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“Tranny”
Below is an open statement from Kelly Osborne about the use of the word “tranny”. Perhaps we could reconsider the use of the word and try not to have it in our vocabulary (sorry to sound like a word Nazi). An example may be, “Tranny Tix”. I think to many, the word is similar to using the word “faggot” for gays. As usual, this is just my point of view and I acknowledge that everyone has a right to use whatever words or language they want to. You may want to post whatever thoughts that you may have to the contrary.
http://www.glaad.org/blog/guest-post-kelly-osbourne-i-support-transgender-community
Quote:Television personality Kelly Osbourne was introduced to audiences as a member of the lovable reality TV family The Osbournes, and further distinguised herself through her music career and appearances on shows like Dancing with the Stars. She can now be seen every Friday night at 10:30/9:30c on E!’s Fashion Police.Following her comments about a transgender friends in Glamour UK, Kelly came under fire from transgender advocates for her use of the slur “tr*nny” among others. Kelly soon got in touch with GLAAD expressing her desire to apologize to the transgender community, but also to share some of the information she herself had researched about anti-transgender bias, slurs, and the Transgender Day of Remembrance. The essay also appears on Transadvocate.
I’d first like to make it clear that no one asked me to write this. After reaching out to GLAAD for advice and clarification, I thought it was imperative to explain and amend my wrong. I gained a lot of knowledge, and I now feel the urgency to speak out and teach others. As unfortunate as this incident was, I assure you it was taken out of context, but I cannot deny the words; they did come out of my mouth.
As a lifelong LGBT ally and friend, I feel it is my duty to not only apologize for my wrong but to also correct it. The word “tr*nny” is a derogatory and hurtful word. I was completely ignorant to this and soon came to realize most of my peers and LGBT friends are too. This is a word I will no longer use or allow. It wasn’t until I googled it after speaking with GLAAD that I found out just how unbelievably offensive it was. When friends jokingly called me that in the past, I took it as a compliment or a joke, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Transgender people are some of the bravest people on Earth and among the LGBT community. I cannot imagine the courage it takes to live your life openly and honestly, reflecting who you truly are, or the hurt that comes from having to hide who you are because others may not support and accept you. Due to the fact that it is Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20, I would like to raise awareness to this injustice in society. It is a day to remember those who have lost their lives due to anti-transgender violence and speak out against the fact that transgender people face disproportionate amounts of discrimination and harassment every day. The lack of knowledge about transgender people contributes to the unparalleled number of violent acts against them every day.
A part of me is happy I’ve made such an awful mistake because I can now use this as a platform to help speak out against the use of such hurtful and dehumanizing words. With your assistance and support, we can get this word out of television/media. It is still being used today; I’ve seen it four times in the past week.
My sincerest apologies to any ally or member of the LGBT community whom I have hurt or offended. That kind of representation goes against everything I stand for and is the last thing I would ever want to do. I would also like to thank The Transadvocate for educating me and bringing this to my attention. Nobody can tell you whom to love or what gender to be. That is your basic human right, and certainly nobody has the right to discriminate against you for who you truly are!
Update:
Comment from Mike Thompson of GLAAD: “Kelly is taking the right step by using this as an opportunity to express her support of the transgender community and educate her fans about the hardships that they face for being who they are. We hope she inspires more allies of the LGBT community to speak out and have their own voices heard.”
Comment from Marti Abernathey, Editor of Transadvocate: “With this post Kelly has proven she is a responsible ally to the transgender community. She made a mistake that was borne of ignorance, not malice. This post is will go far in healing that mistake. It will also serve to educate and inform others within the LGBT community and beyond about transgender people’s lives. As I said to Kelly on Twitter, “You get to speak about it [the mistake], and trans people are seen as people and not things. Besides hatred, who’s the loser in this?” I’m grateful to Kelly for taking the time to learn and educate others. In the process she’s turned a mistake into a teachable moment. That is what an ally does. Thank you Kelly!”
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14 Replies
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Just because a few vocal transgender advocates (how do you qualify to be one of those I wonder) define words as offensive doesn’t make the word offensive to all.
Lets do some more research…..As far as I can see the “advocates” here are one person Marti Abernathey posting in the “Trans Advocate” (http://www.transadvocate.com/kelly-osbourne-gets-called-on-her-anti-trans-rant.htm). Trans Advocate is just the blog she created… think Amanda posting in TgR Forums???
SO what did Kelly say….
Quote:“Having to tell them (my parents) my fiance had cheated on me with a tranny who sold his/her story to the press (was the most uncomfortable moment). It was so humiliating. Everyone kept telling me that Luke was cheating on me, but I never believed them. It’s hard enough to get your head around someone cheating on you, but when someone is a chick with a d**k? Up until then, I’d always thought that the worst way to get cheated on would be with an ugly girl. Don’t you think? Because at least if they cheat on you with a gorgeous girl it makes some kind of sense. But men are different, I guess, they can have emotionless sex.”Not too good eh? And I’m not referring to the fact that the “tranny” was more interested in selling a story to the press than advancing public acceptance of the gender diverse.
Well Marti wrote the following:
Quote:While I think it’s horrible that Osbourne was cheated on, her hate filled rant that used some of the most objectifying and dehumanizing words is even worse. She’s implying that the trans woman in question has no value, other than sex. That you’d have to have “emotionless sex” with a trans woman.Really…some of the most objectifying and dehumanizing words possible? – well C-with-a-D might fit that category… but Tranny really doesn’t score on that scale. And is this a “hate filled rant” about trans people? – well there is hate there, but I think it is more hate about her fiance’s actions
Get real … so we have to change all our terminology because one very upset girl vents somewhere on the internet about what her fiance had been doing????
I see evidence that many gender diverse people don’t share the view that Tranny is a slur, “derogatory and hurtful”. If we banned every word that caused pain to someone in the world we would be left with such a politically correct anaemic language that life would be much poorer for everyone. That’s not a cause I’m going to fight for.
So why is Marti’s view so much more important than mine that it deserves this attention? And how does Marti feel about her bio that states
Quote:She’s been a part of various internet radio ventures such as TSR Live!, The T-Party, and The Radical Trannies, to name a few.Did I see the most objectifying and dehumanizing word “Trannie” in the advocates bio…
Marti finishes her (hate filled?) rant at Kelly with these words:
Quote:And cispeople, you don’t get to tell transpeople what is and isn’t offensive and dehumanizing language either..
So where do I post on the internet to tell Marti that I don’t want her telling me what is and isn’t offensive either?BTW: I’ve moved this to labels…because that I think is what the post is about
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Thank you, Amanda. As I mentioned in my post: “I acknowledge that everyone has a right to use whatever words or language they want to”.
You mention:
Quote:Just because a few vocal transgender advocates (how do you qualify to be one of those I wonder) define a words as offensive doesn’t make the word offensive to all.From the GLAAD Media Reference Guide, their recommendation is:
Quote:Defamatory Terms:Defamatory: “trannie”, “tranny”
These words only serve to dehumanize transgender people and should not be used
http://www.glaad.org/publications/reference
And who or what is GLAAD?
Quote:GLAAD as an AdvocateGLAAD unites the movement. We strengthen grassroots organizations so they can leverage media, engage local communities, and advance social change. Right now, GLAAD is working with local organizations in more than 30 states to build support for equality. This collaboration with LGBT leaders and advocacy groups is key to increasing the visibility of our community, changing hearts and minds, and securing full and lasting equality.
So by my estimate, this hardly makes GLAAD one of “a few vocal advocates”. But hey, that’s me.
Anyone wishing to use “tranny” in describing trans people or themselves are free to do so. Similarly, anyone who wants to call themselves or refer to MTF trans people as “shemales” are also free to do so. And if people want to freely relate to and feel some sort of resonance with the use of the word tranny in a context like that used in
then I am not going to stop them.
Just putting up a view point. That’s all. If anybody is influenced (changing hearts and minds) by that, then well and good. I don’t use the term “tranny” myself, not to describe me, nor trans people, and I just hope people can respect that. Otherwise, let’s just throw this into the label cupboard and get on with life, right?
Virginia xo
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The original article stated:
Quote:Following her comments about a transgender friends in Glamour UK, Kelly came under fire from transgender advocates for her use of the slur “tr*nny” among others.I can’t find any evidence that in this case it was GLAAD who was the advocate involved.
All the articles I have found on the internet point to it being one individual who launched the attack on Kelly using a blog she edits.
Do you have more information Virginia?I stick to my view that the article posted portrays the trangender community in a poor light by attacking someone disproportionately (because they have a media profile) and gloating publicly over their apology.
I know GLADD is a great organisation doing wonderful things in the US,
and if they want to define political correct speak in the USA so be it.But they have no representation from Australia, and neither do they claim to represent world opinion.
So there is no reason to adopt their political correctness here any more than we have to adopt their spelling.
Australia is mature, different and independent enough to make our own minds up about the best way to bring about culture-change in our society.And I for one think that arguing about Tranny or worse still attacking people for using the term is not an effective strategy.
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Who & what is GLAAD?
GLAAD is the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Discrimination
Nothing there to suggest Trans advocacy
For the record, I do not like the several words mentioned & do not want them applied to moi. Thank you. But I don’t like old men in hospital calling me “girlie” either. (Sorry, the feminist sneaks out occasionally).
Name calling aside. There are far more important issues, such as the intolerable suicide rate – 14 times higher than any other category – & government & health service indifference; the social displacement – unemployment, & under-employment; pathetic Anti-Discrimination Laws; & the media pre-occupation with publishing “before & after” photos, name, address, workplace, school attended & refusal to apply legally correct gender pronouns.
The problem isn’t that GLAAD ignores these issues. It doesn’t. It’s the media who cherry pick issues to mock & rdicule us
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I, along with Christina 2 , think that there are more important things for the transgender ( is that offensive to some?) community to deal with than the word trannie. I don’t personally think that it is the same as faggot, it is a shortening of a name , not a slur with violent historical overtones.
It is everyone’s right to be offended IMO and as long as offence is not intended, I think that we need to be a bit thicker skinned about terms we hear. The official legislators do their best to be PC in their language as do most of the media but there will always be those who are ignorant on these issues .
It is up to us to set an example in how we use language and educate the wider community about our opinions on how we are described but in the end , the world is too big to take on in every issue and so we must accept many of the things we encounter in this tough world.
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Quote:I don’t personally think that it is the same as faggot, it is a shortening of a name , not a slur with violent historical overtones.
Agreed.
Transgendered/Transexual = Trans = Tranny.
They’re just labels. Pick and choose what you like…but I don’t think I’ve ever heard Tranny being used in an intentionally derogatory manner by anyone.
I have plenty homosexual friends that use the word “faggot”. Just like there’s obviously plenty of black people that use the “N” word. Having said that I don’t think “Tranny” is anywhere in the same league as those words, that can be used in an offensive manner by narrow minded ignorant bigots…
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This debate about the use of the word “Tranny” has been going on overseas for quite a while now with members of our own community also having diverse thoughts on it’s usage.
Personally I don’t like it simply because if you google it you will find it’s usage mostly derrogatory to the trans population. I prefer trans woman or trans man or better still woman or man.
Given that I know many trans people are very sensitive about the term I no longer use it. If a non trans perpson uses it towards me I actually do find it offensive. Usually with good reason…..it is rarely said with affection or good will.Gwen
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Call me whatever you like as long as its not ‘Hey You’. I’ve other more important things to worry about, such as what cereal to eat in the morning.
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I often use the word tranny for small metal things with three wires coming out.
The common one are bipolar, field effect and insulated gate field effect.
Trannys – Transistors
Just like abbreviations, some can have half a dozen or more meanings. Very very confusing sometimes.
Have Fun
Vicki -
Personally I don’t like the term Tranny and would never use it. Not that is necessarily demaning in any way but more to do with the image the word conjures up in my mind, than anybody else’s perceived meaning or connotation of the word.
However I guess the word has been around for quite a long time, and until we can re-educate the world and get rid of how some of us are portrayed on some websites we will just have to deal with it. Mind you am just as disgusted with the way women are portrayed on similar websites.
For me also, it is not so much the words people use when referring to me, but the way I am spoken to or about. I would not be at all offended if the T word was used by my friends in general conversation as I know that no offense was intended. -
I personally dislike the word ‘Tranny’, but can see no alternative being adopted by mainstream society in the future, if at all. I even have a growning dislike for the term ‘Crossdresser”, especially where it refers to me. The term ‘Queer’, …doesn’t even warrant discussion.
I much prefer ‘Transgendered’ as this applies to males (or females) who feel a distinct and mostly lifelong desire to become the opposite sex, rather than to simply wear clothing specific to the opposite sex from time to time
I am transgendered; I have a burning desire to dress and become a woman in every shape and form, as often as I possibly can. I enjoy it to the utmost.
I am not transexual, I still have my boy bits and intend to keep them.
I am not a transvestite, I don’t wish to parade myself nor display obvious hormonal differences -
Great Discussion
So long as we keep animosity out, use the discussion to consider our personal position and choose to act on it if we are of the belief that there needs to be a change to the Australian lexicon.In my view the matter is worth continuing discussion, and, in the end if we as a body of Transgendered folk choose to unite instead of creating splinter groups that too often attack each other we need to enter the world of social politics and start to communicate with both the Media and “other folk”.
Just Kathy -
From my perspective we don’t all have the same investment in our gender expression or identity. Some people need to make a full time permanent sugical and social transition. And other people confine it to home. For various reasons. I’ve lived full time as a woman for alot of years and don’t think I’ve ever beem called a tranny. What I don’t like is rolling up for a job interview and the application process outting you, and not getting the job in the face of what is really obvious trans discrimination. And the law being inadequate in its protections. Even some full time transsexual women who don’t understand because they’ve been istitutionalised in being unemployed, and apathetic. going to ork is fairly mainstream i would think. but theres alot of t folk out there who don’t. Theres alot of issues in there that are social and discrimination is just one of them. Discimination is rarely if ever so obvious as catagorically abusive name calling. If someone was goung to transition full time permanently they’d need to get some thicker skin. Because you’ll find yourself in some tricky situations at times and if someone called me a tranny in an abusive manner I’d at least know what their problem was, which mitigates the name calling. If its your boss hauling you over the coals over something trumped up you tend to walk away confused and want to analyse it..and just be confused. The protections in law that prevent open trans abuse make for covert abuse that is much more sinister.
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Quote:I see evidence that many gender diverse people don’t share the view that Tranny is a slur, “derogatory and hurtful”. If we banned every word that caused pain to someone in the world we would be left with such a politically correct anaemic language that life would be much poorer for everyone. That’s not a cause I’m going to fight for.
This is exactly what I think. The danger of political correctness is that our language will be sanitised with so much ‘doublespeak’ that it becomes hard to discern the meaning that anyone is trying to convey. Americans seem especially vulnerable to it for some reason
Frequently, people in the GLBTQI community fight against use of ‘labels’ but they completely miss the point. The INTENTION is what counts. Someone calling me a ‘cute tranny’ is probably paying a valued complement whereas someone shouting ‘dirty tranny’ has a different outlook entirely.
