[As published in Baltimore OUTloud 3/7/14]
I am writing this
post the morning after the Academy Awards where Jared Leto won for best
supporting male actor… for playing a Trans
woman. I have to say I am dismayed at
this development. Right now there are
probably a hundred blogs or social media threads running on “how great that is”
to “how could this happen?” I am not
going to rehash their arguments other than to say this portrait of a drug
addicted hooker seems to be the only popular role for any Trans character in
film or television. It really is down to
others writing and presenting the Trans community as they see us and is done so
in a manner that objectifies and thus allows us to be dehumanized. We are “those” people. And I am thinking it is time we start to own
that discussion.
Are there Trans
drug addicts? Yes there are. Are all Trans
persons addicts? Not by a long shot.
Don’t most Trans people engage in sex work? No. There are some who do, but most do not. If I had asked those questions of any other
minority you might be offended. The
problem we have is of image. And that,
in part, is of our own doing by not being out.
The notion that our value in the world is actually as a burden or
parasite for the rest of you to bear seems to be the norm. The reality is otherwise. Trans persons do participate in all levels
and aspects of society. And we have many
such persons who have contributed greatly to the lives of all of us on the
planet. You just are unaware that they
do.
I personally know
Trans doctors, lawyers, pilots, engineers, software developers, IT and database
administrators, filmmakers, musicians, business executives, social workers,
government workers, authors, professors, graphic artists, teachers, fire
fighters, law enforcement professionals and yes, even hairdressers. Are there some sex workers out there? Yes
there are but my take is that Trans persons represent so much more than
that. We are real people (remember that
Leto’s Rayon is a fictional character), doing real jobs, with real families and
friends.
Lynn Conway |
I am going to
cite two examples of how Trans women have likely directly touched your life. For a moment I am going to presume that you have
some kind of electronics in your possession.
A computer, laptop, pad, phone or any other modern device, like your TV,
will count in the exercise. You owe a
debt of thanks to a Trans woman for all of those things. You see, she developed and invented the
underlying technology in those devices -- Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI),
which allowed complex integrated circuits to be developed. She literally wrote
the book on this technology. Lynn Conway, who
transitioned in the late 1960’s, is a pioneer on par with Edison or Tesla and
is largely responsible for the technology we enjoy today as part of our everyday
world. Share that knowledge with
somebody you know today.
Martine Rothblatt |
My second example
is Martine Rothblatt. If you use satellite radio in any capacity
you can thank Martine for that. She started
Sirius Satellite Radio in 1990 along
with a number of other satellite broadcasting companies around that same
time. For many of us that would be
enough of a success but not in her case.
In the late 1990’s one of her children was diagnosed with life a threatening
pulmonary hypertension disease. She was
told there was no cure. In response she pivoted
and reeducated herself in the life-sciences and started another company to find
a cure for her daughter. Today that
company, United Therapeutics, occupies
several blocks of downtown Silver Spring Maryland. And yes, she found the cure.
If we are going
to seek icons or examples for Trans persons why can we not use examples like
these women? Either story would make for
compelling entertainment for the public.
Yes, they are not tawdry or titillating stories that fit a preconceived
notion of Trans women put forward by Hollywood.
But unlike Leto’s rendition they are real people, leading real lives and
representing our community with excellence.