Since he has departed this blog network, this is now moot. You can take that up with him elsewhere.

http://vyckro.blogspot.ro/2012/02/open-letter-to-thunderf00t_17.html

Did I said that man is a coward?

I didn’t say insane or jerk. It was just creepy.

And weirdly verbose. You could have just asked, “Is Zinnia trans?” or some such thing. And you could have asked her, using just one sentence to express your embarrassment at not knowing how to ask or whether it’s appropriate, but you’ve heard confusing things and want to make sure you have it right.

Natalie Reed has posted on how to ask transgender people questions sensitively. Although before even bothering to ask, you should ask yourself “Does it really matter?” I mean, she clearly identifies as a woman. Do you need to know any more than that? Reed’s post does acknowledge that for some people the answer to that question is yes. But they should still go forward with some sensitivity, and her blog post can help you with that (and if it doesn’t, you can politely ask Natalie Reed to answer questions like “How do I ask someone their gender?” on her blog for everyone’s benefit–this is the sort of thing Natalie does well; Zinnia would probably be open to such a request as well. Just be nice. And brief.)

Zinnia Jones is a transsexual woman. That shouldn’t matter very much. But I’ll just quote her on that point:

One thing that put me off declaring myself as trans, and still kind of does, is the way that people tend to see this aspect of myself as overshadowing almost anything else about me, but that’s just the risk of being in a minority. While I’m still cautious about speaking on behalf of all trans women, I’ve become less reluctant to speak on behalf of myself and my own experiences as a trans woman. …

I do know plenty of people, especially in the atheist and skeptical communities, who are wholly accepting and won’t even blink about the fact that I’m trans. On the other hand, I’ve had the displeasure of reading thousands and thousands of YouTube comments which seem to elevate ignorance to a competition. While I’m inclined to think most of these people were a lost cause from the outset, it’s disturbing to see how many people will ignore anything you say in favor of focusing on your gender.

It seems that for many people, someone being and living as a gender other than the one they were assigned is a largely foreign and incomprehensible idea, one which they have almost no experience with outside of the oversimplified, objectifying, transphobic portrayals of trans women in the mainstream media and pornographic films, where we’re alternately fetishized or portrayed as disgusting and shocking. This creates a significant barrier to overcome, and a lot of people just can’t get past it.

I think that pretty much says all that needs saying.

(And is a great example of how efficient and well spoken she is, the very thing I was praising in my article.)

Phil Mason

Am I the only one who has only just now learned Thunderfoot’s real name?

Welcome to him and Cristina (and also a belated one to Aron Ra, Zinnia and Ashley). FtB is becoming more awesome by the day.

I also love thunderf00t’s ‘Why do People Laugh at Creationists?’ series.