Monday, August 4, 2014

A commentary on “A Feminist Guide to all things Trans” - Part 1


This is my first blog about the cause to eliminate transphobic harassment and violence by the pseudo-feminist group called the TERFs (Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists). Allison Woolbert has worked hard as a gender equality and LGBTQI advocate supporting all the Rainbow Family and I am very proud to be working with her to protect the LGBTQI community from those that want to harm and separate us with hate.  We must stick together and speak up against injustice wherever it may arise, sadly, even in our own community at times.
A commentary on “A Feminist Guide to all things Trans”
Terf Tracker
This is my commentary on “A Feminist Guide to all things Trans” an article on The Dirt Blog by the blogger called Dirt or dirtywhiteboi67. Dirt writes about her Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists (TERF) pseudo-scientific and pseudo-feminist theories on transgenderism and feminism. These views have nothing to do with true scientific facts on gender identity, transgenderism, or true feminism. Dirt’s blog The Dirt from Dirt, additional blogs, and YouTube channel spread transphobia against transgender men and women and hatred towards all cisgender men, she especially targets young transgender men outing them and humiliating them online.
 Dirt’s blog entry on Monday, August 19, 2013 “A Feminist Guide to all things Trans” (http://www.donotlink.com/hz1) has many false statements that are either total lies or misreprentations. Dirt ignores scientific facts, medical and psychiatric terminology, and plain human decency.  It is full of transphobia, internalized homophobia, and hatred of all people that are male or masculine in nature. Let us analyze Dirt’s statements (direct quotes).

1. Dirt states: “No one is born transgendered.” (Transgender would have been the proper term here).
Fact: This is a black and white viewpoint. There have been studies that have shown that there are strong similarities between parts of the brains of transgender men and cisgender men and transgender women and cisgender women.
“They found significant differences between male and female brains in four regions of white matter – and the female-to-male transsexual people had white matter in these regions that resembled a male brain (Journal of Psychiatric Research, DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2010.05.006). "It's the first time it has been shown that the brains of female-to-male transsexual people are masculinised," Guillamon says.
In a separate study, the team used the same technique to compare white matter in 18 male-to-female transsexual people with that in 19 males and 19 females. Surprisingly, in each transsexual person's brain the structure of the white matter in the four regions was halfway between that of the males and females (Journal of Psychiatric Research, DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2010.11.007). "Their brains are not completely masculinised and not completely feminised, but they still feel female," says Guillamon” (Transsexual differences caught on brain scan by Jessica Hamzelou 2011). http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20032-transsexual-differences-caught-on-brain-scan.html#.UpSM1uKJOk8
2. Dirt states: “Transition is a medical invention of the 20th century created to "cure" homosexuality.”
Fact: Hormonal treatment and surgeries would not cure anyone from homosexuality it has nothing to do with gender identity or transgenderism, it is a sexual orientation. In fact many transgender women are self-identified lesbians and many transgender men are self-identified gay men.
3. Dirt states: Transgenderism can ONLY occur via medical intervention.
Fact: This is a black and white viewpoint. Not everyone that is in the transgender community go through hormone therapy or surgeries.
“Transgender: An umbrella term for people whose gender identity, expression or behavior is different from those typically associated with their assigned sex at birth, including but not limited to transsexuals, cross-dressers, androgynous people, genderqueers, and gender non-conforming people. Transgender is a broad term and is good for non-transgender people to use. “Trans” is shorthand for “transgender” (TRANSGENDER TERMINOLOGY 2009). http://transequality.org/Resources/NCTE_TransTerminology.pdf. Also go to AMA on GRS information http://www.imatyfa.org/resources/healthcare-practitioners/american-medical-association-transgender-resolution/
Transgenderism has been around for thousands of years and transitional treatments were not available for most of this time period. Transgender individuals can be found throughout various cultures from the ancient Egyptians to the Native American tribes of North, Central South America. Transgender men and women fought during the America civil war. During the American Civil War (1861–1865) at least 240 biological women are known to have worn men's clothing and fought as soldiers. Some of them were transgender and continued to live as men throughout their lives.[3] One such notable soldier was Albert Cashier.[4]”  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_transgenderism_in_the_United_States. There is a long and rich history that proves just like homosexuality, transgenderism has always been a part of the human species.    
4. Dirt states: Hormones used for transition can and do change personality AND sexual attraction.
Fact: Yes, hormones can change your personality, both positively and negatively, even replacement hormones in cisgender men and women with hormonal problems. Hormones can affected sexual attraction but this could also be a side effect of feeling good in one’s own body for the first time and being more open to sex and relationships.  
5. Dirt states: ALL transition surgeries are UNNECESSARY.
Fact: For the transgender person that needs them, they are important and necessary.  Many transgender people feel deep depression and body dysphoria. Modifying their bodies to fit their gender identity is the only way to help them be themselves and relieve their depression and body dysphoria.
6. Dirt states: ALL transition surgeries are barbaric, permanently mutilating once healthy body parts.
Fact: This catastrophizing the subject of transitional surgeries. All surgeries are barbaric and carry risk because you are cutting into flesh and bone, but necessary in most cases. Sex reassignment surgeries are no different from other surgeries they can be very successful or they can go very wrong. That is why you must educate yourself before any treatment or surgeries and check out the credentials and record of success of your doctors. It is just common sense.
7. Dirt states:  Havelock Ellis, Magnus Hirsch, and Richard von Kraft-Ebing linked homosexuality with inversion, in the early 20th century.
Fact: Homosexuality was both misunderstood and thought to be morally wrong, so these so-called experts used their own prejudice and confusion to make homosexuality whatever they wanted it to be. But homosexuality is still different than transgenderism, though an individual can be both transgender and homosexual.
8. Dirt states: Inverts were males and females who were perceived as being inverted, such as female inverts having a "Masculine soul, heaving in a female bosom" In other words those who didn’t subscribe to the Gender Straight Jacket.
Fact: This was more of a trans-personal psychology approach to all things to do with gender identity and human sexuality, which recognized the possibility of a human soul.  And if you are a spiritual person this might make sense to you about having the wrong soul in the wrong body. I personally have no problem with those that belief this way.
9. Dirt states: It was during this time (1931) that Lili Elbe received and died from the first sex reassignment surgery. Elbe was most likely intersexed, as medical evidence at the time indicated.
 Fact: Intersexuality is not transgenderism, this . Intersexed children are mutilated to either fit in society as a man or a woman. Some do need surgeries to correct defects that might affect their health. But most of these surgeries are cosmetics in nature; they are done on babies and children without their consent. These surgeries on the genitals are painful and can cause damage and often are done throughout childhood and even beyond. 
10. Dirt states: Harry Benjamin who was a friend of and highly influenced by Magnus Hirshfeld, was heavily interested in gay male drag shows where according to HB, "many of the customers appeared in the clothing of the other sex".
Fact: Homosexuality and transvestism are both different from transgenderism.
11. Dirt states: Harry Benjamin is the father of transsexualism/transgenderism.
Fact: Yes, he did study transsexualism/transgenderism. Richard von Krafft-Ebing studied the problem of Transsexuality and then published his work in 1893. Later Harry Benjamin used  Ebing's work to come to his conclusions about transsexualism/transgenderism. 
12. Dirt states: Viewing psychiatry through a Gender Straight Jacketed lens, Benjamin ignorantly assumed transvestites and gay men to be one and the same.
Fact: Now we know that most gay men do not cross-dress and they are self-identified men (whether they are cisgender or transgender). So Harry Benjamin was wrong. But he did study drag shows because cross-dressers and transvestites were prohibited in his study.
13. Dirt states: HB believed gay men to all be effeminate.
Fact: Well, HB was wrong and did not know the truth about homosexuality. Gay men and women can be masculine (butch), feminine (femme) or in between and so can their fellow straight people.
14. Dirt states: Most of Benjamin's patients were female fetishizers he mistook for homosexuals.
Fact: This is true that most true cross-dressers are straight cisgender men (that probably Do Not like being called fetishizers, whatever that is.). Benjamin was wrong again.
15. Dirt states: Within the first decade of SRS, female fetishizers created an underground snail mail communication system whereby female fetishizers knew beforehand what to say to HB and later SRS doctors that would enable them to be approved for SRS.
Fact: The is a phobic viewpoint. People make up stories and if this is true, its normal human behavior. But has nothing to do with transgender people. I personally, find this statement to be confusing and I really do not know what Dirt is talking about.  
16. Dirt states: The main criteria for early SRS (and today still) is homosexuality or behaviour considered to be homosexual.
Fact: No it isn’t. Gender identity is separate from sexual orientation. Dirt has apparently never read the WPATH standards.
17. Dirt states: The majority of transitions remain straight white males who have a twisted cock response to clothing labeled "girls" or "womens". Males known as Autogynephiles or as I call them, Female Fetishizers. Males who fetishize the patriarchal Male Gaze constructed IDEA "woman/femininity".
Fact: This is a phobic idea that has no bases in facts. Cross-dressers (or what Dirt calls fetishizers) is a completely different part of the transgender umbrella. Transgender women identify themselves as women, viewing themselves as female in gender. On the other hand male cross-dressers enjoy wearing women’s clothing but identify as men, seeing themselves as male in gender. I am not sure what Dirt means about twisted cock (she will have to elaborate on this to enlighten us.) It does sound painful.
18. Dirt states: Female Fetishizers carry out transvestism to the Nth degree in search for greater and greater sexual highs.
Fact: I DO NOT understand this statement at all.
19. Dirt states: The medical community didnt invest in sex changes until the Kinsey Report of (1948)  and (1953) which concluded at least 10% of the population was homosexual and 37% of males had had a homosexual experience.
Fact: Gender identity is separate from sexual orientation. But it is true that Kinsey did this study. There were studies by Krafft-Ebings in the 1880's and there was extensive interest in the early 1900's about human sexuality and what caused difference in sex orientation. Go to:  http://www.cinematter.com/tshistory.html
20. Dirt states: In the early seventies pro consensual pedophilia doctor John Money (notorious for experimenting on the intersexed) coined the term Gender Identity/Gender Roles. 
Fact: Pedophilia has nothing to do with transgenderism or homosexuality. So this point really makes no sense at all. Plus, it plays in the hands of the religious right. Like all TERFs Dirt likes to throw gay men and women in with pedophiles, when they think it benefits their cause.

Terf Tracker is an organized effort to provide further safety to the transgender community by documenting TERF organizations, their followers and the distortions that they present.  This effort is in response to continual aggressive harassment by groups such as Gender Identity Watch, the hate group and other associated groups.
NOTE: Respectful discourse is expected on our site.  Issue discussion is more than welcome. However, any disrespect, misgendering, or hate speech will be removed and the user banned.


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