Good Asian Drivers

Are trannies more popular than lesbians?

This question is pertinent to our tour for obvious reasons. On one side of the ring, we have Kit Yan. Clean-cut gay boi tranny, dressed in deliciously perfect couture. Kind of a social butterfly. Delightfully ambiguous. On the other side, you have Melissa Li. A funky t-shirt and tattered jeans kind of dyke, sporting short wispy hair, and cradling a guitar that must serve as some hidden symbol for the female sex. Easy to talk to. Undeniably lovable.

But of late, Kit seems to have been stealing all of the attention, and one must wonder the obvious: is it because trans is in? Let’s analyze.

Yes, trannies are more popular.

1) Come on. Lesbians are SO yesterday. The days of the bra burning, the crunchy folk tunes, and the UHauling are long over. In fact, their popularity was replaced in the late 90s by bisexuals, who through their ambiguous sexual preference, piqued the public interest. But even that era is gone. Now, trannies, with their gender defying tendencies, are stealing the limelight. The more confused you can make people (i.e. people constantly fucking up your pronoun, not knowing exactly what you are, etc), the hotter you are.

2) Everyone wants to fight for the more radical cause. First we wanted to support dykes for the discrimination against them by gay men. Then we realized that bisexuals were being hated by both lesbians and gay men, so we wanted to support them. Now, something even more worth supporting has come along - trannies, who struggle against everybody. So why wouldn’t we love trannies more? They have it harder, don’t they?

3) They have crossover appeal. Trans people get to sleep with everyone. They get to sleep with lesbians, gay men, straight men, straight women, bisexuals, other trans people. What lesbian hasn’t slept with a trans guy? What gay man hasn’t fantasized about another gay man who turned out to be trans? Trans folks get the best of all the worlds. Why? In the words of a friend of a friend: “I don’t care what is hidden underneath. I just want to rip all his clothes off.” Enough said.

No, lesbians are still popular.

1) It’s best expressed in the words of your mother when you came out to her at the tender age of 14. “Honey, it’s just a phase.” This is true. Trannies may be exciting and exotic, with their special pronouns, and iconoclastic gender identification, but this trendy fad will be short-lived. The craze will peak and fizzle. Trannies may be all the rage, but lesbians, like diamonds, are forever. Although currently, the word “lesbian” as an identifying adjective is going out of style, giving way to words like “queer” or “unidentified”, let’s give it some time. Lesbian pride will return.

2) The L word. The show itself has higher ratings than any show in Logo network, which may contain shows specifically about trans people. The best judgment of popularity in America today is what’s in mainstream media. Ugly Betty may have Rebecca Romjin playing a ridiculously gorgeous trans woman, but we’ve got a whole show devoted to lesbians. And the one trans character on the L word is kind of annoying.

3) Older and wiser, but not obsolete. The ones who identified as lesbians in the 60s, 70s, and 80s probably still identify as lesbians today. They’re a bunch of old ladies now, but just because they’re not young doesn’t mean they don’t love lesbians proudly. They’re out there, they’re a bit hidden (it’s hard to travel even with a decent walker), but there’s a significant amount of elderly dykes out there who relate to and heart lesbians just a teeny bit more than they heart trannies.

So the great debate of 2007: Are trannies more popular than lesbians? Leave your thoughts.

In the meanwhile, check out the tour schedule, drop by a show sometime, flirt with Kit, chat with Melissa, and decide for yourself.