Kassandra Stockmann #transphobia kassandrastockmann.substack.com
Occasionally I see a Trans Entitlement Activist (TEA) respond to criticism of the trans movement by stating, “You must not know any trans people.” The problem is that we do (even though trust me, many of us wish that we didn’t). And this is a big problem for their movement. And given that a lack of awareness and insight characterize TEAs, perhaps it is not surprising how blind they are to the reality of the fact that people who are critical of their movement come from a place of knowledge. Because the brutal fact of the matter was that I liked trans identified people a lot better before I knew any personally!
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And people have attributed some of the success of the gay rights movement to the success of shows like Ellen, Will and Grace, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer that portrayed gay relationships in a positive light. So it makes sense that TEAs would have done the same for trans. There was one problem though. And that is the trans movement is not a rights based movement but an entitlements based one. And thus what we knew of trans identified people from TV was very different than the reality of knowing a trans identified person.
A more accurate portrayal of a trans identified person would be someone who keeps everyone in his/her life walking on eggshells as s/he screams about being the victim and how everyone who disagrees with him/her wants him/her dead as s/he calls the boss of the offending person to have him/her fired. Simply put, this isn’t someone that people are wanting to invite to their party.
TEAs have a much bigger problem than media portrayal and communicating their message. And it is that their movement is hollow, built on smoke and mirror and a hefty dose of fear. When you rule through fear then your reign is on borrowed time. It is therefore unsustainable. Trans identified people, we liked you when you were a story, an idea, a concept without substance. But when you became a reality we changed our minds because the reality of your movement is ugly.