Y'know, it really disgusts me when transandrodorks see posts about trans women being denied access to women's shelters and respond with, "Well, they could just go to a men's shelter. The real issue is that both trans men and trans women have to misgender ourselves to access shelter."
That completely misses the point.
Even in a world where people let people into shelters according to their gender identities-- as a trans man, I would not feel safe in a men's shelter. Cis men are responsible for a disproportionate amount of physical, emotional, and sexual violence against trans people, including trans men. Being correctly gendered does not magically make that environment safe.
If I absolutely had to seek emergency shelter, I at least have a place I could realistically go without being surrounded by the demographic most likely to target me: a women's shelter, even if that would require being misgendered.
Trans women don't have that option. A men's shelter is not simply "the equivalent in reverse." It's an environment where they're both women and trans in an environment surrounded by their worst oppressors, making them especially vulnerable to harassment and violence. And in many cases, they may not even be admitted.
People keep turning this into a conversation about misgendering when the issue is material safety. The difference is that trans men may have a safer emergency option, even if it's degrading and affirming neither our identity nor our dignity. Trans women are left with no safe option at all.
turnnoffyourmind
andulkaphoto
tangentwithtanner
blakekathryn
