The oldest and biggest LGBT advocacy group in Brazil, grupo gay da Bahia, still refers to the trans community as transsexuals and transvestites (travestis). That phrase is widely preferred by actvists in South America instead of “transgênero” (transgender). The LGBT pride of the city of São Paulo, which is the biggest in the world, also explicitly mentions transvestites along with transsexuals under the T umbrella. Also, most bills relating to trans people use that, because the law can’t ask how people identify with after they’re dead, the fact is, if the victim was “male” and presented as female, that’s transfemicide, it must be labelled a hate crime.
So this understanding of what trans* entails including transvestites is not “historical”, it still makes sense in parts of the world where the trans community is more concerned with liberation than respectability. It makes sense because whether your employer fires you for being assigned male at birth and going to work dressed like a woman has nothing to do with how long you’ve identified as a woman, but with how you look, and a transvestite would face the same discrimination. You’re not going to solve that by saying you’re different from the transvestite because you’re not a pervert.
People who murder trans women sex workers murder erotic crossdressers too because it is our bodies which are treated as disposable, not our identities. It is seriously crazy to me that a number of people think transmisogyny just means being mean to trans women and never ask how it operates. The term has absolutely no meaning if you can’t point to why trans women are marginalized, which necessarily precedes the signifier, whether someone specifically IDs with that label
Shout-out to trans people of color and gnc people of color who want shorter hair but feel guilty about your feelings because your hair is important to your culture. As someone who’s Black and has a 4c texture, I get compliments on it all the time. I feel like I’m really representing not only my race but 4c hair in general whenever I put my hair in styles because the flack that 4c hair gets. Not to mention the heavy oppression surrounding Black hair and how hard my ancestors had fight in order to keep it and be able to wear it naturally.
Ultimately trans and gnc people of color should be allowed to cut our hair and present how we want. Willingly cutting our hair for our own benefit and comfortability is way different from wanting to grow it out and being told not to because it’s a different texture or tied to our culture.
I want y'all to know that it’s okay to want shorter hair. I’m still representing. I’m representing trans/gnc Black people who want to present masc as well as darker Black women who want to embrace masculinity regardless of the colorist stereotypes around it. You don’t even have to represent anyone if you don’t want to. Just be you.
Passing: Profiling the Lives of Young Trans Men of Color (2015).
[ID: Excerpts from interviews with two trans men. The first, Lucah Rosenberg Lee, has a shaved head and a trimmed beard. The second, Victor Thomas, has curly black hair and a trimmed beard, and is heavier-set.
Lucah, talking about gender dysphoria prior to transitioning, says, “I was in a heterosexual relationship. I was female. I would question this all the time. Am I attracted to these men, or do I just want to be them? That was a big turning point in my own self-discovery.”
Victor, talking about the transphobia he’s endured as a trans man of color, says, “You’re subjected to something because they don’t understand you. And you have to watch the way you react, because you’re a man now. People take you as a threat.”
Lucah, in another scene, discusses feeling erased as a trans man, and racism in trans communities. He says, “Being so invisible within the LGBT community can actually feel so isolating. When people don’t know my history as a trans person, I feel sometimes that I’m viewed as more of an enemy.” END ID.]
Trans men of color deserved to be loved and appreciated, and made safe. Trans men deserve access to our own spaces, no matter how masculine and cis-passing we are. We deserve credit and recognition for the contributions that we have made to trans history, most of which are erased nowadays.
Being a man is not dangerous or wrong. Being masculine is not dangerous or wrong. Being a black man is not dangerous or wrong.
Please support trans men of color.
Please support trans men.
Please support men.
Men belong in trans spaces. Men of color belong in LGBT+ spaces. Straight trans men belong at Pride. Men do not have to be feminine to be queer.
A beautiful scene featuring transgender man Robert Eades and his transgender girlfriend Lola.
[TRANSCRIPT:
Robert: – and now she’s coming out, full blown… she is something else.
Lola: Oh, please, stop it.
Robert: What? I’m just telling her how wonderful you are, and how beautiful, and how organised, and…
Lola: Actually, you know, I really should put all of this on tape, you know? For when I’m not feeling so great.
Robert: Sweetheart, it is on tape.
[BOTH LAUGH]
Robert: Just in the last couple of months now, it’s come on real strong, but she just really blushes! I can get her to blush all the way from head to toe. See? And she can’t deal with it! She’s never blushed like that before!
Lola: [SIGHS]
[BOTH LAUGH]
Robert: All my life, I’ve been looking for the perfect woman… and all this time, she’s been right there in front of me, and I didn’t even realise it, ‘cause I never thought I’d have a chance with her.
Lola: Why? You’re like… completely loveable.
Robert: To be loved by you, that’s… that’s…
Lola: I had no notion, to think that we would have this little fling.
Robert: That’s what I feel - we have this nice friendship, we can’t go out, we have fun together, we got no entanglements and stuff and then - bam! Just… all of a sudden, next thing I know, we’re in love with each other and we can’t stop it.
reminder that trans people can be fat. trans people can like being fat. trans people can be confident and fat. trans people dont have to lose weight to pass or be more attractive.
if you’re trans and fat i love you, our bodies are stunning, we dont have to conform to skinny people’s standards. fat trans people are incredible and deserve the world.
i love my fat trans body.
thin people may reblog but dont say anything. transmeds, transphobes, and fatphobes DNI.
Hii im making a new post because im gonna be off tumblr for a minute and bc donations really stopped on my last one. Im still in a unstable not to mention toxic living environment still saving to money to get my life and mind right so pls keep sharing this link on Twitter tumblr insta Facebook while I take a break. My cash app is $hopesoda and PayPal is /oderaO !
Mm im back kinda this hasn’t really received any donations since I been gone which could be why but if u can help a black woman out it’d be appreciated
Only like three donations since reposting this there’s a lot going on in the world but if you can spare something pls do
Being trans is not a mental illness/ you don’t need dysphoria to be trans: 12 3 4 567 (this one is massive) 8 (also if you want a living example of a cis person with dysphoria search godflex here on tumblr, careful it’s nsfw)
Simply because the link about the gender neutral pronoun “thon” leads to a google books page (gross) in Portuguese, it may not prove particularly useful for English speakers. Instead, here’s a link to a Merriam-Webster post about it. While they don’t have links to their sources, they do include all the titles to the publications referenced, most of which are surely public domain.
In addition, if “thon” (or “þon,” for any literary nerds) doesn’t suit you, here is a list of proposed gender neutral pronouns regardless of whether or not they have seen usage.
[video description: a Tiktok by @glassmenagerie, showing a person signing with a voice talking over the video. They say: Tiktok we need your help. There is a Deaf woman currently trapped in an abusive and dangerous situation. She has a stalker who has become increasingly more aggressive. Her stalker has a history of violence against members of the LGBT+ community and has even pulled a gun on people before. Right now we’re keeping specifics close to the chest for her safety, so we’re gunna call her Jane Doe. The Deaf community is small, so if you know who I’m talking about please don’t say anything. She’s one of my best friends, and she needs funding to leave the state, a place to stay, medications, etc. The GoFundMe link is in my bio. If you can’t donate, that’s fine! Please just share! I’ll provide updates whenever I can. Love y'all.]
