Coming Out As Trans - A Little Public Statement

hello my name is abigail thorne i'm a professional actress from newcastle pontine i live in london and i'm the creator of philosophytube an educational show that teaches people about philosophy in a fun way i started the show almost seven years ago when the coalition government tripled tuition fees because i wanted to give away my philosophy degree for free at time of recording the show has just over 800 000 subscribers in my most recent video identity i came out as a transgender woman thank you to everyone who kept my secret for such a long time as i prepared to come out publicly i'm excited to continue my acting career and philosophy tube please respect my privacy and treat everyone with kindness and patience even those who don't treat me kindly it's so lovely to finally know to finally relax to sleep well with sweet dreams and be at home in myself but i'm also scared things are very very bad for trans people in the uk right now and they're getting worse because of my existing following i have now instantly become one of the most recognizable trans people in the country and i feel an enormous pressure to be good at it like if i could only be clever enough or pretty enough or funny or articulate enough then things would magically come right alas i can't be a perfect paragon of trans britain i'm just an actress but i can relay the following facts trans people have existed for as long as there has been a britain longer but even after a century of feminism the government still dictates what we can do with our own bodies the nhs is forced by outdated rules to discriminate against us if a cisgender that is not trans woman wants hormone replacement therapy for menopause she can get it from the gp but if a trans person needs the same medicine to transition we are forced to travel to a separate clinic and be interrogated by psychiatrists because of this discrimination waiting lists are years long women like me die waiting for the exact same medicine that bald men get from the gp to treat hair loss trans men die waiting for breast reduction surgery that cis women get for back pain in england and wales people under 16 can get an abortion which is permanent but they can't get life-saving puberty blockers which are reversible some government ministers promise to reduce waiting times but that's not equality it's just more efficient discrimination we don't have equal legal rights either when cis people get married or adopt children they can use their passport as proof of id but we can't even though my passport says f for female i'd have to beg the government's permission to become a wife or a mother there has never been a trans mp member of the house of lords msp ms or mla and no party has equal rights as a policy goal trans people especially trans people of color are hit hardest by unemployment homelessness and domestic sexual and police violence but the conversation always focuses on wealthy white cis women tweeting about toilets overworked journalists often don't know much about our lives so anti-feminists and religious extremists feed them pseudo-science and fear-mongering anti-semitic conspiracy theories about a mythical trans lobby controlling universities in government are printed uncritically alongside calls to have us cured with conversion therapy which shockingly is still legal well-meaning folks like yourself sometimes worry about embarrassing themselves by saying the wrong thing so they don't speak up to help us like suffragettes and black civil rights movements before us we are told to watch our tone bless the people who are denying us the means to live get hurt feelings i might just be an actress but as a feminist i can't submit to civic inferiority or give up control of my body in my view feminism isn't a tea party with the queen or a girl boss brunch with femspirational ceos it's our common struggle to be free today i'd like to add my voice to the many demanding new legislation for trans equal rights that is an informed consent system of medical transition and a self-id system of legal transition for all who desire it including non-binary people everyone else in britain gets their health care and gendered services that way surely it's only fair that we do too in my mind there's no question about it just as there was no legitimate debate about whether to give gay and lesbian people equal rights we don't cancel or silence flat earthers when we set aside their concerns about space travel and start listening to cosmonauts that said equal rights won't fix the poverty criminalization surveillance and state violence facing all those who work for a living rather than own property and capital trans equality must be part of a huge redistribution of power and resources so society serves human need instead of profit i hope that someday soon people of all ages realize that being trans is perfectly normal like all human beings we are inherently valuable and entitled to self-determination and if that makes some people uncomfortable well it's only because they're choosing not to live in reality these are scary times but courage calls to courage everywhere and its voice cannot be denied even when other people make it hard being trans is a gift my love goes out to every trans person within the sound of my voice in britain or overseas especially those who can't come out yet this above all to thine own self be true and it must follow as the night the day thou canst not then be false to any man

Channel: Philosophy Tube Live

Views: 765,776

Rating: 4.7669978 out of 5

Keywords: Abigail Thorn, Philosophy Tube, Trans, LGBT

Id: FG-TrnwH4iQ

Length: 7min 57sec (477 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 30 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/Dservice]

The left now officially has a better Abigail

[u/PM_ME_MICHAEL_STIPE]

She did a stream a few months ago where it seemed like she was experimenting with how she presented and it made me wonder if this was on the horizon. I'm happy she feels safe enough to come out to her audience.

Also it's not fair how pretty she is no matter how she presents herself lol

[u/weeping_pegasus]

A few months ago I saw someone comment that they were wondering if she'd been taking estrogen. Guess that person fuckin called it. Anyway I'm so happy for her ❤️

[u/Blacklisted_activist]

transrightsarehumanrights

[u/thesideofthegrass]

This is great. I was feeling really bad from the news about Sophie, and I still am, but this was a great pick me up. I am so so happy about this news.

[u/Perchick]

I'm so happy for her

[u/NicolasBroaddus]

Wow, pretty shocked by this honestly, though of course I wish all the best to Abigail in this, just now trying to comprehend/reconciled how I viewed them previously as an example of positive masculinity and how to reconcile some of those things.

I'm glad she feels somewhat secure, or at least determined, to come out, I just wonder (and please forgive the 'what about the cis men') who will be a major voice for positive masculinity in the community now. I am curious why there's so many trans women who are prominent but far fewer trans men as well, I'd find that side of the take very interesting too.

[u/Lluuiiggii]

This news makes me wonder, does anyone have any recommendations of good trans men youtubers. Lefttube has a nice collection cis women, cis men, trans women, non-binary people, but I don't see much coming from trans men at least. It's a perspective I don't hear very often

[u/dispenserbox]

holy hell, i'm so so proud of her. trans liberation!🏳️‍⚧️