[ID: A 7-striped flag going from teal, to light green, to yellow, to light orange, to mid pink, to dark purple, to very dark blue-purple. In the center, the transgender symbol is shown with a heart replacing the circle, and a ring around the outside of it. End ID]
Transectionality
(Also known as transectionalist or transectional. Comes from terms transgender and intersectionality.)
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A term or subculture for transgender people who uplift, support, and listen to each other, and a term for recognizing intersectionality within the transgender community. It is explicitly pro-nonbinary, pro-feminist, and strictly against any and all forms of bigotry.
Transectionality includes recognizing and combatting all forms of oppression, and acknowledging where one can further educate themselves. It’s not just about being against transphobia- it’s about being against instances of racism, misogyny, ableism, and other forms of oppression that can directly affect members of our community, and learning about how those structures can intersect with each other. It is about solidarity, lifting up the voices of minorities within minorities, understanding one’s own privileges and using them to do good, and helping fellow transgender people in need.
The term is not an effort to say “we’re all friends! we all have equal issues!” because the truth is, that isn’t the case. There are other structural issues that can be in the transgender community, like racism, that can go ignored, un-talked about, or even dismissed outright. Transectionality is not about saying everything is fine; it’s for fighting to make things fine. Because we aren’t there yet, and we have a long way to go. The term is just as much about learning about misogyny, racism, xenophobia, ableism, and other forms of oppression as it can be about learning about transphobia itself, so that intersections of oppression can be understood and unlearned.
Transectionality can both be a belief, and it may be something that you do. For instance, a transectionalist may simply believe in these ideas, they may be an activist, or they may be dedicated to directly helping bring awareness of intersectionality in the community.
The term comes from intersectionality, which is a term used to describe how different social categories within a person can cause specific intersections of oppression. For instance, misogynoir is the intersection of misogyny and anti-black racism, so black women have a specific experience with both of those things. Intersectionality is not just “I experience these things separately,” but it is just as much about understanding what happens when those things combine, and how that can shape someone’s experiences.
The term is free to use by anyone in the transgender community, as well as anyone who may technically fit the label, but doesn’t want to use that term specifically.
