Gay StarCraft Players - Page 301

On July 02 2012 21:20 marvellosity wrote:
Fleuria, don't respond to such people ^_^

Comment: For those who will never blend in, we will always need Pride
Sorry to disagree with Christopher, but it’s not over yet and I’m not sure it will ever be. The politics of difference, power and oppression are here to stay: being white, heterosexual, able, middle-class, Christian and masculine is still the cultural golden standard, and anyone deviating from this script is still often ostracised or attacked. Look around you: women, disabled people, Muslims, black people… there’s 10 bullies for every one of them. Can’t they just stop being so different, as you suggest? Can’t they be this white, able, middle-class Christian normal guy?

On “Passing”
I hate the term “passing.”

It’s used as a euphemism for death: “All were saddened at his passing.”

I’m told I should be happy about “passing.” When used to refer to trans people, “passing” is defined as being accepted by others as a member of one’s identified sex, on the basis of appearance, mannerism and voice. Ever since my voice changed and my facial hair came in, I’ve been congratulated by others (both cis and trans) for being able to “pass,” despite my height and frame (I’m a mighty 5’2”). I’m told that I “pass pretty well” as a man. It always makes me very uncomfortable.

I’ve listened to so many trans people express huge amounts of anxiety about not being able to “pass,” and I empathize utterly with their fears. People who are obviously trans–especially those who are perceived as “men trying to be women” by the transphobic–often face virulent bigotry. People stop and point and stare when we walk down the street in middle America; adults pull their children away from us; insecure, hypermasculine types jump us; hysterical people call the cops on us when we use a public restroom. In much of the country, people who are obviously trans face being fired from their jobs and often find themselves being treated as criminal suspects by the police. It’s scary stuff, and who would not want to take a pass on that?

On July 02 2012 21:33 marvellosity wrote:
Yes, but we can counter-troll the trolls all day, just let him get banned as he now is :D

On July 03 2012 21:56 Iyerbeth wrote:
On Passing:

The thing the author seems to forget is that people who want to pass get that kind of abuse as a symptom of not passing sure but it's certainly not the biggest issue. No one wants to be trans and GID sucks and when you compound that with not passing and innocent mistakes from people who just thought you were your birth-assigned gender it is far more depressing than all the abuse from malicious strangers.

I imagine there aren't many trans people on the planet who wouldn't, given the choice, transform their body to what it should be like were they born in a gender correct body because that's exactly why GID is an issue, and it's also why trans pride is something a little more tricky. Even those who pass every day I imagine would take that opportunity. Sure passing also means you get to skip the crap from random members of the public but no one transitions to be trans. It's a means to an end, and the current best end is just fitting in as who you are - passing.

On July 05 2012 13:53 Smat wrote:
I feel so sorry for trans-people. The amount of shit they go through is just astounding. At the same time it amazes me how they just ignore the world around them and strive to make themselves happy, that quality is so attractive and leads me to believe that trans-people are some of the most interesting people you can meet.

On July 05 2012 13:53 Smat wrote:
I feel so sorry for trans-people. The amount of shit they go through is just astounding. At the same time it amazes me how they just ignore the world around them and strive to make themselves happy, that quality is so attractive and leads me to believe that trans-people are some of the most interesting people you can meet.

On July 05 2012 14:36 Shiragaku wrote:

I totally agree. Homophobia is dying out in the West but transphobia is most certainly alive and well.

On July 05 2012 15:37 Josketh wrote:


Yeah. I think they've got to be the most misunderstood group of people. I don't understand them and I don't think I'm going to even try because there isn't a way for me to know what they are feeling.

From what I understand, people going through the transition have always felt that they are the gender they are becoming. I don't need to know that a person is transitioning. If you are to be a woman, you are a woman, regardless of your place in transition. Whatever makes you feel comfortable.

I'll admit I'm pretty ignorant to the whole thing so I'm not entirely sure what is considered offensive language but a person is a human before they are a gender and that is all that I try to let matter.

It became obvious to me that I actually wanted to be a girl, and that, on some level, it felt right.

Trying to translate these subconscious experiences into conscious thought is a messy business. All of the words available in the English language completely fail to accurately capture or convey my personal understanding of these events. For example, if I were to say that I "saw" myself as female, or "knew" myself to be a girl, I would be denying the fact that I was consciously aware of my physical maleness at all times. And saying that I "wished" or "wanted" to be a girl erases how much being female made sense to me, how it felt right on the deepest, most profound level of my being. I could say that I "felt" like a girl, but that would give the false impression that I knew how other girls (and other boys) felt. And if I were to say I was "supposed to be" a girl, or that I "should have been born" female, it would imply that I had some sort of cosmic insight into the grand scheme of the universe, which I most certainly did not.

Perhaps the best way to describe how my subconscious sex feels to me is to say that it seems as if, on some level, my brain expects my body to be female. Indeed there is some evidence to suggest that our brains have an intrinsic understanding of what sex our bodies should be.