BBC Calls For Trans* Inclusive Comedy Scripts
Television’s portrayal of trans* characters will 99% of the time send you into fits of…
![Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day of mourning and remembrance for the many transgender people who have lost their lives this year, and in years past.
Please take a moment and light a candle today to remember the dead.
“If we don’t acknowledge their passing, it may be that no-one will. If we don’t offer respect, it may be that no-one will.” - [x]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mdsic4xB1H1r9d5u1o1_500.jpg)
Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day of mourning and remembrance for the many transgender people who have lost their lives this year, and in years past.
Please take a moment and light a candle today to remember the dead.
“If we don’t acknowledge their passing, it may be that no-one will.
If we don’t offer respect, it may be that no-one will.” - [x]
[TRIGGER WARNING: transphobia/cissexism at 8:17 mins in]
Being Queer Does Not Make You Radical
Very timely and thought provoking video. More reasons why I identify as Tab….
This is every one of the things. Every single one. Would also love to discuss the last points with folks.
No video from me again this week sorry Dames! Will try to do a bumper batch of catch-up vids at the weekend if I can.
In the meantime here’s an interesting video on male and masculine privilege within queer communities that ties into last week’s topic.
I almost didn’t post the vid because of the last section but I thought the rest of the video made some really valid points, and an open discussion about the passing privileges masculine presenting women, cis or trans*, may possess could be worthwhile: http://youtu.be/ofS-fKHL5H4
- Becca x
A graphic I’m working on for tomorrow’s Vlogbrothers video. It’s a topic I’ve wanted to discuss for a long time, but have been somewhat afraid of making people angry. Let me know if there’s anything I got wrong.
Hank I’m so glad you’re planning on making this video, I think it could be really important to a lot of people in the Nerdfighter community.
Honestly though, however you try to draw a graphic like this you’re going to end up missing people out. As you yourself have previously noted people just don’t fit clearly into distinctive little boxes, no matter how many boxes you divide us up into, nature defies simplicity.
However, in the spirit of your video here are some suggested amendments:
Gender Identity: Transgender isn’t a separate gender identity to male/female. The distinction you’re looking for is Trans*/Cis:
- Trans* covering anyone who doesn’t identify with the gender they were assigned at birth and raised/socialised as, i.e. anyone who is transgender or whose gender is otherwise varies from the Western socialised concept of a gender binary.
- Cis covering anyone who identifies with the gender they were assigned at birth, based on how their genitals looked, and raised/socialised as. Cis is basically the gender identity version of straight.
A person’s actual identified gender can then be male, female, genderqueer, gender neutral, agender, bigender, pangender, undefinded, or otherwise defined (I’ve probably missed some established gender identities off here for which I apologise to my followers!)
Gender Role: Should include androgenous/genderf*ck as well as masculine/feminine - some people don’t present or perform in line with the gender binary, just as some people don’t identify with the gender binary.
Sexual Orientation/Sexual Behaviour: I like that you’ve distinguished between behaviour and orientation, as this is something a lot of people miss. I would argue you should additionally distinguish between Sexual Orientation and Romantic Orientation, and Sexual Behaviour and Romantic Behaviour.
As an example; someone may identify as homoromantic, but asexual, so they’re interested in romantic relationships with people of the same gender, but not sexual relationships.
Another example; someone may identify as bi/panromantic but hetero/homosexual, so they’re interested in romantic relationships with anyone, but are only interested in sexual relationship with people of the same/binary opposite gender.
It may also be worth adding in androsexual, gynosexual and ambisexual, those being sexual attraction based on presentation/behaviour rather than gender identity, respectively masculinity, femininity, and both/either.
Followers - please add additional corrections to the graphic above and to my amendments if I’ve gotten anything wrong.
Let’s spread some GSM/queer knowledge people!
After changing schools within her district, a transgender third-grade girl in New Hampshire will be allowed to use the women’s restroom and wear girls’ clothing.
Janson Wu, an attorney with Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders who represented the New Hampshire student, told the CBS affiliate that schools need to have policies in place to protect transgender and gender-variant youth, in addition to comprehensive antibullying policies.
“I think as the environments become more and more welcoming to transgender and gender-variant youth, we’re going to see a lot more students coming out,” Wu told CBS. “And that’s something that schools and parents will need to be prepared to deal with. Children often have difficulty having schools respect them for who they believe they are. If a transgender girl wants to be able to wear feminine clothes to school and be addressed as a girl, oftentimes we see schools feeling a fair amount of discomfort around that.”
As the Advocate points out, it’s nice to hear about this kind of thing when we so often hear about trans kids being shamed and humiliated by both kids and teachers at school. Good for this girl and the educators who did the right thing.
If yes then please take a minute to fill out the linked questionnaire.
My friend is considering setting up an online platform for UK LGBT campaigns, and want to know if there’s an appetite for it.
It feels like something that’s needed, but it’d cost money to do, and they need to work out if it’s something people actually want.
Please help by filling out this quick survey and signal boosting with a reblog.
Cheers queers!
fuckyeavaguelycutetransparents:
THIS is how trans* education starts. With OUR kids showing them that we are ok, we are well, we are beautiful and we are moving towards happy. Then they spread that knowledge in an organic way.BRILLIANT & ESSENTIAL!
Now we need transmale and non binary versions to make the full set then get them published into one of those mini book box sets x
BOSTON, Lincolnshire, U.K. — A 16-year-old British transgender girl was told that she couldn’t take her GCSE exam (equivalent to high school finals) and was sent home by teachers to change into the boys’ school uniform.
Ashlyn Parram, who identifies as female, arrived for the exams wearing a girl’s uniform consisting of a skirt and blazer and was warned by the Giles Academy’s headmaster, Chris Wall, that unless “he” went and changed back into a boy’s uniform and presented “himself” for exams as a male, “he” would not be permitted to complete exams which mark the end of secondary education in Britain.
Ashlyn Parram, with her mother Miranda Johnson
Ashlyn, who has lived openly as a girl at home for two years but has dressed in a neutral fashion at the school to avoid conflict and abuse, went home and printed off a copy of Britain’s Equality Act, which she then took to school and confronted the headmaster.
Ashlyn pointed out that the law prevented Wall or other school officials from barring her from taking the test regardless of her appearance, after which he conceded that he legally could not prevent her from sitting the exam.
In an interview with the British tabloid, The Sun, Ashlyn’s mother, Miranda Johnson said that Ashlyn — who has been diagnosed with gender dysphoria — is a girl born in a boy’s body.
“The way Ashlyn has been treated by the school is just appalling. To be made to sit on your own during an exam like that is horrendous. It shouldn’t be allowed to happen in this day and age – especially not in schools,” Johnson said.
“The reality is she is a vulnerable teenager who needs the support and help of her teachers, not their opposition.”
Johnson said the family has filed a formal complaint against Walls, who they claim has failed to help protect Ashlyn, adding that she has been forced to endure a string of bullying and discrimination by pupils and teachers, without assistance or support from the school’s officials.According to Johnson one instructor told the family that gender dysphoria doesn’t exist, saying, “This is Lincolnshire — we are a very conservative county — we don’t have things like that.”
A spokesman for the school said that “Giles Academy is an Ofsted Outstanding school in a caring environment with robust Equalities Policies. The Governing Body of the Academy rejects all the allegations. Our key concerns are to ensure our duty of care to all our students and to further ensure that they reach their full potential academically and become well rounded members of society.”
The way in which people interact with me because I’m disabled (I use a wheelchair most of the time) and the way in which people interact with me when they know I’m trans are quite similar. People think that this gives them some sort of a right to my body, a right to information about it, they’ll ask personal or invasive questions and not realise why those might not be appropriate. “Do you have a dick yet?” and “so what’s wrong? Why are you in a wheelchair?” don’t feel that different as questions, both uncomfortably invasive, and yet other disabled people ask me those sorts of questions about my transition, when I’m out, and other trans people ask me those sorts of questions about my disability when they know about it. I’ve had to work hard to reclaim the right to privacy about my body. Asking someone whether you can help them (and taking no for an answer), or asking someone their preferred pronouns, are far more appropriate than personal questions about somebody else’s body.
A guide to respecting trans* people for cis individuals
A warning to trans* people reading this: there are some triggering things in here concerning discrimination and violence against trans* people. Proceed with caution.
Hello. Before we start, you may be wondering what “cis” means. Pronounced “sis” as in “sister”, cis is Latin for “on the same side”. In terms of gender identity, a cis gendered person is someone who identifies as the gender they were assigned at birth, i.e., a person born with a vagina and assigned female at birth who identifies as female is cis female; an individual born with a penis and assigned male at birth who identifies as male is cis male. Cis is used to differentiate cis people from trans* people, and to reinforce that cis is not “normal” and trans* is not a “deviation”. This brings us to point one:
