Sex/Gender Transitions and Race

Those interested in intersectionality (most of the readers of this blog, I imagine!) may want to have a look at the Alternet article "Becoming a Black Man" by Daisy Hernandez. It's about the way that transitioning from one sex/gender to another can change one's experiences of race. Here's a sample:

Trans people of color are finding that they have an extremely different relationship to gender transition than white people. London Dexter Ward, an LAPD cop who transitioned in 2004, sums it up this way: a white person who transitions to a male body “just became a man.” By contrast, he says, “I became a Black man. I became the enemy. “

On a slight tangent, I was surprised by the fact that Hernandez seemed to use 'heterosexual' as a term contrasting with 'trans'. Is that a mistake, or is this something I've missed? Here's the passage:

Just as key has been the work of transgender people themselves, who have transitioned due to the more widespread availability of hormones and surgeries. Rather than passing as heterosexual, an increasing number of them in the last decade have identified as “trans” and begun support, advocacy and legal-rights groups.

Comments

[Andrew]

I'm pretty sure Hernandez means cissexual or cisgendered. But until recently, there weren't really contrast terms for 'transsexual' or 'transgender'. So it's not surprising to see 'heterosexual' used as such.

[Rachel McKinney]

I'd agree with Andrew that it seems that Hernandez probably meant "cissexual" or "cisgendered."

[Generic Viagra]

Good work,thanks for sharing this information!!!

[Generic Propecia]

We can not judge others. Most people who decide to change sex do so because there is an imbalance of hormones.

[Generic Propecia]

Where is written and defined that people chose to change their gender are not heterosexual?

[Brand vs Generic Drugs]

Under the Human Rights Act it is unlawful to ask questions of a job applicant that indicate an intention to discriminate on one of the grounds covered by the Act,and asking these sort of questions may be grounds for the applicant to make a complaint under the Act.