Trans News/ Issues

EnderD_503 · 12-03-2011, 09:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ebon

Neil Patrick Harris Apologizes for 'Live!' Tranny-Wreck

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...96637320111202

Don't really care if he apologised or not, personally. If he and GLAAD think the only problem with what he said was his use of the word "tranny" then we've got a problem. The entire joke itself, even if he hadn't used the slur, would have been just as offensive without it.

DapperButch · 12-03-2011, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EnderD_503

Don't really care if he apologised or not, personally. If he and GLAAD think the only problem with what he said was his use of the word "tranny" then we've got a problem. The entire joke itself, even if he hadn't used the slur, would have been just as offensive without it.

Excellent point!

Thinker · 12-03-2011, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EnderD_503

Don't really care if he apologised or not, personally. If he and GLAAD think the only problem with what he said was his use of the word "tranny" then we've got a problem. The entire joke itself, even if he hadn't used the slur, would have been just as offensive without it.

I couldn't quite figure out what it was about the whole thing that bothered me. I knew it wasn't his use of the word "tranny". While I comprehend the offensiveness of the term and respect the hell out of the fact that it *is* offensive to so many, I'm not bothered by it personally. So I knew it wasn't that...

But your post cleared it up for me somehow.

If a guy spoke in an uncommonly (uncommon for that individual) soft manner......just came out that way......and said, "I've never sounded more like a fag/gay man/whatever in my life," it would be offensive primarily because of a very tired, negative stereotype.

Or if a woman surprised herself by moving something heavy out of the way and said, "I've never felt more like a dyke/lesbian/whatever in my life," it would also be offensive.......again.......tired, negative stereotype.

So, for me, it was the notion that there is a "way" a transsexual/tranny/whatever sounds. ...that one can distort his/her voice and "sound like a tranny" is the disturbing and offensive part of it......again, for me.

Ebon · 12-03-2011, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EnderD_503

Don't really care if he apologised or not, personally. If he and GLAAD think the only problem with what he said was his use of the word "tranny" then we've got a problem. The entire joke itself, even if he hadn't used the slur, would have been just as offensive without it.

If he had of said transgendered, transsexual, crossdresser or whatever else that came to his mind to describe people like us people still would have gotten offended. He was referring to Buffalo Bill not transgendered people as a whole. He doesn't strike me as the kind of guy that would go around trying to kill a transgendered person out of hate. I really don't think he realized that he was offending people or what he was saying. It's like people are sitting back and waiting for somebody to say something offensive so they can be offended. Where does it fucking end?

I'm still pissed off about the people chopping up that transgendered woman in Detroit. Some little gay boy saying the word tranny doesn't bother me at all.

EnderD_503 · 12-03-2011, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ebon

If he had of said transgendered, transsexual, crossdresser or whatever else that came to his mind to describe people like us people still would have gotten offended. He was referring to Buffalo Bill not transgendered people as a whole. He doesn't strike me as the kind of guy that would go around trying to kill a transgendered person out of hate. I really don't think he realized that he was offending people or what he was saying. It's like people are sitting back and waiting for somebody to say something offensive so they can be offended. Where does it fucking end?

I'm still pissed off about the people chopping up that transgendered woman in Detroit. Some little gay boy saying the word tranny doesn't bother me at all.

So anything short of chopping us up into pieces isn't fucking transphobia now? Sorry, but that's complete bullshit.

I don't care who he was referring to. I know he was referring to Buffalo Bill. It stated that in the initial article. I don't care if he was referring to one trans person/a representation of a trans person or all of us, it's the same fucking thing and being gay does not give him a free pass to make "jokes" about trans people and their voices, nor throw around slurs. There are enough self-entitled white celebrity gay guys out there thinking it's perfectly fine to do it, to write an entire fucking book about.

"If he had of said transgendered, transsexual, crossdresser or whatever else that came to his mind to describe people like us people still would have gotten offended."

That's exactly what I was just said in the post you replied to. The entire statement suggests that there is something "weird" or "funny" about trans people's voices, whether that person is a movie representation (and the movie representation itself is transphobic for that matter) or a real person. Many trans people go through transition feeling self-conscious about their voices. The number of times I've heard people refer to the voices of transguys as "chipmunk voices" or make what they see as "funny imitations" of what they think transwomen sound like is huge. It's something that happens fairly frequently only to get a laugh.

Nobody is fucking sitting around waiting to be offended. The problem is that the societies we live in still think trans people are fair game for jokes. People need to know why those jokes are offensive. It's not just slurs, it's the entire sentiment behind that joke, and his apology suggests that he doesn't get that at all.

I'm sick of people defending celebrities who seem entirely unaware of the negative effects of their "funny jokes" and "opinions."

EnderD_503 · 12-03-2011, 05:25 PM

I just wanted to come back to the thread and apologies that I came off as really pissed off in my last response. Lately the combination of things going on in my life right now just really have me on "attack mode" for a lot of things that I find completely unjust.

I did mean everything I said in that last post, but I think I also came off as a bit of an ass in some of the language I used and for that I'm sorry. Honestly, it's just really frustrating to have this kind of shit everywhere not only in your own life, but it seems more and more in the newspapers these days as well make it like a fairly strong connection to RL and the news. I know the world won't change in a day, but it sucks to have to fight the same battle over and over again.

Toughy · 12-04-2011, 04:14 PM

I don't get it either. Hell I don't get the problem with 'tranny' but then I live in the Bay Area and hear transfolks call themselves 'tranny' all the time.

The voice reference most likely has to do with the changes in voice that occur with the use of T (and E). Is it offensive to make fun of a teenage boy when his voice cracks as it changes? It's the same cracking/change I hear when transmen start taking T. Would folks be upset if a transman had made the same joke?

There are ways of saying the same thing in an offensive way or in a non-offensive way. I did not see this as offensive in the way he said it....but offense is in the eye of the beholder.

atomiczombie · 12-04-2011, 04:25 PM

Well, I don't think he meant anything by it, but it is less than sensitive to the trans people out there who do take offense to the word, and there are plenty of them. I personally don't like the word 'tranny' because it does get used by non-trans people in derogatory ways. If some trans people want to use it as a self-descriptor, that's fine and their right to do so. But I think it would be great if more people, especially in the LGBT community, were aware that it does have that very negative connotation for many transfolks.

kannon · 12-04-2011, 04:50 PM

I watched the video and it had zero effect on me. I didn't feel offended. IMO, Neil was just making a joke. Yeah, it was at the expense of trans but I know I've sounded pretty funny. It's not a bad thing. If I can't laugh at myself then I'm gonna spend a lot of time being pissed and self-conscious.

It's a pain in the ass when I can't get a loan because the dude on the phone doesn't believe my voice matches up with the rest of my credit info (I'm still listed as female). That really sucked. I have credit with discover. I tried to get a personal loan through them over the phone. I got a letter a few days after I applied saying they could not verify my id. WTF. I just laughed. Obviously, I didn't need the money.

12-04-2011, 04:14 PM	#7
Toughy Senior Member How Do You Identify?: pervert butch feminist woman Preferred Pronoun?: see above Relationship Status: independent entity Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Oakland Posts: 1,826 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 4,068 Thanked 7,653 Times in 1,522 Posts Rep Power: 21474853	I don't get it either. Hell I don't get the problem with 'tranny' but then I live in the Bay Area and hear transfolks call themselves 'tranny' all the time. The voice reference most likely has to do with the changes in voice that occur with the use of T (and E). Is it offensive to make fun of a teenage boy when his voice cracks as it changes? It's the same cracking/change I hear when transmen start taking T. Would folks be upset if a transman had made the same joke? There are ways of saying the same thing in an offensive way or in a non-offensive way. I did not see this as offensive in the way he said it....but offense is in the eye of the beholder. __________________ We are everywhere We are different I do not care if resistance is futile I will not assimilate www.butchfemmesocials.com/

12-04-2011, 04:25 PM	#8
atomiczombie Member How Do You Identify?: Femmesensual Transguy Preferred Pronoun?: He, Him, His Relationship Status: Dating Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Rio Vista, CA Posts: 1,225 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 3,949 Thanked 3,221 Times in 759 Posts Rep Power: 21474853	Well, I don't think he meant anything by it, but it is less than sensitive to the trans people out there who do take offense to the word, and there are plenty of them. I personally don't like the word 'tranny' because it does get used by non-trans people in derogatory ways. If some trans people want to use it as a self-descriptor, that's fine and their right to do so. But I think it would be great if more people, especially in the LGBT community, were aware that it does have that very negative connotation for many transfolks. __________________ http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/k...orums_2000.gif Russian Unicorn http://occupiedmedia.us/

12-03-2011, 05:25 PM	#6
EnderD_503 Member How Do You Identify?: Queer, trans guy, butch Preferred Pronoun?: Male pronouns Relationship Status: Relationship Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Canada Posts: 1,329 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 4,090 Thanked 3,878 Times in 1,022 Posts Rep Power: 21474853	I just wanted to come back to the thread and apologies that I came off as really pissed off in my last response. Lately the combination of things going on in my life right now just really have me on "attack mode" for a lot of things that I find completely unjust. I did mean everything I said in that last post, but I think I also came off as a bit of an ass in some of the language I used and for that I'm sorry. Honestly, it's just really frustrating to have this kind of shit everywhere not only in your own life, but it seems more and more in the newspapers these days as well make it like a fairly strong connection to RL and the news. I know the world won't change in a day, but it sucks to have to fight the same battle over and over again.

12-04-2011, 04:50 PM	#9
kannon Member How Do You Identify?: bloke Preferred Pronoun?: He Relationship Status: Happy is the heart that believes in angels Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Land of Milk and Honey Posts: 884 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 1,920 Thanked 2,068 Times in 584 Posts Rep Power: 21474851	I watched the video and it had zero effect on me. I didn't feel offended. IMO, Neil was just making a joke. Yeah, it was at the expense of trans but I know I've sounded pretty funny. It's not a bad thing. If I can't laugh at myself then I'm gonna spend a lot of time being pissed and self-conscious. It's a pain in the ass when I can't get a loan because the dude on the phone doesn't believe my voice matches up with the rest of my credit info (I'm still listed as female). That really sucked. I have credit with discover. I tried to get a personal loan through them over the phone. I got a letter a few days after I applied saying they could not verify my id. WTF. I just laughed. Obviously, I didn't need the money.