Recently I've been thinking about (and experiencing some) bigotry from within the LGBT community.
The other day, I can't remember how, I ended up opreading a thread on a non CD forum, where someone started to talk about maskers (CDers who wear rubber masks with feminine features, and quite often full body suits). The resident expert offered a link to a documentary featuring our very own and loved Docrobbysherry, (and a couple other maskers, unfortunately I couldn't watch the video then and now I don't know how to find it), and said that is what a crossdresser is, that they dressed to have fun, and that crossdressers were hated by the trans community.
That person wasn't, for what I know, trans nor LGBT in any way, and her ignorance is shown by her thinking that masking and crossdressing are synonims, as well as generalizing over motivations, but... where did she get that idea. My only interaction with CDers is on this forum, but I think CDers and trans* are the closest, so how can we hate each other.
But then, we are the forgotten ones from the fight for rights. For years the struggle has been about gay people, and nobody has thought of us, being as we were on the margins of society. Even today, a lot of gay and lesbian people don't see us as equals.
Case in point, some of my interactions with a lesbian young lady that is staying for a few weeks at the inn where I am working.
When she first came here and rang the bell I was sitting in the hall. As I got up and walked away to get the keys, I could hear her say "what the... A skirt?".
That evening we had a conversation, and the subject of my transition came up. She told me "oh, but you make such a handsome guy!". My venomous reply was "and you're so pretty, you could get yourself a nice boyfriend". The look on her face was priceless, it wasn't the first time she had heard that.
i thought she had understood, but last night her mother was visiting and she referred to me as "he" when introducing me to her. I know her mother is a bigot, and while she recently came out to her she still hasn't told her that she's living with her girlfriend, but... It's her mom, not mine, don't heteronormalize me! If she wants to hide, so be it, but I wear my transgenderism on my face everyday.