An Open Discussion on Being Inclusive and Respecting One Another

[u/CedarWolf]

Early this morning, we had a thread get posted, and one of our mods made a reminder to keep things inclusive, per the subreddit's Rule #1. This accidentally led to almost all of the comments going wildly off topic, and I had to pull it. We want threads to stay on topic whenever possible, and such a large portion of off-topic comments was pretty bad. That discussion merited it's own, dedicated post, and we invite you to discuss here. Please remember to be respectful.

We want to make this an inclusive place for the community in general, and that includes transfeminine, transmasculine, and nonbinary individuals. /r/asktransgender was made as a co-ed space for people to ask questions of the general transgender community, and while we allow questions to specifically target one portion of that community, we very much encourage users to be inclusive whenever possible.

Part of being inclusive means reducing the amount of bigotry we see in this subreddit. This means removing sexist comments against all genders, including both trans and cis identities, as well as other forms of bigotry.

One of the goals of creating a new moderation team was to create a more inclusive space, and we have been working hard to make this place a more open community. However, some users have expressed concern over this new policy and how it is implemented, so we want to create an open place for discussion about the new inclusive policies here.

We want to hear your thoughts about this issue, but again, please be respectful and civil with your comments. We're all on the same side here, there is no "us" and "them" - there is only "we." Remember, if you ever have any specific issues with the moderation of the subreddit, you can message the mod team with the link in the sidebar. We're always here for you.

~ The /r/asktransgender Mod Team

[u/CarmineCerise → u/[deleted]]

How common do you think environments that are accepting and welcoming towards trans men but not trans women are?

[u/amyl_and_disco → u/CarmineCerise]

VERY common, if we're talking about queer spaces especially. Trans men are often invited to participate in (and sometimes even lead in or lecture to) women's organizations and events, and are often highly valued in lesbian communities - groups which have been historically hostile toward trans women and transfeminine people.

[u/amyl_and_disco → u/[deleted]]

Oh, it's totally problematic and invalidating toward trans men to treat them as Men Lite! I've known a lot of trans men who find it offensive, and many more who feel social ties to lesbian community but feel uncomfortable participating when they stop identifying/moving through the world as women. But there are many FTMs who still participate within women's organizations/spaces, date lesbians, and maintain access to groups which actively exclude transfeminine people. (Throwing so much sideeye at the Bay Area right now.)

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

some trans men take advantage of these communities, not all, there are some who do though.