cishet

Cisgender and heterosexual.

Even in death, the way we are spoken about by the mainstream cishet world is traumatizing and violent. Even in death, trans women of color cannot escape the trauma of colonialism and genocide.

While children can be born to any kind of parent and situation, unless drastic measures are taken, they will be raised in an overwhelmingly cisgendered and heterosexual (cishet) world. Cishet children and adults’ identities are affirmed by media, legal documents, population majority, history and other depictions of assumed cis-ness and heterosexuality.

A cisgender and heterosexual person.

Last weekend I was on Facebook taking part in a conversation about dating sites when someone called me a cishet, in a sneering tone.

People who identify as cisgender and heterosexual, or cishets, are certainly more privileged in today’s society than the LGBTQIA+ community — which includes lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer-identified, intersex, and asexual people, as well as others who do not identify as cishet people.