The problem with
Visability

Sometimes all it takes is visability to become “an activist”, and in return.. a target.

One of the things that I have noticed when it comes to tran-activism is how utterly visible (and vulnurable) activists are. Their words are judged by the character they portray, not from the words they say.

There’s too many times we recognize controversial names, but know nothing about the controversy besides vague claims made online. The personal image of the individual becomes the brand of activism they are trying to do.

This leads to massive issues in which the actual problem that is being addressed gets lost in the identity of the person presenting the problem and solution.

For instance… I made this site because I could not possibly find anyone speaking about the type of activism people should be participating in and what words/actions/ideologies should be passed around to help people. It was all personal stories or spokesmanship. Here is what I found…

I took a quick google search for trans activist…
I’ll be looking at the first four websites I found.

Site number one: “voices for trans equality”

“Voices for trans Equality”. That sounds really cool. Oh, its about getting trans people to share their stories and work with each other to change laws. That sounds really neat. But what are the trans people saying? It’s a website just made so that trans people can be heard.

but where on the site is their voice?

Site number two: “Famous transgender rights activists and allies”

I’ll spare you the click..
It’s just a slideshow on famous people who are trans. That’s it.

site number three: PubMed article

so.. THIRD SITE when searching “trans activist” is a 2007 article talking about “transsexualism”.

I find this ironic that this is even up there.

Site number four: “Them”

ok so fourth site… ok. I like knowing who these people are and what they did. That’s really awesome. But it’s still a spotlight on the person themself, and not the problems they’re trying to solve and the words they have to share. It’s just a news site highlighting people.

My takeaway from a quick google search that ANYONE can do…

The issue currently right now is a demand for perfectionism within the trans community. For “visability”. To “prove to the world we are good and normal people!” when the rest of the world is nit picking the bad apples out and calling everyone else a liar.

Everyone is being labelled as their own spokesperson and “representative in the trans community”. This type of activism and “visability” is the archilles heel of what we’re facing right now.

Exceptions being used as a rule, people being labelled as affecting the trans community’s status, and the amount of sheer infighting within the trans community is absolutely ripping it apart.