Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Is this the End of the "Butch Dyke"?

"Anne Lister, (1791-1840) the First Modern Lesbian"
This is uncharted territory for me – possibly even a minefield, given my heading. Nevertheless I want to speak my mind – or at least write what happened in my attempt to think, after I heard two speakers talk on transgender issues at the conference I attended in New York. I'm writing this post to try to make sense of an issue that puzzled and confused me. Why would I do this - especially since it includes labelling, stereotyping, generalising and probably being politically incorrect....? I'd love to know what this article evokes for you. So I invite you to comment.

After talking to several people after the conference, I conclude that I am probably not the only one who might be confused. Other than possibly a few science fiction writers and their readers, mutability of gender confounds most of us. Not that I hadn’t heard about the ‘T’ of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered) before. I just ignored it as a really minority issue that I would never have to take on board.