The Death of the 'Transgender' Umbrella If you've traveled anywhere among trans or LGBT blogs in the past year or three, you've inevitably come across an ongoing battle over labels, and particularly "transgender" as an umbrella term. It seems to be a conflict without end, without middle ground and without compromise. Yet for discourse on human rights and enfranchisement for transsexual and transgender people to move forward at all, at some point that discussion needs to have some sort of resolution, and some thorough dissection of the argument will need to take place. Could an alliance-based approach be a solution? Or more accurately, could enough people on both sides of the argument be willing (that is, to not see their position as immovable) to seek an alliance-based approach for it to make a positive difference in the discourse? I don't know. But something that has become clear to me over the past while is that the language is changing. And I don't have to like it, but I have to understand what that means. I only speak for myself. In the end, it's all I really can do anyway. I don't speak for any trans-related community, don't speak for The Bilerico Project or any of its other contributors, don't speak for any other place I've posted or published writing, don't speak for Alberta trans people -- just me. I say that because the international trans community is in a state of flux. As the community defines itself, we're discovering just how diverse "trans" really is, and just how inadequate any one single definition is when it tries to cover everyone. A result of this is that in 2011, while the mainstream world is just starting to twig on to trans anything , trans and LGBT forums are finding nearly every conversation on trans issues, trans rights, gender studies and identity disintegrating into a debate about "transgender," its use as an umbrella term, and whether there should even be an umbrella at all. It's reached the point that it's stalemated any and every other discussion. Ultimately, I realize that nothing some writer and blogger from Southern Alberta says is going to change that, but I can make my own declaration on the matter. And in that, I speak for myself. Because our language for trans issues is changing. Some Background Years ago, as I found community in the developing Internet (it took much longer to find any local community), I watched the language we used to communicate our experience change as we fumbled from flawed term to flawed term trying to figure out which word was a better fit. From Usenet newsgroups to UBB forums, contact sites to support message boards, the language metamorphosized. Back then, sometimes the banner was "transvestite" or the abbreviation TV (which I never liked, but it seemed to sometimes be the only option on trans-friendly discussion forums or contact sites), until the medical definition's emphasis on clothing fetish became the predominant cultural meaning and consequently the word was no longer appropriate. Other times, the word was "transsexual," but many felt that even though it was technically correct (that is, about physical sex), it too generated a public perception that gender identity was about sex (as an act or orientation) rather than about who we are. Some women even used the porn industry's "shemale" for awhile, until it became obvious that the "she's really male" undertone of that term was inappropriate. It was clumsy and it's more than a little weird to look back on now, with people having once gathered at places called "Trannyweb" and the like, since those terms were often the only words we had. Terms like "GG" (which meant alternately "genetic girl" or "genuine girl") weren't any better in what they insinuated than the word "normal," so they've gradually disappeared (although they regrettably pop up from time to time from people who've never heard of an alternative). Even in moments of our history that are looked back on as being classic - like in the songs "Lola" or "Walk On The Wild Side" - you'll find things that were well-intentioned or fun at the time, but would be button-pushing now. Consequently, many of us gravitated to "transgender." It seemed to have far less baggage - although we would later learn otherwise, since the person who coined it - Virginia Prince - had meant for the term to to be exclusionary too, applying only to non-transsexual crossdressers who were attracted to women. In the past couple years, the "don't call me transgender " rallying cry has gained in volume. It seems as if there's always allegations of misrepresentation, annexation and invalidation at the mere suggestion of having anything at all in common with anyone who willingly wears the label "transgender." The language is changing. Looking Past Assumptions of Bias I still (and probably will always) see some of this coming from bias. There are folks who believe that if transsexuals could divorce themselves from a "transgender" umbrella term and make the public at large see a black and white difference between them and other trans people, then finally we would be able to obtain human rights, respect, dignity, access to medical care and legal name changes, and more. Homophobia is sometimes in the mix too, with heterosexual-identified trans men and women resentful of being characterized as anything but straight. These are distinctions that a person certainly has a right to clarify, but when it's accompanied by disavowal and outright disparagement of others, it becomes exclusionism, it's throwing people under the bus, and it's bigotry. And it's clouded even more by the fact that many of the folks with this prejudice are entirely blind to it. But separatism is not the only reason that the term "transgender" has become no longer viable, and it's also not the motive of everyone who takes this position. Some of the division has formed because of fears of being associated with radical ideas. Those who embrace a gender binary don't always understand those who see various shades of gender. A March 2011 move by the Australian Human Rights Commission catalogued over 23 different genders , including "transgender, trans, transexual, intersex, androgynous, agender, cross dresser, drag king, drag queen, genderfluid, genderqueer, intergender, neutrois, pansexual, pan-gendered, third gender, third sex, sistergirl and brotherboy." I'm not even sure what a couple of those mean, myself (although I'm prepared to listen and respect). But not everyone is comfortable with ideas more radical than their own. There is also some backlash coming from the literalist perspective, in the same way that other terms used to describe trans experience have evolved and changed. "Trans" means across, or indicates a transition of some sort. Technically, if someone transitions and obtains surgery, it is their sex that changes -- not only have they not changed gender, but they've aligned everything else to it. There is also a difference in emphasis that we as individuals put on the terms "sex" and "gender" -- driven by seeing our issue as a question of biology versus social construct, physical versus mental. But although sex and gender characteristically differ and can be in opposition -- as happens with transsexuals -- I doubt the two concepts can ever be completely decoupled. Post-Transsexual Don't get me wrong: I do believe that a transsexual man or woman who reaches a point of relative "completion" (often seen as when surgery happens, but as far as I'm concerned not always requiring that) and slips into the gender binary is entitled to call themselves a man or woman, and should no longer be "required" to identify as trans in any way. Indeed, my own experience is that trans issues and memories fade as time passes, so it wouldn't make sense to force anyone to continue to identify as transsexual, although that does rob us of role models and pioneers. Personally, I have no issue with those who do wish to leave "trans" anything behind, as long as (again), it's not done so in a way that invalidates. Transsexual, transgender, trans... there is a serious problem if we start viewing these as rigid boxes that have no escape clauses -- indeed, the whole concept of trans-anything is (at its core) about thinking outside the boxes. Erasure and Crossed Purposes As said, the characterizations above aren't the only reasons that a case is being made that a "transgender" umbrella is no longer viable. We are remiss if we fail to look at some of them, because there are some reasonable issues to consider. Ironically, because of the level of anger and volume, the "don't call me transgender" conflict unintentionally erases some of the very issues it attempts to raise. One of these is the subject of erasure, and the idea that by including transsexuals under a "transgender" umbrella, transsexual-specific issues such as medical care, identification issues, legal status and surgery disappear into a fog of gender theory. And depending on where one lives, this may in fact be true. In my experiences in Alberta, Canada, though, if you say "transgender," the general public thinks first of transsexuals (and usually specifically transsexual women), so from where I stand, it would seem more like we're in danger of erasing everyone else . There are also, at times, some very real conflicts between what transsexuals who are fully-identified as men or as women need and what people who identify as a third gender or third sex need. We're seeing this especially in gendered spaces, where transsexuals simply need to be accommodated as the men and women they are and live as, while genderqueer, third-gender and/or third sex people might require independent acknowledgment. In 2010, for example, Australia's norrie mAy-welb...
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