The Transgender Hivemind vs. JK Rowling

That awkward moment when "allies" tell on themselves

I’ve got a funny little story for you all:

I had a white roommate who taught yoga for a living. One day, quite out of the blue, she sat by me and asked, “CJ, you’re brown. What do you think about the commercialization of yoga in the West?”

Unable to resist the opportunity for sarcasm, I responded, “Hold on, let me consult the brown hivemind first.”

I’ve never seen a person so flustered. But she took it like a champ, and this opened the floor for a frank discussion about “appropriation,” whereupon I was able to explain my complicated opinion as a diasporic, mixed Indian. I was also able to express some of my frustration with the widespread problem of conflating racial identity with ideological authority — because honestly, it’s kinda freaking racist.

And that moment stayed with me, because this problem is so relevant but so rarely discussed, as we’re all seeing now with this parade of JK Rowling-lambasting headlines.

One thing I keep seeing trans allies post is the sentiment “If you believe [gender critical opinion] you’re not actually listening to trans people.”

Listen to trans people. Okay. If that’s the task of allies, the next question becomes: which trans people should we listen to?

Should we listen to Buck Angel, a transman who agrees with Rowling that biology matters?

What about Blaire White, a transwoman who believes distinguishing males from females is crucial to understanding the trans experience?

What about Miranda Yardley, a transwoman who defends the existence of single-sex spaces?

Or detransitioners, who have viscerally experienced being on both sides of the debate?

See where I’m going with this?

When you insinuate that trans people belong to a hivemind or some monolithic sentinel all holding the same opinion, you’re actually being reductive, objectifying and dehumanizing of the entire group. In a word: transphobic. And straight up: you’re also being intellectually lazy.

The difficult fact is that worldviews aren’t the automated byproduct of identity. They must be formed through a combination of experience, exposure and examination. They must be earned. And even then, they can evolve.

So outsourcing your opinions to others based on their identity alone is an ideological cop-out. Take responsibility for your views. Because no matter how much reading and debating and unlearning and relearning you do, ultimately you can only speak for yourself.