The Word Cis Just Acknowledges You Aren't the Only Valid Human. I Wrote a Fable for Those Who Still Don't Get It.

There once was a little blue unicorn who lived in a little blue town. All the unicorns there were blue there, so everywhere he went, his identity was validated. Blue was an awesome colour to be, otherwise there’d be other colours in that blue town. 

The word “blue” didn’t exist in Unicorn Town. Everything was blue, so a blue unicorn was just, well, a unicorn. The town barely registered the colour. To them, it wasn’t blue. It was “normal.” 

One day, a red unicorn trotted into Unicorn Town, and the blue unicorns were baffled. What was this colour? What was this creature? 

“I’m just different from you,” said the little red unicorn. “But I’m still a valid unicorn.” 

The blue unicorns weren’t so sure, except for Frank. Frank had always been red. He’d just been covered up in blue pyjamas so nobody would notice. That day, he showed the whole town he’d been red all along. 

Sue had been hiding her colours, too. She had yellow feet and green fur, and that day, she revealed her true self. As time marched on, Unicorn Town became a multi-coloured marvel, with unicorns of every description. There were yellow unicorns and orange unicorns and, yes, even blue unicorns. 

Everyone realised that “blue” wasn’t “normal.” It was just one part of the rainbow, so Unicorn Town had to invent words for all the different colours. They started using the word “blue” because not all unicorns were blue. Blue wasn’t a synonym for “normal” because red and yellow unicorns were normal, too. 

Our little unicorn was offended. He wasn’t blue, you see. He was normal. Red and yellow unicorns were abnormal, so only they needed to be referred to by their colours. Blue was the most important colour, so he wasn't a blue unicorn. He was just a unicorn. He hung out on street corners screaming about how everyone should acknowledge his inimitable validity. 

So it is with the word “cis.” Like blue, it’s just a word we use to acknowledge that not everyone is like you. You aren’t a shining example of normalcy. Trans and queer people are normal, too. When you ask us to stop using the word "cis", what you’re really asking us to do is behave as though you’re the only valid colour on the spectrum, and you aren’t. You’re just one of many kinds of people. 

If that offends you, you can take your transphobia and live it out in solitary confinement. Nobody’s stopping you, but if you’re going to live among the rest of us, you don’t get to decide whether we treat trans and NB people like foreigners. You’re not entitled to single-handedly force society to marginalise trans and queer members. That’s what the word “cis” achieves: It acknowledges that cis is not normal. It’s just one of many gender identities. 

Remember when Unicorn Town was all blue with one red unicorn? That’s a lot like your experience right now. You’re the one who’s different, but this time, you don’t get to tell us how to behave.