In case you've never seen Mx Justin Vivian Bond perform before, here's a taste. The dress v's wearing is made out of laminated tranny porn, as Bond described it to the audience at a different point in this performance.

In the years since, use of the t-word has become a lot more controversial—a controversy Bond addresses in this brilliant, brain-reordering essay.

Tranny was invented as a term of affection between those of us who wished to live outside the gender binary system, but now a new generation of trans activists finds that word to be deeply offensive and have sought to banish it entirely. For the record, I'm sorry the word we made up was overheard by mean people and has been used to cause so much pain to those who are experiencing transphobia in their young lives.

That said…

If by erasing the word "tranny," [these activists] hope to get rid of embarrassing associations with trans sex workers, drag performers, trashy gender fuckers, and other self- identified "freaks" who choose to live outside the binary gender system, they are in for a big disappointment, and in my opinion, they should be ashamed of themselves.

You gotta read the rest.

As for all the other essays in our trans Queer Issue, start here.