Subscribe to Breaking News
Loading ...Corvino: Why we need the Transgender Day of Visibility
March 31 is Transgender Day of Visibility. I’m supposed to participate in a panel that day. I’m a bit apprehensive.
Like many gay people, I tend to tiptoe around transgender issues. This surprises some straight people I know. They say, “But as a GLBT person yourself…”But I’m not a GLBT person. I’m a G person. (Nobody is a GLBT person. You get two letters at most, and that’s only if one of them is T.)
One of my earliest experiences with the transgender community involved an angry trans woman standing up after one of my lectures in the mid-90’s.
“You’ve talked for an hour about gay and lesbian issues,” she griped, “but you’ve said nothing about ME. An hour-long lecture and not a word about me.”
I remember at the time not knowing quite how to respond. I figured she was referring to transgender issues, because I was pretty sure she was trans. She was about 6’2”, and to put it bluntly, she had man-hands.
But I didn’t want to say, “Oh, you’re transgender.” Because if I said, “Oh, you’re transgender,” I might come across as saying, “Oh, you’re transgender…
“…and not very convincing at it.”
Isn’t it rude to guess? To me, it’s like trying to figure out if someone you know is pregnant, or just getting fat. Better to wait until she brings it up.
Of course, sometimes waiting is not an option, such as when a person’s gender presentation is ambiguous and you need to refer to “him” or “her.” You can only switch to the plural “they” for so long before it becomes obvious that you’re avoiding gendered pronouns. I actually had this problem once with a student, whose name was as gender-ambiguous as [his? her? their?] clothing. Turns out she was a MTF who deliberately skated the line as “genderqueer”—something I discovered only when other students filled me in. But absent such informants, how does one politely ask?
Regarding my angry questioner, though, I had no such doubts—just doubts about how to respond to her “nothing about me” complaint.
At the time, I think I said something like “I don’t know you, so how can I talk about you?” That was a reasonable answer then. But what about now?
The truth is I still hardly ever talk or write about transgender issues. That’s partly because I’m no expert on them. There are only so many minutes in an hour (or lines in a column), and you can’t cover everything.
But to be frank, it’s also partly because I’m nervous about offending people whom society has already hurt enough. It’s a touchy subject, and like many touchy subjects, it’s often easier for those of us without a direct stake in it simply to avoid it.
And that’s probably as good a reason for Transgender Day of Visibility as any. Our discomfort around the issue—I know I’m not alone in this—means that we’ve got some learning to do. Bravo to those trans people willing to come out and teach us.
Some gay people wonder why we get lumped with the transgender community at all. Sexual orientation is one thing, they say, and gender identity is another.
That’s true as far as it goes, and perhaps it’s better to talk about our overlapping communities than about a single GLBT community.
Still, the alliance makes sense insofar as both (overlapping) groups suffer from rigid social expectations about sex and gender. Compare “If you’re born biologically male, you should grow up to be a man” with “If you’re born biologically male, you should grow up to love a woman.” The similarities between the two inferences seem to outweigh the differences.
Then there are those who question whether linking GLB to T might slow down GLB political progress, insofar as society has a harder time with trans issues than sexual- orientation issues.
Even if you find those who raise such questions insensitive, it’s hard to argue that they’re being irrational. In general, society does have a harder time with trans people than gay, lesbian, or bisexual people, which is one reason why the trans community needs and deserves our support.
The bottom line is that there are a lot of us who could benefit from frank and open dialogue about all of these issues. Transgender Day of Visibility is an important step in that direction, and gays—and everyone else—should support it.
*************************************
John Corvino, Ph.D. is an author, speaker, and philosophy professor at Wayne State University in Detroit. His column “The Gay Moralist” appears Fridays on 365gay.com.
His upcoming speaking appearances include:
Transgender Day of Visibility Panel: 7 pm on 3/31 at Five15 in Royal Oak, MI.
Same-Sex Marriage Debate with Glenn Stanton of FOTF: 6 pm on 4/2 in Rigge 120 at Creighton University in Omaha, NE.
Homosexuality and Morality Lecture: 7 pm on 4/14 in HCC-Alum Hall at College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University in St. Joseph, MN.
For more about John Corvino, or to see clips from his “What’s Morally Wrong with Homosexuality?” DVD, visit www.johncorvino.com.
jessey am a gay looking for a gay am 29 and am from kenya please jessy help me to get one
Society needs to throw-away their notions about gender roles regardless of gender, sex, or orientation. If no two snow-flakes are alike, why do we try to conform into stereotypes.
@ Don, Trans people have been going to gay clubs forever. Back in the day, members of the GLBT community faced the possibility of arrest. So GLBT friendly clubs were born since they were a lil’ safer. They participated in Stonewall and all of the early Pride/Civil Right Marches.
Transgendered people who identify as straight are not a part of the queer community. If they can pass, what do they care about queer issues? Genderqueer is not part of the community since genderqueer is just another term for being a regular person and not feeling like you are identified by any one binary gender role. And bisexual is not queer because everyone has the capacity to be interested in both sexes (even Lesbians and Gay men).
Hopefully, Trans awareness day will cut down on Trans violence and make the government step up to offer them more protection under the law. And once that happens, maybe gender roles will break down and the reassignment surgery will no longer be needed.
Fingers crossed.
I find the base concept here, transgender awareness, an excelent idea. The approach has been used with great sucess in the past by other groups. However, in my experience with transgendered people the most common goal I’ve observed is to “pass”. I had the good fortune to be involved with a transgender group via my roommates at the time. I learned a lot about the issues transpeople face on a daily basis and the majority I knew did not want to be known as “T”, they wanted nothing more to settle into their correct gender and disappear. It is no more a choice than sexual orientation, as an aside orientation and gender are seperate issues.
Transgendered people have had to face a question that to most of us is incomprehensible: what is my gender? Gender is so intrinsic from the time we come out of the womb that to question something so basic does not resonate with the population at large. I myself faced that question and found that I am the gender that I was born. Others, face that question, wrestle with that question for years, and find that they are not the gender they were born.
I think articles like this are a good start, particularly with the frank admission of ignorance, and perhaps there will be more visibility due to events like this. The core thing that must be done is education. Gender and orientation must be seperated and society must learn that it takes more than heels and skirt, or wingtips and a beard to make a woman or a man.
As a MTF transgender I totally understand why even the gays have to tip toe around the subject. I even have to be careful about what I say around my TG friends because I’m a little less sensitive then them. and as for the LGB and T being one community I totally agree. There are more similarities than differences. I’m all for individuality but I hate all the different social groups and flags. Divided we fail united we succed.
Wait, who says you only get two letters? What if you choose to transition and then go back? Why are you constantly limiting individuals experiences? You subscribe to identity politics in the most disgusting way.
Educate yourself please.
I’m trans and like to think that I’m very active in the community, and I had no idea that March 31 was Trans Visibility Day. Thanks for the info. That said, I think the most important thing about your post is your admission that you’re not always comfortable talking about trans issues, and that maybe you don’t know as much about them as you would like to. That’s okay. How could you be an expert? You shouldn’t be expected to be one. You’re not trans. The GLBT community is not a monolith, and the trans community itself is not a monolith. You can’t possibly know everything there is to know about trans experience–especially since there are so many different “trans experiences.” I think recognition that we’re here at all and that we’re part of the community is the most important step. As for the woman who was upset because you weren’t talking about her, maybe she needs to do that education herself.
And while it’s true that there are GLB people who believe that T people will hinder their march toward equal rights, I have talked to a number of T people who say the same thing about GLB people. There’s transphobia in the GLB community, and there’s homophobia in the trans community. I know–as a gay transman, I have experienced both. The best thing to do is keep working together, keep making our mistakes, muddle through, and we will get there.
@RJLigier,
You couldn’t be more wrong.
J. Hopkins was not the first pioneer and they got alot of it wrong and J. Money was completely wrong and it has been more than proven enough. Hell you can even see programs about how wrong they were on the Discovery channel!
You are spewing the same crap that “The Establishment” rattled on for decades about Gay’s & Lesbian’s until they finaly changed their tune to reflect reality. Fuck off please!
Cured!
How in the world did transgender ever get associated with gay rights. If a person is transgendered, does that equal gay. If it does explain to this idiot how? So you want to be a member of the opposite sex – doesn’t that really translate to straight if your a guy that likes guys and wants to be a girl or vice versus. It has nothing to do with my cause. I am gay and don’t have to include any others in my fight for rights. If this was true – black people would have included me.
Nathan is right. While there are many similarities between all the letters, there are also unique issues that need to be addressed. We have no reason to be offended by not being specifically addressed when someone is dealing with any of our unique issues.
The LGBTSQ community have far more things in common than we generally recognize. But because someone deals with a unique situation among any of those letters doesn’t give the rest of the letters cause to be offended.
We are learning. Slowly sometimes, but learning. Our unique qualities should be a reason to support each other rather than to exclude one another. And, of course, our common themes must be reason to include rather than exclude each other.
Neil
You see this problem no matter how inclusive you try to be. Even at MBLGTACC(Midwest Bi, Lesbian, Gay, Transgender, and Ally College Conference) I ran into this problem. This conference had many young leaders from the LGBT community across the community yet many still felt left out in some of the talks. The LGBT community is becoming larger as more groups begin to identify themselves under the LGBT spectrum and it becomes near impossible to speak for everyone especially with newer groups that are identifying as poly, pan-sexual, or demi-sexual.
I’m a 60-year-old GAY man, and I bristled back in the politically correct 90’s when the “B” and “T” were added to OUR acronym, because I felt that the B’s and T’s should get their own club, rather than hanging on to our coattails. I don’t understand the transgender movement. Is any biological female who decides to dress in a flannel shirt and work boots and shave her head then a transgender, because she is “perceived” to be a male? Also, any man who wears a dress and a wig and paints his face and heads down to the local pub on a Saturday night also a transgender? By definition, isn’t a “transgender” one who “transfers” from one gender identity to another via surgery? What’s the difference between a “trannie” and a “transvestite”? I really don’t know. And if I’m confused, how can I react and respond to a person who is a “T”? There are so many variables, that my head spins!
I, as a “T” person, have very mixed feelings about this so-called Day of Visibility. I have never actively wanted to be a “T” person, and I would venture a guess that most self-identified transsexual persons would prefer to be identified as one gender or the other as opposed to simply “trans.” (Most being the operative word in that sentence.) Most of us struggle to exist in our “chosen” gender because gender and sex are not widely differentiated between in society at large, because even a number of straight people without self-identified or acknowledged gender problems portray themselves as being sexually ambiguous. I will agree that an open dialogue would help alleviate some of the tension being felt by both trans and non-transsexual people. Part of that dialogue should begin by stating that “T” people are people first and “T” second.
For whatever it’s worth and for however uncomfortable the discussion is (and it *is* uncomfortable), the only way anyone will learn anything is by asking questions. As long as you (whoever you are) don’t phrase your questions in an accusatory or hurtful manner, as long as you don’t make assumptions based on social prejudices, the potential for an open dialogue should be very real.
Here’s to hoping!
RJLigier you enjoy spending time in the land of “fruits and nuts”
I’m guessing you’re fruitier and I know you’re nuttier than most who vist regularly.
“The bottom line is that there are a lot of us who could benefit from frank and open dialogue about all of these issues. Transgender Day of Visibility is an important step in that direction, and gays—and everyone else—should support it.”
Even though the pioneers in gender reassignment surgery, Johns Hopkins University, has indicated that GID is not cured by the mutilation one’s gonads, we should normalize the self-destructive and suicidal behavior. Hell, let’s be like Swedes and normalize sadomasochism, a continuation of adolescent suicidal ideation, and transvestitism. If there was a clearly an indication of a multiplicity of personality and character neuroses associated with the LGBT community fostered by the fraudulent and fallacious claims of neurotic legal and medical profesionals, this would be it. It makes it difficult to ascertain which is more delusional, the normalization of borderline caretaker environments for children or suicidal sexual behavior. The LGBT commmunity truly represents the land of fruits and nuts.