“An intimate conversation between me and my college friend, the noted author Alex Myers, on how the challenges of transition have evolved over the past decade.”
On Bruce Jenner's Pronouns
I published an article in Buzzfeed on April 25, the day after Bruce Jenner’s interview on ABC where the former Olympic champion and reality TV star publicly disclosed as transgender for the first time. In it, I used she and her pronouns to refer to Jenner. It was a deliberate choice I made on short notice, one that I knew I risked criticism for, which ended up being angrier than expected. So I’ve taken the time to reflect, and watch Jenner’s interview again. I’ve come to the conclusion that she and her were valid pronouns for Jenner given the available information at the time. But more importantly, I’m recognizing that the passion over pronouns probably has less to do with Jenner and more to do with the priorities of cisgender people, whether the vast majority of the general public or those in Jenner’s inner circle.
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Bruce Jenner Doesn't Need to Pass To Deserve Respect
“No trans person does.”
Bruce Jenner in 1976. Image by Bob Child
From A Symbol Of Athletic Power To A Symbol Of Gender Transition
“In 2015, as in 1976, the public’s relationship with Bruce Jenner’s body will reflect American values. What are those going to be?”
The Ciswashing of Leelah's Law
“Response to White House support of a conversion therapy ban has erased the trans girl who inspired the proposed law.”
Mourning the death of transgender teen activist blake brockington
“Why are so many transgender teens taking their own lives and what can we do to prevent it?”
On Jennifer Laude, Local Perspectives
When I wrote an article on the murder of transgender Filipina Jennifer Laude last February for VICE magazine, the original draft ended up being way too long, and there was one section I regretted losing, one that emphasized local perspectives on Laude's death and especially featured members of the local LGBT community. So I'm posting it here, along with more pictures I took for the story that did not appear in the article.
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Being transgender in a transphobic society leads to moments of sheer desperation
Mental health interventions are necessary for trans people to stay alive, but there isn’t nearly enough effort to ensure that we have good reasons to live
More at the Guardian
Performing in the Vagina Monologues as a Transgender Woman
I played a role in a show about people with vaginas before actually having one myself.
More at Buzzfeed
Jennifer Laude's temporary grave in case her body needs to be exhumed during her tiral.
How the Killing of a Trans Filipina Woman Ignited an International Incident
"I think I killed a he-she," U.S. Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton said.
Read more at VICE
I was a child star in the Philippines. I'm glad no one notices me now
It’s one thing to be amused that a someone used to be a kid with braces; it’s another for their present self to be compared to a body they’re alienated from
Read More in The Guardian
The Cover of Whiteness
Darren Wilson and the New Yorker have the same problem.
Read More in Medium
Reflection, Transgender Day of Remembrance
(given at Cornell's Transgender Day of Remembrance Vigil, 18 November 2014)
Read MoreWhat's In a Real Name?
You know me by my real name.
That wasn't always true. For a long time, I didn't know the name I used to have wasn't real. Then when I realized it wasn't, I had to find my real name. I looked for months until I found a name that was real.
Then when I found it, I had to ask, and sometimes plead, and sometimes demand that others use my real name. I often shouted or cried when they didn't because when they didn't use my real name, they made me feel like I wasn't real.
I was real. I am real.
I had to go to court for everyone else to recognize my real name, to recognize me as real. I've been shamed for my real name, been asked questions that made me feel less than human, been asked to prove that name belongs to me because it is a woman's name and to have it there are people who think I need to deserve it.
How dare I decide what name I want for myself? How dare I determine my own reality?
I grew up in a country that does not allow me to change my name unless I get married. I was a citizen of that country even though I lived in the U.S. I couldn't leave the U.S. without being made to feel I wasn't real. For ten years until I became an American citizen, I could not leave the country because I couldn't face the possibility of not being real.
My name is my real name. It's the name of my reality, not the reality that someone else has built for me, a reality I no longer am. It's a name that's more real to me than any other name because I chose it, and had to fight for it.
We must fight for our names and the names of others. We must fight for everyone's right to be real.
The Queer Case of Luke O'Donovan
“He’s in jail for stabbing five men who used homophobic slurs while they beat him. Was it self-defense, or community justice?”
New Bathroom, Old Bathroom
I'm back at Harvard where I was an undergrad this week, doing some research for a book of personal essays. As I was walking around, I found myself at the Science Center, where I spent many evenings writing papers, because I spent most of my undergrad without a personal computer and using the common facilities there. Then I found myself needing to use the bathroom.
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Transgender Violence is a #YesAllWomen Issue
“When we treat violence against trans women only as a trans issue rather than also a women’s issue, we deny the victims the womanhood they fought and died for.”
My Body ca. 1997
In May 1997, I did a one-woman show in college called "Dancing Deviant" where I talked about my body. Funny how that body is so different now than it was back then. Here's what I had to say in the old days:
Read More45 Years After Stonewall, The LGBT Movement Has a Transphobia Problem
“The story that isn’t told enough and, when it is, with too little force, is the degree to which trans people continue to be marginalized within the LGBT rights struggle, treated as tokens when convenient, yet denied the basic respect, rights, and resources needed for our equality.”
Imogen Binnie, Nevada
“Eventually you can’t help but figure out that, while gender is a construct, so is a traffic light, and if you ignore either of them you get hit by cars.”