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man it's stumbling across stuff like this that convinces me we need to work way harder at getting trans theory across to the next generation. these slurs are first and foremost about transphobia and policing gender, of which sexuality is one (very big & important) part
"dyke" and "faggot" are fundamentally slurs that are about accusing a person of failing at the gender they're supposed to be. being gay AND being bi are both MAJOR ways to fail at this in the minds of cishet society (esp. bigots), but they aren't the only ones!
"dyke" gets thrown at everyone from lesbians to trans men to nb folk to bi women bc about policing the gap between the gender they're "supposed to be" (woman) and their actual gender expression (gay attraction, non-feminine clothing, "masculine" body language, etc.)
"fag" is similar, but inverted for people who are "supposed" to be men. there are any number of trans & nb people who've gotten called both fag and dyke /in the same day/ because one bigot will look at them and see "failed man" and another will see "failed woman"
homophobia's roots are in transphobia, not the other way around. this is why we talk about black trans women leading the way in LGBT spaces so much, because transphobia, esp. against trans women, is at the root of bigotry against us all (& antiblackness is similar wrt to racism)
what this means for slur reclamation discourse i don't care to parse out. if you think we shouldn't try to reclaim slurs at all, that's your business. but really try and remember that our oppression all comes from the same place, and these slurs are about targeting that place
none of us are immune to them, and i, at least, think that all of us are entitled to have an equal say in what's done with them, trans people (of any gender) especially so
that's all. sorry to discourse, i just get worked up about trans stuff and people saying this without knowing about trans stuff was driving me up like six walls at once
