QUEERLY TRANS

Friday Highlights at Queerly Trans (May 27, 2022)

This week, we examined perceptions of queer transness in relationships and in books/media

Before diving into this week’s fascinating posts, we want to remind you not to forget about our next Writer’s Showcase coming up! I also wanted to highlight some deserving Queerly Trans pieces that match this month’s theme. Writers, we want you to write about your favorite Queer Trans representation and post a link to it in the comments section of the article below by this Tuesday, May 31, so that we can promote your work! Readers, prepare to enjoy the coming articles about our favorite Queer Trans literature and media!

Jymi Cliche has already responded with this informative article about Urvashi Vaid, a lesbian role model who was an activist fighting against inequality on the basis of gender identity, race, sexual orientation, and economic disparities. In “A Loss for the Queer Community”, he also discusses the queer and trans representation (or lack thereof) that he grew up with.

“For trans role models, we had “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and of course, that came with its own culture. There were maybe a few others for those of us who knew where to look, but almost no resources were guiding us. We had underground shit like handmade zines by local queer kids for that…We had the comic strip “Dykes To Watch Out For,” (external link to website) authors like Leslie Feinberg (external link to Wiki) and Urvashi Vaid (external link to Wiki)…”

Another writing that functions beautifully for this purpose is Jaz Joyner’s “A Letter to Pauli Murray, the Queer Icon”. If you haven’t read this one already, it is a fantastic piece.

“I think of you often, Mx. Murray. I wonder how you’d feel about me using “Mx” to address you. All anyone knew when you were here was Mister and Misses. Did either title feel true?”

This week, Sieran Lane wrote zis own really interesting response to this theme in “A BDSM Novel Starring a Gay Trans Guy”. It sounds like some great trans masculine and asexual representation is happening in this novel, along with some thoughtful questions about gender!

“He is a submissive and a masochist, and he believes that it’s wrong to be turned on by the thought of being dominated and humiliated. In his mind, only women are supposed to enjoy these roles. So this compounds his gender dysphoria: is he “really” a man if he wants to be submissive?”

Speaking of thoughtful questions about gender, Alistair J. Kraft eloquently tackles a common awkward one that queer trans people have to grapple with from family and friends all the time: “If I Date a Man or a Woman — Which one makes me gay?” That question sure has put me in some uncomfortable conversations, so I’m glad to see this topic discussed by a fellow queer trans writer!

“If I bring a guy to a family party, this would fit the pattern they’re used to from me and so they might think of this as a heterosexual relationship for me, despite the fact that I’ve fully got a beard now. If I turn up with a woman, they’d probably ‘know’ that would be a straight relationship, but they’d also probably think I was a ‘lesbian’.”

This week’s nominations for the Queerly Trans Reader’s Showcase

For my own Reading Showcase nomination, I wanted to nominate Artemis Shishir’s “Why I Call Myself Queer”. While I’ve enjoyed so much of his work so far, and encourage you to read more of it, I think this piece is an excellent introduction to his writing, with a reason for using the word “queer” that made me smile.

“I wish to have a word that rejects the conventional norms, a word I can reclaim from its usage as a slur just to show a middle finger to my not-so-well-wishers, a word that describes all of me. I want a word that can hold me without constricting my growth as a person as I try to navigate the confusing waters of life.

Right now, for this brown-skinned, gender nonconforming, neurodivergent person, the word ‘queer’ holds all those meanings.”

Sieran Lane has nominated “My Dalliance with Detransition” by Devon Price. This writing is powerful and well worth 20 minutes of your time. I’ve read several writings on this theme prior to making my own decision to get on Testosterone and think this would have really resonated with a lot of my fears at that time, while also helping me to do the hard emotional work to really examine what was lying beneath them. I hope someone who needs to read this will feel less alone after doing so.

“Before I knew I was trans, I could puppet my body and face to please others. It was reflexive because I had never known the release of honesty. Once I transitioned, though, I found it hard to fix my posture or fake a smile — the dull agony of unidentified gender dysphoria was now sharp and something I could name. I could feel how false it all was. I looked at old photos of me smiling and they gave me an icy chill of uncanniness.”

If this subject interests you, “Why Detransitioners Belong in Trans Spaces” by Angelika D. Linder is another excellent writing that examines some of the situations that can lead to detransitioning and checks our attitudes about this possibility. I think I would have found this reassuring to read as well before making decisions about Testosterone, as someone who was once terrified of making a “mistake”. I would have wanted to know that there was support and understanding to be found within the trans community for people who realized, for any of a myriad of reasons, that medical transitioning wasn’t the best option for them.

“Arthur Rockwell’s video makes an important distinction which we often miss, between two very different phenomena: transition regret and detransition. The toxic detransition narrative pushed by transphobes and the media assumes that detransitioners regret their transition. This doesn’t have to be the case.

As he points out, transition is often an empowering experience, accompanied by renewed energy and willingness to work on oneself. It can help pull people out of depression, motivate them to fight back against issues like addiction and disordered eating, and offer them the support of a truly incredible community.”

Want to write for us?

Check out our guidelines here:

“We are seeking stories that explore the experience of being queer and trans AND non-binary, agender, gender fluid, gender non-conforming, and all other gender fuckery. There are plenty of publications out there for straight trans peeps, but trans doesn’t mean straight. And what about us non-binary, agender, gender fluid, etc. folx? Any attraction we have is absolutely queer. And what if you have different, limited, or no attraction (asexual, aromantic, lithosexual, etc.), or what if you have all of the attraction (bi, pan, poly, etc.)? Here at Queerly Trans, we break the heteronormative AND transnormative narratives!”

That’s it for this week!

Don’t forget to follow and subscribe to Queerly Trans, so that you never miss any of our wonderful stories, poems, and artwork! And be sure to comment with a link to a deserving queer trans writing you read anywhere on Medium that you would like me to promote for next week’s Friday Highlights Reader’s Showcase! Let’s support people in our community by sharing as many of our queer trans truths with each other as possible.

Editors: KP_the_writer, Logan Silkwood

Writers: Ayven Alexander, Kai Arden, locke besse, Jymi Cliche, Justice Faye Dazzle, Nova Grace, Jaz Joyner, Emma Holiday, Alistair J. Kraft, Sieran Lane, Mx. Marie Chase Lewis (Fae/They), Stephenie Magister, Michelle Paquette, Amber Poe, Jenny Starr✨, Kai Stowers, 💜 Victoria Quinn 💜, Kristy Westaway, Anabelle Weissinger, Kitty Whitemore