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By Violeta Alegre

cis people speak about trans identities? When I say “speak,” I mean: writing about us, teaching classes, leading seminars on trans and travesti issues, or “negotiating” with politicians about public policy. All of this without the presence of trans people in these matters. And while not all of us are “qualified,” committed, or have access to these opportunities, there is also a historical debt owed to us that involves occupying spaces and having our voices heard.

[READ ALSO: When the limit of feminism is trans femininities ]

And it turns out that here, as in most things, power dynamics are at play. Power that cis people, far from being naive, know they have over us, and based on that, privileges. Privileges that can be as simple as access to communication, a university professorship, or a lecture. We are not the ones who occupy those spaces, even though they may even use us as theorists in their classes with the occasional article, story, or anecdote we tell in order to "analyze" us or theorize about sexual politics.

The ceiling for us, despite being in many cases their theories, will be in the hands of cis men and women, cis lesbians or gay men, who occupy those spaces without giving in to enabling outside of their controls: supervised.

And I'd like to ask a follow-up question about the title of this column: Can men talk about women's issues? And it's not that I'm separatist. We feminists know that's not what it's about, and that if feminism has taught us anything, it's to identify the unequal power relations that, whether we like it or not, are established in both men and women, as well as in cis and trans people.

This should allow us to reflect on how to build bridges that enable progress by challenging our individual privileges, not to "include" us, but to step aside and give us space. I'm not going to declare war between cis and trans people. In fact, I aim for alliances and a redistribution of knowledge that is consistent with the pursuit of social justice, which is also symbolic, economic, and affective justice.

Non-complacency

Also, as I mentioned a few days ago in a Facebook post: “We trans people, simply by virtue of being trans, are not scholars, nor are we above the law for what we say and do. I say this because I often see how we are glorified even when we are saying something incredibly stupid or even being violent. To cis people: don't be cis-compliant (that is also being cis-sexist) and if we are saying or doing something that is wrong, LET US KNOW.”

[READ ALSO: When being trans "shows" ]

Similarly, we should be able to let them know when they are saying or acting in a cis-sexist way and that this should not be a cause for offense, but rather have the humility to build ourselves in this process of transformation where it is undeniable that the pieces are in motion, we have managed to move them.

And I reiterate, in our case, we require the reappropriation of our knowledge, which has been in your words and hands, where, at the moment of redistribution of goods (material and symbolic), you are selfish and petty. Don't limit us, don't be afraid. It's about dismantling these power relations, more than what you say or do. It's about those who still have access to institutional spaces. That's where your feminist ethics break down, because power and the vertical structure proposed by institutions take precedence over relationships. And, of course, apathy becomes apparent.

[READ ALSO: What we talk about when we talk about "cis" ]

And I'm not going to be the one to say whether or not they can speak for us. We, transvestites and trans people, will be the ones to challenge and legitimize their knowledge and spaces, and to discern where their interests lie.