Thread by @AlexPetrovnia

Transmasculine erasure isn't discussed enough, particularly in the context of ongoing legislative battles. While sports bills have overwhelmingly targeted transfeminine kids, transmasculine kids are consistently used as the scare tactics to attempt to enact healthcare bans. 🧵

We see this narrative of "protecting the children" consistently and disproportionately applied to transmasculine children. While pending healthcare bans usually ban all trans affirming medine, there are specific bans on transmasculine bottom surgeries, comparing them to FGM.

In rhetoric, we see this narrative as well. The famous "don't say gay" (really "don't say trans") bill began after a lawsuit over a transmasculine child. The lawsuit claimed that the child was influenced by their school environment into wanting to socially transition.

Over and over we see this pattern. "Protect the children" overwhelmingly translates to "prevent transmasculine children from transitioning". This comes down to sexism and presumed gender roles. Consistently we see transfeminine people cast as predatory, aggressive and domineering

On the flip side of this, we see transmasculine people cast as confused, helpless, in need of protection. Transmasculine children are assumed to be "little girls" who need protection from themselves, and limited autonomy.

This underlying misogyny is why transmasculine people, especially transmasculine children, are often used as the "children to protect" from "becoming trans".

But while this narrative of "protection" places a limited focus on transmasculine children, that focus evaporates almost completely when transmasculine adults come into the picture.

This is because the narrative that transmasculine people are innocent and in need of protection relies on denying autonomy. Once some autonomy is gained, that "protectiveness" quickly turns to disgust. This is bc that "protectiveness" was never benevolent; it is about control.

So the easiest way to maintain the narrative that people are being "transed", and that "young girls" must be "protected" is to completely shut out any narratives from the transmasculine perspective that might point out this coercion.

Now that you understand this dynamic of transphobia (rooted, as it all is, in misogyny and regressive gender roles), pay attention to narratives around trans people. Notice that transmasculine people are never heard from, but only heard about.

Notice that transmasculine erasure serves a purpose; to uphold the narrative that transmasculine people are helpless and being manipulated by the big, scary trans establishment.
Notice instead that this is fundamentally an issue of denying autonomy, particularly medical autonomy.

Fight transmasculine erasure by including us in our own narratives. Let us tell our stories, rather than have others tell stories about us. Protect trans kids and their ability to decide for themselves what is best for them.

If you want to stand up for trans kids and trans people at large against the anti-trans legislation threatening to take away our medical care and exclude us from life, please go to transformationsproject.org to contact your representatives and tell them to STOP these hateful bills.

Anyway thank you for reading, and in anticipation of #TDOV I plan to write more threads discussing transmasculine erasure and transmasculine visibility, as it is a subject that is sorely needed.

You can also check out my thread on the need for greater visibility of issues facing the trans community, such as the reality of the ongoing legislative crisis, here:

https://twitter.com/AlexPetrovnia/status/1508491648380121092?t=U3d_cniT90AG-tAlDs_p1g&s=19

An example of this principle in action, the Littlejohn lawsuit:

https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1508513695613214726?t=U3d_cniT90AG-tAlDs_p1g&s=19

One additional note: it has been brought to my attention that the transmasculine experience often does not follow this pattern of infantilization for transmasculine people of color. As a white person, I cannot speak to that.

It's critical that we remember that my experiences are limited, as are everyone's. This thread is largely drawn from my own, white, experience, and it's important that we remember that dynamics of transphobia and misogyny play out differently when racial bias is also involved.