chasing dandelions...

Feb. 26, 2012 at 9:40pm with 10 notes

Reblogged from dylanspencer

this is all I’m going to say about “Die Cis Scum”

In response to a whole slew of posts by Lauren (3dela) and a bunch of hate she’s been getting:

cis people: you don’t get to police language used by the trans* community. Yes, “die cis scum” is violent. I myself do not typically endorse violence, and I understand that you might find it upsetting that this language seems to be directed at you. Please, please understand that the trans* community has faced innumerable horrors at the hands of the cis community, and things like “die cis scum” are completely valid reactions to the kinds of violence endured by many members of the trans* community. If you feel personally offended by the term, you need to seriously check your privilege because it’s not about wishing death upon literally every cis person ever. It’s about self defense and bashing back and reacting to a truly terrible history of discrimination, harassment, violence, assault, etc. You may personally disagree with violence (in many cases, I do as well), but recognize that your opposition to violence clearly demonstrates your privilege, and that not everyone has the privilege to react only in civil, polite, nonviolent ways.

HOWEVER, I do not agree with the amount of vitriolic hate being sent to Lauren (or Nikki for that matter), mostly because I know Lauren personally and know that she is a deeply caring, wonderful, loving person who is a steadfast ally to not only the trans* community, but to marginalized communities in general. I will agree that Lauren was out of place in policing the language used by trans people—but she apologized. And frankly, I’m sick of this “boo hoo fauxpology” crap coming from some other members of the trans* community. She stated an opinion, upset people, and very maturely apologized personally, publicly, and sincerely. She admitted that her opinion as a cis person was not necessarily a valid one (though that is not to say that she is the only person who has that opinion, even including members of the trans* community) and she retracted her original post. If you find it at all productive to send her, her friends, or anyone else anonymous hate, you need to step back and really think about how productive you are being. Seriously.

I understand that even in this instance, I’m stating what is probably an unpopular opinion. Additionally, I am acknowledging my privileges (white, male, abled, neurotypical, etc etc) and the fact that they allow me to, generally, interact with the cis community without much need for violence/physical self defense. BUT I AM NOT ARGUING AGAINST THE USE OF THE PHRASE “DIE CIS SCUM.” I think that it is perfectly valid for trans* people to use that phrase. But it is NOT ok to continually harass someone who has APOLOGIZED and acknowledged her error. Seriously. Lauren and Nikki have done NOTHING to deserve the disgusting slew of hate, and I would also hazard a guess that it’s THE SAME FUCKING PEOPLE BEHIND MOST OF IT.

tl;dr - I don’t have a problem with “die cis scum.” I have a problem with people acting like their oppression on one axis makes it okay for them to be complete assholes to someone who is more than willing to listen to trans* people and apologize for things they said that were offensive or upsetting.

I already know that I’m going to get a fuckton of hate from certain people for this, and I know that *gasp* defending an ally who *double gasped* happened to fuck up ONCE makes me a TERRIBLE FUCKING CIS APOLOGIST. But like I said. I know Lauren personally. And though I don’t know Nikki personally, Lauren does and I have absolutely no reason to think that either of them is anything but an ally to the trans* community.

Come here and let me love you with your awesome hair and your painful stretchy ear lobes and your rockstar gold and glittery fingernails. You make my heart happy in so many ways.

I am going to come find you tomorrow (sooo glad you are baaaack) and shnuggle you just like this: