Discussion on Freedom of Speech and other Rights

Carolyn Ann has taken up an offer I made over at Questioning Transphobia to discuss Freedom of Speech and it's interactions with other freedoms etc here to help keep the discussion there on topic.

So this should have some interesting discussions through the comments :) By all means if anyone else wants to chime in be my guest.

So I guess I'll kick it off.

The initial discussion concerned Carolyn's concerns that moderation on a blog regarding certain forms of comments was contrary to freedom of speech.

Lets start with the pro for that.

It means that the commentators responses in that discussion in its immediate context are limited. At the very least this does appear to be against the spirit and substance of freedom of speech.

Con. The commentator still has the capacity to have their own blog and hence express their views. They are no longer in the initial context of the initial discussion however so that suggests moderation still goes against the spirit of free speech even if the substance is not hindered.

However comments on a blog are published in effect by the blogger, as such are they not falling within the bloggers free speech? Is the moderation by the blogger, so long as the comentator can blog themselves elsewhere, of their own blog not in fact an excercise of their own freedom of speech? Do the comments publication then exist as purely the comentators free speech or are they also part of the bloggers free speech?

In general a blog is considered to be an edited publication like a magazine or newspaper. Where the editor decides what will and will not be part of the publication.

Is this fair and valid is the question?

I previously suggested an analogy I like about street-speech VS lawn speech.

In the street if you offend someone they have every right to walk away and
ignore you. On their own private lawn however they have every right to ask you
to leave their property or to define by what rules you must abide to remain
there.Well a blog is like a front lawn, accessible from the public street where
you can be invited to sit on the porch or verandah and chat, or asked to leave
and threatened with having the hose turned on you or the police called if you
continue to be rude.

I think it's a good analogy and can show how personal space extends into public spheres. Like a t-shirt slogan or the way one dresses free expression exiss in public space with few valid limitations. However a persons home, or lawn, is owned. It is personal space in which activity is to a large degree conditional. It exists by consent, consent which may be withdrawn.

So someone may object to what someone is wearing or saying while they are in their front yard and may validly withdraw consent for them to be there on that account but they cannot do so if the person is merely walking down the street, a public space, so long as their appearance and speech in no way overrides others rights.

The error of many who object to the words or appearance of others in public space that upsets them is that they are failing to recognise that they are extending their personals space over the other persons. One may have fair control over ones front yard as an extension of personal space but not over the shopping mall.

And might I add thats so even if one owns the shopping mall! A business is more than personal space, it provides a neccessary public service and as such is partially public space and partially personal space and as such cannot discriminate in the way that the business owner may with their own front lawn. The same is true of a rented property. To enter into business is to engage in a social contract, the individuals obligations to the rights of others are more pronounced in a way that control over ones front lawn does not interfere with. If someone cannot have access to your lawn to talk t you there rights are not harmed. If they cannot enter your shopping mall to buy bread and milk their access to goods neccessary for life are limited, so their rights are indeed harmed.

So Carolyn and anyone else interested, agree? Disagree? Have anything you wish to add? This need only be the launching point so any rights/liberty based related issue is welcome, it need not be a narrowly focussed discussion.

Is how Kids are brought up seriously damaging to Crossdressers (and the rest of Transgender)

This was originally written for an MtF crossdressers forum hence the focus on MtF CDs rather than all of Transgender but I'm sure most readers will be astute enough to see the similarities and if any would like to raise differences or contrary views in comments then please do so!

Is how kids are brought up seriously damaging to CD's?
I've been considering the issues of why most CDs are in the closet, often well into marriages before they are able to come out to their wives if at all.

Why is that so? Usually we answer 'because society isn't accepting of CDs'...

That sounds logical but is it really how it works? Do we at whatever point we start CDing, from 3-4 through to teens, think to ourselves: 'Yup, this is who I am, but gee i better not tell anyone as society isn't accepting'?

I think that usually we are all well aware that it's taboo before we try on our first piece of womens clothing. Certainly as we see here many of us struggle daily with the reality that we are crossdressers.

From the very beginning of our lives we have been living ina gender-coded world. Colours, styles, toys, books, tv shows, clothes... almost in every case from baby to teen we have gender coded things. Cribs and mobiles and wallpaper and posters and comics... almost every single thing is gender coded.

And that coding is segregated. It's made clear that people are not suppossed to like the things from the other gender code. When we see examples of people doing so they are usually mocked or derided. It's made clear to boys growing up that 'throw like a girl' or 'act like a girl' are serious insults, as is Sissy.

Often conformity to the boy part of the code is enforced through violence or threats of violence, often enough that has even come from parents who considered it important to 'toughen up' their boys.

We get no role models of people crossing the gender line, we get no messages of acceptability of crossing the gender line. If we see or hear of it at all it's as a negative.

Is it any wonder most crossdressers live in, or pass through, intense fear and shame and guilt? Is it any wonder that we hide the full reality of being crossdressers even from ourselves?

Some can handle it better than others... but that is true of all things.

I think that the way we grow up is quite literally abusive. Not always intentionally so but abusive nonetheless. And that it abuses not just transgender kids but everyone else too. I think it is because of this that society struggles so much to accept us, that family and friends struggle so much to accept, that wives struggle so much and that CDs themselves struggle so much.

I think that to judge ourselves, to judge one another and to deal with the issues of CDing in marriages fairly we will have to accept that we have been abused. That it effects most of us profoundly emotionally and psychologically.

And that to get societies acceptance and ensure future generations will not suffer as badly as we then we will have to raise the public awareness of crossdressing.

Not just in our imediate streets and shopping malls and neighbourhoods by being out etc, though when any one of us is strong enough to do so it definately helps, but by getting the subject more, and importantly better, media exposure!

The next generation of teens have the advantage of the gender fluidity in some anime... but thats certainly not enough, just better. TS and CD teens still struggle with being TG.

So do you think I'm right? What are your views on the subject?

The Politics of Appearance and Personal Expression

Well, as appearance can be such a political topic, as personal expression seems to cause such a stir these days especially when it comes to transgender and people who do not fit the neat binary gender catagories or for that matter when it comes to Goth and related subcultures I suppose
pictures will speak strongly as well as words... so this is me.

So there we go. Eyeliner on the tame side perhaps compared to some days. Passable or not? That is in the eye of the beholder.. I have passed as female when in masculine expression and I have failed to pass and yet received compliments on my appearance at the time when in this style of feminine presentation. Pretty or beautiful or attractive or not? Again the eye of the beholder.. I have my admirers and those who disagree with them.

:) this is my 'uh-uh' pic at a friends suggestion which indeed is their favourite pic of me. Note the fingernails like the hair are real. They are rarely not painted and at the time these pics were taken were uncommonly short. At this time I have only been out in my town with this degree of feminine presentation in small amounts, it is a rural town after all so I'm taking my coming out slowly with an emphasis on safety.

Here are my nails at a little closer to the normal length I tend to keep them at. Note the cute goth nail-art :) The other hand had little skull-and-crossbones with love-heart shaped eyesockets. My nails are not like this for crossdressing. They looked just the same whether I wore pants or a skirt (and these nail-art decals have come down in price recently too!)

And here it is... my 'male' presentation. Masculine enough? Handsome? Again some have said yes, others no. This is generally my ordinary look for a days shopping. Only I might have purple lips or red nails and other colours and often I'll have more eyeliner than the first two pics and in this summer heat the great coat stays home. But here is one of my main points. While I have failed to pass in the presentation of the top pic i have passed for female unintentionally dressed as a male like in this pic, even without any makeup and even on those rare times my nails have been short and unpainted.

For those obsessed with the bathroom nonsense from a binary gender perspective, this is how i look every week when I do my shopping and have to use the mens public toilet.

I am not conforming to others expectations. Many days I fit in even more between these two. Some times I may have a couple days of beard growth when my skin is playing up and I can't shave daily or when i'm too exhausted. I don't just wear black but colour too. I don't dress as a Goth to fit into a crowd as I did it when I was the only out Goth in town. Nor did I do it to rebel either. I go from colour and t-shirts through to picking up pizza in a top hat, brass cane and lace cuffed shirt, satin vest and cloak.

My looking different causes no-one any harm. It infringes no-one's rights. My gender non-conformity is no threat to others lives or rights. How I feel inside, my gender identity certainly doesn't match most stereotypes or assumptions of crossdressers though it's common enough amongst the ones I've spoken to. Same with my style of gender expression, neither mockery or exaggeration nor fetishistic nor an attempt to blend in.

The only threat that comes from my appearance is that of all diversity, of freedom, of someone disobeying unjust rules and not conforming to expectations or neat little boxes or catagories.

That's not a bad thing, it's a good thing!

The notion of required conformity is the enemy of all liberty and all justice. All ethical difference, all variations that respect the rights of others are automatically good no matter how unusual or unpopular and any restrictions or condemnations of ethical difference are unjust unreasonable and a threat to everyones equality and fair treatment.

So there is me. As Man? As Woman?

Most importantly as Human.

Australian Bill of Rights well overdue!

Well I'm not even halfway through Geoffrey Robertson's book A Statute Of Liberty and it's already prompting me to make Invader Zim style clawing motions in the air at the injustices and utter stupidity detailed in the book from Australias history.

Sure I already realised Australia needs the protection and guidance that the rest of the democratic world enjoys from a Bill of Rights, and sure I knew that racism was a big part of federation and that much of our freedom of speech etc in australia came mostly from assumptions and conventions that could be wiped away ata single penstroke... but when the subject was taught at school and even at TAFE such points are danced around or briefly mentioned. The utter catastrophic fragility and patchwork of flaws just doesn't get emphasised enough by half.

This is a deep problem in Australia. Growing up in the bush I saw it all the time. The 'she'll be right mate' attitude of shut up, don't worry, don't fuss, leave things alone.

It's a deadly attitude. It costs lives. It's the height of utter stupidity. A lazy fatalism. A resignation to negligence.

This is not the only attitude in Australia. We've had plenty of brave folk who have spoken out. But we don't celebrate them. We generally just celebrate sportsman, as if only the physical feats of just men and only in the arena of competative sport is all that matters.

Well this 'young country' has to start to grow up. It's well nigh that we start to take seriously the matter of formal federal protections of Human Rights in Australia.

I urge everyone to get involved in raising this subjects profile while the community consultation is going on. It's media coverage seems to me woefully insufficient, most people have hardly heard about it, have little understanding of the importance of it and have no idea how much the freedoms they expect in life exist only at a whim of government with little if any recourse at all.

Especially considering that Australia was fundamental in the drafting of the now 60 year old UN Decleration of Human Rights that we are the last modern democracy to lack a bill of rights is a profoundly collossal embaressment and we really need to return to our position as a leader in international human rights rather than a straggler right at the very back of the drove!

Is the crossdressing community held back by the concerns of hetero marriages?

This is something I've been pondering for some time.

The standard line is that most crossdressers are 'straight'. Personally i doubt this because I think the degree of 100% heterosexuality of the whole community is I think overexaggerated.

Nevertheless much of the crossdressing world online and in organisations often revolves around MtF CDs Cis wives and girlfriends.

There are the concerns of coming out or being outed on ones future dating prospects, there are those who've kept their CDing a secret from their wives who fear to lose their marriages or to cause upset hurt and harm to their wives by coming out to them. And even those who do share their CDing with their wives make all manner of concessions to their feellings and comfort.

And organisations likewise are concerned with the comfort and feellings of wives of straight crossdressers.

Because of wives frequent concerns that their husbands CDing means they might be Gay some organisations ban or minimise the visibility of Bisexual and Gay crossdressers.

Because of wives frequent concerns their husbands may be Transsexual and transition similarly some ban or marginalise Transsexuals too.

Also the view that the public perception is that all CDs are gay has some reacting with hostility towards Gays and Drag Queens.

Now today I'm not going to discuss the validity of each of those decisions (though feel free to do so in comments), I certainly am not saying that the concerns feellings and needs of CDs wives are not important. It is firstly important to know that much of this is done under the notion of 'protecting' the wives and ensuring they 'don't get the wrong idea' by going to a CD support group meeting and seeing gay people there or hearing mention of TSs transitioning. Which in my view must be rough for those few whose CDing husbands do turn out to be Bi and/or TS!

Instead for the moment I will focus on the consequences of the actions based on these concerns.

Firstly the vast majority of CDs appear to be deeply in the closet. I've seen claims that range from 2% of the population to 10% regularly crossdress. Thats a pretty significant sized minority. It is quite comparable to estimates of the numbers of Gays and Lesbians I've seen. The most common reason for being closeted according to CD forums i've been on appears to be about impact on wives/girlfriends. Sure the rest is there that other closeted groups face: other family, career, friends etc but this one appears to have a major additional impact on the numbers of those willing to be out.

The next is the seperation of groups with otherwise common causes. Fear of being labeled as Gay or blaming Drag Queens for negative views in society of CDs means that CDs have little if anything to do with GLB groups despite similar closeting and discrimination experiences that should naturally have them working hand in hand.

Then of course there is the schism with much of the rest of Transgender. Transsexuals lose out on the larger group which as allies could help them in their many shared and unshared issues. There also ends up an emphasis on passing which tends to isolate the genderqueer. And of course some transsexuals consider themselves for a time crossdressers, often hoping that just the clothes would be enough and ful transition surgery et al would not be neccessary only to find as they gain self acceptance that this is not the case. In some CD groups these TSs get ostracised in case they may trigger wives fears and then some TS groups ostracise them for having been in the CD community.

And there is a substantial hostility amongst many groups for any form of politics.

It is a community largely paralysed by fear. One that if those numbers are correct could have a profound impact if only it could rid itself of it's own homophobia and transphobia and perhaps some of the fear of upsetting or validating the fears of the wives of a portion of the community.

There are some crossdressers who oppose the heterosexist binary-gender views when they are expressed, who try and reform the biased policies of some groups, who try and rouse others to action, who try and assist some in coming out and of course in opposing the negative stereotypes of CDs which are found in the mainstream and GLBT communities. But the crossdressing community still appears to be far behind the rest of LGBT.

But how should the community face the fears and concerns and needs of the het relationships within it?

What if any say should a wife have over a husbands degree of being out? Of how often and to what extent they can express their femininity? How should their fears and concerns be handled? How should the needs of married Het CDs be balanced against those who are Bi etc?

And what about the FtM guys? Do they have these sorts of issues? Because I only hear about this problem from the FtM community. Maybe some of the great guys who have dropped by here could give me their perspective on this?

Quick update

It's been a bit since my last post so I thought It would be a good idea to get something posted.

Most of my time has been filled with social stuff, especially with some of my friends moving away so we had to get the most shared time we could. Miss you both already! Wednesdays especially just won't be the same now.

I also had some writing commitments to work on too. As well as the usual flare up of symptoms that come with sudden changes of temperature so the heatwave and then the rains have seriously impeded my productivity.

As usual I've had some interesting conversations, from comparing the ethics of BDSM compared to the common 'normal' sex practice of the drunken one night stand to the complicated issue of how one defines when a healthy but uncommon sexual variation crosses over to unhealthy. That latter is tricky because usually its based on how close it is to whats common and socially accepted rather than on matters of ethics or a measurable level of harm.

There was also much discussion about punk and goth mods of My Little Pony's, of makeup and manskirts, mohawks and brightly coloured artificial dreds and various subgroups of Goth culture and it's history.

And there was plenty of Anime watching, especially Trinity Blood.

On top of that I had my birthday recently, which was good. I'd not been looking forward to it and the lead up to Valentines Day was filled with far too many reminders of my last relationship. However on the day I got some really quite lovely gifts and touching messages and it really made my day. And theres more to come as I'll also do some celebrating on the weekend.

Anyways I'm a little too vague today to go into detail on any of the many interesting and important topics that have been an issue recently to do them proper justice so that'll do for now.

Because Defiance can be Adorable

I assert my right to cute fuzzy adorable and pretty resistance to the dull and dour unjust rules and expectations demanded of me by those who do not wish me to step outside their narrow catagories. Queen Emily is right http://sexualambiguities.blogspot.com/2009/01/bunny-resistance.html I have happiness and joy and laughter and friendship. Whether my presentation at any given time is wholly female or a genderqueer androgyny all of masculine and feminine expression belongs to everyone to use or not as suits them, as pleases themselves. And all you haters of transgender, especially of non-binary TG cannot stop me Mu-Ha-Ha-ha-haaaaaaaaaaaa.

I am free. I will defiantly express that freedom. Adorably.