Why Queer Theory is Bad For Trans People | Trans Sandwiched #16

Welcome back to Trans Sandwiched by TaraElla. Today, I want to talk about why I have come to the conclusion that queer theory is bad for LGBT people, particularly trans people. I will also talk about what we might do in response.

The fundamental reason why queer theory is bad for LGBT people is because it is ideological, i.e. it is rooted in certain philosophical commitments rather than empirical reality or the actual lived experience of LGBT people. Queer theory is heavily influenced by the philosophy of postmodern thinker Michel Foucault, which means that it is fundamentally committed to a postmodern, Foucauldian worldview. Included in this package are very problematic ideas like how knowledge and discourse is fundamentally about power and oppression. These ideas have fueled an LGBT culture that is overly focused on matters of language, style and identity labels, which I believe is ultimately unhealthy for us. As a trans person, I can say that my life experience of the world does not agree with the postmodern worldview. I simply don't see how language games will change anything. Instead, I believe an obsessive focus on language unnecessarily divides us, and is not helpful for building bridges.

Another reason why queer theory is harmful for trans people is because of its deconstructive nature, again due to its philosophical inheritance. Queer theory sees both gender (male and female) and sexuality (e.g. straight, gay and bi) as entirely socially constructed, and to be deconstructed. As such, queer theory resists having stable definitions and identities for everything. It's really postmodern deconstructionism on steroids. In fact, some queer theorists even resist having a definition for queer theory itself, arguing that putting a definition on queer theory is limiting. In the world of queer theory, all definitions and limits are to be resisted and knocked down. The problem with this approach is that it practically denies the ability of people to have a stable identity with a stable meaning at all. Right now, what trans people need most is for the rest of the world to understand us better. An ideology that basically says trans people are not understandable is certainly not what we need right now.

It is not just theoretical either. The deconstructive orientation of queer theory has produced real world confusion about why people identify as trans, leading to accusations that trans people are doing it for political reasons. This, I believe, is behind the so-called 'trans ideology' moral panic. From what I see, what conservatives call 'trans ideology' is basically a blend of legitimate trans issues and queer theory ideology which has been blended into the trans discourse. This blending has created multiple points of contradiction (e.g. how 'gender is entirely a social construct' but also 'gender identity is innate'), which has undermined the general public's pre-existing understanding of trans people as being 'born this way'. This situation has been seized upon by reactionary forces to argue against trans acceptance, on the basis that trans people are supposedly politically motivated to identify as trans. In this way, allowing legitimate trans issues to be bundled with queer theory, which is actually a political ideology, has caused us to suffer undeserved backlash. The trans community doesn't have an agenda to promote a postmodernist deconstructive ideology, and it is only fair that this be made clear.

The problem is that, queer theory is way too disproportionately influential in the trans discourse at the moment. This is because of its dominance in the academic humanities, particularly the parts that have historically taken an interest in LGBT issues. I believe what we need to do is to create a counter-narrative, which is basically what I'm doing now. I believe we need to speak out continuously, and get our narrative heard in the mainstream media, which has until now acted as if the queer theory influenced academics and activists actually speak for all of us. We need to speak out continuously until the bubble of academic queer theory is popped, and our counter-narrative can no longer be ignored. At that point, we will hopefully have a level playing field, on which we can engage in rational debate against the tenets of queer theory. It will be an interesting debate indeed.