Recently, an exchange between Kat Blaque and Madeline Pendleton led to a pile-on on TikTok.
It all started when Pendleton made a comment on the TikTok of someone they were arguing with in which they stated they were a trans person with family in Palestine as a way to bolster their argument.
For some background, Madeline Pendelton is a TikTok creator known for having an outwardly aggressive approach to leftism in trying to rebuke not just those with right-wing views, but other leftists who do not share exact viewpoints. Critics will often note that Pendleton tries to center themselves in the topics they’re discussing, and more times than not will try to talk over those who are marginalized.
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Kat Blaque is a prominent Black transgender creator with a YouTube presence dating back to the late 2000s. For years, she’s been a treasured voice in the community and has spoken openly about the struggles Black trans women face in the broader queer community as well as adjacent settings, such as the worlds of kink and roleplay. Blaque’s partner is also Palestinian, and Pendleton’s original video TikTok warranted a response. In Blaque’s video, she spoke from the pespective of her own experience as a medically transitioned Black trans woman and pointed out how trans people who don’t rely on gender affirming care have different needs and privileges than those who do.
The point of Kat’s argument was to point out that it was wrong for Pendleton to use their trans identity to talk over other transgender and marginalized people.
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Sadly, certain members of Pendelton’s larger audience interpreted Kat’s message as her accusing Pendlelton of not actually being trans because they haven’t medically transitioned. This lead to people calling Kat a transmedicalist, which is someone who believes that only transgender people who medically transition and experience dysphoria are truly valid in their transness.
That’s not what Kat was saying, however, and Kat has since gone on to make multiple posts and videos clarifying that she never said Pendleton wasn’t trans.
Other voices chimed in showing support for Blaque. Bob the Drag Queen showed up to clarify exactly what Blaque was talking about. It’s not transmedicalist to point out that passing privilege exists, and some nonbinary folks who don’t medically transition benefit from that.
This is far from Madeline Pendelton’s first brush with controversy, but fans already seem to be losing their patience.
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