I’ve been thinking of doing this post for a while, and the outpouring of support from cis people in the wake of the Moore/Burchill transphobia awfulness made me think that this is as good a time as any. From doing outreach work as an activist, and from the public position of being a performer, I’ve heard from many cis people who want to be as supportive of and knowledgeable about trans issues as they can be, but don’t know where to start – and are worried about asking in case they inadvertently cause distress or hurt. Thank god for an internet full of resources – but those resources can be hard to find when you don’t know where to start.
I’d said this before, as a teacher, and I think it’s worth saying again – we can’t expect people to learn if we’re not willing to teach. Obviously, this doesn’t mean that every trans person should be obliged to be a living, breathing educational talking-point 24/7 – that’s a horrible position to put somebody in – but I do think that those of us with the time and the ability to reach out should do it when we can (again, obviously, many, many trans people already do this).
So, in that vein – cis people, what are your questions? Leave them as comments and I’ll get together a crack team of brainy trans people to answer them, and point you in the direction of further research. Any blatant trolling will be studiously ignored online and mercilessly mocked in private but, with that caveat, have at it.
Filed under: trans
