TransUnity

[trooper6]

This last weekend was Gay Pride in LA. But the weekend before last was TransUnity.

TransUnity is the only Pride for Transfolks in the nation (that nation being the US, if there are any non-UN folks reading this blog).

This year I was heavily involved in TransUnity. I was asked to give the Keynote speech, and I was also performing (with pmaxgentry). I tended to be there all day all three of the days and did a lot of being present and meeting people and shaking hands.

It was interesting experience. Friday, when I performed with pmaxgentry, was not the best experience. The day was not very unified. I wasn't happy with my performance. Others seemed to like it...but they didn't have the audio needs were not put together well...the disorganization on the tech level threw me off...that we were playing outside and there were no monitors...that we had an unfortunate AV setup...well, I couldn't hear pmaxgentry very well, and I felt quite off. We were doing an all Elvis set. I quite liked the numbers we did, and people really seemed to like Love Me Tender... pmaxgentry was awesome as usual though--I'm privileged to play with him. The other big issue is that we were supposed to start at 9:30pm, after the Queen of California pageant...but the Pageant started over an hour and a half late...we were forced to start our show before they had finished theirs. The Pageant had no transmen on stage and almost none in the audience, the live show had no transwomen on the stage and almost none in the audience. The whole evening felt super dis-unified, and I was really unhappy with that whole experience. I was the first person on the liveshow...and we had to start playing before the Pageant had finished...which I felt was really disrespectful. The whole thing made me very unhappy.

Saturday was the Siren Awards and Trans/Giving did the entertainment, and that experience was great. Very unified, awesome. Not enough people in the audience though.

Sunday was Workshops, my Keynote, tables, Transamerica. My speech went really well, and I was really proud of it. I think it was one of the best speeches I've ever given. One of the things I think is interesting is that I do a lot of community work, but most of the folks there have never met me because the work I do is in such a different space than a lot of other people do their work. I spend so much time doing speakers gigs, and working at the UCLA campus...pretty far removed that the folks doing work over in West Hollywood and Hollywood. If makes me feel invisible...well, being a transman does that too. But I really felt like it was a good first step. The workshops were a bit too elementary for me. I dealt with FtM Alliance...and found I couldn't get over my internal personal issues connected with that organization. Where will I be putting my transenergies? Not FtM Alliance...but probably into the TransUnity Planning Organization next year, and maybe some other larger umbrella organizations. Transamerica is a messed up movie and I have lots of problems with it.

All in all, it was awesome being around so many other transfolk and allies.

Here is a link to an amazing photoessay about trans people:

http://www.jlmphotography.com/recent/TransPresentation/sld001.htm

One of the things that I find interesting is that there are a few consistent themes I notice when talking with some transfolk. Note...not all...and probably not even the majority...but a chunk. For transmen, reconciling their feminism with their lives as men within patriarchal structures. I know a lot of transguys who aren't particularly feminist and some who are sort of jerks on the feminist front--but it is interesting hearing quite a few guys trying to deal with the complicated dance of being a transman and having a very feminist past. On the transwoman side, the theme I find interesting is becoming a woman and passability while resisting anti-feminist constructions of femininity. I find it so intriguing that feminism informs both positively and negatively...both an answer and a problem...a help and a hindrance for a not unsizeable portion of the trans community. And not the external issue. I'm not particularly interested in what Mary Daly is saying about transfolk. And while having a conversation about what's up out there is interesting, I'm quite interested in how we, as trans people, interact with the feminisms we have within.

Other than all of that, I'm sneezy and sniffly, have lots of papers to grade, have to proctor a final on Wednesday, and I'm so overworked I'm beginning to collapse. On the plus side I have an Xbox360 and Oblivion!

Comments

Interesting observations

[efbq.livejournal.com]

"Feminism" is one of those 'umbrella' phrases, so it's not surprising that, in a given community, it can be both constructive and destructive.

The meaning of the term I identify with is a state of awareness which

1) Acknowledges that society not only differentiates men and women, but also perceives/treats women as inferior to men

and

2) Acknowledges that this is a bad thing

I'm not in a position to put this into context with transgender issues, but one of the keys may be understanding how sexism is bad for both women and men.

Re: Interesting observations

[trooper6.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I agree. But I think the problems come in with the different ideas of how to act upon that knowledge.

Is it sexist for women to wear make-up?
Is is sexist for men to ask women out for dates?
Is it bad for a woman to be feminine? Is it bad for a man to be masculine?

I think sometimes, in the gender wars, transgender people, you are trying to maneuver between genders, get caught in the crossfire.

Re: Interesting observations

[efbq.livejournal.com]

One way to check if something is sexist is to reverse the genders and see what you get.

Is it sexist for men to wear make-up? (it's strongly counter cultural for men to wear make-up...) [My personal feeling is that it's sexist to require women to wear makeup, and to prohibit men from doing so... but the cultural norm would disagree with me on the latter half of that observation]

Is it sexist for women to ask men out on dates? It's weakly counter cultural for them to do so, enough to get noticed (in some but not all subcultures), but not enough to cause a controversy (except in a very few subcultures).

The masculine/feminine thing is more difficult, because there's such a range in the perception of those two qualities...

Re: Interesting observations

[trooper6.livejournal.com]

I think the big arguments from more old school type feminists who are super anti-trans is basically:

FtMs only transition because they have internalized misogyny that comes from living in a patriarchy, and they'd rather have male privilege. Also, by transitioning they reduce the variety of women's gender presentations, just reinforcing sexist stereotypes of women.

MtF uphold hyper-feminine male constructed stereotypes of women and ultimately are tools to reinforce male domination/definition of women.

For those who believe that gender is a complete construct (and a construct that is created by the patriarchy in order to opress women)...then transfolk are regressive for wanting to transition...because what they do by doing that is reinforce the gender binary that is ultimately hurtful to women.

I think one of the clearest definitions of that postion is from the Questioning Transgender website:
http://www.questioningtransgender.org/

For example, from their Transgender Myths Page.
Myth #4:
Trans Argument: One of the main goals of feminism is to work against oppressive traditional gender roles and stereotypes so that every woman can be celebrated for her talents, strengths, and traits, without her womanhood or femininity being questioned in any way.

Feminist Response:
One of the main goals of feminism is the destruction of masculinity and femininity, the elimination of a structure that privileges one sex and set of behaviors over another. Masculinity and femininity are the behaviors of the oppressor and the oppressed. Feminist theorist Christine Delphy says, "Gender will not have a place when women are free." The transgender goal of celebrating "gender expression" is completely at odds with the feminist goal of destroying gender roles.

So, lots of that is out there...and I think it becomes very interesting to see how transfolk who've come into contact with that rhetoric (or who've come out of it) deal with the charges in that rhetoric and how it then effects how they present themselves in the world, or how they worry about how they present themselves in the world.

Pitching over into the hype hole-XBox 360 question

[arlan-bishop.livejournal.com]

Hi there. Any chance you'll be getting the new ping pong game from Rockstar? I've read a few whole articles in the mainstream (non-gamer) press, and I am intrigued. Have you taken a look at the game?

Re: Pitching over into the hype hole-XBox 360 question

[trooper6.livejournal.com]

I've heard really good things about the Ping Pong game...I'll probably pick it up sooner or later.

How've you been?

Re: Pitching over into the hype hole-XBox 360 question

[arlan-bishop.livejournal.com]

Ah, you know. Busy with queerlings, busy with in-state travel, and I am trying to pick up a new hobby this summer that will require non-work related energy and get me to pick up a new skill or something. I'm not exactly sure what that's going to be, but I'm looking. How are you?

Re: Pitching over into the hype hole-XBox 360 question

[trooper6.livejournal.com]

Overworked and undervpaid...in a big way...and my body is tired and wants to get sick on me...but I only have a few days left. Then I'll be able to clean my house and get some really good sleep.

What sort of new skill are you thinking of? A pal of mine is thinking about picking up the drums.

Re: Pitching over into the hype hole-XBox 360 question

[arlan-bishop.livejournal.com]

Not sure. I am leaning something physical as I have recently returned to the gym and am really enjoying the regular exercise and want to continue it. bay_bus_rider has suggested swimming lessons since I never managed to learn when I was younger.

Last year, I went to Carneval and really enjoyed my first in-person encounter with capoeria (sp?), so a class in that is also a possibility.

Randomly, this weekend I considered picking up the harmonica, but I'm not sure where I'm going with that. Finally, I have to get around to learning how to speak Spanish one of these days.

Re: Pitching over into the hype hole-XBox 360 question

[trooper6.livejournal.com]

I've always thought Capoeria was cool! I envy that level of acrobaticness.

[celesteh.livejournal.com]

excellent slide show. thanks for the heads up.

[chyzar.livejournal.com]

it's always interesting to hear your take on things, so thanks for putting it out there. good luck with making it through the home stretch to the bottom of the stacks of papers!

[arlan-bishop.livejournal.com]

Another question. How are you defining a Trans Pride by the way? SF has a smaller event that usuallt takes place two days before the SF LGBT Pride. It's smaller than the LGBT Pride, and it sounds smaller even than TransUniity, but I wonder if it would fit under your definition. It usually involves a march and an event of three or fours or so that includes speakers and performers. It's a half-day thing and not the weekend affair that TransUnity seems to be based on your description.

[trooper6.livejournal.com]

There's a TransPride up in SF? That's awesome...I'll let the organizers of TransUnity know that so they know that they aren't the only one anymore. As for definitions...I try to stay away from defining others...it always leads to trouble. So I try to go with what people define themselves as. So if the SF group defines their event as a TransPride (rather than a trans conference) then that is good enough for me.

[arlan-bishop.livejournal.com]

I am not sure that it's called Trans Pride, but it definitely seems to be that sort of event. varanus and I marched last year. Here's the website: www.transmarch.org.

[trooper6.livejournal.com]

Oh you are talking about Transmarch! I always considered Transmarch and Dyke March to be part of SF Pride Weekend and not independent events--i.e. The T as part of the larger LGBTQ. I'm really thinking of Dyke March where it was about raising L visibility within the larger Pride Weekend, and the march ends up right in boys town at the street party. Am I misperceiving Transmarch?

TransUnity has nothing to do with LA Pride. There is no shared advertising, space...and there is not a lot of overlap of who goes to the two events. TransUnity is not about visibility of the T in LGBTQ...but more about dealing with T-centric issues.

[arlan-bishop.livejournal.com]

Okay, I think that clarifies things a little bit more for me. You're talking about independent events a being Trans Pride events.

Question about TransUnity & what you said about attendance: Are allies permitted or welcome or at all. It's fine if they're not, I just wanted to know what kind of space it is.

I went to LA Pride for the first time this weekend. Even more than SF Pride, it didn't seem to be a very diverse space.

[trooper6.livejournal.com]

Allies are certainly welcome to TransUnity...but they are framed as Allies to T, rather than allies to LGBTQ.

I've never been to LA Pride...what was it like?

[arlan-bishop.livejournal.com]

"as Allies to T, rather than allies to LGBTQ."

My impressions of SF Trans March from last year run along those lines too.

As for LA Pride, my point of view was a bit of restricted since I participated as a marcher with a contigent, but I had nothing to do with the contingent or event planning. Since I was marching, I didn't actually get to see the march in front of me. Instead, I carried a sign, chanted my fool head off, and talked alot with youth in the group.

All of that aside, most of my initial thoughts were spent comparing it to SF Pride. varanus had warned me that LA Pride was the most corporate that he's seen, but I still think that SF's (the town owned by Wells Fargo) edges out. They're seemed to be very few women involved in the parade that I saw. bay_bus_rider, who was there with me and varanus, reported that she saw only one or two women-dominated floats and women didn't have much of a presence in many of the other floats.

While a few of the contingents had visible and sizable T components, like Bienestar, there wasn't much explicit trangender representation in the floats and contingents. Several of at least the larger transgender groups and orgs march in SF Pride.

I'm not sure about racial and ethnic diversity.

It seems that a lot more LGBTQ employees groups show up at SF Pride, and that's probably an extention of the somewhat larger overall community population in SF.

LA Pride was noticeably smaller than SF Pride which, I think, attracts a lot of tourists. Perhaps as a result, I got more of a 'homier" feeling in general. Our contingent received a lot of applause from folks watching on the sidewalks, and I noticed that folks seem to clap and cheer a lot more in general in LA. SF is more anonymous.

I have a few other thoughts, but I'll leave it at that for now as this is getting too long as it is. I cannot say anything about the festival as we were getting ready to exit town, and we didn't feel particularly inclined to pay the $15 entrance fee.

[trooper6.livejournal.com]

That's really interesting! One of these days, I suppose I should really go and do LA Pride...but then I've never really done SF Pride either...I mean, back in the day, I'd go to dyke march and then muse about the state of the world during the street party. Never even went to the parade. Really never went to the festival part...you know with the money and tents and all.

I use to be a big participant in Christopher Street Day in Munich, however.

Yay! Bienestar!

[blueguy76.livejournal.com]

Given your mention of feminism, I thought that this might interest you:

http://www.jonathantweet.com/jotgamemisogyny.html

I ran across this in my gaming reading, and the gender issues it raised I thought interesting. I still haven't sorted out exactly what I feel about it...

[trooper6.livejournal.com]

I think Jonathan's classic error is that he argues that misogyny is all in our mind without recognizing that we live under a patriarchal system. Many things that might be neutral, or could go either way, don't because of the systemic power differentials between men and women in our society.

A very interesting thread though!

[beatricekiddo.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the providing the link to that photo essay. It was great! I'm sorry I missed TransUnity and your speech. I'm sad about that. Hope you feel better soon.

[trooper6.livejournal.com]

Thanks! What are you up to?

[beatricekiddo.livejournal.com]

Lots of cycling! I think I'm hooked on the endorphins and might eventually have to do a 12-step program one day....but not now! Meeting new people too. Also, when I thought I had figured out my feminine side, I keep redefining it. One of these days I may have it, although that link to the photo essay was very inspiring. Thanks!

[trooper6.livejournal.com]

It totally inspired me! So I thought I'd pass it along!

If I didn't have bad knees for cycling...I'd probably do it myself.