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dollarsandsense's avatar

Jeffrey Marsh? What is s/he doing w/ facial hair? I thought it had become a thing among some in the trans community to mix up the signifiers of sex?

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TwKaR's avatar

Whatever they identify as, this trans woman is not referring to them as any sort of woman.

`I thought it...'

Yes, there is a disagreement about what it means to be trans within the LGBTQ community. Being trans is a medical issue and, to my mind, demands and accommodations should only be made on society, for this issue, based on that fact.

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dollarsandsense's avatar

Yes, Brianna Wu has made a similar point. Yes, these disagreements (over whether or not trans is a medical condition) are making a mess of what used to be a consensus.

But that goes back to my point: this guy Josh wasn't doing things so differently from certain members of the LGBTQ community: mixing up the signifiers, declaring it doesn't have to be a medical condition, etc. And so it's difficult to assess: is he LARPing? is he sincere? is he mentally unstable? Does it matter? Maybe not.

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TwKaR's avatar

`wasn't doing things so differently from certain members of the LGBTQ community: mixing up the signifiers, declaring it doesn't have to be a medical condition, etc.'

A significant portion of the trans community has little, and increasingly less, tolerance for this type of stuff. Things have gotten to the point, politically, where it's no longer just irritating* but will cause harm to actual trans people---like having our medical care taken away---and I imagine we will be much more definitive on what and who needs to be protected.

*I'm an Xennial professor and don't have time or interest in gender fuckery, etc. There are more important and rewarding things in my life than playing with gender.

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