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.
Another day, more bullshit from TERFs who think a war is being brought to their very doors. By who? *gasp* Transgender women! The horror! The audacity! The sheer dumb-fuckery of a hateful group of people who have made up a war in their heads where including transgender women in anything means that *gasp* “real women” (as TERFs call them) will somehow fade from existence like that time Thanos snapped his fancy glove and erased half of the universe. And I’m calling bullshit.
The inspiration behind this post, where I call out the dumbfuckery, is due to chocolate. Apparently, a certain company, who doesn’t even make good chocolate anyway, has a campaign that includes transgender women. And the delicate little TERFs have come out of their hiddie holes to declare that they hate this company, that they’re trying to erase real women, and that they will be boycotting. And honestly, it’s getting a little tiring that we need to have this conversation again and again because TERFs just don’t get that inclusion does not mean the erasure of another. It just means giving everyone a seat at the table.
Personally, I identify as a woman. I got the uterus and all the unfunny bits that terrorize you every month with blood, cramps, and the other unmentionable consequences of a cycle. And not once have I thought, “Hmmmm if Terry has always felt like a Chelsea, would that impede on my life?” Hell no! Because it wouldn’t. I’d take Chelsea out to brunch and ask her about the latest movie they’ve watched or, “Did you see that Chris Pine photo shoot? Life changing.” And I’m tired of poor little TERFs acting like transgender people are trying to erase them when all transgender people are trying to do is live their truest life. That’s it.
And it boggles the mind how TERFs think that transgender women are transitioning for funsies. TERFs really think that transgender people are going through years upon years of hard work, therapy, surgeries, and rediscovering who they want to be to just prey on “real women” and use their bathrooms? Get the fuck out of here with that. Sorry, not sorry TERFs of 2023, but transgender women DO NOT transition because of you. It has absolutely nothing to do with you. And the fact that you think it’s about you really shows how you think the world revolves around you. It doesn’t.
Furthermore, TERFs think transitioning is an easy choice for a transgender person? Especially with the continued harassment, vilification, and murder (we can’t forget about that) of transgender people? Transgender people know the world is going to look at them differently. They know that assholes are going to be so delicate that a chocolate brand will pop up “with nuts and without nuts” (you get the joke, right????!!!) because TERFs think that transgender people are invading even their chocolate spaces. And it shows the obvious disconnect that TERFs have when it comes to treating people with common decency and respect.
We can’t forget about the children and God. Because TERF’s like to throw that around in their “war against real women” garbage train.
First of all, children don’t give a shit and you aren’t “protecting them from transgender people.” You tell children about transgender people and they don’t even blink. They’re kids and they’re more interested if you got them that new game they wanted or if you’re going to get ice cream after this conversation. And shame on you TERFs for instilling your hate on children who, again, don’t give a shit. They aren’t born with hate in their hearts like that. TERFs put that hate in their hearts because children learn how the world works and what they should believe in from their parents. Hate is taught. And TERFs are teaching hate.
Then there’s good ol’ God.
I grew up in the church. Sunday service, Tuesday service, Thursday service, and sometimes even a special gathering on Saturdays. So me and God, I know him. And my God, the one I was taught about, is full of love, light, and hope. Sure, the Bible has some fucked up shit. But I was always taught to love, hope, and be kind to others because we don’t know the hardships others are going through. I was not taught to hate or vilify just because someone is different from me. And it seems like TERFs who use God as their reason to hate have forgotten these teachings or have picked the parts of Christianity that benefit them and their hate.
The point is, transgender women are not erasing you (I’m talking about you, TERFs) or your mom, aunt, niece, or cousins twice removed. They’re not erasing what you consider “real women.” They are literally fighting to survive in a world that wants to crush transgender people for finally feeling comfortable in their own skin and taking the steps to solidify their identity. And the audacity of TERFs to think that this is about them and their erasure. It’s not, TERF. It’s about transgender women finding validation in their lives and experiences.
It has nothing to do with your bathrooms.
It has nothing to do with stealing your chocolate.
And there is no war against “real women.”
It’s 2023 and we’re making room for all to live their most authentic life. Get over it.
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.)
