The conflict reignited when an 18-year-old friend, Nadia, brought the topic up again, leading to a lengthy debate over labels like ‘ally’ and ‘cis.’ The discussion escalated when the OP resisted being labeled ‘cis’ or needing to preface her identity as a girl, which Nadia interpreted as implying that transgender girls are not real girls. The OP is now confused about her position and why her insistence on simply being called ‘a girl’ is causing friction.

I’m 17f. A few weeks ago or something, a boy at my school was trying to get with me, but I respectfully declined because he was trans and I’m not attracted to trans people. Some of his friends/some of our mutual friends tried to call me homophobic or transphobic or whatever for rejecting him, and this kind of started an argument because I said I’m not anything phobic since being straight isn’t a choice the same way being trans isn’t.
Then the other day, my “friend” Nadia (18f) brought it up again, even though the whole thing was literally over and started a whole debate. And I literally just said “I’m not homophobic.” And so then we had a whole back and forth like:
Nadia: “Then are you an ally?”
Me: “I don’t know. I think that everyone deserves rights, so I guess so”
Nadia: “Well do you identify as an ally?”
Me: “I don’t really identify as anything, I’m a girl who likes boys.”
Nadia: “Sooo you identify as a cis girl then”
Me: “No, just a girl.”
Nadia: “Well are you trans?
Because if you’re not then you’re cis”
Me: “Why do I need to put cis in front of it??? I was born a girl, I’ve always been a girl, so I’m just a girl.“
And then Nadia said that I was totally transphobic and a performative activist that probably didn’t even care about trans rights. I didn’t really think so but her and some other ppl are saying that I’m implying that “trans girls aren’t real girls”.
Idk, aita???
Conclusion
The core conflict for the OP centers on the tension between her personal sexual orientation and her refusal to adopt specific identity labels suggested by her peer group, specifically the term ‘cis.’ While the OP asserts she believes in equal rights, she struggles with the social expectation to perform her identity or use terminology that feels unnecessary or defining to her experience as a cisgender woman.
The central question remains whether the OP’s rejection of the ‘cis’ label, rooted in a desire for simplicity about her identity as someone who was born and has always identified as a girl, constitutes transphobia, or if her friends are placing undue pressure on her to conform to specific activist language standards. The debate hinges on the difference between holding respectful beliefs and adhering to required linguistic frameworks.
Here’s how people reacted:
You are a cis lady, that is the default state of the human body that everyone starts at. This does not make you the norm though, that doesn’t mean people who deviate from you are not normal as well.
Often it feels like a personal attack when our biases and views are challenged, but if we take these challenges as room to grow and embolden our understanding then we become unshakable.
The Randoms are AH for taking a simple rejection and escalating it to “you’re homophobic, you’re transphoic” when you’re allowed to have a preference (cis men)
Nadia is an AH for picking a fight about it and once again escalating.
You are an AH because, yes, you are a cis girl. Refusing to acknowledge that basic fact is what makes you come off transphobic. It doesn’t make you more or less a girl, it’s just a more descriptive term. It’s like how there are Apple smartphones, and Android smartphones. Both are smartphones and you would be considered ignorant for going “No I don’t have an Apple smartphone, I just have a smartphone” (idk what actual phone you have I’m just trying to put it in other terms, replace Apple with android if you have an android)
You need to learn more about this stuff because a lot of what you’re saying, while good intentioned and a lot of people will understand what you mean, it’s still questionable and can sound really bad to people who don’t understand what you’re trying to say.
– I’m not attracted to that person
– I’m not attracted to someone who is trans
– I don’t want to be intimate with someone who is trans bc XYZ.
Just bc someone is trans shouldn’t mean they are not inherently unattractive. Sometimes you can’t even tell. If I’m looking at a woman that used to be a man but she’s hot, well she’s hot. End of story. Who cares what she used to be that doesn’t change what I’m seeing now.
You’re all good! 👍🏻
Downvote me, idgaf, its the truth. I love all people but trans women are no more women than i am the fucking hulk, just cause i got jacked on roids and painted myself green. HULK SMASH!!💥 like ok bro
Just treat everyone, trans or not, with respect and kindness.
They’re just wings…