Over the weekend I received an email from the group TransActive that announced the WPATH (aka, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health) just released the latest Standards of Care. For those not in the know, basically these are guidelines for healthcare providers to consider/follow to address the needs of trans clients, particularly in situations where social/physical/legal transition is involved.
For those interested in perusing them, they can be downloaded at this link:
http://ugcs.net/~irene/drop/soc.pdf
I am too busy the next few weeks to thoroughly go through them, but I will certainly be interested in hearing other people's thoughts in the days/weeks that follow...
writer, performer and activist Julia Serano's blog! most posts will focus on gender & sexuality; trans, queer & feminist politics; music & performance; and other stuff that interests or concerns me. find out more about my various creative endeavors at juliaserano.com
Monday, September 26, 2011
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Girl Talk: A Cis and Trans Woman Dialogue 2011 video
Hello again, welcome to day three of "link week" (I missed yesterday), where I share links related to my writing and activism. Today's installment is quite overdue...
So as many of you know, over the last three years, I've had the honor of working with Gina de Vries and Elena Rose (aka, Little Light) to co-curate the annual spoken word event Girl Talk: a Cis and Trans Woman Dialogue. Unfortunately, the show has only occurred in the SF Bay Area so far (although we are hoping to bring the show to other cities & towns next year!). To date, the only way people from other places have been able to experience the show is through an mp3 audio recording (of questionable quality) of the 2009 show (a link to that recording can be found here).
So as many of you know, over the last three years, I've had the honor of working with Gina de Vries and Elena Rose (aka, Little Light) to co-curate the annual spoken word event Girl Talk: a Cis and Trans Woman Dialogue. Unfortunately, the show has only occurred in the SF Bay Area so far (although we are hoping to bring the show to other cities & towns next year!). To date, the only way people from other places have been able to experience the show is through an mp3 audio recording (of questionable quality) of the 2009 show (a link to that recording can be found here).
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
upcoming anthologies!
OK, welcome to day two of "link week," where I share links related to my writing and activism...
So today, I want to let folks know that I have pieces included in two anthologies being released this fall, both of which are about trans love/sex/relationships!
So today, I want to let folks know that I have pieces included in two anthologies being released this fall, both of which are about trans love/sex/relationships!
Monday, September 19, 2011
Link week!
OK, so after spending 2 weeks ago blogging about, and replying to, my whole "transsexual vs transsexual" intervention, and taking last week to recuperate from all that, I figured that this week I would ease back into blogging by sharing a bunch of links related to my writing, performance and activism.
I will start today by sharing this link to an interview with me that appeared Friday on Persephone Magazine.
more to come tomorrow... -j.
I will start today by sharing this link to an interview with me that appeared Friday on Persephone Magazine.
more to come tomorrow... -j.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Postscript for my “TS-vs-TG-Intervention” piece
So in the couple days since my blog entry A “Transsexual Versus Transgender” Intervention came out, I have spent a big chunk of my free time pouring over all the responses - both comments made on my own blog, plus all the comments that appeared when it was cross-posted on The Transadvocate and tagged on numerous Facebook threads. I knew I was writing about a hotly debated topic, so I am not *too* surprised that the piece generated interest (both positive and negative). But I am a bit overwhelmed by how many responses there actually were.
While I have read all of the comments, I don’t have the time to reply to each comment individually since there have been so many. So here, I will respond more generally to sentiments that seem to have come up on more than one occasion. Occasionally I will cite or quote specific individuals, but other times I will discuss some of the sentiments/reactions more generally.
While I have read all of the comments, I don’t have the time to reply to each comment individually since there have been so many. So here, I will respond more generally to sentiments that seem to have come up on more than one occasion. Occasionally I will cite or quote specific individuals, but other times I will discuss some of the sentiments/reactions more generally.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
A “Transsexual Versus Transgender” Intervention*
[note added January, 2017: This essay now appears as a chapter in my third book Outspoken: A Decade of Transgender Activism and Trans Feminism]
Over the last year or so, I have read a number of blog entries and Facebook rants about the so-called “transsexual versus transgender” issue. For those who are unaware of this debate, it stems from a subset of transsexuals who feel that the transsexual community is not served well by being included under the transgender umbrella (some even go so far as to insist that there is a mutually-exclusive dichotomy between transsexual and transgender people). Along similar lines, these transsexuals also argue that inclusion under the LGBT umbrella does a disservice to the transsexual community, as it conflates two very different issues (i.e., sexual orientation and gender identity), and emboldens many cissexual LGB folks to appropriate trans identities and experiences, and to claim to speak on our behalf.
I have purposefully tried to avoid entering into this debate, primarily because many (albeit certainly not all) of the umbrella critiques that I have read invoke horrible stereotypes, and sometimes even hate speech, to help bolster their case. I have seen blatantly homophobic and biphobic remarks made by some anti-umbrella advocates. One post I saw described bisexuals as sexual predators who fetishize and prey upon transsexuals - this comment draws on a long history of monosexist stereotypes of bisexuals as “sex crazed” and desiring “anything that moves,” and it deeply offended me as a bisexual trans woman.
Over the last year or so, I have read a number of blog entries and Facebook rants about the so-called “transsexual versus transgender” issue. For those who are unaware of this debate, it stems from a subset of transsexuals who feel that the transsexual community is not served well by being included under the transgender umbrella (some even go so far as to insist that there is a mutually-exclusive dichotomy between transsexual and transgender people). Along similar lines, these transsexuals also argue that inclusion under the LGBT umbrella does a disservice to the transsexual community, as it conflates two very different issues (i.e., sexual orientation and gender identity), and emboldens many cissexual LGB folks to appropriate trans identities and experiences, and to claim to speak on our behalf.
I have purposefully tried to avoid entering into this debate, primarily because many (albeit certainly not all) of the umbrella critiques that I have read invoke horrible stereotypes, and sometimes even hate speech, to help bolster their case. I have seen blatantly homophobic and biphobic remarks made by some anti-umbrella advocates. One post I saw described bisexuals as sexual predators who fetishize and prey upon transsexuals - this comment draws on a long history of monosexist stereotypes of bisexuals as “sex crazed” and desiring “anything that moves,” and it deeply offended me as a bisexual trans woman.
Monday, September 5, 2011
on returning to blogging...
Since I am now re-entering the so-called "blogosphere" with my new blog, I figured that it would be worthwhile to briefly mention why I took a hiatus from blogging in the first place, and what my hopes are for this new blog.
So from 2007 through 2009, I was a semi-regular blogger, mostly on my old LJ site, sometimes on the Trans Group Blog, and as an occasional guest poster on Feministing. Blogging is a wonderful medium for getting thoughts, ideas and essays out there quickly, which I definitely appreciated. Also, during that span, I was introduced to the work of countless amazing writers and activists blogging on other sites. So in many ways, my relatively brief foray into blogging was a rewarding experience.
However, there were also negative aspects to that experience as well.
So from 2007 through 2009, I was a semi-regular blogger, mostly on my old LJ site, sometimes on the Trans Group Blog, and as an occasional guest poster on Feministing. Blogging is a wonderful medium for getting thoughts, ideas and essays out there quickly, which I definitely appreciated. Also, during that span, I was introduced to the work of countless amazing writers and activists blogging on other sites. So in many ways, my relatively brief foray into blogging was a rewarding experience.
However, there were also negative aspects to that experience as well.