TaraElla: Peace, Liberty and Music:: Official Website

  I know for a fact that many trans people are actually frustrated about where the loudest activist voices are taking our community and our priorities right now. At a time when many members of our community are still struggling with the basics of life, when many of us live in fear of the building resentment and backlash to current trans activism and what real life effects that is translating into, the activist establishment is basically refusing to even listen to our concerns with an open mind. Which leads me to the next question: is all visibility good? Drawing on experiences from gay rights movements, particularly marriage equality, it has been concluded that visibility is important for acceptance. However, the experience of trans visibility in the past decade has painted a very different picture. When I came out in 2006, we were at least left alone by most people, unfortunately I don't think we can say the same today. The fact is, all visibility is not equal. Some forms of visib...

The Trans Case Against Queer Theory (New Book) In recent years, the influence of queer theory and adjacent ideas rooted in postmodernism and critical theory has distorted the discussion around trans issues. This has led to confusion about why trans people transition, and the decentering of the actual experience of trans lives in the public trans discourse. In turn, these developments have likely contributed to a slow down in trans acceptance and even backlash in some segments of society.   Why Queer Theory is Bad For Trans People The fundamental reason why queer theory is bad for LGBT people is because it is ideological, i.e. it is rooted in certain philosophical commitments rather than empirical reality or the actual lived experience of LGBT people.   The Many Ways Queer Theory Hinders Trans Acceptance Queer theory’s refusal to accept at least some level of essential meaning for ‘male’ and ‘female’ hampers both trans people’s formation of a stable identity in thems...