Trans Masc Misogyny and the Red Six of Spades

Being an attempt to grapple with trans community dynamics and trans guys who yell at women. A very long attempt. You were warned.

Jude Ellison S. Doyle

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A black ace of spades in a pile of mostly red hearts and diamonds. Look, it was the best I could do.
*Motörhead lyrics* Photo by Jack Hamilton on Unsplash

When I was first coming out, I wanted, more than anything, to know other transmasculine people. This was a matter of survival — I was facing a new set of obstacles, and I needed guidance from other people who had faced them. It was also just a human need for rest and companionship. I had spent my entire life feeling different. For once, I wanted to be near people who were different in the same way.

Like any intense desire, this one had the power to overcome my common sense. I did make some new friends, and I got closer to the ones I already had, and this was great for me. But some of the trans guys I first wound up knowing were not so great, and it is them I want to talk to you about now.

I don’t entirely know how I found these guys, except that they made themselves easy to find. They wrote and posted a lot about the Challenges of Being Trans Masc, and those were the challenges I was facing. Several made a big deal about being feminists; I, too, make a big deal about being a feminist, so that was attractive. Not every trans person made me feel welcome, when I came out. Some went out of their way to make…

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Jude Ellison S. Doyle

Author of “Trainwreck” (Melville House, ‘16) and “Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers” (Melville House, ‘19). Columns published far and wide across the Internet.