Tag Archives: ethics

Aug 7 2016

Trans Mission: Kate Adair on HB2, and Changing Media & Society

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TransEthics: Tell us what you do for the BBC.

Kate Adair: What I do is work on a platform called BBC The Social. It’s an online space giving a platform to new and emerging content creators. It’s about letting people make what we are passionate about. In my case I started with a couple of a Trans 101 videos and have recently moved on to doing a weekly thing called queer bites where I get to discuss a topic of the week… usually I take it from something that I have seen in the news or something big from the world of LGBTQI+ society, but I do admit I’m bias a little towards the trans content. I’m a trans person who leads on creating what I make, script, film and edit my own stuff and the BBC listens to my views and allow me to make what I feel is relevant and important. They tend not to change or alter what I say and —at least with the social— are happy to listen to my lead on whats needing to be said and put out there.  Continue reading →

Mar 17 2016

Trans Analysis: Zinnia Jones on Dysphoria, Conversion Therapy, and Forgiveness

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TransEthics: At what age did you begin transition?

Zinnia Jones: I started medically transitioning when I was 23. I was living as a woman full-time for at least several months prior, and I was frequently being read as a woman in public for a couple years before that.

TE: Is your family supportive?

ZJ: My partner Heather has always been extremely supportive and encouraging. She gave me an environment where living as a woman was something comfortable, welcomed, and desirable. She was probably the biggest contributing factor to me finally finding the confidence to start HRT – particularly because we both knew that, if anything, this would make me even more attractive to her, not less. Our kids have been very understanding and it’s been a total non-issue. They’ve always known me as a woman and they were relatively young at the time I started transitioning, and Heather was able to explain it to them in a straightforward and age-appropriate way: that some girls have “boy bodies” and vice versa, and I was taking medicine to give me a “girl body”. Continue reading →

Feb 29 2016

Help Support TransEthics

I’ve had some issues lately that have prevented me from interviewing as often as I’d like to, including being without a computer for several months. A more common issue has been having my not having a consistent internet connection. To guarantee a consistent connection, I’ve set up a Patreon account located here. I have set the monthly goal for the cost of my connection, but you can donate any amount monthly to help keep TransEthics operating. Please visit the page for reward information.

 

Thank you!

Victoria Darling

Jan 6 2016

Trans Gaming: Brianna Wu on Gamer Culture, Harassment, and Caitlyn Jenner

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TransEthics: How long have you been in Game-related journalism?

Briana Wu: A lot of people don’t know this about me, but my background is in journalism, specifically investigative journalism. But most of my work was in in crime and local reporting. I do write game related op-eds as part of my job these days, but I see myself as more of a developer than a journalist.

I think if you look at who has the power to change the industry in historic terms, game journalists don’t have as much as developers. Yes, they get to communicate about their tastes to a wide audience, but ultimately they are commenting on other people’s work. To me, the act of creating is much more interesting than commenting.
Continue reading →

Sep 29 2015

Why Jeffrey Tambor’s Emmy Speech Fails Trans People

Tambor1Honestly, I’d been dreading watching Jeffrey Tambor’s Emmy acceptance speech. Not because I didn’t enjoy Amazon’s production Transparent, but because of the standard in Hollywood which consistently gives roles of trasnsgender women to cisgender men. I understand that they needed a “big name” to try to attract viewers, but many in the transgender community are simply fed up with this practice.

That being said, I seriously almost didn’t make it past Jimmy Kimmel’s introduction. I found his eating of the card and implication that he could then arbitrarily choose whomever he wanted to win unfunny and distasteful. It seemed to de-legitimize the award itself. Furthermore, I was more than a little angry about his remark that maybe “it’s time a woman won this (the Best Actor in a Comedy Series Emmy).” Continue reading →

Jun 2 2015

Trans Trials: Erin Fernandes on Transition as a Business Owner, Privilege, and Finding Oneself

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TransEthics: When did you first come out as transgender?

Erin Fernandes: About 13 years ago, but I was just cross-dressing at the time and my wife caught me. I almost ended up in a divorce. My father in law researched transgender and explained it to my wife, saving my marriage for the time being. But it was just a family secret for years. Very few knew, just my wife, and in-laws. It’s only been about a year that I have been me in public.

TE: How did the rest of your family react to you coming out?

EF: Most didn’t accept it. My mother still has a hard time with it. I had to help educate her on the subject. And she’s got a doctorates degree — go figure (laughs). Lots of tension between my brother-in-law and I still, but he’s coming around, not that I care. The way I see it is, if you can’t accept me for who I am, why should I accept them? But all in all its been a pretty easy transformation for me. My wife has been my biggest support through everything. Continue reading →

May 12 2015

Trans Controversial: Kelly Klaymour on the Sex Industry, SJWs, and Ethics in Feminism

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TransEthics: What is it that first attracted you to sex work?

Kelly Klaymour: I thought there was way more money in it than there actually is… like enough to pay for SRS kind of scrilla. [But] little did I know… (laughs) Plus, I never have really had issue with being naked, so hey why not get to bone [girls who are] way out of my league and –what I thought would be– a decent living. (laughter)

TE: You mentioned before that you tend to be a bit more conservative than others I’ve interviewed. Would you expand a little on that?

KK: Sure thing. I had considered myself quite far on the left side, until being apart of this community for an extended amount of time. I’ve slowly realized I’m what’s considered a “shitlord” of sorts now (laughs). I guess my main issue that ends up blowing up into debates over social media is my opinion that nobody is entitled to [porn]work, and that I support the industry as a free market capitalistic complex.

TE: Having said that, I’ve noticed there seems to be a very public struggle on social media between independent porn studios, and the established big-name TS porn companies. Do you have any thoughts on that? Continue reading →

May 10 2015

Trans Triumphs: Christy Pierson on Realizing Childhood Dreams, Religion, and Sexuality

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TransEthics: When did you come out as transgender?

Christy Pierson: Initially in 1999 when I was living in North Idaho, but there was not enough support there to transition. There had been a trans woman on a local Police Dept who had lost her job because of being trans right around that time too. She later was awarded back pay and her job back. I decided that the time was not correct and headed back into being all the man I could be.

Ten years later in 2009 is when I could no longer keep the door on it’s hinges or patch it up enough and I admited to being Christy. It really was a life or death time… I was drinking myself to death.

TE: There’s a lot of stories in the media regarding trans children. When you hear such stories, are you envious at all?

CP: Yes and No. Yes, because there are things which would not have developed and I now need to correct. Such as trachea, facial hair and voice among other things. Continue reading →

May 4 2015

Trans Erasure: Riley Alejandro on Non-Binary Issues, Genderfucking, and Media

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TransEthics: When did you first realize that you’re transgender?

Riley Alejandro: I didn’t know that transgender was a thing until I was at least in my teens, probably around thirteen or fourteen, when I had access to the internet. I first started expressing issues with being told I was a girl around 8 is my first thought of it, telling my parents that I wasn’t a girl, that I was a boy and making up a lie as to why. I was forced to go to therapy. That’s when I also learned that this wasn’t something that people accepted too well. Continue reading →

Apr 26 2015

Trans Brilliance: CN Lester on Music, Psychology, Gender, and Activism

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TransEthics: I’ve interviewed a couple of non-binary people in the past. How do you define “non-binary”?

CN Lester: I would probably say that I don’t define it — I think the very appeal is that there is no fixed definition — or, rather, than everyone has their own, and we respect individual interiority — that’s the whole point. I don’t personally used the term non-binary (unless repeating someone else’s choice to use it) for a number of reasons.

The main reason being that gender is not a binary. Sex is not a binary. It never has been, it never will be, and I object to having to define myself, and the whole complex web of humanity, in reference to a lie which has caused untold damage. As ever, that’s not to say that men and women aren’t men and women — just that there have always been more descriptors than just those two, that those descriptors need not be fixed to specific entry requirements, and that every person (man, woman, neither, both, either, more options) will have their own take on what gender and sex mean.

TE: What does gender mean to you? Continue reading →