Starting at a new workplace tomorrow and I made these to prepare after the experiences I had at the last bar I was working at 😩⚧👽 The the cis need to start paying me for the amount of emotional labour I do for them 😥💅🏋 Here’s the PDF to print off yr own: tinyurl.com/lffu5oh
obviously only applies to NBs who use they pronouns and live in Ontario tho so feel free to use the format and customize yr own
Saying that man and woman are the only genders is actually LESS nuanced than saying that earth, water, air, and fire are the only elements.
This is fantastic.
A User’s Guide to This Year’s Transphobic Legislation
February is upon us, and the picture for anti-transgender legislation
has begun to emerge. In 2015 there were 20 state-level bills intended to
target transgender people. All of them were either defeated or carried
over to the next legislative session. This year has seen the number grow
to at least 28 pieces of legislation, and we’ll likely see more before
the sessions are over. […]
when writing transgender 101 guides directed towards cis people, please consider:
- NOT including intimate details of physical transition (including surgical and hormonal treatments, presentation techniques and devices used by some trans people to manage the appearance of their physical sex characteristics).
- Cis people are already obsessed with our bodies in a really unhealthy way that often comes out in fetishization, repulsion, tokenization or general inappropriate fascination. It’s not helping trans people’s interests to make one of the first things you tell cis people about us be all the gritty details about our physical bodies, when so much of transgender identity is already medicalized, pathologized and seen as a strictly physical thing.
- Also it’s none of their goddamn business what trans people do with their bodies. It’s not like you’re providing this information as a resource to people who will benefit from it, you’re literally just sating their curiosity and by extension alienating the group you’re attempting to speak for.
- It gives cis people a sense of knowledge of trans bodies, which reinforces their entitlement to demand intimate information from usabout our medical histories. (because they “get it”).
- It creates the expectation in cis people’s minds that transness is defined by these physical steps you’re describing, and delegitimizes the identities of trans people who make not take some or any of those steps.
- If you’re going to provide this information (which, to be entirely honest I can’t think of a legitimate reason why you would need to provide in-depth information about trans bodies to cis people who were not serving a health/care-providing roll to trans people) at least Do Not put it in the 101 “basic information” package. Because it is not 101, the information you provide will invariably be oversimplified and misguiding, it is not important to developing a basic understanding of trans people and issues, and if you’ve gotten to the point of describing the ins and outs of trans medical treatment within your first few sections than i guarantee you there’s probably a dozen more important and more relevant topics you haven’t covered.
I’m not saying avoid these topics all together if you want to talk about dysphoria and how some people get surgeries and/or take hormones and/or change their physical presentation to feel more comfortable.
I’m saying you don’t need to provide detailed, in-depth descriptions of trans medical treatment and the ways in which trans people relate to their physical bodies, because it’s not relevant, it’s none of their damn business, and we don’t need to have cis people any more fixated on trans people’s bodies and medical decisions than they already are.
Disclosing Nonbinary Identity to Teachers - Stock Letter
I usually send out a letter to all of my teachers as the beginning of each semester making them aware of my trans/nonbinary status and language preferences. I thought my letter this year was pretty good, and though the information in the letter is pretty specific to my circumstances, I thought it might work well as a stock letter, for others to use as a reference to write coming out letters to their teachers.
____________________________________________________________
Hi [Teacher’s Name],
I’m sending this out as an email to all of my teachers this semester, to make you aware of some information that is important to my education here at [School’s Name].
I am a transgender person - specifically, I am nonbinary. Basically what that means is I’m of a gender that is neither male nor female. Since the way in which people interact with and speak about each other is so dependant on gender, it is usually necessary for me to disclose this information at the beginning of each semester, in order to let people know how to refer to me.
My preferred and legally recognized name is [Name], and the pronouns I use are gender-neutral “they/them/their/themself”. While using gender-neutral pronouns is my strong preference, I understand that many people who may have never interacted with a nonbinary person before may have difficultly adjusting to using “they” in the singular form - in which, case “he” is preferable to “she”. I also prefer to be referred to using gender-neutral language (“person” instead of “boy or girl”, etc.)
I understand that, since nonbinary people are such a small portion of the population, this might be difficult for some to understand. If you are interested in accessing further resources or learning more about nonbinary and transgender people and accommodating them in the classroom, I have included some links to external resources.
I appreciate your anticipated support.
Sincerely,
[Name]
Creating Inclusive Classrooms For Transgender Students
Gender Spectrum Education Resources
The first thing they do at my university orientation is talk about preferred pronouns and why pronouns matter. Then they went around to EVERYONE and asked them which pronouns they wanted to be referred to as.This is the beginning of a revolution. I hope all schools do this in the future!
Anonymous:
Do you know of any communities for parents of trans children online? I have my daily dose of trans related stories and advice right here to keep me informed and up to speed but my mother doesn't, and she benefits most when being able to discuss with others these rather "out of the ordinary" situations that arise from raising a trans kid. Hope you can help, thanks in advance!
Zak: Yes, there are a couple of great online communities for parents of trans children (or parents of trans adults). Trans Youth Family Allies is probably the largest group that I know of for parents of trans people. They have a private, moderated online forum for parents of trans children ages 3-18. I can never find a link to their other forum for parents of trans adults, but I know it exists. I’d recommend contacting them at info@imatyfa.org to ask about it if your mother would be interested. They also have a ton of resources for parents, including resources in Spanish. Really I can’t talk this organization up enough.
Another organization that I’ve heard of but don’t know too much about is the Purple Rainbow Foundation. It looks like they are more aimed toward advocating for trans youth/families with trans children and educating the public about the needs of trans kids. Still, it seems as though they have some resources for parents, such as answers to some pretty common parent questions in their FAQ. I’m not sure if they have any forums.
Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t refer you to my mom’s blog. Though she mostly posts news and answers questions, she occasionally posts about being the parent of a trans person and is always willing to answer questions from other parents of trans people or refer them to resources.
