Hi Jared, thanks for the link to the other thread and for your comments. So this thread is about erasure of voices in the EBTs. It doesn’t purport to answer all questions about everything ever and might not do what you are personally hoping for either. 
If you want to make a thread that answers the questions you want to see, then please go ahead!
Speaking more generally, I think we can “chew gum and walk at the same time”, so we can discuss these topics in this thread and also still have a practice that aims to come out of suffering. Certainly, this is just a small part of my practice and the spiritual work I do. Suggesting, as some have, that this topic is not worthwhile or shouldn’t exist is just another form of silencing and erasure. Women and queer people are entitled to have a space in this forum and everywhere to discuss issues that affect them. That’s essential, actually. And it doesn’t obliviate our other spiritual concerns, or suggest that we are somehow incapable of moving beyond these issues in other areas of our practice. This is part of our practice and will be part of our liberation.
It’s worth noting that hundreds of thousands of books, millions of words and countless talks have been given dealing with daily concerns like marriage, family, work, stress, depression etc and no-one says: “Okay you’ve had your turn, we’ve heard enough, move on, get over it.” But this is often what women and queer folks are told to do by their Buddhist communities: “Enough already about the feminism or identity issues, we are Buddhists, we don’t discuss those things!” Again, this is just silencing valid discussions that need to be had and these topics can be talked about as many times as we want. Further, we don’t need permission from others to have a discussion about issues that affect us.
Discussing the nature of suffering for particular groups is useful because there is a shared experience of certain types of suffering which needs to be understood. It’s a mistake to think that discussion of suffering somehow equates to more suffering or doesn’t lead to a reduction of suffering. Understanding things like erasure, oppression, shame, prejudice, and knowing how these things work is very helpful to come out of suffering. Discussing the systemic nature of these things is useful because it shows that these things are less personal, more social and cultural, that they are conditioned. So, talking about things like queer or trans issues is a good way of understanding not-self.
In fact, instead of being ‘obsessed with identity’ as queer and trans folks are often unfairly accused, they are actually experts in understanding the construction of identity, and are uniquely positioned to have special insights into not-self. Straight and cis folks can also learn a lot about the nature of not-self from these discussions, as they actually have a gender and sexuality too, which unfortunately they often cant see in because they might think of themselves as’ normal’, but these discussions help to open up aspects of self that otherwise might not have been talked about.
Queer and trans folks see the construction of self and the reality of not-self through by understanding that the things we mistake for self are impermanent, and changing through things like:
- gender roles and behaviour are socially constructed, they change in different contexts
- gender is fluid and not stable or permanent
- having to perform an imposed gender rather than express their authentic gender, knowing that the expression of identity is changeable depending on context
- trans folks, through transition, see the impermanent, changeable nature of form/the body
- expectations of sexuality are socially constructed and are not static or fixed
- sexuality can change, grow, develop over time, it’s not necessarily permanent or stable
- different aspects of self are expressed or repressed in certain contexts eg. not being out at work, so regarded as straight there but actually queer in other spaces; or looking feminine for family gatherings but identifying as male in other areas of life. Related concepts like blending in, code switching, expressing oneself fully in safe spaces, being stealth, coming out, etc
All these things teach us that self is not stable or permanent, that it is constructed and a result of causes and conditions. Seeing these things clearly helps us enormously on the spiritual path, which is why these discussions are important. Hearing from women and queers about the truths they have seen for themselves is a wonderful opportunity for us all to learn and grow, which is why its a big shame and terrible omission that there has been so much silencing and erasure of these voices throughout history, and in contemporary Buddhist communities.