Think of how casually and carelessly we used the phrase “hot tranny mess” without any self-consciousness.
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Is this the same country, one must wonder, that had its first same-sex marriage over a decade ago? Flickr/acon onlineĪnd, would those within the umbrella who fought so fiercely for marriage rights suit up again to prevent the firing of a person because they were transgendered? The answer, sadly, is “no.” In fact, the ignorance of the lives and rights of the trans community by some gay cis men is stunning. In Canada, for example, the battle for inclusion of trans rights in anti-discrimination and hate laws continues without a clear win in sight. It is imperative to not blanket assume that “we” all stand at the same place of privilege. While seductive, the optimism should not be conflated with actuality. And although the push for equal rights has not always uniformly benefit those under the umbrella, the use of “we” to encapsulate the whole is a form of optimism that a victory like the momentum of same-sex marriage or the fall of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” acts as fuel to move all members closer to equality. Under that umbrella are many different, but often overlapping communities. In terms of the LGBT umbrella, this is, for the most part, true. The word suggests not just a sum of individual parts, but a result of something bigger from the interconnections. “We” evokes familiarity, solidarity, and loyalty. We. It’s a word filled with massive meaning packed into two letters.