="_5zk7" data-offset-key="dgb6u-1-0" spellcheck="false"><span data-offset-key="dgb6u-1-0"><span data-text="true">#MeToo</span></span></span><span data-offset-key="dgb6u-2-0"><span data-text="true"> movement detonated by the Weinstein news coverage quickly swelled and spread. Celebrities and scientists and political aides and grad students and masses of ordinary people--a majority of them women, but including men and others--joined in calling out their abusers. People told their stories, to reporters, on social media, in classrooms and face to face. It was an important moment of mass disclosure and mass confrontation.</span></span></div>
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<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ecfjg-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="ecfjg-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
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<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="4ibk3" data-offset-key="1mmhc-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1mmhc-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="1mmhc-0-0"><span data-text="true">The </span></span><span class="_5zk7" data-offset-key="1mmhc-1-0" spellcheck="false"><span data-offset-key="1mmhc-1-0"><span data-text="true">#MeToo</span></span></span><span data-offset-key="1mmhc-2-0"><span data-text="true"> movement continues to have social influence, and as one of the innumerable victims of sexual assault, that is very important to me. But there is an issue that arises in our contemporary world dominated by media, for-profit and social, and that is the issue of representation. Whose voices get amplified? Who is the face of the movement, and how is that person chosen? Who gets to profit off of their victimization, and who instead pays a steep price for speaking out? Will the person who gets to speak for us represent us well? Represent us all? Or will they actually kick some of us in the teeth while being celebrated as heroes?</span></span></div>
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<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="4ibk3" data-offset-key="aebgq-0-0">
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<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ct370-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="ct370-0-0"><span data-text="true">Rose McGowan has become a key face of the </span></span><span class="_5zk7" data-offset-key="ct370-1-0" spellcheck="false"><span data-offset-key="ct370-1-0"><span data-text="true">#MeToo</span></span></span><span data-offset-key="ct370-2-0"><span data-text="true"> movement. She just published a memoir, <i>Brave</i>, about her experiences with Harvey Weinstein. A five-part E! documentary about her experience has also just started to screen. She's doing the full tour of news and entertainment shows to promote her book and talk about what happened to her and what she did about it.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="4ibk3" data-offset-key="3vlug-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="3vlug-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="3vlug-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
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<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="4ibk3" data-offset-key="3iqb8-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="3iqb8-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="3iqb8-0-0"><span data-text="true">McGowan is a victim, but she's also someone who is getting a whole lot of profit out of telling her story--both in the direct form of the money she's being paid for her book, documentary, etc., and in the form of revived and amplified celebrity. I don't have a problem with that, in principle. Imagine a world in which every one of us who has been abused received karmic retribution in our own lifetimes, and became rich and powerful, while those who harmed us made to apologize on national media. That would be cool.</span></span></div>
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<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="4ibk3" data-offset-key="3n8hm-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="3n8hm-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="3n8hm-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
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<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="4ibk3" data-offset-key="is3m-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="is3m-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="is3m-0-0"><span data-text="true">That's not going to happen, unfortunately. A sadly small percentage of the victims of sexual harassment or assault will ever see any justice. Just a tiny handful will become rich and famous as the media faces of our collective suffering. Ideally, those fortunate few would be selected for a good reason. Perhaps they suffered the ghastliest abuse. Maybe they worked for years to directly aid abuse victims. Perhaps they are excellent spokespeople who have put in years studying people's experiences, and know how power and marginalization and abuse work, how they play out differently according to class, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, and the full range of social statuses--and can explain this to people.</span></span></div>
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<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="4ibk3" data-offset-key="8okpa-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="8okpa-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="8okpa-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
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<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="4ibk3" data-offset-key="7j1i3-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7j1i3-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="7j1i3-0-0"><span data-text="true">This being America, though, usually the people selected to profit by being spokespeople are celebrities. Like Rose McGowan. That's not fair, but that's the way our culture currently works. We ordinary people will rarely become the media face of a movement. But we can at least demand that the celebrities chosen to represent us do that: represent us. </span></span></div>
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<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="4ibk3" data-offset-key="8l3it-0-0">
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<span data-offset-key="8l3it-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="8cpo1-0-0"><span data-text="true">The problem, of course, is that celebrity relates to social privilege. One of the earliest aims of the </span></span><span class="_5zk7" data-offset-key="8cpo1-1-0" spellcheck="false"><span data-offset-key="8cpo1-1-0"><span data-text="true">#MeToo</span></span></span><span data-offset-key="8cpo1-2-0"><span data-text="true"> movement was to call out men's dominance of the entertainment industry and abuse of that power. We live in a world of </span></span><span class="_5zk7" data-offset-key="8cpo1-3-0" spellcheck="false"><span data-offset-key="8cpo1-3-0"><span data-text="true">#OscarsSoWhite</span></span></span><span data-offset-key="8cpo1-4-0"><span data-text="true">. The underrepresentation of people from marginalized groups among our media figures is pervasive. And so we wind up with spokespeople like Rose McGowan: a white cisgender woman who this week shouted down a trans woman, in the process making transphobic comments and spewing out colorblind racism.</span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="c936i-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="6t3tc-0-0"><span data-text="true">Here's how <a href="https://www.out.com/popnography/2018/2/02/rose-mcgowan-told-trans-woman-shut-fck-and-sit-down" target="_blank">that</a> <a href="http://www.vulture.com/2018/02/rose-mcgowan-got-into-a-shouting-match-with-a-trans-woman.html" target="_blank">went</a> <a href="http://metro.co.uk/2018/02/02/rose-mcgowan-gets-shouting-match-trans-woman-accuses-white-cis-feminism-7282736/" target="_blank">down</a>. McGowan was speaking at a book release party for her memoir, <i>Brave</i>. People from the audience were asking her questions. And a trans woman pointed out that trans women suffer extreme rates of sexual and physical violence, and asked McGowan to speak to that. Her motivation for asking McGowan this undoubtedly came out of statements McGowan made in an interview by RuPaul last summer, in which McGowan framed trans women as really men who have no idea what real women go through.</span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="7t9ef-0-0"><span data-text="true">McGowan's response was to deny that trans women face more victimization than cis women, then to put a happy face on that by calling the trans woman "sister" and saying "we're the same"--a gesture, I take it, of McGowan's positioning herself as a good spokesperson for trans women victims of sexual violence.</span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="c1uv6-0-0"><span data-text="true">The woman who asked the question was not happy with the response, and she and McGowan spoke and then yelled over one another. The trans woman was removed by security, chanting "white cis feminism" all the while. And then McGowan proceeded to yell and rant at the audience. She was outraged at being called cisgender and at having her whiteness pointed out. She screamed,</span></span></div>
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<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="4ibk3" data-offset-key="b33o-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="b33o-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="b33o-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
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<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="4ibk3" data-offset-key="8hmrm-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="8hmrm-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="8hmrm-0-0"><span data-text="true">"Don’t label me, sister. Don’t put your labels on me. Don’t you fucking do that. Do not put your labels on me. I don’t come from your planet. Leave me alone. I do not subscribe to your rules. I do not subscribe to your language.</span></span></div>
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<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="4ibk3" data-offset-key="a4mb-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="a4mb-0-0">
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<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="4ibk3" data-offset-key="bnsno-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bnsno-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="bnsno-0-0"><span data-text="true">"You will not put labels on me or anybody. Step the fuck back. What I do for the fucking world and you should be fucking grateful. Shut the fuck up. Get off my back. . . </span></span><span data-offset-key="bnsno-0-0"><span data-text="true">I didn’t agree to your cis fucking world. Ok? Fuck off. . .</span></span></div>
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<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="4ibk3" data-offset-key="803vk-0-0">
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<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="4ibk3" data-offset-key="4o1qo-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="4o1qo-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="4o1qo-0-0"><span data-text="true">"I’m fucking mad with the lies. I’m mad that you put shit on me because I have a fucking vagina and I’m white or I’m black or I’m yellow or I’m purple. Fuck off. All of us want to say it. I just do. . .</span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="4o1qo-0-0">
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<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="4o1qo-0-0">
<br />
<span data-offset-key="4o1qo-0-0"><span data-text="true">"</span></span><span data-offset-key="4o1qo-0-0"><span data-text="true">There’s not a network here devoted to your fucking death. There’s not
advertisers advertising tampons with a camera lovingly going up a girl’s
body as she’s being lovingly raped and strangled. Piss off. And until
you can collect that fucking check, back up. My name is Rose McGowan and
I am obviously fucking brave.” </span></span></div>
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<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6g4h6-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="6g4h6-0-0"><span data-text="true">What this rant presents is in fact a Top Hits of white feminist colorblind racism, trans-exclusionary feminism, and self-aggrandizing bad allyship. Shut up and be grateful, trans woman. Terrible things happen to cis white girls! I don't experience cis privilege or white privilege. You're attacking me because I have a vagina and for the color of my skin. I don't care if people are black or white or purple, and by bringing up my whiteness you are the real racist. (But I do care about what genitals people have, oh yes, and make presumptions about what is in your pants! And I refuse to call myself a cis woman, because that's a trans imposition, more proof that trans women are really men trying to control the real women.) I'm so brave I'm willing to shout down a trans woman, something everyone wishes they could do, but is too afraid!</span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="fma8o-0-0"><span data-text="true">Ugh.</span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="5781k-0-0"><span data-text="true">Herein lies the main problem of the spokespeople of contemporary social movements being, not the most qualified person, but the most famous one. You wind up with somebody who has little awareness of their own privileges. You wind up with someone who is below the 101-level of understanding how privilege works. They still see it as an on/off switch. "I've been victimized, so I am not an oppressor." They haven't yet learned to see that all of us have dozens of social statuses, and enjoy privilege along some and endure marginalization along others. They haven't yet done the work to examine how they themselves are benefitting from the marginalization of others. You get people speaking for a social justice movement who are themselves bigots. You get transmisogynists who paint trans women as a sexual threat rather than as sexual victims. You get the familiar, specious argument that as victims of sexual assault by cis men, because they frame their bias against trans women in terms of fear of assault, cis women's transmisogyny should be validated rather than decried.</span></span></div>
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<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="4ibk3" data-offset-key="52too-0-0">
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<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="4ibk3" data-offset-key="97o9k-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="97o9k-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="97o9k-0-0"><span data-text="true">You get people who frame as personal attacks on them calls for them to recognize how being a person of color or trans or otherwise socially marginalized makes victimization worse. You get people who present those who critique their inadequate spokespersonship as the supposed problem with progressives today. You know: the complaint of a "circular firing squad."</span></span></div>
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<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="4ibk3" data-offset-key="3ri7s-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="3ri7s-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="3ri7s-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="b247a-0-0"><span data-text="true">Attacking one's allies because their choice of terms is anything other than 100% perfect is bad, to be sure. But this is something else. This is calling out transmisogyny and colorblind racism on the part of someone who is supposed to be the public voice of </span></span><span class="_5zk7" data-offset-key="b247a-1-0" spellcheck="false"><span data-offset-key="b247a-1-0"><span data-text="true">#MeToo</span></span></span><span data-offset-key="b247a-2-0"><span data-text="true">. You cannot be the voice of people who deal with so much worse crap than you do, as a white cis celebrity, if you are in denial about your privileges, or worse, actively voicing bigotry.</span></span></div>
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<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="4ibk3" data-offset-key="d54je-0-0">
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<span data-offset-key="d54je-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
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<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7tsd2-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="7tsd2-0-0"><span data-text="true">This was </span></span><span class="_5zk7" data-offset-key="7tsd2-1-0" spellcheck="false"><span data-offset-key="7tsd2-1-0"><span data-text="true">#MeToo</span></span></span><span data-offset-key="7tsd2-2-0"><span data-text="true"> fail. And we all have the right, and the responsibility, to call on our media spokespeople to stop failing us. </span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="a0lma-0-0"><span data-text="true">Rose McGowan, you have my complete sympathy and solidarity with regard to your having been sexually assaulted. But you are harming my family, my communitymembers who are not cis white women, and I demand you do better in exchange for your profiting as our figurehead.</span></span></div>
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Dr. Cary Gabriel Costellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14478058791195474381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-906442678610585215.post-58757965017899173602018-01-16T21:40:00.000-08:002018-01-18T11:03:07.299-08:00Trans is an Adjective: The Cartoon!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I made a little cartoon to share with people who have trouble
figuring out what it means when someone says, "Hey--trans is an
adjective, not a noun!"<br />
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I hope you enjoy my quality stick figures, heh.<br />
<span class="_5mfr _47e3"></span><span class="_5mfr _47e3"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrwcNdg_QzFix-fH0u77swBhNw9TFDh9t-iU_cDcWdW_SyOnsDA_2Xs04kH4s0TfmmCwlsKomuPrSbQS4KDfRZPDojVK5I5EwiGDHWoKoGeg3Iw8uG6nm22kZMin2NYGD2sRs5S7S4dlw/s1600/Trans+is+an+adjective.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="817" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrwcNdg_QzFix-fH0u77swBhNw9TFDh9t-iU_cDcWdW_SyOnsDA_2Xs04kH4s0TfmmCwlsKomuPrSbQS4KDfRZPDojVK5I5EwiGDHWoKoGeg3Iw8uG6nm22kZMin2NYGD2sRs5S7S4dlw/s640/Trans+is+an+adjective.jpg" width="326" /></a></div>
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<span class="_5mfr _47e3"></span><span class="_5mfr _47e3"><br /></span>Dr. Cary Gabriel Costellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14478058791195474381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-906442678610585215.post-3229350286297440642017-03-05T14:36:00.001-08:002017-03-05T15:45:37.554-08:00A Red State is "Detransitioning" State Employees--Like Me<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHp6sJbOuBk5nfMBBHBHVwiyiRk6z8uLSIP-rXmqRPaJ9pHipHE5h1IBbwsQOcUBk4GdLacm-Vf0taV3OA7WP-nv0Mzyd1XSi846XnORwIc0_9pFffLBzUxmNgwq3-OsasfSNbwq_058E/s1600/Detransitioned+Post+Image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHp6sJbOuBk5nfMBBHBHVwiyiRk6z8uLSIP-rXmqRPaJ9pHipHE5h1IBbwsQOcUBk4GdLacm-Vf0taV3OA7WP-nv0Mzyd1XSi846XnORwIc0_9pFffLBzUxmNgwq3-OsasfSNbwq_058E/s400/Detransitioned+Post+Image.jpg" width="233" /></a></div>
It's been close to a decade since I legally gender transitioned.<br />
<br />
While it was a great relief to finally live authentically in the gender I knew myself to be, transitioning was a process both challenging and tedious. I needed to have my name and gender marker changed in so many databases. This meant awkward interpersonal interactions. (For example, when I went to get a driver's license issued with my new name and gender marker, the person staffing the front desk at the DMV, apparently seeing me as insufficiently manly looking after just a few months on testosterone, responded by exclaiming in front of the crowd waiting in line, "What are you, some kind of pre-op?!"). It meant educating and cajoling and placating administrators of multiple bureaucracies who had never personally changed anyone's gender marker in whatever system they administrated, and were disconcerted to be asked to do so. It meant presenting my court order of name change and state ID showing my "M" marker over and over again.<br />
<br />
Running the gauntlet of getting my gender transition acknowledged and implemented took months. It was tiresome. But I managed it, and moved on with my life. As my appearance shifted under the influence of hormone therapy and most people got used to addressing me as "he," the levels of stress involved in just living my life as myself slowly dropped. There were ongoing battles that remained, like my fight against the ban on insurance coverage for transition-related care in the policies offered to Wisconsin state employees, but the legal hassles seemed mostly behind me. I could mostly breathe free and just go about my business.<br />
<br />
And for a brief moment, things really started to look up. After eight years of fighting with no success for insurance coverage for the trans care my wife and I required, policy directives under Obamacare forced my state to say it would lift the ban on transition care. The exclusion was to be lifted on January 1, 2017. But in November of 2016, Donald Trump won the presidential election, promising to repeal Obamacare and produce a total change in federal regulations. Now, my Republican governor and state legislature felt empowered to enact transpohobic policies. In December, the "Employee Trust Fund" or ETF--the agency administering all benefits programs for Wisconsin state employees--directed all insurers providing coverage to state employees to reinstate the ban on coverage for trans care.<br />
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For a family like mine, with two gender transitioners who had been waiting for many years to access additional care and get coverage for our HRT, that was more than depressing. But at least we saw it coming.<br />
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What came like a bolt from the blue was the notice I got a week ago.<br />
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It was a Friday afternoon. I'd just given a colloquium talk in my department. The week was winding down, and so was I, sitting in my office going through the day's pile of email--the usual questions from students about assignments and discussions about programming with instructors in the LGBT+ studies program I direct. Then I came across an email from my university human resource specialist, opening with a cheerful "Hello!" It informed me that ETF had changed their policy on gender transitioning in their system (which covers not only health insurance but all benefits, like disability, retirement plans, etc.). It stated that in order to "maintain a gender change," I had to provide additional documentation for myself and for my wife.<br />
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We were being detransitioned by the state, though I'd legally transitioned nearly a decade ago, and my wife started her transition in the 1990s. And we did not have the additional documentation demanded.<br />
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Reading this email caused an immediate feeling of shock at the attack on our identities. But let me note that reverting our gender markers to what they were years ago does more than emotional or psychological damage. And it impacts more than how others view our genders. For example, I have developed a neurological problem with my arm leading to partial loss of the use of one hand. I'll be seeing a neurologist in a few days--and a mismatch in my identification can mean denial of insurance coverage. That could be very costly to my family--but delaying needed medical care is costly in other ways.<br />
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">Between a Rock and a Hard Place </span><br />
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Before I get to discussing the additional demands ETF is making, let me point out a very broad problem, and that is the idea that agents of the state can change one's legal status retroactively at any time. Imagine, for example, if the state decided that it wished to make it harder for people to get married, and so it imposed a new requirement--that in order to have a marriage recognized, residents would have to provide DNA evidence proving they and their spouse are not related (an expensive prospect). Then imagine that all married state employees were informed that their status had been reverted to single in employment databases and systems, because they had not complied with the DNA test requirement when documenting their marriages. That's not the way regulatory changes, mundane or shocking, operate--they are applied going forward, but not retroactively.<br />
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Now, as for the new procedures for gender transitioning, there are three requirements listed by ETF. The first is that the employee must notify ETF directly, providing their old and new names, old and new gender markers, ETF ID number, and a declaration that they are gender transitioning. Previously, employees notified HR at their place of employment, and employer HR staff changed the gender marker directly in the benefits system. But now ETF will centralize control over implementing transitions, and maintain a database of gender transitioners. In essence, we are being required to register with the state. As a Jewish person who lost extended family in the Holocaust, I find this extremely creepy.<br />
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The second thing trans people are required to do is provide "proof of identity," such as a driver's license or military ID showing the new name and gender marker. That's what we had to do in the past, and my wife and I can easily produce our Wisconsin driver's licenses showing our names and most correct binary gender markers. But now ETF is demanding more.<br />
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We are now being required to produce a third item, "proof of gender." This is very strange, because a driver's license <i>already</i> provides state-recognized proof of one's gender. Requiring more serves no purpose other than to make it harder for people to get their identified genders recognized. And the new "proof of gender" items are difficult and intrusive items to get.<br />
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Let's look at the options. One is a court order of gender change. To get one of these is difficult, expensive, and in many states, like Wisconsin, requires a doctor to testify that one has had surgical sex reassignment. Now, some people cannot have such surgery for medical reasons. Others do not want it--they desire social recognition of their identified genders, not a program of body modifications. And nonbinary gender transitioners often find they are denied access to surgeries. But let me underline that in any case, the very surgeries that ETF is making necessary in order to have one's transition recognized it has also categorically excluded from insurance coverage. My wife and I have been waiting for years to access some surgical interventions that would make our lives easier on many levels, one of which is being able to access things like a court order of gender change. But we can't afford them without insurance coverage. It's a Catch-22, and seems deliberately cruel.<br />
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Well. Instead of presenting a court order of name change, another "proof of gender" is a US birth certificate showing the identified gender. Now, in bluer states than mine, amending one's birth certificate sex requires just a letter from a doctor or therapist attesting that a person under their care is gender transitioning. A few states with reactionary policies, like Ohio and Idaho, do not allow birth certificate sex to be changed for gender transitioners at all. But most states, like Wisconsin, will do it for people who have had sex reassignment surgery which is documented in some particular way--in Wisconsin, it's by a court order of gender change. So we're back to square one, for my family and for so many gender transitioners.<br />
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What else will ETF accept as proof of gender? Another option is a US passport showing the identified gender. My wife and I have been trying for months to get the documentation we need to get passports issued in our lived genders, but have run into difficulties trying to get certified copies of legal documents. Hopefully these problems will be resolved in time and the rules for gender transition and passports won't shift under us before then. But even if we had them, this option as provided by ETF is highly problematic. Their policy requires that for a passport to "count" as proof of gender, the original passport must be mailed to an ETF P.O. box to be examined. It's crazy to demand that someone hand over their passport, via ordinary mail, with no specified procedure for ensuring its safety, no description of how long it will be held, no contact information given for an employee to inquire about the location of their passport should they not receive it back in a timely fashion, and most of all no explanation as to why the original document has been demanded, rather than just shown to the employee's HR office. So, even if we did have passports, we wouldn't want to mail them off to ETF as required.<br />
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Finally, there's the alternative of mailing a letter from a care provider as "proof of gender." At first, this seems the go-to option. Letters from medical practitioners and therapists are employed in many transition contexts. But there are two problems with ETF's letter option. First, ETF will only accept a letter from someone with a doctoral-level credential. The clinic where my wife and I get our medical care is staffed solely by (very competent!) nurse practitioners, with masters-degree-level credentials. So our care provider isn't allowed to write a letter for us.<br />
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But there's something more insidious, and that is the content required in the letter. Transition letters are commonplace, and they follow a standard format intended to protect the private medical information of the gender transitioner. The care provider writing the letter makes only a general statement that "appropriate clinical treatment" has been provided. But ETF demands that the letter writer explain what that treatment was. This is none of their business! Moreover, ETF is staffed by bureaucrats and accountants, not medical personnel qualified to review such information.<br />
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There's no justification given for the letter to disclose such highly personal information. But given what we've just experienced in terms of retroactive de-recognition of our gender transitions, there's reason to fear. It may be that if certain medical procedures are not listed in the letter, even if the letter is accepted now, at some time in the future employees might find their gender transitions reversed in state records yet again.<br />
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">Ugh.</span><br />
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So, I've been trying to mobilize my university HR to push back against the detransitioning of me and my wife in the benefits system, and against the imposition of onerous and atypical requirements future gender transitioners. A conference call is planned between ETF and HR administrators. We'll see what the outcome is, but one piece of information I have been given so far by the head HR administrator at my university is that apparently my wife and I are the only people to whom ETF directed a notice be sent that our gender transitions would be reversed unless we produced additional documentation, at least as far as he could determine.<br />
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There are two interpretations I can give this disconcerting bit of information. Both turn on the fact that I am quite open about being trans, run an LGBT+ studies program, and as an academic who researches intersex and trans issues, have been interviewed by the media numerous times to provide commentary on related news stories. The first interpretation is that some ETF staffmember has been tasked with identifying trans state employees to receive detransitioning notices, and as I'm simply particularly visible as a trans employee of the state, I and my wife were the first identified. And the other is that because I am a critic of transphobic policy initiatives, my family has been personally targeted in retaliation--which is a pretty unsettling possibility. I suppose there's a third scenario--that every other trans person who is a state employee or receives benefits as family member of a state employee presented their HR office with a court order of gender change or amended birth certificate when they gender transitioned. But given that there are almost 300,000 state employees, how hard it is to get those documents, and the fact that they were not considered necessary until now, this seems extremely unlikely. It's an anxiety-inducing situation to find oneself in under any interpretation.<br />
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In any case, the short story is this: around the US and the world, as trans rights have advanced, insurance coverage for transition care has become commonplace, while changing gender markers has shifted to being based upon gender identity, not any particular physical sex characteristic or its modification. States like Wisconsin were lagging behind the curve, but progress was being made. Yes, there were backlashes, like the flurry of so-called "bathroom bills," but under the Obama administration, these were federally identified as discriminatory.<br />
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But like so many things, a lot has changed fast. And trans people are among those finding themselves besieged.<br />
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And that's how I find myself facing detransition by an agency of the state.<br />
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<span lang="en-US" style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span dir="ltr" id="divtagdefaultwrapper" style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></span>Dr. Cary Gabriel Costellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14478058791195474381noreply@blogger.com33tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-906442678610585215.post-42922199962881005022017-02-02T14:14:00.000-08:002017-02-02T17:11:10.799-08:00Doors Slamming Shut on Trans Care<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP_WIj4N2m2mrTNaM0yuti8-C83XI_44jHszI9RBWEUexRfMu84nYaSWk8e-UHxnqlgPAFAdORijwwT94svGk7h1nYM8Nyw6fHPGSOHhzbQ4R9NTq76GcaqRQ9LvOW-oMW3NAVC4TMuZU/s1600/door+slammed+on+trans+care.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP_WIj4N2m2mrTNaM0yuti8-C83XI_44jHszI9RBWEUexRfMu84nYaSWk8e-UHxnqlgPAFAdORijwwT94svGk7h1nYM8Nyw6fHPGSOHhzbQ4R9NTq76GcaqRQ9LvOW-oMW3NAVC4TMuZU/s320/door+slammed+on+trans+care.jpg" width="169" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A Preamble</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So much has happened so quickly since the Trump inauguration, so much of it damaging to marginalized people, that it's difficult for folks to keep up with what is going on. That is clearly the intent of Trump puppeteer Steve Bannon, with his desire to produce shock and awe, stir up society like an anthill, and remake it in his nasty image.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">With so much going on, it's important that we make and listen to reports from the many fields of struggle, which is why I'm writing this post. But I do want to preface my report with a call for unity. We've been set up, by this initiation of battles on many fronts via tweets and executive orders<span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><b>.</b></span> Our opponents in Washington hope to divide us. They hope that we'll splinter into "interest groups," each demanding primacy and seeing calls for help and attention from other embattled groups as acts of betrayal. Remember, the concept of "divide and conquer" is as old as the hills. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">None of us can fight every battle--but we can support one another's efforts. We have to focus our individual efforts on what we can do best to resist in our local communities, with the skillsets we each have. But we also need to have one another's backs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So: I make this small field report, not to distract people from protesting the ban on refugees and travelers from seven Muslim-majority nations, or from pushing their representatives in Washington to oppose the nominations of unqualified ideologues to head federal agencies, or whatever other actions people are engaging in. I make it because we must keep one another informed of all the negative changes that are taking place. That's what we need in order to keep taking positive steps to resist.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A Trans Report from the Midwest</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I am an employee of the state of Wisconsin, teaching at a state university. About a decade ago, the University of Wisconsin system added to its nondiscrimination clause protections based on gender identity or expression. Yet the insurance plans offered to people working and learning at University of Wisconsin schools all banned coverage of "procedures, services, and supplies related to surgery and sex hormones associated with gender reassignment." I've been fighting that ban ever since.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Until the summer of 2016, I got nowhere. It was a strange battle, because at every turn, I encountered expressions of surprise and sympathy from colleagues and benefits staff and administrators in the University of Wisconsin system. Colleagues presumed transition care must be covered by our insurance, since our antidiscrimination policy bans discrimination based on gender identity, and that must mean what it says. Human resources staff presumed the denial of coverage in our insurance plans must have originated with the insurance companies, and be their national exclusion policy. Upper university administrators saw that the discriminatory medical exclusion came from on high--proclaimed for all state employees by an entity called the Employee Trust Fund. But they regretfully stated that the university system couldn't tell the state what to do. They promised to bring the exclusion up as an issue to be addressed at the state level should an opportunity arise.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And so, year after year, I'd repeat this process of approaching people at various levels, reporting on the ongoing discrimination and asking for their help. I'd speak to them personally, and tell them how my family was impacted. With two gender transitioners and two disabled people in the little family of three I support, we couldn't afford any uninsured surgical care, and the lack of coverage for our trans endocrinological care was costing us between $1000 and $2000 a year out of pocket. Between our other medical expenses and the big hit my take-home pay received when the state withdrew much of its benefits support, my family's savings disappeared, and we have been sinking further and further into debt. And not being able to access surgical transition care is not "just" some issue of psychological discomfort for my wife and myself. It means relying on antiandrogens for year after year, with side effects that can be cumulative. It means relying on the extended wearing of chest binders for year after year, with their restrictions on breathing, exercise, and risk of rib <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">injury</span>. </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It means if we fly, we regularly get stopped by airport security and detained due to our "anomalies."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And year after year, the people I contacted would express sympathy, but do nothing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then, in the summer of 2016, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services posted the "Final Rule to Improve Health Equity under the Affordable Care Act." And one of the things this document said was that health insurance could not discriminate on the basis of gender identity or expression. Blanket exclusions of transition-related care were stated to be unacceptable discrimination.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And lo! Based on this federal guidance, the Employee Trust Fund, the entity declaring policy for state benefits programs, instructed all the health insurers providing insurance to state of Wisconsin employees to remove the ban on trans care.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the fall of 2016, my family received a letter from our insurer stating that the ban on coverage for transition-related medical expenses would be lifted on December 1, 2017. We put the letter up on the fridge and celebrated.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And then Trump won the election.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I wrote a social media post a few days after the election saying to watch out, because I bet that trans medical care coverage would disappear for people in red states soon after his inauguration in January. A batch of people replied in comments saying that of course things were uncertain, but that I shouldn't be so alarmist. Once rights are granted, they are very hard to take back, they said. Insurers wouldn't want to look bad. If insurers did try to put back blanket bans, they'd face years of lawsuits. And anyway, Trump said he was ok with Caitlyn Jenner using the women's bathroom in Trump Tower.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Who was right? Well, it seems under the Trump administration there is no such thing as an alarmist progressive worry.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What followed Trump's election in Wisconsin was an immediate flurry of activity in the state health insurance regulatory world. Insurers, who a couple of months ago had sent out sunny letters about how they did not discriminate and offered wonderful health care coverage to all, regardless of gender identity, had private conversations with the ETF. Soon, Governor Scott Walker and our anti-LGBT activist state Attorney General, Brad Schimel, were voicing their opinions that the federal bullies who had forced the state to offer trans medical care had no more influence, and the state should reassert its noble, sovereign right to discriminate. The ETF asked the Group Insurance Board for a ruling on whether a "rescission of coverage" would amount to a "breach of duty" to the employees of the state of Wisconsin. The GIB basically ruled, "No, go for it, once Trump is inaugurated."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The very first executive order Trump signed after his inauguration was one stating that Trump intended that Obamacare be repealed, and that meanwhile, all possible actions should be taken "to minimize the unwarrented economic and regulatory burdens" of Obamacare, and give the states "more flexibility and control."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And so, in the name of freedom, states rights, and economic security, the ETF acted. On February 1st, they issued a statement saying that "the exclusion of services related to gender reassignment is reinstated as of today."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One month. That's how long trans medical care needs were acknowledged to be valid in the state of Wisconsin. I didn't even get to have a single refill of my testosterone covered, because of a backorder at my pharmacy.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hold the Doors</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is a moment where doors are swinging shut all over America. Due to racial and religious bigotry, they are being slammed shut at the national level in the faces of refugees who are fleeing the horrors of war. We must fight for the refugees and immigrants whose lives and livelihoods are endangered by anti-immigrant sentiments and actions. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But we should also notice and help resist the other doors slamming shut on the smaller levels of state and local action. And the Wisconsin re-adoption of trans discrimination in health care for state employees is one of those actions.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So, can you do anything to help? Well, if you are actually a University of Wisconsin employee, especially an administrator, now is the time to stand up against transphobic discrimination and speak out. Perhaps you didn't know there was a ban on trans medical care coverage before. Perhaps you knew it existed, but thought that was true across the U.S.. Perhaps you knew it was an ETF policy, but thought of it as a sort of ancient fossil, some passive, unconsidered barrier. But now you know. The ETF has pulled the rug out from under your co-workers who are transgender, or have spouses or children who are trans. Coverage is clearly possible, since for one brief month it was offered. It is being denied in a blatant case of discrimination.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I realize that nobody at the University made this decision to reinstate the discriminatory policy. I know that it comes from the state, and that if you are an employee in the benefits office, you don't <i>want</i> to hand out discriminatory plans. University staff supervising and hiring individuals who are trans or have trans dependents don't <i>want</i> them to face unfair financial burdens and negative health and safety outcomes. You are just part of a large system.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But when you hear yourself saying, "I am a cog in a huge machine. I am just following orders," I hope that this makes you shiver, then shake yourself, and do something to resist. This is a habit that we need to develop or redevelop in these times, when talk of creeping fascism is not hyperbole.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Most readers, of course, aren't Wisconsin state employees. But you can help as well. You can contact <a href="http://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2017/legislators/senate" target="_blank">state</a> <a href="http://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2017/legislators/assembly" target="_blank">legislators</a> via phone or fax. You can make a donation to a <a href="http://www.transequality.org/" target="_blank">trans advocacy</a> organization or the <a href="http://www.aclu-wi.org/" target="_blank">Wisconsin ACLU</a> or other group. Most of all, what you can do is be aware of what is happening here as an example of what is happening in many states and localities now. Find out what is happening with regard to trans health care discrimination in the localities and states you live in or have connections to. Help raise awareness of the issue. There is so much to fight, now: xenophobia, racism, religious discrimination, misogyny. . . I'm not asking people to put transmisogyny and transphobia at the top of some list of deserving causes. I'm asking people to focus on the work they are best at, but when it comes to the list of issues they are not concentrating their personal work on, to make that an inclusive list. We need to have one another's backs, and help one another out where we can, though none of us can effectively take everything on. This is what I am trying me best to do.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And now you know one way to have my back. </span>Dr. Cary Gabriel Costellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14478058791195474381noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-906442678610585215.post-7378674442965887272016-06-10T13:49:00.000-07:002016-06-10T13:49:49.693-07:00A Sample Resolution Against "Bathroom Bills"<span style="font-size: large;">We are at a crossroads in the U.S. when it comes to the issue of protecting trans people from discrimination. The federal government has issued guidelines that make it clear that discrimination against trans and gender-nonconforming people is illegal, at least in certain contexts (the person is a student, a medical patient, or a federal employee). Many organizations and localities have enacted further legal protections for trans children and adults.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">But the backlash has been potent. We are seeing a rash of so-called "bathroom bills" being introduced in cities and states around the nation, which ban protecting trans people from discrimination based on the false claim that such laws would put women and girls at risk in bathrooms, locker rooms, and the like. If you are reading this, I presume that you already agree that pro-discrimination bills are a great wrong. But what can you do about them?</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Well, one thing you can do is to convince an organization you're in that your group should take a stand against the passing of transphobic laws. You can pass a resolution explaining why you oppose discriminatory laws, and send it to stakeholders and decisionmakers in your area.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Drafting an official-sounding resolution can be challenging, though. Therefore, to help folks who want to take this action, I will share here the text of a resolution I recently drafted for an organization of which I am a member. When that organization meets, the members may decide they want to add or subtract something from the language before they vote to pass the resolution. Your group can do that as well. It's always good to tweak sample language to fit your specific situation! But it's a lot easier to tweak already-existing language than come up with a whole resolution from scratch, so I hope this is helpful to people.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Here's the sample resolution:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">RESOLUTION OF [INSERT ORGANIZATION NAME]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">AFFIRMING THE RIGHT OF TRANS PEOPLE TO BE PROTECTED FROM
DISCRIMINATION IN ACCESS TO PUBLIC FACILITIES, EMPLOYMENT, SCHOOLING, AND
HEALTH CARE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">WHEREAS respect for people of all gender identities and
expressions is an important value of [insert organization name]; AND<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">WHEREAS gender transition as a resolution of the experience
of gender dysphoria is affirmed and supported by the American Psychological
Association, the American Medical Association, and numerous other professional
groups who care for transgender people, AND<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">WHEREAS a vital part of gender transition and the health and
safety of trans people is living in their identified, authentic genders, with those genders
being affirmed and respected in the various spaces and institutional settings
where those individuals live, work, and go to school, AND<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">WHEREAS the federal government has issued guidances making
it clear that discrimination against trans people violates federal law, TO WIT:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">a)<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Students at schools receiving federal funds must
not face discrimination due to their gender identity or expression, which
protection extends to freedom from harassment, bullying, or nonrecognition of
their identified genders, and the right to access facilities and activities
open to those of their identified genders (“Dear Colleague Letter on
Transgender Students,” interpreting Title IX of the Education Amendments of
1972, issued by the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education); and<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">b)<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->These same rights extend to federal employees
who are transgender or gender-nonconforming (“Guidance Regarding the Employment
of Transgender Individuals in the Federal Workplace,” issued by the U.S. Office
of Personnel Management, interpreting the 5<sup>th</sup> and 14<sup>th</sup>
Amendments of the U.S. Constitution and the Privacy Act); and<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">c)<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Patients are protected from discrimination on
the basis of gender identity or expression in health care under the Affordable
Care Act (“Final Rule to Improve Health Equity under the Affordable Care Act,”
issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services); AND<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">WHEREAS a transphobic backlash against these civil rights
protections is ongoing, taking the form of state and local legal initiatives
and a federal lawsuit filed by eleven states and state officials opposing the
guidance on the protection of trans and gender-nonconforming students listed as
(a) above; AND<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">WHEREAS these anti-transgender initiatives focus centrally
on access to bathrooms and locker rooms, claiming that laws protecting
transgender people will enable men and boys to enter bathrooms and locker rooms
designated for the use of women and girls, in order to commit voyeuristic harassment
or sexual assault; AND<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">WHEREAS trans people have in fact been using bathrooms that
match their identified genders for many decades without any such problem
existing; AND<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">WHEREAS legal protection of gender identity does not in any
way render harassment or assault legal, AND<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">WHEREAS it is in fact trans women who face substantial risk
of becoming the victims of violence or persecution in accessing bathrooms; AND<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">WHEREAS claims of a fantasized risk to “innocents” have a
long history in being deployed to justify discrimination and segregation,
including claims that racial desegregation would put white women and girls at
risk of rape and the transmission of STIs via toilet seats, claims that banning
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation would put children at risk of
molestation, and claims that the Equal Rights Amendment banning sex
discrimination would make sex-segregated facilities illegal, putting women and
girls in danger in the same way now being claimed for legal protections for gender
identity and expression; AND<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">WHEREAS the end of legal racial segregation and the introduction
of protections on the bases of sex and sexual orientation did not lead to the
fantasized onslaughts of sexual abuse; and<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">WHEREAS so-called “bathroom bills” have a vastly greater
negative impact on trans people than just limiting their ability to access
toilets; TO WIT:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">a)<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->These bills deny the reality of gender identity,
often using the nonsense phrase “biological gender,” which conflates physical
sex characteristics at birth with gender identity in order to delegitimate
gender transition as delusional; and<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">b)<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->These bills encourage the general public to
treat trans people, particularly trans women, with fear, and to see them as potential
child molesters and inclined to sexual assault; and<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">c)<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->These bills encourage the general public to
engage in gender policing, which is a practice of scrutinizing the appearance
and behavior of others, framing trans people as deceptive in their gender
presentations, and punishing gender-nonconformity—a practice that impacts
cisgender individuals as well as trans people; AND<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">WHEREAS the goal of a just society should be that all of its
members be treated with dignity and respect, rather than mocked, bullied,
stigmatized, falsely accused, banned from equal access to facilities, or
otherwise marginalized;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1)<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->[Insert organization name] reaffirms its
longstanding support of the protection of people against discrimination on the
basis of gender identity or expression; AND<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2)<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->[Insert organization name] is grateful for the
federal guidances which have issued from various agencies, making it clear that
discrimination against trans and/or gender-nonconforming people in schooling,
federal employment, and health care is against federal law; AND<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3)<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->[Insert organization name] opposes the lawsuit
by 11 states and state officials who claim a right to discriminate against
transgender students; AND<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4)<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->[Insert organization name] opposes all so-called
“bathroom bills,” which institutionalize transphobia , delegitimate gender
transition; and encourage public harassment of trans people; AND<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5)<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->[Insert organization name] urges all public
bodies considering so-called “bathroom bills” to recognize and acknowledge the
reasons for our opposition, as enumerated in the body of this Resolution; AND<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6)<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->[Insert organization name] urges all public
entities charged with building and administrating public facilities to make
available single-stall, lockable, all-gender restrooms and locker rooms for
those who wish greater privacy in using the facilities and/or those who do not
identify with a binary gender; AND<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7)<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->[Insert organization name] holds that in any
building that has both men’s and women’s multistall facilities and
single-stall, any-gender facilities, transgender individuals can never be
required to use the non-gendered facilities, as this constitutes segregation,
but rather that both trans and cisgender individuals have the choice of using
either a multistall facility that matches their gender identity, or a
single-stall, all-gender facility; AND<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8)<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->[Insert organization name] urges all whom this
Resolution reaches to enact rules and regulations which respect and protect the
rights of trans and gender-nonconforming people.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this Resolution shall be
published on the website of [insert organization name], and that copies of it
will be delivered by both email and paper mail to the Governors and Attorneys
General of each of the United States and Territories and the Mayor of the
District of Columbia. Email copies will also be sent to appropriate
administrative agents of the DOJ, HHS, DOE and OPM, and to the heads of major
trans/LGBT rights groups, including the National Center for Transgender
Equality, the Transgender Law Center, the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, the
National Transgender Advocacy Coalition, the Transgender Law and Policy
Institute, the Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD (formerly an abbreviation for Gay
and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, now the full name of the organization as
the prior name excluded trans advocacy), and the ACLU. Members of [insert
organization name] are invited to distribute copies of this Resolution to local
school districts, legislators, administrative agents or other authorities they
know to be addressing the issue of protection of trans and gender-nonconforming
children and adults.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">RESOLVED THIS [insert date] DAY OF [insert month], [insert
year].<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Dr. Cary Gabriel Costellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14478058791195474381noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-906442678610585215.post-12763007719496470582016-05-13T12:27:00.001-07:002016-05-13T12:27:19.844-07:00Fifty Years of Segregationist Fury<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJM-1gY9FPuQYFqO6IBZyLhdOeSqJciIJJvmgqUuH3dhSPS4woYozC4bOhBhu589oNx9HDrv0eTfolFApgHlHl-f67rlmx-BUlGeVcb1o9LBCxg_uI_9VxnusYWknnpsC1CiXGr3NgZaA/s1600/50+years+of+segregationist+activism.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJM-1gY9FPuQYFqO6IBZyLhdOeSqJciIJJvmgqUuH3dhSPS4woYozC4bOhBhu589oNx9HDrv0eTfolFApgHlHl-f67rlmx-BUlGeVcb1o9LBCxg_uI_9VxnusYWknnpsC1CiXGr3NgZaA/s400/50+years+of+segregationist+activism.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div>
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Dr. Cary Gabriel Costellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14478058791195474381noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-906442678610585215.post-80433718254740170152016-04-25T09:01:00.000-07:002016-04-25T09:15:30.255-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_fqyQXdGk-X7O9IMfZLeDkV9YGRIHqz3V_39sWB2Nw_acKayRm2_HfZgcz5-CKKHuElg6ycQaSSlzdI1vuUxDuhE7WfxkeXJNb7bhJM-pJutE3htRha8hvMEVY2UR_qwKqV_ThpTkRPE/s1600/Orwellian+McCrory+Big+Brother.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_fqyQXdGk-X7O9IMfZLeDkV9YGRIHqz3V_39sWB2Nw_acKayRm2_HfZgcz5-CKKHuElg6ycQaSSlzdI1vuUxDuhE7WfxkeXJNb7bhJM-pJutE3htRha8hvMEVY2UR_qwKqV_ThpTkRPE/s400/Orwellian+McCrory+Big+Brother.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Pat McCrory, Governor of North Carolina, has been voicing a complaint of late. He is extremely annoyed at the "outside influences" that are protesting his signing of HB2, a law banning trans people from using bathrooms that match the genders in which we are lving, and banning local governments from passing protections for LGBT+ people.<br />
<br />
The word he keeps using is "Orwellian." He claims that LGBT+ public interest groups are Big Brother, watching everyone and policing their speech for political correctness. Orwellian! He warns that apparently independent groups protesting the new law are actually being coordinated by a powerful entity, the Human Rights Campaign. Orwellian! The HRC and its minions are intimidating ordinary people and quashing dissent while claiming to be protecting freedom. Orwellian!<br />
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You know what's really Orwellian? Presenting trans people's use of bathrooms that match our gender identities--something we've been doing for decades--as something that didn't exist until a couple of weeks ago when Charlotte passed a civil rights bill protecting LGBT people. (As Orwell wrote, those who control the present control the past.) Presenting trans people using bathrooms that match our genders as a new attack on our "basic bathroom norms" that the state was "forced" to reverse is a move right out of the Ministry of Peace. Presenting the real victims of violence--trans women--as predators endangering cis women is a move right out of the Ministry of Truth.<br />
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Pat McCrory and the North Carolina legislature have empowered the entire populace of the state to engage in gender policing trans people's bodies. Big Brother is gender policing you--now that's Orwellian.Dr. Cary Gabriel Costellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14478058791195474381noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-906442678610585215.post-8345513201478999812016-01-14T07:52:00.000-08:002016-01-14T07:54:45.178-08:00On "Male, Female, Transgender" CheckboxesI've actually been encountering more forms on which I'm asked to identify my sex or gender using checkboxes labeled "male," "female" or "transgender." This is my response in image form:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLv_SgwpoCmQ4GAph82EBrvUS0a7jeTf-DiXMPgTrvIJMcleWfXRK_IFlVFpTGPYNtzjadUz6z2dPzPWpy3eYw_IG8WXIh7UCcD1R-wmSGjbxndKR3zk5Pk70Lh34UuGwr7rjanfNA1hs/s1600/Christian+Jew+Convert+Male+Female+Transgender.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLv_SgwpoCmQ4GAph82EBrvUS0a7jeTf-DiXMPgTrvIJMcleWfXRK_IFlVFpTGPYNtzjadUz6z2dPzPWpy3eYw_IG8WXIh7UCcD1R-wmSGjbxndKR3zk5Pk70Lh34UuGwr7rjanfNA1hs/s640/Christian+Jew+Convert+Male+Female+Transgender.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>
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<span class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption">"Wait.
There are more than two religions--what if someone has a different religion, or no religion at all? And 'convert'
isn't a religion, it means a person who has gone through a process that
welcomes them into one."<br /> <br /> Exactly.</span></span>Dr. Cary Gabriel Costellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14478058791195474381noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-906442678610585215.post-74346098031569588202016-01-03T07:29:00.003-08:002016-01-03T18:46:55.433-08:00Traveling While Trans: The False Promise of Better Treatment<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBUuObS-bpL7s6YPiWwK_Sbee8Dbk2992ZCnsKtXMVJkOIgIPYFChofnmJvb14SHXM9ydMi3X6CV1f6p9cmgKEhz-Z1PB4wlc0Jcz_6gOJGPiLsJRjOAVWAKnhbeO0BjfMdmD2R27b9jk/s1600/traveling+while+trans+scanner+tsa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBUuObS-bpL7s6YPiWwK_Sbee8Dbk2992ZCnsKtXMVJkOIgIPYFChofnmJvb14SHXM9ydMi3X6CV1f6p9cmgKEhz-Z1PB4wlc0Jcz_6gOJGPiLsJRjOAVWAKnhbeO0BjfMdmD2R27b9jk/s320/traveling+while+trans+scanner+tsa.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Back in 2012, I wrote <a href="http://trans-fusion.blogspot.com/2012/03/tsa-body-scanning-and-trans-body.html" target="_blank">a post </a>about the problems I regularly encountered as a trans person when going through TSA security screening at airports.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Since that time, we've been promised, much has changed. The TSA has <a href="https://www.tsa.gov/transgender-passengers" target="_blank">formally stated</a> that it will not discriminate on the basis of gender identity. Passengers are to be screened <a href="http://www.transequality.org/know-your-rights/airport-security" target="_blank">based upon their gender presentation</a>. Any pat-downs are to be conducted by TSA agents whose gender matches the passenger's presented gender, no matter what gender marker is listed on the passenger's government ID. The agents on the floor operating the body scanner <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2013/01/18/1471481/victory-for-transgender-privacy-tsa-abandons-nude-body-scanners/" target="_blank">now just see a body outline icon</a> marked with any areas of "anomaly" on their screen, instead of an actual image of the details of the passenger's anatomy, so privacy should be protected. The TSA has promised that the bad old days of trans people being harassed and humiliated by its agents are in the past, and we have reached the era of enlightenment.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">That would be nice. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Unfortunately, what now happens in practice is another matter altogether. In my own experience, intrusive, frightening, and humiliating screenings continue unabated. To illustrate, I'll relate what happened to me when I flew from Milwaukee to New York a couple of weeks ago. The short version is this: I was detained for almost an hour and subjected to multiple, increasingly-invasive pat-downs, as a result of the equipment used by the TSA, along with the (lack of) training by agents in the TSA's stated trans policies. Eventually, as things escalated, even my daughter was taken aside for intensive screening, though she had set off no alarms--because an agent came to believe that she too was trans, and thus a suspicious traveler.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Let's look at how this could come to happen.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today, body scanners are the normative screening method in U.S. airports. In the past, travelers had the right to request a physical pat-down instead of going through the scanner, but the TSA <a href="http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/tsa-can-refuse-pat-downs-require-full-body-screenings/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_life" target="_blank">recently decided</a> complying with such a request is at the discretion of the agent. Since simply requesting not to be scanned can be perceived as suspicious, most trans passengers will be body-scanned. So, let's look at an example of the icon image a TSA agent running a body scanner receives:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKzu35TGWD0GdwnEDmHGqgRStdl9rtjtrawkom9Age7WQaZHYnockh5D2Vm0i-5QplK_OX2GGetPyiv3du9pBwRbLxy3s3y6_mCJtx4N_G3CgcoY7BFmPs8oUmFb_7Hyi7bEtbosvHRC4/s1600/trans+woman+scan+with+pointer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKzu35TGWD0GdwnEDmHGqgRStdl9rtjtrawkom9Age7WQaZHYnockh5D2Vm0i-5QplK_OX2GGetPyiv3du9pBwRbLxy3s3y6_mCJtx4N_G3CgcoY7BFmPs8oUmFb_7Hyi7bEtbosvHRC4/s400/trans+woman+scan+with+pointer.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">As you can see, the way the system operates is that the TSA agent pushes a pink-for-girls or blue-for-boys binary gender button when a passenger enters the body scanner. The scanner then looks for "anomalies" under the passenger's clothing--and in the process, engages in technological sex/gender policing. The image above shows what a TSA agent will see when many trans women go through a scanner: an "anomaly" in the groin area. When I go through the scanner, the red and yellow areas of "anomaly" are in my chest area, as I wear a binder. Every time I am scanned, when I look back at the display, I see my chest area outlined in colors of alarm:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOBJ60HYPXKx6uLWmHjG2hou4MGtelz1mN6ev2uvyGV-M26tlveeK_XzNFH_BQh6RnQhh8AtgySpPiRxyudO7SVE4JyOpAazQKMmpcZD8MQRtfgIVzq94A1odAcb4kSpXau0uxxdkYFPc/s1600/trans+man+scan+with+pointer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOBJ60HYPXKx6uLWmHjG2hou4MGtelz1mN6ev2uvyGV-M26tlveeK_XzNFH_BQh6RnQhh8AtgySpPiRxyudO7SVE4JyOpAazQKMmpcZD8MQRtfgIVzq94A1odAcb4kSpXau0uxxdkYFPc/s400/trans+man+scan+with+pointer.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The TSA says it does not discriminate on the basis of gender identity, and that travelers will be treated with respect as members of whatever gender they present themselves as. But in fact, the "Automated Target Recognition" software used by body scanners is set up to police both binary sex and cisgender bodily expectations. Bodies that vary from these expectations set off alarms and are treated as potential terrorist threats.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Once a TSA agent sees ares of red and yellow on the screen before them, the passenger must receive additional screening until the possible threat is deemed "cleared." The first step is that a public pat-down is performed right outside the scanner by a TSA agent. (That agent is supposed to be of the same gender as the traveler, but one should note that binary gender is presumed by the TSA, and there is no official TSA policy about how to handle passengers with nonbinary gender identities.) </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">If the initial pat-down doesn't "clear" the issue, the passenger is taken to a screening room for a more invasive investigation. This makes the initial pat-down pivotal in determining how unpleasant the process of passing through security will be for a trans traveler.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The factor that determines what will happen to trans travelers after we are marked as "anomalous" by body scanners is largely a matter of the training and attitude of the TSA agent called over for the public pat-down that follows. If that agent understands that the alarm has been set off by our trans anatomy, and that the TSA is supposed to treat trans bodies with respect, we get a quick pat-down and are cleared to move on. The trans passenger will experience a brief flash of adrenaline when their body sets off an alarm, and anxiety as their body is publicly palpated in an area likely to be one they do not wish scrutinized, but the interval of apprehension is brief, and travel is not disrupted.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The problem is, many TSA agents have little understanding of trans people or our bodies, although they supposedly should have received appropriate training. They view our "anomalous" body scan results as suspicious, as weird, and as marking a potentially serious threat. So when their physical inspection confirms there is indeed Something There where the scanner image shows glaring red and yellow, they send us off for further, more intrusive screening.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">In my personal experience, my chances of being detained for additional screening after the brief public pat-down are about 2 in 3 when flying out of my home airport in Milwaukee, but significantly lower when flying out of airports in large coastal American cities. My body and my binding practices are the same when flying away and flying home, so it's clear that local culture plays a substantial role in trans experiences with TSA screening. Levels of trans awareness and transphobia vary. And this impacts not only whether we will face additional screening, but what that screening will be like.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">(This is not to say that TSA agents in large coastal cities are trans-aware paragons. When my wife was flying out of San Francisco in 2014, the TSA agents did grant that since her response to the question "are you presenting as male or female" was that she a trans woman, the TSA agent who patted her down should also be a woman. But that agent spent an inordinate amount of time patting and feeling over her chest with an expression of confused suspicion. Finally, she asked my spouse what she had in there. My wife responded, "Erm, those are my breasts." The response of the agent? "How can you have breasts if you aren't wearing a bra?" My spouse stared at the agent for a bit, openmouthed, before replying, "You're a woman--you tell me." The TSA agents conferred for a while, before deciding that while they were uncomfortable my wife's clearly trans body, the mounds on her chest were indeed breasts, and going braless does not constitute a terrorist threat. So they allowed her to proceed. But it was hardly a smooth encounter that left my wife feeling respected or validated.)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">In December 2015, while flying from Milwaukee to New York with my daughter, my body scan results showed my "anomalous" chest highlighted in red and yellow as usual, and the operator of the scanner called a TSA agent over to give me a pat-down. When patting me down, the agent palpated my binder, and asked me what I was wearing under my shirt, following standard TSA procedure. I stated that it was a chest binder. This is the critical juncture--perhaps a third of the time, in Milwaukee, the agent will ask no more questions, simply complete patting down my body, and send me on my way. But more often, I'll be interrogated as to why I wear the binder, as was the case this time. My initial reply is always the simple statement that I wear it to compress my chest, but the agent usually finds this reply incomprehensible, and asks why I would need to do that. Once I explain that I do so because I am a trans man, I'm inevitably separated from my belongings and my travel companion and taken to a small room with two TSA agents for additional screening.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://trans-fusion.blogspot.com/2012/03/tsa-body-scanning-and-trans-body.html" target="_blank">In 2012 </a>I wrote about the highly uncomfortable experiences I have when I am locked in a screening room with two or more TSA agents for inspection at the Milwaukee airport. Since then, I have been assured that the agents have received additional training. They are supposed to be aware that the TSA considers a chest binder to be a prosthetic device, and that trans passengers should not be asked to display or remove prostheses such as binders, breast forms, or packers. I have been told that agents would no longer make me open or remove my shirt when being subjected to the additional screening procedure.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">But that's just not true. Every time I am taken into the screening room for additional scrutiny, in every city where this has happened, I am asked to open, lift, or remove my shirt so that my binder can be inspected and swabbed for explosives. And every single time this happens, I get to watch the agents' faces go from puzzled confusion to uncomfortable or disgusted recognition that I have breasts under there, and that they are covered with chest hair. This never changes.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">How the screening proceeds from there, however, does vary. Sometimes it is very tense. Last year, a TSA agent at a New York airport ordered me to remove my binder so it could be sent through the x-ray machine. I had to insist that a supervisor be called to confirm that I could not be required to remove my binder, and at one point during this confrontation there were four big men in the tiny room with me, which is an intimidating situation. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">At least during my most recent screening, nobody asked me to take the binder off--I was only directed to untuck and lift my shirt so that the agent could reach under the shirt and swab the binder for hazardous substances. Still, things went far from smoothly, because for some reason, when tested, the swab that the agent used to swipe over my binder and clothing set off an alarm as positive for some unspecified "substance".</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">That's when the atmosphere got a lot more serious. Another agent was called. All my carry-on belongings had to be removed from my backpack and medical equipment bag and swabbed for "substances". I had to have a more intensive triple pat-down of my entire body, including my "sensitive areas" (TSA-speak for groin, buttocks and chest). Multiple parts of my body were swabbed, including all of the outside surfaces of my binder, which I had to reveal in its entirety by lifting my shirt. And when this round of swabs was analyzed, two of them again tested as positive for suspicious substances (apparently two different substances, though the agents wouldn't tell me what they might be). </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">At this point, supervisors were called, as well as an agency office in Madison. </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">My ID was confiscated, and my name, address, license number and phone number taken for entry into some database. </span></span>There were now three men in the room with me, and a supervising woman standing outside the door. I was given a very intensive pat-down. When conversation turned once again to my binder and how to "clear" it, I had to remind the agents that as a prosthetic device, I could not be asked to remove it. So an agent proceeded to wedge his hands under the binder and grope my chest--to disprove, I suppose, his hypothesis that my bound breasts might somehow be bombs--a deeply uncomfortable experience, physically and psychologically. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">At this point I was worried that I wouldn't be allowed to board my plane at all. I really, really wanted to know what the agents thought my binder was contaminated with.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here's the thing I didn't know at the time, that my daughter, waiting nearby, told me afterwards: it was obvious that something was wrong with the equipment that analyzes the screening swabs. It was oversensitive or faulty. The device was setting off an alarm to report detecting suspicious substances every time a swab was inserted for every person being tested, including a little old lady in a wheelchair. The agents outside the screening room in which I were detained were complaining to one another about the equipment, and asking that it be recalibrated or replaced, as the next day was a busy one for holiday travel, and they were worried that the machine was going to cause a disaster in delays as it gave off false alarm after false alarm.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">This situation in which I found myself reveals transphobia in action, because the alarms that were being taken very seriously in my case were not being taken seriously at all in the case of the other travelers my daughter observed setting off swab alarms. The agents must have felt that a bunch of middle-aged or older white cisgender travelers posed no real risk, and those travelers were quickly sent on their way. But I and my binder were treated as a credible threat. This is how privilege and marginalization work, along so many dimensions of identity: by determining what is deemed innocuous and what is considered suspicious. When I first entered the screening area, I was treated with friendly professional camaraderie, enjoying white male privilege--not pulled aside, for example, for the "random" additional screening that so often amounts to the screening of brown people at the Milwaukee airport. But once my trans status was revealed, the friendly TSA treatment I was experiencing quickly switched to intensive surveillance. Thus, alarms that were not taken seriously in the case of other passengers were treated with stony suspicion in my case.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Now, when I am detained for additional security screening, I always try to keep things light. I stay calm and make friendly conversation, in an attempt to present myself as nonthreatening, and as a human being making human connections. This time, two of the four agents who wound up inspecting and questioning me maintained an unsmiling stare despite my efforts to be friendly, but two responded by adopting a casual, chatting tone. Unfortunately, that proved as hurtful as it was helpful.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I think it was helpful, in that although I was detained for over three quarters of an hour, eventually I was released and allowed to board my plane, despite setting off TSA alarms several times. But it was hurtful in that it led to a further delay and additional screening--of my daughter.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">So here's how that transpired. During the screening, I had chatted with one of the agents about my travel plans--visiting relatives with my daughter--so the agents in the room with me knew that my travel companion was my college-aged child. But after my 45-minute screening was finished and I was just waiting for paperwork to be completed so I could be released, the door was opened, and the woman who was the supervisor, who was standing outside it, began chatting with me. She wanted me to know it would be a few more minutes until the paperwork was finished, and inquired about when my flight departed. I replied that I still had sufficient time to make my plane, as my wife and I had learned, both being transgender, that we needed to budget extra time for frequent additional screening. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The supervisor told me that that was very wise, and complained how so many people who ought to know better don't budget the full two hours one is supposed to set aside to go through ticketing and security, and then get upset when they miss their planes. She then asked me a few questions about what I meant exactly when I stated that my spouse and I were transgender. I explained that I was assigned female at birth, while my wife was assigned male, but we had both legally gender transitioned. She responded in a manner both friendly and uncomfortable, saying,"I get you, even if lots of people are against that. You have to be yourself, even if people don't understand it. You're very lucky that you found a wife who understands." (She also asked me, "How did they give you that beard?," so I explained testosterone therapy.) </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The supervisor then walked off, saying that they should have me released soon, but that now they would need to "screen my travel companion and her carry on items." And she got another woman TSA agent, and took my daughter off to the "female" screening room.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I was puzzled by this, as was my kid, since she had been sitting nearby ever since I was detained after being scanned while she was not. She had been waiting for most of an hour without anyone implying she needed additional screening. But she complied, went off to be isolated in the screening room, watched while all her things were taken out of her backpack and examined, and submitted to a full-body pat-down. The supervisor chatted with her while doing this in a friendly manner, but was very thorough and intensive in the screening she was conducting. Then, at some point, the agent said something to my daughter about what "your husband explained." My kid cut in to yelp, "Ack, that's not my husband, that's my DAD!" And suddenly the whole atmosphere changed, and the agent told my daughter she was free to go after three quick seconds of additional halfhearted patting.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">It was immediately obvious that my daughter, who had set off no alarms and been considered no threat for 45 minutes, had suddenly transformed into a security risk in the mind of the TSA when an agent came to believe she was my transgender wife rather than my cisgender daughter. When this was revealed as a misunderstanding, the perception of my daughter as posing some sort of threat immediately evaporated. The TSA's formal policy that passengers will be treated equally, regardless of gender identity, is belied by actions like this.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">A few months ago, Shadi Petosky, a trans woman and television comedy producer, had <a href="http://www.salon.com/2015/09/22/shadi_petosky_was_detained_by_tsa_for_traveling_while_trans_the_police_at_the_tsa_gate_were_awful_one_was_laughing_at_me/" target="_blank">an experience</a> similar to mine with the TSA. A body scanner registered an "anomaly" in the area of her groin, she was patted down and questioned about what that anomaly was, and when she responded that she was a trans woman and that it was part of her anatomy, she was taken aside for additional screening. A swab of her clothing for some reason set off an alarm for some potentially explosive substance. She was interrogated, treated with trans ignorance, subjected to stares and sniggers, and detained for a substantial period of time. Since she didn't set aside the recommended two hours white cis people almost never set aside for screening, she missed her plane. She found the experience of her trans body being treated as a dangerous "anomaly" humiliating--and she live-tweeted what was happening to her until her phone was taken away.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Petosky's case got a fair bit of media attention due to her experience being live-tweeted and shared. Afterwards, the TSA declared that they had listened carefully to Petosky's complaints, and all would now be well, as the TSA was releasing a new policy. <a href="http://www.advocate.com/transgender/2015/12/23/goodbye-anomaly-tsas-new-word-trans-bodies-alarm" target="_blank">That policy</a> was that the TSA would replace the word "anomaly" with "alarm".</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">In fact, I know that this promised change in terminology has not actually been implemented at the level of practice. During my last TSA encounter, I referred to the body scanner's response to my bound chest as "an alarm," and was told by the supervisor that I was using terminology incorrectly: the swab setting off the analyzer was "an alarm," while the body scanner had reacted to "an anomaly."</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">But I really don't care about whether the TSA calls my body "anomalous" or "alarming." Under either term, trans bodies are treated as security threats. The supposed new TSA policy of saying "alarm" instead of "anomaly" does nothing more than put a gloss of sensitivity over an actual practice that frames trans bodies as strange, wrong, and dangerous. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Binary sex and gender policing are foundational to how body scanners are currently set up to function. Each passenger must be designated blue-for-boy or pink-for-girl in order to start the scan, and men are not "allowed" to have breasts, nor women to have a penis, according to the scanner's software. As long as that is how body scans are conducted, trans bodies will inevitably be policed as security threats.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The TSA may claim that trans people will be treated just like cis people by its agents, but its nondiscrimination policy conflicts with the actual practices of its agents and the functioning of the body scanners they deploy.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">For these reasons, things have not gotten better for those of us who are traveling while trans. The only thing that has really changed, in my experience, is that the TSA now presents itself as enlightened, and is congratulated for that--<a href="https://www.victoryfund.org/our-story/gay-politics-blog/travelingwhiletrans-sparks-tsa-change" target="_blank">including by some LG<span style="font-size: small;">B</span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.victoryfund.org/our-story/gay-politics-blog/travelingwhiletrans-sparks-tsa-change" target="_blank">T</a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="https://www.victoryfund.org/our-story/gay-politics-blog/travelingwhiletrans-sparks-tsa-change" target="_blank">I </a><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.victoryfund.org/our-story/gay-politics-blog/travelingwhiletrans-sparks-tsa-change" target="_blank">organizations</a>.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: large;">In a way, it's this that is for me the most frustrating and hurtful part of the whole situation. Trans people continue to be treated as wrongly and dangerously embodied. We continue to be pulled aside, isolated, groped, and our bodies stared at by TSA agents whose expressions often flash to that of a person smelling garbage. But we're told that everything's come up roses for us and we should dance for joy because we now live in the promised land of equality.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: large;">Better to just tell it like it is. The TSA's actual policy is that people with bodies that do not conform to binary, cisgender expectations can be treated as freakish security threats. If you have a body like that, budget an hour more of time at the airport than your friends with conforming bodies set aside, or you may miss your plane.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: large;">That's the real policy under which I operate whenever I fly. </span></span></span></span></span><br />
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Dr. Cary Gabriel Costellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14478058791195474381noreply@blogger.com11