#and its christianity and transness

[obsolete-stars-if]

Who needs writing when u can draw your @pressplay-if MC. Ethereal otherworldly unnervingly beautiful ftm MC... Hear me out. Hear me out. So much beauty. Solomon my beloved.

He has Adams creation on his rips BCS he's both creation and creator. He choose Solomon BCS that's the last king of Israel in the Bible. Creator of temples and known for his wisdom.

His nickname is Sol, like the sun. Blinding beauty, child of the sun, lover of the earth, bringing life to those around him, while he himself is burning. Won't you please set him on fire and watch him burn out and down? He's a messenger in flames.

Please, I am so normal about this man. Hold him, mold him like clay into the man he always was meant to be.

He only cares for music, space and his friends, he does not desire fame. He knows he's a child of the universe, and he will be delusional about it. No need for body tension when the universe guides your every step.

Everyone has a crush on him and he is oblivious to it, BCS all that matters is the beauty of the universe, earth and love to him. Love as in, all ways, platonic, aesthetic, familiar, he ignores sexual and romantic love, he does not know about it.

[t4tstarvingdog]

Congrats on the coming out to your therapist!!!

she was so lovely about it even though i was a mess trying to find the words to say, god it was lovely to just. be accepted like that

[infinitedungas]

sometimes I count myself lucky I was raised in a relatively chill branch of the church

other times I'm awake at 4am feeling empty and sad wondering whether I'd be less of a fuckup if I hadn't been raised a Jesus Kid

[opencommunion]

looking back on how liberal political analysts talked about donald trump during his 2016 campaign, I notice two very important insights that have vanished from the conversation this time around.

1: the dire warnings about the rise of fascism were really centered on trump's followers, not the man himself. what concerned scholars of fascism in particular was that the already well-established neonazi presence in the US was openly rallying around a presidential candidate. trump's campaign emboldened neonazis, but the neonazis were already there — this is why we saw an astronomical rise in hate crimes against many marginalized groups during trump's campaign, before he was elected. trump himself was understood as an opportunist riding the wave of rising fascist sentiment — the wave itself was a bigger concern than the surfer. trump was replaceable. liberals now seem to have forgotten that trump's followers won't disappear if harris wins. the heritage foundation (originators of 'project 2025,' blue maga's favorite boogeyman) won't disappear if harris wins. extreme right politicians — many of whom I would argue are even further right than trump, and more embedded in the establishment — won't disappear. even if you mistakenly see the republican party as the sole provenance of usamerican fascism, republicans won't disappear if harris is elected.

2: the people centered in the crosshairs of trump's agenda were migrants and asylum seekers; chiefly those from south of the US border and from majority muslim countries. the intensified demonization of these groups led analysts to draw parallels with fascist parties that were on the rise in europe. hatred of migrants and muslims is indisputably the primary driver of 21st century fascism, from the UK to India. so tell me why the conversation in the US has shifted to revolve around white trans people? yes, trump supporters are obviously transphobic, but you have to trace this particular manifestation of transphobia to its source, which still comes down to white supremacy and anti-migrant sentiment. when you actually look at the way fascists talk about trans people, it all comes back to the idea that hostile foreign elements invading the country have degraded white christian values. trans people of color have already been targeted for a long time, because we're seen as a sort of vanguard of non-white perversion; this isn't new to us. white trans people are now experiencing increased persecution because transness is seen as infiltrating white families/communities and corrupting their whiteness. I'm not saying we shouldn't talk about the rise of transphobic policies; of course we should. what disturbs me is that anti-migrant sentiment has been shunted to the sidelines of discussions of 'trumpism,' when it is still very much the center of his platform. and that's the part of his platform that the harris campaign has adopted to try and pull voters from him! that's the part of the republican platform that the biden administration advanced with the excuse of 'reaching across the aisle.' and what more extreme manifestation of an anti-migrant anti-muslim platform is there than committing genocide in gaza and then refusing to let gazan asylum seekers (or even gazans with US citizenship!) into the US?

the entire US government, red and blue, is unified around the anti-migrant, white supremacist crux of so-called 'trumpism.' large swathes of the american public, whether they vote red or blue, are enthusiastic about genocidal foreign and domestic policies. none of this stops when trump is gone

[genderkoolaid]

i find this so interesting. on multiple levels. i actually agree that there are trans people who use the language of "gender is fake" while still relying on the idea that gender is not a construct. i mentioned this in another post but we have a problem with conflating our choice in labels with the experiences we use them to express. and then ofc there are people who still follow the medical model of being trans which uses shit like "brainsex."

but i find the comparison w christianity interesting because of the assumption that "full" or "true" belief is an objective measurement. there are plenty of people who identify as christian and perform as christians but don't "truly" believe. and i'm not even talking about hypocrites! there are agnostic + atheist christians who find community in christianity and/or find it valuable philosophically. same as most other religions. because, like gender, things don't have to be Scientifically Real to be worthwhile. its fully possible to acknowledge that gender is fake (so is sex btw <3) and still find value in gender identity. laws being a social construct doesn't mean there can never be value is having an agreed upon set of rules. the only thing recognizing social constructs inherently asks us imo is to interact w those constructs knowing that they are always being recreated.

anyways. transness Exists as a scientific fact. in that there is clearly a common experience had by homo sapiens. partaking in culture is not diametrically opposed to "nature" we are social animals social construction is our nature! this is why social + physical transition works for many. its just smth humans naturally experience. the best argument terfs can make with this information is that identification w sex constructs exclusively is what is the most politically useful thing we can do, but at best this obscures how much influence gender identity has over society & pressures intersex & transsexual people to put themselves in a binary that cannot accurately discuss their experiences even if they are willing to admit that sex is a construct.

[the-trans-folk-witch]

The Triple Goddess of Wicca, and why she must be killed : Another trinity with a problematic following

What better time to bash Wicca than the present? At the time of writing this it is nearing the height of Autumn and All Hallows is lurching towards us with natural disasters all along the southeast of the US. Hurricanes are bringing ruin to the homes of the innocent, as well as the possible deserving conservatives of Florida.

At this time I am in deep thought of the many times in history that loss, death, illness, and danger upon a group of people was seen as a "cleansing" by the Christian god. The Aids crisis is a great example of this. It was seen as natures way of ridding the earth of queer folks. so why should we not view the hurricane as such a riddle?

In relation to problematic religious views that damage queer folks, I wanted to disect one of these religions. Wicca, a religion with many branches and problems. This religion -as many know- prides itself on its pagan origins and distance from Christianity, while still displaying the same issues Christianity presents to the world. A religion where the pedo-priest becomes the rapey-coven-leader. A space where women are just a womb for a man or god to lay seed in, and most pressing; a place where trans bodies are ignored. Another religion made by a cis white man and taken too far.

I was inspired to tackle the beast that is this neo-religion by the load of terfs that have plagued my inbox for the past 3 years. These Dianic-Wiccans seem to forget the cultures that bore their goddess also created many stories of gender-bent gods such as Hermaphroditus who is most famously known. Shikhandi, who is labeled as a FTM warrior. Lakapati, whose gender changed many times in Filipino history. And Apollo who has a myth where he lived in the form of a woman for 7 years. As we all know, transness is older than wicca will ever be, and there is no use in continuing to argue with dianic -terfs on the internet. So, instead of berating them on their lack of historical knowledge, I want to pinpoint the thing within their faith that this trans-exclusionary "feminism" stems from. Their goddess.

We all have seen the links made to Hecate or Diana in their religion. The concept of an ancient goddess having three main forms or titles to call on. But what maddens me is the ignorance that many non traditional wiccans spout off. As if they are from an ancient tradition of Hecatean worship. When their triple goddess is historically claimed as a purely wiccan invention by the mouth of Gardner himself. The dissent from traditonal wicca to neo-wicca has been maddeningly full of lies. This religion did not evolve, but made space for more issues. If you asked the first or traditional wiccans who they worshipped, you would hear they worshipped the gods of wicca who were revealed to Gardner. Not an entirely Greco-Roman rip-off. Yes, the triple goddess may have been inspired by triple goddesses of history. But she is much newer and much more problematic than her ancient counterparts. To think an ancient tradition such as hecatean devotion has been watered down and conflated with a made up goddess that prioritizes women's usefulness to man as her purpose. To be more clear, let me roughly describe Hecate's triple form in history. Hekate of the moon/sky, Hekate of the earth, and Hekate of the underworld. A goddess who was encompassing all places and aspects of life. The ultimate power of the world. She was not this maiden mother and crone being. She has been reduced to this western concept of "maiden, mother, and crone". As if counting the stages of a woman's service to men is to be empowering. As if all women must be these three things. As if women are only worthy of worship if they rear children, or had a period of chastity (maidenship). A spirit that was made up by a man with a breeding kink has claimed the titles of hekate and are now toting her images as if they are her. People are holding this goddess close to their hearts and wombs only to mock greek culture despite not having greek ancestry. Cis women are using Hekate's image to attack trans women and use this made up triplicate nature of child birth and their British founder's obsession with women's bodies to make us seem unnatural. Yet, here they are pretending Hecate, Diana, or whatever name they are aimlessly slapping on this goddess is of natural pagan origin. It all satirically contrasts with the actual historicity of transness. Imagine having the nerve (read: ignorance) to mock me for being trans as if it is a new thing, when the very gods you're using to back it up are from the mind of a mortal man. Trans people have and will always be divine. Even without bearing children, having a womb, or lying with a male god. Your obsession with your baby making abilities is not the feminism you think it is. You can be so much more you terf wiccans. Yet you cling to the parts of yourself a man told you to. Do not use your body as a weapon to shame my body. Because we are both equal in the eyes of men. worthless, and only for sex. Whether its to make a baby or to give a man a shameful night to remember with a tranny. You, like i am, are just a fantasy. And your god emulates that.

Before you tell me I am sexualizing the titles of the maiden, mother, or crone too much, notice how the religion does that itself. Lets not forget how often wicca has holidays devoted purely to their two gods having sex. The maiden claiming to hold this fertile power and being a feminist figure of virginity while also slightly drifting into purity culture is not exactly the feminist religion wicca intends to be. Its damaging if anything. The maiden is simply a title given to woman to hold until she was made pregnant. There is little depth or actual ties a true maiden in the religion may relate to in this goddess. It is such a flat epithet which holds little use for ones faith other than to claim your youth and sexual awakening. And yes, being young and sexual is in line with feminist ideas. Embracing sexuality or the lack of sex is empowering. But this empowerment was not intended by Gardner. The "feminist" nature of the maiden is fairly recent and flawed. And it is still being marked as a woman's title which she can not move from in life until a man allows her to become a mother.

The mother is a a more three dimensional aspect of this spirit. One I think wicca did mostly right. She is the typical mother goddess all religions have. She can be loving, stern, etc. And yet, she is still hollow. Who would she be outside of the other pagan cultures she is based on. Where is her originality? And do modern wiccans realize Gardner did not share the same ideas of her as the religion does now?She was made by a man's idea of a woman just as many other goddesses were, but who was she before? There wasnt always an origin myth. She was the maiden. Wicca tries to make this growth of a goddess reflect human growth expecting it to make her relatable, but it falls flat. She is a mother. cool. She got pregnant. What if a worshipper has no interest in having kids, fertility obsessions, or the sort? what is the point of even worshipping her? in the early stages of wicca, she wasn't a mother goddess in the sense of caring for her worshippers. Gardner in my belief fully intended her to be a way to pull women into the religion by utilizing the growing feminist movement of his time. She was a way for him to express his mommy issues in a spiritual sense as well as to discuss sex between man and a woman in a disturbingly hetero-centric way. It started off as a minor sex cult in the eyes of Christians. And there was some truth to that belief. The mother was cause of this. She allowed space for men to get women to embrace their sexuality in a group setting. It was masked as a feminist idea instead of the reality which was men perversely trying to discuss nature's sexual powers and the power of creation. Many a coven spent time sharing intimate stories and ideas in a setting that was more than just friendly. And I can not be convinced this was not for male gain. With the spread of femininism there were covens who of course tried to rid the group of creepy men. But alas, they all fail to admit the religion was crafted for the very things.

The crone is no better. She is today revered as a source of wisdom or power. Yet in a coven system this "wisdom" is just older coven members using their age as a way to act smarter than their fellow members. The spirit of the crone is an archetype we see in many cultures. I can respect the usefulness of it in one's spiritual hierarchy. Yes, older women are wise. I say this with my fantastic and loving grandmother in mind. But the crone of wicca originally was not as multifaceted as she is today. She was the ending of life. But most importantly and unbeknownst to female members, she was the ending of a woman's sexuality. The idea that after you're old you are no longer beautiful. You are no longer having sex with the male god or bearing children. you are no longer useful to a man unless it is to inspire his art or give him ideas as a source of wisdom. The crone too was made by a man's idea of female aging. The god and goddess were presented to us as a pair on equal footing, but the woman was just to fulfill a role. The god serves an equally damaging role too. Enforcing ideas of masculinity and protectiveness. But it does not hold the same weight as the triplicate nature. It does not follow a man into every stage of his life expecting him to change multiple times. The crone is the end of female empowerment. She is not a servant to her children or husband like the mother, but a servant to men who seek knowledge.

Wicca had a feminist appearance at one time. But it has not aged well. Although many covens try to be inclusive to queer folks, we can not ignore how its own gods do not acknowledge us. I understand the interest in wicca that many (mostly newer) witches have. The hunger for a community or a mentor. But forcing yourself into a highly performance based and gendered grouping is not going to result in a deep faith or fulfilling spiritual life. Yes it can be nice for those of us with OCD or autism to put all of the spirits in boxes and to categorize them into a balanced or symmetrical hierarchy. (god and goddess, sun and moon, life and death.) But the dualism in this religion reflects the gender binary and transphobic agenda within the religion. It can not be escaped. In fact, it is so infectious that traditional witchcraft spaces have adapted these male/female concepts. We have forgotten how feminine the devil is and how the witchmother has a beard. We have allowed our spirits to be organized in ways that fall within the binary. And it all started with Wicca.

So as a response to this malignancy in our community, I kindly tell all of my terfy readers to get fucked. Preferably by the old wrinkly cock that leads your coven.

[jwood718]

A series of links led me to this: Southern Poverty Law Center's article and list of anti-LGBTQ+ groups active in the United States, and their influence on legislation in this country and internationally, and the increasing anti-trans rhetoric, and action, purveyed by them.

SPLC pulls no punches when calling-out people and groups that promote hate in the name of anything else (parents' rights, Christianity, etc) and the same goes here. The list is accompanied by a map featuring how many anti-LGBTQ+ groups are active in each state.

Some highlights:

"In 2023, the number of anti-LGBTQ hate groups listed by SPLC increased by about one-third, to 86. This is the highest number of anti-LGBTQ groups SPLC has ever listed. The increase is largely the result of the activities by groups often described as 'family policy councils,' which operate at the state level in ways that mimic the national organizations Family Research Council and Alliance Defending Freedom...

...the weaponization of pseudoscience as a tool of trans suppression and the targeting of fundamental freedoms like free speech, expression, and assembly through book and drag bans has become a more prominent feature in recent years...

In April 2023, the Heritage Foundation published its 'Mandate for Leadership,' a 900-page handbook that lays out the implementation strategy of its presidential transition plan known as 'Project 2025.' The project represents a dramatic reshaping of the federal government by recruiting and vetting conservative ideologues for positions in a hypothetical 2025 Republican presidential administration. It also represents a dramatic confirmation of the anti-science and anti-LGBTQ focus of the contributors to the plan. Namely, on page 1 of the Mandate for Leadership, Kevin Roberts of the Heritage Foundation claims that 'children suffer the toxic normalization of transgenderism with drag queens and pornography invading their school libraries.' By page 5, Roberts claims, 'pornography' is 'manifested today in the omnipresent propagation of transgender ideology and sexualization of children' and argues that such manifestations be outlawed. Roberts also argues that 'the people who produce and distribute [such materials] should be imprisoned. Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed as registered sex offenders. And telecommunications and technology firms that facilitate its spread should be shuttered.'"

And of course it gets better. I didn't know, but am not surprised to read, that anti-trans rhetorical hate has now been morphed into a version of the "great replacement" conspiracy theory: children, including children of gay or lesbian couples, "...are being replaced or 'transed' against their will by gender-affirming health care and LGBTQ-inclusive educational curricula."

Fuck: anything to rile up people and get them to vote in autocracy.

Full story

[knightofleo]

TRA​И​Ƨ​A by Red Hot Org

"Storied activist and music production non-profit Red Hot presents its latest project, TRAИƧA out November 22nd. With production beginning in 2021, and over 100 artists contributing, TRAИƧA marks one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken by Red Hot - a spiritual journey across 8 chapters and 46 songs, spotlighting the gifts of many of the most daring, imaginative trans and non-binary artists working today. It softens the edges of the world we know, and invokes powerful dreams of the futures that might one day thunder from its cracks. The album's instantly memorable cover speaks to the tension between nature and constructed environments, and the tension of transness in the western gender binary."

Adrianne Lenker, Ahya Simone, Alan Sparhawk (Low), Allison Russell, Am Taylor, Anajah, André 3000, Ana Roxanne, Anjimile, ANOHNI, Arthur Baker, Asher White, AV Maria, Babehoven, Bartees Strange, Belina Rose, Benét, Beverly Glenn-Copeland, Bill Callahan, Blake Mills, Bloomsday, Calvin Lauber, Caroline Rose, Cassandra Croft, Cassandra Jenkins, Ceyenne Doroshow, Christian Lee Hutson, Claire Rousay, Clairo, CLARITY, Cole Pulice, Devendra Banhart, Dirty Projectors, Eileen Myles, Eli Winter, Elizabeth Glenn-Copeland, Ezra Furman, Faye Webster, Fleet Foxes, Frank Cosmos, Gary Gunn, Gia Margaret, Green-House, Grouper, Hand Habits, Heart Shaped, Helado Negro, Hunter Schafer, Imara Jones, Jamal Shakeri, Jay Dee Daugherty, Jayne County, Jeff Tweedy, Jlin, Joy Guidry, Julianna Barwick, Julie Byrne, Julien Baker, Kara Jackson, Kathi Wilcox, Kb Borins, Kelela, L'rain, Laaraji, Laura Jane Grace, Lauren Auder, Lee Ranaldo, Lightning Bug, Lomelda, Lucy Liyou, Lynn Avery, Lyra Pramuk, Mary Lattimore, Mizu, Mojo Disco, Moor Mother, More Eaze, Moses Sumney, Nico Georis, Nina Keith, Niecy Blues, Nsámbu Za Suékama, Quinn Christopherson, Pepper Mashay, Perfume Genius, Pharoah Sanders, Rachika Nayar, Sade, Sam Smith, Sharon Van Etten, SOAK, Soft Rōnin, SKY, SPARKLE DIVISION (William Basinski), Taryn Blake Miller, Teddy Geiger, Time Wharp, Wendy & Lisa, Yaeji, Yaya Bey

[whats-amata-you]

Man it’s weird being trans. Like yeah I did always know, I did my googling waaaaaaay back in middle school and found the gender vs sex rabbit hole when I was like 11 on ye olde 2004 Wikipedia, I prayed for years for god to let me be some kind of intersex that just looks female so I wouldn’t get boobs or periods, I asked my Texan dad to call me “sir” instead of “ma’am” when I was maybe 7 and he did for a week before he realized I wasn’t going to get sick of it.

But I didn’t always KNOW. I grew up under this weird kind of rock made of autism and whiteness and being middle-class and non-denominational Christian, so I was brought up believing everyone was basically the same, and then there were The Weird Ones, but The Weird Ones were usually fine as long as they weren’t being “in your face” about things. I knew that there were men and there were women and there were intersex people, I knew what was expected of men and what was expected of women. But I didn’t know how the cishets ACTUALLY saw the queers. I didn’t know the consequences of being born in a female body but insisting on being a boy. I didn’t know what my transness would actually cost if I pushed too hard for it.

And no,I didn’t try, because I didn’t know it was an option, obviously. But I’d never seen trans people anywhere before, never heard of them outside that Wikipedia article, never saw them referenced in media (we only got PBS until I was 16 and by then I was disinterested in almost anything outside my hyperfixations). I heard about gay people, and how it was wrong to sleep with someone of the same sex, but it was the lukewarm distaste of casual homophobia that just “doesn’t want to see it.” The biggest cost I actually saw to queer people was just… people not wanting to see them kiss their partner. As an aroace kid, I didn’t understand why that would be a big deal for either side.

I’d only heard of HIV and AIDS in dry, clinical explanations in sex ed. “It’s a sexually transmitted virus so use a condom every time, it also spreads via needles so don’t do drugs. The virus works like this and destroys your immune system so even a cold can kill you. You cannot get it by breathing their air or touching them or using a toilet seat or whatever, it has to be bodily fluids and usually not saliva. It’s incurable and fatal.” In retrospect, I learned WAY more about HIV/AIDS than a lot of kids did back in the late 90s and early 2000s, so that’s a mark in favor of Washington state (or maybe just that particular school district). But I never, not even once, heard queer people of any type and AIDS mentioned in the same sentence. I never heard of “the AIDS crisis” or its impact on the queer community until after I graduated high school and met a queer or two on the internet.

My old mentor Orion would probably have been shocked and appalled. She must have lived through and seen so much that I never knew about up until the last couple years, actively chasing down this elusive thing called “queer history” that I’d never known existed until I created a tumblr account in 2017.

I’m an aroace gay gnc trans masc enby. I could fill an entire book just explaining all the different aspects to my own queerness that I’ve found over the years. Most of it is just stuff I found words for, not things I didn’t already know about myself. And I never, until 2017, had any clue what any of it actually means in the context of society, culture, or politics.

I dunno what to do with that. I’m gonna chew on it for a while longer.

[haymarketvtubestuff]

GENDER ANARCHISM

Or: In Praise Of and Calling For Gender-Nonconformity, Transgenderism, and Transsexualization

by “The Beautiful Creatures”

In a social structure that mandates one form of expression or another, it is an act of high treason to show disdain towards the rules one may view at best as arbitrary, at worst hostile. Men are expected to dress for more formal events in a suit and tie that give a sense of armor, while women are expected to be in dresses that may unnecessarily expose. Certain empowerment movements encourage women to wear the suit, but have historically balked at men engaging in a similar script-flipping. Meanwhile, queer and drag communities, which celebrate the subversion of societal expectations, have at times upheld those expectations. 

Attempts to destroy the rigidity of this structure, including genderpunk (or, to use the more transgressive term, “genderfuck”, used by Christopher Lonc in his Gay Sunshine article “Genderfuck and its Delights”), aim to rebel against binarist understandings of gender. However, the practice more frequently focuses on gender-bending or -mixing, rather than the de-emphasis of the importance of gender. 

We are not necessarily arguing for the total destruction of the label, or even the complete unisexing of society. Instead, we argue for the embracing of what Jacob Tobia calls “gender chill” and what Rae McDaniel calls “gender freedom”. In a 2019 interview with Trevor Noah, Tobia calls for embracing gender as “a playful thing, where there’s no patriarchy, no misogyny, none of the things that make gender suck” and where it is more of a “dress-up bin” that encourages experimentation.[1] McDaniel adapts this mindset in Gender Magic and expands upon it: “Gender freedom is not about erasing gender, but allowing it to be a playground, full of richness and individuality and freedom for everyone, cis and trans alike.”[2] McDaniel wants the reader to imagine “all that’s possible when we show up for ourselves and the world from our authenticity and deep self-knowledge.”[3] We seek the same. 

To the authors, it is clear that, so long as misogyny and patriarchy influence the setting in which we discuss gender expression and experimentation, ideas such as “genderpunk” or even “gender chill” will be met with extreme opposition. Anarchist (and anarchism-friendly) voices have correctly pinpointed patriarchal hierarchical systems as a strong negative influence, and more voices than ours have spoken at length regarding the topics of gender and liberation. 

To keep the definition as simple as possible, to be “trans” is to “not identify with your assigned gender”.[4] The complications begin with that last word - gender. Only during the 20th century was “gender” used to signify as to whether one was male or female. This strict either/or was upheld as scientifically sound, with anything beyond the two labels punished as aberrations by the likes of John Money and his counterparts who viewed intersexuality as a biological mistake - a view unfortunately continued into the early 21st century, with nonconsensual surgical procedures being done on newborns the moment an “oddity” is spotted. Interphobic views are present within queer communities - more strongly so in the conservatively-minded, but no less near-universally present - and these views do nothing but uphold the very hierarchical and patriarchal system we supposedly fight against. As such, more nuanced conversations regarding the complexities of gender and sex must continue, even in the event of a successful revolution. 

Our personal experiences with gender and with presentation are varied, though the authors admit that our experiences are united and informed by white Christian colonialism that requires constant unlearning and fighting against. It is with this in mind that we understand the existence of an intersection between gender and social role that has historically led to the active nullification of transness.[5] “People who lived as a different gender as part of their job or social position are overwhelmingly characterised as ‘disguised’ or ‘cross-dressing’ men or women, the gender they lived as nothing more than a masquerade.”[6] Both historically and in the present, gender and gender presentation are viewed as duties to uphold, rather than mere labels that ultimately have no bearing on how we will provide nutrients to the vegetation six feet above us. And yet there is an inherent defiance in this borderline postgenderist realization that is curiously opposed by those who seek to call themselves “gender critical” or “anti-gender” (and, yes, we are well aware of those camps being in favor of upholding the patriarchal system under which we all suffer).

The issue with attempting to modify one’s gender presentation is that we are informed by a myriad of stereotypes, and those stereotypes change within the culture or cultures of our upbringing. Therefore, we cannot assume that one particular experience with gendered presentations, such as those informed by western European understandings, is the only one in which other parties are required to maneuver. At the same time, we must be wary of attempting to impose labels such as gender on non-US and non-European social structures. For example, it would not be entirely accurate to label the hijras in India, the kathoey in Thailand, or the bissu in Sulawesi strictly as queer, transgender, or nonbinary.[7] These (English) labels have a political nature to them in the same way that our wishing to present a particular way has its own political nature to it. It is not on its own conservative, progressive, liberationist, or authoritarian, this want to play around in the dress-up bin, but it is made into one because of the systems in which we live. A child’s simply asking why girls wear dresses and boys wear pants risks being met with undue anger and punishment. We can already imagine what potentially comes with acting upon mere curiosity.

There are many in our societies who realize as well that they do not fall into the initial label given at birth, at naming ritual, or similar. While the admittedly reductive labels of cisgender (identifying with this initial label) and transgender (not identifying with this initial label) are political in nature and prone to being used in an imperialist fashion, those of us who make use of these labels understand that living experiences and labels are not so set in stone as we imagine them to be. At the same time, the risk of reinforcing the structure remains, as there exist camps in both cis and trans communities that argue that there is no such thing as a nonbinary experience, or outright invalidate or fetishize the existence of those who are gender-nonconforming with regards to presentation. In regards to the former, the enbyphobic viewpoint demands adherence to strict binarism in label and in presentation; as for the latter, this is unfortunately a frequent circumstance involving chasers who either want “a taste of the wild side” or demonstrate a jealousy of the gender freedom espoused by those who dare to go beyond societal expectations. 

When we speak of the embracing of gender freedom, we speak both of experimentation and of complete liberation. When one experiments with identity and with presentation, one has greater opportunities to discover what works, what doesn’t, and what is just “meh”. Judith Butler defines gender as “[an] apparatus by which the production and normalization of masculine and feminine take place along with the interstitial forms of hormonal, chromosomal, psychic, and performative that gender assumes”,[8] so to recognize gender less as male and female and more as a system is to begin to understand where we come from. However, views such as gender nihilism, which seek the total destruction of gender, are not compatible with what we propose. The structure needs to be destroyed, yes, but total negation of the self and of the other for the sake of total equality does not give room for expression. In a universe that is uncaring towards labels such as gender, there is still meaning to be found not in creating associations that depend on a hierarchical system, but instead in the creation and maintenance of a mutualist web.

Ours is an absurdist stance in this regard, for while there exists the meaningless conflict between "male" and "female", the conflict only exists because the system depends on an artificial and hierarchical structure, upon which "male" is arbitrarily placed at the top. By all means should this Tower of Babel be destroyed - instead of building upwards towards the heavens, we should build structures where we are more free to support each other, and to encourage experimentation and growth. 

How can one, then, help in the destruction of the restrictive system we currently call gender? We must first cast out the seemingly firm rules. Little rebellions eventually lead to big ones (and that is what an authoritarian is constantly on the lookout for!). Who says, for example, that a man cannot be a man if they wear nail polish or the tiniest bit of makeup? Who says there aren’t heels your size? (Do, however, start reasonably - going straight for 4-inch platforms is asking for disaster if you’re only beginning to practice.) Who says you look bad in a skirt? Maybe you just need to find the right pattern or cut to accent your favorite parts about you. Experimentation helps to find what works - and finding what doesn’t eventually puts one in the right direction. The joy comes from seeking out what works and finding what does - the “failures” are just lessons we pick up in our practice. 

As for what you call it - having fun. Crossdressing. Being faggy or butch. Refusing to conform to the rules of gender expression. Gender chill. Gender freedom. Pick a name and run with it. Talk about it with people you trust - and people you can seek advice from. Practice that confidence! Find that joy! It is yours for the taking! 

And if, in the process, you find that there is joy beyond the gender of your birth to the point where you realize you find minimal to no joy in that assigned gender, then leave! Hit the bricks! Just walk out! Real winners know when the fight isn’t worth it.[9]  Your gender is yours to define, and that is a beautiful thing. 

From the ashes and rubble of the old, we can create the new. So long as there is intention and a willingness to cultivate, we have the opportunity to bring new life into something. Gender does not have to be a thing of governance - instead, let it be a canvas on which you express yourself through various means. If taking hormones (or even just the “bioidentical” stuff) to make you look or feel more like yourself does the trick, do what helps you express yourself. Become the figure of freedom you wish to be. 

There’s still time! Break free of the false structure! Refuse to conform! Emancipate yourself from gender rules!  Be your whole, full, genuine self! Do what you can, while you can! Do not conform to false traditions! Cross the river that is Gender! Transsexualize!

--

NOTES

“Jacob Tobia - Promoting a “Gender-Chill” Exploration of Identity with “Sissy” | The Daily Show” March 21, 2019. Accessed May 12, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo3rCzl_JB4

McDaniel, Rae. Gender Magic: Live Shamelessly, Reclaim Your Joy, & Step into Your Most Authentic Self (p. 19). Grand Central Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Ibid.

n1x. “Trans Nihilism”. Dated Sept. 23, 2017. Accessed May 13, 2024. https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/n1x-trans-nihilism 

Heyam, Dr. Kit. Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender (pp. 35-36). Basic Books. Kindle Edition

Ibid., p. 36

Lee, Juan. “Queer Identity Politics and the Colonial Character.” Dated June 20, 2023. Accessed May 13, 2024. https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/juan-lee-queer-identity-politics-and-the-colonial-character 

Butler, Judith. Undoing Gender (p. 42). Routledge.

Thank you, @dasharez0ne, for all the shitposting you do over a hot stove.

[transienttheologyproject]

i literally keep forgetting to use this blog for its intended purpose. anyway.

TRANSIENT THEOLOGY ZINE RELEASE AT MIDNIGHT EST TONIGHT

if you’re a genderqueer christian, or if you know & love a genderqueer christian, or if you’re simply learning more about how christianity and transness intersect with one another rather than contradict each other, then consider checking out the Transient Theology Zine — digital version drops & preorders for physical copies open TONIGHT on https://transienttheologyproject.weebly.com!

[reviewsthatburn]

HELL FOLLOWED WITH US is the story of a trans boy during the apocalypse, trying to avoid turning into a biblically accurate angel; a creature of such mind-bending grotesquery and body horror that any conversation is required to start with “be not afraid” so that the other person hopefully doesn't run away screaming.

For some people there is body horror inherent in transness or in dysphoria, in the inexorable change of flesh into a form you’ve seen elsewhere but are utterly unable to recognize as yours. HELL FOLLOWED WITH US deals with themes of monstrosity and transness by embracing their connections during an apocalypse launched by evangelical Christians (a horrifyingly effective homophobic/transphobic/misogynistic death cult). It stars Benji, a teenage trans boy who is uninterested in most of the superficial trappings of masculinity because he’s going to be a decaying monster within a month anyway, his form utterly distorted beyond anything even the best binder could contain. 

There are strong themes of religious abuse, body horror, transphobia, and dysphoria. The short version is I love how HELL FOLLOWED WITH US engages with these topics, but please take care of yourselves. 

(Full Review at link)

[alephskoteinos]

Everyone's new favorite consummate liar Michael Knowles insisted on his show that transness is "demonic" (as if that's a bad thing lol!) because of its supposed "attacks on Man's sexual nature and sexual difference and complimentarity", and supporting this with specious arguments about the ostensibly gender non-conforming appearance of demons. The thing to note about that is that this is basically the exact same argument against transness as the supposedly "progressive" Pope Francis' line on so-called "gender ideology". In fact, it's been official Catholic Church doctrine on the subject for decades now. No shit, I guess, because Knowles himself is a Catholic, and a tradcath at that (by definition, at least since he practices the Traditional Latin Mass alongside being a social conservative).

But he also goes into familiar right-wing Christian crank territory by portraying the figure of Baphomet, as depicted by Eliphas Levi, as a demon symbol of "transgenderism". He bases this on the fact that some parts of Baphomet's body are male and some parts are female, claiming this to be a "trans depiction" of a man and woman fused together, which is a little strange because that sounds like it's something different from just being trans in itself. I suppose in his deep-seatedly reactionary mind he can't help but conceive of transness as a condition of the fusion of two sexes. He also fixates on the words "solve" and "coagula" appearing on his arms, which he interprets as denoting the idea that "transgenderism" calls for the breaking down and putting back together of everything. Baphomet, per Eliphas Levi, is not simply a demon, rather it is meant as an esoteric image of the totality of the whole universe. Its very appearance conveys a coincidence or unity of opposites, as in all opposed elements and forces brought together within the entire body of the cosmos.

As shallow as his interpretation of "solve et coagula" is, though, there's something to be said in defence of "breaking everything down and reassembling it" as an idea - that is to say, why is that a bad thing? - insofar as it describes the endless chain of becoming and re-ordering that is cosmic life. The world is not ordered as it appears to be, but is instead constantly re-ordered. Life itself is an insurrection that overturns everything, and your life in turn is its own insurrection that can alchemically overturn everything in your world. That is something that transphobic traditionalist conservatism is not capable of seeing.

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

“I have had only two vocations in life. One was to be a priest, and one was to be a woman.” – Anglican priest Carol Stone upon coming out in 2000

The concept of transness as a holy calling is one that's close to my heart. Of course not every trans person is going to resonate with this concept and that's okay! But for those who do, I just wanted to share some quotes I've gathered over the years — I hope that's okay, op.

"I look at my experiences of gender as the following of an invitation from God to participate in a new, whole, and healthy way of living in the world – a holy invitation to set out on a journey of transformation of body, mind, and spirit. ... Rather than simply being a fluke, an oddity, or a source of shame, gender variance comes to be seen as part of our God-given identities. Even more than that, it becomes our spiritual responsibility to explore fully the nature that God has given to us. Like a calling, our sense of our own genders arises from within us and, at the same time, seems to come from a source that is beyond our control or volition..."

- Rev. Dr. Justin Tanis in Trans-gender: Theology, Ministry, and Communities of Faith (originally published 2003)

Trans people are “engaged in a sacred and holy task when they undertake such a difficult passage [transition]. Rather than attempt to see this passage as something shameful and guilty, we must see it as children of God taking seriously God’s creation of them as creatures who are made in the image of God being therefore co-creators with God and see it as children of God taking seriously God’s calling of them to ruthlessly remove any hindrances to their being whom God desires them to be so they may serve God to their fullest.”

– Starchild

"Everything I have done is at God's command; and if He had ordered me to assume a different habit, I should have done it, because it would have been His command." ... "For nothing in the world will I swear not to arm myself and put on a man’s dress; I must obey the orders of Our Lord." 

- Excerpts from Joan of Arc's trial, where Joan was questioned over and over about wearing men's clothes

"The process of the individual and the community co-creating the pastoral identity is not unlike my own experience of gender: first an inward experience, then expressed and affirmed through my public transition. Likewise, my experience of transness is its own kind of vocation, one that identifies me with and commits me to solidarity with the gender deviants currently under threat of persecution by the state. My experience of Christian discipleship and this 'fire in my bones' to preach the gospel is another vocation, one that—for now—leads me to pursue ordination within the United Methodist Church. I know I cannot compromise one for the sake of the other, if I seek to live up to the calling(s) I have received (Ephesians 4:1). Yet whether these two vocations will ultimately coalesce within the UMC remains unclear, depending primarily on the choices of human beings endowed with institutional authority. Either way, 'God’s gifts and God’s calling are irrevocable' (Romans 11:29). I trust that God’s Spirit will lead me in the footsteps of Jesus—whether in confrontation with oppressive religious authorities in the centers of power or outside the city walls where the non-conforming bodies make their own home together.

- Luke Melonakos-Harrison

"Another thing that has been a real gift to me, a phrase that I’ve held onto, was actually something that when I first came to seminary...the dean at the time talked to the group of us about: 'How do you understand your vocation?' ..And he said, 'One thing to ask yourself is, what are the things that I can’t not do? The things that I would be doing even if nobody paid me to do them, even if people told me that I shouldn’t be doing them?...' When I got to the point of, it is time for me to pick back up off the shelf the idea that I might be a trans person and to start asking what would be involved in walking down that road, I started to ask, 'Is this something I can’t not do?'"

- Willow Hovingh in her guest ep on Blessed Are the Binary Breakers

"I see being genderqueer, being nonbinary, as part of the calling God gave me — to be open about my transness in ways that help other people learn about the diversity of gender, and that nothing is as binary as we want it to be. In God, there truly is "no male and female" — meaning that that binary, as Paul writes it in Galatians 3:28 — there is no binary male and female."

- Avery Arden (oh gee that's me lol) in Blessed of the Binary Breakers

“I asked the great beyond to send me the name I would live with, and weeks later I woke with it heavy on my tongue, as though angels had rested their flaming swords in my mouth while I slept, breathed its syllables into my dreaming head. …In this name I am conceived. The pause between names was pregnant with me. My blood is learning to pulse and flow. My body, raw and red and wet, is taking its shape."

- Darin Isaac Blue on the divine gift of their new name

today in church one of the priests referred to trans people as "those who are growing into the gender they were called to be" and i'm kind of enjoying the idea of like....divinely ordained top surgery

[womenvoices]

‘Who says trans people have to trace their transness to their childhood to be taken seriously? Also, yeah, children are too young and underdeveloped to be making decidisons like that’

Ah yes, far, far too young to understand the basic concepts of gender but just old enough for your priests to rape them. That is you were insinuating, isn’t it, Christian? That’s the only way you could possibly justify such a stupid comment, is justifying the abuses that your holy men love to commit against elementary schoolers.

Yes, children are way too young and underdeveloped to make such drastic and life-altering decisions. I wrote an essay about it here. If you would actually like to talk about it, I am open to discussion.

Also, when did I ever say children (or anyone for that matter) are old enough for priests to rape them? If you spent more than five seconds on my blog, you’d know how condemnable I believe rape is.

Also, it is pretty unfair for you to make such assumptions. You clearly don’t know anything about Christianity if you think that is something that all priests do. I’m not denying the fact that it has happened before, but priests are not the only people who have used their position of power to take advantage of others. It’s not about priesthood, it’s about a power advantage.

Your ask is quite honestly the stupidest one I have ever received. You responded to my facts and reason with “sO yOu ThInK iTs OkAy WhEn PrIeStS rApE kIdS?”

Also, calling me Christian as a derogatory term doesn’t work because I am proudly a Christian. Thank you!

[111seedhillroad]

i find it interesting how the metaphysical explanation of transness like "she's a woman in spirit" is usually more compelling to the average cis person than something rooted in desire "she likes to be a woman". Even though these are just framings of the same thing; liking to be a woman is not a free choice, its intrinsic to one's personal inclinations in spite of one's upbringing. You could just as easily call these uncontrollable, intangible aspects of self "spirit". It's just that western christian culture thinks of wanting and liking as potential temptation that must be resisted through free will to become closer to God. In that framing to "like being a woman" is sinful whereas being "born in the wrong body" is more like a curse or a challenging destiny to be endured.