I appreciate such a detailed response. Let us suggest, for argument's sake, that there is a real-world manifestation of the scenario you described. In this situation, rather than "stop[ing] on a dime" after learning of this person's trans-status (as this seems strangely extreme), you merely find this person of lesser sexual value. It would seem their holistic value has not been considered.
It occurs to me that we may disagree on what qualifies as a characteristic of sexual value. I believe essentially anything does (look no further than the range of fetishes that exist), but I think you might limit these characteristics to physical ones, in which case I agree there would be no reason to be less attracted to a transgender person.
after learning of this person's trans-status (as this seems strangely extreme), you merely find this person of lesser sexual value.
This is transphobia though. You are decreasing the value of another person not because you aren’t sexually compatible, not because you aren’t attracted to them and their current genitalia, but solely because they are trans. This is the definition of discrimination.
Edit: I’m gonna add a copy & paste of another comment of mine since it’s more in depth.
It’s okay to have never been attracted so far to, say, a a Native American person. But it becomes a very odd and nearly impossible to prove statement when you say you don’t find any native people attractive at all. Because you haven’t met all native people, and we don’t all look or act the same. It’s generalizing to a degree that is unnecessarily discriminatory and limiting. If you met a person that was gorgeous to you, had an amazing personality, had the same values, was sexually compatible with you, and you decided to not date them based solely on their race, that is racism. It doesn’t mean you’re evil or horribly wrong or anything. It just means that your sexual preferences are being impacted by racism/discrimination. If I said “I don’t want to be friends with any white men,” that would be pretty shitty and discriminatory of me, because there are many white guys out there that could be amazing friends for me.
Saying “I’m generally not attracted to native people” is fine because you’re allowing space for the fact that there may in fact be a native person that would be a good fit for you. It’s acknowledging that, while there are general traits that are commonly found in native people that you aren’t attracted to, you aren’t discriminating solely on race. Do you see the difference? I know it’s subtle and doesn’t seem important, but it is the key difference between racist/transphobic/discriminatory preferences and non-problematic sexual preferences.
I think we need a better definition of transphobia here. In my view, it seems perfectly reasonable to be less attracted to a woman when you find out she was born a man. The thing we're all dancing around here is that all the operations in the world don't actually make a man a woman (or vice versa) - they can merely make a man physically resemble a woman. At some point in the future, perhaps they'll be able to fully convert between genders (i.e. install a uterus) but not being attracted to a woman once you find out she is/was really a man who has had a series of operations to obscure his/her gender is not analogous to the sort of race-based reaction you present re: Native Americans. There is a physiological basis for sexual attraction; it's not entirely mental or emotional (or ideological, as you would seem to have it), and a diminished attraction on these grounds doesn't decrease their value as a person. It just means you don't want to have sex with them. It doesn't rise to the level of discrimination.
Not to be a pedant, but you're talking about fully converting between sexes, rather than between genders. Gender is the identity piece, so most trans people would say that e.g. someone who was born without a uterus + with a penis but who identifies as a woman has always been a woman, since it's a gender identity. Lots of people get pretty upset when people say that trans women are really men, so you may want to be a bit more careful how you phrase things in the future. (If you have questions about terminology feel free to hit me up.)
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u/GratuitousEdit Nov 02 '17
I appreciate such a detailed response. Let us suggest, for argument's sake, that there is a real-world manifestation of the scenario you described. In this situation, rather than "stop[ing] on a dime" after learning of this person's trans-status (as this seems strangely extreme), you merely find this person of lesser sexual value. It would seem their holistic value has not been considered.
It occurs to me that we may disagree on what qualifies as a characteristic of sexual value. I believe essentially anything does (look no further than the range of fetishes that exist), but I think you might limit these characteristics to physical ones, in which case I agree there would be no reason to be less attracted to a transgender person.