Empathy/All Sides/Conditional

My problem is that I have

Empathy. When I think about

What these tweets say

What these TERF trans men generalize about —

What these brazen accusations conveniently

Targeting trans women– I have to admit to myself

That I know women in STEM

Who are doing better than I am.

I have to admit to myself that I

Benefitted from diversity programs.

I have to admit to myself

That if I was born a trans woman

I’d have to read all of this bullshit

And try my best not to burn any bridges.

I think it would be impossible for me

To respect most of these trans TERFs on twitter–

I think it would be hard for me

To feel comfortable talking to a trans guy or even

Dating one. I think it would be

Rapey, if I may quote the enemy–

To sit there and listen to the world

Discuss my genitals and my body and my identity with such

Callous disregard for my feelings.

I think I would be really, really upset

At a lot of the stuff I read on the internet.

I think it’s easy to understand

All sides because

All sides are what I’m interested in.

What I can’t understand is

The idea that somehow

Testosterone, synthetic or natural

Gives you life-long advantages.

I think that’s fucking crazy. The craziest.

I think gendered socialization is

The real deal and I think

Socialization is why we have different privileges.

I don’t think hormones affect major parts of our lives

As much as socialization does. I think

Sports are more art than they are

Science, and I think a lot of the loudest voices on the

Trans internet, in-real-life, are the quietest.

I think the way you treat people

In person, matters more than the way you treat people

In theory, and I wish more people

Saw non-binary the way I do–

A philosophy.

I think almost every pain point that

The TERFs and the trans male TERFs have

Can be softened with the help of

Self-love, self-acceptance, and perhaps

A tinge of non-binary reflection.

I think the middle is the way out, and I think

If I was a trans woman on the internet,

I’d shut down and never come back.

That is why I’ve done nothing but

Reflect, I feel it’s almost essential

For my transition

To acknowledge all of what I’m feeling, even

The parts I regret. I wish that more trans people

Would talk about their personal growth, instead of

Taking pictures of it.

I think it’s probably just a sad little microcosm

Of the world we live in but

The smaller the community the more intense the division,

I don’t know why it is that

Being trans makes respect

So conditional.

If I had to check for myself, I’d give everyone a free pass, well…

Except for Buck Angel.