This weeks table talk made me consider the relation between transracialism and transgender community. Is there a connection between the way we perceive gender and race? Gender is a social construct and as a society we acknowledge that but can we consider race in the same way. As someone who is part of the LGBT community I wholeheartedly support transgender people however my approach to transracialism is different. I am very skeptical of the concept. I think this may be, unconsciously, the same source of bias that people have against trans-women relating to the idea of power and privilege. So the idea that a white woman would assume the identity of a black woman is in a sense stepping down on the social ladder because african-americans face a lot of discrimination that white people do not have to face. In a similar sense women are discriminated against and the idea that a man who is in a position of privilege would opt to become a woman which is a position that is lower on the social ladder does not make sense to transphobes. Trans-men face discrimination but far less than trans women which is an interesting concept  to consider. While I don’t really believe in transracialism I do believe in transgender people and can I believe one and not the other if they operate under the same principles? It’s an interesting topic to consider and I am glad I was able to engage in a conversation at this weeks table talk.