In an effort to build a space for queer people like myself, every Sunday (or when I’m feeling spicy) I’ll be posting interviews, opinion pieces, listicles, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community from a Latina perspective. Welcome to Queerly Not Straight! Enjoy and leave a comment below if you have a suggestion for what I should cover next.
P.S. I, Lyra Hale, do not give any site permission to copy or repost my work in any form. If you are reading this on any site besides Fangirlish, it has been stolen.
In a long line of shit the LGBTQ community has had to deal with, TERF’s are one of the most cringe-worthy. These “trans-exclusionary radical feminists” live under the delusion that being trans is fake, that it’s some sort of “woke movement,” or the beginning of the end of safe spaces for women as they are being destroyed by trans women. And it’s simply not true!
Transgender people, including trans women and men, are a loving, fantastic, and most welcome addition to our LGBTQ community. They’re not here to erase women despite the cries of “female erasure” you hear TERF’s argue about. Trans women are here to join us in celebrating what it means to live, love, and learn about this world from the perspective of women. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
So, without further ado, let’s talk about the dumpster fire that is the TERF movement!
1. They spread lies.
The TERF agenda is grounded in the delusional thought that trans women are basically faking it to encroach into female spaces. As if all those years of painful self-discovery and growth by trans women are worth nothing but an excuse for a “patriarchal man” to have welcome access to the women’s toilets. And that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Being a trans woman is NOT and will never be a man’s secret ploy to destroy womanhood. If anything, trans women want to be part of the community they feel like they belong to the most. That’s why they go through hormone therapies, that’s why they get surgery to make them feel comfortable in their own bodies, and why they fight so hard to be themselves.
2. They damage the LGBTQ movement.
TERF’s damage the LGBTQ movement by supporting laws that take away the rights of those within the community. Because for TERF’s, it doesn’t matter that someone is different or that it’s none of their business what transgender people have going on. They’ve made it their business because it’s a personal affront to them that A) the world isn’t how they want it to be and B) that the world is growing in ways where everyone gets a seat at the table and not just them. And that translates into actively taking away transgender people’s rights.
And if TERF’s think that the LGBT in LGBTQ isn’t going to stand up and fight for our transgender family. We are. Sure, there might be some assholes within the LGBTQ community who don’t support transgender rights. But we side-eye those people and wonder if they even know what it means to be part of this community. Because we have fought long for our ability to marry who we want or love who we want to love. Transgender people deserve that as well.
Basically, TERF’s set LGBTQ progress back and we’re going to fight even harder to reclaim those spaces.
3. They divide us instead of uniting us.
Believe it or not, there are women within the TERF movement who want to take the L out of LGBTQ. Seriously, it’s a thing. These women think that trans women are an aggressive move by men to destroy lesbians and their way of living on purpose or because of a misguided ignorance of what they are “actually” doing. So they want to grab the L and ride off into the ignorant sunset they’ve created. And I call bullshit.
Trans women are part of the LGBTQ community and always will be. And acting like trans people haven’t been part of our communities since the very beginning is intentional ignorance. Hell, some people act like transgender people or gender-diverse cultures are a new invention. They’re not. Just look up the Metis of Nepal, the Muxe of Mexico, or Sekrata in Madagascar. They’ve been here and will always be here. Get over it.
4. They create spaces where trans people are not welcome.
As human beings, we know the true value of finding spaces that are safe, accessible, and allow us to be ourselves. Be it a local bookstore, school club, or even that fancy bathroom at the orchestra house that has a sofa in it and everything. (I’ve wanted to sit on that sofa more than the actual tiny seats.) And no one, including transgender people, should be made to feel like they can’t enter those spaces because they fear being outed or accosted by TERF’s who don’t know how to mind their business.
Transgender people want to do their business, whether it’s visiting a nice restaurant or just using the actual bathroom, without worry that this space or any space isn’t welcoming to them. And I’m sick and tired of TERF’s not minding their business while actively trying to close doors in the faces of transgender people. What they don’t understand is that with every door they try to put up, we will bust it down.
Queerly Not Straight posts every Sunday with opinion pieces, listicals, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community (and occasionally about the Latinx community since I am Latinx.)
