When a self proclaimed ‘straight cis male’ suggests that the Trans* community should split off from the rest of the rainbow alphabet, it ought to just cause a slight eye roll, but I found myself really irate from reading Adam Lewis’s article from Huffington Gay Voices. Maybe because it is “gay voices” of which Lewis is straight; maybe because a base premise of the piece is utter crap; or maybe because I’m tired of anyone outside of a marginalized group, thinking they have any place at deciding what that group ought to do. But I was and am, just fuming about it.

Before I look at Lewis’s comments, I’ll start by saying, if any of my many Trans* friends suggested that we should break off the T from the LGB, I’d be happy to hear out their ideas as to why. Without a doubt, Trans* persons have often been made invisible within the LGBTQ community. Some gay men attack them for their critique of RuPall and some lesbians fight to keep them out of a women’s festival– these are but two examples. But I’ve yet heard a Trans* person suggest in ernest, that it would be in that community’s best interest to go it alone.

Lewis makes two huge naive and ludicrous assumptions which ought to rile any  reader. First, he suggests that Gender Identity and Expression and Sexual Orientation are utterly different. Here’s the first statement that got me seething:

After all, lesbian, gay and bi (and a, pan, questioning, etc.) are all sexual orientations defined by whom one loves; transgender is an identity defined by who one is. While neither sexuality nor identity should be subject to any form of discrimination, shouldn’t this nuanced-yet-not-insignificant distinction be reflected in the way these groups advocate?

I knew a straight guy had written this, as soon as I read this paragraph.

Little queer kids are bullied right and left, far before they have any idea whom they will love. My being gay is every bit as much about who I am, as a Trans* person’s identity.

Truly, all people have a sexual orientation that ranges from exclusively heterosexual to exclusively homosexual. Our orientation is an integral part of who we are. Yet regardless of where a person falls along that spectrum they may be seen as othered if they fail to live up to social norms of gender expression. Little boys don’t get beaten up on the playground because of who they love, but rather because they are too girly or too much of a sissy. Their gender expression falls outside what is considered the norm, and in that, they have much in common with Trans* persons.

Lewis starts his article off with the other fallacy. He equates a celebrity coming out as trans and a director winning an award as if these signal a great social change. Truly these are watershed moments and social awareness of Trans* issues is increasing. But when it comes to the day to day life and challenges of most Trans* persons, these two events don’t add up to a hill of beans. Something big hasn’t yet happened. Trans* awareness is but just beginning, rather than having turned the corner of majority acceptance.

To his credit, Lewis sprinkles a few statistics and figures in his article. Just enough to seem of value, but not enough to see how they alone point to the ridiculousness of his assertions.

What’s missing in the article however, is the fact that many gay men and lesbian women are just as clueless about Trans* persons as the broader culture.   Shows like Transparent, and RuPal’s Drag Race (which has had a number of trans contestants) are helping many within the queer rainbow community as well as many outside of it to better understand Trans* people.

Also missing, is any mention of Chaz Bono, who came out publicly as a Trans* person a number of years ago. My sense is this is missing, because it didn’t fit into Lewis’s manufactured idea of a summer of trans, but also because Chaz is a FTM trans person, and not nearly as flashy as Jenner. In other words, the movement of a growing awareness of Trans* persons has been going on and will continue.

A show that I feel is helping make many aware of Trans* persons that Lewis doesn’t mention, is Catfish, the TV show. There have been a significant number of young Trans and queer persons on that show. These folks don’t garner the hype Jenner does, but portray and illustrate the real lives and struggles of Trans and queer persons in a very meaningful way.