Transgender Allies, Adversaries, & Everything in Between

Transgender School

Although most of us might have (or might think we have) a clear idea of what it means to be an ally or an adversary to transgender people, we may not be aware of all the specific choices that can make a huge difference. What might cause someone to be seen as an ally by a trans person? What might cause someone to be seen as an adversary by a trans person? And what about all the people who fall somewhere in between, despite the fact that they may believe that they’re coming from a place of love and support for transgender people?

We attempted to answer the questions above, from our perspective, because though the differences can be subtle, they’re deeply meaningful.

Today's episode is about clearing up some misconceptions about what it means to be an ally, to not be an ally, and to be an adversary. We go through what is expected from allies when interacting with trans people and even more important, how to be an ally even when a transgender person is not present. We discuss the importance of going beyond superficial performative actions and actually demonstrating true allyship, even when it’s uncomfortable and difficult.

We delve into how actively advocating against the transgender community, even if it is only behind a keyboard, validates and encourages continued hate and violence against transgender people. In addition, we share a brief sample of the content we’ve created for our Transgender Allyship 101 course, which you can rent now for only $10.00 at https://vimeo.com/ondemand/transally.

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

• What it means to be an ally, and why getting out of the comfort zone is an essential part of it (9:23)
• Not allies, the space most cisgender people live in (13:14)
• About the relationship between mean comments online and physical hate crimes against transgender people (18:18)
• The ALLY acronym (22:51)
• Shut up, listen, and find yourself a therapist (26:48)

Resources:

• PFLAG website

Connect with Jackie and Bridget:

• Transgender Allyship 101 Course on Vimeo, now only $10.00 to rent!
• Transgender School Patreon Membership with all exclusive content
• Transgender School on Medium
• Instagram
• Website
• Facebook
• Community Facebook Group
• YouTube
• Medium

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