The admirable Style section of the New York Times — let's face it, those asinine trend pieces really understand what's in vogue — ran an article last December, confirming that, yes, in fact, 2010 will be considered the year of the transsexual. How quaint. But will that make 2011 the year of transphobia awareness and activism advocating for the trans community? I doubt it.
What also went down last December was the arrest of a transwoman named Chloe Alexander Moore in Washington, D.C. In short, she pepper−sprayed off−duty police officer Raphael Radon, who allegedly verbally and physically abused her. Moore also claims that she was refused medical treatment and charged with simple assault, despite the fact that two witnesses confirmed her version of the story. Justice is poetic sometimes.
As further evidence of the facile nature of the designation, let's look into more recent transgressions, some mild, others less so. The Jan. 16 episode of "The Simpsons" resorted to tired stereotypes to represent three transsexuals who were obviously embodying drag instead of trans−identities. The writers put in a great deal of effort, I'm sure, to include them. "Saturday Night Live" broadcast a skit on Jan. 29 about Estro−Maxx, a fake hormone−therapy drug, which demeaned the experiences of transitioning male−to−female transsexuals on several levels, accenting yet another prime example of the guffaws great comedic minds can elicit. Of course, we can't leave out Adam Sandler, who, glad to have another penis in his house, appeared on "Late Show with David Letterman" on Feb. 8 and made his transgendered housekeeper the butt of his jokes. Classy, eh?
Also, on a more serious note, let's not forget that the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) does nothing to address the exclusion and discrimination against trans people or that the fight for its repeal never concerned itself with trans inclusion. Isn't it clear that LGBT activism often involves the erasure of trans concerns? The conflation of the various communities' troubles and worries inevitably results in the subsumption of trans problems into lesbian and gay issues that take the forefront. (Sorry, I forgot what the B stands for.) Enough digressions. To get back to DADT, the Department of Defense report on the policy states, "Transgender and transsexual individuals are not permitted to join the Military Services. The repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell has no effect on these policies." Transphobic much? The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, however, sent a letter to President Obama, exhorting him to stop discrimination based on sexuality and gender identity in the military with an executive order. But we all know how much Obama has done for the queer community …
Released on Feb. 4, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's finalized report on discrimination faced by transgender and gender−nonconforming people further reveals the various ways in which transphobia manifests itself. The study of 6,450 transgender and gender−nonconforming participants found double the unemployment rate for respondents and up to four times the rate for people of color, almost twice the rate of homelessness (two percent compared to one percent of the general population), and a rate of HIV infection over four times the national average. Check out the full report at transequality.org.
To end this column, I'd like to quickly return to the problem of transphobia within the queer community. (Biphobia is another concern not addressed in this column.) The LGBT community is not a monolithic one united by the same mindset, ready to tackle the same issues, as shown in this and my previous column. Society as a whole and the queer community need to nip their own heterosexism in the bud and end the marginalization of queer peoples, especially those identifying as trans.
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