If a Person Can Be Trans-Gender, Why Not Trans-Race?

In the above video, Oli London describes their journey to identifying as a gender non-binary, trans-Korean person.

On June 28, a newsletter from my favorite real-news source, Not the Bee, contained this article about Oli London.  London is a white British person who announced coming out as gender non-binary (using the pronoun: “they”) and also as  “trans-Korean.” They made this announcement after undergoing 18 plastic surgeries to physically alter their face to look Korean.  The physical appearance, with the aid of modern medicine, had been altered to reflect their true underlying identity.

My honest first thought was that someone might be pranking our culture, and the whole video was making a commentary on how far we’ve drifted from nature and biological reality. London’s vlog does make those points, but not intentionally. From all appearances, London is entirely sincere about finally, after 8 years, living as their true self, and becoming an advocate for others in the LGBTQIA+, and trans-race, communities. 

The story went viral -- because it’s fascinating and, I believe, instinctively shocking. It’s like turning on the lights in a dark room: suddenly we’re exposed. I was reminded vividly of The Hunger Games: Oli London’s reconstructed face and pink hair instantly brought back visions of Suzanne Collins’ Capitol, where one character, Tigress, has had so many surgical alterations she had literally turned herself into a cat. Can we really say we’re far off from that? 

Scrolling through London's instagram feed, I came across one photo of themself captioned, “Natural Korean beauty.” This, despite the fact that, verifiably, nothing about their appearance is natural. 

For me, London’s coming out as trans-race was a “finally” moment. The reckoning has arrived: For years we’ve been saying that if you feel like you were “born in the wrong body” then there are medical and surgical solutions to help you “become” who you are supposed to be. From that understanding of identity, trans-race is a logical progression from trans-gender. And why can’t you be trans-cat, like Tigress?

Weirdly, that’s not the reaction London received to their coming out.  The New York Post reports that London has received thousands of death threats: “People telling me to kill myself, people telling me they’re going to come and find me and shoot me. Like, really extreme stuff.” The comments under London’s tweets about being trans-racial are enlightening. “This is not only racist, it is a huge disrespect to trans causes,” writes one person. “How the f*ck are you supposed to change every single line of DNA to make this work,”  writes another.

And here is the comment that I think best illuminates the inconsistency of the trans-movement: “Gender is a social construct but ETHNICITY isn’t. Being Korean is about the DNA , culture and history and also being raised there, not claiming you wanna be them just by liking their culture and music genre. Pls stop [sic]. You went too far.”

But why is gender a social construct but ethnicity isn’t? That doesn’t make sense. A case can be made for saying that femininity and masculinity are aesthetics; that men can be feminine and women can be masculine. I agree that “traditional” gender roles can be bent, e.g. that men can stay home with the kids while women become breadwinners. I love to see the ways people expand the definitions of “man” and “woman” to be broader and more inclusive of the varied human experience. 

But I don’t think the trans-movement does that, in fact quite the opposite. As others have argued, if anything it makes the roles of masculinity and femininity more fixed and limited: if you don’t fit neatly into one, then you must be the other. If you love Korean culture and Korean music, then gosh darnit, you’re Korean. The identity is reduced to its aesthetic elements.

And expanding society’s gender roles doesn’t change the fact that sex, like ethnicity, comes with particular DNA, culture, history, and upbringing. It doesn’t change the fact that for a man to become a woman he would have to “change every single line of DNA.” That’s why when males compete in female sports, they physically dominate. That’s why letting males into female bathrooms and locker rooms is a possible predatory threat.

Oli London has brought these issues into focus. We can continue on the path we’re on, believing in a definition of identity that is detached from natural and biological origins, one that is based on an emotional sense, not on foundational experiences, one that is led by aesthetics. This definition is entirely consistent with London’s view of themself. Or we can agree that no identity can or should be co-opted by someone who has not shared specific lived experiences. If that’s the case, trans-gender people are equally as problematic as trans-race people.

London commented to TMZ that “most of the attacks [towards them] are coming from liberal white people, while Republicans and people struggling with identity issues have been largely supportive.” No surprise there. From outside the trans movement, the logical fallacies are obvious. It’s those on the inside who need to grapple with the cognitive dissonance.