okay, tumblr queers/trans*folks/allies/et al…

the short version of my situation is this: i am working in a trans*phobic space and do not have the privilege to just leave it/quit my job. besides that, i like what i do and feel there is potential for teaching/learning experiences among staff. i will not cite specific incidences here, but if you read back, i allude to many in #microaggression posts. more than once, i have left work feeling angry, frustrated, invisible, and saddened as a direct result of these occurrences. i have not figured out a “perfect” way to deal with this, other than to suggest that i lead a trans*101 type training with my co-workers. but doing this makes me feel tokenized, and pressured to represent a community. it also brings up more hostile feelings, as i am frustrated that so many folks do not take initiative to check privilege and learn for themselves, and instead just wait for some trans*person to act as a mouthpiece…

therefore, i ask of you all: what is the most effective course of action to make this a more affirming space without feeling tokenized by others as “the cute little queer one” or “the trans* person” …and without feeling as though i have contributed to said tokenization by sort of “offering myself up” as what can be easily misconstrued as a person who speaks for an entire community (which i obviously do not.) …?

how do we navigate uncomfortable, emotionally unsafe, cissexist spaces that we are, for lack of better words, obligated to continue to affiliate with? how do we do this while maintaining self-care and emotional stability? trans* folks often state that it is not our obligation to act as educators for everyone, which i agree with completely, but if that’s the case, when do we educate? and more importantly, how?