• Kayday@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Hi, trans person here. I often describe my life before beginning to transition as an act or a job I had to perform, but wasn’t really me. Anything I did in my old role was done by me, not the character.

    In Elliot’s case, he was a dude playing a dudette, dressed up as another dudette. Whatever performance was happening on or off camera doesn’t ultimately change who the person actually is.

    • Nuke_the_whales@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Last time I had to actually use it in conversation I said “Elliott page is in it back when he was Ellen Page”

      • Kayday@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        That’s very logical and easy to understand. Personally I wouldn’t be upset if I was Elliott, but there are many trans people who have a strong aversion to hearing their old name. Again, comes down to the audience, but a lot of folks would say something like, “before he transitioned”, rather than mentioning the old name.

        Hope I don’t sound too nitpicky, just wanted to say it in case it helps.

        • fem@lemmynsfw.com
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          16 hours ago

          My nitpick would be less about the mention of the name and more about the wording of “when he was”. Of course different trans people will view their transition and identity differently, but I was never <deadname>. I was merely known as <deadname>