Last week, conservative journalist Chadwick Moore commented on US gubernatorial candidate Christine Hallquist’s historic win as the first transgender major party nominee for governor of a US state. In an interview with Fox News, Moore basically said that Christine’s victory is due to her “transgender privilege.”
We quote: “She can get away with many, many things simply by being transgender […] I mean, who knows if that’s even how she won this primary. But while the entire country is fixated on the fact that she’s transgender, nobody knows anything about her policies.”
Well, the Internet wasn’t having it. Immediately after the interview, #TransgenderPrivilege became a trending topic, with several netizens correcting the journalist as to what the phrase really means.
#transgenderprivilege is when conservative lawmakers are trying to make your very existence illegal but are still among the “chasers” trying to coerce you into sex & asking breathlessly if you’ll “top” them.
— The Lady Of Gehenna (@GwendolynLesch) August 19, 2018
#transgenderprivilege is disclosing trans status and applying for 46 jobs you can do blindfolded and not getting a single interview.
NOT declaring trans status for 6 jobs and getting 4 interviews.— LisaKelly (@LisaKelly2013) August 19, 2018
#TransgenderPrivilege is having #Texas require a signed affidavit from an “older relative” giving you permission to change your own damn birth certificate.
— Chrystina Lynne (@ChrystinaLynne) August 19, 2018
#transgenderprivilege is having to beg strangers online for money so you can move your child away from the town she was born in because the local yokels are threatening to beat her & mutilate her in the bathroom at school.
— The Lady Of Gehenna (@GwendolynLesch) August 19, 2018
#transgenderprivilege is going to a mass-funeral every year in November because cis people have been literally hunting & killing our Sisters & Brothers all year long.
— The Lady Of Gehenna (@GwendolynLesch) August 19, 2018
#transgenderprivilege is being told you can’t be seen by children because it will confuse them and them not being old enough to “understand.”
— Terra Torment ?☠️ (@terra_torment) August 19, 2018
#transgenderprivilege is being blamed for the negative and hurtful behaviors of others. Being told that you “deserve it”, and that it’s “your choice”. As if there was ever an option other than being yourself…
— Zoë Wylde (@theWyldeSide) August 19, 2018
#transgenderprivilege is getting anxiety when a stranger asks you your name
— Jason the kitty 251 (@jasonthekitty12) August 19, 2018
#transgenderprivilege is fearing that to actually get a job you will have to either go back in the closet or cut your hair dress like men are “supposed to” and probably go on T so you can actually pass
— Jason the kitty 251 (@jasonthekitty12) August 19, 2018
The outpour of tweets ironically gave light to the marginalized state of transgenders. A US Trans Survey conducted in 2015 detailed how transgender people are more prone to verbal harassment, work discriminations such as getting fired or denied a job or promotion due solely on their gender identity, and physical assault by members of their own family. Moreover, according to reports, many transgender Americans have a hard with even being able to vote in elections.
In an interview with Them, current President of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, Annise Parker said, “They claimed Vermont primary voters know nothing beyond her gender identity while in fact the opposite is true—voters chose Christine because of her experience and positions, not because of her gender identity, and it is an insult to Vermont voters to say otherwise.” She also pointed out why the Fox News interview was even more problematic. “For two cisgender white men on Fox News to bemoan ‘transgender privilege’ in a conversation about one of the few openly trans candidates in the entire nation requires extraordinary ignorance, at best.”
Art by Marian Hukom
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