#And honestly it seems like neither does the rest of the LGB.

[kinddivinity]

I think at this point the anti-Hogwarts Legacy people are really overestimating how much people want to be trans allies.

[vampish-glamour]

you know, you're right when you say people rarely can separate T from LGB, one of the reasons why people forget straight trans people exist. not a terf, but do you think trans community'd benifit from separating themselves from the rest, since their experiences are often very different? or would it actually be worse for them?

I took especially long to answer this one because I’m still working out my thoughts on it and I want to make sure I don’t word my thoughts poorly.

I think that generally speaking, the T makes sense to stay with LGB as a human rights movement. Because all four letters experience homophobia (to my knowledge, trans people are grouped with LGB when it comes to persecution).

But when we’re talking on a smaller scale, like individual charities or organizations or even just discussions, yes, there should be a more distinct separation between LGB and T.

Because if you want to specifically help or talk about same sex attracted people, that’s just LGB. If you want to specifically help or talk about transgender people, that’s just T.

It always feels clunky when people have to go out of their way to find a way to include trans people because they said “LGBT”… but they really just mean LGB. Especially when you don’t see the same for the T; it seems to be widely accepted that you can talk only about the T and not have to lazily include the LGB. It’s especially annoying when you can’t even talk only about same sex attraction because some trans people are straight and it doesn’t apply to them.

I honestly think that a lot of the misunderstandings about what being trans is, or general bad takes about being trans, comes from the lack of separation from LGB. The main example that comes to mind is “We know it’s bad to say homosexuality and bisexuality are medical conditions, so it’s bad to say the same about being trans!”, which ignores that gender dysphoria is very different from sexual orientation. Or the idea that since being LGB doesn’t require medical diagnosis, neither does being trans.

What we’re dealing with is sexual orientation being grouped together with a medical condition regarding gender/sex, which is obviously going to lead to misunderstandings. Either it’s going to be “well if the LGB aren’t medical issues, then the T isn’t either”, or “well if the T is a medical issue, then obviously so is the LGB”.

And of course there’s the issue with mainstream trans activism, and how it’s really harming public perception of the LGBT community as a whole. I have to admit that because of this, I can sympathize with those who want to “get the T out” because LGB people shouldn’t have to deal with being brought down along with something that has nothing to do with them. But at the same time I can’t support the well known “LGB drop the T” organizations because of their rampant transphobia.

I think there absolutely should be organizations geared specifically towards LGB, like I think there should be organizations geared specifically towards T. I have to wonder why it seems like it’s acceptable to have a specifically trans organization, that focuses solely on transgender issues and that’s not seen as homo/biphobic… but the minute somebody mentions wanting a specifically LGB organization that focuses solely on same sex attraction issues, that’s immediately seen as transphobic. I really don’t see what the problem would be, as long as they’re not conducting themselves in the genuinely transphobic manner you see with “ LGB fight back” for example.

Especially because something I’ve noticed is that trans issues tend to take the entire stage when it comes to lgbt issues. I don’t blame people for wanting to have places to specifically focus on LGB issues without being interrupted by trans issues.

It’s okay to acknowledge that same sex attracted people have different issues than transgender people, and vice versa. Topics like medical care or transition don’t really concern LGB people unless they’re trans. Topics like same sex marriage or adoption don’t really concern trans people unless they’re also LGB.

I’m sorry this is probably hard to understand because I’m not really sure how to voice my thoughts properly lol.

TL;DR:

As a whole, I don’t think we should separate T from LGB.

There would be a benefit to making a distinction between the two and having causes specifically geared towards either only same sex attraction, or only being trans.

I don’t agree with the transphobia found in most “LGB drop the T” organizations, and think that if specifically LGB groups are made, they need to just be made without mention of trans people. Make it all about LGB, don’t make it about “fighting the T”.

Sexual orientation and being trans are two different things, they should be treated as such instead of always being lumped together as the same thing.