G’day Meteor readers!

I am so pumped about today’s newsletter—I want us to clasp hands and jump right into it like it’s the last scene in a Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movie.

Over the last few days, we at The Meteor have been absolutely gobsmacked by the rise of anti-trans rhetoric that has been seeping its way into the zeitgeist. To better understand this phenomenon, my newsletter co-sherpa Samhita Mukhopadhyay spoke to author and journalist Meredith Talusan about how we got here and most importantly how we can get literally anywhere else.

But first, a speedy dash through some news.

Running up that hill,

Shannon Melero

WHAT’S GOING ON

More of this: Joe Biden has signed an executive order designed to protect those seeking an abortion. After weeks, months, years—it’s good to see him taking some action to protect abortion rights. (He even said the actual word.) The order would set up mobile clinics on the border of states that have banned abortion, offer protection for providers, and asks the HHS to create a report (due in a month) to outline next steps that would protect access to medical abortions. So really it’s an order to come up with a plan to outline steps to eventually execute…but it is a looooong-awaited move in the right direction. Biden wrote on Twitter, “Congressional Republicans want abortion to be illegal…As long as I’m president, I will veto any attempt.” Maintain this energy, Joseph; we are watching you like our lives depend on it, which they do.

Fresh hell: Jackson Women’s Health Organization of Mississippi—the abortion clinic named in the Dobbs case which overturned Roe v. Wade—has closed its doors. Now is a good time to remember the impact and courage of the “Pink House.”

#WeAreBG: In an effort to expedite negotiations for a prisoner swap, Brittney Griner has pleaded guilty to drug charges in Russia; the plea carries a penalty of up to 10 years imprisonment. Experts who have been following the case argue that this was always going to be the outcome and does not provide a definitive answer as to whether or not Griner did what she is accused of.

AND: 

• Justice Brett Kavanaugh chose to exit a Morton’s through the back exit to avoid protestors who had gathered outside to exercise their constitutional rights. 😇

• Jerry Harris, the formerly beloved start of Netflix’s Cheer, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for soliciting sex from minors.

• Did you know there’s such a thing as “vasectomy influencers?”

• In September a new law will go into effect in Arizona which bans civilians from filming police officers within eight feet. Friendly reminder that most smartphones have excellent zoom capabilities.

WHITE TEARS

Meredith Talusan On the Current Rise of Anti-Trans Rhetoric 

“You’re allowed to be trans as long as it’s clear that you’re always gonna be inferior to me.”

BY SAMHITA MUKHOPADHYAY

MEREDITH TALUSAN (PHOTO BY VIVIEN KILLILEA VIA GETTY IMAGES) 

As a young feminist and undergrad in the late 90s, I stumbled upon the groundbreaking work of Judith Butler. Butler gave feminists language to understand gender—not as something inherent to the body we are born in, but as something that, through a series of experiences, we learn and relearn.

It all made sense to me: if we are to free ourselves of gender oppression, we must also understand what it is, how it functions, and how it confines us. And that also meant that any feminism that was truly invested in freedom would incorporate the needs of anyone who questions gender, including nonbinary and trans people.

So, imagine my surprise when I read in the paper of record last weekend that, being trans-inclusive is not only a bad idea but actually as threatening to women as the right-wing assault on our rights. (The story argued that including people who don’t identify as women but can get pregnant, as is the case for some trans men and nonbinary people, in abortion-rights language leads to “misogyny” and “erases women”). Bette Midler promptly tweeted in approval.

The article was part of a trend of self-proclaimed “feminists” spouting anti-trans rhetoric. “TERFs,” or “trans-exclusionary radical feminists,” have a long, sordid history, from certain pockets of second-wave feminism to today, most recently gaining traction in the UK. Notably, J.K. Rowling tweeted a barrage of anti-trans sentiments that she’s doubled down on with increasing anger. More recently, Macy Gray joined the fray.

So, why is this “feminism” rearing its ugly head in the United States right now—when anyone who cares about human rights should be standing with trans youth as they’re attacked by right-wing extremists? To help me understand the broader context of what is happening here, I turned to my old friend, writer, and editor Meredith Talusan. Meredith and I worked together at Condé Nast where she ran the LGBTQ vertical them. She’s also the author of Fairest, which was nominated for a LAMBDA literary award, and one of the most thoughtful people I know. I was excited to get a chance to chat with her.

BINARIES ARE FOR SQUARES. (PHOTO BY DENIS THAUST VIA GETTY IMAGES)

Samhita Mukhopadhyay: OK, why do you think this dumb-ass line of thinking is kicking up again—especially at a time when *all* of our rights are under attack. Where does this come from? 

Meredith Talusan: Goodness. It’s hugely complicated. The really fascinating thing about so much of this rhetoric is this trope of white female innocence that masks an entire ideology that is deeply, deeply harmful to another set of people. And also completely covers the amount of power that [white cis women] actually have over people, with no real recognition of the fact that one can simultaneously be oppressed and at the same time oppress others.

The first thing that I thought about when I read [the New York Times piece] is: were we erasing men when we women were advocating that “men” not be used as the default? When men were arguing when we say mankind, we really mean everyone, [we responded], no, because actually, it makes a difference in language that you include us. It’s not a dissimilar dynamic.

As some writers pointed out, there also aren’t many real-life examples of when we can’t call ourselves “woman,” or “women.” 

The writer says that historically when girls were masculine, they could just be girls. Like they didn’t have to identify as trans. But you know what? That was the choice of people several generations ago. People are making different choices now, and it’s not like women can’t make their own choice to remain woman-identified. No one’s preventing them from doing that, we’re just offering them another option.

But, it’s factually undeniable that there are men and non-binary people who get pregnant. Also, this complete lack of empathy: Like, can you imagine what it’s like for a trans person…who wants to obtain medical care in order to either get pregnant or get an abortion? I have not had that experience, but I’ve certainly had the experience of being presumed cis and repeatedly asked about my medical history even after trying to tell them like, No, I’m trans, please don’t ask me about my last menstrual cycle. 

A few people have said this type of bigoted rhetoric—which now has bled from right-wing groups to progressives—leads to fascism. 

That is the essence of fascist ideology: that there is a group of people who, through their sheer number and political will, must be de facto considered superior and whose needs have to be prioritized over a minority. It’s this white trope of like, oh my God, I’m being so accommodating but I’m being attacked, but literally by people who have a minuscule amount of political power compared to them.

SOME OF THE MOST VULNERABLE FOLX IN THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY ARE BLACK TRANS WOMEN. (PHOTO BY MARK KERRISON VIA GETTY IMAGES)

This has been reminding me of the suffrage movement and the strategic decision by white feminists to exclude Black women. So, white feminism has always relied on a certain sense of “othering” to succeed in its own political goals, right? 

There’s always been a dominant assumption of how you’re supposed to “perform”  feminism: You’re supposed to engage with [certain] issues and presenting minority concerns is a distraction. The political difference between white feminism and intersectional feminism is that intersectional feminists are saying we have to start with the people who experienced the greatest oppression in order for it to be a true feminist movement.

I don’t know if I told you, but my main hobby right now, after reading about Lia Thomas [the NCAA swimmer who was banned from competition], is that I’ve become an avid swimmer. And one of the really fascinating things to me is the way in which white women so often can’t handle any sign of an individual trans person being in any way in a better off position than them. They don’t even question that ideology. Like out of the dozens and dozens of events in all of these competitions, whenever there is a trans person who wins, that’s when they become the object of ire. This basically means: You’re allowed to be trans as long as it’s clear that you’re always gonna be inferior to me.

To me, trans rights and abortion rights are deeply connected. In all of the same places where they’re trying to ban abortion, they’re also trying to ban access to hormone therapy and things like that. 

The government is trying to rob us all of our ability to be able to make decisions for ourselves. And what are you really sacrificing by using the term “pregnant people,” like in that one specific instance, when you’re referring, you know, to all pregnant people in the United States? It’s not like a doctor is going to look at like a cis woman’s chart and [call you] pregnant person. They know you are a cis woman.

So, I’m not really sure where this rhetoric is coming from. I also don’t understand why the effect of that is women’s erasure. The ideology of patriarchy that feminists have been trying to fight for generations and generations, is that men are always going to be superior and try to keep women in their place. And now to be like, we have to keep trans people in their place. How can you square your feminism with the way you’re basically replicating previous rhetorics and ideologies that try to quash any type of minority dissent?

LIA THOMAS, THE FIRST TRANS PERSON EVER TO SECURE A DIVISION I NATIONAL TITLE. (PHOTO BY MIKE COMER VIA GETTY IMAGES)

I think we have to push back on the idea that this is feminism. 

Right. And this is not how we’re going to be able to make headway at a time when pretty much all minorities are under attack. I mean the thing that is really funny to me is that every single one of these opinion pieces always has this line like trans people should be able to live a life of dignity—but you can’t even give us the dignity of naming us factually? Like, sure you can have rights as long as it doesn’t impinge on my rights.

That’s not how we’re going to be able to make headway. This is all our fight for bodily autonomy, for being able to have the agency to do what we want with our bodies and ourselves.

Piss off the TERF in your life by sharing this newsletter with everyone you know. 

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