Rachel Dolezal says transgender people face less prejudice than she does as ‘transracial’
Rachel Dolezal has said that she faces more stigma being “racially fluid” than transgender people do.
The controversial former professor, who previously came out as bisexual, said in an interview with Salon that she believes she is less accepted than transgender people because she is “transracial”.
Dolezal said she drew the comparisons because her white identity was revealed at the same time as Caitlyn Jenner came out as transgender.
She said: “What’s not similar is the stigma right now. There was stigma [for being transgender] in the past, for sure, and that still perpetuates.
“But there’s more acceptance for gender fluidity than there is for race fluidity right now, and I don’t think anybody would deny that.”
Dolezal, who became a talking point after the world learned that she was actually white in 2015, said that transracial people will become more societally accepted one day – just as LGBT people are.
She added: “There was a time when we did call transgender, and even gay and bisexual, people crazy — and [said they had] mental health issues and all these clinical terms — just stigmatised and rejected [them].
“Maybe we will evolve and grow, and racial fluidity will become a thing in 20 years? I do hope that inclusivity does expand to all people of all stripes.”
The comments sparked anger from writer Guilaine Kinouani, who said that “comparing transgenderism with trans-racialism is a fallacy.”
Dolezal continues to insist she did not “lie” about her race.
She said: “It didn’t feel like a lie… the idea of race is a lie, so how can you lie about a lie?
“It felt like a true representation of who I am and what I stand for. Even though race is a social construct, you have to take a side and I stand on the black side of issues. For me to not check that box would have been some sort of betrayal.
“I definitely did not feel at home in the white world. It felt foreign to me and it felt uncomfortable and awkward to be there. It also felt oppressive because I had to constantly repress parts of myself in order to survive socially.”
