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sunset photo: red at the base, a strip of yellow, blue at the top. the top and bottom are black. The horizon is stretched, and the image is blurred a bit, so it resembles an eye or an oval tunnel.

You’ve been trying. I see it.

What’s happening now isn’t because of who you are, dear readers. Let’s continue to try. So you consumed too much ice cream, got wicked creative, were fascinated by death, made decisions with your gut, wrote inappropriate film dialogue. And?

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Tucker Lieberman seated in a wine-colored armchair, wearing a similarly colored T-shirt. He's in his 40s, white, blue-eyed, balding and bearded. He has a quizzical expression.

Am I the right kind of gay and trans for you?

Why our identities matter so much to us, why we bring them up, and why we use our favorite labels. My identity isn’t a bargaining chip. It’s an intangible. Try to touch it. It’ll vanish. The label denotes the space through which breath and fire passes.

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person lifts hand as if to refuse something or ask someone to stop

Transphobia is a form of denialism

We have to counter Holocaust denial, and also transphobia. Transphobia is an ideological lie. Certain arguments can identify and deconstruct it. (Transgender atheist Jews, by the way, also have humanities degrees.)

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person in a formal gray suit, crossing their fingers behind their back

Hate-crimers and their pronouns

Ignore the Club Q shooter’s statement of gender identity. A homophobic, transphobic murderer says they’re what? Let’s differentiate good-faith and bad-faith declarations, as well as reality and fiction.

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Letters LGB on a rainbow background. Letter T has been ripped off the paper.

The people who use LGB-minus-T are homophobes

Brendan O’Neill does not support gay marriage and is impressed with the LGB Alliance. Yes, everyone may speak their mind. What’s on mine: Gay organizations that are trans-exclusive are homophobic too in complicated ways. Homophobes love this.

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