planet trans: Trinity MCC

A transgender person of faith responses to "Ticked off Trannies with Knives".

There comes a time when people of faith must look beyond ourselves and to our God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit solely for direction. There comes a time when our religious beliefs must be allowed to guide us past our earthbound alliances and interests.

That time is now.

There is a movie written and directed by a Dallas gay man, Israel Luna called "Ticked off trannies with knives"(TO*WK). This movie sensationalizes the murderous violence committed everyday against transgender woman. This movie commercializes on a fantasy concocted by Luna in which violent retribution is subsequently committed by these 'hot, sexy and fierce' transgender victims.

The movie TO*WK misrepresents transgender people as comical caricatures of females who intentionally "fool" men into believing they are 'real woman' who desire heterosexual sex. Upon being discovered by their intended partners as 'men in women's clothing' the transgender woman inconceivably allow themselves to be willing victims of these murderous men. These transgender victims are then transformed in the last moments of the movie into vigilantes who then violently exact revenge on the original perpetrators of the violent acts.

This movie lends credence to the discredited and abhorrent 'transpanic' defence. Prior to the trial of Alan Andrade for murdering Angie Zapata this tactic was successfully and often used in defence of the killers of transgender woman. Andrades claims that he murdered transgender woman Angie Zapata because she had 'fooled' him were not allowed by the court and he received the maximum penalty.

The 'Transpanic defence' has not been attempted since and the reality of receiving equal punishment for murdering a transgender person undoubtedly has played a major role in the demented minds of those considering this violence.

Israel Luna incensed the transgender community by placeing Angie Zapata's name in the begining of the TO*WK trailer and remained there untill he was forced to remove her name by outraged transgender people.

"Ticked off trannies with knives".

Nothing could be further from the truth about the transgender experience. Nothing could be more dehumanizing or damaging to transgender peoples welfare. The uneducated will be terribly misled and transphobic people, regardless of sexual orientations, will use this tragic movie to further there own hateful agendas.

Religion and "Ticked off trannies with knives."

Despite my objections my pastor is attending the showing of TO*WK at the Fort Worth Q Cinema in June and plans to engage in dialogue with other movie goers about it afterwards.

I contend that the a Cisgender male pastor of a MCC church should not enter into a discussion that normalizes the usage of 'tranny', a pejorative so dehumanizing, harmful and hated by transgender womankind.

I contend that the message that TO*WK communicates should not be supported by the Metropolitan Community Church in any way. My Church, Trinity MCC Arlington Texas, does this by supporting Q Cinema, which is featuring TO*WK at it's film festival despite the transgender communities pleas that it does not.

I contend that the primary mission of a pastor at a MCC Church or any other Church, is the well being and safety of their congregations and this priority should not be ignored so as to preserve a social association or obligation outside of the Church.

Will Trinity and all of the other Churches in North Texas who claim transgender people as welcomed by god and by their congregations as equals, sit in silent acquiescence to the damaging misconceptions of TO#WK?

Will Metropolitan Community Churches defend ALL of it's congregants, or will it's allegiance to a earth bound agenda prove more important.

I invite all LGBT welcoming Churches to consider this a invitation to take a stand against the transphobic violence inspiring misogynistic message of TO*WK. I invite all transgender inclusive churches to come to the informational rally at the opening night of TOTWK at Q Cinema in Fort Worth.

Kelli Anne Busey
Dallas Transgender Advocates and Allies

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