Vroom Vroom, Baby

My name is Erin Palette and I'm a Performance Tranny. *

And now, context:



Tuesday, October 11 is National Coming Out Day, and even tough I came out as trangender three years ago, I wanted to observe the day and also let all my friends know that any word I use for myself is a word you can use for me -- so long as you use it kindly.

I acknowledge that some transgender people dislike the word "tranny", and so I won't use it to describe them and I encourage everyone else to be gentle with its usage. But personally, I find the entire thing funny -- after all, doesn't a transmission "switch gears" and doesn't a transgender person essentially do the same thing in the eyes of society? -- and by using and laughing about a word which is allegedly offensive, I reclaim it and remove its harmful power (c.f. the Pink Pistols and their reclamation of the pink triangle).

Ignorance = Fear. Keith Haring, 1989

I refuse to be told which words I can and cannot use for myself because no one except me is allowed to dictate how I identify. The LGBTQ community has long held that Silence = Death, and I believe that censorship is how we silence that which frightens or offends us. If we are silent, if we cannot be heard, then we might as well not exist in the mind of the public, and that is how we become marginalized and stepped upon.

So yes. I'm a tranny, and when called upon I perform like you wouldn't believe.

Vroom vroom, baby.

* I'm told that I'm a 4:11 final drive, with a 6-speed double-overdrive and a competition clutch.