Is misgendering a transwoman or man an act of violence?

1. 59

   APPettyposted 8 years ago

   Is misgendering a transwoman or man an act of violence?
   
   Trans activist and actress Laverne Cox mentioned in a 2014 speech that misgendering a transperson is an act of violence.
   
   
   
   Also, New York passed a law that misgendering a transperson is worth $250,000 fine.
   
   
   
   By this logic, school children getting called names would fall under this definition. Someone using the wrong pronoun or prefix towards anyone at that point would be violent.
   
   
   
   
   Is misgendering violent? Or is it another way to skew meanings and information, because they feel it's true?

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2. 68

   lisavollrathposted 8 years ago

   First, your information about the New York law is wrong. You're quoting the bogus information posted on a fake news site.
   
   Here's the reality: New York passed a law in 2015, called the NYC Human Rights Law, which requires employers and other covered entities to use an individual's preferred name, pronoun and title (i.e., Ms./Mrs.) regardless of the individual's sex assigned at birth, anatomy, gender, medical history, appearance, or the sex indicated on the individual's identification. Refusing to do so can result in penalties of up to $250,000 for violations that are the result of willful, wanton, or malicious conduct. An employer who repeatedly misgendered a trans person would be covered by this law.
   
   So, your school children example is bogus. School children aren't employers. Someone using an incorrect pronoun casually, or by accident, would also not be covered by this law, because that's not willful, wanton or malicious conduct.
   
   I can understand why Ms. Cox feels as though misgendering a trans person is an act of violence. She's not talking about an accidental slip by someone who isn't aware of the trans person's preferred pronouns. She's talking people who intentionally misgender a trans person, as a sort of insult, or slur. Misgendering a trans woman perpetuates the idea that she's simply a man walking around in women's clothing, and is an indication to others that it's OK to treat her as some kind of freak. Misgendering is often the first step toward violence against a trans person.
   
   Given the very high murder rate of trans people, and trans women, in particular, I can see why Ms. Cox might feel that misgendering is dangerous. At the very least, it's rude. How would you like it if someone insisted on calling you by the wrong gender, even after you gently corrected them? Wouldn't you feel as though that person was being hostile toward you?

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3. 59

   APPettyposted 8 years ago

   I agree it's rude. But, violence denotes physical harm. Abuse is physical, emotional, or mental or a combination of a previous. Name calling is harmful. /I'm an adult human female, and no one has called me by the wrong prefix or pronoun. They can tell by my name, build, walk, and voice what I am. However, my natural name is 5 letters long gets butchered daily. Employers, coworkers, family, and friends alike. I've eventually stopped correcting them, not because they're intentionally being malicious, but because I know who they're addressing. If they were calling me obscene names or something other than what I've allowed them to, yes, it would be problematic. But, I've learned that some get it and some don't. I don't need social acceptance or validation. Or to make it a larger issue than what it is./You may think the children example is bogus, but if name calling is violent, it would be much more prevalent at its basic and smaller levels. That's why I said that. However, there are plenty of others who think it's outrageous that a natal man who has taken estrogen shots and emulates stereotypes of women, to then call himself 'she' or 'her.'

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4. 51

   bradmasterOCcalposted 8 years ago

   
   
   NY is the den of liberals and they make up whatever they want and call it Human Rights. Actually it is more like rights on for the left.
   How in the world did they come up with a fine so large for something that is so small.
   What are they going to do when NY brings in some many Muslims and they want their rights to be Sharia Law.
   It is a violation of free speech and at best it might be defamation. It would hardly be a constitutional infringement. There is no legal precedent in the Supreme Court although the court has made some ridiculous decisions.

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5. 82

   tamarawilhiteposted 8 years ago

   No, because it is equating words with violence.
   That blurring of the definition of violence is what allows one person to hit someone for daring to say something they disagree with. And when one ideology can start assaulting people for their speech, peaceful dialogue dies.

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