Put slightly differently, Drag Queen Amrou Al-Kadhi was NOT about to patiently sit through Spiked magazine Editor Brendan O'Neill's unceasing refusal to humbly accept another person's preferred pronoun.
The debate comes on the heels of a recent announcement by the American Dialect Society.
They named the singular "They" pronoun the word of the decade, no doubt a nod to some great strides—albeit with WAY more work to go—made in that time by the Trans community, as people aim to be recognized as the person they are.
The 2019 Word of the Year is “(my) pronouns,” and the Word of the Decade is gender-neutral singular "they." #woty19 https://t.co/PsjtkEkfUh— American Dialect Society (@American Dialect Society) 1578100537
Much of the ensuing debate amounted to a repetitive back and forth as O'Neill would not give an inch to Al-Kadhi's arguments.
The drag queen kicked off the discussion by asking O'Neill why he "throws tantrums like an insecure child" when trans people ask to be called a simple pronoun.
O'Neill, after calling 'they' a "quirk of the English language," returned:
"I am very worried about the creation of this elitist new language, with words like "they," "cisgender," "nonbinary," "heteronormative."
"[Those words] are used by a new elite to signal that they are good people, that they are a part of the 'in-club."
With no hesitation whatsoever, Al-Kadhi fired back.
"Trans people are not a movement, as you say. They're not an ideology. They're not a belief system."
"Trans people are merely people trying to live their lives who don't, for whatever reason, fit into whatever binary."
Al-Kadhi made this similar point throughout the debate, reminding everyone how problematic it is that a trans person's existence is regularly moved from declared fact to debatable opinion.
Check out the entire debate for yourself below.
Shortly after the debate, Al-Kadhi posted the interview to twitter with a further take on the whole thing.
Here’s the full @SkyNews feature where I challenge professional troll Brendan O’Neil on his idiotic claims that res… https://t.co/93ntCQGTo5— Amrou Al-Kadhi 🦄 (@Amrou Al-Kadhi 🦄) 1578575266
The activist's twitter followers were all in.
@Glamrou Just sent this to my mum to illustrate why we all need to be on board with trans rights and respecting pro… https://t.co/xsU4IDIAOv— Rainbow Dark (@Rainbow Dark) 1578664128
@Glamrou @SkyNews Your eye rolls are everything! Proud of you going on and speaking up so powerfully 💛✊🏻— Jeffrey Ingold (@Jeffrey Ingold) 1578591685
@Glamrou @SkyNews Brendan: you are using elitist terms Also Brendan: Orwellian!— FatGayFriend (@FatGayFriend) 1578576390
Keep speaking up and wigging out Amrou Al-Kadhi!
Rather than hiding the scars, Jazz has chosen to embrace them as a part of her journey to living as her authentic self, saying:
"These are my scars on full display in #2019. I'm proud of my scars and love my body just the way it is. I call them my battle wounds because they signify the strength and perseverance it took to finally complete my transition❤️#decade challenge"
Jazz also posted a series of videos of her journey over the past decade.
In the caption on her 2018 video, she talked about her experience with gender confirmation surgery, and the surgical complications that put her back in the hospital shortly after.
"#2018 was a rough year in my life. I experienced a major complication with my gender confirmation surgery and wound up back in the OR one week after the initial procedure. It was a tough journey, but experiences like that one only make us stronger in the end."
Family members...
@jazzjennings_/Instagram
...fans...
@jazzjennings_/Instagram
@jazzjennings_/Instagram
...and trans activists and models Carmen Carrera and Isis King offered their support and love.
@jazzjennings_/Instagram
@jazzjennings_/Instagram
Jazz also shared the story of her surgery, and the complications from it, on TLC's reality series I Am Jazz, which follows her life.
Jazz has been sharing her truth since she was a child.
She is known as one of the youngest people to transition whose journey has been publicly documented.
That story was first shared with the public in the form of I Am Jazz: A Family in Transition which aired on the Oprah Winfrey Network. This led to her TLC series, and Jazz published a memoir about her experiences in 2016.
Jazz has become a vocal advocate for LGBTQ+ rights as she has grown up, largely focusing on trans rights.
Jazz talked with ABC News about her experience with gender confirmation surgery.
"It was like a dream. It was. This is a moment that I had always envisioned and just experiencing it was so surreal. I was like I can't believe this is happening."
She also talked about realizing how she could use her fame to better the world.
"From the time I was six years old, I've been sharing my story. And you know at first I thought, 'Okay, this is all going to come to an end one day and then I'll be able to live my life.' But more and more I realized that I was given this platform for a reason and that I have a strong and powerful voice."
Jazz wasn't the only one who was excited about her gender confirmation surgery. Her mother, Jeanette, got all choked up just before Jazz's surgery thinking about how happy Jazz would be.
"This is a huge thing, she waited for this for so long and it's here and I'm just happy for her."
Jazz's children's book I Am Jazz is available here.
Amazon
Jazz's follow-up book Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen is available here.
Amazon
Transitioning isn't an easy task. It can be lonely and isolating. However, that wasn't the case for identical twins Jack and Jace Grafe. The brothers were identified as female at birth, but ultimately came out as transgender men and transitioned at the same time, leaning on each other for support. According to Fox5Atlanta, the Georgia born pair were raised in a conservative family.
Jack explained...
"Fear is like the biggest thing to keep you away from anything. That's what kept me in my box."
Growing up, they'd both known they identified as boys from a young age, but had never heard the term 'transgender.' They weren't sure what they were feeling or why, but they knew they weren't girls. The boys said they used to cry themselves to sleep, hoping they'd wake up as boys.
Jack said:
"It's like being in prison except it's in your own body. And the older I got, the harder it was to swallow. And I was like, can't do this for the rest of my life, I just can't do it."
As close as the twins were growing up, neither confided in the other their gender identity until they were 15 years old.
Jace stated...
"I feel like we've saved each other from a lot of really dark and depressing moments. Sometimes, I wonder if he wasn't here, if I would have been by myself, if I would have had suicidal thoughts. I'm not saying I would have, but it's very possible. I would have been most definitely alone."
The two continued to present themselves as female until they graduated high school. Jace cut his hair and changed his clothes as soon as high school was over. It was a few years later when they began their medical transition. They started with hormone injections to get deeper voices and appear more masculine. It was just two months ago that they underwent chest reconstructive surgery, on the same day.
They are both in long-term relationships, work as corrections officers in East Georgia, and were supported by their co-workers through their transition. Best of all, both boys are very happy.
Some of their story was covered by Inside Edition.
Identical Twins Transition Together www.youtube.com
People congratulated them on their journeys.
Jack and Jace's journey progressed to a new level just recently: the twins were even able to obtain new driver's licenses that identify them as male.
Jack told Fox5Atltanta:
"It's real now, it's official. It's like the biggest relief you could ever feel."
Jace added:
"It's perfect to me, I'm finally perfect to me. I'm just excited to finally go out there and be exactly what I've been dreaming about for a long time."
In an era where several people are attempting to erase trans people from all discourse about civil rights, visibility is even more important.
People have been voicing their support for the transgender/gender nonconforming (TGNC) community.
You heard Mother Monster.
Jack and Jace are very happy with themselves and their lives. We can only hope more transgender people can have the same happy ending as these twins.
H/T: Twitter, YouTube, Instinct Magazine