hey chapo, long time, first time (w this acct ;p). ive been in this global online community of a few hundred anglophonic trans ppl who are largely commies (i.e. new discord server) and there was this recent debate on whether straight trans ppl are queer. its lowk unhelpful discourse that is distracting ppl, i know, but its important to clear up queer theory and focus on materialism, ive been adding my 2 cents occasionally, but i posted this essay today, lmk what yall think

(CW: spoilered instances of queerphobic language as examples of how interpersonal interactions uphold reproductive labor)

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i just had another thought abt the relationship of queerness to reproductive labor. might help settle some things w ppl who still disagree on the definition of queerness. one could mistake a straight couple with no kids and no intention of having kids as "queer" bc of the definition weve been putting forward, but this comes from a misunderstanding of labor itself.

with productive labor, there exists a reserve pool of labor, consisting of unemployed ppl who can be called upon by capital to sell their labor in order protect capital from things like strikes, elevating these lumpenproletarian to more economically stable proletarian. similarly, straight couples without kids, whether by choice or not, exist in a reserve pool of reproductive labor (lumpenbreeders maybe?).

many ppl are financially unable to support children and make the decision to not have them, they can often have children thrust upon them through accidental birth (exacerbated by restrictions on reproductive rights pushed by capital) or a death in the family of ppl w kids (the social pressure of this is exacerbated by the horrible conditions for orphaned children created by capital). wealthy boomers and gen x who made up this class of lumpenbreeders were given a name, DINKs (double income, no kids), and they are the favored lumpen of capital. they can build stability to have kids later in their 30s if they please, they can freely adopt multiple children, they can act as godparents to more than one family, they can start a foster home and engage in systemic child abuse. these ppl are by definition not queer (i.e. not radical on the axis of reproductive labor) NOT bc THEY can have kids but bc they are amenable to CAPITAL as a suitable child-raising unit

queer ppl are queer both bc we self-identify as queer and bc society identifies us as queer. some queer ppl dont like that label, but its the one we have. many queer ppl are identified at a young age; my first clear memory of being marked as an effeminate “boy” by a group of peers was when i was around 6-8 and that involved being chased and threatened w violence. the boys who bully us were likely taught by their fathers to hate the “

spoiler

sssy

boys” (and later are they told to hate the “

spoiler

dke

tomboys”, later in life i found myself to be a

spoiler

sissy dyke

tomboy, dialectical synthesis and whatnot lmao). the act of their fathers teaching them that being a “

spoiler

s*ssy 'f-slur'

” is bad is reproductive labor bc it enforces straightness, not only on their child, but on the children their child is socialized with. yes, straight trans women/men can be bullied as kids, but they grow up to be STRAIGHT. by identifying as straight, both by themselves and by society, they are not queer.

gender non-conformity practiced by straight couples is sparing bc it is constantly policed by their peers. currently, many straight trans ppl exist, but their navigation of straight society is complicated by their transness. this is transphobia, but they are still allowed to exist in straight society, making them not queer. the ability of trans ppl to exist in straight society is being taken away however, and this should worry every trans person, straight and queer. i would love to fight alongside my straight comrades for a better future, but i will fight for trans ppls right to exist under straightness bc my goal isnt to divide straight and queer, but to eliminate the need for such distinctions. however, we live in a capitalist society and our culture has evolved steeped in that, so queerness is REAL and we have to approach it with the same seriousness we approach other axes of marginalization. i think its safe to say that most ppl in this discord r queer; we need to make it clear that our movement is not “culture war,” and that culture is shaped by economic realities

i love all my trans comrades, u all deserve love and happiness

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hope yall like it! i spent my morning lovingly crafting it for trans ppl :)))