Trans-Formation
“History is the story that centers realness on what has been unsaid.” ~ Susan Stryker
Many years ago, in a Women’s Studies class studying the lives of 19th century women, the professor spoke at length about the importance of not imposing contemporary constructs onto exploring the history of those who lived before under vastly different circumstances and with vastly different concerns and influences. There exist copious archives of women writing letters to other women that were emotionally intense, full of expressions of love that from a language perspective could be described as, “romantic”. In the 90’s with the advent of Queer Studies and a general cultural shift towards re-examining the past through the lens of historic oppression, there became a tendency for many to ascribe a modern understanding onto past behaviors. Some of those close female friendships may have been queer, meaning some of those women may have been lesbians in the sense that they were sexually and romantically attracted to other women and had, “the love that dare not speak its name”, but likely, most were not. As white middle to upper class culture at the time involved distinctly separate gender spheres, intimacy amongst women was a natural outcome and culturally encouraged. That there were queer women at that time is of no doubt and there are a few significant examples, Radclyffe Hall who wrote “Well of Loneliness”, which I bought at garage sale in Upstate New York merely because I liked the cover which then blew my mind, being one. Knowing about those lives and travails is far more needed than ascribing specific definitions to multi-faceted and complex relationships. This is all to say that a consistent theme throughout the class that I appreciated was the breaking open of the possibility to view people of the past through their own naming and unique, individual and distinctive experiences rather than forcing them to fit within our constructs however well meaning those constructs may be. Because those who defied the confines of their eras deserve honoring as do the struggles and challenges they faced, through listening to their voices and their stories.
William Dorsey Swann was one who was sometimes, “He”, and sometimes, “She” and sometimes, “Queen”, depending on context, environment and self-reflexion. Our current labels don’t necessarily apply to how Swann defined Swann. The current movement to challenge misgendering and cultivate an understanding of how the pronouns that a person uses to describe themselves is vital for creating inclusivity and recognition for all experiences of gender and all experiences beyond gender is most certainly needed. As is allowing for descriptions, labels, definitions and categories to be continually fluid and not fixed.
I came to the Trans History of North America class as one who was already familiar with not only some trans history but the political and activist battle for Trans rights as well having close personal relationships with individuals who have transitioned. I wrote about the terrible, “Bathroom Bill”, years ago for the SF Weekly and challenged the arguments that are still being used today as to why a person shouldn’t not be able to use the bathroom of their choice. My primary issue then, other than pointing out that it is Trans people who face the most threat of violence in any bathroom situation, was that gendered bathrooms are pointless and even absurd as when there is only one bathroom all use it but suddenly when there are two bathrooms, there is a gender distinction. Also, I don’t care where I pee or who I am peeing near as long as I get to pee which is the most important thing. Thankfully, at least some establishments in some cities since have cultivated the genderless, “restroom”. I’ve also been privy to the activism for accessible health care, legal legitimacy, specifically when it comes to documentation for ID for travel and for housing, and political representation in government. I have been fortunate to know many illustrious folks who have profoundly challenged the entire idea of gender through powerful acts of performance. Finally, I have helped to support friends through their pre-operation preparation and eventually, their post-operation recovery. The support was both about caring for their physical bodies going through a change as well as their identities and maybe even, souls going through a change.
One could have said, that though I am not involved through my own experience or deeply immersed in an intimate community, that I was rather well versed in these issues. It turns out that I am not, at all, well versed enough. Which was a wonderful discovery to have. It was humbling but humbling in the way that is the necessary beginning of all true illumination and learning. It was a learning of language certainly, both of the academic and transformative kind. But it was also a learning of how much more intense and all encompassing is this possible knowing.
Not yet being adept at much of this language I have a tendency to use broad words to try and articulate what I understood from so many of the readings, lectures and discussions. Part of that is also because each reading, each exploration felt like it was opening up vast worlds that required days and possibly months of pondering. I still feel like I am only beginning to digest much of what was involved. But what was distinctive and didn’t require pondering was the delight in learning about so many amazing people throughout history who each are an extraordinary part of our cultural, political, activist and emotive history. Some of these figures I knew much about, some only cursorily, others not at all. Marsha P. Johnson, Pauli Murray, Lili Elba, Sandy Stone, Christine Jorgensen, Silvia Rivera, Sir Lady Java…just to name a few. What I valued most, beyond learning about them in more depth, was that they were given center stage. They were not treated as part of a foot note or an aside or a mention attached to expressions of the dominant cultural paradigm. They are the paradigm. Deservedly, they are the central figures of the history. A history that speaks to our cultural history as a whole. To be just a bit pedantic, much can be examined about the United States approach to capitalism in entertainment, sexual exploitation, labor exploitation, concocted femininity that becomes a fantasy marketed for profit, gendered violence and the wages of trauma through studying the life, career and death of Marilyn Monroe. Or for that matter, Whitney Houston. One has become an icon and the other was a globally recognized pop star and so they can be vehicles, through being so well known, for examining the rot at the core of our iconography.
However the same, though they are less well known in a ubiquitous sense, could be said about many of the people mentioned above. But exploring their lives and their work also brings into stark relief our history of racial discrimination, disability discrimination, immigration discrimination, indigenous discrimination and sadly, intra-queer discrimination. I want to make the point that when I speak of work I mean all kinds of work as in the making of film, creating music, being a performer, laboring of all sorts, sex work and also the activist work that so many of the people discussed in the class committed to, defiantly, powerfully and soulfully despite condemnation and significant loss. I loved reading about TAO and STAR and the Radical Queens and that there was a sharing of manifesto demands between STAR and the Black Panthers. I have long lived on the corner of Defremery/ Bobby Hutton Park in West Oakland and so the history of the Black Panthers is a living history that exults from that park on a regular basis. To connect and link that history with those powerful activist groups brings a much deeper awareness of the full breadth of what those manifestos demanded and wanted to see realized.
I could say so much more about all of that but one of the most affecting parts of the class for me was also understanding how profoundly sex work was historically so imbedded in the lives of many Trans people, particularly Trans people of color. So many had to fight for civil rights on three sides and sometimes four sides or five sides. As said Sir Lady Java, “I woke the fight to appear on stage but not the fight for us the walk the streets”. To be a queer person was one thing, to be a trans person was then more, then to be non-white yet still another and then to be a sex worker was to have to find such a center of strength to even exist let alone publicly and vocally fight for that existence to be recognized. It was and continues to be genuinely, heroic.
I sincerely loved discovering new voices, (including those of the other students in the class), writers, perspectives and of course, languages but the part of the class that is my ultimate revelation was how Transness can apply to every aspect of our experience and understanding. It can be Transgender, Transsexual, Transfixion or perhaps Transfiction and even, Transhuman. ‘Trans’ can include the animal world, diverse bodies, transformed bodies, bodiless entities, the alien world and the universe beyond. I have always loved the phrase, “to transverse”, which can have multiple meanings including transversing societal norms and codes but for me it has most primarily been defined as a shifting between worlds, identities and various states of being. Sandy Stone beautifully wrote about the idea of, “Trans as Genre rather than Gender”, which is both inclusive and expansive as a concept.
Though obviously and importantly, the actual rights for actual bodies who embody Transness is still a vital necessity and will require great leaders, great effort and great allies, I look forward to the future proposed as part of the culmination of the discussions over these past five months. A future where all efforts lead to Trans-formation allowing an ever evolving individual and collective possibility of unfettered freedom. And much love too.
I wrote this essay for the Trans History of North American class taught by Susan Stryker at Mills College so it isn’t an article in the usual sense. I am publishing it mostly so that I can share it. It was an amazing class and will be offered again in the Fall.
