originally posted in:Sapphire
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Something I've noticed online is that while people are slowly learning not to use derogatory terms for gay/lesbian/bisexual people, they seem to be pretty openly biased against transgendered people. I'm cisgendered but have a lot of trans friends, and I guess you could say I consider myself a "trans ally" in that I speak up against transphobia where I see it and have actively worked to eradicate it from my own life.
Here are some common examples of transphobia that I see a lot:
1) referring to transgendered people by derogatory terms such as "trap"
2) insisting that women they don't like look like men or men they don't like look like women, which is indirectly transphobic because it suggests that having an appearance that subverts a strict gender binary is somehow deviant or wrong
3) refusing to call trans people by the correct pronouns (calling trans women "him" or trans men "her")
4) referring to trans people as "chicks with dicks" or other terms that imply that a trans person is anything other than the gender as which they identify
The list goes on, but I guess those would be the big examples. The sad thing is, I don't think most of the people who say those things are actively trying to be hateful or bigoted - it just seems like something they do without thinking, like being transphobic doesn't really matter. But of course, it does - not just because there are transgendered members of the Bungie community who deserve to be treated with consideration and dignity, but because as humane and thoughtful members of society (which hopefully everyone here aspires to be), the onus is on us to eradicate this kind of discrimination from our communities, both through our personal actions and through the way we treat people who do and say hateful and hurtful things.
So I'm wondering - what are your thoughts on the culture of transphobia that seems sadly prevalent on the internet, and particularly here on this site? Have you noticed it? What should we do about it? Since transphobia is really just as awful as homophobia or sexism or racism, shouldn't we treat it with a similar gravity and seriousness?
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These things take time