So my gay ass—already pretty sparkly—got glitterbombed at the University of California at Irvine last Monday. This went up on Bilerico yesterday:

According to my source at the event, Savage was in the middle of answering a question from a student who was wondering if her boyfriend was a freak because he watched porn featuring trans women. Savage suggested that her boyfriend was a freak, while freely using the terms “shemale” and “freaky tranny porn.” That is when two individuals ran up and threw glitter on him yelling “Transphobe!”

So: a “source” says that I stood on a stage at UCI and “freely” tossed the word “shemale” and the phrase “freaky tranny porn” around and called someone who was into trans porn—and presumably attracted to trans people—a “freak,” comments which inspired two “individuals” to run up and toss glitter at me. Now there’s a Change.org petition—I’ve already signed it, won’t you?—scolding me for my use of “trans-phobic language” and demanding that I apologize for being a such naughty cissy.

The folks who’ve signed the petition—most with their hearts in the right place—have been misled.

Here’s what went down: I was doing a “Savage Love Live” Q&A at UCI. People submit questions anonymously, just like they would for a regular column, using whatever language or terminology they’re comfortable with. I read their questions aloud—verbatim—and offer some on-the-fly advice. Here’s the complete transcript of my “transphobic” comments at UCI (the italics indicate when I’m reading the anonymously submitted question):

DAN: [READING FROM CARD] My boyfriend is straight but he enjoys anal sex and he asks me to make love to him in his butt all the time. [ASIDE:] You have no one to blame but yourself. [READING FROM CARD] Also, he likes watching she-male porn. Could you tell me why he is acting like this? [ANSWER:] Um, I’m gunna go out on a limb here and say it’s because he likes shemale porn and he enjoys anal stimulation. He’s acting like this because he’s a very freaky boy. If you’re into him, and you’re willing to go there for him, there are a lot of straight guys who are into transexual sex-workers, transexual porn, she-males for lack of a better term, although some people think that’s very offensive—

It was at that moment—just as I was beginning to address the problem with the term “shemale”—that I was glitterbombed.

I did say “shemale.” I read the question as-written, repeated the term in my response, and then used “transexual” in place of “shemale” (“transexual sex-worker,” “transexual porn”), modeling the use of less offensive terms, before circling back to “shemale” in order to unpack why some find it offensive. I never used the phrase “freaky tranny porn.” I never said the word “tranny” at UCI at all; indeed, I’ve made a conscious effort to stop using “tranny” after the memo went out last year declaring the word an off-limits “hate term.” (Mike Signorile wrote a good post about the rapidly changing take on the word “tranny” here.)

As for “freaky boy”: that boy is a bit of a freak and anyone who reads my column knows that I’m pro-freak, pro-kink, pro-porn, pro-just-about-everything. I’m a freak myself, as I’ve said numerous times, I married a freak, some of my best friends are freaks. “Freak,” in the context of “Savage Love,” is a freakin’ compliment. More to the point: I didn’t tell the girl who asked the question to dump her boyfriend because he enjoys trans porn; indeed, I urged her to keep dating him if she was into him and willing to go there (anal, allowing him to enjoy his porn). And this is nothing new with me: I’ve long taken the side of people who are trans or attracted to trans folks. Here’s a column I wrote about trans issues in 1999. (Try not to get bogged down on the headline, thought policepersons, as columnists don’t write their own headlines.) And the advice I was giving to trans/trans-attracted people in 1999 isn’t much different from the advice I gave earlier this year. (Is this the kind of advice that a transphobic sex-advice columnist doles out? Is this? Or this?)

Back to what went down at UCI: It’s clear from the transcript—and it’s clear from the way that my remarks are being actively and maliciously misrepresented—that the people pushing this “Dan Savage is transphobic!” meme are not honest actors. False accusations of engaging in hate speech are themselves a form hate speech—particularly in the hothouse environment of LGBT activism. Any honest reader of my column, like any honest person who attended my Q&A at UCI, knows that not only I am not transphobic, I’m pretty rabidly pro-trans.

Or: If I’m the enemy of trans people everywhere, trans people everywhere could use more enemies like me.

UPDATE: Someone who was at the UCI event describes in his own words what went down in a comment at JMG. The commenter misattributes “freaky tranny porn” to me, based on the Bilerico report, but he gets the rest of the details right.

UPDATE 2: This just in from someone who signed that Change.org petition:

I signed this petition at the request of a trusted friend and, after I signed it, I immediately regretted it after I realized the nature of the petition. Please accept my apologies… I should have been more careful with what I was signing. Thank you for your continued efforts and all that you do. You have been a great influence on my life and those around me.

UPDATE 3: Some folks are slamming trans activists and trans people generally in the comments thread here and on some other blogs. Please don’t do that. And for the record: not one of the folks who’ve glittered me—one at Eugene, three at UCI—is actually trans. I know, right? They’ve all been “allies” of the trans community. (Allies of? Or embarrassments to?) That self-righteous, attack-your-allies, too-angry-to-listen bug isn’t unique to Ts; it’s been documented in Ls, Gs, and Bs too. (I myself have succumbed on, oh, one or two occasions.) Also for the record: the day after my talk at UCI, I met and spoke with a trans student—hey there, C—and we had a perfectly delightful, perfectly rational, and mutually enlightening conversation about transphobia, porn, sex, whether “shemale” is ever okay, his coming out process (recent), my coming out process (not so much), and how he needs to stop smoking. (Really, C. Stop smoking.) It was the best conversation I had at UCI, it was a private conversation (it wasn’t filmed), and it was with a trans man.

So, non-trans commenters, please don’t make generalizations about all trans people based on the actions of a few… non-trans people. [Scroll down: apparently one of the GBers is trans.]

UPDATE 4: More damning evidence of my transphobia emerges! A commenter at JMG:

Dan Savage raises over $5000 (from his largely “straight” readership, mind you) for an African American trans woman’s funeral after her murder.

Dan Savage raises over $2000 (from his largely “straight” readership, mind you) for a young trans student kicked out of the same school in Mississippi that Constance McMillan was kicked out of.

Here’s his support of a brutally beaten trans woman in Michigan.

Dan Savage raises the remaining needed funds (from his largely “straight” readership, mind you) for trans porn star and acitivist Buck Angel to finish a documentary about his life/work.

Like I said yesterday: If I’m the enemy of trans people everywhere, trans people everywhere could use more enemies like me.

And if I may address this piece of batshittery:

You may notice that Dan Savage managed to get the glitter bombers arrested, which tends to be a particularly dangerous experience for trans people. If cis folk with the privilege not to get so badly harmed once they do inevitably get arrested were willing to do it, more power to them.

I didn’t get anyone arrested. There was security at the event—there’s always security at television shoots because the presence of TV cameras brings out the crazies—and campus police officers went looking for the GBers while I was briefly backstage getting de-glittered. I went back on stage and continued with the talk. I didn’t know that someone had been arrested until the talk was over 90 minutes later when the police came backstage and told me they had caught one of the people who “assaulted” me. I laughed when they said “assaulted” because, you know, we were talking about glitter. The cops asked if I wanted to press charges, I said no, and I asked them not to hassle the GBer they’d nabbed. I’ve had no further contact with the police.

And this is my favorite comment:

Savage is so addicted to attention and also seems to have such few scruples that I wouldn’t be surprised if he hired this last group of glitter-bombers to do what they did just so he could play the victim and also create this post with impunity. I would not put such behavior past him. Its already been revealed they were not transwomen.

I glittered myself! And the GBers weren’t brave cis folks putting their privileged bodies on the line in defense of their trans allies! They were working for me! And I had one of them arrested!

UPDATE 5: Oh, right—the glass jar.

I was at the Eugene, OR filming. I hope this doesn’t upset some of you.

I think DSWC is a bio female, and straight. My friends know her, and while they have gone to pains to say she is an ally of the LGBT community, she was wrong here. She has been known to be an ally in LGBT causes before, and is well liked. But this is really unfair to Mr. Savage.

I don’t remember enough about the Eugene, OR speech to say whether Dan had said anything that night to deserve the glitter bomb. I do remember it happened early and she yelled something about being a rape apologist. The thing I find really bad on her part is that she threw the large heavy glass container at his head after she threw the glitter. It made a very loud “clunk” when it hit the floor that could be heard throughout the auditorium. After the talk some other students looked and there was a dent in the stage floor where it hit. It barely missed Mr. Savage’s head. If it would have hit him, she could have done serious damage to him. A concussion or worse. She doesn’t seem to be showing any shame on the blog post that this author, has linked to, but this was seriously dangerous.

Just as the witness from the other school commented, once Mr. Savage was cleaned he went on with his conversation and we all laughed, groaned, blushed and had a really good time. Dan spent a few minutes talking about trans issues as well. All very sex positive.

Just thought you all should know. Someone out there is not telling the truth. Whether it is DSWC or the author of this post.

If I hadn’t have ducked, or if I didn’t see it coming (which I might not have, what with glitter in my eyes and all), that glass jar would’ve hit me square in the face. As luck would have it, I did see it coming, and was able to dodge it. So there was that too.

UPDATE 6: The Eugene GBer Tweets that she’s a trans woman and demands a correction:

eugenegber.jpg

Rose was the GBer who threw the jar at my head but she wasn’t the GBer who was arrested; that was one of the GBers at UCI.

UPDATE 7: A reader writes…

I just want to add one more voice to the chorus of sane and reasonable trans folks who respect what you’ve done for the T in GLBT. I’m a long-time fan of the column/podcast, and I think that queer folks who think that you’re the enemy need to get some serious perspective (and I tell the ones I know that, though I doubt they listen). I’m always wary of the “X doesn’t speak for ME!” cries, because in most cases no one ever fucking said they did, but it worries me a little to see the reactions in the comments threads and to see people piling on trans folks for the insanity of the glitter bombers—I promise we’re not all douchebags!

And of course there’s still some room for improvement in how you talk about trans issues, but you know that, and it doesn’t detract from all the real and concrete support you give to the community. So, thanks again for all your hard work.

At least glitter isn’t much of a punishment for someone of your fabulousness. Glad you ducked the jar.

Wendell

268 replies on “On Glitter, Transphobia, and Hate Speech”

  1. @202(girloftomorrow), who wrote:

    However, a lot of us in the trans community do not wish to be labelled as “freaks”. If fact, a lot of us work very hard NOT to be considered freaks and we’d much rather just be known as “regular” everyday people that aren’t associated with a kink or fetish. We’re just born this way, we’re just people like anyone else and in fact wish to conform to the binary gender system like the majority.

    That is actually a fair point, and a thought-provoking one. If indeed many trans people just want to be ‘regular folk’ and are OK with traditional binary gender distinctions (and all the history of oppresion of sexual minorities), it would seem you’re saying you’d be against “freaks” since you don’t want to be seen as one of them. Doesn’t that tend to support traditional structures of power and gender stereotypes in society — the kind that make “freaks” suffer?

    It seems what you’re saying basically is that the “freak” fight is not your fight: trans people would then basically be all-American traditional people (or within ‘traditional’ limits of divergence) who don’t like “freaks” and don’t want to be mistaken for them. Is that so?

  2. @204(ankylosaur)
    “It seems what you’re saying basically is that the “freak” fight is not your fight: trans people would then basically be all-American traditional people (or within ‘traditional’ limits of divergence) who don’t like “freaks” and don’t want to be mistaken for them. Is that so?”

    I’m certainly not speaking for all trans people, but I do think that a large portion of us do wish to conform with the existing gender binaries to some degree. Of course just like sexuality, being transgender is a spectrum, so you’ll get a good mix of people and how they identify, but from my experience the majority of trans people I know and have met over the years do wish to present in their preferred binary gender.

    I also think trans people who do want to fit into the binary should not be made to feel guilty about doing so. Saying it “supports traditional structures of power” and “make freaks suffer” isn’t really fair for people who really just want to fit in and be accepted in mainstream society. I don’t think we are trying to prevent the “freaks” from having equal rights and in fact, there are other ways of being trans activists besides being totally out in public. For example, I help moderate a popular Reddit site for trans folks in my spare time.

  3. Mr Ven, I hope you managed to sleep well. Believe me, I did not have in the least the intention of making your rest (or your day) any worse! :-|

  4. @205(girloftomorrow), who wrote:

    I also think trans people who do want to fit into the binary should not be made to feel guilty about doing so. Saying it “supports traditional structures of power” and “make freaks suffer” isn’t really fair for people who really just want to fit in and be accepted in mainstream society. I don’t think we are trying to prevent the “freaks” from having equal rights and in fact, there are other ways of being trans activists besides being totally out in public.

    Indeed, it is not fair — neither for people like you, nor for the “freaks” who do suffer from traditional power and gender-stereotype ways.

    I don’t think you’re any more wrong for trying to fit in mainstream society as any traditional hetereosexual (cis-gendered) person is. When we try to fit in and be accepted, we’re not trying to hurt others: we’re just trying to find a place for ourselves.

    But I cannot forget that the place we find for ourselves is often also shared by people who do have prejudice and who do feed stereotypes about gays, lesbians, kinksters, and the trans people on the opposite end of the spectrum to yours. As I find a place for myself in mainstream society, I don’t want to forget that, and I do want to argue in favor of those sexual minorities who still suffer stereotyping. From what you wrote, I gather this is also your position (right?) — so we’re actually in agreement here. It’s just that fitting in doesn’t mean not fighting against stereotypes.

  5. @207(ankylosaur)
    “From what you wrote, I gather this is also your position (right?) — so we’re actually in agreement here. It’s just that fitting in doesn’t mean not fighting against stereotypes.”

    Yes it does seem like we’re in agreement doesn’t it? Completely agree that it still is important to “fight the good fight” even if you’re fitting in, going “stealth” or what have you. Like I mentioned before, having a strong online presence is a good way to be an activist but also not out yourself to everyone. Even having noteworthy comments on this article is some small kind of activism in the right direction.

  7. Thanks to Ankylosaur for your thoughtful commentary. You’re echoing my sentiments exactly. I’d also throw in that I *do* consider myself an allied voice for the trans community, but that as a cis- gay guy, I know what’s going to fall flat on the ears of my friends, and that policing the use of words like “tranny” isn’t the right way to get folks to stop using it. Social change is not overt. People do not need to “examine” their repressed transphobia (or their racism, or their misogyny, or their homophobia). That mantra must be brought to a firm and decisive end if we are ever to see progress in terms of the social acceptance and safety of queer folks. The fact is simple: attacking the person whose mind you wish to change (e.g.: by calling them a racist, or insinuating you understand something they don’t about some -phobia you’ve diagnosed in them after barely having met them) will fail to achieve a desirable outcome. Every. Single. Time.

  8. @210, I tend to agree with you. I do think that “repressed transphobia (or racism, or misogyny, or misandry, or homophobia) does exist — there are people who should look into themselves. But I also think that deducing everything from word usage — if you said ‘tranny’ you’re transphobic, if you said ‘faggot’ you’re homophobic, etc. — is ultimately self-defeating: it alienates people who are also fighting the good fight.

    And I agree entirely with the idea that attacking people rather than engaging them should be a last resource, only to be used with people who are really doing evil and who really can’t be reached in other ways. Attacking indiscriminately, glitter-bombing your allies because of words, not contexts or intentions… that’s just so sad.

  9. Does anyone else find it a little suspicious that these glitter-bombings seem rather organized and none of them are carried out by actual trans people? I mean it’s not a completely insane conspiracy to assume that someone (maybe someone not in any way associated with the trans community) may just have a bone to pick with Mr. Savage, or might benefit politically by his being publicly discredited.

  10. Does anyone else find it a little suspicious that these glitter-bombings seem rather organized and none of them are carried out by actual trans people? I mean it’s not a completely insane conspiracy to assume that someone (maybe someone not in any way associated with the trans community) may just have a bone to pick with Mr. Savage, or might benefit politically by his being publicly discredited.

  12. AaronSF: you may notice that Dan Savage managed to get the glitter bombers arrested, which tends to be a particularly dangerous experience for trans people. If cis folk with the privilege not to get so badly harmed once they do inevitably get arrested were willing to do it, more power to them.

  14. You know, Dan, I’ve been reading you for a couple years now, and I have to say, I keep hearing about the Dan-Savage-Hates-Trannies posts you made for many years, and the things you say in public. Still, every time I read the actual post in question, I find that most things are very broadly interpreted, or else entirely made up. This time, too, I’m afraid I doubted you again. My apologies sir, you seem to understand how easy it is to get caught up in a mob rush, and that’s more understanding than I offered you this time. Keep talkin’ your smack! 😉

  15. Dan, I’m a transsexual woman. I think you’ve been unfairly scapegoated by the trans community and I’m very sorry that has happened. We have been the victims of the most vitriolic attacks by the right lately. I know I’ve been feeling a little shell-shocked lately. I hope you can understand there are some people who are constantly ready to pounce, 24/7.

    If we are a part of the LGB or not, we will continue to be friends with you, to live near you in the same neighborhoods as you and we will continue to shop in some of the same stores as you. We will work tirelessly along side you as we strive to bury DOMA and we will celebrate with you when it’s finally, thankfully gone forever.

    I love my gay friends. My two best friends are a married gay couple (Iowa!!). When I first came out, they made a safe place for me to take refuge as my life was blowing up all around me. I openly call them my two daddies, because besides my mother, they are the most important people in the world to me. My love for them doesn’t depend on their “G” initial sitting close to my “T” initial. They are my friends and I love them.

    This country is slowly but surely becoming more and more educated about trans issues. No one is to blame for incomplete information. Even inside the rest of our own community (the L, G and B) education regarding trans folks is mediocre at best.

    If we are included or not in the community, in matters not. The migration of my initial away from the giant gay marquee won’t stop my friendships, or my love and solidarity with all of you.

    Love,

    Zoey

  16. Dan, I’m a transsexual woman. I think you’ve been unfairly scapegoated by the trans community and I’m very sorry that has happened. We have been the victims of the most vitriolic attacks by the right lately. I know I’ve been feeling a little shell-shocked lately. I hope you can understand there are some people who are constantly ready to pounce, 24/7.

    If we are a part of the LGB or not, we will continue to be friends with you, to live near you in the same neighborhoods as you and we will continue to shop in some of the same stores as you. We will work tirelessly along side you as we strive to bury DOMA and we will celebrate with you when it’s finally, thankfully gone forever.

    I love my gay friends. My two best friends are a married gay couple (Iowa!!). When I first came out, they made a safe place for me to take refuge as my life was blowing up all around me. I openly call them my two daddies, because besides my mother, they are the most important people in the world to me. My love for them doesn’t depend on their “G” initial sitting close to my “T” initial. They are my friends and I love them.

    This country is slowly but surely becoming more and more educated about trans issues. No one is to blame for incomplete information. Even inside the rest of our own community (the L, G and B) education regarding trans folks is mediocre at best.

    If we are included or not in the community, in matters not. The migration of my initial away from the giant gay marquee won’t stop my friendships, or my love and solidarity with all of you.

    Love,

    Zoey

  18. One of things that I’ve noted over the years of my colleagues on the Left is that the more ideological and purist ones are infinitely more happy attacking people who agree with them on almost everything than they are attacking people who agree with them on almost nothing. It’s easier to bully your friends than your enemies, no? The friends may concede a point to maintain the alliance. The enemies will tell you to f* off.

  19. I am so sorry Dan that you need to deal with this crap. Your a great person who has done so much for the world and have TONS of support from trans people.

    I use the word she-male, Guess what my trans women friends use that word. We can use that word if we want.You can empower a word by taking it back-duh! There is a bigger fight out there and your doing it.

    Hate within the LGBTQ community is getting bigger and bigger and if this community was smart they would realize that there is strength in numbers. Direct your anger at the people who need it not the ones who are doing amazing things for the world.

    Sending you a big hug buddy. Your awesome.
    WOOF!
    Buck Angel
    Pioneering Filmmaker, Speaker, and Advocate

  20. I am so sorry Dan that you need to deal with this crap. Your a great person who has done so much for the world and have TONS of support from trans people.

    I use the word she-male, Guess what my trans women friends use that word. We can use that word if we want.You can empower a word by taking it back-duh! There is a bigger fight out there and your doing it.

    Hate within the LGBTQ community is getting bigger and bigger and if this community was smart they would realize that there is strength in numbers. Direct your anger at the people who need it not the ones who are doing amazing things for the world.

    Sending you a big hug buddy. Your awesome.
    WOOF!
    Buck Angel
    Pioneering Filmmaker, Speaker, and Advocate

  21. Dan,

    I really respected your defense – very resonable – until I read your “Update 3”. You’re basically saying “I talked to a transman, so clearly I’m not transphobic.” …Just like the old “I have gay friends, I’m not homophobic!” excuse that we all cringe to hear from people who are indeed homophobic.

    Be careful with this defense, as just because one transperson agrees with you or conversed with you doesn’t mean the community at large will – And, you know this, of course, but your paragraph about this conversation with a transman does not reflect that. You may not be transphobic, but if your goal is to spread awareness and promote acceptance of the trans community, consider how you are modeling this as an example to others. Defensiveness isn’t always the best way to go about this.

    Sincerely,
    Casey K, Wisconsin

  22. Dan,

    I really respected your defense – very resonable – until I read your “Update 3”. You’re basically saying “I talked to a transman, so clearly I’m not transphobic.” …Just like the old “I have gay friends, I’m not homophobic!” excuse that we all cringe to hear from people who are indeed homophobic.

    Be careful with this defense, as just because one transperson agrees with you or conversed with you doesn’t mean the community at large will – And, you know this, of course, but your paragraph about this conversation with a transman does not reflect that. You may not be transphobic, but if your goal is to spread awareness and promote acceptance of the trans community, consider how you are modeling this as an example to others. Defensiveness isn’t always the best way to go about this.

    Sincerely,
    Casey K, Wisconsin

  23. Dan, I’m also a trans woman who has fairly mixed opinions on your treatment of trans issues. I think you can do better, given that your realm of influence is admirably large and your communication skills are amongst the best out there. Having said that, I wouldn’t have voted in the T secret ballot for a glitter bombing campaign.

    What I do appreciate is that you have stated clearly that this incident should not be used as an opportunity for collective trans bashing overall. What bothers me is how this event, inappropriate or not, has been seized upon by certain people to vent their ire against transfolk overall. Reading some of these comment, quick in coming and fierce in disgust, might give non-trans people a bigger sense as to why we might seem a little bit sensitive. We’re well aware of the animosity that is barely under the surface, both in broader society and within the queer community as well. Much thanks to the many, many people who called out these bigoted comments — yes, bigoted, even if from a gay male — for what they were.

  24. @225: Casey… I included that detail, at that point, because people were jumping down the throats of trans people. The point wasn’t that I have trans friends—and I do, but I haven’t dragged them into this—but that all trans people are not, as some were suggesting in blog comments, irrational or unreasonable.

  25. Aah, college “activism.” Where people are more concerned with appearing “more radical than thou” than they are with actually getting anything done.

    If you want to be a real radical, kiddies, go to any town with a large “Occupy” crowd, break into the police station, and replace their pepper spray with silly string. Glittering an obvious trans ally for still using last week’s PC terminology rather than this week’s PC terminology is not activism. It’s pedantic attention whoring. Learn the difference.

  27. @230 (ankylosaur): hope this is not too long and dry (and it’s already summarised):

    Intention implies that the speaker has knowledge and control over what s/he means, and also the kind of person s/he is. But words often exceed our intention (e.g. the words “Some of my best friends are trans” exceed good intention).

    Basically, it’s not the words or the intention that I’m interested in, but the fantasy of a “self” that we read into someone’s words – i.e. the “Dan” that we project our desires onto, something he hasn’t much control over.

    With some of the transpeople here who are critics of Dan, I think they are projecting onto Dan their desire for self-actualisation; they want Dan, a popular public figure, to disseminate their self-image, as dictated on their terms. And when Dan refuses to do exactly as they desire, frustration arises, as any unrequited desire. (Even gay men, rich white gay American men, after decades of work, can’t guarantee that kind of public self-actulisation.)

    We all do this projection trick – to Dan, to anyone else – we round people up to one, as Dan would say; out of his many words, we selectively construct a Dan that suits our own purposes. As another example, the cleverness of a comedian like Louis CK is not in his intentions, but in creating a huge zone of ambiguity, and we are left with the mental gymnastics of working out where we can sit (semi-)comfortably in relation to his words.

    All this relativist “reading” is good and fine, but when some people who claim to speak for trans community (true or not) forcefully project a reading of Dan that may harm good work done in service of social justice, then that’s worth fighting over. They have the right to read Dan in that way; but when they project that reading into the public in a way that shuts out allies, then they either must declare a break in the alliance (which is their right) or shut up.

    The flipside is that, if both sides can buy into the notion that we each have the right to be someone not quite what the other desires, there will be more respect, autonomy and strength. This goes both ways, btw, and I have pointed out before that members of the dominant gay culture has a lot of work to do.

    Another point to make about semantics, is that if we don’t accept the premise that words can exceed intention, then we also shouldn’t criticise Dan’s detractors here, because, as many have pointed out, their heart is in the right place too.

  28. You are a target because you have cameras and name recognition. You are also a “Soft target” because it is unlikely that you’ll press charges and very likely that you’ll write and speak about what happens to emphasize trans-rights.

    Now the other aspect, the character assassination and smearing, is a product of another line of shit-disturberism. Frankly the people behind that should be concerned about libel an defamation but again, because you are a soft target, know you won’t press charges but will still ink/type/mp3 data about the topic.

  29. @226: “What bothers me is how this event, inappropriate or not, has been seized upon by certain people to vent their ire against transfolk overall.”

    The inappropriate nature of standing by ideology and hearsay over reality and deed is what has been “seized upon”. Continuing to focus on the inappropriate rather than Dan’s actual words is what makes this a laughable and unproductive protest.

    You’re all saying “but dan’s REALLY transphobic if you’d only listen!” but not actually criticizing him, just passively endorsing and making excuses for the glitterati.

  31. @ravished, thanks for your comment! You wrote:

    The flipside is that, if both sides can buy into the notion that we each have the right to be someone not quite what the other desires, there will be more respect, autonomy and strength. This goes both ways, btw, and I have pointed out before that members of the dominant gay culture has a lot of work to do.

    That I certainly agree with. Understanding the complexity of other people goes in the direction of humanizing the debate, because we see a similarity in the very fact that we all have the right to be “not quite what the other desires”.

    But a lot of your comment seemed to be about relativism, and words going beyond intentions. Are you trying to make the point that there is no “true” Dan that one could recuperate from his words — i.e., there are no intentions, only interpretations, “selfs” that we project, such that only mensurable effects in the outside world (‘shutting out allies’) are to be comparable?

    I mean, it should be an objective question whether or not Dan is transphobic, and whether or not the UCI incident is evidence of transphobia. But the relativism you described would seem to belie that. Or am I misinterpreting you?

    I agree with your opinion on Louie C.K., by the way — my take on him is that he is a wizard at creating situations that force you to think all the way to the very extremes of your definitions (including whether or not evil and good can be separated — I’m thinking of that episode in which Louie C.K. was an advocate for masturbation, a very difficult one to watch.)

  34. @236, Dan Savage’s oppressive tendencies towards trans people and various other groups are well documented elsewhere on the internet. Google it.

    If you meant, “Why is Dan Savage a liar?” It’s because I’m trans, yet he claims I’m cis.

  35. @235, so basically, you little shit, if YOU happen to think that someone is guilty of “oppressive tendencies”, then it’s just peachy for you to have a go at her/him (and not just with glitter, either, that big glass jar you chucked at him is public knowledge now, as well). So, the next time you’re feeling so righteous, there, Rose is Rotten, I sincerely hope someone gets enough corroborative evidence of your actions that you get your chance to be a prisoner of false consciousness for a while. God knows you’re itching for it.

  36. @237, I’ve googled it. They’re mostly misinterpretations or things he’s already abandoned publically. If not, please mention one I may have missed.

    He didn’t know that you were the person involved, and his claim was based on falty information. He’s not a liar because of that; he would only be a liar if he knew you personally, and knew you were a transgender, and yet said you weren’t.

  37. @238, Actually it was a light plastic jar, but whatever. I didn’t particularly mean to throw it at him; it was just the direction I threw it on instinct. But I wouldn’t have minded if it did hit him, even if it were all heavy and glass and dangerous. Yes, I’m a crazy insurrecto-bitch.

  38. @ 237 What difference does it make if you are Trans or not, what matters is that your an idiot Rose. Grow the fuck up and take a look at who our real enemies are. It ain’t Dan Savage. Stop acting like a spoiled little brat we got bigger fish to fry.

  39. @240 So, okay, you’re down with physically hurting people who disagree with you. You are SO cool.

    Or, you’re not actually who you claim to be. Seems more likely.

  40. @240 – Is “Bitch” okay to use or is that a no-no? It’s hard to keep up what terms have been co-opted to empower and which ones make you sad. Maybe make helpful T-Shirts or something so people know? I think it might just be helpful if you grew up a little bit, but then would you still get to be all “crazy” and “anarchy”? Keep racking up the student loan debt down there in Eugene so you have something to be angry about at OWS.

  41. @237: “Dan Savage’s oppressive tendencies towards trans people and various other groups are well documented elsewhere on the internet. Google it.”

    Lazy, unconcerned, but attention-seeking activists are the worst.

  42. @240

    “Yes, I’m a crazy insurrecto-bitch”

    Yeah, right…what you are is a bit of dog-shit on the shoe soles of radicalism, which is really no surprise-after all, Andre 3000 told us what roses really smell like a long time ago…

  46. A suggestion to people criticising Rose Pedals: Her identity is rooted in being rejected (see @246). Don’t play her game, however contemptible and objectionable her action was. (And there is always the chance of misreportage – glass jar? plastic jar? Cis ally, actual trans? “Truth” is lost to the war of words.) Engage with her calmly, and strictly with facts. As Dan has done. Don’t give her the satisfaction of confirming her rejectedness.

    @234 (ankylosaur): I’m not a semantic atheist, but merely (perhaps cowardly) agnostic: bound by language as we are, the moment we reach towards an objective “self”, something else exceeds it. “Self”, like “God”, is a ruse _around_ which we speak. For all we know, Dan could be a transphobic “at heart” (whatever that means); as he conversed to the trans person he could be wrestling “ick” feelings inside. Or he could be secretly wanting to fuck her. He could be feeling ick _and_ wanting to fuck her. None of this matters to us.

    Spanish Inquisitions and Maoist “struggles” are aimed at finding out whether someone “is” or “is” not, really, truly, existentially, “at heart”, on the right side of the ideological line. The rest of us knows that’s impossible. These glitter bombers and people supporting them seem to want to hold an Inquisition on Dan.

  47. I’m sorry, but anyone who says, “Ooh, I’m so superior to that bigot WHO I THREW A GLASS JAR AT AND COULD HAVE SERIOUSLY INJURED because he says mean things!” really just earns an eye roll from me.

    If you’re going to up the anti from “mean words” to “and I’m going to put you in physical danger,” I really have no interest in anything you have to say. I will not reward violence.

  48. Oh good, she’s joined the party with a lampshade on her head and all the whees, mehs, and monkey-cheese wackiness of any Eugene mallgoth. What a daring genderpunk and not at all a trans-jock lunkhead.

  49. @249, but if “Self”, like “God”, is a ruse around which we speak, what is it that we criticize when we criticize someone’s intentions? How can we even talk about intentions (such an important concept for ideas like freedom and democracy) if there is nothing to anchor them on?

    We’re not always the Spanish Inquisition (cue to the famous Monty Python sketch) when we criticize someone’s intentions. There is a sense in which such criticism can be accurate. Do you agree? If so, what would this sense be, in your view?

    (I’m not counter-arguing, by the way, I’m just really interested in the ideas you’re describing and would like to understand them better. Maybe you have a blog or something like that?)

  50. Seven “updates”?

    my our little Danny is just beside himself.

    Danny and Newt.

    Glitter Bomb Hissy Queens…….

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