Assimilationist trans people who waste the beautiful opportunity for perspective they’ve been given by defending transphobia, capitalism, and the patriarchy make me so sad
Being a white trans woman is like living through your own version of A Christmas Carol. Your previous privilege and power are suddenly revealed to you in no uncertain terms as the result of oppression. Imagine clawing to have it back.
Something I think white trans people are too willing to let ourselves forget is that other people *still* see our whiteness first. If you transition and oppression doesn’t touch your daily life, it doesn’t mean the system is fine. It means you’re white and it’s built for you.
This happens because we focus our political dialogue on empowerment narratives and we flatten all trans stories into one recognizable arc instead of acknowledging that transition *reveals* the depth of the inequality in our society along gender, race, and economic lines.
I think it’s important that I admit that transitioning has been easy for me, much easier than living in the closet. Most people are nicer to me now. The people who are rude to me because I’m trans are likely just as awful (or worse) to anyone who isn’t straight, white, and male.
People are nicer to me because the system was built to protect me, an affluent white woman who went to a fancy private school. Misogyny is a problem. Homophobia is a problem. Transphobia is a problem. But none of them erase the privilege of being white in our system.
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