Andie

As a transgender person currently living in central PA, it is not an exaggeration to say that I sometimes feel disenfranchised. Having been denied housing on my college campus was enough of a kick in the face that I sort of had the feeling that things were hopeless. I can’t imagine why, but there remains some animosity perhaps left over from the 80’s, or maybe because people are still reading Janice Raymond’s Transsexual Empire, but I think there still needs to be healing between feminists and trans activists.

It is a conflict that I still see today, and I have been having trouble explaining it. As a trans person I feel the consequences of patriarchy in a way that I always thought would have most other feminists would appreciate and would affirm what we’ve all been saying for years. We should make natural allies. I think feminism today has made tremendous strides towards being more trans-inclusive, and reading the posts on this and many other blogs has done nothing but confirm this.

However, I think there is still more healing that needs to be done, especially after a legacy of brilliant feminist scholars who deliberately shut the door of inclusion in the face of their trans family. A point of contention that I think needs to be addressed is the argument about essence. I think there has been an unfortunate history of trans rhetoric where we have been tempted to explain our experiences away as ...