The current Craigslist personal categories are woefully out of date with current attitudes toward trans people. They insist that anyone who is "TG/TS/TV" (that's transgender, transsexual, or transvestite [sic]) cannot ever be a "woman" or "man".

You've got it wrong! Trans women are women. Trans men are men. And many other kinds of trans and gender-variant people should feel safe choosing the gender category that is most appropriate for them.

Currently if a trans woman dares to post in w4m, or even puts the letters 'w4m' in a title in any category, her post will be flagged and removed without explanation. This is often preceded by a barrage of harassing emails from transphobic straight men who feel entitled to a space free of trans and gender-variant people.

These policies hurt trans and gender-variant people:

— They tell binary trans men and trans women, in the name of Craigslist, that they aren't real men, or real women. Since trans and gender-variant people are often marginalized on other dating sites, we are forced to accept this indignity in order to connect with potential partners.

— They allow cis heterosexual men, the dominant group on the site who make up the vast majority of moderators, to police the gender identities of others.

— They create a dubious third gender called 't' that includes both trans men and trans women, as well as agender, genderqueer, bigender, and many other nonbinary people. Our genders are as different from one another as men are from women! We don't deserve to be thrown into a "freak" category of socially stigmatized genders.

— They lump together crossdressers (using the dated and insulting term 'transvestite') with trans people. Some crossers identify as trans, but others do not.

— They reinforce outdated and transphobic attitudes toward trans and gender-variant people. Because trans and gender-variant people are a small and socially-stigmatized minority, many people’s first exposure to these identities comes through Craigslist personals. (Who hasn't browsed Craigslist personals at some point?) Providing gender options congruent with our identities would allow trans and gender variant people equal access to pursue romantic opportunities.

Facebook has updated its gender identification options, and it's Craigslist's turn to follow.

We request that Craigslist:

— Clarify that trans women may post in ‘w4’ categories, and trans men may post in ‘m4’ categories.

— Create a mechanism to stop the abuse of the community moderation system by transphobic individuals.

— Change the Craigslist Personals gender options from “man/woman/trans” to a system that acknowledges that trans and gender-variant people can be men, women, both, or something else entirely.