Deadnaming
Deadnaming is the use of the birth or other former name (i.e. a name that is "dead") of a transgender or non-binary person without their consent.[1] Deadnaming may be accidental; however, it may also be used to "aggressively dismiss and reject" a person's gender identity.[1][2]
Background
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The concept of deadnaming has elicited considerable controversy. Supporters of transgender identity normalization argue that deadnaming is part of the hostile environment experienced by trans individuals.[3] Deadnaming can also be done accidentally by people who are otherwise supportive of trans individuals, such as supportive family members or longtime friends who have not yet become accustomed to using an individual's new name. Repeated failures to avoid deadnaming, however, can be seen as a failure to practice allyship.[4] Deadnaming can be overt aggression or subtle microaggression indicating that the target is not fully recognized as a member of a society.[5]
Even among those who support trans identities, there is dispute about the appropriateness about the use of former names, and deadnaming as a legitimate concept. Christopher Reed, a professor of history and scholar of queer culture, argued that deadnaming "inhibits efforts toward self-acceptance and integration."[6] Others have argued that the freedom to deadname is not covered within the principles of academic freedom.[7] Disputes surrounding the legitimacy of deadnaming have led to acrimonious disputes within the queer community, with some believing that deadnaming itself is a tangible harm, and others arguing that the move to prevent deadnaming is tantamount to "re-education camp".[8]
Queer scholars have theorized that trans people insist on preventing deadnaming in part as a strategy of self-assertion for what is to come: "by insisting on the primacy of the present, by seeking to erase the past, or even by emotionally locating their 'real self' in the future, that elusive place where access (to transition, health care, housing, a livable wage, and so on) and social viability tend to appear more abundant."[9] Correcting deadnaming by third parties is cited as a way to support trans people.[4]
Obstacles
Attempts to stop being deadnamed can sometimes result in significant bureaucratic and administrative obstacles for trans people. The legal name change itself costs time, money and effort; further, changing corresponding information such as names, emails, class schedules in some institutions (such as school) can be difficult.[5]
References
- Sinclair-Palm, Julia (2017-05-01). ""It's Non-Existent": Haunting in Trans Youth Narratives about Naming". Occasional Paper Series. 2017 (37). ISSN 2375-3668.
- Stanborough, Rebecca (February 2020). She/He/They/Them: Understanding Gender Identity. Capstone. ISBN 978-0-7565-6561-9.
- women. (2017-03-17). "Deadnaming A Trans Person Is Violence — So Why Does The Media Do It Anyway?". HuffPost. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
- Johnson, Hannah Lee (Spring 2019). "Rhetorics of trans allyship, toward an ethic of responsible listening and ally labor". University of Iowa. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
- Rogers, Baker A. (2020-01-31). Trans Men in the South: Becoming Men. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-7936-0034-9.
- Reed, Christopher (2018-11-22). "AXIOMATIC" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-11-22. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
- Lavery, Grace. "Grad School As Conversion Therapy". BLARB. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
- "Conversion Therapy v. Re-education Camp: Open Letter to Grace Lavery". BLARB. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
- Crawford, Lucas (2019-01-02). "What's Next is the Past". A/B: Auto/Biography Studies. 34 (1): 147–150. doi:10.1080/08989575.2019.1542845. ISSN 0898-9575. S2CID 188098200.