Another day, another group of people getting mad at a trans woman for absolutely no reason at all.
If you’ve spent any time on trans TikTok, you’ve most likely come across @Lillytino’s page. The well-followed trans food critic has been a staple of trans TikTok for quite some time, but it’s only after cis people discovered her that the problems began. First, a video she made talking about Kurt Cobain’s transness started rubbing people the wrong way, and today, after her recent viral Disneyland video, she’s getting even more bad-faith criticism.
Why? Because she dared to talk about her upcoming GRS while enjoying herself at Disneyland Park.
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Now, why are people getting all up in arms about this? Because trans people aren’t supposed to talk about our lives and surgeries in public, much less at a sacred space such as Disneyland! How dare she!
The reality, for people who don’t know, is this: trans folks can talk about whatever they want, wherever they want, even if it might make some cis people uncomfortable. If a trans woman wants to talk about GRS and use Disneyland cake pops as a visual aid, that’s actually fine.
RelatedOh, and of course, some Bible-thumpers are up in arms.
But many disagree. In addition to commenters implying that Lilly is somehow a s*x offender for simply talking about gender-affirming surgeries (in coded language!) at Disneyland, others commented that Disneyland was “not the time and place” for such a discussion.
Ok so…what is the correct time and place? We can’t talk about surgeries with our families, and we can’t discuss them in public, and we can’t talk about them at Disneyland or on social media without people acting insane. So when, exactly, are we supposed to be doing the important educational work that everyone insists trans people do to justify our continued existence on this planet?
As usual, there is neither rhyme nor reason to the criticism. A trans woman starts talking, and people on the Internet start getting upset and tone-policing her: sadly, it’s a tale as old as time.
Luckily, the hate hasn’t stopped Lillytino from making videos. A recent TikTok from the same trip shows her and her mother talking about the moment when Lilly came out as trans, and it’s beautiful to see.
So let’s try and make up our minds, shall we? Is Disneyland for the gays—all the gays, including trans people who want to speak about their lives openly—or is it a place where we need to hold our tongues and pretend our transness doesn’t matter?