Note: The relative in question FINALLY got my name and pronouns right. Just not when this was written.
Well, another Christmas is in the books.
I hope yours was a good one.
Mine was the definition of "meh." The only way I could tell it was Christmas was to look at a Calendar.
But it could have been worse. I knew it was going to be like that, so I could prepare myself for it.
Doesn't mean there isn't some pain, but at least I was able to brace for the impact rather than getting slammed full force unaware.
The holidays are stress-filled for anyone, but they carry unique stressers for us transfolk.
The first is..families.
Some of them just flat out don't accept us, refuse to understand us and all but disown us.
Nothing stings worse at this time of year than to realize that those who are supposed to love us no matter what, don't. It doubly stings that we feel far worse hurt than they do, when they are the ones who inflict the pain.
Now, I'm fortunate in that regard. As I've mentioned before, my family has been quite good overall. I'm sure I would have been welcomed at anyone's table, if I didn't live a gazillion miles away from them.
As mentioned before, I've made wonderful sisters and friends, but so many of them live so far away. I wouldn't be here now without their support and love, but, at the same time, when I shut off this computer, I am alone. There is nobody here physically.
In other words, I can only type "hugs" rather than giving or getting them,lol.
Then there is the awkardness, discomfort and pain of "forced mode."
When you KNOW you're the wrong gender, it's not much fun to put on the costume and plaster on fake smiles to be someone you're not for the benefit of others.
This is where I wish I had the ability to have anyone who isn't trans to feel like what it was to be trans...just for 24 hours.
Then they would realize this isn't a phase, this isn't selfish, this is who we are.
So many say things like, "If you loved me, you wouldn't do this," as if being who we are is something we chose.
Folks...if you loved us, you wouldn't ask us not to.
And you know, there's nothing quite like getting gifts specific to the wrong gender to reinforce that pain.
Let alone the usage of the wrong name and pronouns.
The closest relative to me insists on calling me by 'his' name, no matter how many times I tell them it's like a knife to my heart.
With the isolation (either by the hurtful ignorance of family, geography or bother), there is a lot of time for introspection.
This isn't always a good thing, because we can fall victim to doubts and fears, as we become vulnerable.
There are losses, both real and perceived, with who we are. We can be left vulnerable to that ignorance of others.
Maybe they're right. Maybe we can stop. If we just put our minds to it....STOP!!!
The fact is we are who we are. Denial doesn't work. It's only a temprorary solution...even if mine lasted 'temporarily' for over two decadees.
If we've admitted who we are or started to, denial is nothing more than a retreat to a failed strategy.
It's insidious, because that place of denial can be so comforting, because it's so familiar. We lived in that place for so long, made friends, lived a facsimilie of a life as we kept our true selves at bay and didn't deal with our birth conditions.
We idealize that pre-truth life, ignoring the pain and the very real issues that eventually led us to start admitting who we are.
Then there's the darkness that creeps in for some. I admit I fall prey to it at times.
If I'm to be fully honest, there are days where I'm down to my last shred of hope, clinging to it as I start to wonder what it would be like if I just....didn't exist.
I've just wondered...obviously. Dead girls can't type.
Holidays lack fun when you're isolated, maybe stuck inside because of the weather and one is lacking in hope of having that family, of having a spouse/partner who loves them for who they are, of being able to be whole.
This is the part where I struggle. Almost every day I wake up, I go from being a woman in most of my dreams to being stuck with this cruel joke of a body and fighting to find the hope that one day, I will be whole. Then, oftentimes, the tears come.
But..then I remember. Even though they might be a gazillion miles away, I do have loving supportive family and friends.
I've also admitted who I am. This is a HUGE gift. Even moving in that direction, starting the process to admit who you are, is a big gift.
Which is, I guess, the point of this latest long-winded post.
Take comfort in what you do have. Take comfort in who you are. Take comfort in the positive possibilities of being your authentic self.
Good things to do whether you're trans or not, I think.
xoxo
Kara
Monday, September 5, 2016
From the Archives - December, 2010
It's funny how life takes those unexpected turns.
One year ago, I was "settling" into accepting myself as a gay man.
In retrospect, it wasn't really that settled, of course. I love men...but I'm not a man, never was and that was definitely percolating under the surface.
A couple months later, I admitted as much. Once I did that, it was a short period of time before I knew that I needed to be Kara full-time one day.
As it says next to my blog title, there are better places for gender awakenings than where I live now.
Good solid smalltown family values have their place, but that doesn't exactly instill confidence in coming out as trans.
Don't get me wrong. I know that there are people here who would be great and others would be indifferent, which is fine as long as they didn't bother me.
I also know that the bigger cities, no matter the quality of trans support and services, are no safe havens. There are transphobes and bigots everywhere.
But the fact remains that, for me, I need a fresh start and I would rather have it in a place where 'he' (there's that dichotomy again) has no history.
I want to be Kara in a place where nobody knows me by any other name.
But with the isolation of the small town closet, i have found support elsewhere.
I am an only child.
I had a brother who was stillborn almost six years after I was born, the thing that proved to be the final thing to lead to my parents' divorce.
Although as time, and subsequent marriages for each to the right person, proved, that marriage wasn't meant to be regardless.
Since February, I have come to find out that while I had my brother taken away from me, I have found sisters I had no clue I had 12 months ago.
It turns out that these women are a blessing in my life.
It's been an interesting ride, perhaps more interesting than was planned in some cases.
For some sisters, 2010 was the year of their gender awakening, a prospect that created a great deal of fear, but yet, perhaps, ultimately, hope.
Another friend was stuck in a relationship rut..which is to say there was one. A few months later, they were in a relationship in which both partners were happy. Not only that, it was their first same-sex relationship to boot.
The common thread for many of these sisters and friends is relationship issues.
When I do (hopefully) transition, I hope to be able to give back in some way...maybe somehow being there for others so that hopefully they can accept themselves sooner. That way, they can be with someone who loves them for who they are and those who would be their spouse can find the person they're looking for, not the one they thought they had.
Some sisters saw relationship end on less-than-good terms, others were able to end it in more civil fashion, others dealt with the aftermath of past breakups. It's not easy for either side to be trans in a marriage.
It's only there but for the grace of whatever higher power might exist that I wasn't in that situation.
Some transfolk bury who they are or limit it, living a partial life in sacrifice to preserve that marriage or for the sake of kids.
You have the spouses who insist, 'if you loved me, you'd stop' when it's not a question of love, it's a matter of who we are.
That's in addition to the pressures of family, society, 'doing the right thing'
I've tried to be there for my sisters as someone to listen when they need to vent, to offer the occasional idea.
I give these women credit, because I believe they're doing their best to deal with bad situations. They're not perfect, as I am not perfect, but they're doing their level best to do the right thing.
Being trans is not an easy road, so it's good to have someone there for you who understands, even if their situation isn't the same.
It's been good to have these sisters around. We talk about things like clothes and shopping and, yes, men. We talk about sports or movies, when we don't feel like talking about the weightier issues we're dealing with. We also talk about the weightier issues as we try to make sense of a world where that sense gets changed when we admit who we are...or get closer to admitting who we are.
It's a godsend to have someone to talk to about these things with, especially in circumstances where geography and/or the closet leave us as ports for the occasional storm and as lovely places to visit during the regular calm.
These women are friends, people I'm glad to know and in some cases, they really are like the siblings I never had. I treasure them.
Not admitting who I was for so long led to a lot of self-loathing, both over who I was and how I looked. Even somewhat admitting it didn't help a whole lot. I doubted whether I could ever attract anyone and mulled the possibility that I could be who I was, but I'd have to be willing to go it alone.
I still might have to. I know I'm not settling.
In any case, I have more confidence in myself and how I look.
I still have a lot of weight to lose. A LOT of weight. I know some of my sisters think it's just needless self-deprecation on my part, but the fact is that I am just plain fat.
But weight can be lost.
And in the meantime, I'm growing to like my appearance.
I've never liked how I looked. I hated taking pictures.
In the past, I just attributed it to not liking how I looked. I'm now realizing it's because I wasn't the real me.
I've received legitimate compliments on my look from people who I trust not to blow smoke up my ass. I'm not about to become a conceited diva, but I will say that if enough people tell you that you're at least somewhat cute, it is a boost and you kinda start to believe them.
So, where have I gone in 12 months?
My job situation stinks. My living situation stinks.
But the tradeoff is that I have sisters for life who I didn't even know a year ago. I have blood family loving the real me unconditionally.
With any lucky, the things that stink will turn around soon.
If that does, look out. 2011 will be the Year of Kara.
And if it is, hop on board.
Thanks to those of you who I've met and talked to over the last year.
And if we haven't met or talked, let's fix that, shall we?
xoxo
Kara
From the Archives -- Late April, 2010
Note: This would be the last time I'd see my dad in person. He'd pass away almost four months later
I am back home after my first father-daughter trip.
Well....not really. I made the entire trip as boy name.
Going as myself wasn't a realistic option for many reasons. First off, I'm nowhere near being able to present my true self in public.
Second, these were relatives I hadn't seen in over 20 years, so....kind of difficult to surprise them with this.
Third, these are relatives who live in a conservative state full of homophobic cowboy machismo. For a state that dislikes government and believes in the individual, those beliefs only extend to people who are exactly like them. Then it's okay for the government to step in and make sure these people are treated like second-class citizens. Or, heck, just be rugged individuals and take the offending individual out in the country where nobody can hear them scream and do 'what needs to be done, yup."
Maybe I'm exaggerating...slightly....but Wyoming is not and never will be an LGBT-friendly state.
Dad arrived early...while I still had work to finish. So the first day was pretty much a waste.
The second day, we took in the spring game, a baseball game and some dinner at a Cajun place. A good day.
The next day....we started our trip west.
Due to circumstances beyond our control, it was only going to be a three-day trip, as far as being where the family was.
Some of the time was spent eating one meal or another with family.
One afternoon was spent driving up, down and through the mountains, taking the long way back. Good company and great scenery. Loved it.
Another afternoon was spent going to the old family ranch..where another branch of the family still lives.
This was a spot where my eyes glazed over, as talk turned to old vehicles and motor parts and 'i bet that 350 mooboga could run really well if you hyperflange the orbotron setting to six" or whatever the hell it was that was being said.
These were bittersweet days. It was wonderful being able to take a trip with my dad..the first time I'd done anything with him in forever. He also knows about me and is fine with it. That's a tremendous blessing.
I was reconnecting with these relatives...which is great, except that I can't trust that these same relatives won't reject me when they find out about the real me.
My father is less conservative than they are about such matters.
One of my aunts hugged me as we were leaving and said, "I'm not going to lose you again."
And the first thing that popped into my head was, "You probably already have. You just don't know it."
A long drive back and now....I'm home.
I'd hoped a few days away from here would clear my head, but it really didn't.
I am still stuck in the same place I was before.
I know I can't back to being boy name and burying myself..that's not an option.
But going ahead and taking the steps to be Kara? So, so scary and I'm just here...frozen.
I'm too strong to go back and too weak to move forward.
Something will change for the better eventually, hopefully.
But for now, I'm paralyzed.
But at least I know my father loves me for who I am.
For now, that will have to be enough.
I am back home after my first father-daughter trip.
Well....not really. I made the entire trip as boy name.
Going as myself wasn't a realistic option for many reasons. First off, I'm nowhere near being able to present my true self in public.
Second, these were relatives I hadn't seen in over 20 years, so....kind of difficult to surprise them with this.
Third, these are relatives who live in a conservative state full of homophobic cowboy machismo. For a state that dislikes government and believes in the individual, those beliefs only extend to people who are exactly like them. Then it's okay for the government to step in and make sure these people are treated like second-class citizens. Or, heck, just be rugged individuals and take the offending individual out in the country where nobody can hear them scream and do 'what needs to be done, yup."
Maybe I'm exaggerating...slightly....but Wyoming is not and never will be an LGBT-friendly state.
Dad arrived early...while I still had work to finish. So the first day was pretty much a waste.
The second day, we took in the spring game, a baseball game and some dinner at a Cajun place. A good day.
The next day....we started our trip west.
Due to circumstances beyond our control, it was only going to be a three-day trip, as far as being where the family was.
Some of the time was spent eating one meal or another with family.
One afternoon was spent driving up, down and through the mountains, taking the long way back. Good company and great scenery. Loved it.
Another afternoon was spent going to the old family ranch..where another branch of the family still lives.
This was a spot where my eyes glazed over, as talk turned to old vehicles and motor parts and 'i bet that 350 mooboga could run really well if you hyperflange the orbotron setting to six" or whatever the hell it was that was being said.
These were bittersweet days. It was wonderful being able to take a trip with my dad..the first time I'd done anything with him in forever. He also knows about me and is fine with it. That's a tremendous blessing.
I was reconnecting with these relatives...which is great, except that I can't trust that these same relatives won't reject me when they find out about the real me.
My father is less conservative than they are about such matters.
One of my aunts hugged me as we were leaving and said, "I'm not going to lose you again."
And the first thing that popped into my head was, "You probably already have. You just don't know it."
A long drive back and now....I'm home.
I'd hoped a few days away from here would clear my head, but it really didn't.
I am still stuck in the same place I was before.
I know I can't back to being boy name and burying myself..that's not an option.
But going ahead and taking the steps to be Kara? So, so scary and I'm just here...frozen.
I'm too strong to go back and too weak to move forward.
Something will change for the better eventually, hopefully.
But for now, I'm paralyzed.
But at least I know my father loves me for who I am.
For now, that will have to be enough.
From the Archives - April, 2010
Note: I'm digging back into some older post to show where I was in those early pre-transition days. This was written about 2 1/2 months after my denial started to end.
When I first admitted my existence, I rapidly entered the 'giddy teenager' phase.
Everything was exciting. It was great. I was finally going to have everything start to fit. I could wear the clothes and look like the person I denied I was. I had this wonderful future lying before me and I all I had to do was reach out and grab it.
Reality sets in soon enough.
The fact of the matter is that this is not an easy journey, not one to be undertaken lightly.
What has settled in now is a rollercoaster state, where my head and heart are constatnly up and down, depending on the day, or even the hour.
To be sure, there is still that giddy teenager somwhere -- all excited over the possibilities.
The determined woman is still there, too.
But there are the down days.
There is the pain...which is impossible to describe over being in this state...where I beginning to feel more female and yet I don't/can't look like it. It's the pain of living in a place, a world, where I could lose everything just by living honestly.
There is also the doubt, the uncertainty..not over the fact that I'm trans, but of the best way to carry it out. What direction should I go? I have no idea.
Fear is a great paralyzer. I am afraid that I will never be able to look anywhere close to how I feel inside. I've not always been the most self-confident person in the world about my appearance, and being trans on top of it doesn't help.
I am fearful of being homeless if one key family member reacts badly to my being Kara.
I am afraid of many things great and small and it paralyzes me.
This is why I am befuddled when anybody talks about my courage. So far, the steps I've taken feel so small, so minimal.'
Someone sent me a random IM yesterday that said, "I just wanted to let you know that you inspire me. Because you're so determined and courageous after finally figuring out who you are. I think it's amazing."
I feel anything but when there are those days and moments where I feel trapped, a prisoner who's only become recently aware of the bars, barbed wire and armed guards that surround her.
But, there is also hope.
Over the last week, I've started to become acquainted more with a newer group of people, widening my circle.
Depending on the person, there has been good advice, friendly conversation and hope that it can be done.
I still hardly feel like an icon of courage for anyone.
There are plenty of men and women out there who are much greater inspirations than I am within the trans community.
I am so new, so early in this process that I shouldn't really be looked at as courageous at all.
Admitting to a few family and friends that your trans takes courage...but doing something about it. Moving past that paralyzing fear, beyond that pain that makes you want to curl up and cry? That's where the real courage kicks in.
The fact remains, though, that I was on a path where I was either going to live as Kara or die as Boy Name. Sooner or later, I will have to start acting to let my true self out, even if it's just dressing alone on days and nights when off from work. I will have to do something to start moving to a point where I can transition.
What's it going to take?
My guess is it's going to get to a point where the pain will become so unbearable that I will move past the point where I care what others (the others who don't matter) think about me.
Because, when you get right down to it, my womanhood is a gift that shouldn't be squandered. I just have to figure out the best way to open that gift and make use if it.
When I do? Then...maybe...I will be worthy of someone's admiration.
xoxo
Kara
When I first admitted my existence, I rapidly entered the 'giddy teenager' phase.
Everything was exciting. It was great. I was finally going to have everything start to fit. I could wear the clothes and look like the person I denied I was. I had this wonderful future lying before me and I all I had to do was reach out and grab it.
Reality sets in soon enough.
The fact of the matter is that this is not an easy journey, not one to be undertaken lightly.
What has settled in now is a rollercoaster state, where my head and heart are constatnly up and down, depending on the day, or even the hour.
To be sure, there is still that giddy teenager somwhere -- all excited over the possibilities.
The determined woman is still there, too.
But there are the down days.
There is the pain...which is impossible to describe over being in this state...where I beginning to feel more female and yet I don't/can't look like it. It's the pain of living in a place, a world, where I could lose everything just by living honestly.
There is also the doubt, the uncertainty..not over the fact that I'm trans, but of the best way to carry it out. What direction should I go? I have no idea.
Fear is a great paralyzer. I am afraid that I will never be able to look anywhere close to how I feel inside. I've not always been the most self-confident person in the world about my appearance, and being trans on top of it doesn't help.
I am fearful of being homeless if one key family member reacts badly to my being Kara.
I am afraid of many things great and small and it paralyzes me.
This is why I am befuddled when anybody talks about my courage. So far, the steps I've taken feel so small, so minimal.'
Someone sent me a random IM yesterday that said, "I just wanted to let you know that you inspire me. Because you're so determined and courageous after finally figuring out who you are. I think it's amazing."
I feel anything but when there are those days and moments where I feel trapped, a prisoner who's only become recently aware of the bars, barbed wire and armed guards that surround her.
But, there is also hope.
Over the last week, I've started to become acquainted more with a newer group of people, widening my circle.
Depending on the person, there has been good advice, friendly conversation and hope that it can be done.
I still hardly feel like an icon of courage for anyone.
There are plenty of men and women out there who are much greater inspirations than I am within the trans community.
I am so new, so early in this process that I shouldn't really be looked at as courageous at all.
Admitting to a few family and friends that your trans takes courage...but doing something about it. Moving past that paralyzing fear, beyond that pain that makes you want to curl up and cry? That's where the real courage kicks in.
The fact remains, though, that I was on a path where I was either going to live as Kara or die as Boy Name. Sooner or later, I will have to start acting to let my true self out, even if it's just dressing alone on days and nights when off from work. I will have to do something to start moving to a point where I can transition.
What's it going to take?
My guess is it's going to get to a point where the pain will become so unbearable that I will move past the point where I care what others (the others who don't matter) think about me.
Because, when you get right down to it, my womanhood is a gift that shouldn't be squandered. I just have to figure out the best way to open that gift and make use if it.
When I do? Then...maybe...I will be worthy of someone's admiration.
xoxo
Kara
Like The Pine Trees Lining The Winding Road
Catching up a bit here.
The name change became official since the last time I posted here.
At some point, after the tears dried the day I got word, I sat down and the words flowed out, a goodbye letter to "him."
"Steve" is not my real deadname, of course. I hope you'll allow that bit of poetic license.
Dear Steve --
The name change became official since the last time I posted here.
At some point, after the tears dried the day I got word, I sat down and the words flowed out, a goodbye letter to "him."
"Steve" is not my real deadname, of course. I hope you'll allow that bit of poetic license.
Dear Steve --
As cliché as it is to say, in this case, it’s true. It’s not you. It’s me.
The time has come at last. The official word is in and you are gone. Boom. Done.
The finality of it is abrupt, but it’s been a long time coming. You knew it. You prayed for it.
Way back when, you totally prayed for this outcome. Every night.
Oh sure, there were those times later on where you prayed for this not to happen, but the universe knew that deep down, no matter how much you protested, your heart really wasn’t in those.
I remember you way back then, Steve.
You were a precocious little twerp, weren’t you? Your dad said you were reading the newspaper at two. That time at four when your mom and dad were worried/ticked off when you disappeared when you went to the local swimming pool.
You didn’t know what the big deal was. You knew you weren’t lost. You knew exactly where you were going. Why’s everybody so upset?
But you never quite fit in, did you? The playground words – “sissy”, “queer”, “fag”…intended as slurs and received as such, sure. But the truth was that you weren’t “one of them”, even then.
Clueless kid that you were, you just internalized that hate and just felt out of place.
Then you started to realize, Steve. It couldn’t really be possible, could it? That name they gave you wasn’t really yours. That life you were in wasn’t yours, but that of some unwilling reality show lead unaware they were in a reality show of others’ choosing, years before reality shows existed.
That’s when it happened. At night, while your mom was working the graveyard shift, the better to not hear you, you started to pray. “Please God, let me wake up a girl.”
You started to explore. In another time, with another cast, you might have given me a chance to escape sooner.
But, no, you got the scumbag stepfather out of central casting – a younger man to help mom get her groove back, only to turn out to be a rageoholic control freak who left a damaged wife and stepdaughter in his wake.
That’s when your stubbornness kicked in, right, Steve? You felt things would be safer for you, than me, that people would take it out on you if they knew I existed.
Some people are cut out to be bodyguards. Other people can do it, but it takes a lot out of them. It did with you.
Part of the bodyguard act was to keep up that veneer. Steve was the “happy, uber-guy who liked sports.” You knew your stuff when it came to sports and music.
You had your memories anyway – the bad Peter Lorre impression you did in “Arsenic and Old Lace” senior year (and the accidental table break that turned into a proto-Chris Farley gag in each performance), the games where you were on the edge of your seat for.
Music and sports indeed were there a lot. You got to cover a lot of cool stuff, even if it was the small town variety – the best football game you ever covered, when the local team beat its archrival 31-30 on a 40-yard field goal that cleared the upright by a foot on the last play of the quarterfinals on the way of the state playoffs.
But pretending to be an uber-guy meant stepping into awkward territory, eh, Steve? You remember that bowl trip to Tampa? The one where you went up in the Spaceship, paying $200 for a private lapdance, not because you really wanted one, but because you knew it would be a free pass from uber-guy crap for the rest of the trip. Never mind that you really wished you had a dancer’s curves.
That small town you lived in, Steve, it wasn’t without its charms. But you knew it was a much better, safer place for you than it was for me. You never admitted it, but it played a big part in why you stayed there, why your name didn’t wind up on better bylines.
It’s a lot easier to be isolated when, if you don’t live at the edge of nowhere, you can see it from your house.
Sure, you had a few friends, enough to prop up the illusion that you were fooling people. But they knew. You made the fact that you had walls up pretty fucking obvious.
The gay thing. That was a convenient distraction, wasn’t it? You could tell yourself that you weren’t gay. Over and over and over again. Never mind that it wasn’t really the issue or that you were right, just not in the way you thought.
It got exhausting, right, Steve?
Imagine how I felt! Think about it. You at least had the option of going out, of interacting with people. Nobody knew I existed. Even Mom..and moms always know. She probably thought I was Gay Steve. She even asked you once, and you said, “No! No!”, never letting her know I existed. I hate that you were such a coward then, even if I understand why.
But, things broke eventually. I don’t even know why it happened when it did, but on some subconscious level, I knew I had to make a move before something bad happened.
You had that dead-in-the-eyes look common to so many bodyguards whose time is about out, a look that too often signals that the bodyguard and the person they’re protecting are about to disappear.
You were a master at distracting yourself, Steve, but this time, you were a little too good, because you admitted you were “gay.” That was enough, because my emergence was inevitable at that point.
It was less than a year. I was long overdue to get out. You think the rooms on the Worst Room Tumblr were bad, try applying feng shui principles to a closet for decades.
By the time I first announced my presence, to a woman who said, “I know, it ain’t my first rodeo”, you really didn’t have much fight left, Steve.
Oh, sure, you tried to say that I might only be around part of the time. But how long did that last? Seriously, two months, if that.
That began a weird period where people in the physical world pretty much only knew you, but I started to take over the day-to-day operations of the company, so to speak.
It’s one thing to be Ronald McDonald, a clown-suited guy everybody knows is just a mascot. It’s another to be a guy in a clown suit and only you know that it’s a clown suit. I know it took a toll, enough that you almost took us both with you. Believe me, I’ve thanked people who kept us from jumping off that edge into the too-comforting abyss more than once.
Then came 2012, the year I took over in the front of the house. I have to give you credit, Steve. You were smart in who you told, knowing for the most part who would stick around for me and who wouldn’t.
Oh, yeah. The latter. The people who think the 2012 change was some fucking overnight whim. But what do asshats like that know? They weren’t there on the playgrounds, in those quiet bedrooms to hear the prayers of a 10-year-old girl speaking timidly through the voice of a boy. They didn’t care enough to notice that you were dead in the eyes, on the way to being dead.
I know what you mean, Steve, about wishing that people who weren’t like me could feel what it was like to be that way for 72 hours, to know that this isn’t an abomination, a perversion or even what those condescending jerks call a “lifestyle choice.”
I moved from that small town to New York and found so many reasons to call it home, from the food and the shows, to more importantly, a charming, sweet, funny lovely woman named Deb. You were so busy thinking about guys, Steve, that it never crossed your mind that I liked both. You poor distracted man.
Most importantly, New York City is the place where I can just be, a place that not only fits my general vibe, but is a place where nobody knew you. No offense, Steve, but you were kind of a sad, miserable bastard for a while there.
Now, here we are. It’s a nice summer night. I have Veruca Salt blaring in my ears and I’m contemplating what it all finally means now that the official word is in that you’re gone.
I hope you don’t mind that my first reaction was to start sobbing tears of relief. I’m really glad you’re gone. You have no idea. Seriously. None.
But, it’s not exactly good riddance, either. You were part of my life for a long time. Too long, yes, but a crucial part of my life, even when you at some point switched from bodyguard to captor. But I know I wouldn’t be here now if it weren’t for you, either. That’s not the Stockholm Syndrome talking, because you were the bodyguard first.
I know there might be one or two others who miss you a bit, maybe because a bit of me seeped into you and that’s what people responded to. I don’t know.
But, hey, there will always be memories and, if they’re honest, they’ll see that I am far, far happier than you could have ever been.
I’m not sorry you’re gone for good, Steve, but I am sorry for what you had to go through. It’s hard enough for a real child to deal with physical and mental abuse. It’s hard enough for a real adult to deal with the confusion and pain, you were doing it as a fictional character. I’ve seen the photos. I know how much it hurt.
You were my twin, Steve, but you’ve done your job. You’ve punched your last clock. Enjoy retirement, being missing and presumed happy as you dissolve into the mist for good.
You were my twin, Steve, but you’ve done your job. You’ve punched your last clock. Enjoy retirement, being missing and presumed happy as you dissolve into the mist for good.
Enjoy that swift, sweet fade into oblivion, Steve. It’s a long overdue reward for a job well done.
As for me, I’ll enjoy things plenty for the both of us and, when I speak of you, I’ll try to speak sympathetically.
Here’s your goodbye hug in the mist, my twin brother, my constraining and tattered costume, my frenemy, my passionate protector, my sharpshooter atop the guard tower with the sniper rifle pointed in my direction if I contemplated escape.
So long and farewell, my darling twin. Close your eyes and fade away.
I can take it from here.
I’m good.
I wasn’t you. I’m me.
Your sister,
Kara
Friday, May 23, 2014
"We Don't Do The Things You Do, But We Live Around Here, Too"
By Kara Tucker
This is a response to a Facebook post, talking about Mr. RuPaul Charles' latest doubling and tripling down on his approval of the word "tranny" and the way a couple of trans women have chosen to defend him.
In many ways, it's a version 2.0 of my piece from April. I'll say that neither RuPaul, nor his supporters, have backed down from their beliefs on the matter or from their individual tactics since my piece in early April. With that, let's continue.
This is a response to a Facebook post, talking about Mr. RuPaul Charles' latest doubling and tripling down on his approval of the word "tranny" and the way a couple of trans women have chosen to defend him.
In many ways, it's a version 2.0 of my piece from April. I'll say that neither RuPaul, nor his supporters, have backed down from their beliefs on the matter or from their individual tactics since my piece in early April. With that, let's continue.
There are so many things to say right now.
1. RuPaul is, at the end of the day, a cisgender gay man who
dresses up only for professional reasons. He calls them his "work clothes." He is no
more a "she" than Martin Lawrence is for doing the "Big Momma's
House" movies.
2. As such, no matter his background in the NYC club scene,
he is still a man. As such, he is in no position to tell trans women not to be
offended by it. It is also clear that he is aware of how offensive his slur usage is to
many, but doesn’t care. It’s not “tone-deaf carelessness,” as Addams put it.
3. If there were any doubt about Mr. Charles' identity, his
responses to the two slurs speak volumes. He's made it clear repeatedly he
LOVES the word "T****y" while, when Amanda Bynes used the word
"f******s" in a tweet to People Magazine, he said, "Derogatory
slurs are ALWAYS an outward projection of a person's own poisonous
self-loathing "
4. If that's the case, Mr. Charles must have a lot of
poisonous self-loathing.
5. Mr. Charles fails to realize that, although he is not a trans woman, by virtue of his position and his attitude, some people view him as some version of such. When he continues to gleefully defend the slur, he becomes the de facto “Trans Friend” for people who don’t know better. So, while he’s safely relaxing at home as a man, trans women get to “enjoy” being referred to by the slur because he helps normalize it.
6. Yes, some trans women aren’t offended by it. Yes, some use it. But, first, they’re allowed to use it, as the direct target. Second. Why the insistence on making its usage the default? What is so wrong with acknowledging that the word is viewed as a slur by many? Why insist that it’s okay for all?
7. “B****h, you need to get stronger.” Memo to Mr. Charles and his apologists. It’s not the late ‘80s/early ‘90s anymore. Things change, hopefully for the better. One would think you’d actually want things to be better. Taking a “Well, I had to go through it. Toughen up, b****h” attitude, instead of saying, “Hey, maybe people shouldn’t use words that hurt so many. Maybe I shouldn’t use those words.”
If Mr. Charles really feels this way, I eagerly await his series of “Go ahead, say ‘It’s gay’” PSAs where he tells bullied gay kids to “toughen up, b***h”, “it’s your fault for giving those words power” and “Stop being a victim, you little f****t.”
8. If Mr. Charles is this great “icon who has done more for the trans community than anybody” (I’ve seen that said), than it would be nice if he spoke out against the vile transphobia and misogyny of some of his defenders. He doesn’t have to look far to find it.
9. Speaking of the defenders, try to learn a little first. I’ve heard the excuse of “Oh, ‘You’ve got she-mail’” is just a pun on ‘You’ve got mail.’ It’s fun!”
I would suggest that those defenders look up the name Janice Raymond and learn just how loaded and offensive the word “S*****e” is to trans people. That woman did untold damage to trans people everywhere, due to the negative impacts the efforts she and her ilk had on trans health care. Damage that is still being undone in areas. So, yeah, you’ll forgive me if I don’t appreciate your little “fun” pun playing off a word first popularized by a woman who has the blood of trans people on her hands.
10. Some people want to make this out to be an “Oh, you hate drag” issue. Absolutely not. It is an art form and Mr. Charles has been as successful with it as anybody has been. It is also a safe space for some trans women to first explore who they are. A friend of mine, someone who’s not a performer, said to me a couple months ago that drag queens saved her life. They allowed her an avenue for herself to start appearing, a way out of the misery she was in. Today, she’s living a great life.
It’s not about drag. It’s about showing a little more respect for women. And, for the love of all that’s holy and decent, it is NOT homophobic to call this kind of stuff out.
11. Side point about drag lingo, just because I’ve seen defenders try to make this point. Yes, we’re aware the origins of the term “fish” are kind of gross and misogynist. However, I highly doubt any woman has been attacked, beaten and/or killed by someone yelling “Fish!” at her. Not the case with trans women and (not censoring in this paragraph) “tranny”, “shemale”, “he/she”, “shim”, etc.
As another friend put it, “When I hear tranny or shemale in public, I know to be ready to run.”
12. On to James and Addams, “disappointment” would be a good word. I know some people say there is no such thing as a “trans community.” They sort of have a point, but I tend to view it as there isn’t a unified trans community. It’s like any actual community. There are varied neighborhoods and degrees of interaction between them. There are good people and bad people and in-between, neighborhoods most people like and others perhaps best avoided.
For me, these two women have made it clear that I should not be in their neighborhood, that it is not a place where I could feel safe or welcomed.
13. How so? Well, for starters, I’m bi, I haven’t been in transition as long as they have and I don’t support Mr. Charles' right to keep slinging slurs on his show. He's not a "jester," he's a successful businessman, one whose brand of drag is as "punk" as a T-shirt at Hot Topic these days.
As for the first part, it’s really rather unseemly for them to continue to attack lesbian trans women (or “transbians” as AJ does, stealing a TERF term). The not-so-subtle message is clear: “Straight white women are the normal ones. The lesbians are the nutty fringe. We’re normal. They’re the easily offended kooks.”
Not only is this wrong-headed, it’s also incorrect. There are PLENTY of straight trans women who have no use for Mr. Charles use of “t****y” and “s*****e.”
14. The none-too-subtle misgendering tactic of invoking the “male privilege” tack against critics? Very divisive. For one, it presupposes that every trans woman who disagrees with them lived a perfect male life, free of any and all strife. Oh, sure, there were the beatings and verbal abuse, the suicide attempts, the broken relationships with family and partners, the various stop-and-starts in coming to terms with who they were, but hey, according to them, every trans woman was nothing but happily awash in male privilege until they one day decided to be "newly-minted queer" and flipped a switch.
15. Not to mention that once transition is under way, that whole male privilege thing tends to disappear pretty fast. Again, all of the poor reactions from people that can happen towards someone in their lives that transition – more negative work, family and home environments, etc. Plus, the changes in daily life, from having to be even more cautious as a woman than as a man in public to finding that men tend to talk over you now. But, please, tell us more about “male privilege” in this instance.
Oh, and women who don’t have trans history don’t disagree ever, apparently. Because only a “male” would do so? Yep, divisive.
16. When Justin “Alaska T*********k” Honard put out a video that ended with a mock execution of a trans woman critical of Mr. Charles (complete with simulated head wound), James called it a “hilarious riff.” Yes, because there is nothing more hilarious than simulated murder of trans women. I’m sure the video would be a big hit at TDOR services this fall. Again, divisive.
To Honard’s credit, he realized how wrongheaded the video was. He took it down and offered a sincere apology for it.
17. In her Boing Boing piece, James said, “Trans separatists like Molloy also spend a lot of time fighting online with lesbian separatists, some of whom reject trans lesbians the same way these trans lesbians want little to do with crossdressing or drag."
False equivalency, party of one.
The "lesbian separatists" James refers do more than "reject trans lesbians." They attack and misgender ALL trans people, particularly women. They seek to out them. They've tried to interfere with their employment, with their medical care in some places.
I do not know, nor do I care to, Andrea James' birth name. But in the world of "lesbian separatists", she will always be that old name, she will always be a "man" and her using the ladies room "is the act of a predator." Indeed, her very act of transition would be referred to as "rape."
There is a HUGE difference between actively seeking to deny rights to a whole group of people and attacking them offline versus wanting to have more widespread representation of trans life and to have gay men not use transphobic language.
Calling people who want the latter “trans separatists”? Yep, divisive.
18. For people who talk about others being “easily offended special snowflakes” who were “raised on smugf*****y”, they seem awfully defensive. For people who think others “seek to be offended”, they’ve made a point of saying they “talked to the producers personally” about the “Female or S*****e” segment (and not in an approving way, mind you).
19. Back to point No. 7. Part of this is generational. One can acknowledge that things were tougher for those who transitioned, as Addams and James did, back then and for gay men like Charles. Things are nowhere near where they should be now, but they are better.
That said, there seems to be a bit of a bitter edge of “Well, I went through this, so I don’t see why you’re complaining,” as if the worse conditions of the late ‘80s/early ‘90s should remain in place.
One would hope that people would want things to be better for those who follow them down the path, just as it was better for James and Addams than it was for those who did it a generation prior, just as I hope that things keep getting better for future generations than it is for myself and others in 2014.
Even if you don’t think every younger person (or in my case, later on the transition path) isn’t showing what you feel is proper deference, that shouldn’t stop you from wanting and working to make things better, including acknowledging that your "fun words" are in fact looked upon by a lot of trans people as slurs that do hurt and maybe caring about it, rather than saying, in essence, "You don't like it? Screw you."
20. Oh, yes, I’m well aware that, as some point out elsewhere, there are greater issues – the violence, the well-above-average suicide rates, the employment and housing discrimination, etc. facing the community. Just because some things are more important doesn’t make others non-important. Just because someone speaks out on such an issue doesn’t mean they don’t care about or speak to the greater issues. I can walk and chew bubble gum at the same time and I am, shockingly, capable of caring about multiple issues. Stunning, I know.
19. As I wrote almost two months ago – “’A wise woman said, "Somewhere, somehow, there is room for all of us.’”
That still has to be the hope.
But, for now, Addams and James have created a section of the community where a vast number of trans people don't feel welcome -- not just the people who felt alienated by their often heteronormative approach before, but by people such as myself, who have to weigh what Addams and James have written in recent weeks.
In their world, I am apparently a trans woman whose opinions don't matter.
Luckily, there are plenty of other neighborhoods in the community where I do feel welcome, where I feel I would be greeted with open arms rather than middle fingers and a slap in the face.
Hopefully one day, there will be more neighborhoods that are welcoming, including theirs. But for now, I’ll continue to happily live my life and enjoy the other places in the community as well as the world at large.
5. Mr. Charles fails to realize that, although he is not a trans woman, by virtue of his position and his attitude, some people view him as some version of such. When he continues to gleefully defend the slur, he becomes the de facto “Trans Friend” for people who don’t know better. So, while he’s safely relaxing at home as a man, trans women get to “enjoy” being referred to by the slur because he helps normalize it.
6. Yes, some trans women aren’t offended by it. Yes, some use it. But, first, they’re allowed to use it, as the direct target. Second. Why the insistence on making its usage the default? What is so wrong with acknowledging that the word is viewed as a slur by many? Why insist that it’s okay for all?
7. “B****h, you need to get stronger.” Memo to Mr. Charles and his apologists. It’s not the late ‘80s/early ‘90s anymore. Things change, hopefully for the better. One would think you’d actually want things to be better. Taking a “Well, I had to go through it. Toughen up, b****h” attitude, instead of saying, “Hey, maybe people shouldn’t use words that hurt so many. Maybe I shouldn’t use those words.”
If Mr. Charles really feels this way, I eagerly await his series of “Go ahead, say ‘It’s gay’” PSAs where he tells bullied gay kids to “toughen up, b***h”, “it’s your fault for giving those words power” and “Stop being a victim, you little f****t.”
8. If Mr. Charles is this great “icon who has done more for the trans community than anybody” (I’ve seen that said), than it would be nice if he spoke out against the vile transphobia and misogyny of some of his defenders. He doesn’t have to look far to find it.
9. Speaking of the defenders, try to learn a little first. I’ve heard the excuse of “Oh, ‘You’ve got she-mail’” is just a pun on ‘You’ve got mail.’ It’s fun!”
I would suggest that those defenders look up the name Janice Raymond and learn just how loaded and offensive the word “S*****e” is to trans people. That woman did untold damage to trans people everywhere, due to the negative impacts the efforts she and her ilk had on trans health care. Damage that is still being undone in areas. So, yeah, you’ll forgive me if I don’t appreciate your little “fun” pun playing off a word first popularized by a woman who has the blood of trans people on her hands.
10. Some people want to make this out to be an “Oh, you hate drag” issue. Absolutely not. It is an art form and Mr. Charles has been as successful with it as anybody has been. It is also a safe space for some trans women to first explore who they are. A friend of mine, someone who’s not a performer, said to me a couple months ago that drag queens saved her life. They allowed her an avenue for herself to start appearing, a way out of the misery she was in. Today, she’s living a great life.
It’s not about drag. It’s about showing a little more respect for women. And, for the love of all that’s holy and decent, it is NOT homophobic to call this kind of stuff out.
11. Side point about drag lingo, just because I’ve seen defenders try to make this point. Yes, we’re aware the origins of the term “fish” are kind of gross and misogynist. However, I highly doubt any woman has been attacked, beaten and/or killed by someone yelling “Fish!” at her. Not the case with trans women and (not censoring in this paragraph) “tranny”, “shemale”, “he/she”, “shim”, etc.
As another friend put it, “When I hear tranny or shemale in public, I know to be ready to run.”
12. On to James and Addams, “disappointment” would be a good word. I know some people say there is no such thing as a “trans community.” They sort of have a point, but I tend to view it as there isn’t a unified trans community. It’s like any actual community. There are varied neighborhoods and degrees of interaction between them. There are good people and bad people and in-between, neighborhoods most people like and others perhaps best avoided.
For me, these two women have made it clear that I should not be in their neighborhood, that it is not a place where I could feel safe or welcomed.
13. How so? Well, for starters, I’m bi, I haven’t been in transition as long as they have and I don’t support Mr. Charles' right to keep slinging slurs on his show. He's not a "jester," he's a successful businessman, one whose brand of drag is as "punk" as a T-shirt at Hot Topic these days.
As for the first part, it’s really rather unseemly for them to continue to attack lesbian trans women (or “transbians” as AJ does, stealing a TERF term). The not-so-subtle message is clear: “Straight white women are the normal ones. The lesbians are the nutty fringe. We’re normal. They’re the easily offended kooks.”
Not only is this wrong-headed, it’s also incorrect. There are PLENTY of straight trans women who have no use for Mr. Charles use of “t****y” and “s*****e.”
14. The none-too-subtle misgendering tactic of invoking the “male privilege” tack against critics? Very divisive. For one, it presupposes that every trans woman who disagrees with them lived a perfect male life, free of any and all strife. Oh, sure, there were the beatings and verbal abuse, the suicide attempts, the broken relationships with family and partners, the various stop-and-starts in coming to terms with who they were, but hey, according to them, every trans woman was nothing but happily awash in male privilege until they one day decided to be "newly-minted queer" and flipped a switch.
15. Not to mention that once transition is under way, that whole male privilege thing tends to disappear pretty fast. Again, all of the poor reactions from people that can happen towards someone in their lives that transition – more negative work, family and home environments, etc. Plus, the changes in daily life, from having to be even more cautious as a woman than as a man in public to finding that men tend to talk over you now. But, please, tell us more about “male privilege” in this instance.
Oh, and women who don’t have trans history don’t disagree ever, apparently. Because only a “male” would do so? Yep, divisive.
16. When Justin “Alaska T*********k” Honard put out a video that ended with a mock execution of a trans woman critical of Mr. Charles (complete with simulated head wound), James called it a “hilarious riff.” Yes, because there is nothing more hilarious than simulated murder of trans women. I’m sure the video would be a big hit at TDOR services this fall. Again, divisive.
To Honard’s credit, he realized how wrongheaded the video was. He took it down and offered a sincere apology for it.
17. In her Boing Boing piece, James said, “Trans separatists like Molloy also spend a lot of time fighting online with lesbian separatists, some of whom reject trans lesbians the same way these trans lesbians want little to do with crossdressing or drag."
False equivalency, party of one.
The "lesbian separatists" James refers do more than "reject trans lesbians." They attack and misgender ALL trans people, particularly women. They seek to out them. They've tried to interfere with their employment, with their medical care in some places.
I do not know, nor do I care to, Andrea James' birth name. But in the world of "lesbian separatists", she will always be that old name, she will always be a "man" and her using the ladies room "is the act of a predator." Indeed, her very act of transition would be referred to as "rape."
There is a HUGE difference between actively seeking to deny rights to a whole group of people and attacking them offline versus wanting to have more widespread representation of trans life and to have gay men not use transphobic language.
Calling people who want the latter “trans separatists”? Yep, divisive.
18. For people who talk about others being “easily offended special snowflakes” who were “raised on smugf*****y”, they seem awfully defensive. For people who think others “seek to be offended”, they’ve made a point of saying they “talked to the producers personally” about the “Female or S*****e” segment (and not in an approving way, mind you).
19. Back to point No. 7. Part of this is generational. One can acknowledge that things were tougher for those who transitioned, as Addams and James did, back then and for gay men like Charles. Things are nowhere near where they should be now, but they are better.
That said, there seems to be a bit of a bitter edge of “Well, I went through this, so I don’t see why you’re complaining,” as if the worse conditions of the late ‘80s/early ‘90s should remain in place.
One would hope that people would want things to be better for those who follow them down the path, just as it was better for James and Addams than it was for those who did it a generation prior, just as I hope that things keep getting better for future generations than it is for myself and others in 2014.
Even if you don’t think every younger person (or in my case, later on the transition path) isn’t showing what you feel is proper deference, that shouldn’t stop you from wanting and working to make things better, including acknowledging that your "fun words" are in fact looked upon by a lot of trans people as slurs that do hurt and maybe caring about it, rather than saying, in essence, "You don't like it? Screw you."
20. Oh, yes, I’m well aware that, as some point out elsewhere, there are greater issues – the violence, the well-above-average suicide rates, the employment and housing discrimination, etc. facing the community. Just because some things are more important doesn’t make others non-important. Just because someone speaks out on such an issue doesn’t mean they don’t care about or speak to the greater issues. I can walk and chew bubble gum at the same time and I am, shockingly, capable of caring about multiple issues. Stunning, I know.
19. As I wrote almost two months ago – “’A wise woman said, "Somewhere, somehow, there is room for all of us.’”
That still has to be the hope.
But, for now, Addams and James have created a section of the community where a vast number of trans people don't feel welcome -- not just the people who felt alienated by their often heteronormative approach before, but by people such as myself, who have to weigh what Addams and James have written in recent weeks.
In their world, I am apparently a trans woman whose opinions don't matter.
Luckily, there are plenty of other neighborhoods in the community where I do feel welcome, where I feel I would be greeted with open arms rather than middle fingers and a slap in the face.
Hopefully one day, there will be more neighborhoods that are welcoming, including theirs. But for now, I’ll continue to happily live my life and enjoy the other places in the community as well as the world at large.
Monday, April 7, 2014
"Warm Smiles, They Do Not Make You Welcome Here"
By Kara Tucker
Any minority community is, let's face it, going to be hard-pressed to live up to the "unity" part.
There are a lot of differing views, interests and personalities.
The trans community is not different, as shown by the last week by the decision of Calpernia Addams and Andrea James to attack columnist Parker Molloy over a piece Molloy wrote for the Advocate in which she mistakenly misgendered Addams.
Addams was apparently so incensed by this and so unwilling to accept an apology and correction that she waited three whole weeks to write a response that appeared at Huffington Post April 2.
James, both a long-time friend and professional partner of Addams, followed with an attack piece that appeared on BoingBoing.net two days later.
Given the delay, given the spacing of the two pieces, it becomes difficult to view the pieces as an organic response to a perceived slight and more of an organized hit. Given the contents of Addams' and James' pieces, it appears they chose to respond to a perceived slap with missile launchers, both out-of-proportion in their response to Molloy and uncaring as to who else they hit with their words.
Let's take a look at their words and explore just how problematic they could be. But first, a bit of context.
Addams worked briefly with Jared Leto when he prepared for his award-winning role as Rayon, the doomed trans woman in "Dallas Buyer's Club." That association probably didn't go over as well in the trans community at large as Addams would have hoped, given the controversial nature of the character Leto played, the fact that he was cast instead of a trans actor and his obliviousness to trans issues.
The woman herself expressed disappointment when Leto, in a post-Academy Awards interview, equated being a trans woman with "cutting your penis off."
The Advocate piece Molloy wrote talked about part of the problem was that the character of Rayon fell into the trans tropes of both overly flamboyant and doomed-to-die. The point is not that some trans women can't be flamboyant or that some don't have ultimately tragic stories, it's that that such roles appear disproportionately.
Addams and James both chose to use selected tweets by Molloy, ignoring their context. They went after one that said, "I fucking hate RuPaul," ignoring the frustration and context, that Molloy was expressing anger over both RuPaul's use of transphobic slurs and transmisogynistic material on his show, "RuPaul's Drag Race" and his refusal to engage anyone in the trans community in any way over it.
They mention another tweet, which Molloy has apologized for, about Carmen Carrera being quoted as staying trans athletes should have GCS to compete in their proper gender , conflating it out-of-context into some sort of transphobia.
Now, on to Addams' own words in her HuffPost piece (long quotes from it will be italicized).
There are a lot of differing views, interests and personalities.
The trans community is not different, as shown by the last week by the decision of Calpernia Addams and Andrea James to attack columnist Parker Molloy over a piece Molloy wrote for the Advocate in which she mistakenly misgendered Addams.
Addams was apparently so incensed by this and so unwilling to accept an apology and correction that she waited three whole weeks to write a response that appeared at Huffington Post April 2.
James, both a long-time friend and professional partner of Addams, followed with an attack piece that appeared on BoingBoing.net two days later.
Given the delay, given the spacing of the two pieces, it becomes difficult to view the pieces as an organic response to a perceived slight and more of an organized hit. Given the contents of Addams' and James' pieces, it appears they chose to respond to a perceived slap with missile launchers, both out-of-proportion in their response to Molloy and uncaring as to who else they hit with their words.
Let's take a look at their words and explore just how problematic they could be. But first, a bit of context.
Addams worked briefly with Jared Leto when he prepared for his award-winning role as Rayon, the doomed trans woman in "Dallas Buyer's Club." That association probably didn't go over as well in the trans community at large as Addams would have hoped, given the controversial nature of the character Leto played, the fact that he was cast instead of a trans actor and his obliviousness to trans issues.
The woman herself expressed disappointment when Leto, in a post-Academy Awards interview, equated being a trans woman with "cutting your penis off."
The Advocate piece Molloy wrote talked about part of the problem was that the character of Rayon fell into the trans tropes of both overly flamboyant and doomed-to-die. The point is not that some trans women can't be flamboyant or that some don't have ultimately tragic stories, it's that that such roles appear disproportionately.
Addams and James both chose to use selected tweets by Molloy, ignoring their context. They went after one that said, "I fucking hate RuPaul," ignoring the frustration and context, that Molloy was expressing anger over both RuPaul's use of transphobic slurs and transmisogynistic material on his show, "RuPaul's Drag Race" and his refusal to engage anyone in the trans community in any way over it.
They mention another tweet, which Molloy has apologized for, about Carmen Carrera being quoted as staying trans athletes should have GCS to compete in their proper gender , conflating it out-of-context into some sort of transphobia.
Now, on to Addams' own words in her HuffPost piece (long quotes from it will be italicized).
"I wasn't sure who Molloy was, but I assumed that she was another one of the nutty trans hacktivists who had been "triggered" by the buzz generated when Jared Leto thanked me in his Oscars acceptance speech."
Nice dismissive and ableist tone there, working "nutty" and "hacktivist" into one description. Her scare quotes around the word "triggered" adds another mocking dismissive touch.
Of course, she believes that any controversy around Leto revolves around her, apparently. As mentioned, the role and the film were not universally greeted well by trans viewers.
Nice dismissive and ableist tone there, working "nutty" and "hacktivist" into one description. Her scare quotes around the word "triggered" adds another mocking dismissive touch.
Of course, she believes that any controversy around Leto revolves around her, apparently. As mentioned, the role and the film were not universally greeted well by trans viewers.
"All these angry, attacking women seem to share certain telling characteristics. Perhaps conditioned to bully and take by a lifetime of white, heterosexual, male privilege in academia and business, these women seem to relish the co-opting of yet another source of power: Often in only a year or two, they drop the mantle of white, straight, male privilege, having wrung every benefit that a 20- to 30-year-old person can from it, and take up the currently unassailable position of being a queer female with all the zeal of a new conqueror."
So, any trans woman who disagrees with Addams is "conditioned to bully" and has "wrung every benefit" they can from white, straight male privilege. Never mind that there are trans activists who are older and been transitioned longer than Addams who disagree with her or that not everyone who disagrees with her is white.In an earlier paragraph, Addams says she's "not going to play Oppression Olympics", then proceeds to do exactly that. Is she implying that later transitioners are more true transsexuals than those who do it early? That late transitioners haven't had the benefits of male privilege at all while younger transitioners experience nothing but? Is she aware of the discrimination the harassment, the loss of family and relationships, the threat of violence that transitioners face at any age? Is she aware of the ending of male privilege? Is she aware that not every transitioner experienced full male privilege? Since when is suggesting having an issue with slurs a "male privilege"? Does that mean all women, cis or trans, are not allowed to do so?
"There is palpable homophobia in the language of women like Molloy when they sneeringly wield the term 'drag queen' in an attempt to destroy someone's identity. Coming from someone whose entire body of work is essentially about policing language, the hypocrisy is particularly staggering. And especially when it comes from people who've presumably lived most of their lives with the tacit approval and support of a society that viewed them as heterosexual, white men (however they truly were inside), this misplaced anti-gay language should receive the same level of criticism as something like RuPaul's use of the words 'she-male' and 'tranny.'"
Addams fails to mention the bigger picture here, that the issue is too often, all trans women are associated with the drag culture. There are trans women who do perform in drag shows. For some, drag is the avenue who reach and/or admit who they really are. But, the majority of drag performers are not trans women, but gay men. And the majority of trans women don't do drag.
It is not homophobic to point that out.
Considering Addams herself performed for many years and has maintained some involvement in the culture, she should know that.
She should also realize that pointing out unacceptable slurs is not "word policing."
"To me it's worse, because I believe RuPaul's error is simply the tone-deaf carelessness of someone who has lived through and shaped many eras of queer and gender culture. The 'gimme that too!' victimization grab of women like Molloy comes from not having earned their place as 'inside' cultural commentators yet.
Of course, Addams is more than willing to give Mr. Charles a pass as simple "carelessness" when he has been aware of how problematic some of his work has been for some time now.
He gets credit for "shaping gender culture" when, at the end of the day, RuPaul Charles is a cisgender man who only dresses as a woman professionally. Regardless of his success, at the end of the day, it is not his place to shape trans culture. The RuPaul you see in the heels, wig and makeup on "RuPaul's Drag Race" is a character.
He is hardly the only actor to put on those things to play a character.
(From left): Tom Hanks, Martin Lawrence, Neil Patrick Harris and Eddie Murphy, all cis male actors in costume, just like RuPaul Charles.
RuPaul is not engaging in "tone-deaf carelessness", he is doing it willingly. In a 2012 interview with Michaelangelo Signorile, he talked about Lance Bass apologizing for using the word "tranny." He said, “It’s ridiculous! It’s ridiculous! I love the word ‘tranny’… and I hate the fact that Bass has apologized. I wish he would have said, ‘F-you, you tranny jerk!’”
So then, Mr. Charles is going to be consistently in favor of tossing off slurs. It's nothing, right? So when Amanda Bynes used the word "faggot", in a tweet, it should be okay, right?
Ohh...okay.
So, following RuPaul's own logic, his use of terms like "tranny" and "shemale" would then be an outward projection of his own poisonous self-loathing, right?
Or is that "homophobic" for pointing that out?
Back to the last quote from Addams piece. Is Calpernia basically saying that people who are not as far in their transitions are not worthy to speak because they haven't "earned their stripes"? That their views are invalid? For someone who claims she won't "fall into the trap" of "trying to 'win' by discounting another person's struggle in favor of my own," Addams does exactly that. She completely discounts the experiences of others who have been transitioned for a shorter period of time.
"So when a few hate-filled, angry and inexperienced folks hop the fence at this late stage and try to dictate our culture rather than learn and build and participate in it, that is indeed worthy of a response. Their slurs and homophobia do not matter so much, because the impact is tempered by an understanding of the source. But our response does matter."
Ohhh, so it's a race and anyone who transitioned after Addams did in the '90s is required to sit back, say nothing and "learn." Never mind that, again, women of greater trans experience also hold the same views.
Calling out transphobia and transmisogyny on the part of gay men like RuPaul (and some of their apologists) is, sorry, NOT homophobia. Calling it such insulting to those who do and it demeans the very real issue of homophobia that exists in this country (see Mississippi's passage of a so-called "religious freedom act" last week for an example of actual homophobia in action).
James (extended quotes from her piece also italicized)
The second part of the one-two attack features James referring to Molloy, whose work has appeared in outlets like the Advocate and Rolling Stone as "part of the eyeroll-inducing hashtag activist' movement currently infecting the internet. Rants and beta male humorlessness once limited to blogs and social media are now creeping into other outlets."
"Note that James shares the similar condescending disdain Addams does for activists and writers who make use of Twitter and other social media.
Also note the not-so-subtle misgendering going on. For all the offense at the term "drag queen," Addams referred to "male privilege" and James referring to "beta male humorlessness."
It sure seems like the two are quick to basically say, "You're a dude" to the woman they feel wronged them.
Of course, given that I've been transitioning for just under two years, Addams and James would probably dismiss me as a "beta male throwing my privilege around" for pointing out their hypocrisy. So be it. My knowledge of my own womanhood is secure enough to take it.
"Ru used the word “shemale” recently on 'RuPaul’s Drag Race' and has unapologetically used a number of other taboo words over several decades, like “tranny” and what-not. Imagine that, a drag queen breaking a taboo!"
Like Adams, James sees fit to give RuPaul a free pass. It's okay to be transphobic and transmisogynist because he puts on a costume! He's "breaking a taboo!"
Let's see what kind of "taboo" Mr. Charles likes to break.
In an episode of this season's "Drag Race", there was a segment called "Female or Shemale", in which the contestants guessed based on pictures whether a woman was a "real" or "psychological" woman. This segment was offensive for implying that trans women aren't real women, that it's "in your head." Frankly, the segment had to be insulting personally to the trans women who've competed on his show, most of whom transitioned after appearing (outside of Season 5 contestant Monica Beverly Hillz, who revealed she was doing so during that season).
In fact, Carrera, an out and proud trans woman who was a Season 3 contestant on that show, didn't take kindly to the segment.
While she said she didn't believe show producers intended to be offensive, she said "'Shemale' is an incredibly offensive term, and this whole business about if you can tell whether a woman is biological or not is getting kind of old. We live in a new world where understanding and acceptance are on the rise."
Monica Beverly Hillz spoke out against it as well. "After my experience of being on the show, I would say that, to me, the use of the words 'she-male, 'ladyboy' and 'tranny' are not cute at all. I have fought, and still am fighting, for respect from society -- to be accepted as a woman and not referred to as a 'tranny' or 'she-male."
It sounds like neither woman is impressed with Charles' "breaking of taboos" in this case.
Apparently even James herself was not, either. She said, "I have personally expressed my concern about the term shemale directly to the Drag Race producers. They have issued an apology."
Of course, GLAAD talked to producers, too.
Well, James' personal touch might be more impressive if the "apology" in question hadn't read as follows -- "We delight in celebrating every color in the LGBT rainbow. When it comes to the movement of our trans sisters and trans brothers, we are newly sensitized and more committed than ever to help spread love, acceptance and understanding."
Six show producers names put to a two-sentence, non-apology. See the words "sorry" or "apologize" in that statement? Me either.
Author Jenny Boylan, a GLAAD board member speaking as individual, not as a board member, said that the statement offered reasons to celebrate, that it was the beginning of a long process. However, she also was not exactly enthusiastic about it either.
Boylan said, "But this statement did seem to me to be something of a non-apology, and that leaves me dispirited. 'Newly sensitized' is great— but you had to not be listening very hard to trans women in the first place to have produced a segment like this and been blind to the way it would be received."
She later added, "A stronger statement was what I had hoped for, and, given the very long time it seemed to take to deliver this statement, seemed rather anemic to me."
"It’s noteworthy that the most vocal anti-RuPaul hecklers are trans women who are primarily attracted to women. These newly-minted queers are derided as Social Justice Warriors (SJWs) by the anti-heckler movement. The burgeoning backlash forming on 4chan and Reddit mocks SJWs as privileged pseudo-activists who seek to hurt others using the hard-earned weight of actual political movements."
Where to begin what's wrong here?
First off, those critical of RuPaul are not "hecklers" and he is not above criticism.
Why is it "noteworthy" that there are trans women who are lesbian or bi who object to RuPaul's blithe use of slurs and misgendering segments like "Female or "Shemale"? Is she insinuating that they are somehow less trans than her? That because of their attractions, they hate gay men? That all lesbians and bi women hate gay men? It certainly sounds like James has issues with trans women who aren't exclusively straight.
"Newly-minted queers"..again with the sneering putdowns of someone who hasn't been transitioned as long as she and Addams have. It's a little unseemly for someone in alleged leader in trans activism to take that tack.
Apparently James hasn't bothered to look and realize that a lot of straight trans women have issues with RuPaul's transphobia and transmisogyny issues, too.
And did James really just side with folks on 4chan and Reddit? Places where, as someone put it, "tits or gtfo qualifies as social discourse?" Really? Is she that out of touch? Why stop there? Why not proclaim "YouTube comments sections are an oasis of sanity" while she was at it? That would make as much sense.
Some of the most vile transphobia, the most vile racism and bigotry can be found on 4chan and Reddit. But, I supposed James can ignore that because they refer to trans women who disagree with her as a term she likes -- SJWs.
Her putdowns of "privileged pseudo-activists" reek of the privilege James claims to decry. Activism can take place in may forms -- offline, online (guess she'd consider Arab Spring to be "pseudo-activist heckling") or a combination of the two.
In the next paragraph, James, ever the mature, elder leader of trans activism, refers to critics as "oversensitive precious snowflakes raised on smugfuckery" and "self-haters."
So much for the "bridge building" she talks about.
"While experienced activists seek to build bridges and establish empathy between cultures, these elitists’ ideas of success involve extracting apologies from media figures for perceived slights. This just drives intolerance underground, where it manifests in more pernicious ways, winning very few over to a new way of thinking and entrenching everyone. Witness #CancelColbert."
In James' view, using slurs to refer to people is a "perceived slighting."
And did James seriously say it "drives intolerance underground"? With a straight face? This is yet another moment where the piece reads like something out of the Onion.
Ask Suey Park, who created the #CancelColbert hashtag, about how the intolerance was "driven underground." The woman received death threats and rape threats. She was subjected to an arrogant "interview" by Josh Zepps of Huffington Post, who basically gave her the Piers Morgan treatment.
Not to mention, that's a nice little swipe at an effort to raise awareness of bigotry against Asian people by a white woman.
This is not to say that building bridges and establishing empathy is unimportant or that it doesn't happen. But that doesn't mean everyone should sit silently and not call out transphobic and transmisogynistic behavior and language, either.
"Recent transitioners like Molloy, who did not identify as gay before transition, are more likely to have other options, but they also often have a disdain for gay and drag culture."
Actually, Molloy doesn't have a disdain for gay or drag culture. I did identify as gay before transition, but I don't either. A lot of trans wonmen don't have a disdain for gay culture or drag culture.
Drag is an art form. There are people highly skilled at the art, others not as much. RuPaul is very skilled at what he does.
That said, not every trans woman shares my view of drag, although outright hostility towards it as an art form seems to be in the minority. That doesn't make terms like "trans blackface" any less wrongheaded appropriation.
Speaking for myself here, the disdain is for the slurs and demeaning language. It's for the acts of gay men who dismiss trans women as "unable to take a joke" when they'd often be the first ones to dislike homophobic slurs thrown in their direction. It's for when cis gay men who throw the slurs around when they're not theirs to "reclaim."
It's also for when some LG people seem to have no problem throwing trans people under the bus on equality issues or when some of them seek to erase trans people from the history of the equality movement (ahem, Stonewall).
The disdain is for the acts, acts that deserve opposition, not quietly sitting back while "real activists do the work."
For all of James' talk of "separatists," it seems like she and Addams are the ones doing the separating.
"If it’s a choice between siding with the language police and siding with offensive artists, I’ll always side with the artist willing to risk the consequences of making an offensive joke. The right to offend people is a cornerstone of the LGBT movement, and I will always defend anyone who offends our community’s finger-wagging schoolmarms. Every movement and community needs jesters."
So, then, considering that there are people out there who feel trans folk wanting lives where they don't get fired, harassed or violently attacked for being trans is "offensive," but what we really need are jesters.
Again, this isn't about "drag culture", it's about how it can be better. It's about how cis gay men should not get to interject themselves into the discussion simply because they dress up for pay.
Boylan, in her online response to the RuPaul producers' statement said, "The discourse around trans lives has, in many ways, moved on past RuPaul and this show. I can say this even while celebrating the energy in drag that so many of us applaud.But trans women’s noble, complex, difficult, joyous lives should not be confused with the lives of drag performers, and this simple fact seems to elude many of the folks behind this program. This gruesome episode represented a real tipping point for lots of trans people, who have grown weary of their lives being reduced to a cartoon."
"Trans separatists like Molloy also spend a lot of time fighting online with lesbian separatists, some of whom reject trans lesbians the same way these trans lesbians want little to do with crossdressing or drag."
False equivalency, party of one.
The "lesbian separatists" James refers do do more than "reject trans lesbians." They attack and misgender ALL trans people, particularly women. They seek to out them. They've tried to interfere with their employment, with their medical care in some places.
I do not know, nor do I care to, Andrea James' birth name. But in the world of "lesbian separatists", she will always be that old name, she will always be a "man" and her using the ladies room "is the act of a predator."
There is a HUGE difference between actively seeking to deny rights to a whole group of people and attacking them offline and wanting to have more widespread representation and to have gay men not use transphobic language.
Of course, again, James seems to think the only trans women who disagree with her, Addams and RuPaul. What problem does she have with lesbians? Given her incorrect assertion that she keeps going back to, it's a reasonable question.
James keeps up her double-barreled attack on Molloy, not caring who else she insults in the process. But why is that?
Perhaps one can look to a section where she reveals she "complained privately" to Advocate.com editor Lucas Grindley about Molloy's original piece and "patiently explained things" to him.
She said if she did something that, in her view would be similar. "It would be neither journalistic nor ethical, and more reputable editors would consider it a firing offense. Grindley has refused to speak with me by phone, and has refused to meet with me in person, and has refused to let me run an op-ed (hence this piece). I tried every avenue to resolve this dispute like professional journalists."
So, that's what it comes down to. James was one of the people who talked with "RuPaul's Drag Race" producers. A tepid non-apology resulted. That was okay.
When the Advocate editor didn't respond to James' complaints with proper genuflection, she went elsewhere to publish a hit piece that is loaded with multiple levels of wrongness that obscure whatever legitimate greater points she could have made.
Addams' piece read as misguided, incomplete and wrong, but it lacked the full-on viciousness James was perfectly willing to traffic in.
Addams finished her piece by saying, "You choose your community's voices and heroes. You choose your entertainers, your thinkers and your fighters. Make those choices. And if somebody is making your world a worse place, call 'em on it."
Okay, Ms. Addams, consider it done.
With all due respect to what Addams and James have done for the community, their columns painted themselves less as leaders and more as petty people with axes to grind.
Molloy, while her passion has led to some intemperate moments, remains a skilled writer with the desire to learn and the capacity to grow into an even stronger voice.
The question now is whether Addams and James will, like Molloy has done, look in the mirror and ask themselves if they can be better, if they can keep learning and growing.
A wise woman said, "Somewhere, somehow, there is room for all of us."
That still has to be the hope.
But, for now, Addams and James have created a section of the community where a vast number of trans people don't feel welcome -- not just the people who felt alienated by their often heteronormative approach before, but by people such as myself, who have to weigh Addams and James by what they wrote last week.
In their world, I am apparently a trans woman whose opinons don't matter, because I'm bi, because I haven't been in transition as long as they have, because I don't blindly support Mr. RuPaul Charles. For all his charity work (which has raised vast sums of money in the fight against AIDS), for as skilled as he as in his craft, he can do better.
Thank goodness that today, there are many other neighborhoods in the trans community, so I can go where women like myself are welcome.
Hopefully one day, there will be more.
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