Oh Tranny, Where Art Thou?

| Dec 16, 2013
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The Artist D

The Artist D

Recently an article by a transgender individual went viral on Facebook discussing an old yet very much alive issue in the trans community. That article, which you very well may have read, discusses with a clear roll of the eyes that this person really hates the word “tranny.”

Among all of her sighing and bewailing this columnist goes on to document the many times a cisgender individual, drag queen or gay man used the word “tranny” in a transphobic manner. I’m fascinated by the ease with which she shoves Lance Bass, Neil Patrick Harris and RuPaul into the box of transphobia. If anything at all these folks may be labeled as uneducated to trans culture. To immediately dismiss them and mark them transphobic is as bad as me labeling this transgender female a real prudish pain in the ass. I hardly know her!

I know that here at TGForum I am in the company of people whom paint the canvas of TRANSGENDER with a vast amount of different colors. Some may be as offended as the aforementioned writer is by the use of the word tranny. Some may hold a very strong opinion as to how “we” ought to be treated by the world and some others not-so-much.

I have to wonder how easily this person would dismiss me as it appears she does not reference one tranny that uses the word tranny. All her friends are terribly offended with this affront to their very nature. In fact some of her friends have even been asked what their “stage name” is. I have known a lot of transgender people and I don’t know anyone who has been asked what their stage name is. That is unless they were dolled up like a float in the Macy’s parade. In which case they should have a stage name!

I’m a gay transgender person who grew up in the middle of nowhere. I’ve been called “fag,” “queer,” “tranny” and much worse,  a “worthless piece of shit.” Over time I have learned that I also fit another category called gender queer. People don’t like those words either. People don’t like a lot of words. All of which brings me right down to the bottom of words. What is a bad word used without bad intentions?  What is a good thing said by good people which turns out badly?

She’s such a hot tranny mess. You’re so queer. Such a fag. And my best friends who are right *****! These are not derogatory terms when used in complimentary fashion. Just like these terms are not derogatory terms when used by innocent straight, cisgender, dragchildren in cultural conversations. If my straight friend feels like “hot tranny” means “The Artist D is freaking hot” then by all means, my friend! These are just words and while words do hurt, it’s the way in which they are said that is supposed to hurt. We should not hear “tranny” or any other word and bristle with rage. You can call me anything you want but it’s how you say it that is supposed to matter.

What’s a hateful slur if you don’t know it’s a hateful slur? It’s ridiculous. Then they say these people should know better. No they shouldn’t! How would they know better when they know almost nothing about us? Words are just words. Am I too young to know any better and does that matter? Just because I didn’t live through the history of the transgendered doesn’t mean I don’t know the power of words. They’ve been used against me too. Words only hold the power we allow them to have. I could be beaten to death while being called a tranny. I could be beaten to death while being called a Teletubbie too. I’d have to say the bigger problem is being beaten to death. Then again maybe I’m just a sticks and stones kind of person from all the verbal abuse I suffered for the first twenty years. Words will never be what keeps me down again.

I am a tranny. I know plenty of trannies. These people are not people who take it lightly. Tranny is heavily used in other parts of the world and not from a place of hate.  These people are upstanding transgender individuals who happen to be pre-op, post-op and non-op. People all of the understanding that they know exactly who they are so it doesn’t matter what they may be called. Anything else is just all of us being oversensitive assholes.

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Category: Transgender Body & Soul, Transgender Opinion

The Artist D

About the Author ()

The Artist D is a true raconteur and provocateur! He has been performing online since the mid 1990s. A relic from the cam show age before MySpace was any space. Author of In Bed with Myself, an autobiographical tale of transgenderism and Internet celebrity. Executive Editor of Fourculture Magazine and host of the Kawfeehaus podcast.

Comments (5)

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  1. scalesman scalesman says:

    I suppose that it is possible to make one’s head explode with all of the variations on “T” nomenclature. I find it easiest to just be nice to people and assume that they would be comfortable being nice to you if you dealt with them in a one on one situation.
    I have no issue with the term tranny but recognize that any term can be turned into a perjorative if said with invective and distaste. I like the concept of being an old happily married heterosexual transvestite.
    Pat

  2. I’m interested in KateCassandra’s classifications; that trannies hang and play with gay men and/or chasers, while non-tranniess are looking for straight men or women; straight or lesbian.
    Not sure where that leaves me now – happy to be called a tranny but apparently not. Neither am I a non-tranny.
    Just a boring old heterosexual transvestite, happily married, and will happily mix with all sorts of transgender or straight types, without wishing to judge any of them.
    Now I’m not sure where I’m at!

  3. I agree Artist D.
    I couldn’t give a rat’s arse, (pardon the expression) , about being called a tranny !
    All of my male lovers call me ‘sexy’ or ‘beautiful’ or ‘hot slut’ or just plain ‘nicky’.
    None of them call me ‘tranny’ . I think it’s an expression that serves it’s purpose as a label, a categorizer. Okay? I’m a Tranny. So suck my …….

  4. D,
    Sigh, I hear you. I hate it when our trans-sisters squabble over shit like this.

    But, I’ve got to give you my take, I’m sorry if this is obvious, I just need to say it out loud. I’m an “older” post-op trans woman, so old I remember the time when we had to be stealth to be considered for GRS.

    Let me be clear, most of the girls I know and hang with are happy with the label “tranny”, but none of them are post-op, almost all are non-op. And, I have some friends who are pre-op and one or two who are post-op. You know the difference; to generalize, tranny’s hang and play with gay men and/or chasers, non-tranny’s (for want of a better word) are looking for straight men or women; straight or lesbian.

    Essentially, neither gay men nor chasers have the slightest interest in my pussy, and I have no interest in anal sex.

    Over generalized? I’m sure.

    What your tranny cohort has done is make themselves legitimate to reasonable people — Hurray! I’m happy that some transgender get to be celebrities, actors, and be accepted as real people. The problem comes when the only public image of transgender is that of a tranny. And the resulting tranny joke: “Oh! I slept with/almost slept with a man! How horrible was that!” Ha Ha. You can laugh it off because the people you sleep with get the joke and laugh with you. The people making that joke may be people I’d like to sleep with, but they won’t be laughing if I come on to them, they certainly won’t come on to me unless I’m totally stealth.

    The people I’m attracted to may or may not be homophobic, but if they believe I’m simply a guy who altered himself to get laid… Well, that’s not going to work for either of us.

    Please, just give us non-tranny’s room to breathe, stop it with the tranny jokes, and welcome us as sisters with a different take on trans.

    Best,
    Kate

  5. Oh D! How I agree! I’m happy to be a tranny and to be called a tranny. Like you say, it’s how it’s said! Some of the worst things I’ve been called have been a laugh to me because the caller has been a good mate and I know it’s totally without malice. I probably call him something worse back!
    People can be too over-sensitive; a rose by any other name can still draw blood.