Femininjas

I am so saddened to hear that transgendered women are not welcome at Lu’s. There are many systems of oppression, as I am sure all at the Women’s Health Collective would agree. One of the systems I recognise – trans oppression – is intimately wrapped up with sexism and heterosexism. Those of us whose gender identity matches the one that was assigned us at birth have a form of privilege, notwithstanding all the other ways in which we might be marginalized. There is a long history of organizations that exist to serve marginalized groups choosing to exclude those members of their groups who face multiple types of marginalization. Feminist organizations that exclude women with disabilities, or queer women, anti-racist organizations that fail to address the experiences of women, groups addressing class inequity that fail to acknowledge colonialism and racism…and so on and so on… It sometimes seems that we who are committed to social justice never learn. We weaken ourselves in this way. It is long past time to choose a different path.

Trans women are not privileged members of society. When we exclude trans women we are not protecting women’s space, we are protecting gender privileged space. There is nothing noble in reinforcing any form of marginalization. It causes pain, and it does so to no good end. Consider this – two forms of oppression I am sure you recognise and condemn – sexism and heterosexism – both encourage and promote hatred of trans people. In siding with trans oppression, you are working in solidarity with the very forces that harm, not just trans women, but all women, and all those whose sexual orientation is not heterosexual. Take a moment to look around at who is there with you in excluding trans women – the anti-choice movement is there, as are sexist and homophobic bigots of all stripes…are you sure that is the company you want to keep? Please, rethink what you are doing.

Sincerely,

Kalamity Hildebrandt

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