Here is why I don't entertain the notion of optics, aka that our success in being granted rights depends on how nice and well behaved we are https://twitter.com/TessasTeaTime/status/1309900331669569536

(BTW "being nice" includes being good little trans who don't have confusing genders like xenogenders, who obediently explain every last trans issue to cis ppl who ask us at all times, and who endlessly tolerate cis ppl violating our boundaries they refuse to acknowledge, etc)

Think of three groups of cis ppl:
1, ppl who think trans rights are inalienable human rights and will always support us
2, ppl who aren't openly hostile to us but need to be convinced to care about us via good optics
3, ppl who are openly hostile and will never support our rights

This is of course an extreme over simplification of real world people, but basically, there is 1, a group that do not require good optics to support us, 3,a group that will never support us regardless of optics, and 2, a group whose support depends on our optics

So ofc the pro-optics mindset would be that we need good optics to convince as many ppl of group 2 to support us as we can so support of us reaches a critical mass that causes us to get rights somehow

I think this is a trap though, and that seeking to win over "undecideds" by having good optics is pointless and futile in the long term and possible even counter productive

(note that the model I'm using conflates "undecided" and "optics dependant" but the real world is so much more complocated and those are two groups which do have overlap but are not the same)

Thing thing is, you need to think what will happen after we've optic'd our way into reaching a critical mass to get rights. Keep in mind rights represent freedom. We don't want rights for rights sake, but so that we can live freely as ourselves, and having rights will enable that

But I don't see that situation as a situation that achieves freedom, because then we will need to maintain our optics to maintain support from group 2 to maintain that critical mass that will allow us to have rights

Having our rights at the cost of us needing to constantly perform optics means we won't be able to enjoy the freedom and safety we want (and are entitled to) that our rights should give. If we excercise that freedom "incorrectly" too much then we'll have that freedom taken away

This is why I think it's a futile endeavour, relying on optics will never grant us true freedom, only the illusion of freedom as long as we step in line and obey the cis. I don't see group 2 as offering allyship, I see them as offering blackmail and an ultimatum

I think the road to gaining freedome involves primarily 1: education on our issues, and 2: cis ppl reminding themselves that we're people too. This is why being visibly trans is so powerful

Cis ppl often mythologize us and act like we're closer to rare unicorns than normal people (and before you say it trans people are not nearly as uncommon as you think we are)

The way I see it, the way to freedom is reminding cis ppl that we are real people, and prompting people in group 2 to get off their asses and walk themselves over to group 1. There is no allyship to be found amongst group 2. Not true allyship

There is no true freedom without addressing the fundamental roots of transphobia: cisnormativity, the mythologization of trans ppl, that kind of stuff. Otherwise we'll be stuck always playing second fiddle and defending against the waves. Instead, put the plug in at the source