Tranny Chasers

I was wondering the other day…is the term “Tranny Chaser” only for cisgender (people whose gender matches their assigned sex) people, or can it be used for trans people too?

J called me a tranny chaser once. I don’t know if he meant it, or if it was to hurt me. Apparently, being with 3 trans people (one of whom didn’t identify as such when I was with him) makes me a chaser. But I’ve also been attracted to quite a smattering of trans people, so maybe there is some truth in it. However, I’m also attracted to many Butch lesbians, punk/alternative girls, and people who resemble Johnny Depp, so I don’t how much that counts (plus, there are many trans guys I’m not attracted to).

Anyways, I was talking to my massage therapist while in Philly, and she said something about getting so frustrated about all these transguys that only ever dated/fucked other transguys. I hadn’t really thought about it before, but it’s a good point. I know lots of transguys that, whether by active choice or not, only go with other transguys. Which is fine. Lots of women are only with women, men are only with men.

But then doesn’t that kind of make them “tranny chasers” too? I mean, if they’ll only get with people that are trans, then essentially, they’re being tranny chasers. Or maybe, we just need an orientation that’s identity involves only being attracted to trans people, because women that only sleep with women has an identity (lesbian), men that sleep only with women has an identity (straight), and men that only get with men has an identity (gay). Note, I know that lots of these people might not identify as such, I’m just using the assumption that behavior = identity for the purpose of this post, although I’m aware this is not always the case.

There is the explanation that they feel more comfortable with people who have gone through a similar experience as themselves, that they know more about language, permission, transitioning, etc. However, don’t we call people who only are attracted to larger people “chubby chasers,” even if they themselves are (or have been) larger?

I’d prefer to do away with the term tranny chaser overall, because of the extreme negative conotations it has (at least within my community — I do know people in other communities that actually identify as such). Why is it an issue to be attracted to certain groups of people? And why is the term thrown around so loosely? I can see it being a problem for many people to be liked ONLY because they are trans, but most people I see getting called this term (whether jokingly or in all seriousness) are not chasers by this definition. They’re people that are queer and like the more masculine end of the spectrum, they’re people who don’t have traditional thoughts about the gender binary/sexuality, they’re people that like gender-fucking themselves.

Who am I to talk? No one. I am not trans, and I do not have the right to tell anyone who they should date/fuck/etc. But I also don’t feel anyone has the right to judge/tell people who they’re allowed to be attracted to, and I think the term tranny chaser seems like policing our attractions. Granted, I know I have hang ups when I find out that someone I’m with has ONLY been with curvy women in the past, or ONLY likes me because I’m curvy, because then I wonder if they like me, or my size. However, I’ve come to realize that most people who like me don’t fall into this category, just like most people being labled as “tranny chasers” (that I know of, have talked to, and have heard about) are not solely interested in trans people, and don’t like them ONLY because of their trans identity.

So I’ve decided to strike this term from my vocab (not that I think I’ve ever used it except in this type of discussion).

And that’s what I’ve got to say. I’m sure I’ll get some angry comments on this one (a cisgender person talking about a trans term), but I’d like to start a discussion, so let ‘em come!

-Essin’ Em