Thursday, March 5, 2015

Leslie Feinberg's Death

Autostraddle did a series of posts on Leslie Feinberg after ze died last November. 

This one includes some good biographical info, as well as hir kick ass last words:
http://www.autostraddle.com/leslie-feinberg-transgender-lesbian-activist-author-and-revolutionary-dies-at-65-264663/

And here's a roundtable discussion on how Feinberg impacted the lives of some of the editors. Great stuff all around:
http://www.autostraddle.com/how-leslie-feinberg-changed-our-lives-the-autostraddle-roundtable-266486/

Also, if you are unfamiliar with Autostraddle you should check out the site in general. Hooray for supporting independent queer feminist media! 

2 comments:

  1. Wow. Extremely interesting, impactful, and active life. I really enjoyed the discussion of pronoun use: "Feinberg has said that pronouns are important to hir but that at the same time respect can come even from someone that falters with language and disrespect even from someone saying just the right thing." For me, the part about people using the right language and being disrespectful is the most impactful idea here; just because someone is educated and up to date with the "correct" vocab—which, as an act in and of itself, is very important if one has the means to do so—doesn't mean that what they say is necessarily right or necessarily supportive. In some cases, "correct" vocab can actually mask very destructive comments and thoughts, and at times it is difficult to see through that.

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  2. This is kind of a side note, but in reading more about Feinberg, I was surprised to learn that hir widow actually lost custody of her children in the late 70's because of her homosexual activity. http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-3157
    And the quote that Luke pointed out is interesting- I agree that intent is important and that people can attempt to mask their disrespect by using certain terminology, but I'd imagine that constantly having one's identity questioned by someone using the 'wrong' terms (even when not done with ill intent!) would become a heavy burden to bear.

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