There’s this rising narrative going around that if you ask specifically for a CIS partner, you’re a transphobe. That could be true for some people but it’s not fundamentally related to bigotry. Moreover, this narrative, the “if you only want a CIS mate then that is prejudice” is trampling on one of the most important rights a person can have: the right to choose who they want to get intimate with.
First of all, transmen are in fact men and transwomen are in fact women. Let’s get that out of the way. This isn’t a foot in the door for “trans this really isn’t that” narratives. What this is about it is the freedom to choose who you want to be intimate with. That right is sancrosanct, it is absolutely inviolable.
And yes, there’s plenty of issues that make transgender dating a special issue. If someone reveals their TG status they can be open to hate crimes and even deadly violence. However all marginalized groups are special in their own way. As a black man I don’t think it’s racist if a woman says she doesn’t want to date a black man. I face oppression, too. My class is special in its own way. One group isn’t more special than the other. None of us have the right to force ourselves upon those who don’t want to be intimate with us, even by omitting who we really are.
Really, if you have to deceive or hide who you are in order to date someone, do you really want to date them? I wouldn’t. That’s not fair to you and you’re denying them their right to choose who they want. What do you think will happen when the person wants a CIS mate and they discover the truth? They’re going to get pissed and dump you. Now you have to shame them into staying with you: “If you loved me for real this wouldn’t bother you”… that’s not going to convince anyone. They’re either going to leave, or they’ll resent you forever. That’s just how it is. You can be mad at that but that’s about as effective as protesting the rising of the sun. There’s just no way to win once you’ve gone down that road.
“I want a CIS mate” is not the same as “trans women are not women” - one is a preference, the other is harmful prejudice. On the flip side CIS people who do date trans people shouldn’t be shamed for their choices either. A man should be free to date a trans woman and not catch flak about it. Trans people should be able to be openly trans and not face hate speech or threats to their well-being. This, without any exception whatsoever.
The fundamental fact is when you shame or worse abrogate people’s right to choose who they want to get intimate with, it’s not going to end well for you. All you’re going to get is people who resent being coerced or bullied to date people they don’t want to. And that’s not something the country, or the world, will ever put up with. Except that right now, most people don’t imagine they can be labeled a transphobe just for wanting a CIS mate. And unpopular opinion: that should be nipped in the bud.
Honestly, the answer is don’t go the road of those apps. Putting yourself in that setting where romance is an advertising market creates an atmosphere of fungibility. Half the reason the dating market is so fucked up is because people have been trained to not value their individual liaisons in favour of convenience. If you find yourself needing to compress your entire deal into a single sentence maybe you are participating in an implicitly harmful system?
The best thing you can do, provided you are open, is to try your best to not make snap judgements. Frame things in a way that focus on your actual needs or even just talk to people one on one if they show an interest. Just getting to the talking phase is a win. Trans people are very aware of the realities of genital preference and the desire to have natural born kids. If they are not complete assholes by their own community metric they aren’t gunna fault you for having romance and life goals and they don’t want to waste their time with someone uninterested.
It’s unsavoury, not exactly romantic but overwhelmingly practical that we as trans people front what our entire deal is to perspective partners early. It’s actually kind of a safety thing for us. Best practice is for us to be up front at the messaging phase because some potential dates will become volitile or violent if our transness is disclosed in person. Trans women don’t want to leave themselves open to being stalked and assaulted because a trans/homophobe can’t handle that they felt romantic inclinations towards someone whom threatens their self conception as super straight.
Just imagine from our perspective looking at a bunch of dating profiles that look indistinguishable from transphobes being transphobes. There is often a sense of growing danger and threat to life and liberty when you start noticing openly hostile language or exclusion in a space that seemed safe before. We are as a group being actively surpressed and rejected from public spaces and we know we are asking people to take on a little personal inconvenience on our behalf. If trans matters matter to you then shouldering a slight potential inconvenience is how we ask you to help. That aside something like “cis only” might be a turn off to allies who might not be willing to give you a chance either.