Communities

You can ignore this section; it's just rambling.

Queer people tend to stick together.

It’s easier that way.

Another queer person is less likely to hatecrime me.

Other queer people get it.

Even besides that, we exist in a world where oppression is still a thing. Queer people are othered and often face exclusion and rejection from peers, family, co-workers, and society as a whole. It simply makes sense for us to stick together.

Have you heard of the phenomenon of queer people seemingly attracting each other? I don't mean sexually; I mean friendships. Gay people in large group settings somehow end up befriending each other more than they do cishet people, even when no one mentions that they're queer. I've experienced this myself several times: spending a summer in Québec, working, the odd university class. When I befriend people they're usually also queer.

Sticking together goes doubly so for trans people, who just have that little bit difference extra that really separates them from society. That separates us from cissiety. Constant alienation from the rest of the world means we end up finding solace in each other. Trans people will very often end up dating only other trans people, because you're not going to be attacked for having a dick when the girl you're interested in also has a dick. We call trans people dating trans people t4t; it comes from Craigslist personals. I cannot find any sort of academic source for that, but I do know it's an actual term because it's regularly used in trans communities. Hell, you can scroll through the Tumblr tag to see trans people going crazy for other trans people.