(no subject)
I wrote to 1080 on Friday. They always run the audio clips before Brandon Lang
(sp?) does his picks, including the line where he goes, "I bet Bill Belichick is into
trannies." Now, okay- look- it was funny to me the first time I heard it. I'm not
eager to be the PC guy complaining about stuff.... but I got to thinking about how
it does send a message. Basically, I wrote a low-key letter to them asking em to
stop playing it, since they, you, and I know they'd NEVER run a clip of Lang
saying, "I bet Bill Belichick is into fags." And it's a simple reason why- times have
changed a bit. People realize it's "not cool" to bash gays... publicly, anyway. But
transexuals, well, they have no voice or visibility or respect, so bash away.
And I don't even mind much, okay, if Lang said it once, and he wants to imply
Belichick's a "weirdo" and how do you do that, ya know, without something kind
of insulting... I guess, ultimately, though, he's NOT insulting Belichick. Everyone
knows (as much as you can) that Bill is straight and has a wife and family.
Ultimately, it's an insult of "trannies," not Belichick.
I think it's human nature to think less about the least visible minorities. It's mostly a
visibility thing with trans folk, I guess. All you see is MTF trans hookers in movies and TV,
not people with regular lives, hopes, dreams, family, etc., or any FTM trans people.
Why this change of heart, I guess you can call it, on my part? Well, I went to
Trans Day of Remembrance. I almost got lost (I love driving in SW Portland;
ya know, highway 26 and 405 don't fuck with me at alllll...) but I'm glad I finally
made it there, cuz I learned about others and myself.
So maybe it's fun to throw around "tranny" if you enjoy "normal" gender identity,
but did you know transgendered people are 16 times more likely to be killed?
16 times.
When you go out, and you're choosing between your blue shirt or your red shirt,
does it factor into your decision that you're 16 times more likely to be killed in one
of the shirts? Well, it WILL factor in for me in the future, if I'm choosing
between jeans or a dress. I'm not stupid, I haven't been in drag in public
because I know it'd make people testier; now, I just have an exact number to put
on how much testier. I'll have a pretty higher chance of being beaten to death,
stabbed, or shot. "Luckily" for me, I'm fairly cisgendered- that means I'm fairly
comfortable in the sex I was genetically born into. For someone else, being
totally at odds with their body, and therefor society, it's a lot tougher. Still, I'm not
exactly happy knowing I can be murdered just for wearing clothes (and wig) I like.
At TDoR, they conclude with a list of all the people who've been killed for gender
expression in the last 10 years, since the murder of Rita Hester inspired the Day's
start. As you sit there hearing the names of people murdered for how they look,
and how bigoted people perceived them to be without actually knowing them,
you are struck by how long the list is... how long you sit there hearing simply the
names involved in murders... how many times they have to say, "an unidentified
crossdressing male" or "an unidentified man in a dress," which I guess they said
some version of about... 20 times? One realizes how dangerous it is to be
different; maybe, too, how easy it is to become an "unidentified" person when
you lack friends, family, and community, who've apparently rejected you.
The one that struck me hardest was "an unidentified infant with ambiguous
genitalia." I guess some woman/ couple had a baby that was too much of a
"freak," and decided tossing it out like garbage was the acceptable route to take...
a human that didn't DECIDE to have an "unnatural" gender identity, but it's lack of
choice in the matter didn't save its life.
...and that's on top of the adults beaten, stabbed, shot for "deciding" to be
"freaks." The ones whose names are read, numbering in the dozens, only show
the number of murders we know of. It doesn't show the suicides of people
rejected by society. It surely doesn't show all the "unidentified" murders. It doesn't
show the threats and non-fatal beatings and harassment.
I hope people can think about that before the next time they decide to throw out
a "tranny" or a "he-she" or "it" in reference to a trans person, the next time they're
standing around the water cooler or at a party. I hope they can remember for just
a second next November 20th that people don't always neatly and capriciously
"decide" to be a way, they just ARE that way, and maybe it'd be nice of other
people in the world not to harass, beat, and kill them. And even if they choose
to "cross-dress," to wear the "wrong" clothes and hair, should it be that big a deal?
(sp?) does his picks, including the line where he goes, "I bet Bill Belichick is into
trannies." Now, okay- look- it was funny to me the first time I heard it. I'm not
eager to be the PC guy complaining about stuff.... but I got to thinking about how
it does send a message. Basically, I wrote a low-key letter to them asking em to
stop playing it, since they, you, and I know they'd NEVER run a clip of Lang
saying, "I bet Bill Belichick is into fags." And it's a simple reason why- times have
changed a bit. People realize it's "not cool" to bash gays... publicly, anyway. But
transexuals, well, they have no voice or visibility or respect, so bash away.
And I don't even mind much, okay, if Lang said it once, and he wants to imply
Belichick's a "weirdo" and how do you do that, ya know, without something kind
of insulting... I guess, ultimately, though, he's NOT insulting Belichick. Everyone
knows (as much as you can) that Bill is straight and has a wife and family.
Ultimately, it's an insult of "trannies," not Belichick.
I think it's human nature to think less about the least visible minorities. It's mostly a
visibility thing with trans folk, I guess. All you see is MTF trans hookers in movies and TV,
not people with regular lives, hopes, dreams, family, etc., or any FTM trans people.
Why this change of heart, I guess you can call it, on my part? Well, I went to
Trans Day of Remembrance. I almost got lost (I love driving in SW Portland;
ya know, highway 26 and 405 don't fuck with me at alllll...) but I'm glad I finally
made it there, cuz I learned about others and myself.
So maybe it's fun to throw around "tranny" if you enjoy "normal" gender identity,
but did you know transgendered people are 16 times more likely to be killed?
16 times.
When you go out, and you're choosing between your blue shirt or your red shirt,
does it factor into your decision that you're 16 times more likely to be killed in one
of the shirts? Well, it WILL factor in for me in the future, if I'm choosing
between jeans or a dress. I'm not stupid, I haven't been in drag in public
because I know it'd make people testier; now, I just have an exact number to put
on how much testier. I'll have a pretty higher chance of being beaten to death,
stabbed, or shot. "Luckily" for me, I'm fairly cisgendered- that means I'm fairly
comfortable in the sex I was genetically born into. For someone else, being
totally at odds with their body, and therefor society, it's a lot tougher. Still, I'm not
exactly happy knowing I can be murdered just for wearing clothes (and wig) I like.
At TDoR, they conclude with a list of all the people who've been killed for gender
expression in the last 10 years, since the murder of Rita Hester inspired the Day's
start. As you sit there hearing the names of people murdered for how they look,
and how bigoted people perceived them to be without actually knowing them,
you are struck by how long the list is... how long you sit there hearing simply the
names involved in murders... how many times they have to say, "an unidentified
crossdressing male" or "an unidentified man in a dress," which I guess they said
some version of about... 20 times? One realizes how dangerous it is to be
different; maybe, too, how easy it is to become an "unidentified" person when
you lack friends, family, and community, who've apparently rejected you.
The one that struck me hardest was "an unidentified infant with ambiguous
genitalia." I guess some woman/ couple had a baby that was too much of a
"freak," and decided tossing it out like garbage was the acceptable route to take...
a human that didn't DECIDE to have an "unnatural" gender identity, but it's lack of
choice in the matter didn't save its life.
...and that's on top of the adults beaten, stabbed, shot for "deciding" to be
"freaks." The ones whose names are read, numbering in the dozens, only show
the number of murders we know of. It doesn't show the suicides of people
rejected by society. It surely doesn't show all the "unidentified" murders. It doesn't
show the threats and non-fatal beatings and harassment.
I hope people can think about that before the next time they decide to throw out
a "tranny" or a "he-she" or "it" in reference to a trans person, the next time they're
standing around the water cooler or at a party. I hope they can remember for just
a second next November 20th that people don't always neatly and capriciously
"decide" to be a way, they just ARE that way, and maybe it'd be nice of other
people in the world not to harass, beat, and kill them. And even if they choose
to "cross-dress," to wear the "wrong" clothes and hair, should it be that big a deal?