Comments

1
Oh dear. Is GLAAD becoming to gay rights what PETA is to animal rights? I certainly hope not.
2
Most trannies I know have no problem with the word "tranny." This is fucking ridiculous.
3
@1 BECOMING? Tranny please. GLAAD's had an on again, off again relationship with reality since the '90s.
4
That's it. I'm going to say it.

Why are Transexuals lumped in with Gays and Lesbians? I mean, Transexualism, if memory serves, is diagnosed with the DSM IV - as a mental health issue - with the "cure", if you will, gender reassignment. Awesome. I fully support that.

BUT - homosexuality is not a mental health issue. I mean, I get it, we get the transexuals because we're open and accepting and shit, but I've never fully understood why.

*le sigh*
5
Check out Pam's House Blend, a progressive queer blog where use of the word tranny will get you flamed hard and fast. It's not just GLAAD. There does seem to be some traction here in that that the trans community (at least the progressive left side of it) isn't thrilled w/ the word. I don't use it - it seems that if it bugs enough trans folks - well, I can live without it. I agree that there's a line here between being progressive and being silly....but, I dunno.

I recall spending a lot of hours (that could have been much better spent) in discussions about reclaiming the word queer in the 90's. And surely some of us remember when Dan's columns always began with "Hey, Faggot". Language is powerful stuff. I know this seems silly and I agree when the left starts fighting w/ Susan Sarandon something's gone wrong. I'm just not clear that it's a discussion to be dismissed.....
6
I don't see tranny as insulting, but since I am cisgendered 1) I'd honor any individual's request not to be referred to as tranny and 2) not sweat the simultaneous fact that many transgendered folks are perfectly happy to ID themselves as tranny.

I mean look, if you call yourself queer, that's one thing. If your friend or ally calls you queer and everyone's happy then all's good. But the asshole screaming queer at you while he tries to beat you to death, not so much. And we all know various gay folks who don't like to self identify as queer as well...
7
Ok, GLAAD and HRC, we need you to climb aboard this boat. No no no, don't worry, it's going to a fancy party with celebrities and rich people. Yes, it will be great. Have fun! No, you're not coming back, thanks!
8
Say it, sister.
9
My tranny girlfriend says it's okay if I call her a tranny.
10
Ditto @6. Makes perfect sense to me. Consider me more enlightened than moments ago.
But Susan Sarandon?! Good Lord!
11
GLAAD maakes me MAAD about the use of Traany.

Stupid Faags.
12
All the trannies I've ever met embraced the word proudly.
13
someone better tell Heklina before they go after "Trannyshack"...
14
I did jump when I heard it used on Glee, only because I know it is a trigger word for the trans community -- but it was in character for Mike, although I am surprised Emma didnt leap in with "Mike, you know better than to use that word"

and in the very next scene with Sue and Becky, I thought Sue said 'go out and yell at some fags' instead of 'go out and yell at some fatties'
15
Julia Serano makes a fairly persuasive case that "tranny" is a crappy term. I'm happy to use "trans man" or "trans woman" instead.

And I've always assumed that the "T" gets into "GLBT" because historically there were less clear divisions between gender identity and sexuality, and the butch lesbian scene, for example, still blurs the distinction.
16
God, this is totally a hot breeder mess.

Wait, is that better?
17
BTW, I hope that it's totally okay to think "okay, maybe I shouldn't use tranny" (because I probably don't anyway) and still agree with #7 about putting GLAAD and HRC on an ice floe and telling them it's the new White Party.
18
GROUP HUG!

There - don't you all feel better now?
19
Is there anything at which the left excels more than in the creation of circular firing squads? My god, we're like Ireland in the 10th century - so busy fighting one another, we ignore the much greater external threats.
20
@15 and a lot of het people still can't figure it out, so they lump us all together in their hate anyway. You know, that whole meme that says feminine boys *must* be gay.

And drag queens who go the whole nine yards in appearance but aren't looking to change their physical gender suggest to me there's not a clear dividing line but rather a sliding one, sort of like the homo->bi->het one.

Besides, some transpeople are gay & some are straight, accounting for gender reassignation & who they are attracted to, so there's still overlap.

I wonder about the mental illness designation, as well. After all, homosexuality was on the books for many many years, so just because transgender is doesn't mean we might have a completely different view of it years from now :-P
21
You know, while I respect a trans-person's right not to be too happy about "tranny" I'm trying to think of a hateful context that I've heard it used.

Closest I'm getting is "We got us a problem bigger'n a tranny in a Peterbilt"--Maggie Fitzgerald to Frankie Dunn, in Million Dollar Baby by FX Toole.
22
@21 How about Apple's Peekaboo Tranny fiasco?
23
I won't use it because it's not PC and I strive to be PC. But secretly I think "tranny" is kind of cute-- "transgendered" is so clinical! "Tranny" is to "transgendered" what "honey" is to "life partner." "Tranny" is approachable and bite-sized, and I like to use approachable bite-sized words to describe my friends. Plus, it makes me think of Trannyshack, which is awesome.
24
Trannies are taking over GLAAD. Jewish trannies.
25
I like saying the word tranny, because it's lighter and cuter and sillier. But then, I jokingly say fag and dyke too, so maybe I'm just like that? I'm trans, though, so no matter what the consensus is, I still get a pass. =D
26
This reminds me of the '80s, when Reagan and his ilk were leveling Affirmative Action and dismantling the social safety net (permanently, at least so far) and the Left's response was to become the Language Police.

I swear, the whole PC movement set the Left back 30 years with its pettiness, its militancy, and its tendency to attack friends ten times more savagely than the enemies who really deserved it.
27
Maybe less on topic, although I'll just say that this isn't the first time GLAAD has focused its energy and resources on a pretty counterproductive issue, but hotdamn do I love me some Murray Hill!
28
So a cis gay man posts a video of a drag king telling what trans people should be okay with.

yeah. . . that'll go over well.
29
I sure am glad we have Dan to tell us what other people should or shouldn't find offensive.
30
Going by this line of thought, does this mean hetero people can choose when "fag" is offensive or not? Are whites are allowed to decide when the word "nigger" is offensive?

Just ask yourself, is there ever any reason to actually use the word "tranny", beyond insulting someone?
31
Thanks, Dan. Exactly what I wanted to hear. I think I'll use that logic the next time someone says nigger around me or calls me a whore or something. I'll just get over it. I mean, so many gay people love being called faggot so it must be totally okay for EVERYONE to say no matter what the context, right?

We all point the finger at Christians for demeaning us and causing LGBT kids to commit suicide, yet we never once stop to think about how our own words affect the young kids in our community, especially the trans kids, who have no sanctuary anywhere with people both inside and outside our "community" calling us freaks or trannies. Thanks for the love and support, Dan.
32
Once again Dan displays his infinite ego and cis privilege in thinking he can tell trans people what we should or should not be offended by and he even uses the It Get's Better how we should be ashamed of ourselves for daring to even criticize our cis overlords. How disgusting.

And no, I don't care if you have a million token transgender friends who use the word or agree with you. It's still an unacceptable slur, end of story.
33
that reminds me of how one of the vids cited the word "queer" as a hate word (from the 50s or 70s I guess), but in my generation, when I came out I used that word to express my pride in my gender/sexuality non-conformity. GLAAD also complained about south park's joke about changing the meaning of the word fag- which was actually a very pro-gay show! they need to simmer down or no one will pay attention to the serious issues.

It's kinda like how a lot of modern day feminists hate that word because of extreme man-hating too-serious (mostly) second wavers...
34
Really, how is this difficult to process? I submit the following exhibits:

A woman may take back the term cunt. Most self-described cunts don't want men to use the term when referring to them, that would make the men sexist.

A black man may take back the term nigger. White people don't get to use the term nigger when referring to black people as a group. Not without being racists.

Straight people don't get to use the term "fag." This is familiar ground, I won't belabor it further.

Transfolk do NOT like to be called trannies, unless it's in a fond way by other transexuals or the term is self-directed. END of fucking story.

Again, this is fucking not difficult! Either you respect transexuals' rights to self-identify however they fucking want (you know, like how we let blacks and women and gays self-identify without assuming we as outsiders have the right to call them niggers, cunts, and fags), or you walk over their faces with stilettos and call them what you want. But if you refuse to respect their right to self-identify, then you're a bigoted cocksucker trans-phobic, like Dan.

Dan, you are ACTIVELY IMPAIRING trans rights. This isn't the first time, and I'm sure it won't be the last unless you take my words to heart. I'm not even transexual and your ignorant commentary has my blood BOILING.
35
I want to beat the inevitable white-knighting naysayers by stating, I'm glad that you are a trans person who doesn't mind being called a tranny, or that you aren't trans but know a trans person who doesn't mind being labeled a tranny. Do not make the mistake of thinking that the trans people you know are representative of trans people everywhere. Just like how the black kid in your 8th grade social studies class was not a representative for blacks everywhere. mkay?

When in doubt, leave "tranny" out. It's as passe as "negro" but unfortunately, most cis-gendered dumbfucks are too out of touch to realize it.
36
I have to admit I don't see why the word Tranny would cause such a stir. We abbreviate Homosexual into Homo, Heterosexual into Hetero. So why is Tranny any different? It's an abbreviation, so what?

37
@4 - because they are unaccepted by 'regular' people. Because 'hets' ( the stupid ones) are just as baffled by gays as they are by trannies (and think all trannies are gay), etc.
38
"I have to admit I don't see why the word Tranny would cause such a stir. We abbreviate Homosexual into Homo, Heterosexual into Hetero. So why is Tranny any different? It's an abbreviation, so what?"

I expect that what you don't see could fill rather a large and empty library. You are cis-privileged and your opinion on the topic is 100% irrelevant.
39
Transfolk do NOT like to be called trannies

Prove it.
40
I think what we can all agree on is that trans-sexual people need and deserve a great deal more compassion than they are afforded, especially seeing as how many of them have been unalterably butchered by monsters masquerading as surgeons.
41
What a minute, the comment on Glee was directed at a Transvestite not a Transsexual person. Not the same thing. A Transvestite (Think Eddie Izzard) just likes to dress up as the opposite sex. Which, I actually find super hot. Transsexuals (Georgina Beyer for instance) identify as the opposite sex.

This may not seem like a big deal, but at least amongst the people I know, being a Transvestite is a tad more cheeky and much less serious. It is a bit of a kink, fun, part of who they are, but very few are actually gay or want to change their normative gender.
A Transsexual is a whole different bag, with much different life long, emotional implications.It includes hormones, surgeries and slew of other very heavy things.

When referring to Dr. Frank n' Furter--a bi-sexual Transvestite--Tranny fits.

I understand if people in the trans community do not want to be labeled "tranny". I don't think it's appropriate to be flinging it around--just as I don't think it's appropriate to fling the word 'Bitch' around. But in some clubs, for some transvestites, in some instances, it totally fits. And it did in that Glee episode.
Dr. Frank n' Furter is a totally hot, and sexy tranny.

PS. Can we not argue that Tranny is the same as Nigger. 200 years of slavery and hundreds more of social inequality do not = transsexual issues. They should not be equated.
42
#38, Rach31 - your level of intolerance for a difference of opinion on this matter is what makes your comment 100% irrelevant. That's not the way you make the friends and allies that all minorities need to make change.

So there.

Also - food for thought on the power of language - replace faggot w/ tranny and you'll have some sense of the legacy of pain that words can create:

http://michaelprocopio.wordpress.com/201…
43
There is no different opinion on what an outsider gets to call a member of a minority group. I am right. Anyone who disagrees with this is wrong, and fucking blind/stupid to boot.

Transexuals get to define what they are called. If you are not transexual, you don't. Do we ask gay people or gay allies to prove that they don't like to be called fags?
44
@20 One of my professors has been part of the committee looking at whether to remove or keep transgender in the next version of the DSM. Part of the issue is that governments and insurance companies are less likely to pay for services like hormone therapy, laser treatment and surgery if there is no diagnosis attached.

It's a difficult question. Should they give up the diagnostic label (which seems so alienating and oppressive), but lose the ability to provide help within people's means?
45
#44 - Now this is interesting -
46
Dear Dan Savage, I want to commend you for your "It gets Better" project. It is so important and caring, for LGB kids. However, when you publish articles accusing political figures of being Transgender, to make fun of them and make them seem less credible, doesn't that make you not only transphobic, but a bully as well?

http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archive…
47
@45:

Well. . . If Canadian Nurse is actually from Canada, (not suggesting he/she isn't) they have a national health system, and I'm not sure how the treatment / payment for "Gender incongruence" works there. . . the DSM is an american big book of crazy. . . other countries have moved the code so it's not longer a mental health issue but it's still covered - see France.

Here in the US. . . the AMA approved, and deemed "medically necessary" treatment for GI, is rarely covered with health insurance, and at this point, having it in the DSM only serves as a way to deny or drop a trans person from coverage. So yeah, having it still in the DSM and not covered under another medical condition isn't a good thing.
48
I just say "transfolks" or "trans." I don't like the diminutive '-y' suffix.
49
If I know the person I might refer to them as a "transdude," because actually all the transfolks I know personally are FTM.
50
@35 I have never used the word "tranny" to describe anyone, I always use "trans" when discussing trans-gendered people, but I have to confess I didn't realize that it would be offensive when talking about transvestites. Even in that context I don't use the word, I usually just call transvestites hot and leave it at that.

And I agree that people in the trans community get to decide what they are called and what is and isn't appropriate for cis people to use, but I do feel that when approaching a person (or group/tv show/fantastically hot actress/sex advice columnist) who is otherwise an ally, it may not be necessary to go in with guns blazing. A gentle conversation will often do the trick, without falling into name-calling, over-generalizing and beating "cis gendered dumbfuck" allies to death with their unintended ignorance.
51
Wow, this literally brought me to tears, and I thought I traded in my tear ducts for my butch hair cut on my 9th birthday.

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