Transspecies Problems - Blog Posts

Putting myself back out into the dating scene has reminded me of how scary the thought of coming out as nonhuman to others can be, and the thought of having to come out to a human partner has been giving me a decent bit of anxiety.

It's easy with friends, most just accept that there's something a little "not human" about me, whether that comes from being a furry or just a general vibe, they get it. I don't have to actually sit down and explain exactly what I am to them unless I really really want to. But it's different with a partner, someone I want to be in a serious long term relationship with. It isn't something I could just casually neglect to tell them, at least not forever. I've always been bad at hiding things about myself from others, having to keep my therianthropy a secret from someone Im in a serious relationship with would be next to impossible, not to mention emotionally exhausting. I would want them to know and embrace it, but I can't pretend like there isn't a possibility that wont happen. Coming out to partners in the past hasn't gone quite the way Ive would have liked, nothing bad, but it just ended up feeling like an unspoken taboo between us and it kinda made me feel like shit. Like it was something that they loved me in spite of.

Ideally I'd love to be with another alterhuman, but obviously that more than halves my available options which are already small to begin with on account of the whole being gay thing. Idk it just stresses me out, I wish I could feel comfortable being my full self around someone else, animal and all, but I don't think Im ever going to find someone who isn't a little weirded out by it unfortunately.

Im gonna say smth that a lot of yall aren't gonna like but whatever Im tired of nobody talking about it.

The therian community's obsession with zoos is stunting a lot of the cultural growth that we could be having rn.

Soooo many of us are so goddamn busy with trying to prove that we're not zoos or accusing each other of being zoos or shouting from every rooftop available that we're different than zoos, when we could be doing so many more productive things.

You wanna keep potentially dangerous individuals out of the community, I understand that, really I do. But do you wanna know how many animals are saved from abuse by us dogpiling (no pun intended) on someone who incorporates their nonhumanity into kink? Or who speaks honestly about genitalia dysphoria, or instincts to court members of the species they identify as? Or hell, who even acknowledges that there is an overlap between therianthropy and zoo attraction? Zero.

It doesn't really protect anyone, all it does is prevent us from speaking honestly about our experiences, diving into the nitty gritty of what it actually means to be an animal living as and among humans, out of fear that something we told to someone in confidence is going to end up in a google doc next week. No, wanting to have nonhuman body parts does not automatically make you attracted to biological animals. No, being attracted to alterhumans over humans does not automatically make you attracted to biological animals. No, wishing you had a nonhuman family does not automatically make you attracted to biological animals. The only thing that makes you attracted to biological animals is being attracted to biological animals. It truly is not rocket science.

I haven't seen it be as much of an issue here on Tumblr because I guess there's overall less mob mentality and beings are more capable of using critical thinking skills, it's just been frustrating watching so many of the younger/newer members of the community turn into the "crucify zoos at any and all costs" club and trying to strong arm all forms of animalistic sexual expression out of the community to avoid any possible association with zoos from outsiders (spoiler alert: you could sanitize the entire community to the point of chemical burns and uneducated doorknobs would still swear up and down that every last one of us are zoos)

"you cant identify as transspecies, thats not a real thing!! you'll always be human it's not even possible to transition to another species!!"

Fucking. Watch me.

My daily schedule according to anti-kin mfs

3am: get up to aggressively bark and howl at the moon for 2 hours, waking all of my neighbors up in the process

6am: make myself a well rounded breakfast consisting exclusively of raw deer meat

6:30am: scream and cry for half an hour because my mom is forcing me to go to school and wolves CLEARLY do not go to school. my life is hell

7am: throw all of my deodorant in the trash because it blocks my natural 💫 𝓅𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ𝓂ℴ𝓃ℯ𝓈💫

8am: arrive at school wearing my fav buttplug tail and galaxy wolf shirt

8:30am: have a vague memory of having graduated high school already, but that cant be true because no therian is older than 16 so here i am

9am: yell at my classmates for calling me a human and tell them that they're being therianphobic, and that im going to cancel them on twitter and make sure they never get jobs

9:30am: enter psychosis

10am: angrily email the school board for the 8th time this week because they won't put litter boxes in the bathrooms for me which is therianphobic oppression

10:30am: sit alone in a corner and growl/hiss at any humans who get too close to me

11am: enter psychosis

12pm: single handedly regress the trans rights movement by 10 years

1:30pm: refuse to sit in a chair for class and instead perch up on a desk. teacher threatens to kick me out, tragically i am forced to comply

2:30pm: cast a spell on one of my religious classmates as i leave school using my evil devil anti-human anti-christian magic

3pm: more raw deer meat omnomnomnom

5pm: enter psychosis

5:30pm: burn a picture of charles darwin in my trashcan because i hate all of that therianphonic science and biology nonsense. you can't tell me what to do CHARLES

6pm: enter psychosis

7pm: enter psychosis

8pm: i curl up in my nest of roadkill bones and sheets that haven't been washed in 3 months and gently fall asleep <3

How are you TransSpecies but also dont want TransIDs to interact with you?/genq

TransSpecies is a Trans Identity/nm

Yep you're right, transspecies is a trans identity, not transID, it's a normal and healthy identity to have, similarly to transgender. It is neither discriminatory to minority groups nor impossible to achieve transition for the way that transIDs are. It's also a label that's been used within the alterhuman community long before transID terminology ever became a thing, it's just something that's been stolen from us against our wishes. If transgender isn't transID then neither is transspecies, and if it is then there's literally no reason to have the distinction between "trans" and "transID" to begin with.

I don't want transID interacting with me because they fetishize and promote stereotypes about a lot of already stigmatized groups of people, some of which I myself am a part of or of which many of my friends are. I will not stand for discrimination here. There are some transID's I feel slightly more neutral on (ex. transage or transoccupation, pretty much any that don't specifically target marginalized groups) and don't really care all that much if they wanna interact for whatever reason, but overall Ive found transID individuals in general to be very insulting and entitled and would generally just prefer not to engage with them.

I have a more in-depth explanation of this sort of thing a little ways down on my blog but that just about covers the basics I think, thanks for the ask! <3 :]

Just in case anyone still has any doubts that the "anti-therian packers" argument is at least partially based in transphobia, this is a real, dead serious statement one of my (ex) mutuals made about why minors potentially having access to species affirming gear is wrong.

Like.

I legit don't even know what to say. This is genuinely so upsetting and concerning to hear from someone with a platform in a community meant to be accepting towards all types of individuals.

Not only is this a super inaccurate and invalidating way to think about nonhuman/transspecies identities, but it's also blatantly anti-transgender rhetoric. Replace the word "transspecies" with "transgender", and you have lines straight out of a speech given by a conservative politician about why queer books need to be banned in schools. The fact that they knew what they were saying was similar enough to transphobia that it was going to catch my attention is even more concerning, because it shows that they are capable of recognizing the similarities in their mindset but are simply choosing to ignore it.

I was a transspecies child. I knew there was something innately canine about me years before I even began to question my gender or sexuality. And I wish I had had the language to describe what it was that I was experiencing, instead of thinking I was going crazy for not feeling human.

Mark my damn words, we are going to start seeing a LOT more of this kind of thinking in the next few years (probably even months) and it's only going to get more aggressive, so if I were you guys I'd start putting petty differences aside and start banding the fuck together to help each other and our transgender human friends and family out.

Being a lesbian and nonhuman at the same time feels.. strange.

Because, like, human girls are these absolutely stunning, almost unreal beings. They're beautiful beyond words, the kind of beauty that can only ever be conveyed through the careful plucking of guitar strings, or through a vibrant splash of paint against barren canvases. They hold the stars in their eyes and flecks of gold in their hair, as if the forces of the cosmos themselves hand crafted their forms. They're soft and gentle and warm, but also strong and fierce and an unbelievable force to be reckoned with. Once when I was young, I got caught outside during a tropical hurricane and was almost lifted into the air by the winds; that is the closest thing I can compare to the feeling of falling for a girl. They are everything that a human being should be and more.

And then, there I am. A beast. This.. thing that stalks the woods in the darkest hours of the night, with dirt coated matted fur and piercing amber gaze, unseen and uncomprehended by man. Constant yearning, hunger. For flesh, for bloodlust, for isolation and freedom, to be feared, to be whispered about in hushed tales around a withering campfire. The creature in the forest, didn't you hear? If it catches you alone on a full moon it will peel your skin away from your body with fangs the size of your palms. Stay close. Your measly pocket knife won't do much in its wake I fear. A wild, snarling thing that flinches beneath humanity's touch and rejects their "civility" in favor of the murmuring creek that sings old and long forgotten hymns to the ancient mountains above.

I know when they look at me they see one of them, a human with soft skin and kind eyes, a human who smiles at them and perhaps offers a passing compliment, a human who always tries to coax the timid street cat and watchfully steps around sidewalk slugs. A human. But that is not what I am, at least not in the way that they are. And when I look back at them, with my green eyes that I wished glowed amber, I can't help but wonder "How could someone so divinely human find companionship with something so desperately unhuman as me? How long until you realize the humanoid body you see before you is merely a flawed disguise? Will you still grasp my hand with fond affection when it warps into a mangled paw?"

As someone who's transmasc nonbinary, getting bottom surgery just isn't really something that appeals to me. Not sure why, I certainly have other forms of gender dysphoria, but Ive simply never felt discontent with what I was born with down there and currently have no plans to modify things.

However.

If it was possible for me to have a sheath I would POUNCE on that opportunity so fast omfg.

Hello! I have some questions for you, if you don't mind.

What does transspecies mean to you?

How did you discover you were transspecies?

How do you feel about the myth that transspecies makes fun of transgender people?

How do you feel about the idea that transspecies should not be used or people who are transspecies should stay hidden because it can be used against the transgender community

(A controversial one) Why did rad-q takeover the transspecies term, how does that effect the alterhuman community, and how do you feel about it?

Hi thank you sm for asking hehe :3 I love getting to talk about this stuff (and knowing that others are interested in hearing about it lol)

Long ass post below the cut

1. To me, transspecies is the rawest, most direct way for me to express my nonhumanity. It cuts through a lot of the vagueness and nuance of some other nonhuman labels (not that there's anything wrong with that ofc) and gets straight to the point: Im not entirely human and want to be acknowledged as such by my peers and society at large. It emphasizes my desire to move through life as nonhuman, and that there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. I also like that it challenges the narrative of human superiority and the idea that species identity is purely biology based. For me personally, it also ties into my experience with being transgender, as I often see my gender as being partially nonhuman. Many things that are gender affirming are also species affirming and vice versa. But obviously you don't have to be transgender to be transspecies, one of my irl packmates and close friend is cisgender transspecies and she's awesome <3

2. It wasn't so much a "discovery" for me. My transspecies identity is very closely tied to my therianthropy, the species I identify as and see myself transitioning into are also all kintypes. So after I realized I was a therianthrope, it was kind of just a slow realization that it was also a label that fit my experiences well. Like most alterhumans I had heard the word used as a weapon against transgender people and alterhumans, so I had a very negative perception of it for a long time. I think the first time I ever heard it referred to in a not-outright-negative sense was in PDTherians "Trans-species?!" youtube video (which I do not recommend as a source of education at all it's a very flawed video that's riddled with misinformation) a few years back, and from there I slowly started to open up to the idea and yeah. The rest is history pretty much lol

3. To some degree I actually can empathize with the stance because I used to be in the same camp, and I know from experience that for a lot of folks it's just well intentioned but misplaced passion of trans liberation. But at the same time it's still a harmful belief and one I grew out of because I matured and learned more about the communities I was part of. Anytime you cast judgement onto a group of people with a harmless identity/belief/interest for the sole purpose of "they're too weird", that harms everyone, not just that group. In this case, hatred against transspecies folks implies that there is a right and a wrong way to be queer/trans, which is harmful not only to nonhumans but to all queer individuals.

4. I think it's bullshit lmao. Shying away from it and outcasting the people who use it does absolutely nothing but divide us further and make us an easier target for discrimination. Categorizing it as a community taboo just turns it into ammunition for transphobes and anti-alterhumans alike. Turning against each other and fighting over stupid shit like labels is exactly what oppressors want, a house divided against itself cannot stand. It also just doesn't make sense, species identity is socially constructed, similar to gender, so why should people be forbidden from using a word to describe that experience just because it's misunderstood?

5. I honestly have no idea why radqueers do anything at all lmaoooo. But if I had to guess, I think it's because on some level, they know that nobody with any semblance of social education or moral compass is ever going to be on board with their beliefs, so instead of trying to fight a losing battle they just barge their way into other small, marginalized, and outcasted groups (alterhuman, altage, paraphiles, etc.) and try to claim them as "part of them". It's a lot easier to tell a group of people "Hey you guys are actually just like us so you need to support our ideology because otherwise you're just fighting against yourself" than it is to try to convince them from scratch that you're not a horrible person.

As for how it's impacted the alterhuman community, Im not entirely sure but luckily I think its effects have been fairly minimal thus far. The alterhuman community is significantly bigger and older than the rq community, I've only ever run into rqs on Tumblr and even here Ive met transspecies folks who had never heard of radqueers before. I think its biggest impacts have been on the transspecies niche specifically, since they often try to lump it in with transid's like "transrace" and "transharmful", which leads to the assumption from outsiders that they're inherently connected and that all transspecies folks agree with those stances as well. But I think as transspecies and alterhumanity as a whole slowly becomes less stigmatized and more widely understood over time, that belief will also fade and die off.

Sorry for the massive text wall lmao, I hope that wasn't too much info. But again thank you sm for asking ^^ I think it's super important that folks out there are interested in learning more about this stuff and that alterhumans are able to communicate their experiences to one another <3

Seeing the transspecies tag slowly be reclaimed by anti radqueers and anti transids fills me with so much joy and hope for our community, keep it up critters <3

quick question, and i mean no hate or disrespect, but how can you not support/like transIDs when you use a transID (Transspecies)? /genq

Thanks for asking about this! I get that it can seem confusing or contradictory to some so Im happy to discuss it :)

For one, transspecies isn't transID, it's just.. a regular trans identity. The term transspecies has existed within the alterhuman community for literal decades, long before the creation of the "transID" community. It's a term that has quite literally been stolen and appropriated by a group of people who the majority of alterhumans dislike and want no part in. In terms of origin, function, and social implications, it is infinitely more comparable to being transgender (an identity i don't see ever being included in transID specific discussions) than it is to something like "transBPD".

Secondly, even if it was somehow transID (which again it's not), it still doesn't carry any of the same discriminatory mindset or just flat out impossibility of existence the way most transID do. Species identity and the idea of what it means to be "human" is almost entirely socially constructed, not completely dissimilar to gender. There are rules and de facto societal ideas about how someone must "be a human", which not everyone can neatly fit into. It is something experienced by all beings living within human society, and is therefore something that can be transitioned away from or out of. Whereas something like being autistic is not socially constructed and not something someone can simply transition into. While yes, there are certainly social implications, expectations, and roles placed upon autistic individuals, autism itself is not a social construct, it's an actual tangible neurological phenomenon, making it impossible to be "transautistic".

This ideology also promotes discriminatory beliefs against minority groups. It dismembers and fetishizes the lived experiences of entire cultures, communities, and individuals, lived experiences these "trans" individuals will literally never have. If you are not "cis autistic" you will never ever truly know what it is like to live as an autistic person, no matter how badly you want to. Same can be said for other transID identities. I understand that atypical dysphoria does exist (hell, I have some of my own), and I dont doubt that these are real emotions people have, but that doesn't make it okay to try and say you actually are those things and impose yourself upon groups of people you are not part of. I guess if someone has a harmless transID like "trans brown hair color" or smth then I don't really care all that much, but otherwise I have zero tolerance for people who believe they can forcibly integrate themselves into an entire culture just because they feel like it.

TLDR: Transspecies isn't TransID it's just regular trans, but even if it was I would still support it because it doesn't promote discriminatory and fetishistic ideas about certain groups of people.

Friendly reminder that you DO NOT have to be radqueer if you are transspecies.

Transspecies has been a term within the alterhuman community long before radqueers decided to coopt it, it is not inherently part of that community and never will be. I promise you there are other spaces/people out there that will support you for who you are; you do not need to align yourself with harmful ideologies just to find acceptance. <3

Seeing ppl lump non-humans in with their blatantly racist / ableist "identities" as if they're even remotely comparable will never cease to disgust me

Just came to me... anyways transID chumps fuck off of my nonhuman posts, you WISH you were a real freak being true to yourself when all you're actually doing is trying to rack up Pokemon type oppression disadvantages to feel special. Me and the other creatures are laughing at you

Do not EVER let anyone tell you that being transspecies and seeking some form of social transition isn't possible and that "nobody will call you that". Ive had so many friends (mind you, friends who ive NEVER asked to do this / dont even know im transspecies) just casually refer to me as an animal in front of others like it's the most normal thing in the world (Ex. "Well obviously they need to go on a walk, they are a dog after all 🙄") Have realistic expectations ofc, but no, it's absolutely not impossible for humans to perceive you as your true identity and to openly refer to you as such

the internal conflict between wanting to have a meat free diet bc of high empathy for animals / the environment, but also having theriotypes that instinctively crave meat 24/7 is so so real