Transsexual is now "offensive" within the trans community...?

[ShotsFired]

This was posted as triggering examples of transphobia. I haven't included the actual screenshots as they didn't add much apart from identifying info.

Someone on tinder asks if the OP is "ts" (transsexual) or a "cd" (cross dresser), because they are into that.

OP then goes on to explain how transsexual is now offensive/dehumanising/a porno term.

I'm sure there is a whole community of transsexual people out there who would protest quite strongly about their sexualised pigeonholing and/or erasure...

It is considered very outdated and inaccurate, since it has nothing to do with sexuality. It is used more in a medical sense, the same way someone would describe themselves as fat/curvy/chunky, rather than obese.

Trans people don't have an issue with people identifying as transsexuals, but the term should not be broadly used for people you don't know. The same way some people in the LGBT community identify as queer, whilst some see that as a slur.

The whole trans movement prefers to use transgender or trans as it makes it sound more family friendly, ie its ok to be a trans kid. It does sound weird to talk about a young prepubescent child being transexual. (Not so warm & cosy.) That is why they try & move away from TS.

But I think we all know this already!

Trans people don't have an issue with people identifying as transsexuals

Well this person does, as they are speaking fairly categorically about the term? They say it is used in porn and is dehumanizing and offensive.

Also that cross dresser is "probably the most insulting" thing they have ever been called, yet places like Stonewall have no beef with it and include it in their definitions.

The main problem with the term "transsexual" from the perspective of activists is that it has meaning. They know there is a weakness in average people becoming aware that there's a difference between "transsexuals" and the majority of transgender people.

The most effective tactic activists have deployed by far is to strip meaning from many of the key terms in this issue: woman, sex, gender, trans, intersex, feminism, and on it goes. Drain everything of meaning and then, hey presto!, women have a difficult time maintaining their boundaries.

No i can go along with the issue in this case, and actually think transsexual is an unhelpful term anyway.

It would be like me putting 'a few extra pounds' on a dating profile and getting a message asking if i had 'chubby folds beause i'm into that'. Yuk. I think it's dehumanising ratger than transphobic.

Transsexual does tend to suggest to me that the person involved thinks they can change sex. Not sure that's helpful.

It's a weird subversion of language, isn't it? Transsexual implies changing sex, and in the past, trans people did do what they could to change their sex characteristics, and try to blend in with the opposite sex. Transgender implies changing gender, which is more to do with behaviour or presentation (clothes, etc).

Transsexuals who have had surgery are now also sometimes referred to as truscum by those who are transgender in the performative sense. So the ones who have gone to greater lengths to change their bodies due to suffering from sex dysphoria are looked down on by the rest of the transgender community for whom it's all about performance and presentation.

Transsexual does tend to suggest to me that the person involved thinks they can change sex.

Don't transgender people declare that they have changed sex? Isn't that what gets transwomen into women's prisons?

Trans is nothing to do with sexuality
IMO it is to disguise how few have anything but superficial operations

Transgender is a marketing term, so that CDs could access legal rights intended for TSs.

I say this as someone who does not use porn, trans or otherwise.

There is a move towards reclaiming the term ‘transsexual’ by those who feel it best describes them.

These are often people who want nothing to do with the current TRA ideology.

Yes oldcrone. I don't think anyone can change sex. And i guess 'transsexual' might be more positive than 'sex dysphoric'. Transgender i guess sounds a lot more cool than 'recreational hormone user'. I don't want to have kneejerk reactions to anything in this area though.

Yes! Transexual is exactly how DHs mate describes himself. Well, "cross dressing tranny" is his usual declaration.

He is a man, wants to be a man, but he does love a good frock... and the look on people's faces when they first see him. He is unapologetic about it, it is who he is. And who he has been since his late teens.

Now we are all in our 50s he seems to be controversial again, as he is not trans anything really! He just has a bit of a thing for dresses and can't see why he should redefine himself to please some bloke who can't bring himself to acknowledge he has the same fetish!

I would rather be addressed as a transexual or that gay bloke in a dress than transgender, I feel that TG has been hijacked by people who claim they are trans but take next to no steps to transition or be passable, the same people who call me truscum and scream abuse or threaten women and disrupt meetings such as WPUK, the same people who demand access to womens spaces despite having a working penis while ignoring that some women have been grievously traumatised by men.

Is it because of Rocky Horror?
Transexual always reminds me of the sweet transvestite song

Chrisinthemorning
Epic film and the stage shows are even better

There's a whole group of people who claim and use transsexual to distinguish themselves from 'trans gender' because they have dysphoria and seek treatment etc. They are often insulted as 'truscum'. It is quite a friction within that world.

As far as I’m aware transsexual appears to be offensive to those who don’t actually have dysphoria and are hiding behind those who do. I don’t actually give a shit about offending those people

Has anyone got Ruth Hunt on speed dial? Stonewall, and their all-encompassing 'trans umbrella', needs a redraw! Better phone Scottish Trans straight afterwards!

How 'transgender' all started was to piggyback into the LGB (which already had Drag Queens and Transsexuals) and claim to be the new but undiscovered variation. After a takeover of the LGBnowT organisations, one by one, they are jettisoning the original inhabitants. First Lesbian, then Drag Queens, and I guess now, Transsexuals are next on the list. Welcome to your erasure TS, we will have a to mull it over, join the L and the W.

I guess Gay Men will eventually be shamed out of the LGBT, perhaps that will require GM to be deemed 'transphobic' for NOT 'transitioning'. Then the erasure of homosexuality will be complete.

Lesbians were the canaries in the coal mine on this. Followed by Class Woman, followed by the other letters in the alphabet. Perhaps listen to women next time, eh?

The term cross dressing to mean a man wearing dresses etc is ridiculous, I'm a woman so am I cross dressing when I wear trousers? Men and woman should be able to wear dresses and skirts or trousers without it being a big deal.

Is “two spirit” illustrated by two hanging feathers? Do they realise that is cultural appropriation and offensive? Or does offence only happen TOWARDS them?

(from the picture)

Trans Umbrella: Encompasses any individual who crosses over or challenges their society's traditional gender roles and/or expressions.

Surely that definition includes gender-critical women?
This could start getting very confusing

DryHeave yes it is represented by two hanging feathers because that is the symbolism that two spirit people use... Two Spirit and Intersex don't belong under the trans umbrella though, and putting them there is reductive and harmful. But that single graphic does not represent the beliefs of the entire community, and to use it as if it does is also reductive.

Another thing I have heard them called by transactivists is "HBSers" HBS stands for Harry Benjamin syndrome.

http://sjwiki.org/wiki/HarryBenjaminn_syndrome

(There is a trigger warning - read it and see if you can see why)

It's been this way for a while, they've sought to erase transexual as a descriptor within media organisations and been largely successful.

The next people after transsexuals to be publicly thrown under the bus by the TRA will be non-op self ID advocates who are deemed to have 'passing privilege'.

The order so far has been
Lesbians
All women
Gay men
Transexual people opposed to self ID
All transexual people
And next: any trans XY with 'passing privilege' will be considered an oppressor

At any stage in this process, any previous trans ally can be cast out and condemned for the slightest demonstration of broadmindedness cf Caroline Lucas

And next: any trans XY with 'passing privilege' will be considered an oppressor

YY I have seen this suggested a few times.