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Xiaxue vs K-pop fans: Singapore’s university students explain why the term ‘tranny’ is ‘dehumanising’

(Photo: 今日新聞NOWnews)
(Photo: 今日新聞NOWnews)

Students from the Inter-University LGBT network have come out to give their two cents over a fiasco that happened between local blogger Xiaxue and K-pop fans last weekend. They have also provided a much needed lowdown on why it’s “dehumanising” to call transgender people “trannies”.

“We are heartened to note that Xiaxue has affirmed her commitment as an an ally to the LGBTQ+ community and may not have intended to contribute to transphobia in using the term. However, the term “tranny” is usually understood by many transgender people as a dehumanising slur and we urge allies to err on the side of caution and compassion to avoid using such a term,” the group said in a statement that was released to the media on Tuesday (28 Feb).

Fans of Korean groups MONSTA X, EXO and BTS were up in arms over the weekend against Xiaxue, whose real name is Wendy Cheng. The outrage was triggered when Cheng tweeted that she had been on the same flight as MONSTA X and that “many yelling teens” were waiting for them.

“I genuinely thought they were a group of trannies,” Cheng tweeted.

The network’s statement explained that while there remains an ongoing debate on how offensive the use of the word “tranny” really is, the network regards these slurs as a part of a “larger phenomena of transphobic violence and discrimination that continue to seriously affect transgender people in Singapore”.

According to a 2012 study by local counselling organisation Oogachaga, 95 per cent of transgender people in Singapore have experienced abuse and discrimination because of their gender identity, including verbal harassment from being called such offensive slurs, the group said.

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