RE: https://eldritch.cafe/@Tattie/116387591485892965
This thread made me reconsider my terminology. When I transitioned in the nineties, I was a transsexual. I transitioned, and got away from trans and got on with my life. Trans was something you did and forgot about. In no way did I pass perfectly. I was nonbinary and didn't have a name for it. I felt I had failed in some way. I didn't have anything to offer the trans community. I didn't even know there was a trans community.
My partner would sometimes ask me "Why don't you follow any trans people online?" And I would reply "Why would I do that?"
That changed with the rise of organized transphobia. Being loudly trans was important, and it seemed that now being trans wasn't just something you did, it was something you always are.
Emerging from my time capsule, I was confused that people were transgender now... Transsexual was a slur! I found that a bit offensive. I had wanted to change my body, and gender had just been an obstacle course thrown in my way. At no point was I transing my gender.
Tattie (npub1qyr…refj) reminded me of the other side of the label. How important it was for us transsexuals to not be seen as sketchy transvestites. The community was divided by the two labels. The transvestites were given shame, and the transexuals were policed with a shameful example to avoid.
It is a very delayed realization, but I see why we moved on from the transsexual terminology.
nostr:note1c3jpzsdeyp0yzgtf88yv5kejcd90kd5at8d2vmf4mr3zs8fje2ysmpnuwf
SecondUniverse (she/her/they)
npub1p9…ss52j
2026-04-11 23:06:49 UTC
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2026-04-11 23:06:49 UTCEvent JSON
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"content": "RE: https://eldritch.cafe/@Tattie/116387591485892965\n\nThis thread made me reconsider my terminology. When I transitioned in the nineties, I was a transsexual. I transitioned, and got away from trans and got on with my life. Trans was something you did and forgot about. In no way did I pass perfectly. I was nonbinary and didn't have a name for it. I felt I had failed in some way. I didn't have anything to offer the trans community. I didn't even know there was a trans community.\n\nMy partner would sometimes ask me \"Why don't you follow any trans people online?\" And I would reply \"Why would I do that?\"\n\nThat changed with the rise of organized transphobia. Being loudly trans was important, and it seemed that now being trans wasn't just something you did, it was something you always are. \n\nEmerging from my time capsule, I was confused that people were transgender now... Transsexual was a slur! I found that a bit offensive. I had wanted to change my body, and gender had just been an obstacle course thrown in my way. At no point was I transing my gender.\n\nnostr:npub1qyr35n05fgvc30kk4xjg5lf7hnyflkskfy9tpgwzfhn9j34hh46qdhrefj reminded me of the other side of the label. How important it was for us transsexuals to not be seen as sketchy transvestites. The community was divided by the two labels. The transvestites were given shame, and the transexuals were policed with a shameful example to avoid.\n\nIt is a very delayed realization, but I see why we moved on from the transsexual terminology.\nnostr:note1c3jpzsdeyp0yzgtf88yv5kejcd90kd5at8d2vmf4mr3zs8fje2ysmpnuwf\n",
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