Anyone Ever Feel This Way?

[Guest nonamesleft]

Having spent close to a decade living the life of a gay man, I would say that I agree the T is often an afterthought in the LGBT, and many LGB people are somewhat ignorant and/or unsympathetic to T people. But whether we like it or not, we will always be lumped into the same category as LGB's by many of the ignorant masses. There are many hetero men (many probably just very deep in their own closet of shame) who will call any man who appears feminine a 'F*gg*t', and they couldn't care less about the person or who the person is attracted to.

Another thing to consider is that the trans community is by and large, a fairly small, and often secluded community, where many of its members prefer to be stealth, rather than announcing their struggle and plight to the world. For this reason, it is essential to have a strong and visable ally in our fight for rights, understanding, and acceptance. Although the not everyone in the lgb community may care about trans people, almost all of the groups that provide support for and fight for the rights will try to include trans people in their efforts. Many smaller communities may not be able to sustain a support network or community center for trans people, but an LGBT center could still exist to help the trans people, which is far better than nothing at all. Although not all LGB people may run out with open arms for a trans person, a trans person's safety will never be in danger in a group of LGB people, whether its a gay bar, a gay restaurant, or neighborhood, which could be very useful for those of us not lucky enough to be 100% passable. And there is a similar level of mistrust and conflict, just between Lesbians, Gays, and bisexuals, as all these groups have their differences. But we are all better off standing united against a much larger and more evil foe, rather than trying to fend for ourselves all the time.

At least thats how I see it, but I guess its all a matter of perspective, and to each their own.

[Guest My_Genesis]

Shamelessly snipped, but that's my one political concern. Other than that. Who gives a hoot what anyone thinks. Personal opinion (ok, so I know its true....) there's just as much homophobia within the trans community and without it. And sometimes even transophobia. (Yes folks, transpeople who are "phobic" to other transpeople.) And I say that acknowledging that I've been guilty of both.

I've had my moments of "being" that guy; bent out of shape and distancing from gay transguys and just feeling completely unrelated to gay men period. So I understand "not wanting to be assumed to be gay." But my question is this, when we're dealin with the mainstreams feelings to us, how do we avoid being assumed to be trans then? Cuz we're gettin "assumed" to be that too and theres (at least where I am) worse stigma to that.

i agree there is probably worse stigma to being trans, so why would you want to add to that with assumptions that you're homosexual when you aren't? The difference here is that I actually DO identify as trans, but I DO NOT identify as homosexual, so for me to be stigmatized for something that really isn't a part of me, doesn't make much sense. So I would be more willing to put up with the stigma of being trans because I actually am..I don't want to put up with the stigma of being gay when I'm not even gay...that means people aren't seeing me for who I really am, they aren't getting it, and then I'm left feeling like no one truly understands this concept, and thus no one truly understands who I am except myself.

[Guest theEND]

Having spent close to a decade living the life of a gay man, I would say that I agree the T is often an afterthought in the LGBT, and many LGB people are somewhat ignorant and/or unsympathetic to T people. But whether we like it or not, we will always be lumped into the same category as LGB's by many of the ignorant masses. There are many hetero men (many probably just very deep in their own closet of shame) who will call any man who appears feminine a 'F*gg*t', and they couldn't care less about the person or who the person is attracted to.

Another thing to consider is that the trans community is by and large, a fairly small, and often secluded community, where many of its members prefer to be stealth, rather than announcing their struggle and plight to the world. For this reason, it is essential to have a strong and visable ally in our fight for rights, understanding, and acceptance. Although the not everyone in the lgb community may care about trans people, almost all of the groups that provide support for and fight for the rights will try to include trans people in their efforts. Many smaller communities may not be able to sustain a support network or community center for trans people, but an LGBT center could still exist to help the trans people, which is far better than nothing at all. Although not all LGB people may run out with open arms for a trans person, a trans person's safety will never be in danger in a group of LGB people, whether its a gay bar, a gay restaurant, or neighborhood, which could be very useful for those of us not lucky enough to be 100% passable. And there is a similar level of mistrust and conflict, just between Lesbians, Gays, and bisexuals, as all these groups have their differences. But we are all better off standing united against a much larger and more evil foe, rather than trying to fend for ourselves all the time.

At least thats how I see it, but I guess its all a matter of perspective, and to each their own.

I pretty much agree, even though we're not the same as LGB we're all fighting a similar cause and without their support we're probably one of the smallest minorities there is!