Other than Michael Bailey, the two biggest public enemies in the eyes of many transpeople are Barney Frank and Lisa Vogel. For those not up to speed on Lisa, she is the founder and CEO of the Michigan Women’s Music Festival which has been protested for the past 15 or so years by angry transwomen at Camp Trans. I used to follow the herd on both these figures but having given the arguments against them a lot of thought lately, I find myself sympathetic to both. Before the cries to lynch me too, let me explain…..although some will call for my head afterwards anyway. The actual central issue about both of them is essentially the same one.As I have stated before, I am a feminist woman. I am also uniquely positioned in my role as the founder of the Cybeline revival to have experienced the exact same type of boundary disrespect Lisa often refers to and by the same people, non-classically transsexual transgenders. When she put the festival on an honour system with the same woman born woman policy in place what immediately happened was some transwomen bought tickets and entered and declared victory. In doing so, they completely validated Lisa’s position and the reason she has the policy in the first place. They will never understand this but I do. As a feminist woman and an abuse survivor I am very aware of the real need for safe space and if a group of women need safe space that does not include me, I understand and in solidarity with them, will and have in the past, respect that. No one knows better than I do about letting the camel’s head into the tent and what then happens. This is a sisterhood respect issue and whatever minor hurt I personally feel, that respect in sisterhood is much more important to me. I wish it and so I will not be a party to denying it to a sister even when it excludes me. My womanhood is not disrespected in that, it’s only about the differences in theirs and mine.
What has fifteen years of Camp Trans accomplished in changing Lisa’s mind? In changing the mind of any radical second wave lesbian feminist? All it proves is the same thing I have complained about, Janice Raymond complained about and Lisa complains about… the disrespect of the boundaries of women’s safe space, the right to have their own voices and their right to identify themselves and have their own safe space by their own definition. There is no difference and so I ask the greater trans community to stop claiming their “womanhood” is being denied because in a real sense it is not. What is being defined, not denied, is a real difference that is important to women like Lisa between transwomen, including post operative ones, and woman who lived their entire life as women. They absolutely should have that right and have it respected and anyone woman identified should be able to understand that, especially anyone who self identifies as a feminist woman. Now this is utter heresy to the trans dogma I know, but I also know in my heart and from my own life what she feels and they are essentially the same just seen from different identity global positions.
Now Barney Frank. Frankly I owe him an apology. When he brought up the penises in the women’s showers issue back in the middle late nineties I was as outraged as anyone in the trans communities because I saw it as a total red herring. No surgery tracked transwoman I had ever met would dream of using a women’s facility that required nudity and I thought that was a no-brainer. Turns out it is not. To my utter shock I have seen many self declared non-ops argue that they have an absolute right to use those showers recently meaning it actually is a valid concern and showing a level of disrespect for female bodied women that frankly I find extremely disturbing because again it is an open demonstration of the validity of the complaints of the radical lesbian separatists and when stated as baldly has it has been in various blog commentaries, turns allied women’s heads around in total disbelief. Let me put this in terms even those transwomen should understand……this is a complete disrespect for the comfort levels of female bodied women that they and I find almost inconceivable from someone claiming woman identity. It is absolutely alpha male privileged behaviour no ifs ands or buts. Frank is actually right, now the towels of deconstructionists have fallen to the shower room floor…..opps. And the really really sad part is that if the deconstructionists had concentrated on selling the idea of civil rights and stopped trying to “edjumacate” people on how their male bodies are actually female, we’d all most likely have the rights now, all parts of the community. Now the understanding is percolating through the greater communities that “transsexuals need rights right now but those male bodied women?…….err we have a real problem with that.” In beating up women of transsexual history, you proved your own worst enemies and since it is now in plain view of the world instead on in those places you control, the world is starting to see your points and behaviour and respond “are you freakin’ nuts?” Those discussions are now taking place on the internet thanks to the deconstructionist bloggers….just not on your blogs.
Every time a woman reads these demands as part of a transgender blog or commentary you are losing potential allies, every single time. Every time they read the radical deconstructionist agendas being pushed and what that actually means is revealed in subsequent comments, you lose an ally…..and transgenders cannot seem to see this. Every time a woman of transsexual history is shouted down for asking for the simple respect of defining herself every other women that sees that remembers that feeling because it is an almost universal female experience.
You are shooting yourselves in the foot and I wouldn’t mind except for one thing. When you do this you are ensuring I won’t see the restoration of the rights and acceptance I had from society at large before you started this jihad on gender. The deconstructionist Emperors have no clothes and you all know what that means can clearly be seen. Some of us pointed out the nudity and now others are seeing it too. I’m betting the next inclusive ENDA will be transsexual inclusive only as a direct result of your actions and blogging. The world was and is watching, that’s the thing about the internet, it’s all in plain view.