[Blog/Commentary] [USA] Blog # 78: “Lesbian Erasure” as Code Talk for Trans Bashing

[Stephanie Stevens]

Transmeditations’s Blog, USA


Blog # 78: “Lesbian Erasure” as Code Talk for Trans Bashing

Posted on May 12, 2012 by transmeditations


[Image (1 of 3) <http://bit.ly/JMqFJt> ]

On WMST-L (a large Women’s Studies Listserv with over 5,000 members
from around the Globe) there has been a thread with quite a few
responses about the so-called issue of “lesbian erasure.” Apparently,
some radical lesbian feminists feel that their work and legacy has
been erased and nobody wants to talk about their 1970s and 1980s tomes
any more.
What this is REALLY about, of course, is hatred: hatred for trans
women, hatred for sex workers, hatred for third wave feminists, and
hatred for sex-positive and sex-radical feminists. We have, it seems,
stolen their thunder, and they are very, very bitter about it. One of
the transphobic and whorephobic ideologues to weigh in is Sheila “Joy”
Jeffries. I always laugh when I hear/read the “joy” part, because
there is absolutely nothing joyful about Sheila “Joy” Jeffreys:

“There are no women’s spaces for younger lesbians now. One result of
the loss of lesbian feminism is the fact that we now have the
phenomenon of lesbians being transgendered into a simulacrum of men,
something that lesbian feminists would have, and why do they not
still, have understood as violence against and the disappearance of
lesbians. “

A little context: Jeffreys intentionally uses the term “transgenderED”
even though the “ED” is clearly extraneous because she sees the term
as analogous to “prostitutED” women. We are transgenderED into
compliance with patriarchal gender norms by the male medical
establishment and their handmaidens. Like sex workers, we have, of
course, absolutely no agency of our own. We are tragic victims who
both succumb to the big, bad patriarchy and collude with our own
oppression by engaging in transactional sex or gender transition.
While there have been a few people calling out her hatred and bigotry,
there have also been multiple people defending it, which shows how
much vitriol remains in feminism against transgender and transsexual
women.

Sadly, my comments remains in “moderation” because I have been placed
in “moderation” for many years now.* This was because I dared to
speak up against another transphobe, Alice Dreger, when she publicly
trashed me because of a CFP I put out on the site. Apparently, a free
thinking trans woman is not allowed to have unfettered access to speak
her mind, and thus I need to be muzzled. As others have pointed out,
having your comments placed in “moderation” before, or if, they are
published, is both censorious and has a tremendously chilling impact
on freedom of speech, academic freedom, and freedom of expression.
This is especially egregious when it is done to oppressed minority
groups, who have a long history of being silenced by white, cis
feminists. I rarely contribute to WMSTL because of this punitive
limbo land that forecloses the possibility of open dialogue and free
exchange.

Here is my comment, for those who are interested in reading it:

“Often when I hear about purported lesbian (feminist) invisibility, it
is really a coded way of attacking queer theory, transgenderism,
sex-positive feminism and third wave feminism. There is a seeming
resurgence of radical lesbian feminism on the Internet and in the
Blogosphere, and much of it is devoted to inciting hatred against
transgender women and sex workers, as well as third wave and pro-sex
feminists, who are often derided as “fun fems.” Although often
misleadingly termed “trans critical” it is really just anti-trans
hatred and prejudice that deviates little from Jan Raymond’s 1979 hate
screed The Transsexual Empire. So, if we are going to talk about the
history of lesbian feminism, let us not forget the histories of
virulent racism and exclusion, rabid anti-trans hatred, and rigid
policing of women’s sexuality, among other serious problems. Queer is
not a “milder word” but a revolutionary concept that exposes both
hetero- and homonormativity and creates greater inclusion and
flexibility through refusing exact definition, and opening up a space
of radical possibility. As a Third Wave, Queer, Transgender Feminist,
I have found these terms to be empowering and rich in their
complexity, diversity and inclusiveness.”

One of the good things about wading through the attacks waged by “rad
fems”, lesbian feminists, and other caught in a 1970s time-warp, is
that it has greatly solidified my own subject position as a
Third-Wave, Transgender Feminist who values sexual freedom and
intersectional analyses. The anti-sex worker, anti-sexual freedom,
anti-trans, and anti-butch/femme, anti-bisexual bigots who believe
that gender is the basis of all forms of oppression and that “sex
roles” are the most pervasive and systemic form of oppression is
something I want to explicitly distance myself from. I think it is
vital that Third Wave, Pro-Sex/Sex-Positive/Sex-Radical, Trans, and
Queer Feminists continue to come out and proclaim their identities
with pride as we continue to see assaults on our work and activism by
those committed to a vision of totalitarian “feminism” or fauxminism.
It is also vital that we also continue our intersectional work that
brings in multiple identities and oppressions and not listen to those
who would assert that this “waters down” feminism because of our
attention to interlocking systems of domination.

One of the sad things about this issue is that Jeffreys and her ilk
clearly see identity politics as a zero sum game: lesbians “lose out”
because of the (specious) notion of trans or queer ascendancy.
Identities, politics and cultures change; they are never static. Some
will continue to assemble under the moniker “lesbian” and others will
utilize different terms and differing ways of organizing community and
activism. I do not believe that lesbian and trans should be in
opposition to each other, nor can they be, since there are many folks
who identify as both. However, the venom that is continuously pumped
out from their side will only cause further polarization and
factionalization. Until their trans-exterminationist rhetoric ceases
once and for all, I will call them out and many other people will call
them out. The “die cis scum” rhetoric that some are using now is
directly caused by their hatred. Their efforts will continue to
radicalize a new generation of trans-feminist theorists and activists.
And how is that for some irony?

* UPDATE: The Moderator of WMST-L claims they never received my
comment. I re-sent it and it was finally published on the Listserv.
What I would really like to know is how long I will remain in
“moderation” (it has been years) before I once again have unfettered
access to the List.

--
About transmeditations

Dr. Joelle Ruby Ryan is a professor, activist, writer and speaker.
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