Transsexual Medical Rights Pioneer Suzan Cooke
Suzan Cooke is a longtime veteran in the struggle for women born with transsexual and/or intersex medical conditions. She has been very intrumental is combating the epidemic of her community being marginalized by some of the transgender identified people, cross-dressing males and gay/lesbian politicos who have usurped the definition of the transsexualism birth challenge into either a game chip to be used by Gay, Inc and TG, Inc to further their sexual-orientation only agenda, or to miseducate the public into thinking transsexualism is an "identity or expression", when in fact it is a biological and medical condition (transsexual women are not drag queens, crossdrsssers, gender queer activists, etc).
Currently, Nikki Araguz, a heterosexual female in Texas dealing with a law suit pertaining to her birth challenge status, is being misrepresented by Transgender, Inc and Gay, Inc. in a way that pigeonholes the particular needs, facts and human rights of transsexual and intersex Americans.
'Trans Forming Media' asked Suzan Cooke for a statement regarding the transsexual community’s current protest of transgender blogger Autumn Sandeen’s misgendering and declassifying of Nikki Araguz, and Sandeen and Gay, Inc's sneaky strategy of wanting to make Nikki's case about their "same sex marriage" agenda. How many years must all LGBTQI and TTI issues be about privilged gay and lesbian folks getting married? There are other issues! And dishonestly trying to miscontrue the facts of Nikki's case to continue their campiagn is just shameful. Sandeen is employed by the gay and lesbian establishment via Pam's House Blend (Pam Spaulding’s blog). Sandeen has a long history of misrepresenting transsexual issues, yet as the gay and lesbian establishment keeps on rewarding Sandeen for compromising the transsexual and intersex communities, we do not see Sandeen stopping anytime soon. This is why many are speaking out.
The good news is that many in the transsexual, transgender and intersex (TTI) communities are uprising against the constant LGB appropriation of TTI issues. This appropriation advances only the privileged gay and lesbian people (and the transgender people they fund), yet sabotages the hopes of transsexual and intersex Americans achieving human rights and social and cultural understanding and acceptance. Times are changing. Enough already.
Suzan Cooke tells 'Trans Forning Media':
"Transgender Inc. represents a political identity that places the interests of transgender people who do not get SRS ahead of transsexual people who do get SRS. It has consistently erased the reality of the lives of post-SRS people with transsexualism and demanded that they not pursue legal/political solutions to their particular problems purely as post SRS people with transsexualism.
Instead Transgender Inc uses the willful confusing of post SRS people with non-op transgender people to further their particular goals.
This is not meant to target any particular person putting forth the party line of Transgender Inc. Nor is it meant to denigrate the goals of non-discrimination nor the rights to live as one chooses with all ones human rights protected.
This becomes more a matter of our demanding a say in how we are represented and a say on how matters that are of vital concern to us are represented"
Good for you for using your voice and standing up for Nikki Araguz in such a timely manner.
ReplyDeleteWhat about the "Transsexual" people that do not wish to, or cannot afford, GRS? Are they excluded from your discriminatory list?
ReplyDeleteThe umbrella term is transgender, but there are many non-op trassexuals who are living their lives as their authentic selves. With limited surgical options in the trans-men world are you desiring to exclude them from this?
""Transgender Inc. represents a political identity that places the interests of transgender people who do not get SRS ahead of transsexual people who do get SRS."
ReplyDeleteAnd the happily non-operative trans womon here goes facepalm. You were *so* very close dear. Linking 'authentic transsexuality' with SRS, which rougly half of trans womyn get as per Lynn Conway's demographic estimates, is frankly irritating. Just because my dysphoria centres on parts of my body that aren't genital does not make me less of a woman, nor does it make my friends less so.
Physician, ... ah you know how the rest of it goes.
"'Trans Forming Media' asked Suzan Cooke for a statement regarding the transsexual community’s current protest of transgender blogger Autumn Sandeen’s misgendering and declassifying of Nikki Araguz, and Sandeen and Gay, Inc's sneaky strategy of wanting to make Nikki's case about their "same sex marriage" agenda."
ReplyDeleteThis seems to be, at best, a kind of no response response to a request for a response from Suzan...riding the fence without really coming down on one side or the other. The reason the GLB and homosexual T have prevailed in the debate is because they refuse to compromise instead monopolizing the issues while ignoring, silencing, and banning the position of post ops from their venues.
The Araguz case has most assuredly been turned into a GLBT cause. The Houston TG Center, some of the most vocal supporters of Nikki Araguz, has said as much. This group accompany Ms. Araguz to her press conferences and court appearances. They issue press releases in support of her case. Their position is clear as stated in this piece on their blog entitled "Help Us Win Justice for Wharton Widow":
http://www.tgctr.org/2010/07/22/nikki/
"This is your opportunity to shape history and push forward equality for not only transgender Texans, but also for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Americans everywhere."
"This will be a landmark case. We face a long legal battle which will likely reach the U.S. Supreme Court and will define future law on transgender recognition and same-sex marriage."
Although the efforts to raise money for the Araguz case is nothing short of admirable, as is the GLB quest for same-sex marriage. But the appropriation of this particular case to somehow further the GLBT same-sex marriage cause is deplorable. This is not a case that, in my opinion, should be approached or associated in any way whatsoever with the GLBT and same-sex marriage though almost certainly that is how the opposition will phrase it. This is a case that should hinge on a heterosexual female's fight for her inheritance, not associated with a transgender female's same-sex marriage quest. The Araguz case should not be one that sets Nikki up to be a transgender female, but simply a female, and any reference to same-sex marriage should be avoided completely if post op transsexuals unilaterally and universally strive to be recognized as females and not transgender females.
Ms. Cooke's response to this issue here was not even lukewarm.
"The umbrella Term is transgender"
ReplyDeleteWow nothing like having some male bodied person dictate terminology to female bodied people.
It is so pre-feminist, so 1950s, so Virginia Prince the ideological Paul of tjhe religion of transgender.
Why do we need some sort of "umbrella"? And if we do and as you say non-ops "want" surgery then why not "transsexual"? F to Ms use "top-op" for that situation.
I actually look at gay people who tell working class L/G folks they can get the same sort of legal rights through filing a vast pile of paper work as being the elitists when those rights cam be had by heterosexuals for the cost of a marriage license.
As for the happy transgender woman... I'm glad you are happy... Life is different with a vagina between your legs than it is with a penis. I know because I was in your position, you were never in mine.
This arrogance on the part of Transgender Inc doesn't stop me for fighting for an inclusive ENDA. As a lesbian I would be fighting for it any way. Likewise marriage equality benefits all and slaps down the pseudo Christian crazies.
DADT? I'm anti-war.
Nikki's case is as messy as all the others being used by the right wing to make bad law. Phyllis Frye is as knowledgeable as anyone she could probably get given her assets being frozen.
Mostly I view the whole usage of gender as a replacement for sex as being reactionary and sort of anti-feminist.
As for picking out people to call names. I've tried to call a moratorium on that. But were I to call name there are people who are transsexual who would be as deserving of my scorn as there are people on the transgender side of the fence.