Passing

The often cringe-inducing “Queers United” blog posted another bit of transphobia-as-allyship last night, this time in their ‘Word of the Gay’ segment. Luckily, you can skip a visit and thus avoid accidentally reading any of their other infuriating posts, as I can repost the entire entry here:

“Passable” is a term used among the transgender community and admirers to describe a person who is seen and treated as their desired gender identity.

Since posting the author has backpedaled into the typical responses of blaming trans people for being bothered by this, derailing by making accusations against individual trans women, and wondering aloud why we can’t all get along, as we’re all in this together (as well as changing the original and far more offensive “passing as the opposite gender” to “who is seen and treated as their desired gender identity,” which insinuates the same DECEIVER! tone, only in more-polite language). He doesn’t seem to get why this is offensive, as cis people rarely do. For his sake, and any of those of you who aren’t getting the why out of this either, here’s the point:

Passing is a system used by cissexist cultures to control trans people, to ostracize and justify violence perpetrated against them.

It is used as either a cookie (the “I had no idea!” fawning) or a staff (the hateful, transmisogynist commentary from all cisgender communities, gay or straight), but in all cases it is used to shape trans behaviour and expectations to cis-dominant choices.

Because of this external imposition, passing as a concept is central to cissexism, not trans identity or trans community. Although it is framed as a trans pursuit, particularly in cisgender portrayals of trans women, it is not something which trans women are allowed to consider on their own behalf; Passing is purely a qualitative value imposed by cis people or other trans people acting as their agents. By design it denies trans or gender variant people any agency by making cisgender or cisgender-appearing as the only “real” gender presentations, and it creates division among trans people by placing more value on some atypical gender identities than others.

We all pass as one thing or the other perhaps hundreds of times a day. I seem to exist on a fulcrum of two class levels, and depending on the environment I’ll either be hassled by security guards, or they’ll smile and hold the door for me. The world is a fuzzy place which, despite the assertions of some, has few distinct lines. The idea of passing as one thing when being another only becomes relevant, however, when it disrupts the hierarchy of a dominant group. Cissexism relies on tagging trans people and either alerting other cis people of their presence, or intimating to the trans person that, even if others don’t, they know (and thus have the power to enact the first option at any time).

Simply put, “innocent” posts like the one at Queers United are anything but. They are part of systemic trans oppression, and serve those who would keep us apart and in fear.

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