P.S.A. 'Tranny' is incredibly offensive to the LGBTIQ community.

[xchrom]

99. Is 'Tranny' Offensive?

http://www.bilerico.com/2008/09/is_tranny_offensive.php


I'm happy to be a part of the Bilerico team now, and I thought I'd start off by reposting something I wrote in my own blog a couple weeks ago. It was inspired by a reoccurring conversation I've seen on several blogs, including this one, so it seemed fitting.

It always goes like this. A cis (non-trans) person tosses out the word 'tranny' in a comment. Then a trans person calls them out on it and tells them its a word that they shouldn't be using. Argument ensues over who's allowed to use what language, invariably, we hear "but my trans friends are okay with me using it." And usually the issue ends unresolved -- in my opinion, because no one discusses the history of the term or why it can have such a powerful negative impact.



It might appear to be a benign act of adding a "y" on the end to make the term more informal and cutesy (notice a similar transformation when changing "cute" to "cutesy&quot . From this perspective, why would it matter? No one will tell you "fag" or "faggot" are okay but "faggy" and "fagotry" aren't. However, there is a whole historical context to the term that isn't all that widely known, but is a huge part about what makes the term less appealing.

The term itself was first popularized within the porn industry. And while I'll be the last one to denigrate sexuality and pornography, the fact is that "tranny porn" is about as representative of trans people's sexuality as "girl-on-girl porn" is representative of lesbian sexuality. The usual context that it has been used in porn is to highlight how trans women are not really women, while also painting us as more exotic and sexually available.

So when the term became linked to the porn industry and popularized, it became a useful way to get a sense of someone's background with the community. If a cisgender person used the term "tranny" it probably meant that they got most of their knowledge of (or at least intro to) the trans community from the porn and sex industries, and perhaps didn't have your best interests at heart. This is also probably related to the creation of the term "tranny-chaser" as a way for the trans community to identify people who might take advantage of a trans person's relative vulnerability or see trans people only as a sexual commodity.

Why trans is in but tranny is out

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/jun/30/trans-language-transgender

As a trans man or woman, you soon notice how many people have what Daffy Duck called 'pronoun trouble'.

No matter how supportive of your transition they claim to be, and how much well-intentioned advice they give you about your new hairstyle, or the name you always used in your head but only just told them about, they misgender you every other time they open their mouths, and get quite upset if you call them on it.

You're being too sensitive, they say, or it's too soon. Families, in particular, think it's too soon even after years. Getting your name right is a minimum requirement of respect - referring to you in the third person by the wrong pronoun means that respect is only superficial politeness.

I used to think that straight men particularly tended to misgender me if they were losing an argument; now I've seen them do it to trans men too. Misgendering is sometimes cluelessness, but more often it's quiet, hostile aggression, especially if we aren't gratefully deferential for whatever crumbs of acceptance we are thrown - if we speak up as freely as if we were actual, you know, human beings.

Oh, and a word to far too many columnists and pub philosophers: the only time 'it' is acceptable is with neutrois-identified people, some of whom regard it as mandatory. And if that's one rule too many to keep in your social vocabulary, well, tough.


What terminology is offensive to transgender people?

http://www.glaad.org/transgender

The following terms are usually considered offensive and/or defamatory to transgender people:

Transvestite
She-male
He-she
It
Trannie
Tranny
Shim