Visible Man
Jamison Green offers a man's POV on life in the trans lane. Opinion,
advice, and information from an internationally respected leader of the
FTM community.
The MMOW Speech That Might Have Been
When the call for speaker nominations went out from the organizers of
the
Millennium March on Washington, the call was for the little people.
They
said they wanted to feature people from all over the country who were
making
a difference in the lives of GLBT people. They wanted to present a
cross-section of America, to show the real depth and diversity that
makes up
our community. But that isn't the way it played out on the main stage at
the
rally on the National Mall. What happened was that those who spoke first
spoke longest, and the Millennium March for Equality became for many of
us a
clear message of inequality within our own movement.
I was one of only three transsexual speakers who would represent the
entire face
of the trans community. I was also the only FTM invited to speak. The
FTM
conference committee from the Los Angeles conference offered to pay my
airfare, and many transmen communicated to me their sense of pride that
I was
chosen and their confidence that I would represent us well. I was told I
would have three minutes, so I spent time crafting what I felt were the
right
words to say, the words I felt the GLB and T communities needed to hear
together.
I followed the instructions I was given. With the invitation came a
query
concerning any constraints upon my schedule, which I supplied, having
booked
the latest possible flight that night so I could get home for work the
next
day. I was instructed to check in at the speaker's table at 3:18pm for
my
4:18 speaking time. At 3:18 I was told they were running behind, and to
check back in an hour. At 4:18 I checked in again and was told I would
not
be allowed to speak.
"What?" I asked rhetorically. "I didn't come here to not speak. I'm one
of
only three transgendered speakers, my community paid for me to come
here, and I'm
going to speak."
"Okay," they said. "We'll try to get you on."
About another hour passed when they called a dozen of us and said we'd
be the
last group on the stage. Many other people were angry, many had left in
frustration and fury. Once escorted to the stage we were told that we
would
have about 30 seconds, enough time to say our names and what
organizations we
represented. From the moment people took the microphone, the stage
managers
yelled at them: "Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up!" It was the most
disrespectful stage managing I have ever experienced. And yet all the
waiting speakers were trying to be cooperative, trying to be
understanding.
When it was my turn, I looked out on the empty National Mall beyond the
press
platform. A few hundred people stood clustered near the stage, trying to
cheer us on. It was pathetic. I was hurt and angry and embarrassed. And
I
knew I was on C-SPAN and I shouldn't blow it. All I could do was say who
I
was, mention Gender Education and Advocacy and FTM International, say
one
line from my speech so people would realize I was there to speak about
trans
issues, and remark that I was tired of being marginalized. I left the
platform in a horrible rage, vowing to give this speech as often as I
can
because I believe it needs to be heard. If it hadn't been for my
companion,
whose charm and reasonableness saved me from my warped sense of failed
responsibility, I would have regretted missing my flight home.
So here is the text I intended to speak, and will speak every chance I
get:
Transgender? Who is that guy? Why isn't he wearing a dress? Isn't that
what transgender is all about? Transgender, that's not my issue. Go on,
girlfriend, let's get another beer.
All of you who think transgender is not your issue, you need to think
again
about what it is we are all fighting for, about why it is that people
have
made you or anyone you know feel shame or fear to express who you are.
The transgender movement may not make gender go away. Indeed, some of us
like
our gender very much and want to keep it. But the transgender movement
is
NOT about perpetuating stereotypes. Transgender opens up the space
between
the binaries and allows us to see what our ideas about gender and sex
really
are. The transgender movement calls for respect for all people based on
our
humanity, independent of gender expression, economic worth, sexual
orientation, race, class, age, religion, national origin, or taste in
wardrobe. The transgender movement calls for a paradigm shift in the way
we
perceive the value of a human being. The transgender movement asks all
of us
to learn not to judge people based on artificial, or superficial,
arbitrary
criteria.
I am a man who was born with a female body. I lived in a female body for
40
years. I thought I was a lesbian for 22 years. I know what it is like to
live in an androgynous zone where people can't tell what sex you are.
Sometimes that's fun; sometimes it's great to be provocative like that.
Sometimes it's dangerous; sometimes people punish you for it. And
sometimes you want people to see who you are, to accept you as the way
you feel.
People whose gender matches their body -- and that is the majority of
people -- are
privileged with respect to how they view gender. They get to see it as
arbitrary, something that is imposed on them from the outside like
role-playing. They think they know the difference between themselves
and the
roles society asks them to play. Transgendered people do not have the
same
options. Transgendered people are told over and over again that they are
not
who they know themselves to be.
The transgender movement asks that you give up your fear of other
people's
identities and beliefs. The transgender movement asks that you be
willing to
allow other people to be different from you and still be worthy of
respect.
What we want in common, you and I, is a world free from homophobia, a
world
free from regulations on gender expression that keep us from getting out
of
line.
The paradigm shift I am looking for is one that moves toward a world
without
shame or fear of difference. A world in which people like Brandon Teena
and
Tyra Hunter and Robert Eades and Matthew Shepard don't have to die
because
other people are uncomfortable in the face of their difference.
That's the world we are trying to create. That's what the transgender
movement is all about. So when we say Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Transgender,
Intersex, Queer, and Questioning, what we're talking about is a world
where we
can all be free to be ourselves. Thank you for coming out today and
every
day to show the world how beautiful you are.
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