Cis people making their living/brand/careers out of becoming celebrity trans rights advocates, academics, or clinicians is a troublesome dynamic. I don't believe it comes from an intentionally exploitative place, but it becomes exploitative all the same.

Throughout most of the trans rights' movement's history, our bodies & minds have been seen as fertile ground for scientific discovery & sociopolitical rhetoric: Whether we are cast as victims, medical oddities, or predators, we become the focus of cisgender career-building

Well-intentioned cis individuals in art, literature, medicine, psychology, and more have created entire bodies of work positioning themselves as allies, protectors & saviors of trans people. There are some benefits to this, but the overall dynamic is unsustainable & unhealthy

Bc the "career cis ally" develops a sense of self (and sometimes even an economic livelihood) based around trans oppression. The career ally needs us to require saving, which is a dynamic that cannot support the true & equal partnership that is essential to political solidarity

What happens when the career cis ally is confronted by trans people who disagree with their methods, or who refuse to be saved? The career cis ally is naturally threatened, disoriented, becomes fearful of losing their identity as "the good one." It's only human.

To cisgender allies whose professional careers are based on working "for" trans people, I ask with love: What would you be without us to save? What would it mean for us to be your equals? How can you support us in struggle without supporting yourself through our struggle?