Elliot Page, Keira Bell, and the myth of the disappearing lesbian

On Tuesday two trans related stories entered our collective conscious that at first may not seem entirely related but are.

In the US, actor Elliot Page shared details of his gender identity. Upon opening up, the Umbrella Academy actor and former Juno star, was greeted with nearly universal praise from the majority. Celebrities tweeted their love, trans Twitter was like Christmas came early. However, one subset of the LGBT social media landscape was very upset.

In the United Kingdom, Keira Bell had sued the Tavistock Centre (the UK’s only gender identity development service) over her transition. She had been put on puberty blockers at age 16 and had a double mastectomy at 20. After detransitioning she argued that the center sould have challenged her more. The high court decided in her favor and ruled that no one under the age of 16 could consent to transition services. The decision was met with applause across the pond as the UK terf movement claimed a major legal victory.

Some of the people that were the angriest about Elliot Page sharing his transition story were the same who were happy over the Keira Bell case. In the US we think of transphobes as bible thumping, redneck, backwoods types. However, the people that helped Keira Bell were well educated lesbians.

We have witnessed over the past year a mainstreaming of open British transphobia. If you had thought that JK Rowling was leading this instead of helping it to grow, unfortunately you’re mistaken.

One of the major messages that has been pushed is that trans people are brainwashing lesbians into transitioning into men. It’s an updated version of 80s homophobia but has taken ahold in the UK.

People like Julie Bindel, who writes for the Guardian and is a frequent guest on the BBC, have been making this claim for years.

Not only does this statement have it’s roots in the “lesbianism is a choice for feminists" argue of which Bindel herself has argued in favor of, it doesn’t even make sense. The political lesbianism movement died out because at the end of the day, to be lesbian or gay, bi, etc. you actually have to have a sexual interest. Yet, almost 50 years later Bindel and her allies have helped the British media convince people that transitioning is an act of conversion therapy. In Keira Bell they found a willing accomplice to push their anti-trans agenda.

For what’s it worth, the Tavistock Centre has been at the center of controversy into some of it’s practices but in the current climate it’s hard to understand what’s legit criticism and what’s anti-trans paranoia without actually having used their services.

You can’t steal what’s hardwired into people, either they’re lesbians or not. People change as they grow and get new information. As transition has become more of an achievable thing, more people are deciding that’s what’s best for them. Some people detransition and I sympathize with those who have gone far on this path only to realize it’s not the right way for them.

So where does this involve Elliot Page?

He was a very visible lesbian in a time where Hollywood doesn’t have many. This is mostly because opening up has serious career consequences. Carrying a high profile can mean that people will use your existence to justify their point of view.

One of the more recent anti-trans campaigns has been “it’s ok to be gay" spoken in the same way racists have been saying “it’s ok to be white.” Even though he didn’t consent to being used in this way, people were saying that Elliot was proof that you didn’t need to transition.

He didn’t ask for that and it was wrong to put that on him.

All we have is anecdotal data. In researching for this I found that most arguments about the lesbian population declining used observations like “bars are closing,” or “I don’t know that many lesbians.” Well I do, I know femmes, and butches, and studs (real ones know the difference). Couldn’t I say based on my social circle that there are more lesbians than ever? Wouldn’t that argument carry the same merit?

We have no way of knowing how many lesbians there are because the US census doesn’t count the LGBT population however there are more out people than at anytime in our country’s history. If lesbians were really disappearing, how does that idea fit?

When transphobia comes from the right wing it’s dressed up in religion. When it comes from the left it’s often wearing the label of lesbian feminist.