Over the pond, the use of “tranny” as an agent noun for male to female transsexual people has got the backs up of trans activists and culminated in the recent glitter bombing of Dan savage at a recent public gathering. In the Daily Beast, Tricia Romano considers whether the ‘T’ word for trans people is like the ‘N’ word for black people and the ‘F’ word for gay men. She examines the allegations against Savage and other alleged transphobes, including Kelly Osbourne, whilst citing the world’s most famous drag queen Ru Paul’s declared fondness for the word.
It needs be said that Dan Savage has now declared the ‘T’ word verboten and spoken out against its use and Osbourne has denied that she is in any way transphobic, but the heat is still on. Romano’s article is thoroughgoing and raises lots of questions about our use and abuse of language. Read it here.