TLDR How should we approach AGP men who self-describe as being transgender but who also say they want to support LGB rights? And should LGB Alliance amplify these men's opinions?
Motivation for this post is below.
The LGB Alliance UK tweeted today about an article in The Spectator (UK pub) that criticizes gender identity ideology: link (archived version)
The article was written by Debbie Hayton, a transwoman and self-identified autogynephile (abbreviated as AGP) who supports the LGB Alliance. I'm a little mixed on the article, for reasons I'll get to in a moment.
Quick summary of some points from the article:
"LGBT+ history month" is largely an exercise in virtue-signalling.
No one is looking to bar transgender people from participating in sports; the concern is over "biological males elbowing their way into categories that had hitherto been reserved for females" (a quote from the article).
Stonewall was not started by "trans women of color" such as Marsha P. Johnson, this is revisionism.
I do want to acknowledge: One, it's great to see a trans-identified male being frank about the reality of biological sex, and the misinformation surrounding Stonewall (the event in NY, that is). Two, I believe it must be extremely tough being openly AGP in today's climate-- trans rights activists target, threaten, harass, shame, and silence people who even discuss autogynephilia, let alone claim to have it.
...But. I still have some concerns. These are kind of unorganized and I'd love to hear people's thoughts on them.
- My biggest concern: The very concept of "transitioning" has homophobic origins and has been used to convince same-sex-attracted people that they are actually "straight". AGP men who self-describe as being "transgender women" are still perpetuating a homophobic (and sexist) belief system.
Other concerns:
This author neglects to mention that transitioning has little to no positive benefit for many people who transition, and has many unhealthy negative effects (e.g. bone density concerns brought up in the Tavistock data).
The author fails to acknowledge other possible solutions for gender dysphoria, such as evidence-based psychotherapy.
The very concept of being "transgender" or "transitioning" is ultimately misleading-- you cannot change sexes, you can only pretend to be the opposite sex. We ought to stop hiding the phenomena of AGP and HSTS behind the word "transition" and talk about them openly. (I would sooner accept "LGBA" with"A" for autogynephile than "LGBT" with "T" for transgender. And I don't think there should be a "LGBA" either, ignoring asexuals for a moment.)
Transgender ideology perpetuates sexist stereotypes. The idea that you ought to pretend to be a man if you are a woman who does not conform to stereotypes about women, and vice versa, reinforces power of those stereotypes and they shame they cause people.
There are two distinct belief systems here: transgender ideology, in which people pretend they are the opposite sex for various reasons, and gender identity ideology, in which people believe in the pseudoscientific ideas of "gender identity" and "sex is a spectrum," etc. I think both of these belief systems are harmful, and the author of the article that was tweeted by LGB Alliance clearly believes in the first, even if he does not believe in the second.
Heterosexual AGP allies are allies, not LGB themselves. This man is AGP and heterosexual; I am bothered by the idea that he is able to speak for "LGBT+ people" when he really is not a member of the LGB community, he is straight. I think it is great that some AGP men are trying to support LGB people but, we should be the ones to tell our own story, and again, I don't think there should be a "LGBT" in the first place, Q or not.
I feel bad for being harsh towards this guy, I do appreciate the fact that he speaks out about autogynephilia, and acknowledges his biological sex (lol, I know, it's a low bar, but still). At the same time... I am struggling to celebrate this as a victory. It's some progress, I guess.
General thoughts? I have a few questions I'm wondering about, as well:
What are your opinions on people who acknowledge that they have AGP but still identify as transgender, who want to support LGB people (edit: another example-- Schrodinger's Transcat)?
What about AGP men who don't identify as trans, but still want to support LGB people and women (e.g. never mind, I can't think of a good example off the top of my head)?
Do you think LGB Alliance should share more articles like this, or not?
Thanks in advance.
edit: inevitable typo
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