I was sitting out on a friend’s front stoop yesterday, waiting for him to come home. It was a sunny afternoon in the Haight. My friend’s place is on Waller, one of the residential streets just off of Haight. As I was sitting there, various people passed by. Some walking dogs, some walking kids, some chatting. I’d been there about 15 minutes when this conversation passed by:
The Characters:
The Guy: 20- or 30-something, white (appearing), hipster clothing, short brown hair, one-week beard, at least six feet tall, broad-shouldered and thin-waisted, man. Walking a bicycle.
His friends: Similar age, coloring, and dress. A small-build woman and a shorter, slender man. Without bicycles.
The Guy: …I don’t see why someone else’s opinion of their gender should trump my own! I’ve seen cock. When I see a cock, I call it a man!…
Thankfully, I they passed by and I didn’t have to hear any more than that.
I’m amazed (but not really surprised) that people still say shit like that. So unabashedly.
Quite a blatant reminder that we’ve still got a long way to go on queer rights and acceptance.
beardstories 
So…when he sees it, he calls it a man. How is that offensive to you? Why does it go against queer rights and acceptance? In your opinion, does his statement mean that he wouldn’t call a queer man, a man?
The problem is that he wasn’t talking about queer men, he was talking about transwomen who still have penises. The problem with his statement is that he chooses to ignore how someone identifies themself. Instead, he believes that he has more knowledge about who that person is and more authority than they do to decide who they “really” are.