Numerous media outlets recounted how the noble gays and lesbians fought that night – never mentioning trans folk… carrying on that long and painful tradition of ciswashing queer history – especially Stonewall history.
Let's stop ciswashing and whitewashing Stonewall, and use it instead as an example of how we need to fight racism, transmisogyny and poverty in our culture.
Eli was one such member of the group. “I’m a trans person and I don’t ever see myself portrayed in media,” he said. “These trans and queer women were the source of marriage rights. To see this narrative of the past erased and ciswashed by Hollywood is an oppressive and violent act against me.”
In a recent New York Times article, responding to criticism of his new film “Stonewall,” which many have said whitewashes and ciswashes what happened during the 1969 riots at the Stonewall Inn in New York City, director Roland Emmerich defended his work, saying, “What can I say? I put all I know as a filmmaker into this.”
2015, Conor Murphy, "Trans women should play trans women", The Daily Cardinal (University of Wisconsin-Madison), 24 September - 27 September 2015, page 4:
An official selection at the Sundance Film Festival this year, "Tangerine" has received broad critical acclaim for its emotional, honest portrayal of the two characters, and it's the silver lining to a year of ciswashing in casting trans roles.
Not only has he dismissed assertions of ciswashing and whitewashing, but he has also adamantly defended his version of events.
2015, Taylor Young, "'Stonewall' casting causes controversy", Talisman (Ballard High School, Seattle, Washington), Volume 98, Issue 1, 27 October 2015, page 10:
A petition to boycott the 2015 movie on the Gay-Straight Alliance Network has 24,798 out of 25,000 signatures, because it is "white/ciswashed" and "isn't accurately representing the riots."