Caitlyn Junior

On Kelly Cadigan

I spend a lot of time scrolling through TikTok. Sometimes I feel ashamed at how long I spend there, but then I remember that I’m a stand up comedian - and actually, TikTok is the place to be! Well, that’s according to the best producers in the industry, anyway. The more time you spend in TikTok-Land, the more chance you have of syncing your brain frequencies to its algorithm. Who cares if every minute spent on it decreases the effectiveness of your sertraline dosage by a milligram? 

As well as being a comedian, I’m also trans. So, naturally my personally tailored algorithm is a mix of old people dancing, cats in diapers & ‘trans influencers’. One, in particular, who has been doing the rounds in a big way recently - is a young, Floridian, white trans woman named Kelly Cadigan. I want you to know those details about Kelly, because intersectionality is important. It’s vital you know she’s from Florida. 

The reason why Kelly’s face is seemingly all over TikTok right now, is because she has been having a ‘conservative moment’. A lot of people are upset with her because of her various videos attempting to invalidate non-binary people, perpetuate the myth that women’s rights are at threat from trans people and… er… well, she also said in a debate that she thought some black people enjoyed being slaves. She isn’t a smart person. If you’d like to see Kelly’s alpha-brain in action, you can see some clips from her debate with the amazing nominal.naomi here (who is smart, and somehow also the most patient person in the universe). 

Naturally, Kelly’s racist, transmedicalist car ramblings were fairly criticized. Also, just as naturally, some people were really mad at her. And then, in the most natural turn of events imaginable, Kelly lashed out and aligned herself deeper into the conservative grifter ecosystem. Kelly whines about her American right to ‘free speech’. She says although she’d prefer not, she ultimately doesn’t mind if someone calls her a ‘man’. Ironically, Kelly is someone who has grown to like her chains. 

Kelly doesn’t believe that children should be allowed to transition, despite herself having begun her transition at 15. In fact, because she herself transitioned as a child, she feels that she is extra-qualified to know what’s best for others. The problem with   Kelly’s argument though, is that she passes. Her ‘hotness’ is a big part of her brand, if her old Youtube channel is anything to go by. She has benefited hugely from the very thing she wants to now outlaw. Is it possible to find a more striking example of someone pulling the ladder up behind themselves? 

Kelly doesn’t understand non-binary identities, and thinks they undermine her struggle as a passing, white trans woman. Kelly fought for her ability to pass, why should she have to use pronouns? Kelly believes in the binary. She sees herself not as a type of woman, but instead as the closest thing you can get to a woman without actually being one. If she wants to debase herself in that way, that’s totally her prerogative. She has my complete, unwavering support to be viewed by society as a parody. But I also support those, like myself, who are shooting for a little bit more dignity. 

One of her most egregious self-debasements, I think, was her attempt to get the attention of her boy-crush Matt Walsh on Twitter. Yes, the same Matt Walsh who has called for an eradication of trans identity and does everything he possibly can to present trans women as ‘groomers’. Kelly reached out to that Matt Walsh: 

@kelly_cadigan - Hey @MattWalshBlog I know what a woman is! It’s someone who’s born biologically as one… with XX chromosomes and a vagina! Trans woman like myself are just that… TRANS woman. There’s a difference. I’m still male biologically. Some of us don’t live in la la land. Hope that answered your question :) 

‘Pick Me’ trans people who choose to align themselves with those who wish them harm aren’t a new phenomenon. Kelly is not the first of her kind to take the side of the oppressor in the vain hope that, when things get somehow worse than they are now, they will be the exception who are spared. Kelly, like Buck Angel, Blaire White, Debbie Hayton and Caitlyn Jenner alike all hope that when trans people are first against the wall, they’ll be granted some sort of pardon. They’ll get a nice little menial desk job - something in the propaganda department maybe. But the truth is, their fate is ultimately still the wall. They’ll just be the last against it. 

Something that’s interesting to think about (but in no way an excuse for Kelly’s idiotic actions) is that Kelly lives in Florida. Florida is one of the most oppressive American states for trans people at the moment. With the government there passing bills to limit trans people’s rights and even take over custody from parents of trans children - it’s difficult to completely understand what it must feel like to live among that oppression. I live in Britain, and although things are definitely not going well for trans people here, we aren’t quite at Florida levels… yet. Some trans people and their families are having to upend and flee their oppressive states. It’s awful. For that reason, it’s somewhat understandable… no, let’s say ‘conceivable’ that a trans person might want to make the choices Kelly has made. But for every Kelly Cadigan there are hundreds of brave, unapologetically fierce trans people and their families who won’t allow their prejudiced state to debase them. 

As I write this, Kelly is 23 years old. She is young, but absolutely old enough to know better. Still, at that age I also hadn’t read much Judith Butler either. I really hope she manages to expand her point of view, and find the courage to not align with her oppressors anymore. 

Then again, maybe it just gives me comfort to think that Kelly Cadigan might be a dummy? Maybe she knows exactly what she’s doing? It’s entirely possible that she’s just awful, and genuinely doesn’t care about those less fortunate than her. I don’t like to think too hard about that possibility though, as it's disturbing. 

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