Many young men intify as mostly straight — a sexual orientatn that is not que straight but also, they say, ls gay than bisexualy
Contents:
- “TRANS? WHY NOT GAY?”: ADDRSG SOME MISUNRSTANDGS
- THERE ARE FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENC BETWEEN GAY AND TRANS INTI
- NO, TRANS IS NOT ‘THE NEW GAY’
- LIVGTOPICSALL LIVGSAVAGE LOVETRAVELASTROLOGYFROM THE VLTHEALTHSTYLELGBT+SEX & ROMANCEBT OF VANUVERTRANSPORATNCARTOONSHOMELS VANUVER SAVAGE LOVE COLUMNDO SEX WH A TRANS WOMAN MAKE ME GAY?
“TRANS? WHY NOT GAY?”: ADDRSG SOME MISUNRSTANDGS
When even Ellen DeGener assum that Calyn Jenner supports gay rights, 's clear we're nfed. Perhaps 's time to cut the rd * trans but not gay *
Not transgenr — people, I thought wise to share my thoughts on the qutn that I thk the transgenr muny should start by answerg is: why is no longer enough to be accepted as a femized man or a masculized woman, somethg that s of stggl for homosexual rights has managed to achieve? Why should we have a small mory of homosexuals today bee heterosexuals by beg a “real” woman or a “real” man? Isn’t this need to fall to le, to nform to the bary norms of sexualy, ntrary to what femist and gay movements have always sought?
When she, for stance, lls trans men and women “a small mory of homosexuals, ” she’s prumg that trans muni are primarily heterosexual. Barely 15% of trans muni are heterosexual: 32% are bisexual or pansexual, 16% are gay, 10% are asexual, and 21% are queer — a large tegory that enpass bisexualy, pansexualy, and homosexualy.
THERE ARE FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENC BETWEEN GAY AND TRANS INTI
Helpg trans people accept their bodi, a practice now nsired a form of reparative therapy parable to those practiced on gay people, “has been attempted” the 1960s and 1970s “whout succs, particularly the long term, ” to borrow the words of the World Profsnal Associatn for Transgenr Health. In his ntributn, Mr Smh argu that there are parallels between beg gay as an inty, and beg transgenr as an inty, and that both s, this should be the basis for protectg rights and benefs for the people ncerned. Givg gay people the rights and benefs tradnally afford to straight people don’t take anythg signifint away om straight people.
There’s no qutn that trans people should have all human rights; however, when to benefs, givg trans women some of the benefs afford to femal—for stance, accs to sex-segregated spac and rourc—do seem to remove some benefs and even rights om femal; or so I argue my here I want to ncentrate on Mr Smh’s ia that there are parallels between gay and transgenr inty. He pots out that the ia of beg gay as an inty, the sense of beg a fundamental part of onelf, only emerged relatively late on the long history of sexual activy between people of the same sex. However, I thk we also need to pture an ambiguy between two possible sens which “beg gay” n unt as an inty, or fundamental part of first sense refers to beg gay as a sexual orientatn, and is generalised to all gay people, as such.
The same pot appli to beg heterosexual or send, different sense which beg gay n unt as part of your “inty” is as a matter of beg highly personally meangful for you.
NO, TRANS IS NOT ‘THE NEW GAY’
Many people wh a gay sexual orientatn don’t feel like f them, or that ’s of much importance at all scribg who they are. It’s what mak them Smh suggts that for trans women and men, beg trans is an inty, jt as is for gay people. It’s often assumed that beg trans is somehow very siar to beg gay.
Sometim, this ia was a b skewed: “talkg heads” on TV tend to be gay men, rather than lbians; there was also a skew towards the young, and the urban.
LIVGTOPICSALL LIVGSAVAGE LOVETRAVELASTROLOGYFROM THE VLTHEALTHSTYLELGBT+SEX & ROMANCEBT OF VANUVERTRANSPORATNCARTOONSHOMELS VANUVER SAVAGE LOVE COLUMNDO SEX WH A TRANS WOMAN MAKE ME GAY?
Reprentativ of the gay muny weren’t often que as diverse as they might have been: the retired lbian livg Devon or Northern Ontar or Kansas was ls likely to make onto the screen than, say, the young gay man livg London or Toronto or San Francis.
We’re all thkg more about what means to be gay, and what means to be trans.
If you say you’re hungry, you’ll probably be believed; likewise, if you say that you’re gay, or if you say that you’re trans. ’ And no-one wants to repeat the errors of the past, when parliaments, schools, relig ngregatns and medil tablishments llectively failed to extend basic human digni to homosexuals. But assumg that ‘beg trans is like beg gay’ is a simplistic viewpot.