Don’t drop the T from the LGB pleads Circa’s own boy bender, Adrian Gillan.

To tag on the T or not to tag on the T to the LGB, that is the question? And a pretty controversial one at that, with some of the UK’s most prominent “gay rights groups” quietly ditching the T - doubtless to help lube the passage of their hard-enough-as-is fight for rights!

What is sadly true is that there is a certain amount of ignorance and prejudice towards T people from some sections of the LGB community, who often confuse T with mere drag and see it all as some kind of big joke. Equally unfortunately, if predictably, prejudice is oft reflected back towards LGBs from certain sections amongst Ts.

Following the Gender Recognition Bill 2003/4, many T men and women – including non-surgical Ts - may claim to be “straight” within their newly legally recognised genders, and thus eschew any association with the LGB minority. However, this surely unnecessarily denies the very distinct and rich reality of their Trans histories, which shapes their true T identities.

Moreover, it may surprise some to know that many – around 3 in 5 in a recent poll – T women find themselves attracted sexually to women, even post-op, claiming that they were always, in fact, lesbian, but had been previously trapped inside their male bodies. Indeed, many post-op transsexuals pair up as couples with other similar post-op Ts.

Of course, one can understand why, now that the T community has started to find its own voice, it might want to steer clear of being labelled with other groups who tend to define themselves in terms of their sexual orientation, not their gender orientation or gender lifestyle.

But what surely unites LGBs and Ts is the fact that we are all minority groups fighting for our human rights, be they in terms of orientation, gender or lifestyle – for the right to be ourselves. And united we are surely stronger. Would the New York Stonewall riots have been sparked in 1969 without Trans people? Likewise, without the support of many LGBs, where would the T community be today?

So I’ll take my T, with extra cream please.

SUGGESTED PULL-OUT QUOTE:

“What unites LGBs and Ts is that we are all minority groups fighting for the right to be ourselves.”

Adrian Gillan