The Hind End of Space

gailsimone:

I was very disappointed and told him so on Twitter.

To me, and this is just my impression, it didn’t read like an INTENTIONAL slam at trans folk, more like an off-hand and thoughtless exclusion of them, but that was just my interpretation. I have only met Joss once and am not hugely familiar with most of his work, so my read could be completely off. Intent isn’t everything, obviously, and I’m not making excuses for him, that is just how I read the comment at the time. 

I have made comments in the past where I have thoughtlessly made a similar mistake, talking about women as defined by having vaginas or whatever. People pointed out to me that that was exclusionary and they were right. Maybe that’s all Joss needs, maybe an apology is forthcoming, I don’t know, but it would be nice.  I don’t expect people to be perfect, you know? I don’t know anyone who has perfect knowledge and enlightenment, some of the most dedicated social justice advocates I know have messed up badly. But when it’s pointed out that something is wrong and hurtful…I would hope they would listen and do the right thing, out of simply human decency.

It always sucks to be excluded, to not be considered. Even just as a woman in comics, I’ve had it happen often and I can’t even imagine what it’s like for trans folk, where they have to deal with both aggressive and passive erasure all day, every day, it seems.