Day Twenty: Identity Night

Radio One were having a sexuality night tonight; that is, a discussion of sexuality. They've been running a trailer for it the last few days with people reading out a card with different sexualities on it:

"lesbian, gay, asexual, bisexual, pansexual, transgender..."

...Wait, transgender? Surely that's not a sexuality, is it? If it is, we need to put men and women on there too. Being only attracted to a third sex might well be a sexuality, but being it isn't. I, for one, am resolutely monosexual these days, in a heterosexual stylee. I wrote to Aled, who was hosting, on Twitter to say so:

@ahj @BBCR1 Has anyone pointed out for you yet that Transgender is not a sexuality?

He replied:

@AndiWatts yes. But we want to include it on the night because it IS about identity. We'll explain it's not sexuality on the night

@ahj Fine. But by including it in the trailer you've made an incorrect statement to many people who'll never hear that bit of the night.

@AndiWatts the trailer is about listing all the terms we're going to be talking about on Sunday

@ahj Yes, as part of sexuality night. Do you not see my point? As a trans woman I could be gay, straight, bi, poly, sub, dom, asexual, even.

As I've posted before, I do not feel being trans is a sexuality. It doesn't define who you want to sleep with, just who you are. So to me I don't feel it merits inclusion in this at all.

However as the night began Aled introduced it with a an assertion that it "wasn't about who you wanted to sleep with, but your identity".  What followed was an acceptable discussion, given that disclaimer, but I still can't help feeling that the trailer damaged more understanding than the actual show helped.