Transnegation Roundup/2020/08/03/2

Misrepresentation

• 03:41 @ripx4nutmeg “Some gender identity campaigners, including a former Lib Dem councillor, are saying they will not fill out the UK quarantine form to stop the spread of coronavirus when they return from their foreign holiday, as the form is 'transphobic'”

Actually:

• None of the tweets shown said this, nor do any others in the thread (which was not linked).
• Other tweets in the discussion indicate strong support for pandemic safety measures.
• It is in fact trans-hostile to require an answer to a question about gender in this context, especially if there are no nonbinary options.

This misrepresentation has the effect of making trans people & allies look unreasonable.

A reshare with the comment “This is nuts” was followed by a self-reply blaming Queer Theory:

• 06:49 @wendycockcroft “This is why: Queer theory, the bastard spawn of Postmodernism, thinks normality itself *is* oppression. It won't accept normality and views anything or anyone who is normal, including LGBT persons, as oppressors. It's why they bash transsexuals.”, with a screenshot excerpted from "Queer Theory" on New Discourses

Reality:

• Nobody is saying it's not ok to be "normal"; we're just saying "don't bludgeon us with it" -- because the ambiguity of the term is often used as a way to condemn behavior that makes them uncomfortable without having to demonstrate why it's problematic. misrepresentation
• This kind of strategic ambiguity in general is like red meat for right-wingers; they love to be able to get bad ideas across without actually saying them directly. (See: dogwhistle)

So basically she tosses in a bit of support for trans people as sugar-coating for an attack on queer theory and covering fire for the idea that people should be "normal".