A Note on the Term “Late Transitioner”

To clarify: the term is used usually for trans women who live significant lives assigned male before transitioning to female. There are many trans men who transition later in life after significant lives assigned women.

They are not, by any means, the only kind of self appointed trans spokespeople who screw up. There are sometimes recently transitioned trans men who say sexist shit, or there are young, firebrand activists who don’t seem to know their history and think that anyone who transitioned over the age of 40 is a drag queen, or that trans women who came up through drag shouldn’t be considered women.

That is, “late transitioners” are a big group who often get the majority of the media attention because the whole “look at this hugely successful macho guy/captain of industry who became a girly girl” somehow delights the media. I’ve always thought it’s because we can’t, as a macho, patriarchal culture, imagine why on earth someone with so much male privilege would ever (1) “want” to be a lowly woman, and (2) because we’re generally obsessed with penises so getting rid of one is a spectacle.

Zoey Tur’s ignorance and judgment of the larger trans community is not an illness shared by all late transitioners, by any means. Many of the most awesome movers & shakers in the trans community have transitioned later in life. What I was making fun of, more than anything, is exactly how predictable this specific variety of self appointed trans spokesperson is: there are times I wonder if there is a legal, SOC-mandated need for a trans woman to immediately declare herself “not one of those icky, perverted crossdressers” because so many have done it.

I would be happy to spend some time with Ms. Tur and explain how hateful some of what she’s saying is, how the intersections of race, class, age, educational background, and family support make her kind of transition impossible for many; I could explain that I find the late transitioning women who are all too aware of their lack of passing privilege some of the most amazing, heartfelt, deeply grounded people I have ever known. I could explain a lot of things, as could many others, if only she would STOP TALKING to the media and maybe learn a few things first.

What she could do, at the very least, is recognize exactly how goddamn fortunate she is to have had the money and ability to transition the way she has and to remember that many, many people are not even close to as fortunate and that those who make her uncomfortable are pretty much the same people as make the rest of the transphobic bigots uncomfortable (transitioning youth, crossdressers, people who can’t afford medical intervention, etc.) and that perhaps she should use all her good fortune to make the world better for those who are the MOST VULNERABLE instead of throwing them to the media & political jackals.

In the meantime, I am hoping she can find the time, and grace, and peace to forgive herself for the horrible things she has said about some of the most awesome people in the world. We’ll leave the light on for you, Zoey. You really can be you and still be loved by this big mess of a trans community, but there’s some humble pie in your future.

2 Replies to “A Note on the Term “Late Transitioner””

  1. I remember years ago when riling about something or other on the forums, you reminded me to use the words “for me”. I think that’s particularly pertinent here. Each of us is limited to our own set of eyes. We’re the product of our experiences and our own particular ways of coping and finding self-worth.

    Zoey appears to be drinking deeply from the “I’m not one of those!” cup, as I have and on occasion continue to do. It’s problematic, because she’s putting herself forward as a spokesperson for trans people, just as countless others have before her. I’m thinking JFB,

    I confess to a particular gen-X derision of late transitioners. It’s the product of a lifetime of relative poverty, of working my arse off and watching my privileged stale, pale and male colleagues get ahead. And of getting hit on by a couple of old CDers when I was young and impressionable.

    Anyway, I don’t really know exactly what I’m trying to say here, except that I understand your frustration. For me it particularly sucks when all these privileged ones are putting themselves forward as the face of teh trans, and i just can’t relate. At all.

    But then I guess that’s why they call it privilege.

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