One of the things that's really getting to me about the current state of trans discourse is the constant comparison to race.
Take for example, the ridiculous number of non-Black trans people validating the idea that, "a trans woman saying "kill all tme people" to vent her frustration is the same as a Black person saying "kill all non-Black people" to vent their frustration" because it's actually fundamentally not the same on multiple levels.
First and foremost trans women are not "the Black people of the trans community". Black trans people of all gender identities are the Black people of the trans community. The fact that that comparison has been normalized by primarily non-Black people as an "okay" comparison for other non-Black people to make is racist and anti-Black.
Secondly, let's remind ourselves of the contexts here. In context, most people do use "tme" as a shorthand for trans men, trans masculine people, and nonbinary people who had an F written on their birth certificates. You can try to claim that "um actually it includes cis people" but this is hyper niche borderline chronically online trans discourse. It means other trans people. It means other people who are also marginalized on the basis of their gender identity.
So, if we're actually going to make an accurate comparison to a racialized situation here, follow me for a moment.
If a Black person said "kill all non-Black people" after weeks and months of primarily talking about how much they can't stand and don't trust other racial minorities, encouraging other Black people to cut everyone who isn't Black out of their lives while specifically focusing on how Black people should cut ties with other PoC, how solidarity and unity between racial minorities is impossible because other PoC (especially any specific demographic of non-Black PoC) can't be trusted, and constantly went on and on not about their hatred of white people but about their hatred of other racial minorities — I think it would be very fair to claim that Black person is racist towards other non-Black PoC.
Just like it's very fair to claim that a trans woman who says "kill all tme people" after weeks and months of primarily talking about how much she can't stand and doesn't trust other trans people who aren't like her, encourages other trans women to cut everyone who isn't a trans woman out of their lives while specifically focusing on how trans women should cut ties with other trans people, talks about how solidarity and unity between trans people is impossible because non-trans woman trans people (especially trans men) can't be trusted, and constantly goes on and on not about her hatred of cis people but about her hatred of other trans people is transphobic towards other trans people.
Trans discourse and racial discourse are not the same. There are absolutely aspects of Black political theory that non-Black trans people can draw upon and take notes from. Black activists and theorists have been working for over a century both outside and inside the trans community on amazing work and have laid a solid groundwork for sociopolitical change that we can and should be following.
But like I said, trans women aren't "the Black people of the trans community". Black trans people of all gender identities are the Black people of the trans community.
I think it would benefit a lot of people to just sit down and really internalize that before speaking again, lest they start sounding like John Lennon and Yoko Ono.
