TransActive: A House United

“The issue is us versus them. Any us versus any them.”  With these words from her groundbreaking play Hidden: A Gender Kate Bornstein summarizes what may be humanity’s greatest downfall: divisiveness. Yet at the same time, drawing the lines also forms the basis of identity politics that can be empowering. In other words, “us versus them” has good and bad points.

In the struggle for civil rights, the lines are often clearly drawn between the oppressed and the oppressors, an “us versus them” struggle against racism, sexism, transphobia, homophobia and so on. As troubling as it is to think of in terms of enemies and allies, it’s tough not to see enemies when you’re visiting a “queer”-bashed roommate in the ICU or you’ve just taken a shot to the jaw from a transphobe or you’ve just been fired because of your gender identity.

In those situations, “us versus them” becomes a refuge, a place of strength to which you can cling, a force to encourage you not to give up. Even a trans person living in deep stealth knows our community is out here trying to make things better. And when one’s community is statistically small, the notion of Us is comforting.

Then there is the ugly side of “us versus them,” the intolerance and willful ignorance that permeate so much of our society. One of the more disgraceful facets of ignorant bigotry may be found in the “zoo” style of radio shows, like the Rob, Arnie and Dawn Show that broadcasts from KRQX (“K-Rocks”) radio in Sacramento, California. These are shows aimed at a demographic of heterosexual white males between the ages of 15 and 35 — in other words, the group most likely to be transphobic, homophobic and sexist.

On Thursday, May 28, 2009, show hosts Rob Williams and Arnie States broadcast a hateful, violent tirade against transgendered people, especially trans children. Co-host Dawn Rossi seemed well informed about and sympathetic to transgender issues, but when she tried to debate her co-workers they verbally ganged up on her. Rob and Arnie spent over thirty minutes explicitly promoting child abuse and making dehumanizing and defamatory comments toward all of us.

Among their more outrageous statements were:

“If my son, God forbid, if my son put on a pair of high heels, I would probably hit him with one of my shoes. I would throw a shoe at him.”

“I look forward to when they go out into society and society beats them down.”

“It’s sickening. A gimmick or shtick.”

“Sometimes you need to tell people that you’re wrong, you’re evil, you’re a drama queen, and you need to get over life. What you describe Dawn is every person all the time throughout their life “I need attention. I need to be loved for who I am.” You know who you are? You’re a dude ’cause you got the plumbing. And, that’s what most of us see, and that’s why we call them freaks and weirdos.”

Sometime that weekend, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) got hold of the story and by Monday June 1^st were already working with the Trans Youth Family Allies and reached out to KRQX management to voice concern and demand an apology. It also included the outrage in its frequent action alerts. GLAAD kept up the pressure and by the next week many advertisers — including major companies like Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Verizon, McDonalds, Carl’s Jr., Nissan, Snapple and AT&T — had pulled their advertising from the station.

By Monday June 8^th, Rob and Arnie had posted an apology on their website and promised a full apology on their June 11^th show, which would be devoted exclusively to transgender issues. As promised, the Thursday show gave that apology. Furthermore they invited Trans Youth Family Allies executive direction Kim Pearson and transwoman blogger Autumn Sandeen from Pam’s House Blend to blog as guests during the two and a half hour, commercial-free show. It was a true victory for us all.

Having first transitioned and tasted my first anti-trans job discrimination back in 1985, I grew up in a time when we had no political power. In that era most stealth-capable transwomen were in the woodwork and the visible community clung to the edge of society as sexworkers, entertainers, hairdressers and so on. Angrily, helplessly you took your lumps because there was no way to fight back, just endure. Back then “transgender” wasn’t even a word in common use, much less a political label.

Given that background, it was nothing less than thrilling, that after these twenty-four years the transphobic diatribe of two shock jocks would be massively rebuked in the space of two weeks with the backing of Fortune 400 companies. Oh, what a long way we’ve come. However it is crucial to acknowledge we did not get here alone.

As a rule, separatism is not the answer for any oppressed group, mostly because it foments hostility and ends up cutting off even natural allies. While gender identity and sexual orientation are two very different traits, there is much overlap. This is one of the reasons why it was so foolish for the HRC not to live up to its promise of a fully-inclusive ENDA: even had Barney Frank’s exclusionary bill passed, gay people who do not conform to gender stereotypes would not have been protected.

Though many if not most LGBT people do understand the difference between gender and sexuality, most mainstream (i.e. hetero) people do not. Unless you’re having sex with someone of the “opposite” gender and behaving “appropriately” for the genitals you were born with, then you are Queer. In that sense, LGBT people are all in the same boat. This even applies to trans people who’ve blended into the woodwork, because if they are ever discovered, they’re in the same boat as everybody. And while educating the ignorant about the differences between LGB and T is a noble task, it is not so lofty if the purpose is to get bigots to refocus their oppression. The tide can turn at any time, and when that happens allies can make all the difference in the world.

It is difficult to see how the KRQX boycott could have been pulled off without the full weight of GLAAD. Aside from that organization’s arm-twisting of the station and its parent company, many non-trans members of the LGBT community wrote in to the station to protest. With the full weight of that community behind the protest and the economic muscle we have, it’s clear why so many huge, consumer-driven companies hopped onto the bandwagon. Sheer numbers made a huge difference.

If we were separate from LGBs, if it were only the transgender community calling for Rob & Arnie’s heads, it’s more than likely that this incident would have come down to a few weeks of bitter complaints on Internet forums. Rob & Arnie would still be clueless about the people they’d hurt, and their listeners would have learned that kind of hateful talk is permissible.

By the most liberal, reasonable estimates, transgender people number fewer than one million members in the USA, and likely a lot less than that. Compare that statistic with the twenty-one million GL people in this country — also a conservative estimate and one  that doesn’t even begin to account for bisexuals. That is the kind of support I want behind me in a fight. And while it’s true the HRC sold us out in 2007, it represents a passing generation of older gay people like Barney Frank. A new generation is coming up.

Finally, while deep-stealthers may well be able to divorce themselves from the LGBT community (until they really need serious political clout, like with the KRQX) there are too many bigots who could give a damn about labels; we’re all queer to them and the fine distinctions of our precious labels are completely lost on them. Speaking against slavery in 1858, Abraham Lincoln said that a house divided against itself cannot stand. The entire LGBT community faces oppression now.

We can face it together.

Christine Beatty is a transsexual author and journalist, a longtime activist and musician. Formerly from San Francisco, where she co-founded the rock group Glamazon in 1994, she now resides in Los Angeles. Her personal web page is at www.glamazon.net.

Category: Transgender Opinion