transphobia Archives - Glycerine Queen Media

This is in response to an email received a few years ago. I’ll be adding up – to-date information in this post. I’m so sorry for the delay.

Western countries, such as Australia, the US, Canada and the UK have made great strides towards LGBTQ+ equality in the past twenty years. However, it doesn’t mean that life is always easy for many LGBTQ+ people, especially youth.

A few years ago. a reader gave me some resources about the high rate of LGBTQ+ youth being bullied online.

According to a survey by VPNMentor:

73% of respondents were harassed or personally attacked online
50% of respondents received sexual harassment online
Among LGBTQ+ respondents, asexual people felt most unsafe. Gay men reported being the most safe online
Trans women were the gender group who felt least safe online whereas cis men reported feeling the most safe

This study included 695 participants. This is a small sample and I often take studies with small samples with a grain of salt.

Howeverm, in 2021, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)/conducted a slightly larger study. They found 41.1% of LGBTQ+ adolescents had experienced online discrimination. 28.4% reported experiencing gender – based discrimination.

Harassment of asexual people isn’t new

TW: this part of the post briefly mentions sexual violence

Unfortunately, the findings on the victimisation of asexual youth isn’t surprising, nor is it new.

In 2014, asexual author and advocate Julie Sondra Decker published The Invisible Orientation: An Introduction To Asexuality.

According to Decker, many asexual people experience ‘corrective’ rape and domestic violence because of their orientation. This is in part because people still don’t believe that asexuality exists or can be ‘fixed’ by force or coercion.

Asexual people, especially women, have experienced sexual harassment. Not only that, but victims are often blamed for their experiences. Victims are told they shouldn’t bring up their identity in the first place.

People get abused whether they’re out with their identity or not

Sometimes, people can’t win. Trans people risk abuse whether they’re out about their identity or not. 21% of transmen and 26% of transwomen had reported being outed without their consent.

Many responsdents were outed by classmates, or even friends. Many of the victims were blackmailed by the perpetrators.

Outing an LGBTQ+ person can be terrible for the individual. The person could lose their family or job. It can also exacerbate or cause cyber – bullying and a barrage of hate.

How people can feel safe online

Fortunately, there are ways you can combat online hate. These include:

You can just report 5he abuse to the platform.
Remove hateful comments off your profile/ page, etc yourself
To limit risk, you can make lists or groups orivate and interact in these
Remember, cyber – bullying and sexual harrassment are crimes. Don’t be afraid to alert police if this is happening to you

I can only hope cyber – bullying will become a thing of the past. Enough is enough. Everyone deserves to feel safe, both online and in the ‘real’ world.

If you are in Australia and are struggling, please contact Lifeline: 13 11 14.

If you or someone you love feels unsafe or is being victimised, call 000 (or your national emergency number).

If you are an LGBTQ+ young person, you can go to QLife.

Magnum ad, LGBTQ+ visibility and a plea against dehumanising LGBTQ+ people

Reading about the controversy over a Magnum commercial hit a nerve with me. They way both same – sex marriage opponents and supporters have conducted this “debate” on same – sex marriage has been pathetic.

The reaction Cooper’s beer being featured in ‘Keeping it Light’ same – sex marriage debate by both supporters and opponents was overall childish, especially the backlash after Cooper’s back – pedalled and expressed support for same – sex marriage.

The meltdown over Airbnb campaign where staff members were given an incomplete ring was also ridiculous. If there was any evidence that staff felt intimidated into wearing it, then that’d be wrong. But a quick Google search suggests that hasn’t happened.

Now, the Magnum ad. Two women who are in a relationship (could be lesbian, could be bi, or could be homo – romantic) was feathred sharing a magnum before getting married to another. This sparked a complaint to the Advertising Standards Board, with an accusation that it was ‘promoting lesbianism’ and shouldn’t be featured in children’s viewing timeslot. *Sigh*. These sort of complaints have been rightly condemned as a push to make the LGBTQ+ community invisible again.

People may have moral objections towards those in the LGBTQ+ community. But how about you change the channel when the Magnum ad comes on? If you want to drink Cooper’s then do, if not, don’t. It’s a beer, for crying out loud!

From same – sex marriage supporters, no one should have a (figurative) gun put to their head in a bid to get employees, etc to support same – sex marriage. This is not going to win supporters, in fact, it may do the opposite. Just take a chill pill and let people breathe.

On the Magnum ad, I think the controversy has sparked a long – worn and potentially harmful belief about the LGBTQ+ community. Make that two. First is the idea that the LGBTQ+ community should have no representation in the media – unless it’s to fulfil a male fantasy, I guess. The second, which I think is more harmful – is the idea that being LGBTQ+ is about genitals and sex rather than fully human. I believe this is what gets LGBTQ+ harassed, raped or murdered around the world. It’s these limiting ideas that have driven – and continue to drive – hostility in some religious communities.

LGBTQ+ people are people. They are more than their sex lives (or lack of). A kiss by a heterosexual/ hetero-romantic couple is just a kiss. So is a same – sex kiss. If either offends you, look away. But please do not reduce LGBTQ+ people to your stereotypes and caricatures. They are human – your brothers, sisters, siblings, friends, sons, daughters, etc. Well, they could be. This is what makes homophobia, bi – phobia, trans – phobia, etc so toxic – the way it leaves young people homeless, the way it breaks up families and even can lead to domestic violence. Regardless of your views on same – sex marriage, or even relationships, please look beyond the stereotypes. They are real human beings. It’s time they started to be treated as such.