More Harm than Good

I was reading the news about one individual transwoman (pre-op and some might suggest marginably passable at best) who likes the spotlight. She's also a veteran and is active the transgender veterans movement, which I don't understand the VA accepting transgender care as service or veteran related. Demanding transgender care by the VA seems odd at best.

I'm a strong advocate for veterans' care, being a veteran myself, but only for those whose injuries and disabilities are service-related, whether directly or indirectly. I'm for more money and resources for our two Iraq war and Afghanistan war veterans who have been long rejected or neglected by the VA, much due to arrogance of the Bush-Cheney attitude about throwaway soldiers.

Anything else, however, belongs to the individual, which includes transgender care. It's a waste of government resources. But that doesn't seem to matter to this person, and she loves to write and promote herself working for the movement of transgender veterans and people. But to me, she's actually doing more harm than good for several reasons.

First, and really foremost, she has long implied she was post-op and legally female, but when arrested at a protest at the White House recently, she had to identify as (legally) male, but then claimed discrimination when housed with male inmates during her brief time in jail. This has been an issue in the transcommunity, which I agree transpeople need separate and safe places in jail and prison. But in her case, all her identification, according to the news stories, listed her as male, but dressed as female.

Being a cross-dresser doesn't, in my view, means she's transgender. I suspect she's in transistion, but she could just be living as man presenting as a woman. That's what fulltime cross-dressers do. Some even go through electrolysis and take some hormones, but they don't have the interest to change the sex or legal identification as male. This woman hasn't really said one way or the other which she is or going through except how she presents herself.

Harsh? Maybe, but when now she admits she's also bipolar. Ok, there are treatments for this, but I'm not sure it's cause for announcing it as without additional information, like what treatments she is getting and what she is doing about it. She served 20 years in the military and is just now coming out with this news?

My point here? Well, I've always had problems with transwoman who go fulltime as woman, adopting the whole thing about being women, except their face and voice. And add to some their body, and I just don't understand someone yelling at the world to accept them as a woman but nothing other than clothes appears normal for women. I know it's my own subtle discrimination and many of transwoman try hard to get by and through life quietly despite all the physical issues they carry.

But as several more famous (trans)women (meaning the trans is former as they're legally female) have stated in their opinion of any transwoman's transistion, consider facial surgery first among your surgical needs, A passing face gets you through 90% of the initial impressions people have. That's simple psychology. But a vast majority of in-transistion women, mostly older transwomen, don't and think it's their right to just be and we have to accept it.

I won't argue there are many natal women who have non-feminine faces, but all of the rest of the outward signals are there not to question their sex or gender. But these transwomen don't have those innate advantages, and all the makeup and smiles won't hide a masculine face. Add the voice, which doesn't change in transistion, and you have instant recognition of something other than a woman. All the clothes, behavior and expression won't overcome that.

And so the question is if transwomen like this one is doing more harm than good to the transgender cause and movement? When many transwomen transistion quietly and simply move on in their life as women, the vast majority easily or mostly passable, then why should they identify with transgender people like this woman? They don't and won't. It's the problem with the transcommunity promoting women like this one who loves the attention.

In the end I have say, I see and understand both sides, but that said, I side against this woman who is doing more harm than good as all the noise she makes is focused on herself in the name of the cause and not just being the messenger for the cause. She is the poster woman for why so many transwomen don't get involved in the community and movement and distance themselves after their transistion, and why transpeople aren't always accepted as normal, the proverbial "man in a dress" syndrome.

The reality is that this woman isn't going away, and probably why she hasn't finished the medical and legal process to be legally female, except maybe if the VA paid for her surgeries. And don't get me started there, as so many have begged, borrowed and worked hard for the money for their surgeries. And while some have had insurance coverage (rare but improving), having the VA pay for it is beyond common sense.

And the reality is the transcommunity will use her because they believe being visible is the key. But they forget being visibly good and accepted is more important than just being visible. They'll take people like her and accept the price of losing many other port and in-transistion women to silence and distance. They mistake the messenger for the message.