discussion When did the T word become offensive?

[Distantconstellation]

Back in the late 2000s and early 2010s all the gays and trans chicks and drag queens who i hung out with use to say the T word and not in a bad way. When did it become a bad word and who decided that?

[Brando]

At the same time that the rainbow flag became not inclusive enough

[Hurem]

I guess around 2012-2013 we dropped the word?

[Severus Snape]

I don't know exactly about the usage of the t word. In the woke era it seems like SJWs want something to go after and punish people for using some words, even though they might not be used in a bad way. Many of these slurs aren't criminalised in other languages and people live more in peace and homogeneity. Homophobia and racism might still be an issue everywhere, but criminalising the usage of these words only make them heavier. Also most people who criminalise words are living on the richest societies on earth, who have a reduced  those issues and it all comes down to ''cancel culture''. 

 

9 minutes ago, Brando said:

At the same time that the rainbow flag became not inclusive enough

its so cringe 

[queenoftheclouds]

I don't know that word. Never heard of it.

[Rotunda]

Y’all do realize straight people were still using those words as slurs at the time right? 
 

 

Asking “when did gay-trans relations break down” is such a disingenuous question when half of this forum makes fun of peoples’ pronouns.

Edited June 12, 2022 by Rotunda

[bidet]

it's offensive only if you choose to be offended 

[RussianRoulette]

what word? trans? 

[GreatCoolBright]

What is this word

[Headlock]

It was always a pejorative 

Of course gay men would feel the need to bemoan that they can’t use that word anymore 

Edited June 12, 2022 by Headlock

[Raver]

I didn’t know it was offensive until like 2016/2017. Before then everyone would use it so loosely I thought it was a short way of saying transgender. I haven’t used that word and even before 2016 I wouldn’t use it. 

[Mobility Mary]

1 hour ago, Brando said:

At the same time that the rainbow flag became not inclusive enough

God the way there are now literally hundreds of flags for different microidentities or whatever they are called.

Cringe people trying too hard to be unique and oppressed.

[Saddy]

1 hour ago, queenoftheclouds said:

I don't know that word. Never heard of it.

Me too

[DatChickDoe]

1 hour ago, RussianRoulette said:

what word? trans? 

 

51 minutes ago, GreatCoolBright said:

What is this word

The term is a term mechanics use to call a transmission. There was a time it was not used as hatefully towards the transgender community and now is offensive. Because a group of people turned it into a hateful word 

[sourtwink]

i would say roughly 2015. i feel like people forget that it was a generally accepted term for not only trans people but also drag queens and just all gender nonconforming people for years. cis gay men being able to use it was a thing because drag queens were considered “transvestites” and drag bars were often even called “t word” bars. it was rarely even used in an intentionally derogatory way and was even used in glee.

[Ampersand13]

OT: I don't know if I completely understand, but if it's what I think it is a lot of people (mostly straight people but other queer people as well) have always used it in a derogatory fashion

 

And for all the users complaining about 'micro-identities' and 'too many flags' why does it bother you so much? Why can't people identify the way they feel most comfortable? No one is forcing anyone to identify a certain way, why can't y'all just let people live the life they want to live? 

[khalyan]

Here is a history of the word if anyone's interested (from 2014 so still a little outdated) 

 

In other words, at the time, there were no “respectable” labels for trans people. All trans-related labels were either unknown to the public or highly stigmatized. Back then, cis people used the word “transsexual” with just as much disdain as they used the term “tranny.” I think this helps to explain why many of us (at least in my community) didn’t tend to get quite so upset about the use of the term “tranny”—it wasn’t viewed as significantly more soiled in society’s eyes than other well known trans-related labels.

 

Today we have a few labels (“transgender,” “gender-non-conforming,” “gender variant,” “trans,” and even “transsexual”) that have garnered a modicum of recognition and respect in our culture. I feel that it is this respectability (as limited as it may be) that has led many trans folks to want to purge less respectful-sounding labels—such as “tranny” and “transvestite”—from the lexicon. Not coincidentally, these latter words also happen to be more closely associated with sex (and specifically with sex work, pornography, and fetishism) in the public’s mind, which surely contributes to some trans people’s desire to distance themselves from such labels. 

 

http://juliaserano.blogspot.com/2014/04/a-personal-history-of-t-word-and-some.html

[Bloo]

Complaints directed at there being multiple flags should be redirected towards resenting the intra-community racism, biphobia, transphobia, etc. that pushes these sub-communities to feel unwelcome in the LGBTQ+ community as a whole. 

[Communion]

Y'all know Google exists for information you're often looking for, right?

 

Quote

During the early 2000s, there was confusion and debate over whether the term was a pejorative, or was still considered acceptable, or a reappropriated term of unity and pride.

2006 - https://www.advocate.com/politics/commentary/2006/09/15/please-dont-call-me-****** - this article from 2006 is also talking about pronouns beyond he and she and yet some of y'all still struggle with it almost 20 years later, claiming it to be too new of a phenomenon 
2008 - https://www.accessonline.com/articles/runways-christian-siriano-apologizes-to-transgendered-drag-queen-communities-63789
2010 - https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/jun/30/trans-language-transgender

[khalyan]

3 minutes ago, Communion said:

2008 - https://www.accessonline.com/articles/runways-christian-siriano-apologizes-to-transgendered-drag-queen-communities-63789

Christian Siriano really popularized the word IMO, as an ignorant high school gay at the time I used it constantly not knowing it was bad.  Just look at how far reaching it became acceptable

 

[Communion]

1 minute ago, khalyan said:

Christian Siriano really popularized the word IMO, as an ignorant high school gay at the time I used it constantly not knowing it was bad.  Just look at how far reaching it became acceptable

I remember Halsey's old tweets praising him and loving it as his catch phrase coming back up. 

 

Him and being on Project Runway really did have a huge reach; I don't know though, the sometimes bad faith tone that these conversations are too new like suggested in the OP feel like they're ignoring on purpose that LGBT people were criticizing someone like Christian at the time (hence the article from 2008 and others - https://www.bitchmedia.org/post/is-christian-siriano-making-a-hot-mess-of-the-term-quottrannyquot)

 

On a separate note, I do think cis gay men who feel confused on why such a word is offensive should ask themselves if they'd be fine with queer women using a word like ****** loosely. 

[Ryan]

48 minutes ago, Bloo said:

Complaints directed at there being multiple flags should be redirected towards resenting the intra-community racism, biphobia, transphobia, etc. that pushes these sub-communities to feel unwelcome in the LGBTQ+ community as a whole. 

This. 

[Mr.Link]

Has it ever not been offensive? Just because a bunch of local gays felt comfortable using it doesn’t mean it’s not offensive. 

[Not Like The Movies]

it has always been an offensive word. 

[Jagger]

People saying it became offensive in 2015???  

 

I've always seen it as an offensive word lol