German Chancellor Angela Merkel Believes Same Sex Marriage Shouldn't Be Called A Marirage

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has gone on record as saying that whilst she believes same-sex marriage should be allowed, it should be named something other than marriage.  'For me, personally, marriage is a man and a woman living together.  That is my concept, but I support civil partnerships.'






The German head of state answered questions from the online community as she took part in an interview with German Youtube star Florian Mundt, also known as LeFloid, as part of the 'Gut Leben' (good living) campaign.




When asked about her stance on marriage equality Merkel replied 'I'm someone who is very supportive of us eliminating all discrimination.  We have come a long way, when I remember 25 years ago, many people didn't dare say that they are gay or lesbian.  Luckily we overcame this, you can enter a partnership, a civil partnership.'




'For me, personally, marriage is a man and a woman living together.  this is my concept, but I support civil partnerships', she continued.  'I support us not discriminating against them when it comes to taxes, and to remove any other discrimination wherever we may find it.'




Mundt questioned Merkel on wanting to keep marriage between same-sex couples and straight couples separate whilst giving them the same legal rights.




'For me there is still a difference.'  She tried to explain.  'It's not the same, but they [same sex couples] want the same.  Everything else is an exclusion for me.  I don't want discrimination and I want equality, but I make a difference at some point.'




Her interviewer, quite rightly, tried to point out the absurdity of in one breath claiming to want equality, then in the next continue to differentiate between the two types of marriage.  'So you could say no to discrimination, but we'll keep differentiating between the two?'




'No discrimination,' Merkel responded.  'Marriage as a man and a woman living together.'




This bizarre double standard of saying, 'we wont discriminate and we support you, but we will treat you differently' is very baffling and very concerning.  If the chancellor of Germany does not see what she has said as being discriminatory it could lead to some very concerning situations arising for the German LGBT community.




Amy.
xx





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Image Comic 'Airboy' Offends Members of the Transgender Community, James Robinson Issues an Apology

Comic book writer James Robinson has come under fire this week after the second issue of his Image published book Airboy was released.  A semi-autobiographical story that follows a fictionalised James Robinson and the books artist Greg Hinkle as they do drugs and drink alcohol to the point where reality begins to fall apart and the two of them share a collective hallucination of 1950's comicbook character Airboy coming to life in their world.

The second issue of the book sees Robinson and Hinkle take Airboy to a bar, where the character quickly gets enthralled by the beautiful women around him.  Hinkle and Robinson are fully aware that the bar is full of transgender women and Hikle begins to try and explain this, however, Robinson cuts him off and allows Airboy to go off and party.

Robinson then turns to Hinkle and says to him 'What are you thinking?  Don't tell him this place is filled with tranny's and drag queens.  He'll flip the fuck out.'

Later in the issue we see both Robinson and Airboy in bathroom stalls receiving oral sex from transgender women, who are drawn with their skirts hitched up and their genitals hanging out, I would imagine for either 'comedic effect' of to 'disturb' the reader.  Afterwards Hinkle says to Robinson 'you got blown by a tranny'.

Finally Airboy comes storming back in a rage after discovering the woman giving him oral sex was a 'woman with a penis' after asking him to return the favour.  He even asks Robinson, 'so your girl was a man as well?'  before storming off complaining about the 'sick', 'ugly' and 'degenerate' world.

Now, the problems with this should be fairly obvious to most people, but in case you can't see it let me outline the issues.  First of all, as I have stated in previous articles, tranny is a transphobic hate word and a slur used to dehumanise transgender people.  Some of you may have come across that word in use in some trans communities, but whenever it is it's being done as a way of reclaiming a word that is used in the porn industry or by abusers.  It is not a good word, and it should never, ever, be used by anyone who themselves is not trans.  The frequent and casual use of the word in this comic by cisgender men reinforces the notion that this is the only way to refer to trans women and perfectly acceptable.

Not only is tranny used in this book to dehumanise trans women, their complete lack of a face or a voice means that the only opinion on the matter we have in the book is by three men, all of whom seem happy to refer to trans women as actually being 'men' instead of women.  The trans women in this book are being used as a target, as a thing to attack without any humanisation.  Not once are any of the trans women called by a name, or speak a single word.  We're set dressing and punchline material only.

The way the trans women are drawn in this issue adds to this.  In the scene where the two characters are receiving oral sex the trans women are drawn as over-the-top caricatures of what someone who has done Little to no research on the subject would think we look like.  The faces aren't shown, as they're busy with a mouthful of cock, but the woman pleasuring Airboy is portrayed with overly large hands that look immediately outofplace on the character, that's if you've even noticed it over the cock and balls hanging out of their skirts.

Not only does this scene try to show trans women as being a collection of male parts in a skirt, but reinforces the massively damaging trope that we are simply sex workers or sex hungry nymphos who will take the first man we come across into the bathroom and perform sexual acts on them.  I've lost count of the number of random men who when realising I'm trans go straight to the subject of sex, or send me unwanted pictures of their genitals, all the while stating, 'well you're a tranny, you're always up for some cock'.

Airboys reaction to the realisation that the woman he's with is trans, after being happy to receive oral sex from her, is one of anger and disgust.  This scene is a particularly damaging one, as its showing people that reacting this way to trans women is the norm, that it's okay to get angry or even violent.  This is a very real danger to trans women, who are so often facing acts of physical and sexual abuse by men.  Nine transgender people have been murdered in the US alone this year, and in all states except California the defence of 'trans panic' can still be used.

The whole portrayal of trans women in this one issue of Airboy, they way they aren't given a voice, the way they're played as sex workers, the way they're being used as 'traps' to seduce unaware straight men, the way the 'heroes' of the book talk about them is all horrific.  It's even worse when you consider just how progressive Image Comic has been trying to be this last year.

At the Image Comics Expo last year company CEO Eric Stephenson highlighted the need for diversity in the medium, even choosing to chastise the industry for treating 'gender equality and cultural issues as if they're little more than gimmicks to increase sales'.  I for one am very interested to see how Image is planning to react to the controversy regarding the book and if they choose to issue an apology, fire James Robinson or recall the book.

Robinson, himelf an advocate for LGBT issues and a winner of the GLAAD Media Awards nomination for Outstanding Comic Book, has gone on to release an apology online;

'I thought long and hard before writing this response, with the time it’s taken me to do so I fear having been misinterpreted as indifference on my part to the ire this sequence has caused for some. Often public figures just issue a quick apology, a snippet of contrition, in the hope that the light of scorn will then shine away from them. But those apologies often feel inauthentic or meaningless, and I didn't want to do that.

'It was with much regret that I learned how I had angered and offended members of the transgender community with a sequence I wrote in the second issue of the Airboy mini-series I am currently doing. As anyone who has read the first issue will know, this series is a semi-autobiographical piece of meta-fiction that shows me at a self-destructive and unhappy time in my life before I sobered up and entered a better place in both my work and the world as a whole. To illustrate this, I portray myself and my artist Greg Hinkle as two blithe idiots pin-balling through a succession of stupid and self-destructive actions, doing and saying stupid and thoughtless things. I intentionally portray myself in the worst light possible and as the worst kind of person.

'Stepping outside of myself and the work, I can see how, while my intention when writing the scene was never to defame or harm the trans community, I did indeed fuck up and for that I sincerely apologize.

'In my intention to create an ugly version of me and my world, I have inadvertently hurt and demeaned a community that the real non-fictionalized version of myself truly respects and admires.

'It’s a sad and terrible fact that the transgender community is one that is often misunderstood and mocked. And that honestly, truly, breaks my heart. It is a beautiful community full of shining souls, which in a different work on a different day I would proudly show in all its variety and wonder. Honestly, that is the truth. Anyone who actually knows me, knows my feelings on such matters, and anyone who doesn’t will just have to take my word for it.

'And yet here I am, in my eagerness to create a scenario that mocks my own moral worthlessness, I do no better than the worst kind of person, blindly marking the transgender community with the same sullying brush I chose to paint myself -- instead of giving it the dignity and respect it deserves and is so very often denied.

'This is a work of deliberately ugly satirical fiction. One part of me believes a creator has the right to tell the story he feels the need to tell. There’s a part of me that feels that it’s acceptable for a work of fiction to hurt or offend. That at the very least the work elicits feelings.

'Then there’s the other part of me -- the major part, I might add -- that is truly saddened that the transgender community, comprising men and women who carry the burden of an ever-hostile society, should have me adding to their load.

'There is minor solace -- very minor -- in the fact that I note the discourse I’m seeing on-line about this, is at least allowing an exchange of views that I think is open, healthy and ultimately a good thing. I hope comic book fans and creators will think more critically about the way trans characters are portrayed.

'I consider myself an ally to the LGBT community and I promise to work harder in the future to ensure that any trans stories or characters in my work are portrayed in a thoughtful and accepting way.
 
'I know this response won’t satisfy everyone, but it comes from the heart. I love all people. I wanted this statement to convey my complete feelings on the matter.'

Despite his apology many members of the community are still angry that the book was allowed to be published, and rightfully so, by a company that is advocating equality and positive representation of minority groups.  There has as of yet been no statement as to what action Image will take over the controversy.



Amy.
xx



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Mens Rights Activist Peter Nolan Publicly Calls for the Murder of Women As 'The Only Path of Justice For Men'

If anyone is familiar with Men's Rights Activists you'll know that they have a history of wanting to strip women of their rights, that they frequently harass and abuse women and in some cases even threaten violence against us.  Now most of these threats are empty, they're the general 'I will hurt/mill you if you keep pissing me off' or the 'I'll find out where you are and get you' kind of threats, that whilst mostly lead to no actual physical harm do deeply hurt those people they're being said to.

What I find to be the problem with Men's Rights Activists though, other than the open threats and disrespect towards women, is their baffling belief that all women are against men and that we're trying to destroy their rights or their way of life.  For the most part feminists are simply trying to gain equal rights to men.  Equal being the key word.

Men's Rights Activists, however, whilst saying that they are fighting for men and boys to be treated equally to the way women are being treated, regularly try to take away what women have and push us into oppression, and threats of violence seem to go hand in hand with that.

Whilst most Men's Rights Activists make somewhat veiled threats of violence, the 'don't make me angry' kind of threats, a leading voice in their movement, Peter Nolan, has called for the open murder of women as a way of finally allowing Men's Rights Activists the 'justice' they deserve.

A well known campaigner for their movement, Peter Nolan has written several articles and blogs praising the poor treatment and murder of women.  He publicly defended and praised the actions of convicted mass murderer Anders Breivik, stating;

'It is only natural and normal that some men decide to take matters into their own hands at all the hatred spewed at them and their marginalisation.  Men often see that some things are worth fighting for.  Men often take the action to fight for what they believe in.

'Anders Breivik is not crazy.  He's as rational as the next man.  He sees that his country is being destroyed.  He sees that the people responsible for that destruction are the left of politics.  and he would be correct.  He took action to stop what he believes is the destruction of his country.

'I've been telling women for three years now that hatred of men in general and fathers in particular is going to see men killing a lot of women and children.  Well?  We just saw 76.'

Nolan has moved on from simply praising the actions of mass murders and blaming women for all of the problems in the world and has begun to actively encourage the murder of women, claiming that it is the natural next step in the 'war' between men and their horrid oppressors, women.

Nolan has been encouraging his followers to kill women, telling them (quite falsely too) that the murder of women by men has become legal in both Australia and Ireland.

Obviously, no such laws exist in either Australia or Ireland that allow the lawful murder of women.  Nolan is claiming that it has become legal as women are now considered 'enemies in a state of war', and as such any man who murders a woman will face no prison time what-so-ever.

Hopefully there are many Men's Rights Activists who will see these claims for a bogus as they really are, unfortunately I'm sure there will be a handful of extremists who will be looking at these tweets and considering the possibility of murdering women.

Men's Rights Activists are not fighting for equality.  they are fighting for oppression and dominace over women.  They are men who want complete control and will do whatever they think needs doing to get it.  They want to turn back the clock to a time where a woman's place was waiting quietly at home for her husband and master, where her only jobs were cooking, cleaning and getting pregnant.

Yes, Peter Nolan is clearly an extreme case of Men's Rights Activism, he's advocating killing women who stand against oppression, but the movement as a whole can be extremely dangerous.   If you are a Men's Rights Activist please look at what this man is saying and start to think about just what you're supporting.  Realise that women aren't an enemy.  We're not calling for the deaths of every man, we're not advocating mass murder. 

Men and women nee to work together for equality, and Men's Rights Activists are the real enemy of equality, not women.

Amy.
xx

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Start Fighting For Trans Rights

This has been an amazing week for the LGB community.  The Supreme Court of the United States of America has made same-sex marriage a constitutional right across all 50 states, ushering in celebrations across the US and even across the globe.  It's been a historic moment for Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual people, and I don't want to take anything away from this massive achievement, but this week has also been pretty shitty for the oft forgotten letter, T.

In the same week that same-sex marriage became a right a transgender woman who established the multiple gender options on Facebook was banned from the site for using 'the wrong name', Jannicet Gutierrez, a transgender LGBT Immigrant Rights Activist was ejected from the Whitehouse, the Family Research Council released an official document stating that trans people are mentally ill and need curing.  The week before 18 year old Laura Vermont was chased and murdered by police in Sao Paulo, two trans women were jailed in Malaysia simply for existing, Fox news blamed trans people for the shooting in Charleston, the pope officially condemned trans people.  I could go on.

In a time where the LGBT community are celebrating a historic moment, amongst hundreds of pride festivals all around the world people are forgetting that it's not the LGBT community who are succeeding at the moment, it's the LGB community.  Once again the T are being left behind.

Yes, I will admit that things are getting better for us, Laverne Cox has become the first trans woman to become a wax work, and she and Janet Mock are all over the media and magazine covers.  Transparent is winning awards and more and more trans characters are being used in film and television as something other than murder victim, sex worker or killers.  This is all good, but this is all miles behind the rest of the LGBT community.

The biggest problem though isn't that things aren't getting better for the trans community, it's that they're not getting better quick enough, and when we call out for help, or try to bring these injustices to light we are often told to be quiet.  The same day that same-sex marriage became legal in the us I saw people being tweeted abuse because they were calling for the next goal to be to the benefit of the trans community.  They were being told that they were trying to ruin the celebrations, or that they weren't 'working with' the community towards LGBT goals.

But to be honest, are a lot of the LGBT goals beneficial to trans people?  Yes, marriage equality is amazing, but why is trans panic still being used as a legitimate defence against murdering transgender people?  And why is it still working?  Why is it gay, lesbian and bisexual people can serve in the military, yet transgender people face discharge, even if they are war heroes?

Gay and lesbian rights are decades ahead of transgender rights, but every time we ask the rest of our 'community' for help we get silenced.

Maybe we're being too demanding for them, maybe they feel like a group who is about gender shouldn't be together with groups that are about sexuality, maybe they like having people that they can look down on and feel sorry for because they're worse off than them.  Whatever the reasoning for it this refusal to help trans people needs to end.

Transgender people are dieing.  We're being murdered.  We're killing ourselves.  We feel like those outside of the LGBT community don't support us, and a lot of times it feels like people in the LGBT community don't either.

It might seem like I'm intentionally being negative, or trying to underplay what was just achieved, but that's not what I want to do.  I love the fact that America has marriage equality, but we need to move on from that celebration onto the next fight, hopefully one that will help the transgender community in a big way.

Amy.
xx

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Transphobic Words Kill; Stop Using Them

There’s a very disturbing reality to being part of a minority, not just transgender but any group that has been oppressed throughout the course of history, there will be words designed to hurt you, belittle you and further that oppression. 

It’s something that goes back as far as human history, as long as there has been more than one group words will be used to degrade others, especially to those not in power.  Every single one of you is aware of these kinds of situations, a lot of you will be witness to it, some of you will be victims to it, and sadly some of you will be some of the people who have taken part in that oppression.

Whether its women being called bitches, people of colour being called niggers, homosexuals being called faggots or transgender people being called trannies it doesn’t matter, it’s all oppression and hate speech and it all has to stop.

Thankfully, for the most part at least, the civilised world will recognise that a lot of these phrases and more are wrong.  Society as a whole has tried to destroy racist language, made it punishable to use those words.  People are moving forward with the erasure of homophobic language suck as dyke or fairy.  Most of the world is opening their eyes that such things are wrong and calling in to account those who say them.

However, there’s one area where this kind of oppressive language seems to be so much more prevalent, where people not only openly use these foul insults, but get the support of the general public when those offended call them out. 

 I’m talking about the open use of transphobic language. 

Now I know what some of you are going to be thinking, ‘here’s another trans person saying that they’ve got it worse, that they’re being oppressed when there’s so many other people being targeted for so many other things’.  You’re right, to a certain extent.  I’m calling out the overt use of transphobic language because as a trans person I’m subject to it, not only in my personal life but in the reports I see in the media or stories my friends tell me.  I’m not by any means saying that the problem exists only for the trans community, it’s just the community I can speak the best about due to first-hand experience.

The level of oppression you suffer isn’t a competition, I’m not going to say trans people have it the worst.  All I’m saying is that it’s pretty bad for us.  At the time of the writing of this article the rate of transgender murder stands at one death every 29 hours, and 47% of trans people attempting suicide, and I feel that the open use of transphobic slurs is a major contributing factor to this culture of murder and suicide.

Something that I found absolutely shocking when I came out was the amount of people who had no idea what words were and weren’t acceptable to use when talking to or about trans people.  I had friends, very open minded left wing friends, who didn’t know that tranny was a slur word.

I think that a lot of the problem comes from the fact that people in places of influence freely use words that should never be used in reference to a trans person without any repercussions or punishment.  I’m talking about how celebrities make comments about ‘trannies’ and ‘she-male’ for cheap laughs.  I’m talking about how we’re always portrayed as overtly masculine men in cocktail dresses and big wigs.  I’m talking about how we’re shown to be sex workers, killers or murder victims. 

The media and those who work in it are given free rein to put the transgender community in the poorest light possible, that whenever they’re challenged on it we’re the ones being unreasonable.  Whenever a trans person calls out on this kind of inequality we’re at best ‘trolls’ or ‘haters’ trying to cause trouble, or worse we’re ‘freaks’ and ‘mentally disturbed men’ trying to cause harm.

You don’t need to look far to see those kinds of reactions.  There are anti-transgender bathroom bills being lobbied based on the accusation that transgender women will attempt to sexually assault women if we are allowed into female rest rooms, despite evidence to the contrary.  If anything it’s infinitely more dangerous for trans women to be forced into male only spaces as that’s how we get assaulted and murdered.

When trans people want positive representation it’s for attention or fame.  When someone famous transitions they get told that they’re doing it to further their career or for money.  Our whole identities and state of mind are called into question and insulted.  I’ve seen news articles call us ‘freaks’, ‘delusional’, ‘self-mutilators’.  I’ve seen news reporters laugh and tell transphobic jokes whilst ‘Dude Looks Like a Lady’ plays in the background.  And once again every time it’s complained about we’re being ‘too sensitive’ or ‘oppressive’.

People site that they have a freedom of speech, which they should be free to express their own opinions, and they’re right, they totally do have that right.  But there is a massive difference between free speech and hate speech.  When your opinion is that people of a certain minority should have their rights taken away, should be locked into institutions or put to death that’s not free speech, that’s hatred and oppression and it needs to be stopped.

That’s the problem though in a nut shell, nowhere near enough people are saying that these things are problems.  The trans community and their allies call bullshit on these things but because that voice is too small we’re vilified.  The majority control the perceptions of others.  They can spin situations to their liking and manipulate the views of those on the outside.  Those people calling us trannies or shemales or shims are the majority.  They’re the ones telling the world that it’s okay to do so.

So many people will look at this and say ‘but it’s not my problem’ or ‘I’m fighting another fight at the minute’, I’ve even once been told that we need to fight for equal rights ‘one group at a time’.  The problem with that though is that if people don’t speak out about inequality, or think that one cause is more important than another nothing is ever going to change. 

Minorities are small, those who oppress us are the bigger group, so of course we can’t beat them if we’re trying to do it on our own.  We need to work together to fight this.  Together those minorities make a bigger majority than those who have power over us.  Don’t let those who oppress us tell you what’s right and what’s wrong.  If a minority group is saying that something is offensive or oppressive then listen to them, add your voice to theirs.

Standing by someone saying that it’s okay to insult and disrespect trans people because they have political power, or you’re a fan of theirs, or because they support the LGBT community is allowing hatred and oppression.  If you see it and you don’t speak out then you’re no better than those who oppress us.  If anything you’re worse because at least they’re standing for something, even if it is wrong.

If I see inequality or hate I speak out against it.  It doesn’t matter to me if it’s my fight or not.  I won’t let racism go unchallenged just because I’m white.  I’m not going to let ageism go unchallenged because I’m young.  I’m not going to let ableism to unchallenged because I’m able bodied.  We’re all human beings, no matter what differences set us aside.  We need to help and support each other even if we don’t think it’s our fight because one day you might be fighting your own battle and be in need of the support of others.

Please, please I beg you stop the use of transphobic slurs.  Challenge those you see do it, and if you’ve done it in the past stop now.  You may not understand transgender people, you may not even approve of us, but please acknowledge the basic concept that we’re human beings.  We have feelings, we feel pain and those actions hurt us.

47% attempt suicide.  One murder every 29 hours.  Those numbers should scare you.  They should make you feel ashamed.  Now think too that trans people only make up less than 1% of the worlds’ population and death that rate should horrify you.

Casual transphobia adds to those figures.  It contributes to the murder and suicide rate.  It’s part of the reason the life expectancy of trans people in their mid-thirties.  Our lives are in danger every day, every time we step out of our door.  Help us.  Please.  Stand up with us and say enough is enough.  It doesn’t matter who you are, black, white, straight, gay, rich, poor, transphobia is never right and never excusable.  Your words hurt, your words kill.  Enough is enough.

Amy.
xx

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Doctor Who and Arrow Star John Barrowman Tells Offended Trans Community To 'Lighten Up' After Using The Word 'Tranny'

Openly gay actor John Barrowman has come under fire from members of the trans community once again for comments he made in October last year in which he used the slur word 'tranny', then telling members of the transgender community who were offended to 'lighten up'.

The argument originally started in October when Barrowman used the term in a behind the scenes video for popular comic book television series 'Arrow' in which he used the phrase 'tranny-tastic'.  This spurred multiple complaints, news articles and blog pieces about the incident in which Barrowman was called out for using a slur word when he claims to be an ally of the transgender community.

After the incident Barrowman released a Q&A video where he directly addressed the complaints, stating that he felt that there was nothing wrong with using the term tranny, used it several more times there and then, and even went on to say that those people who were offended were just 'haters'.

The argument has been reignited once again, however, when a Twitter user called Barrowman out on his unapologetic use of a term that has been used to degrade and humiliate the trans community.  Barrowman's response was less than satisfactory to say the least.

Barrowman's response of still dodging any acknowledgement that he is in the wrong stirred a whole string of critical responses from members of the trans community.

As you can see things got quite heated, the full chain of tweets is available for viewing on Twitter right now and makes for some pretty amazing reading.  Amazing not because of the outcry against Barrowman, but the number of fans who rose to his defence, claiming that because he's a supporter of the LGBT community he should get a free pass to use the word Tranny, or that the trans community are the ones in the wrong for finding offense with his words.

Barrowman was quick to defend himself, stating that 'In general no one know my struggles or a lot of my history so be careful when u judge and throw daggers'.  Eventually the argument seemed to get too much for Barrowman and he sent out a tweet asking those people who are upset with his actions to 'fuck off'.

The problem with situations like this is that it occurs when one side refuses to budge.  I'm not talking about the trans community not backing down as he and his fans call for, that would be wrong.  It's Barrowman himself that needs to back down here.  he needs to step back, acknowledge that he spoke out of turn, made offence where it was not his intention and apologise.  If he had done that to begin with this whole thing would have been forgotten.

Instead what we have is one of the biggest LGBT stars in the western world, with massive fan bases both in Europe and America, saying that it's okay to use the word Tranny.  He's showing people that you can be an active supporter of the LGBT community but still get away with abusing trans people.

By not acknowledging that what he has said is wrong or offensive he's belittling a whole section of the LGBT community.  Perhaps he's more of an LGB supporter than an LGBT supporter.

What really angers me though is that people are defending him.  He's being forgiven by so many people.  If he had turned around and said faggot or nigger would the world be so quick to defend his right to use those words?  Would he himself hear the term faggot and think 'well that's okay for that person to say that'?  No, he'd challenge it, and people would be behind him.

No, this is just another example of how when push comes to shove the trans community are seen as a joke.  Our feelings mean nothing.  Our rights don't count.  Our safety doesn't matter.  People should be free to insult us at the drop of a hat without any repercussions.  We should be ignored and vilified when we speak out about injustices. 

If everyone followed John Barrowmans example as an 'ally' then the world would be an even more terrible place for transgender people.  With an ally like this who the hell needs enemies?

Amy.
xx

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Blogger Matt Walsh Attacks Caitlyn Jenner & The Trans Community in Hate Filled Article

Today I came across an article published through The Blaze in which an absolutely disgusting 'professional truth sayer' named Matt Walsh goes on a long rant about how trans women should never be considered women, makes baseless claims that post-op trans people are so disturbed by what they have done that they commit suicide and even compares being transgender to being mentally ill.

Now, I'm having to bite my tongue (bite my fingers?) as I write this, as this is no place for the kind of language I want to use to describe Matt Walsh, so please bear with me for a moment as I try to get out most of the worst words I want to use as I describe this sack of shit, scumbag, sub human cunt. 

Right, now that that's out of the way I'm going to go into why I've had that kind of reaction.

First of all Matt Walsh refuses to use the correct pronouns anywhere in his article, or Caitlyn's name.  Instead every time he refers to her he calls her 'he' and 'him' and 'Bruce'.  Not once does Walsh even use the name Caitlyn, even in a horrible way, not even as 'Caitlyn', no, any reference to Caitlyn's identity is to as 'Bruce's alter ego'.  The blatant disregard for Caitlyn's identity and choice of pronouns is an absolutely disgusting attack on who she is.

I wish that were all that was wrong with the article, but just within the first few paragraphs Walsh is describing the image of Caitlyn as 'disturbing',a 'tragic sight' and 'a mentally disordered man'.  That's one that Walsh really likes.  He continually refers to Caitlyn and transgender people as having mental disorders.  He equates being transgender to being schizophrenic, that Caitlyn is simply another identity living inside 'Bruce' Jenner, and that one day the psychological toll will be too much and Caitlyn will commit suicide like every other trans woman.

Oh yes, he makes claims that 'post-op 'transgenders' very often regret their decision, and in many cases attempt suicide'.  A claim that he can produce no evidence to back up.  Sure, as a member of the trans community I will freely admit that the suicide rate for trans people is massively, depressingly high, but if you look at those people who do take their own lives it's because they can't transition, or because they're suffering horrific abuse.  I'm struggling to think of many trans people who are living their lives as their true selves and find that so terrible that they take their own lives.  No, the trans women who are living as their true selves are more likely to have their lives taken away from them by filth such as Walsh.

But throughout all of this attack on Caitlyn and the trans community he claims to not be doing so from a place of hatred, but of love and concern for life.  He believes that by supporting and helping trans people, by congratulating Caitlyn on her transition and praising her society is putting lives in danger.  After all, someone getting to finally be themselves and live happy is such a terrible crime against life that it should be discouraged at all costs!

If you put Walsh's argument down to one point though, the single thing that started him off on his whole campaign of hate it's this, he believes that sex and gender are the same thing.  He truly believes that the body someone is born into is the same as their gender identity, and any claims by people that they feel otherwise is simply a mental delusion.

Matt Walsh is absolutely, completely, 100% wrong.  Gender and sex are not the same thing, not even a million miles close to being the same.  All he would have to do is talk to the thousands of health care and scientific professionals in the world that know even a little about it and they would tell him the same.  But no!  No damn it!  You were born with a penis so you must be a man!  Anything else is just madness!

He tries to support these ridiculous claims by stating 'a woman is a woman because of her capacity to create life and harbour it in her body until birth'.  So sorry to all those ladies out there who can't for various reasons have children, but I guess you're not women either.  After all, if you can't breed what's the point in you being a woman, you might as well join us 'things' that 'think we're female'.

He even goes on to claim that all feminists hate trans people, that the idea of transgender people goes against what feminists believe, that 'Transgenderism and feminism cannot coexist'.  He throws around ideas like 'neurosexism' like they are proven fact, without explaining that it's just a theory, and a theory that not all feminists believe in.

Yes there are some feminists who believe as Walsh does, that trans women aren't women, that neurosexism means that any 'man' who claims to be a woman is simply a man trying to 'invade women's spaces' or 'mock the idea of womanhood', but not every feminist believes this.  Hell, most don't.  I've had some run ins with these TERF's, but for the most part I've found the feminist community accepting and supporting.  But I guess Walsh knows best about feminism, being a man makes him right after all.

One of the things that really makes my blood boil in the article though is where at the end Walsh states that 'we all know the truth', that no straight man anywhere would ever want to be romantically involved with a transgender woman.  'Instinctively, when it comes down to it, where your life and love are concerned, you recognise the difference between a biological woman in all her glory, and a castrated man in all his derangement'.

Well Matt, as a transgender woman who has a male partner (as well as a female one but that's not really the point here I'm just bragging a little) I've found that to be absolutely incorrect.  I have a man in my life who is interested in me romantically and doesn't give one shit how I was born.  And I'm not alone in that either.  There are countless relationships out there between men and trans women are are perfectly happy, and countless more men who are interested in trans women but wont admit to it because of people like you.  So fuck your theory.

If anything I can't help but feel that that last claim that no man every would be interested in trans women comes from a place of deep seated shame, probably because Matt spends his evenings crying himself to sleep after furiously masturbating to trans porn.  A classic sign of someone trying to deflect suspicion away from themselves maybe?

Matt Walsh is hateful scum, it's as simple as that.  He's lashing out at the trans community because of fear and having no understanding of who the trans community are.  Instead of trying to learn and understand he's retreating into fear and hatred, and trying to get others to join him their.  How a man like that sleeps at night is a complete mystery to me.

Amy.
xx

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The Strange Double Standard of Celebrating Caitlyn Jenner - Why Appearance Shouldn't Matter

As I'm sure you are all very much aware the Internet, newspapers and television shows have been awash with reports and articles on the newly revealed Caitlyn Jenner, the name that the gold medal winning athlete born as 'Bruce' Jenner has chosen to live by, and her Vanity Fair cover.  Now, I'm sure that this article will get lost within the tidal wave of other stories centred around Caitlyn, but to hell with it, I'm saying my piece too.

So, Catilyn looks amazing in her Vanity Fair cover.  It's pretty simple, and seems to be fairly unanimous.  She looks absolutely stunning for a woman of sixty five, though from someone so physically fit as she is it any real wonder?  People have been singing her praises, saying that she's beautiful, stunning, all those great words used to describe an attractive woman, but it would seem that the heavy use of these words in peoples reactions have sparked something of a debate.

I'm not talking about all those horrid people out there who refuse to see Caitlyn as a woman and intentionally misgender her or worse, there's always going to be people like that whenever the word transgender is even uttered.  No, what I'm referring to is the debate over how some trans women, and specifically Caitlyn in this case, are gaining massive praise for their physical beauty.

It might sound strange but some people are arguing that Caitlyn as met with so much praise and acceptance because of her physical beauty.  Now lets be honest, in the world of the rich and famous and celebrity we all know that people in the spotlight will sometimes go to drastic measures to maintain their physical beauty because that's what 'society' says women should do, and Caitlyn certainly has the money to do it.

Has she 'had work done'?  Yes, she probably has, but that shouldn't matter.  Hell, what she looks like shouldn't matter a toss, but it does.  It's worth noting that whilst in the last few days her physical appearance has been massively praised it wasn't that long ago that Caitlyn was being mocked and ridiculed, with people in the media making jokes about what she might look like once she'd transitioned.  But, now that she's pretty all those jokes have been forgotten and she's being celebrated.

The problem is though , that for a lot of trans women those jokes don't just go away.  Society has put such high standards on female beauty and 'what makes some one a woman' that some transgender people never reach that stage of 'oh she's so beautiful'.  It's especially hard for those members of the transgender community who don't want to embody the 'female standard'.

Society has made certain hoops that people have to jump through to prove their femininity and their womanhood.  We have to look a certain way, sound a certain way, dress a certain way and act a certain way.  The problem is that invasive in everyday life that it's not just trans women who suffer from these impossible standards but cis women too.  Every woman struggles to meet these standards.

The thing is though whilst not every cis woman is going to match these 'standards of being a woman' they still get accepted as women.  They might end up being called 'tom-boyish' or 'butch' or any other word used to single out those who don't fit into this standard, but they're still women.  When a trans woman fails to fall into this standard though they're not seen as women anymore, we're seen as 'things', as 'its'.

I'm nowhere near the end of my physical transition, there are some aspects of myself that are still so male that it makes me sick, and as such I've been subjected to ridicule because of it.  I've been intentionally misgendered because of the deepness of my voice or five o'clock shadow I have towards the end of the day.  I'm sure every trans person reading this has had some kind of similar experience at some point during their transition where they have been subjected to these harsh restrictions of being considered a 'real' female.

Caitlyn Jenner is a beautiful woman yes, and that's great for her, but her being a woman shouldn't be contingent upon that.  She was a woman on the cover of Vanity Fair in her white corset, she was a woman when she had her interview with Diane Sawyer in her men's shirt and she was still a woman when she won the gold medal in her running gear.  Her gender is based on who she is, not what she looks like and society need to start seeing it this way.

There are many hundreds of thousands of trans women in the world who are in the same situation as Caitlyn, bar one very important difference, money.  Caitlyn had the money to help her become the woman she knew she was.  She was able to meet those standards that society says she needs to, but so many trans women don't.  There are the trans women who can't afford facial feminisation surgery, there are trans women who can't afford breast augmentation and there are trans women who can't afford hair removal.  But they are still women.  Each and every one of them.  It's worth remembering that whilst we are celebrating Caitlyn's reveal we should be celebrating her bravery and her getting to be herself, not how much she 'fits in' or how 'real' she looks.

I know that I'm not going to change any of these standards, that even together a group of us wouldn't be able to do it, it's too far rooted into the world.  But we can start to change things.  We can start accepting people for who they are without relying on their outside appearance to match a particular guideline. 

When I first came out as transgender I had some amazing friends who immediately started using the name Amy and female pronouns despite me looking nothing like a woman.  They treated me as female, they talked to me like I was a woman and they didn't hide it when there were other people around.  They accepted me for who I really was and made others around them do the same even though I didn't look like the person I really was.

These actions were so amazingly powerful that I can't begin to describe the positive effect that it had on me, especially at such an early stage in my journey to be the person I really am.  I found acceptance and love that didn't rely on anything but being the person I really was.  Those friends of mine were amazing for what they did, and a lot of people can learn a lot by following their example and throwing away their standards on what 'makes someone' male or female.


Amy Walker.

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Printers 'Facing Action' For Refusing To Make Civil Partnership Invitations

On the same day that the Republic of Ireland is voting on same-sex marriage rights yet another case of a couple receiving discrimination based on their sexuality has moved to the equalities tribunal.

Partners Jonathon Brennan and John Kierans were reportedly turned away when they asked for a printers to make invitations for their civil partnership ceremony at Beulah Print, Drogheda.

In a case that mirrors the now infamous Ashers Bakers incident the young couple were refused service based on the religious views of the business owners, who stated 'We are not against homosexuals, however, we do not support same sex marriage which printing wedding invitations would do'.

They say this despite the fact that Mr Brennan and Mr Kierans were not seeking invitations to a wedding, but a civil partnership, which is totally separate from same sex marriage and entirely legal in the Republic of Ireland.

The case is now in the hands of the equality tribunal and further action may take place if an agreement cannot be reached between the two parties.

Amy.
xx

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Americas Openly Gay Envoy For LGBT Rights To Visit Uganda

American President Barack Obama earlier this year created the position of Special Envoy for LGBT Rights in order to fight anti-LGBT legislation around the world and appointed openly gay senior diplomat Randy Berry to the role.

In one of his first assignments Berry will be facing an incredibly tough challenge as he travels to Uganda this summer, a country with very harsh homosexuality laws where being gay can lead to a sentence of life in prison.

Uganda passed a harsh Anti-Homosexuality Act last year, which increased their already harsh penalties for same-sex relationships.

Despite the law being struck down by Uganda's Constitutional Court after finding that Parliamentary procedures had been abused to pass the law illegally, lawmakers are still planning to pass an even harsher law to replace it.

President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda has fiercely defended his countries politics and their stance on LGBT issues, though by having already stated that he does not want to 'kill our trading opportunities' it may be possible that Berry might be able to convince him to reconsider his stance if given the proper incentive.

Amy.
xx

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