More Missing the Point

While the Huffington Post likes to present the diversity of views of the transgender community, and often provide a platform for some in the larger drag, cross-dressing, transsexual and transgender community, they also provide people with the opportunity to attack others in the community.

But what is lost in all the voices is the over-riding fact that the vast majority of in-transition and especially post-transition women don't identify with the transgender community and don't care to be involved let alone be identified with it.

In short, the transgender community is a small group of people shouting at themselves, but what is interesting is that while some do want to distinguish themselves from others, and rightly so in my view, others not only don't want to tolerate it but keep wanting to include them under the umbrella term transgender.

The truth is that in-transition and again post-transition women have almost nothing in common with the drag (whatever term you use) and cross-dressing community. They have little in common with the gender queer community but don't seem argue against them.

The argument is between the drag community, and historically the cross-dressing community, and transwomen, meaning the transmen often get lost in the shuffle and often don't care to get involved, over the use of labels often misused and even abused by the media and public.

And this is where I agree with transwomen who don't want the same labels, and especially hate the use of derogatory terms used by the drag community because those words don't apply to transwomen and they have the right to say no and argue their derogatory and demeaning words.

And this is where folks like RuPaul and Our Lady J seem to want to continue to use those words freely to all "transgender" women deliberately confusing drag performers with transwomen, even by some transwomen who came through the drag community.

I don't have issues if people use terms to describe themselves but they don't have the right to use them about others who don't want to be labelled with those words. Our Lady J wrote a piece saying she can use them however she likes and if you don't like it, tough.

She argues the words are commonly used by drag performers, or former drag performers, and the criticism leveled at RuPaul was unfair. It wasn't and Our Lady J, while having the right to defend RuPaul, is wrong to say transwomen not only should but have to accept the words.

They don't and don't want to accept them which is their right and should be respected, something the drag community, which is mostly gay men and a few transitioning transwomen, don't want to respect. Sorry, respect transwomen and their views, and if you don't like it, tough.