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Should we leave the LGBT community?

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    Should transgender people, the 'T' in LGBT, consider leaving the community and becoming our own man (or woman)?

    Trans people were lumped together with gay people many years ago because there is safety in numbers and there just weren't enough of us around to have much of a voice.  Having been part of the LGBT world has been very good for trans people but it has also helped reinforce the myth that being transgender is a sexual thing, which it's not.


    The LGB bit is about sexual preference but the T bit is about gender identity and has nothing to do with sleeping arrangements.  Various people have recently been talking about trying to persuade trans folk to disassociate themselves from the LGBs and stand on their own feet.  Maybe now is the time. 

    What do you think?  Should we campaign for the T to be dropped so we can stand alone?

    Success is the ability to go from one failure to the next without any loss of enthusiasm!
    This post was edited by katieglover at September 12, 2015 12:22 AM BST
      September 6, 2015 6:01 PM BST
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  • My opinion, is yes, for too long we have made up the 'numbers' but never realy had a say.   Saying that, Being transexual might not be based on sexual orientation, but like the gay's lesbians and bi's, whilst sexual preferences is not the basis of being trans , we still have our preferences, it is also a fact, a lot of LGB people only think of us as being gays in frocks.

    Cristine Jennifer Shye.  B/L.  B/Acc
      September 6, 2015 11:06 PM BST
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    I think Cris is right in saying that we never have our say.Its maybe  telling that the order LGBT has T last, and invariably its the biggest voice that always gets to be heard in a group first.So in reality little chance for a Transgendered Voice 4th in th queue ever too be heard.

    For me this is the BIGGEST annoyance about being Trans, always being last ,being told to wait your turn and hearing all too often the ignorant misconceptions present in the Media.I get annoyed when I see programmes that seem to portray the FACT that Transgender people exist and always have, as a subject requiring  the Final word and Judgement from a Non Trans Majority. Quelle surprise I dont enjoy being treated like a sub Human!!

    The Nature of a Transgender Person has commonality with LGB people as all struggle to express their identity against a contrary social expectation of Norms based superficial perceptions.For me the difference is that Trans people have their true identity buried far far deeper and have to make much greater changes for their identity to be formed and surface so they can have a meaningful existence.

    I do a lot of Gardening,theres a lot that goes on under our feet in the soil and ground un seen.

      

    <p>Donna_V</p>
      September 7, 2015 8:28 AM BST
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  • I feel a certain ambivalence on this subject.  Participation in the LGBT community provides more political and social standing than we would have without it.  Yes, we would have our own, but it would take many years to rebuild that standing to the point we are able to leverage now.

    OTOH, we are the redheaded step-children of the community.  The support is often grudgingly given, and we are almost always looked at as those people. The recent media coverage does offer some hope that we can gain our footing on our own.  Some of the coverage is caricaturish and unflattering.  However, much of it has been serious and inciteful, offering a different perspective on who we are.

    At 55-year-old, I've seen a lot of social changes.  In almost all cases, the shift in social change starts with the group being the butt of jokes on TV, in books, in movies.  Then, they become sympathetic characters with a problem.  After that, the group finds some foothold and is presented a few opportunities to be taken seriously - without pity.  Finally, they get to be normal characters presented in everyday situations.  While media does tend to be a few years ahead of real society and culture, the tendency is to follow suit.

     

    I have hopes this will continue to be the road down which we go.  And, then, we truly can stand our own.  But, until then, I don't feel a need to cut the cord just yet.

     

    -Jessi-
      October 3, 2015 8:08 PM BST
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    Thanks Jessi for the post, I am close behind you as being a 54 year old and fully agree with your perspective on the phases of Social change.Interestingly and as an example I was recently in my Hairdressers short appointment to  get my fringe cut.The Staff know I am Transgendered.Anyway soon after I sat down in front of the mirror , The lady in the Next Chair started talking about UK Television Show "Strictly come Dancing" and the possibility in the media of same sex Couples as a Gay Celebrity had recently said he was snubbed from appearing as he wanted to appear on the show witha Male Dancing Partner.The Lady was in her 70s, and firstly said she plainly disagreed with it ,but then  said ," well The thing is I am old fashioned its just the way we were brought up, If I was 50 years younger now I would probably say it was okay".Hope Id say.BTW Jessi, like the comment about "redheaded", -from a natural born freckly redhead [ has nt turned grey yet and doesnt need colouring]

    <p>Donna_V</p>
      October 8, 2015 1:52 PM BST
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    In my humble opinion I believe the transgendered people do not have a voice with the LGB people. So I vote to drop the "T."
    (Don't everyone start talking about age, I've got you beat.)
    <p>If it isn't fun - don't do it.</p>
      October 8, 2015 8:30 PM BST
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  • I do not personally think your average gay or lesbian will ever accept us, they see us a lower life form, a deviant, with a fetish problem forget their ''deviant lifestyles'' most lesbians think we are poor imitations of women believing we are gay's who get off on wearing female clothes,, homsexuals who dress as women because we are afraid to come out as gay, most gays do not like us because they think we are letting the side down.   a lot of gays hate limp wristed gays, view them as faggots.   regardless of sexual orientation, those transexuals who prefer a relationsship with natal females are frowned upon and those transexuals who have a preference for men are considered lower sub species by both the gays and lesbians.    I suggest a couple should join a gay site and ask them what they think of transexuals.

    Cristine Jennifer Shye.  B/L.  B/Acc
      October 8, 2015 8:40 PM BST
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  • I am under no illusions with regard to how much of the gay community perceive us.  That said, we don't have the same political and societal capital that the gay community has. It's going to take a lot of years to build that up.  Until we do, there are certain things (e.g., bathroom rights)  that will be difficult to accomplish without the political capital already available via the LGBTQI community.

    -Jessi-
      October 16, 2015 9:16 PM BST
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  • A lot of mixed feelings about this one.  I have had a really hard time trying to decide what to say because of them.  But I like to throw out something else to consider.  Are we all that different from the LGB community?

    On the surface it might seem like that.  LGB is sexuality, and T is gender.  Those seem to be different.  But underneath I think we are fighting for the same thing.  That is to be who we are not what society decides is right.  LGB fights for this specifically in terms of sexuality while we do it in terms of gender.  Its the same thing just the specific focus of each community is different.  Doesn't make us different and therefore the need to split apart.

    I think what is really needed is more of a equal footing.  We are not doing any of us any favors when one group of the community wants to be accepted while not accepting or looking down on another group in the community.  We could do more as one community that is united together by respecting each other in the community as a whole than breaking off into smaller groups with less clout.

    But at the same time, if the community as a whole cannot work together because of the differences then maybe its time to split off.  Better to go it alone than be part of a larger group that is disrespectful.

    But I do think its more an individual choice than deciding on the whole of the transgender community to break off from the LGBT community to be its own.  That is something the individual should take action based on what they feel in the matter.  I know for myself I don't really care if its a LGBT community, a transgender only community or something other community as long as I can be respected and seen as individual and to do the same for other people in the community in return then I am happy to be part of that community.

      October 20, 2015 3:13 PM BST
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