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Hot Tranny Mess: What’s hot and what’s messy about the term “tranny”

Trigger warning: discussion of transphobic slurs

The only times I’ve ever been called a tranny have been when people who identify as allies think they’re somehow “not-transphobic” enough to use slurs like jokes. It’s completely unacceptable. Real allies are allies precisely because they know not to pull stunts like that. Not using slurs is, in fact, a great way for an ally to demonstrate their solidarity. Trans visibility is somehow bringing our language into public discourse, but usually in casual and offensive contexts that do nothing to empower the individuals it describes or combat the very real transphobia of the people who use it. In a sense, “tranny” is so hot right now (after all, according to the New York Times magazine, it was the year of the transsexual). I wish it weren’t. I wish no one used the word; then transfolk could use it however we please.

As it is, it’s wrapped in a lot of politics and pain, which is what makes it messy. But it only makes it a little messy. The most important thing to know is that the term “Tranny” is hurtful and offensive to a lot of people. It is a term that is used disproportionately to slur transfeminine people, sometimes to the extent that it is used to insult other feminine people by implying that they are somehow failing in their performance of femininity. It is used against all trans people to call us out on the “falseness” of our genders. It is not a good word. It’s a word that some folks are trying to reclaim, and that is absolutely their prerogative. I’m all about reclaiming language, but we are in the early stages of reclamation, so there are some rules:

If you are not trans, you should never, ever use the word “tranny.” Even if a friend tells you that they identify as a tranny, you must ask them if there are any contexts in which it would be appropriate for you to call them that. (Kind of like how for me, anyone can call me queer whether I’m there or not, but only other queer people can call me a dyke, and only among queers and allies. Those are just personal decisions I make based on my comfort and understanding of the meaning of those words in different contexts)
If you are trans, you should never use that word to refer to a person who has not expressly told you they identify as a tranny. Again, you must ask about context. They may only want that term used in trans spaces.
If you are trans, you should never call yourself a tranny with any negative connotations; that is not what it means to reclaim language.

There are folks who say that the fact that “tranny” is most often leveled at transfeminine folk means that transmasculine folk can’t reclaim it. It’s certainly true that it’s never been used against me with any malicious intent, so I do not feel that it’s my place to try to reclaim the term—it is not part of my identity and not something I am comfortable being called—but I’m not certain that it should be completely off limits to all transmasculine people. I think that transmasculine people who do not seek community with transfeminine people should probably avoid acting like it’s their word, but I am interested in trans community that is not split on the basis of sex, and would like us to be able to reclaim the word as an entire community.

There are certain contexts in which I will use the term tranny, only ever in reference to myself. I’m very careful with it, but I’m still not sure I should be using it when I do. It’s something to think about. I use it as a sort of bitter, sarcastic reference to myself when I am implying that I am being tokenized, objecified, or otherwise experiencing my humanity being seen as separate from my trans identity. So, for instance, in speaking about “tranny chasers,” people who objectify transfolk as sex objects; or if I talk about how I’m pretty sure my annual summer job needs to keep hiring me, not because I do my job well (I do), but because who else is gonna talk to the youth about tranny stuff? This is not necessarily attaching a negative connotation, it’s recontextualizing it in a way that allows it to empower me by reminding me that I deserve to be seen as a whole person (no matter how much I personally choose to treat my transness as my central identity) and does not deny that its history is a painful one.

Language is always the choice of the individual, but people who use painful language need to be prepared to the folks around them to be hurt, offended, or unwilling to spend time around them. By taking the history of the word “tranny” into account, and reminding yourself that not everyone can handle hearing it yet, you can make yourself safer for all people. Who wouldn’t want that?