Julia Serano

Julia Serano, who's books I recommend, has gotten back to some level of blogging again and wrote and interesting essay on the transgender versus transsexual umbrella, found here, to which would reply with the following.

Note.-- I don't post or reply on other blogs anymore because of recent and past conflicts with others who love to verbally pummel people for asking questions or thinking out loud, so I post my response here where I can moderate the responses. I don't really care if Julia reads and/or replies, it's just my thoughts and ideas free of others.

The Reply.-- Thanks for the most rational presentation of the pro-umbrella argument I've found to date (that I remember to date), but there are questions which always seems to occur to me when I read these arguments. Why dismiss the right of transwomen to simply decide the umbrella doesn't work for them, whether it's individually or as their own group(s) when those groups have had some successes on rights and the courts have decided many cases of discrimination against transwomen as cases against women without the trans.

So why should transwomen subject themselves to being a minority under a larger umbrella when they've achieved more as their own group than under the umbrella? One example where they haven't gained is all the work done in support of ENDA to be dropped without notice by the LGB groups to fight for their rights than try to add the transpeople groups? And transwomen are expected to jump again to help on the same promises of inclusion?

One area is health insurance coverage. Transwomen are the only group which under the DSM has requirements for medical care to transition, and they gained those rights, not under the umbrella but as a self-identified group with special needs separate from the umbrella identity.

Another area is legal identity where trans-specific groups have achieved rights for changing sex markers on documents which are required for LGB people. Why would LGB people fight that issue for transpeople?

Why should transwomen subject themselves to the identity of the umbrella, often as the whole range of other transpeople from DQ's to CD's when it doesn't fit and isn't wanted? What transwomen wants to be asked those questions when they're living as women? In some cases voter have included transwomen as the rest to reject or overturn discrimination laws?

And then there is the issue of gender identity and gender expression which, as noted, confuses many people, even those in the transgender community and larger LGBT community. Why should transwomen who transition and live as women, whether straight or lesbian, decide to identify with those who just dress as women for a variety of interests without changing their sex or identifying with gender identity issues?

Locally several times anti-discrimination laws were either overturned or rejected by voters when the LGBT and transgender umbrella groups tried to include gender expression with gender identity (transwomen) when it was the latter who needed it because they lived 24/7 as women and faced discrimination in housing, employment and other ways.

I'm not against the umbrella, it's only I've seen transwomen achieve more without the support and help of the umbrella LGBT or transgender groups or simply ignore it to transition and get on with their lives, never to identify with it. If they didn't identify as trans-anything, didn't need it, and never used it, why do they need the umbrella later only to be mislabelled?

Just some questions and thoughts, and thanks for all your work and writing.