Member-only story
Language matters
Try telling someone you are trans and watch their reaction. The thought process they go on behind their eyes, the clacks on a keyboard, or that X is typing as you await their response. It is telling that whatever comes next is a bridge that can never be uncrossed, and that in the telling it is an irrevocable transaction between you. What language they then use to describe you and the rest of the trans community impacts you deeply, be it supportive, equivocal, or offensive. You await their response, and react accordingly. Much is the same the moment you interact with someone online, seeing how they phrase their approach to trans identities, whether they use terms such as gender critical, trans identified or worse. It is on them to make the second step, and you can only wait. And what comes next is down to them.
The language we use to discuss trans issues has evolved at a fast clip since 2016, with semantic nuance adapting and changing depending on the texture of the conversation. On the one hand non-binary identities have found linguistic texture and substance far beyond anything that came before; on the other, terms such as groomer and mutilator have crept in and overtaken much of the online discourse. At once crude and demeaning, much of the new anti-trans language co-opts older slurs to savage trans people in ways which dehumanise. No matter the pain cause, this evolution in language as always finding new pain…
