Tag: transgender

scissortailedsaint:

scissortailedsaint:

I haven’t read these yet but I found them on sci hub:

Women-Identified Women: Trans Women in 1970s Lesbian Feminist Organizing

Girl in a Kink’s Shirt: A socio-cultural examination of butch transwomen and the trans community 

An Exclusionary Revolution: Marginalization and Representation of Trans Women in Print Media (1969-1979)

I read the first article, and the author (Emma Heaney) noted the importance of retrieving the “perishable” trans-feminist archive, which isn’t as prominent/reprinted as the transmisogynist lesbian-feminist archive. In that spirit I also wanted to share some letters printed in the newspaper “Lesbian Connections,” which show – if not direct trans-feminist resistance – at least glimpses of the presence and acceptance of trans lesbians into some lesbian-feminist communities. [cw for outdated and transmisogynist language even in the supportive responses]

The first “item” is a series of responses to a transmisogynist article, “An Open Letter to Olivia Records,” which appeared in the November 1977 newsletter, rebuking Olivia Records for their inclusion of trans lesbian Sandy Stone and rejecting Stone’s claim to womanhood and lesbianism. Several responses followed in the February 1978 issue. Two letters agreed with the article, while nine rejected the author’s bigotry and called for inclusion (starting with the last letter to begin on the linked page). Two respondents cited experience with trans lesbian friends and a trans lover to counter the message of the original article. 

Responses continued in the May 1978 issue, but were dominated by transmisogynist submissions provoked by the supportive letters in the earlier issue. Seven agreed with the original rejection of Sandy Stone, while only one solidly supported her (starting with “I would like to present my views…” on the linked page). I only checked the Responses section in the next (June 1978) issue, and the topic didn’t continue there; I don’t know if it continued in later issues, although earlier and later “Lesbian Connection” issues contained isolated transmisogynist references. 

What I find notable here is that the trans-affirming and transmisogynist “sides” were evenly matched: 10 trans-affirming and 10 transmisogynist, including the original article. An additional short ‘trans people are people too!’-style response in the May 1978 issue tips the scale in favor of trans lesbians. The rejection of trans lesbians wasn’t universal or uncontested by cis lesbian-feminists.

The second “item” is an article called

“Organize a Lesbian Support and Singles Group” which came years later in the March/April 1986 issue. It talks about the creation of a support group for single Lesbians, “womyn of all ages and kinds.” In describing the qualifications for attendance – in addition to being single – the author notes that the group voted to exclude bisexual and straight women from general meetings, but voted unanimously for the full inclusion of a trans lesbian member.

The membership policy of this group provides a counter-example to the more commonly-cited coalitions between bi and trans people (especially women) based on a common rejection from gay (especially lesbian-feminist) spaces, or between cis lesbian and bisexual women (such as Robin Morgan) based on the rejection of trans lesbians from lesbian-feminism. The clearly-defined Lesbian identity of this group didn’t preclude trans lesbianism.

That’s all the “new” stuff, but I’d also direct you to “Beyond Two-Genderism
Notes of a Radical Transsexual” (published in “The Second Wave,” 1972) and a 1978 letter by a trans lesbian also printed in “The Second Wave.”