TransLash Archives - TransLash Media https://translash.org/articles/translash-receives-nlgja-excellence-in-podcasting-award/ We tell trans stories to save trans lives. Tue, 29 Oct 2024 22:56:41 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://translash.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/cropped-Favicon_1x-32x32.png TransLash Archives - TransLash Media https://translash.org/articles/translash-receives-nlgja-excellence-in-podcasting-award/ 32 32 TransLash receives NLGJA Excellence in Podcasting Award https://translash.org/articles/translash-receives-nlgja-excellence-in-podcasting-award/ Wed, 12 Jun 2024 20:44:03 +0000 https://translash.org/2022/09/13/translash-receives-nlgja-excellence-in-podcasting-award/ Access the IG Live replay of Imara Jones' acceptance speech and the panel discussion that followed.

The post TransLash receives NLGJA Excellence in Podcasting Award appeared first on TransLash Media.

]]> The NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists honored TransLash Media with the Excellence in Podcasting Award for The Anti Trans Hate Machine: A Plot Against Equality on September 10, 2022, at the annual NLGJA National Convention in Chicago, Illinois. Below is the transcript from the IG Live replay of Imara Jones’ acceptance speech and the panel discussion that followed.

The participants of the panel discussion were Imara Jones, founder and CEO of TransLash Media, Cathy Renna, moderator and Communications Director for the National LGBTQ Task Force, Tracy E. Gilchrist, VP, Exec. Producer of Entertainment, Host @equalpride, Ina Fried, Chief Technology Correspondent for @Axios, Sonia Murphy, and Amir, representatives from GenderCool.

ACCESSIBILITY NOTE: Captions in English were added to the YouTube video on 9/15/22.
TRANSCRIPT
Imara Jones:

0:00

It is also the fact that this is the most important story of our time because the forces who are opposed to the Democratic vision of our country within Christian nationalism at its core have decided that this is the most important issue.

0:18

And so there’s no way that you can look at the events of January 6, there’s no way that you can look at the issues of the target, right, there’s no way that you can look at the issue of abortion, and not understand the centrality of trans people and trans rights and trans communities to those conversations. And that if you don’t understand my interactions in the story,

0:39

so the challenge for journalists is for us to widen our lens.

0:45

The challenge for journalists is to not think of trans people and trans communities as marginal as something that we get to at the end of a long list of letters, as something that we get to happen after a long list of other things that are important, but understanding that sometimes with LGBTQ we have to start with T.

1:08

And I think that it’s a challenge for many people, because of the natural bent that we all have as human beings, for living in a society, one that’s transphobic.

1:24

And secondly, the success of the 20 to 30 year campaign in which our Docu series died, I’m sorry, which our

1:33

podcasts series documents, the deliberate campaign to confuse, to disinform, to obscure.

1:42

And so a part of our job is journalist as a part of your job to do in newsrooms is to challenge the essential thinking that is [inaudible] about us, to challenge what you think is important about us and trans communities, to begin to challenge yourselves around your own fears and doubts and discomfort around us and who we are.

2:09

Because fundamentally there’s not a future without trans people.

2:14

there’s not a future worth [inaudible] about.

2:26

And the last thing I’ll say, before we get into the stories and how they are told, and how it impacts people is that, you know, as journalists, we’re taught a fallacy.

2:41

We are taught that the truth has two sides.

2:47

We are taught that balance and fairness is looking for another side of the story. When the fact of the matter is, sometimes this truth has three sides. Sometimes it has five sides. Sometimes it has nine sides. But sometimes the truth has no side. Sometimes the truth actually just is.

3:10

And so our challenge actually is to challenge in, when you cover trans communities, is to dis-abuse yourself of

3:19

trying to look for balance in a story. Because when it comes to fundamental human rights, when it comes to issues of life and death, when it comes to the fact that for four years running, we’ve had the most deadly years for trans people on record. And at the core of that is the murder of black trans women. There’s not actually another side to that truth.

3:44

It just is. And the challenge is to examine why that is.

3:50

And so I think that we have a lot of work to do.

3:54

And the reason why I started TransLash is because I realized that we had a lot of work to do and that the only people who could do it in the way that it used to be done are trans people.

4:13

So the last thing, the last challenge I’ll leave you with, [inaudible] challenges, is to think about, look around here.

4:21

Where are your trans reporters?

4:24

If you’re a publisher, where are your trans editors? And don’t point to style section [inaudible].

4:32

Don’t point to the fashion section, or the entertainment section.

4:37

Tell me where they are in the newsroom. Tell me where they are in the finance and business section. Tell me where they are and reporting on local government.

4:48

So we have a lot of work to do. And the time is way pass now because where we are in this country right now on trans

5:00

rights and on LGBTQ rights is in trouble.

5:04

And it’s because we are decade behind the people who wanted to construct the story. And today we’re going to use trans people as a wedge issue to further make political gains. And that’s why we see, you know, 6 anti-trans bills in 2019, and then 127 in 2021, and then 300 this year, with 13 states [inaudible] anti-trans laws. So this is an urgent issue. It is an issue which is vital to the future. It is an issue that’s vital for us to cover the truth and we take our jobs seriously as journalists. And so I want to thank all of you for coming here this morning, to hear these stories, to be a part of this conversation and think about ways that we can do better.

5:55

And to express my appreciation for the [inaudible] not only is not only for this, the award that we got also for this panel, and also pushing us all to do more, because the time is way past now.

6:25

I’m actually delighted to sit down and turn it over to Cathy, whose panel this is [inaudible] conversation.

Cathy Renna:

6:40

Good morning. My intro is so much shorter.

6:47

I can’t say better than that. My name is Cathy Renna and my pronouns are she/ehr. I am the Communications Director for the National LGBTQ Task Force. And I am, I’m so thrilled. like, I’m just, I’m so excited for this conversation. And I’m excited for you to meet all of these amazing people. And hear more.

7:05

Just a little bit to start, when we conceptualized this panel, we wanted to talk about exactly what Imara spoke of, trans lives, trans stories, and trans truth. And trans facts. But you know, it wasn’t a T word. So [inaudible]

7:21

[inaudible]

7:24

This is a time of tremendous challenge. We’ve, we’ve all known that. But I feel like it’s also a time of tremendous hope.

7:33

And a lot that [inaudible] on this stage [inaudible].

7:38

We see the data, we see that young people are, they’re coming out younger, you’re putting out more fluid. As my daughter [inaudible] is saying, I don’t want to check a box. I don’t want a box. She turns 17 next week, God help me.

7:54

And you know, we’re also growing up in a culture with some tremendous disparities, right? We see and we have as queer people, particularly trans and non binary people of all ages, more and more role models. Laverne Cox, Admiral Rachel Levine.

8:13

Right, right?

8:15

So, just so, so so many people, [inaudible]

8:22

up there is some of my people, so [inaudible] Jackson, Elliot Page, [inaudible]. If you don’t know these names, start Googling. Amy Schneider, who I met recently at US Open for Pride Day, and she was like, “Jeopardy is a sport”.

8:42

Jonathan Van Ness.

8:44

ALOK. Please, please, find ALOK on Instagram.

8:50

[inaudible] Rebecca [inaudible] whose mom is in the audience. [inaudible].

8:59

Jazz Jennings. [inaudible]

9:02

Angelica Ross, last but not least, because my girl is going to be, not “in Chicago”. I’ve been saying this all weekend. And people are like, she’s here?! And she’s going to be… Roxie Hart.

9:16

Starting next week!

9:19

It’s gonna be fun.

9:21

And on the other hand, we have the things that Imara talked about, unrelenting, escalating attacks, hundreds of pieces of legislation, anti trans violence that is just completely out of control. The trauma, the pain, the loss, someone said yesterday, Bethany actually talked about her research and how, after seeing an anti trans piece of media, that levels of depression and suicidality and trauma were raised by trans people. And we also have, as Imara talked about, about a very well funded opposition weaponized strategy.

10:00

And again, I don’t have to tell you this, last but not least is we have a massive amount of disinformation up there.

10:07

And the way to combat that is by telling stories. So I will not repeat exactly what I was gonna say, which is what Imara said, which is journalists need to cover trans issues differently. There is not two sides to trans and non binary people existing. This is the same.

[glitched video]

10:39

…other side, and other side, what? like, I want to have a child and get married. What’s the other side of that? Right? If you’re interested in being a bi racial couple, both [inaudible].

10:56

So with that, I bring you to select ordinary voices, some amazing stories of some incredible experts, which I’m so proud.

11:06

I’ll start all the way on the left and we can just go from there.

11:11

[inaudible] is with Equal Pride Media, is going to talk to us from the perspective of someone who are workings within queer media, which I feel like it’s really important, since it often leads mainstream media and on the cover of issues. Ina Fried doesn’t need an introduction in this room.

11:32

[inaudible] later because he said his husband is obsessed with you and is tired of hearing your name.

11:40

Amir is one of our [inaudible] champions.

11:48

He’s not the only one in the room. You’re gonna want to meet all the [inaudible] people in this room after. Next we have Sonia Murphy.

12:00

[inaudible] wonderful things, but is a totally badass lawyer.

12:07

[inaudible] You’ll learn it’s important to all this, [inaudible] is here. So I’m gonna, I’m gonna let Tracy start this off, I [inaudible] hands off Moderator. So I’m just gonna let you go.

12:19

Tell stories that we talked about before.

Tracy E. Gilchrist

12:25

I also moderating [inaudible] moderation myself.

12:31

Thank you for [inaudible], it’s a great honor to be on this [inaudible]. And just a little bit of perspective about who I am,

12:39

[inaudible] Pride, for the past few years, I was the editor in chief [inaudible] So we’re doing that work remotely,

12:50

from my tiny apartment in West LA. And

12:54

I first want to say, [inaudible] years ago, many years ago, now, we had an editor in chief who made the decision very distinct, that we would switch our reporting from this kind of updated LGBTQ+ media and focus more on trans issues than on anything else. And I think those things [inaudible].

13:22

[inaudible] you know, we need traffic, we’re gonna have to work harder. His name was [inaudible], and he was absolutely correct in that, and we got on board and thought, well,

13:36

Then, you know, I think the Advocate began to be a leader in the space, at least in terms of LGBTQ+

13:43

media space, trans specific media, we can, we’ve [inaudible] that. But, I think we’ve really started to do a great job. And, you know, I spoke with Cathy and really, what I would say is I am just kind of like why am I on this panel,

14:03

I’m a cisgender lesbian. And but it is important, because my experience has been to listen

14:12

to a lot of people. And the way that I learned is really listening and trying to amplify other people’s stories and hear how they want to be written about, how they want to be spoken about. And I think that’s worked out quite well. And it’s impacted me so far. As far as I know. So I would just say that to start off I’m going to stop talking and let someone else go.

Ina Fried:

14:40 (19:27 YT)

Yeah, you know, I think Imara reframed the issue incredibly well. And, you know, lives are at stake. It’s really, you know, to Imara’s [inaudible] it’s all of our lives, like trans people are at the forefront of an attack on all of our lives and

15:00

Community. But, it really is starting with trans people, it’s always starting with the most marginalized groups and starting with trans people of color, and it started a long time ago, if anyone who’s listening, the way Monica Roberts tried to warn us, she urged us to listen to the stories of Black trans women. She elevated those stories. Ahe provided us a wake up call that had we listened, we might not have had to go through some of what we’ve been through. I’ve been extraordinarily privileged to be one of the incredibly small number of people initially, thankfully, a growing number of trans people actually geting to tell and shape these stories, there aren’t enough. There aren’t trans people in newsrooms. But they’re here, there’s a lot of them, I met a bunch of them this morning, we had a trans and non-binary meetup. There’s people that want to tell their stories, and there’s far more people out there, it’s not as hard as people make it seem.

And also want to draw the contrast between what life has been like and what life has been, like more recently. I transitioned [inaudible] like in 2003 from like, a lot of people, you know, first go to a bunch of challenges. And then they had about 10 years where I basically just did my job and enjoyed it. And I got to be visibly and audibly trans, I get to go on the air and talk about my field of expertise, technology. And I love the fact that basically, all I did in my work world was do my thing. And to do it while trans, I felt that was enough, I was happy. It was great. And, you know, five or six years ago, it started being the case, that that wasn’t what was happening.

It wasn’t just, I’d have to do my thing. And that wasn’t really the only time I thought about being trans. I’m very proudly, openly trans. But it wasn’t the biggest thing of my life. And the reason was, it wasn’t under constant attack. It wasn’t a daily topic of conversation. And, you know, to the study that Bethany referenced, and can’t begin to describe, for those who haven’t experienced and again, we’re not the first. Lots of communities that have been marginalized in the [inaudible] for a long time, what it’s like to have your humanity up for debate every day, every day in the news. Trans people are being blamed for everything from climate change to the [inaudible], it’s exhausting.

These laws and bills have the direct and initial impact of keeping young people off sports teams, preventing people from health care, but they also have the added impact of telling all of us, we are less worthy. I have incredibly stable housing, a great job, a supportive community. And it’s exhausting and taking a toll on my mental health. And the toll that is taking on our collective mental health is immense. And that’s actually why I started this project, which we will talk about a little later, Letters 4 Trans Kids. As a journalist, I know, I can’t get into every political thing. I can’t take a stand on every bill. But the reason I started this social media effort was I also can’t let the next generation only hear these horrible messages. So I started this pretty simple thing. Drop a note to a video posted on any social media, [inaudible] , and to me, I couldn’t do more than that as a journalist; I couldn’t do less than that as a human being.

Amir 18:59

[inaudible] a little nervous. [inaudible] start with

19:11

kids and sports. I just, you know, want people to understand as someone who I [inaudible] plays soccer, I’m not a superhero.

19:21

I’m not any different than anyone else. You know, I’m just as bad and [inaudible]. I consider myself very average.

19:35

But the thing is, is that I’m in that perspective with being athletic,I’m, you know, I can’t jump any higher than, you know, I can jump higher than some people, others not so much. But even with being you know, a trans kid, you know, and people seeing me and you know, of course not knowing

20:00

But the thing is, I’m normal, I’m the normal, you know, like, this is the new normal, and [inaudible].

20:14

What is really “normal” ?

20:17

Like what is your “normal”? You know, everybody’s normal is different. You know, everybody is different. [inaudible] all of our beauty comes from within. And that’s the most beautiful part of us. Not from what’s outside, you know, [inaudible] picture and like them on Instagram. But who are you? Who are you inside?

20:42

What things are going on in your mind? What is your story? What do you want to tell the world? Because your story is important, just like everyone else on this planet, and the thing is, is that

20:55

there is a trans boy at home, sitting there wondering, you know, who am I, exactly?

21:02

Is there anybody out there like me?

21:05

I was that boy.

21:07

I have been that boy.

21:10

sitting there looking at myself in the mirror like, who are you?

21:14

And the thing is, it’s time to realize and understand.

21:20

You are a leader, you are strong, you are brave, you are worthy. And you deserve the love and support as any other person in this world.

21:33

So do you all.

Sonia Murphy:

21:45 (26:32 YT)

agree that that is the story, we are just living our everyday lives. And as Amir’s auntie, you [inaudible]. We’ve always been more talented.

21:58

people of color. We don’t have the privilege of not having to fight for our existence every single day.

22:05

It is exhausting. And then when you add the transphobia that is happening right now, it’s even more exhausting. But the story is we’re thriving. We’re living, we are redefining [inaudible]. We’re [inaudible], and we’re redefining normal. And we are living our lives. And my goal is that every trans kids to know that they can do whatever they want. They can be whoever they want to be. They can walk in their truth. They can be themselves. They are no limitations. There are no roadblocks. And that’s the story. I really would love to see all of you tell stories of trans kids just living [inaudible] and surviving

22:47

and having fun and enjoying their lives. Are there roadblocks? Absolutely. Do we get over them? Absolutely. I think the problem, one of the problems right now is the opposition is loud. They are loud. They are screaming. And it is not our nature to scream back. Right? That has not worked for us. It’s not worked in the Civil Rights Movement, and it just has not worked. Our nature is to be who we are, and to let you see us: living, surviving, thriving, being who we are. Get to know us. And you find commonalities. I think as Amir said, you know, we gotta get to the heart to heart of each other and not just looking at each other and making assumptions based on the

23:30

assumption [inaudible] what we look like.

23:33

Right, can we get beyond that? Can we get beyond sort of the surface and dig in and really get to know each other on a heart to heart level? Because I think what we’ll find is they’re more commonalities than differences, but we need you all to tell the story. We need you to tell the thriving happy, outgoing, successful stories and re-define.

Imara Jones:

24:06 (28:51 YT)

Okay, panel’s over.

24:11

[inaudible] say, I think for me, the only thing that I can offer is the

24:21

reality check

24:24

that

24:26

we are only 1 to 2% of the population.

24:33

[inaudible] rate is 1.4% and that’s from the Williams Institute.

24:40

So, really small number of people

24:46

population percentage wise.

24:49

So then you have to ask the question. So why are such a tiny group of people,

24:57

Such an incredible focus [inaudible]

25:01

because the numbers just don’t add up, you know, it doesn’t make any sense.

25:07

And I think that when you look at the issue is [inaudible] a year investigating that by, so go to Apple podcasts and it’s going to take

25:29

[inaudible] direct you there. And the reality is that those are

25:38

the

25:41

[inaudible] forces in this country

25:45

understand

25:47

that in order for them to implement their vision of America,

25:52

that they have to get more people on their side.

25:56

And what they chosen to do is to exploit transphobia, which is [inaudible] existed in this country, which crosses all political boundaries, as a way to try to make political inroads, in order to keep safe houses and win

26:11

really important congressional races.

26:16

It is a

26:18

social issue…is a political strategy that’s dressed up as a social issue.

26:25

And there’s a fundamental understanding

26:29

that the smallness of the population makes it easier for trans people to prey upon.

26:36

makes it easier for trans people to be

26:40

to be mischaracterized. It makes it easier version of the stereotype, it’s makes it easier for shadow people to be framed as a danger, because they know that there are lots of people in this country, depending on what survey you look at two-thirds, to, 2 out of 3 to 9 out of 10 is good range. But there’s a big swath of Americans who don’t personally know a trans person. So it makes it really easy to do this.

27:13

And you can see the effort that they have put behind this in the number of bills. How do you think you get 300 bills, and 40 some odd states, in a three year period?

27:28

If that doesn’t scream organization to you, I

27:31

don’t know what does. I don’t know how you can’t look at that and see [inaudible] organized effort. If you don’t understand that

27:40

tactics, and the abortion rights movement which was just a test drive for the way that they tried to deal with a whole host of

27:47

populations that they don’t like.

27:50

Those same tactics are now just being turned on trans people.

27:54

You know, we’re starting to see, we’re starting to approach trans doctors, including my own, I’m sorry, to people who prefer but couldn’t get gender affirming care. And we had death threats at Boston Children’s Hospital, we had a major case facility in Texas close. We have a governor who’s decided to weaponize the entire

28:16

entire government apparatus and thousands of people [inaudible].

28:21

And so this is not an accident. And I can’t, it’s hard for me to underscore how organized this is, how focused it is, how serious they are, and how big the danger for everyone is, because what happens with every successive movement that’s designed to target the population that they learn from that and apply it to someone else. So as abortion rights was a test drive, that they’re now applying the same tactics on trans people, you’re dying to get a case up at the Supreme Court, because I’m pretty sure that given that the

28:59

[inaudible] on that, and then it’ll be time for something else.

29:05

So this is the thin end of the wedge.

29:09

And this is why I think it’s really important to again, as people whose job it is across the country to cover these issues to understand the growing danger, serious nature of this impact on people’s lives and the fact that what they’re experiencing is not accidental. And to do the job of exposing the people in your states or in your cities who are driving these bills. I guarantee you once you start to look to see they’re connected to a vast network that has nothing to do with the interest of your state but has interest in, large national interest and they’re trying to drive.

29:56

[inaudible] questions

Cathy Renna:

29:58 (34:44 in)

[inaudible] What Imara just said

30:00

really struck me. One of the most powerful things I think we’ve had a chance to do this year with the task force was partner with TransLash, an extraordinary project that highlighted the stories of the impact

30:14

of reproductive rights and justice challenges on the trans, non-binary community. So I know there was a panel yesterday about it, [inaudible]

30:25

We were like, after

30:28

Before, during… I’d like to talk about that intersectionality. Because I think that’s such an important thing, not just for journalists, but for our own community to understand, because we have conversations all the time with those in our community who don’t make those connections necessarily. And, you know, they immediately like, oh, no, marriage is in trouble. Okay.

30:50

That’s been in trouble for a long time, Welcome to the party.

30:53

I think that’s really something we need to talk about. So I’d love to hear from your perspectives, a little bit about where, where do you think journalists can play a role in helping people understand that within the community, and then the larger culture, understand how connect those dots better as several people have said.

Tracy E. Gilchrist:

31:14 (35:59 in)

So

31:16

first off, when Roe was overturned,

31:20

the conversation immediately went to my marriage, my marriage, my marriage, and I was on social media with my friends, and we

31:30

can [inaudible] hang on, there’s a lot of queer people who can be pregnant. [inaudible] be first. So let’s not prepare for the course. Yes, marriage community to deal with that. But can we please deal with the problem at hand, and how are we going to help these people first. So I think

31:51

the way that we need to handle a lot of this stuff is to think bigger than ourselves. We look at our own identities, and we’ll how’s that apply to me? Well, it’s affecting someone else to affect you, you know, eventually, as Imara just said, so I think that

32:09

one way as journalists that we can handle these issues is to get outside of ourselves. And we’re supposed to be balanced and fair. But we always bring a bias of what we want to write about what we care about that sort of thing and how we write about it. So the biggest challenge, I think, is to just get outside of ourselves, as I said before, listen to the stories that people are telling.

32:34

And I think sometimes it’s the tail [inaudible] wag the dog. And I think we’ve tried to do that at The Advocate, to, you know, certainly degrees of success, like I mentioned to our editor 10 years ago, so we’re going to cover trans issues more than anything else. And I think that we have to cover trans people of color more than anything else, we have [inaudible], we have to cover all the people who don’t get the coverage, we need to do that more than we cover the rest, in order for it all to coalesce. And at first that may seem uncomfortable, but after a while, it’s just the way to do it. And I think that’s a good way to start.

Ina Fried:

33:17 (38:01)

The next step, obviously agree with all that, I think the next step that we can do as journalists is spotting the through lines, it’s the same people, like one side of the shirt, the front of the shirt, says, you know, “Repeal Roe vs. Wade”, the back of the shirt says, you know, whatever, y [inaudible], and if they get those two things, you know, underneath that is contraception, it’s a whole bunch of things. But it’s not, again, it’s not just waiting till they come for the one you care about. It’s recognizing

33:50

and telling the story of a very coordinated movement. What Imara’s work shows us is, you know, what’s going on? Again, I think there’s so much complexity here. You know, again, you know, from our [inaudible] sometimes there’s nine angles you need to look at, and sometimes there’s one sometimes, you know, there’s just telling your story, and his soccer team and the fact that he contributes to a soccer team and every one of his soccer team benefits from having them. There’s so many good stories, you know, I’ve been a part of this organization for 20 years, and I feel like, you know, everyone should walk away from these conventions with some good story ideas. I mean, it’s, you know, if you’re looking to cover the issue of trans sports, yes, Lia Thomas is one important part of the story. If we have trans athletes, eventually one of them is going to win something.

34:49

Like the story of Fischer Wells, Fischer wells, they didn’t have the trans hockey team at her school. She wanted to play field hockey. So first she got her friends

35:00

together, and that wasn’t enough for a field hockey team. So then she went to the rest of the school, they have a field hockey team. Now, because of the law in Kentucky, the girl who started the field hockey team is the only girl in all of Kentucky that can play field hockey. That’s a story. You know, there are many stories out there and really not listening only to the rhetoric. And the other thing is, you know, again, our lives are politicized, but not framing it as the transgender issue, the transgender question. I can’t believe in 2022, we’re having this conversation. You can’t have a question about a group of people. There are political issues, and I’m not trying to [inaudible] them. But our very existence should not be treated as a political issue. It’s a human rights issue. And it’s so important how we frame these stories. There are so many opportunities to tell better stories and our award winners, there’s so many, so much good work being done. And I don’t want to, I don’t want to act like nobody’s doing a good job of telling our stories, because they are, but our political opponents are doing a better job. And push in your newsroom. I do this all the time. But we can all do this. If you’re writing about gender affirming health care, no story on that should exist without saying this is not a measure of a scientific question. The medical community is 100% that gender affirming care is appropriate. It saves lives. [inaudible]

Cathy Renna:

36:48 (41:34 YT_

Imara [inaudible] are perfect segue to talk about [inaudible].

Cathy Renna:

36:48 (41:34 YT_

Imara [inaudible] are perfect segue to talk about [inaudible].

Imara Jones:

36:53

Yeah, I mean, yes, as I just wanted to say that really important point that

37:02

on the issue of medical bills, right?

37:06

If you aren’t in a story,

37:09

and you’re looking for [inaudible] by another side, right? Your editor says you need to have this [inaudible]. And you’re like, No, I talked to this local doctor, and she’s got a children’s hospital. And she chooses these kids [inaudible].

37:24

But you know, I need to go talk to someone who opposes.

37:29

The only people that in the medical establishment, in quotes that you can who oppose transgender health care, is a pseudo-scientific group set up by the right wing. [inaudible]

37:45

So that means that if you have an opposing voice in your voice and your story, but what you are doing is actually promoting [inaudible] into pseudo-science that’s designed to undermine trans people. Because the American Medical Association, Immigrant Society, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the World Professional Association of Transgender Health, which is now issuing its eighth standard of care for trans people, [inaudible] four years all say that gender affirming care for you administered in the right way in the right time, it’s safe.

38:23

So the only people that you can find, this is what I mean by the fallacy of two sides, because the

38:28

only people that you can find are people who are who are sponsored and set up to disinform.

Ina Fried:

(YT: 43:23)

And we’re not, we’re just not doing a good enough job on the health story. Like, for example, if it gets framed as trans, gender affirming care, trans health is what’s making these irreversible changes to kids bodies. Puberty is what makes an irreversible change. [inaudible]

38:54

Puberty blockers should not be remotely controversial. All they do is what the right pretends to espouse, which is that they want which is to give kids more time. That’s what we’re talking about. In most cases, yes, older teens might make some other medical decisions. But that’s mostly not what we’re talking about. And the reason this is misunderstood, is because we’re all still not collectively doing our jobs well enough.

Imara Jones:

And so on this [inaudible] Cathy’s [inaudible]. One must [inaudible] the way that it parallels to abortion is the fact that by the time a trans kid has gotten health care,

39:36

they have had the sign off of their parents. They’ve had to sign off a therapist or a psychologist or psychiatrist or therapist or a psychiatrist, and a doctor perhaps more than once,

39:51

which means that by the time that’s happened, but the people who are responsible for the care of the child have all weighed in on the decision

40:00

And have come to a uniform agreement that this is the right way. Right? The way that that parallels with abortion is that you are deciding to get in the middle, and to place the government, in the doctor’s office, in the therapist’s office, at the kitchen table of these parents, that’s all you’re doing. You are intruding, you’re making the government intrude on what is essentially a private medical decision.

40:38

It is absolutely not different.

40:42

And, you know, I think that one of the things that we did in this film series and what our entire team did,

40:51

a whole separate team worked on

40:54

Trans Bodies, Trans Choices, which is done really well at lots

40:59

of film festivals this year is we decided to turn the camera on trans people to tell their stories around the importance of abortion in their lives, but [inaudible] that abortion is can be a part of gender affirming care, and the way in which abortion for trans people, when you hear the stories are undeniable, the links and the overlaps with the issue of abortion for everyone. And underscores that the people that you think that are marginal, that their stories are essential to understanding a larger issue like abortion. And so what we did was essentially find people who were willing to tell us their story. And we turned the camera on and we went to their homes, whether it be in Atlanta, or whether it be in Mexico or whether it be in Los Angeles.

41:59

[inaudible] Mexico, that’s a whole ‘nother thing.

42:05

And, you know, to [inaudible] those people tell their stories.

42:10

And those are stories that people don’t listen to. They don’t think they exist. They don’t think that matter. And one of the most important things that I thought was essential about the way in which we did Trans

42:24

Bodies, Trans Choices, that’s the name of the series, [inaudible] a whole bunch of other places, think this

42:28

is this is kind of our approach actually on the TransLash podcast, which is that,

42:35

you know, if I just sit up here, and I tell you a bunch of facts, it’s gonna go over your head, and you might be able to

42:44

deny a truth. If I told you that 2 million people are experiencing something, that sounds abstract, and it’s probably easy to dismiss it.

42:51

It is not easy to dismiss

42:55

a singular story. It’s not easy to dismiss the story that you

43:01

heard. And so we approached with this series was sparked for us to allow the truth of individuals to speak and be presented in a way, that it’s so powerful, that there’s no way to deny it. For instance, you can say that a person

43:19

who

43:21

Well, I don’t know if [inaudible] who experience severe trauma in a way that is unimaginable that they shouldn’t have the right to decide what they can do with their bodies after that event.

43:37

So I think that’s a really important way of storytelling approaching trans stories is to center the voices of trans people, and to allow them to, to run without interruption. Because what you’re going to get is something that’s really powerful.

Cathy Renna:

43:55

Yeah, if you haven’t seen those videos, please please find them. And it’s, again, a perfect segue to part of the conversation here. We’re talking about telling stories. So could you do talk a little bit about GenderCool, because they’re the [inaudible] of the organization, which, you know, full disclosure, fell in love, like two seconds after I met you all Gender Odyssey like a long time ago, but it really wasn’t very long ago.

44:23

And how it’s really creating change, you know, how it’s changing spaces, both in community, in the corporate world, but just talk a little bit about how the work that you’re doing is a shift in the way we do narrative, storytelling and how it’s changing.

Sonia Murphy:

44:41

You know, Amir, and I went through his transition.

44:46

Right, During COVID, we were, we are fortunate we were in DC, we have a supportive Children’s Hospital. Our story is not traumatic in that regard.

44:58

So I’m very, very, very grateful

45:00

for that, but what we did not have as what I call the tribe, right, I did not have another parent to call and say this, this is what’s happening. And for us that was, at least for me.

45:12

That was really, I won’t say traumatic but Amir lost his mom, my sister, a few years ago, and I do not have the opportunity to say to her, what would you do, I am going off of knowing her and knowing as a parent, what she would want me to do

45:32

for her child, but not having someone I can call, and just talk about, here’s what we’re doing. And this is what they’re saying, really praying about this and being throughful about this and wanting to do what is best.

45:44

And then he and I were very open throughout the whole process. Amir has always been very vocal about it, this is why the stories are so important, as we talked about, because I think it took him a long time to come around to the word transgender, although we always knew there was something, but there weren’t stories being told that he could identify with as [inaudible], right. So because of the lack of stories, it took a very long time for us to get around [inaudible] transgender and this is what it is able to do. But when we finally got there, and we began our transition, we didn’t have resources, you know, we were on, scouring the internet, etc. And we came across Gendercool on the Today show. And through Gendercool, we have our tribe. You know, I found a tribe of other parents who have been through the same transitional phrases. And Amir found a tribe of other youth who were going [inaudible] and were using their voices to impact change. That’s what they do. He was already on Tik Tok, you know, social media, telling stories…

46:48

You know, and ginger who provided a larger prep blog, it provided connection, and friendship, you know, an opportunity to get together and learn what, okay, what you’re doing is that, right? And that’s, that’s good that was useful here is not new to me. That’s what I do. And but this was different. And I needed to connect with other people who were like minded. I’m also advocating right using their voices to tell their story. And that’s what you’re looking for. If you don’t know someone who is trying and facet people don’t

47:26

reach out to us. I’m happy to connect you. That’s why general pool is here. We are happy to connect you and introduce you to show like this. And I’ll tell you my story. This there, you know, the percentages are small, which is why it’s funny, because you know, somebody’s gonna win. Yes, but you know, you might.

48:01

Charlotte, if you

48:10

get on a team, and somebody’s not sure.

48:14

But what I think we miss in that conversation, and I don’t want to dwell back on sports, what we missing that conversation is that we are that when we make that distinction. We are elevating somebody’s participation. Well, we’re elevating somebody’s winning, right? The goal to be a champion or a superstar over someone’s participation? Is it really more important? That’s what other kids it’s a shine, right? Or is more important than here?

48:48

Just to be honest, so it’s so much more important that someone be able to shine or be first you know, that it is because we have a participant. So these are the things and it’s a million of them in Africa.

49:04

But the region before we found that track, and we needed a try, if you don’t know someone, please come, please feel free to come talk to me after this panel. I’m happy to introduce you to a mirror the first trans person I met.

49:21

To connect you with gender cool, we want to redefine what we are offering through life just like everyone else. Right? What are stories the stories are important, because as you mentioned, if you have not been marginalized in some way and you feel like none of this matters to me the contrary, trust me when

49:43

they are coming for you next. So you can say I will if you want, you can but when you don’t wake up so late that they’re already on your roof, because they’re coming

49:57

you need

49:59

to know

50:00

I’m sorry, literally you, you can’t sit silent when you see something happening to someone else because they’re approaching next. Right? It’s important to you.

Ina Fried:

If you need another voice in your story college story, we have seen this story. It disgusts me as a child of grandparents who fled Germany from the Holocaust, that we are not, not 75 years removed from the Holocaust. And, you know, people read, you know, that Kneedler, quote, you know, first aid for the trade unionists, and I wasn’t

50:34

like, this is not hard to connect the blue lines, yes, during this people are at the center back. And again, we should point out against trans women of color, primarily, most most likely to be going violence, but this is an attack on bodily autonomy, period for all of us.

50:53

And

Cathy Renna:

50:54

I’m not gonna say, what’s next. America, can you talk a little bit about your experience? Because,

51:01

you know, it’s funny, I, I really, it just drives me bonkers when people say you are our future, like, how do you get these kids to do it more seriously?

51:13

To do and a lot more, and, and there’s a generation coming up. Right, that I hope that makes me more hopeful. Because they are, you know, they are not as interested in just, you know, start like me, right? They’re more fluid, they’re more open and running in a different culture than some of us in this room. But can you talk about what that’s like, because I’ve been at panels with all with, you know, half a dozen gender champions. And they’ll say things like being sex is like, the third most interesting thing about

51:44

entropy talk about that.

Amir:

51:47

So the thing is that you shouldn’t start with, she said, My

51:53

high school going into high school. I was like, should I make it private? Or should I?

1:59

That’s my big question. I thought about it for a week. I was like, No, I’m going to keep an open both

52:08

cases, if you would like to know anything about me, I’m here. I’m somebody who you talk to, you know, I can be there and we can talk, you know, if you want to come to me privately, one on one, because you’re going through something. I’m here. You know, that’s how I am of course, you know, there was struggles there were people who said things, but things, it’s okay. People are going to say things. Who are people who have been on stasis, say things or people that they don’t judge, they don’t really hit you I like

52:39

talking about the thing is, it’s just and that’s fine. You know, the thing is, is that you’re saying that because you just don’t understand. So let me help you understand that meaning.

53:01

Right, being trans you know, it’s just an evil just we’re

53:09

just for who I am and I was just the label, but really truly wrong.

53:16

You are sending the wrong thing. Thank you is that people will start to understand that the more we put stories out there more no other high school or elementary everybody starts to see more stories about people who are like them or people who are around them. You know, people meet you every day on trains, you know? And people meet people

53:42

your teacher your best friend, you know,

53:46

your barista at Starbucks you

53:51

never know so i think is that being a high school is difficult

53:59

sometimes going through a struggle and going to something so simple can be so worth it

54:05

just change one heart one mind and so that’s what’s worked for me

Imara Jones:

54:20 (59:04 YT)

I told you when I first finished like 40 minutes ago the independent

54:28

panels over I mean, I think that they’re just to them that I raise

54:34

you know, one of the things that make that kind of can drive me crazy is that people believe that because we have people like a beer that that’s also have to do your job

54:48

that somehow that you have people who are powerful and who are gonna log in for fighting for their you know who they are and and articulated and more amazing that

55:00

I’m adults don’t happen to our job of creating the space so that people like Aamir can live and thrive. Because you shouldn’t have to be on this panel today.

55:14

And you shouldn’t have to be in the White House.

55:17

Or you shouldn’t have been talking to any of us that maybe we shouldn’t read into.

55:23

And there is a there is a there’s a laziness, that makes me crazy. When people say, Oh, well, there’s a new generation tablet, it’ll just get better. And if that’s just the way, whatever happens in history, just because people put their feet out, right, a

55:41

reason for it.

55:43

Absolutely nothing, you know, and the reason why there there’s a movement to not teach history is to not be able to say these things. Understand that that’s a way to build an alternative future. And so if you think that because, you know, we have a different generation with a different perspective, that it’s natural to change, and naturally be better, you really haven’t read American history.

56:10

And you don’t really know where your world

56:13

is in that.

56:16

And the second thing I wanted to say, because it just makes me it, I hear it all the time, and it drives me nuts. Because kids get to be kids, right, and adults will jump up job with the dogs is to create a world where kids can thrive.

56:31

The second thing is that, you know, just to sort of go back to where I started, kind of alluded to it, as I like what I said at the beginning that like the forces of Januarius thinks they’re also the people who are tied into the anti trans movement. I wasn’t, I wasn’t just saying that as far away like hyperbole, I was talking about me and logically, I mean, there are connections between the Oathkeepers and anti trans individuals and organizations and leaders, there are connections between the proud boys, but one of the leading state legislators in Arizona, who is leading the charge there, it’s true

57:12

that there are people who are in pathway through a deeply connected to and trans and then largely anti LGBTQ, Moonves by the provide security for anti trans people when they show up with different rallies, or are going to protest. So when I say that this movement is deeply tied together, so I’m not joking. So you can’t you don’t understand the way that this is a part of the story. And I don’t know what to tell you. And I first kind of understood that. When actually, as a part of the series, I spoke to mark Bach, who is the president of the Southern Poverty Law Center, it was trying to take groups aside as such. I said, Well, what do you got mores? You what is the area of hate and hate groups and potential hate violence that America that you’re most worried about? That she said, is growing convergence between traditional white nationalist, militant groups, and they’re growing focus on on what they call gender ideology and gender identity issues, when you’re at that organization battles, and that’s the thing that keeps arriving.

58:28

So I just want to underscore the seriousness of the moment and the weight of where we are and the importance of covering these issues. Because if we don’t do our job, people like us not going to have the future that we all can see. And you should have.

Cathy Renna:

58:57

So we’re gonna go into questions. Your question,

59:02

Jackie has

59:05

just been definitely

59:13

very much.

CNN

59:17

Your numbers are small in this world, but your career is sharp sort of subject matter.

59:27

I’m curious couple of things.

59:30

Do you think you owe the far right, a debt of gratitude because they brought this house image to the public, they dropped the battle line or this trans friends of mine are very concerned.

59:43

When in 2016, as as the very conservative movement that began to take hold in this country, and they were afraid of acres a month ago, a organization that does journalism across the board will

1:00:00

leave them behind. And I’m curious to get your sense of where do you think the 30,000 foot level? Where do you see this find out? It’s out in the open. And and across the board, not just journalism and media, but across the board? What are the shoring up, because now it’s been flagged, that’s very, very rare.

Imara Jones:

1:00:36

So rare for me to have requests.

1:00:39

I mean, I just had as a panelist, I should start by saying thank you for the question.

[OTHER VOICE]

1:00:49

Please watch the social media feed.

Imara Jones:

1:00:53

I guess the only thing that I would say to this particular question is that

1:00:59

with all due respect, the only way that you can ask that question is because your life’s not at risk.

1:01:07

Well.

1:01:11

I don’t think that we owe people

1:01:16

who wish to do everyone in this room harm.

1:01:21

who

1:01:23

wish to implement

1:01:26

biological segregation and hierarchy in this country if they had a metal separator power? Who people who showed that amendment at that at a minutes notice that they are willing to kill people and overthrow the government of the United States or overthrow the people. The only thing that we always have is

1:01:59

I, I do not believe that we owe them. I do not believe that we owe them that I can understand from an intellectual standpoint, why you would ask that because, oh, issues are prominent. But

1:02:14

right now, we have political refugees in the United States, because of the far right against trans people. There are transparence, who woke up last night wondering where they’re going to move because they can’t find spaces. And there are networks of transparents underground across the country, we’re talking about other transparents, about places that they can go and how they should get there. And so I don’t understand that if you really understand what’s going on how you can say that we owe the debt, the debt and write off that debt of gratitude for highlighting their issues, when all they’re doing is actually pretty good.

Ina Fried:

1:02:58

Obviously Imara said it incredibly well. I think what’s missing is basically, there are two options, or channels of kids and trans people in this country. And both are happening. And it’s a question of which happens more? Do we get more kids like we’re getting to live their life? Or do we get bored kids taking their lives, and they’re being incredibly bored, that we’re gonna be at the workplace taking their lives. And, you know, as Mark said, there are parents moving across the country, there’s a brave, courageous girl how shackling spent

1:03:36

testifying before the Texas Legislature time again, to be your word. She spent her entire childhood testifying about why she deserves a childhood. And number three, her state. And even more than these kids that are in loving families, there are parents that don’t know any better, because they don’t know what it is. Some of them are making the right choice and allowing the viewers of the world to be their best selves. And some of them are hearing this right wing aid, and choosing not to have another kid.

1:04:11

But I think parents and so that’s what’s at stake. And that’s the challenge. And we should know this, again, like for everyone in this room knew what it was like to come out as gay and have parents who didn’t understand the same thing. It’s not again, these are crazy scenarios we’ve never had to deal with before. And you know, the stakes couldn’t be higher. The reason you see such passion out of trans adults is because we weren’t transparent. And when you say when you ask the question again, I don’t think it came from a bad place. But I have this opportunity to just do my job to just be myself for 10 years and it was amazing. And I what I do, I feel blessed to have an opportunity to use my voice but I wish I had

1:05:00

I have to, I wish I could just go back to doing my journalism back because I don’t love being trans. But I shouldn’t have to fight. I shouldn’t have to fight for a right to be a kid, my kid who’s in fourth grade shouldn’t have more privilege than a trans kid in fourth grade, to play US Soccer, those things shouldn’t be discussions and their discussions because their feet in this country. And there’s also a broader discussion about it, because we aren’t doing a good enough job as journalists of breaking this issue in the proper historical context.

Cathy Renna:

1:05:41

For context, right, I mean, as, as a personal as someone’s been doing this for 30 years, or on all kinds of issues, there’s always there’s backlash and visibility.

1:05:52

But, you know, even if people say things along the lines of

1:05:57

that is my, you know,

1:06:00

ruffle a few feathers definitely has her feathers on today, but ruffle a few feathers.

1:06:07

The AIDS pandemic, is what created the gay movement and broad lesbians and gay men together,

1:06:14

that silver lining, we lost generations to be consistent. You know,

1:06:20

visibility, is what makes

1:06:25

people understand where they can go, when they want a dash back, if this is what I’ve been doing my career, and the challenge that and the reason why I did this is because our community, including our community, journalists, we need to step up. Because know the history, we create an entire organization, because some folks wanted to leave trans people behind the legislation because it would be easier to pass it. And you can talk pragmatism all day long. But it’s about people. It’s about lives. And we’re having the same conversation now.

1:07:07

And I think those that that’s a very important question and a really important perspective, and the pushback and the challenge, and the passion that you’re hearing from everybody is for a reason. So, you know, while it might be a little hard, these are the hard conversations we need to have, you know, to really figure out ways to do better and be more.

Tracy E. Gilchrist:

1:07:33

Wanting to add to that, and everyone’s passionate about this, I get the kind of instinct that oh, the far right.

1:07:43

The open that reason, like a great story, but I think we have to do as journalists, and

1:07:52

more than journalists, I think, firstly, to be allies, we have to absolutely support our trans and non binary folks in ways that we haven’t before. And we have to say, well, is that a good story? Or is that just you know, are we just looking for people to come in and add and add realism? Or is that going to help anybody? So I think that you have to look at those things as well. Sounds pretty good story, but that’s going to harm people. And we have a look at our ally ship.

1:08:24

More than we have to look at this story. Misery means, I don’t know. Probably some joyful certified transcript. So

1:08:34

anyway, I just wanted to add that

[SPEAKER WITH QUESTION]

1:08:41 (1:08:46)

morning, everyone, my name is Sir Lex Kennedy, my pronouns are they serve renewal greetings from Los Angeles. KCTV.

1:08:51

Thanks for this title, because I was like, Ooh, insurance to buy had many

1:08:57

questions answered at this conference. That was sufficient. I felt like coming to this panel, I would get 14 and I appreciate it. So I want to say thank you for my friends, families. Amir brought up tick tock, and I’d love to kind of when you said tick that so Oh, yeah, these are people

1:09:14

just love the space and the connection that tick tock provides. And I just want to offer like a new space as journalists, as people in broadcast, if you’re looking for a great story, and remember like yeah, go to Google, like go to tick tock first. Like

1:09:28

folks are telling their stories better to get directly from the stores. And I found she able to show us something I like to say let me

Amir:

1:09:47

underscore it up here.

1:09:50

Very easy. And the thing is, you’re right. The thing is tick tock has been such an outlet for me to know people my age

1:10:00

And you’d be older than me, you know, younger, everybody’s wanting everybody, you know. So the thing is, it gives me somewhere to go where I can tell people, hey, right, this is what’s going on in my life. This is my story. What’s What’s your story? What do you want to know? What do you need? You know, do you need any resources or, you know, certain things or binders or anything? So, you know, the thing is, I’ve given many people the link to a binder, like I’ve never been over 10 people that link to a binder, the binder

1:10:34

that I think is it goes great to help out other people. And to know that I can do that sets off and through the internet is just great. Because years ago, tick tock was not a date, internet thing, so did not return to help other people was way harder. And I’m glad I can do that now. And at my age, I can be that outlook for certainty. Because once upon a time I never had. So I’m glad I can open that up to seven zero 16 year old survivors, Tina Rhodes, you know, Bernie rose, anyone, anyone who needs an outlet. And that’s why I’m happy to share my story with all of this my story names.

Imara Jones:

1:11:23

I feel like my job today is to be the behind every sign.

1:11:29

But what I want to say is that like, the flip side is that tick tock has also become one of the most prominent purveyors of Trent anti trans disinformation over the last year, because I figured out that it was a place where people I can hear and now is the exact opposite. And we had lives with tick tock, for example, the extremely rare that the anti cheat has been extremely popular. And now tick tock is playing Whack a Mole with a series of places. And so this is what I mean, there’s not nothing is nothing is going to happen without these oppositional forces at play. So even a place by tech time, even a place where you can really hide a lot of positive. So many different types of trans stories is also one of the largest purveyors of chance, disinformation, now, for young people over the past year.

[QUESTION FROM AUDIENCE]

1:12:27

I’m Tara Campbell with ABC

1:12:34

Agency, She reversed.

1:12:37

I believe it’s our job in the media to elevate your client to national stage. That’s nobody else at yours. But we need to work with you. My question for you is what is missing right now? It’s a it’s a pretty simple, direct question. But what is the story? When you wake up and you search through whatever media outlet you look at? What’s missing?

Imara Jones:

1:13:04

This I can answer really quickly, I think that

1:13:09

the stories of trans people crying

1:13:17

there’s not there’s not an area of life in America, where there are non trans people, specifically trans people of color that aren’t innovating creating new, efficient. So for example, you know,

1:13:31

the first trans Historic District in the world is in San Francisco

1:13:40

visit she just had a visit I think maxima of the Netherlands, there’s so many innovative programs and the Dutch interest in historic preservation. So that’s just one example. And there are so many so I think the stories of chance people across the board thriving with a belief in the future, because that’s also one of the things that helps them realize us and will help to decrease the violence and marginalization.

1:14:08

And why they’re thriving on families and community. Life is a privilege like there are a lot of people that I can actually help people understand that it’s family support communities.

[QUESTION FROM AUDIENCE]

1:14:27

Hi, I’m H, pronouns they/them.

1:14:34

For a little background, as last year, I started looking into how trans people

1:14:42

thought about transitioning, but another thing that

1:14:47

made it so that they were afraid to transition in the first place and I found someone who’s at Kansas, transitioning from the transition to AG. She considers yourself both

1:15:00

It’s a show and says like, I’m so great they do twice.

1:15:10

I don’t see trans media reporting on D transitioners, who are grateful for their trans care. And I think it is an area where the only scene, which could be, like not reading the great sites or news sources, but it is an issue that seems to be only talked about on the brain. And it’s like, Oh, if we talk about the transitioners, or multi transitional transitioning, we will, like jeopardize trans care. And I’m curious about the role of trans media in talking about D transitioning.

Imara Jones:

So really quickly, one of the things that’s happening is, so the word that we went

1:16:00

out today was for the first season of the efficacy machine, the second season is coming out, yes, you’re actually talking about the transition phase. And

1:16:09

then one of the things that I haven’t just made to get into, I would say the

1:16:16

string is rare, extremely rare.

1:16:19

And most people who do transition do so for a variety of reasons. And transitioning is a really weird word. Because, you know, trans people may decide to go on and off hormones for a variety of reasons, right, or may decide to change the way they dress for provided reasons that don’t have anything to do with not wanting to be trends. I mean, gender identity is fighting. And so people are looking at what’s the best expression for themselves and trying to figure that out. But that’s just extremely, it’s extremely rare. And the reason why you hear about transitioning on the right is because essentially, the idea of D transitioning, as you understand it is actually a right language.

1:17:01

And that’s why you haven’t been able to find those stories from another standpoint, because the way that we understand that writ large, is largely defined by writing as a part of this effort to this.

Ina Fried:

1:17:17

Yeah, everyone just had a couple things. The one thing is, if you’re gonna write about it, like, it’s critical for building it in context, first of all, we’re talking like 1%. And, you know, the, the rejection, the like, discomfort rate with breast augmentation for sis women is way higher than for anything like any medical procedure that has a 1% Regret rate, you’re talking to good medical procedure. But

1:17:49

there is this, there are stories that I’ve known people who transition and I know the people who got it, but again, look at the reasons I mean, by and large, it’s they don’t have a supportive family, they can’t get a job, they want to stay with a spouse, they want to have a connection to their kids. So I’m not saying never tell these stories, but wow, you we need to be careful when he tells us stories is I’ve learned he took me a long time, because for me, and for a lot of trans people I know detransitioning was often

1:18:24

led to even worse outcomes. I know a lot of people, including former ltj members that are not here after detransitioning. But I also have over the last few years, thankfully, you know, people, including him out to date members who do transitions to for the reasons that we talked about to maintain a connection to a spouse or kids and eventually found themselves. It’s a journey, like the whole point of transgressing gender boundaries is everyone should find their place. And if somebody

1:18:56

starts down the path and decides it’s not for them, and want them to be whoever their selves are, but really, we have to look at the reasons that again, you know, these words get thrown around and look at who’s using them and why.

Imara Jones:

1:19:12

And I think if you decide to cover it, I think it’s extremely tricky to cover it correctly. And I think that if you don’t get it 100%, right, you get to be a part of the spreading certification.

1:19:25

Okay, it’s, first of all, it’s rare. So you want to be magnified something that’s extremely rare, and he wouldn’t be providing all the context around it. And so I think that I think it’s a very tricky thing to report on and you have to be

1:19:41

careful.

Cathay Renna:

1:19:43

So far. Last question, and then we’ll wrap up.

[QUESTION FROM AUDIENCE]

1:19:47

Okay, I don’t really have a question. My name is Tammy Nash and I’m Dallas Voice manager for dallas fort.

1:19:57

Worth crab going on right now. Oh,

1:20:00

On password to the next thing

1:20:03

I know, I started working for Dallas Voice in 1988. And I’ve seen what’s happening in the backlash,

1:20:12

LGBT, lesbian gay people, we fought really hard for the idea of getting married and the quality that represented for us, what I saw is as soon as we got down, you guys started bearing the brunt of all of the hatred. So it takes a lot of guts for us to stand up and speak down. And we appreciate it. I mean,

1:20:32

in the last few years I’ve had to deal with or not deal with heavy cover murder in Malaysia, Booker, and I’ve seen what happened with that. Well, for me, I want to tell folks in this room’s terrible if you were white, and lesbian, or gay, and you think you’ve had a hard time you have it, and I get so much crap from some of the conservative gay folks in Texas

1:21:00

is unbelievable to me that we cannot

1:21:04

you know, that we that are gay people who see trans people as some sort of enemy.

1:21:10

I just want to say thank you, and, and I’m going to be contacting all of you for resources

Imara Jones

1:21:21

you know, from our from everything that we’ve been able to report and learn the fact that she saw that happen right afterwards was not an accident. There were right after gay marriage, there started to be coordination meetings with you know, the alphabet of private organizations and Research Council and, you know, the usual suspects, and they made an immediate push to begin to grow test, anti trans ideas and from that is why it will have gay marriage and right after that you have the bathroom real controversy in North Carolina, which was protested by ATF to see how the public would respond to attach this legislation. So even the pattern that you are describing is not an accident

1:22:06

on the money

Cathy Renna:

1:22:08

so I just want to thank LPGA for creating the space to have this conversation. I really appreciate it and I want to appreciate them and even more, this panel of amazing human beings who have you brought up some you know, some these are my conversations but yeah, I have a right and so I’m gonna give them a gigantic room

1:23:04

and for those of you who are in the newsrooms and all that great energy, we just had all of that applause and all of them how are they

1:23:12

speaking truths are currently incurred.

1:23:16

And go do this go tell their stories.

1:23:22

are very

1:23:30

few housekeeping things.

1:23:33

First of all,

1:23:36

get that phone back.

1:23:39

That is also my wallet.

The post TransLash receives NLGJA Excellence in Podcasting Award appeared first on TransLash Media.

]]> Finally Feeling Comfortable: The Necessity of Trans-Affirming, Trauma-Informed Care https://translash.org/articles/finally-feeling-comfortable-the-necessity-of-trans-affirming-trauma-informed-care/ Wed, 12 Jun 2024 20:44:02 +0000 https://translash.org/2022/03/30/finally-feeling-comfortable-the-necessity-of-trans-affirming-trauma-informed-care/ "Medical professionals should slow down and clearly ask what the patient’s experiences with medical exams have been in the past."

The post Finally Feeling Comfortable: The Necessity of Trans-Affirming, Trauma-Informed Care appeared first on TransLash Media.

]]> by Alex Petkanas

This op-ed is the first in a series of pieces through our TransLash News and Narrative platform, launching in 2022. Subscribe for alerts. For more #TransBodiesTransChoices content, explore our film series guides for My Abortion Saved My Life and I Didn’t Think I’d Make It.

My own experiences with annual gynecological exams as a trans person have been consistently negative. I had grown accustomed to the base level of discomfort and fear—until my most recent visit. Feeling out of place usually starts in waiting rooms or during intakes. While gender nonconforming language in waiting room literature and on intake forms are not guarantees of trans competent care, these introductory elements can either include me or alienate me. At many offices, I was required to select “male” or “female” for my gender, leaving me totally unsure of what to do. I would be asked, “If you’re a woman, could you be pregnant?” The question made me feel invisible because I am not a woman, but I still have the ability to get pregnant. At the visit where I felt safest, the waiting room was full of information for people of all genders. The forms allowed me to indicate that I am trans and nonbinary, and medical questions related to specific body parts—not to gender. 

During regular intakes, I would typically be asked about my last menstrual cycle. Even before starting testosterone I had a highly irregular cycle and felt deep dysphoria about my period. When explaining why I didn’t know when the last period was, nurses often seemed surprised or annoyed. However, during my most recent visit where I felt welcomed, the person I met with asked questions about my experiences and needs as a trans person. She had a clear understanding of testosterone and simply asked if I ever bled during my menstrual cycle anymore. It was the first time I felt like I was going to get gynecological care that made my body feel accepted. 

But OBGYN visits weren’t the triggers for my dysphoria.

It was years before I realized that I was having dysphoria about my chest. This is why breast exams made me so uncomfortable. Every visit, without fail, I would laugh nervously and start to feel nauseated while the person doing my exam pressed their hands into my breasts. I would apologize for how nervous I was, but the examiner would say “you’re just ticklish,” or ignore what I was saying completely which left me even more anxious. This pattern continued after I came out. No providers ever offered any kind of solution or support.

During my recent gender-affirming visit, the registered nurse had me place my hand on top of hers and take deep breaths throughout the breast exam to lessen the sensation of surprise. For the first time, my body relaxed. I was able to get through it without any nausea or uncomfortable laughter. When I realized how simple the solution to my anxiety was I felt relieved and disappointed in every other provider I had been to. For trans people who often experience body dysphoria and have high rates of sexual trauma, going to a gynecologist for an annual exam can be anywhere from triggering to downright retraumatizing. According to a 2015 study of over 27,000 trans people across the United States, 47% of respondents had been sexually assaulted in their lifetime. One-third of these respondents also reported having a negative experience with a health care provider as a result of being trans. While I don’t know exactly where this nurse learned trans-affirming and trauma-informed approaches, there are plenty of resources that provide information on trans-specific health care needs and alternatives to standard testing procedures. 

In a study referenced in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ page on Health Care for Transgender and Gender Diverse Individuals, transmasculine patients expressed an overwhelming preference (90%+) for self-collected vaginal swabs. A training module from Michigan Medicine describes some of the potential impacts of hormones and encourages providers to discuss options for testing with patients, like self-insertion of the speculum. The University of California San Francisco Gender Affirming Health Program provides a variety of techniques for providers to establish trust and perform pelvic exams, like using a mirror so patients can directly observe and checking with patients about their preferred language for their body parts. Additionally, examiners should clearly communicate what they are going to do before interacting with patients. Patients should have an opportunity to process these requests and verbally consent to each part of an exam. 

The registered nurse who provided a safe and comfortable exam for me demonstrated that she had a comprehensive clinical understanding of my needs, but also showed patience and empathy in her approach. She took time to listen to and acknowledge my previous negative experiences, and when she did, it felt like she made an effort to begin healing the wounds caused by medical institutions. She had a conversation with me about how we could proceed, asked me if I felt ready to move forward, and reminded me that I could stop the exam at any time. 

This is another crucial element of trans-affirming and trauma-informed care.

Medical professionals should slow down and clearly ask what the patient’s experiences with medical exams have been in the past. While some patients may know exactly what they need and be able to express it, others may not. With a strong understanding of trans-specific and trauma-informed health care, medical professionals can provide positive care to those who do not have specific requests by using good communication and giving as much control to the patient as possible throughout the exam. The opportunity to discuss safety at home is important, but some patients may also need the support of a partner, relative, close friend in the room, or on the phone. 

The stakes are high when gender-affirming care is inaccessible. Annual breast and pelvic exams are opportunities to screen for multiple types of cancer in addition to STD testing. When these are not caught early, they can develop into issues that are much harder to treat. It is essential that medical professionals stay up to date on their continuing education. 

For the safety and wellness of trans people, providers must adopt a trans-affirming and trauma-informed approach to annual exams because it can save our lives.

Trans Bodies, Trans Choices: Resources

Trans Bodies, Trans Choices Films

Getting an Abortion

  • Under 18 and need an abortion + free legal representation for judicial bypass? Call or text Jane’s Due Process: 1-866-999-5263
  • The National Network of Abortion Funds connects abortion seekers with grassroots organizations that can support financial and logistical needs here
  • Tips on how to choose a good abortion provider and questions to ask a clinic
  • The Brigid Alliance arranges and funds travel, along with related needs, to support individuals across the country who are forced to travel for later abortion care. 

For Clinicians and Providers 

Calls to Action

  • Sign on and Demand #AbortionWithinReach: Abortion funds have come together to deliver an unprecedented bold statement, explicitly identifying what it means for abortion to be truly accessible for our callers. As we shine a light on these demands, we also want to spotlight independent clinics, who are our partners on the front lines giving support and care to abortion seekers. Independent clinics perform the majority of abortions in the U.S., and show up big as plaintiffs in the monumental cases of the past few years. 
  • Expand the Supreme Court & Save Abortion Rights. Sign the petition here.
  • Urge federal elected officials to end the Hyde Amendment, the Global Gag Rule, and the Helms Amendment. Learn more and take action to expressly urge support for the EACH Act, the Global Health, Empowerment, & Rights Act, and the Abortion is Healthcare Everywhere Act. 
  • Invest in abortion clinics, especially community-led health care facilities. 
  • Talk about abortion! Change culture and shift stigma through powerful, values-based conversations. We believe dialogue, storytelling, and intentional conversations are powerful tools to organize and strengthen our movement. This guide for heart-to-heart abortion conversations from NNAF   and this toolkit from Chicago Abortion Fund will support you to hold a small group gathering, house party, or action space where you can invite your friends, family, and acquaintances into meaningful conversations about abortion, issues that relate to abortion, and why you support abortion funds.
  • Support the Black reproductive justice policy agenda, which outlines proactive policy solutions to address issues at the intersections of race, gender, class, sexual orientation, and gender identity within the situational impacts of economics, politics and culture that make up the lived experiences of Black women, femmes, girls and gender-expansive individuals in the United States.
  • Invest in long-term sustainable models of care that supplement existing structures of support and center the expertise of those who have been laying this groundwork for years so that communities have reliable support systems that contribute to one’s current and future ability to thrive. 
  • We urge all individuals knowledgeable about a person’s reproductive choices to make a commitment to not – under any circumstances – punish, criminalize or report any person for any pregnancy decision or seeking medical assistance for a decision. This includes abortion funders, public health authorities, clinicians, law enforcement, prosecutors, and community members.

Resources on Pregnancy as a Transgender Person

‘Trans Bodies, Trans Choices’ Press

Featured image courtesy of Broadly’s Gender Spectrum Collection.

Alex is a trans and sober 29-year-old living in Alaska with their partner, their cat, and their dog.  After graduating from law school and getting licensed as an attorney during the pandemic, Alex quit working as a lawyer. Since then, Alex has started working on a local farm, writing, and providing child care. Follow Alex on Twitter: @alexpetkanas

Did you find this resource helpful? Consider supporting TransLash today with a tax-deductible donation.

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]]> The Untapped Potential of AI for Gender-Affirming Art https://translash.org/articles/the-untapped-potential-of-ai-for-gender-affirming-art/ Wed, 04 Oct 2023 12:00:00 +0000 https://translash.org/2023/10/04/the-untapped-potential-of-ai-for-gender-affirming-art/ "We don’t have to suffer with depictions of ourselves that misrepresent us through someone else’s eyes. AI tools can bring a sense of agency and confidence to those of us who fight against the limits of social constructs." 

The post The Untapped Potential of AI for Gender-Affirming Art appeared first on TransLash Media.

]]> AI art generation exploded into the mainstream last year with the side-by-side release of Midjourney and Stable Diffusion. These platforms gave users their first chance to try out the most reliable form of AI art ever seen. Technology that was once experimental and unstable was now in our hands in a functional way. 

AI has been a leading buzzword since then. It’s been portrayed as everything from our new best friend to an existential threat to our livelihoods. It’s driven labor action and changed how academia approaches authorship. 

Ghosts in the Machine.

The apprehension isn’t misplaced as artists find their work devalued and we address the ethical questions of adding machine learning to our lives. To be clear there are many AI-related questions and shortcomings. 

For one, I don’t dare to call AI art generation very accessible yet. While mobile image morphing apps are widespread, a full AI art generator takes more computing heft. Midjourney’s cheapest unlimited plan is $30 per month and running Stable Diffusion at home still requires a beefy computer. It’s not accessible the way a pencil and paper are accessible—yet. 

There are also more complex reasons to be concerned about participating in AI art. For one, AI is trained on vast sums of online data, which creates issues of consent. Creators have lamented the ability of AI to use their work without permission to create new content. The risk to artists is palpably real. 

AI is also susceptible to bias. Although it cannot act with intentionality and personal agency, it can reflect the biases of its creators. This is often seen when flawed training data leads to biased creations. Shortcomings like these can complicate efforts to generate gender-affirming artwork from data that reflects cisnormative biases. Although frustrating, the user-driven and iterative learning sides of AI art makes it easier to rectify this imbalance over time.

A fair skinned woman with her ahir in a wispy updo adn a blue and gold robe looks directly at the camera.
A gender-affirming portrait created by Summer Tao with AI.

While I was learning to use these programs, there were hundreds of duds, sure. It made dogs with too many eyes or eyes in worrisome places. Trees blended into mountains in beautiful but unsettling ways. Don’t get me started on what it did to human fingers. Despite these errors, there was magic in participating in artistic creation. I felt unburdened by scrutiny and failure when asking the AI box for pictures. 

However, one branch of AI artistry remains relatively unexplored: the potential for queer-affirming portraiture and visual art. 

What is AI Visual Art and How Does it Work?

AI visual art is the output of machine learning designed to produce imagery. These systems are trained on massive databases of images, text, and human feedback, all while being adjusted by developers. For AI users, art generation happens through ‘prompting’. The user describes what they want to see and the machine produces it. The resulting image may be refined by increasing its detail, changing objects, or generating alternatives based on the prompt. With time and practice, users can develop their prompting skills to generate relevant and accurate imagery. Imaginary landscapes and startlingly authentic human faces can be created in mere minutes. 

AI art represents the conjoining of the intense capabilities and shortcomings of computing. It can process, store, and produce far more information than any human can. However, it lacks the intuition of context clues that we have.

AI and Self-Discovery

In mid-2022, I was breaking under the stress of grad school and started taking antidepressants for the first time. During the months I got used to the medication, I realized my gender dysphoria ambushed me under the cover of depression. 

This was also the time when people couldn’t stop talking about Midjourney. I wasn’t doing much beyond staring glumly at screens, anyway. I figured it couldn’t hurt to try. I coaxed the AI program into conjuring up images of the freedom my heart desired. I prodded it for pictures of dogs in space. I requested art on the theme of ‘Pride, but ominous’. 

A gender-affirming portrait created by Summer Tao with AI.

I fed it my own photos to generate portraits of trans women who look like me, and I saw myself in a completely new way. Usually, Asian trans women are depicted as raging stereotypes or the subject of pornography. But with AI, I created a fantastical version of myself rendered in lively color that brought me joy. 

Creating Possibilities for Queer and Trans Futures.

AI was once a tool that worked behind the scenes for giants like Google and Duolingo. This is changing. We now use AI, rather than just being served AI-managed content by advertisers and content algorithms. 

It has strengths and shortcomings, but it’s definitely here to stay. So why shouldn’t we explore it in an ethical and considerate manner? 

AI has been used to create gender-affirming visions of ourselves via image-morphing apps like FaceApp. Sliders can add makeup, change facial hair, or tilt our gender presentation into entirely new directions. 

AI-generated art based on personal photos can also transport us beyond binary ways of seeing ourselves, to faraway lands, or into contexts where we don’t see ourselves represented. 

A gender-affirming and exploratory portrait created by Summer Tao with AI.

And those are just the tools that use existing images. Full AI art generation like that of Midjourney and DALL-E can create new people and locations to inspire our art and showcase queer diversity. It can expand our imaginations beyond the confines of a cisheteronormative landscape.

What I learned from my brush with AI art is that there’s room for queer and trans users to carve out space for themselves alongside computers. We don’t have to suffer with depictions of ourselves that misrepresent us through someone else’s eyes. AI tools can bring a sense of agency and confidence to those of us who fight against the limits of social constructs.  

Summer (she/her) is a transgender writer from South Africa. After finishing a Master’s in Psychology, she took up writing to bring her knowledge of healthcare, LGBTQ+ issues, and mental well-being to a wider audience. When she’s not figuring out her next sentence, she’s probably playing a game or building a scale model.

The post The Untapped Potential of AI for Gender-Affirming Art appeared first on TransLash Media.

]]> How to Help LGBTQ+ People in Maui https://translash.org/articles/how-to-help-lgbtq-people-in-maui-translash-guide/ Fri, 18 Aug 2023 15:31:11 +0000 https://translash.org/2023/08/18/how-to-help-lgbtq-people-in-maui-translash-guide/ Looking for ways to help queer and trans people impacted by the wildfires and devastation in Maui? Explore native-led resources below. Over 59,000 LGBTQ+ people live in Hawaii, according to a MAP/Williams 2020 report. The media is actively reporting on displaced Maui families and individuals, but so far only washingtonblade.com has reported on the needs of … Continued

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]]> Looking for ways to help queer and trans people impacted by the wildfires and devastation in Maui? Explore native-led resources below.

a silhouetted monkeypod tree (samanea saman) on the island of Maui, Hawai'i
A silhouetted monkeypod tree on the island of Maui | Credit: samuel howell

Over 59,000 LGBTQ+ people live in Hawaii, according to a MAP/Williams 2020 report. The media is actively reporting on displaced Maui families and individuals, but so far only washingtonblade.com has reported on the needs of LGBTQ+ Maui residents.

Here Are More Lgbtq+ And Ally, Native-Led Organizations In Maui To Support:

Maui residents have been displaced and need shelter. Randy M. Soriano, the executive director of Hawai‘i LGBT Legacy Foundation, Honolulu Pride and the LGBTQ Center Honolulu on the island of Oahu is asking for assistance.

The Maui Strong Fund is providing resources that can be deployed quickly.

Hawai’i People’s Fund’s Maui Aloha: The Peopleʻs Response: Hawaiʻi Peopleʻs Fund has helped to support, build capacity, and amplify the impact of grassroots social change movements in Hawaiʻi since 1972.

Maui Rapid Response: An ahupua’a based citizen disaster response team. Linking locals to resources and needs. 100% of donations go directly to local families in need.

Hawaiʻi Workers Center: https://www.hawaiiworkerscenter.org/donate/ (Write in the notes section: “Lāhainā Fires” for the donation)

Council of Native Hawaiian Advancement, Alaka’ina and Kakoʻo Haleākalā

Transcend Maui is a comprehensive primary care clinic available to all transgender and gender diverse patients of Mālama I Ke Ola Health Center. 

Follow and support Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, a prominent trans kumu (teacher), activist, filmmaker. Wong-Kalu is the co-founder of Kūlia Na Mamo, a Native Hawaiian and transgender-led health organization, and a proud māhū in Hawai‘i. 

Trans Hawaiian History

The word “māhū” historically has been used as a transphobic and homophobic slur. Māhūs are third-gender people with additional spiritual and social roles. Artists and advocates like Wong-Kalu have made it their mission to reclaim māhū as a term of queer & trans empowerment.

Follow and support Cathy Kapua, another Native Hawaiian trans woman and activist.

Meet Moe Hoapili, one of an estimated 1,260 Hawai‘i high school students who identify as transgender.

Help Maui Residents With Direct Mutual Aid

Kay Ulanday Barrett, a disabled trans artist/poet/activist and TransLash community member, has been sharing Maui mutual aid resources on their Instagram account. They told TransLash Media in a DM that “it’s so necessary; we know agencies and institutions don’t always get people in crisis what they need!!”

(Watch Kay Ulanday Barrett and TransLash Media founder and CEO Imara Jones speak at #BeyondBinaries: the first ever high-level meeting on gender diversity and non-binary identities, held at United Nations headquarters in NYC on July 15, 2019)

Giving mutual aid directly to native Hawaiians is the fastest way to offer support. Explore this Google sheet of Maui mutual aid opportunities; it’s being updated in real-time with fundraising links.

More ways to support:

Learn more about predatory Maui land grabs and take action.

Send support via the Lahaina Ohana Venmo: a Venmo-based mutual aid initiative by Lahaina residents for Lahaina residents affected by the August 2023 fires.

About The Lahaina Fire

The fire that ignited on August 7, 2023, and destroyed the town of Lahaina in West Maui, is now the deadliest US blaze in over 100 years, according to US Fire Administrator Lori Moore-Merrell. 

A mix of land and atmospheric conditions known as “fire weather” — along with the collapse of Lahaina’s water system — knocked out local communication and destroyed thousands of homes and historic buildings. Thousands have evacuated or been displaced, more than 100 people have been killed, and more than 1,000 people are still missing.

Hawaii Governor Josh Green described the fires as the “largest natural disaster Hawaii has ever experienced” — with over 2,000 structures destroyed and losses “approaching $6 billion.” Search and recovery efforts are still ongoing, but local officials expect the death toll will likely rise.

An online, centralized hub to respond to the impacts of the Maui Wildfire Disaster was launched at mauinuistrong.info.

Local and national activists are decrying the United States government’s history of colonialism and capitalist greed being the foundation for this avoidable tragedy.

As native Hawaiians witness tourists being given preferential treatment, many have been questioning whether the tourism businesses that fund their livelihoods should continue during a tragedy, as the island’s economy heavily depends on the travel industry. 

Translash Podcast: ‘AAPI and Trans’

ICYMI: Imara interviewed two leading AAPI trans community organizers for TransLash Podcast with Imara Jones.

She spoke with Hawaiian cultural ambassador and activist Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, who shares her coming out experience and talks about ways gender is expressed across Polynesian cultures and languages. Imara was also joined by outgoing Executive Director of Transgender Law Center, Kris Hasyahi, to discuss his nearly 30 year-long career as a trans activist.

If you are a business, individual, or organization that would like to collaborate with native Hawaiians to support #MauiStrong efforts, please fill out this form to be matched to the needs and offers that are coming in on the islands and beyond. This form was made by Maui Rapid Response.

Did you find this resource helpful? Consider supporting TransLash today with a tax-deductible donation.

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]]> Trans Filmmakers Make History At Outfest LA https://translash.org/articles/trans-filmmakers-make-history-at-outfest-la/ Mon, 17 Jul 2023 18:51:33 +0000 https://translash.org/2023/07/17/trans-filmmakers-make-history-at-outfest-la/ “The 2023 Outfest LA Film Festival is the first in the organization’s 41-year-old history with transgender artists’ films marking both the opening and closing nights of the festival.” The 2023 Outfest LA Film Festival is the first in the organization’s 41-year-old history with transgender artists’ films marking both the opening and closing nights of the … Continued

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]]> “The 2023 Outfest LA Film Festival is the first in the organization’s 41-year-old history with transgender artists’ films marking both the opening and closing nights of the festival.”

The 2023 Outfest LA Film Festival is the first in the organization’s 41-year-old history with transgender artists’ films marking both the opening and closing nights of the festival. Outfest, which runs two film festivals, was founded in 1982. This is the first time since its inception that transgender filmmakers are featured so prominently as part of the main festival programming.

The LGBTQ+-oriented nonprofit for storytellers amplifies filmmakers who have not historically been connected with key individuals who can bring the filmmakers’ work to the larger public.

Aitch Alberto directed “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe.” Sav Rodgers directed “Chasing Chasing Amy.”

“Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe”, which opened the festival on Thursday, is based on the book of the same name by Benjamin Alire Sáenz. Set in 1987 El Paso, Texas, it’s a coming-of-age story of two teenage Mexican-American loners as they explore their friendship and the difficult road to self-discovery. The film is scoring 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and will be released across the U.S. theatrically.

“Chasing Chasing Amy,” which will end the festival and screen on June 23 at 6:30 p.m. Pacific, is a documentary that examines the complex legacy of director Kevin Smith on LGBTQ+ people and the film’s life-saving impact on Rodgers. It is scoring 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. 

“Both of those films are just absolutely incredible stories that speak to your heart,” Mike Dougherty, Outfest’s director of programming said after noting that opening and closing nights have to fill big theaters. He also noted that the bookending films are “the perfect narrative for Outfest in particular” given that Alberto and Rodgers were part of Outfest development programs when they were younger, and Alberto has gone on to mentor succeeded program participants. Rodgers, who said that Outfest gave him a portal to Hollywood when he didn’t have one, is making his directorial debut with “Chasing Chasing Amy.”

“Closing the festival with my first feature is pretty surreal,” he said. “It feels like a very full-circle moment. If I think about it too much, I might freak out…The fact that people who I care about, who program movies and are quite discerning, finding that our film is worthy of a closing night slot at one of the largest queer film festivals in the world…that’s pretty amazing.” 

While the landmark moment in Outfest’s history is “long overdue…it’s perfect timing with what is happening in (the United States),” Alberto said.

The 491 anti-LGBTQ+ bills in the U.S., according to the American Civil Liberties Union, include 353 active anti-transgender bills.

The adversarialness is “also part of the hope,” Alberto said. “Historically, when there is so much resistance to a community, it is because we are on the way to it being normalized.”

The historical moment for Outfest opens new avenues for trans filmmakers according to  Rodgers who says that “Trans filmmakers are often pigeonholed into stories of coming out and the superficial stuff that being trans is.” He wants to see trans filmmakers everywhere, including major feature films; “not just at Outfest, and not just at a regional festival.” 

When asked why it’s particularly important that artists of transgender experience figure more prominently into a film festival like Outfest’s LA event Dougherty said, “In media at large, trans artists are not given the microphone very often.” In the LGBTQ+ community, “gay men get more opportunities and more spotlight shone on them…Sometimes the culture at large thinks that the trans community is a monolith.”

Dougherty said that despite the progress Outfest has made, every year brings new challenges such as “right-wing media depicting LGBTQ+ people as things we are not.” This is where “the very tried-and-true idea that film is an empathy machine” helps shift that narrative, Dougherty said.

In a press release about Outfest’s programming of the opening and closing nights, Alberto had said that “anything is possible when we move with intention, resilience, and purpose to show that we are more than what you define us as.” She understands that it’s easier to put folks into a box. However, since she finds it limiting to be called “a trans filmmaker,” Alberto refuses the title. 

When asked what it meant for her to stand in her truth on opening night, Alberto said it took her a long time to transition and that it was a truth that she never thought she could claim.

“But everything changed as I did. Everything started to flow to me…It wasn’t until I transitioned that I knew I was ready to direct. It goes back to that purpose and truth aligning.” Tickets remain available for “Chasing Chasing Amy.”

Featured Photo: still from “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe.” Courtesy of Outfest.

Described by a rival community newspaper as a “big-city cousin,” Alysha Scarlett (she/her) has had bylines in USA TODAY, Screen Rant, Bleacher Report, and several times in Patch. She was a screenwriter for the theatrical feature “Before Your Time” and wrote “‘Star Wars’ Is Still Intact: Re-finding Yourself in the Age of Trump,” which was published by Thought Catalog Books. She currently contributes to That Hashtag Show and writes at Medium. Alysha is the first person in a rural Utah county to have their name and gender be legally affirmed.

As director of festival programming, Mike (he/him) is in charge of programming Outfest Los Angeles and ensuring the highest experience of filmmakers and audiences at all Outfest festivals. He has over a decade of experience in the finance, production and distribution aspects of the industry. Mike joined Outfest after five years as acquisitions and distribution executive at Radiant Films International and five years prior to that as a Creative Executive at Hyde Park Entertainment. Since 2014, he has been the director of programming for the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles and is an associate programmer for AFI FEST.

Aitch Alberto (she/her) is a writer/director born and raised in Miami, Florida. She is a Sundance Episodic Lab fellow, recipient of a Skowhegan Artist Residency, a Yaddo fellowship, a Latino Screenwriting Project Fellowship, and an alumnus of the Outfest Screenwriting Lab. Aitch has written on DUSTER, a 1970s-set crime drama series from J.J. Abrams and LaToya Morgan for HBO Max and WBTV. She also served as a writer on AppleTV+’s BAFTA and Film Independent Nominated anthology series LITTLE AMERICA from Alan Yang, Kumail Nanjiani, and Emily V. Gordon. Most recently, Aitch has adapted and directed the award-winning young adult novel ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE with Lin-Manuel Miranda and Eugenio Debrez producing, from Limelight. She has been included on The Black List’s inaugural Latinx List, as well as the Tracking Board’s Hit List and Young & Hungry List, and NALIP’s list of “Latinx Directors You Should Know”. Aitch has most recently been featured on Variety’s 10 Directors To Watch for 2022 and Indiewire’s 22 Rising Female Filmmakers to watch in 2022.

Originally from Kansas, Sav Rodgers is a filmmaker and screenwriter whose feature directorial debut CHASING CHASING AMY is about the complicated legacy of Chasing Amy (1997) and its profound impression on his life. The TED Talk he gave in 2018 kickstarted this filmmaking journey, and spurred the writing of scripts that center on highly specific, surprising stories about queer people. His screenplays have been recognized by GLAAD, Outfest, ScreenCraft, among others. An alumnus of the Producers Guild of America’s inaugural PGA Create program, Sav is also the Founder and Executive Director of the Transgender Film Center, a nonprofit aiming to help trans creators bring finished films to audiences around the world. Sav is a proud University of Kansas graduate and still sports KU baseball caps wherever he goes.

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]]> Relief, Loss, and Freedom: 6 Trans People Discuss the Grief of Leaving Florida https://translash.org/articles/relief-loss-and-freedom-6-trans-people-discuss-the-grief-of-leaving-florida/ Fri, 30 Jun 2023 12:15:00 +0000 https://translash.org/2023/06/30/relief-loss-and-freedom-6-trans-people-discuss-the-grief-of-leaving-florida/ "...the decision to leave Florida was simple to me. I feel forced out in more ways than just anti-queer legislation."

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]]> By Sara Youngblood Gregory

States across the country are introducing waves of legislation that target LGBTQ+ people, but especially trans people. The ACLU is currently tracking a staggering 491 anti-LGBTQ bills in the 2023 legislative session. Conservative states like Texas, Florida, Iowa, and South Carolina are homes for particularly aggressive bills. 

The Florida Senate has already passed an extreme ban on gender-affirming care for minors, criminalized bathroom use for trans people, and restricted drag performances. Trans people in Florida are already feeling the effects, are planning to leave, or have already left the state — especially families with trans minors.

The decision to move away isn’t available to everyone, as some trans folks who would like to leave the state are unable to due to familial, financial, or legal reasons. For those who do flee, coping with this decision is much more than just logistical. It’s also deeply emotional, with many feeling a mix of grief, guilt, regret, and relief. 

TransLash spoke to six trans Floridians, some who have already left, and some who are preparing to leave, about the emotional impact of escaping a place that is dangerous — but is also your home.

Oliver  

Oliver (he/him) is a 22-year-old transmasc Miami resident who left Florida for New York City. In Florida, he worked as a teacher and made the decision to leave because he “could not build a life down there [in Florida] as a transgender educator.”

For Oliver, the decision to leave made sense from a logistical standpoint: “As a transgender individual, Florida is scary enough (and that was before I left), but being a transgender worker in the very field in which my community is being attacked is terrifying. It was also, logistically speaking, not the right decision for me to start building a pension and saving for retirement in a career that I could potentially be fired from in the coming years due to my identity. From a financial standpoint — passion and love aside — one of the only things that makes teaching worth it is the stability of the career. Florida’s teacher salary is among the lowest in the country, and without job stability due to me being trans, it wasn’t a viable option for me. I moved a few months ago. Had I stayed in Florida, my access to healthcare would probably have been compromised as well.”

Emotionally, Oliver says it’s heartbreaking that for some people, their home always gets to feel safe. “But for me, it’s different. I always say that I don’t hate Florida, Florida hates me,” he says. “I wasn’t forced out in the sense that I was forced to move to another state or I would be killed, but I was forced out in the sense that I would lose my humanity and dreams for every day I stayed there.”

As a teacher, Oliver says he feels guilty leaving his queer students behind, in a state where “their right to a safe learning space is being challenged every day. I feel like a hypocrite for telling them that everything will be okay if they just keep fighting, but I couldn’t even do it myself. My heart breaks every time another law passes that could endanger a trans kid’s life, or threaten the wellbeing of a queer child. I also worry about my queer friends who can’t afford to just up and leave the entire state they grew up in. I just have to keep reminding myself that I don’t owe anyone a fight. I’m tired of fighting. I just want to be happy.”

Though he was initially worried about moving away from family and friends, Oliver says his mental health is so much better in New York: “Now that I’m here permanently, I can breathe easier. I can go out and see people like me thriving. I feel freer in every sense — freer to advocate for myself and my community, to meet people, to explore, to be open about who I am and what I believe in, to teach effectively and passionately, to love and be loved publicly.”

Oliver said he never thought he, a child of immigrants who came to the US for freedom, would have to move to ensure that freedom. “As hard as it was, the move made my relationship with my family so much stronger. Moving out of Florida was the best decision I’ve ever made. Even though it felt literally impossible, I did it, and it was so worth it,” says Oliver.

Hollen

Hollen (they/he) has lived in Florida for nearly 20 years, and spent the last decade in Jacksonville. Now, the 29-year-old trans-Floridian is leaving along with their family: their fiance and co-parent, both of whom are transfemme, their co-parent’s partner, who is two-spirit, and Hollen’s child. Together, they are planning to go to Portland, Oregon.

“We all have different factors to consider for our lives but Oregon seems to cover all of our needs with its protections in place for trans people and its healthcare, plus we have some friends out there who left Jacksonville about a year ago, so I know it’s possible and it wouldn’t feel like starting over completely,” says Hollen. 

There are a few factors that determined Hollen’s need to leave: access to gender-affirming care, co-parenting a child as two trans adults, and bathroom bans. Most pressing, is the care of Hollen’s child:

“My co-parent and I have been dealing with the legal system while trying to get divorced. We’ve been separated for a long time, but it’s not a pleasant experience, in general, to get a divorce and go in front of a judge and all. With the current legislation in place ‘protecting’ children from becoming transgender, we have been afraid of anything backfiring for us and feel we are at risk of having our identities play into how ‘safe’ a child is in our care because we are trans. We’ve used a few different sets of pronouns for our child through the years at their request. They came out as non-binary at age three and we don’t want to live somewhere where that is cause for concern. We are terrified of losing our child. While it probably won’t happen, it legally could.”

Already, Hollen has made changes to protect their child such as homeschooling them to avoid exposure to “the ridiculous educational standards that DeSantis is enacting, particularly with the new legislation in place that directly affects trans youth in schools by not validating their names and pronouns, [or] bathroom bans,” says Hollen. “We want our child to be comfortable in their identity, to know about things like diversity, and the evils this country has put people through instead of ignoring anything that doesn’t correspond with a very narrow set of beliefs supporting white nationalism.” 

Hollen grew up in Florida, and he says leaving here comes with so much sadness, however necessary the move is:

“My independence and life habits were formed here. I learned to drive here, to maintain a house here, to meet people and make friends in this culture. It is sad to me, the idea of leaving. Every time I walk out my door and see swarms of lizards scatter in every direction with my footsteps, I get choked up. When I see white herons flying overhead, or think about the crystal clear springs I grew up around, or go to the beach for a day with my friends and family, I feel all hollowed out and echo-ey inside. Florida is beautiful, and much of my life has been here, and the idea of moving to somewhere I have so little experience with is terrifying. I talk a lot with friends about how awful Florida is, but the reality is that it’s familiar, and it is my home, and I am sad that I’m leaving due to factors beyond my control.” 

The hardest part, though, is leaving family.

“My family is here,” says Hollen. “My niece and my child are the same age and are great friends. To leave my niece behind when she can’t fully grasp what’s happening or why this is happening is so heart-wrenching. She idolizes me, and I want someone in her life to be representative that you can be who you want to be, no matter what that looks like. I don’t want to take away that aspect of her experience. I don’t want her to feel like she’s being abandoned. I just recently opened up to my mom about leaving so soon and she’s grief-stricken at the idea of never being able to see my child again, not being able to be present in our lives, and not knowing what life holds for me so far away.”

Hollen has a strong community here of transmasc friends, coworkers, and family. The reality of leaving these pillars brings Hollen “anguish beyond words — turmoil.”

But at the same time, there are happier aspects of the move.

“I do feel relief! I feel joy. I feel excited,” he says. “I’m excited to live with my girlfriend and build a new life and routine and home, to rely on each other in new ways and to get to have more depth in our relationship. I’m excited for my child to be able to have more opportunities for friendship and be around more people who are going to understand them, to have more educational opportunities and a welcoming environment. I’m a little jealous that they’re being set up to be the coolest person ever, and glad that we can give them that, in addition to giving them safety and security.”

Cyrus and Grayson

Cyrus (he/they) and Grayson (he/they) are both trans men living together in Orlando. The couple met in cosmetology school in the area — Cyrus, 19, was studying to be a hairdresser and Grayson, 21, a nail technician — and the two moved in together. As soon as Cyrus graduates this Fall, they plan to move together to Philadelphia, to live with Grayson’s sister. 

Both feel they have to leave Florida, as Grayson’s hormone provider is no longer offering testosterone prescriptions.

“My biggest concern right now is having access to our hormones because, obviously, that is important. But also I have PCOS [polycystic ovary syndrome], which is a hormone imbalance. So my testosterone really helps to level out my stuff [and get me] where I need to be,” says Grayson. “We’re sharing our hormones right now, which is not legal or good. I have a few friends who are giving us their spare hormones. That is literally like the only thing that will help us get through the year. The kind of running joke right now is that the community is really just passing around the same $10. [But] what we really need right now is support from everyone.”

“I’ve been fighting with my insurance to have my top surgery covered for probably two years now. I’ve had a lot of consultations, probably five, and all of them have been individually traumatic,” says Cyrus.

Safe access to hormones and gender affirming care is a main motivator to both Cyrus and Grayson. But leaving also comes with risks: Cyrus, 19, received housing support through Florida’s foster care system and stands to lose his benefits when they move. 

During their time in Orlando, the couple has found joy living in “one of the gayest parts of Florida” as Cyrus puts it, building up not only a community, but also financial footholds. When we spoke, Grayson had just started his first day of work as a nail technician. He worries about starting over again and finding a new client base when they leave town. 

“I think it’s important for anybody to leave their hometown, but it’s terrible that I’m being forced into this,” says Grayson. “It’s incredibly sad. Talking to my other trans friends, I feel like it’s just a community-wide sigh, this feeling of like, ‘fuck, this is what is happening right now. This is the place we’re at.’”

For Cyrus, who dealt with housing instability before moving to Orlando, he worries that moving will also impact his education. “I’ve created myself a home and I cannot believe I’m leaving so soon. I had so many more plans and it’s so unfortunate I’m losing my benefits.  I planned to stay in school as long as I can afford it. I wanted my bachelor’s in business. And now I really don’t know when I’ll be able to go back to school. If I go back to school [at all],” they say. 

Along with feeling through their major losses, both are excited for a life in Philly, and with family. They plan for a two-bedroom, where Grayson says, “Our friends can come and stay, and they can figure out their shit. If they wanna go to Colorado or they wanna go to New York we can be a safe space. And it’s something that we both severely value.” 

Haris and B

B (they/she) and their spouse Haris (he/him) have both spent much of their lives in Central Florida. After meeting in Lakeland, Florida in 2014, B and Haris got married in 2017. They moved to Maryland but eventually came back down to Florida to reconnect with their community.

B and Haris made the decision to return to Maryland, with Haris going up first and B joining a few months later.

Haris, a 30-year-old trans man,  says “The decision to leave Florida was simple to me. I feel forced out in more ways than just anti-queer legislation. I felt forced out by rent skyrocketing. I felt forced out by jobs that told me I was family, but disposed of me when I was in need. I felt forced out by so much fake allyship who would rather give you crumbs than take two damn minutes to make a PB&J when you’re in need.”

Haris began his transition in Maryland, but says he had a much harder time accessing care in Florida.

“I never had any issues with [in Maryland] with insurance covering testosterone, and top surgery would’ve been covered but I moved too soon. There was a program that helped me change my name and gave me all the tools to change my gender marker with ease, and it was all free and covered either by government assistance or insurance,” says Haris. “When I got back to Florida, I immediately experienced difficulty in finding a healthcare provider who could both prescribe testosterone and be my primary care doctor. I ended up without a primary care doctor because my insurance got worse and visits became more expensive even though I was making less money. The most recent situation encountered was that I had a hysterectomy consultation scheduled that got canceled immediately after Desantis signed another bullshit law.”

For B, a 29-year-old queer and nonbinary person, watching their sense of safety and community be jeopardized by the government “feels utterly gut-wrenching.” They’d been struggling to reestablish themselves in Florida during the pandemic, but it was getting more and more difficult every year. 

“Haris isn’t my only trans partner. The fear and reality of him and them not only losing access to his medication —  but all of us getting targeted for our genderqueerness — has made the idea of establishing roots here feel utterly impossible,” says B.

Haris says it’s been a huge relief to leave Florida, and he already has access to a primary care doctor and prescribed testosterone. “I feel calm and at rest with myself,” he says. “I’ve been able to start the conversation about getting grant funding for affordable housing for queer Florida refugees. I feel like I have some purpose here and that I can make a difference.”

For B, it’s a bit more complicated. There is some shame, she says, for leaving and a lot of grief:

“[There is a] weight of leaving. Of feeling like most of the choice got taken from us. Feeling like staying meant putting our lives and families’ life at continuous risk. Feeling like leaving is a disservice to the community we want to help fight for and protect. Feeling guilt that protecting our safety felt more important. It all holds a lot of weight. I would love to be able to stay and feel like I can fight and help turn back what has been created. I also want to live. I also want to feel safe. It could be selfish, or it could be dramatic, but I spent a lot of my life not thinking my existence was important and I care about shifting that now. I am grieving the life we could have had here, the roots we could have planted deeper, and how they could have potentially flourished.”

Sara Youngblood Gregory has curly blonde hair, fair skin, and red painted fingernails. Their picture sits in the middle of an orange circle and blue square that reads Spring 2023 News Fellow.

Sara Youngblood Gregory (she/they) is a non-binary lesbian journalist and writer. She is the author of THE POLYAMORY WORKBOOK and a former staff writer for POPSUGAR. She covers sex, queerness, disability, culture, and wellness. Her work has been featured in Vice, Teen Vogue, HuffPost, Bustle, DAME, Cosmo, Jezebel, and many others.

Sara serves on the board of the lesbian literary and arts journal Sinister Wisdom. As a poet, Sara has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Best New Voices. She’s also attended the Kenyon Review Workshop in 2019 and 2022, as well as a Winter Tangerine poetry workshop. Her chapbook RUN. is out now.

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]]> Stonewall National Museum Archives and Library: A Q&A with Artists Beau McCall and Souleo https://translash.org/articles/stonewall-national-museum-archives-and-library-a-qa-with-artists-beau-mccall-and-souleo/ Fri, 16 Jun 2023 12:36:00 +0000 https://translash.org/2023/06/16/stonewall-national-museum-archives-and-library-a-qa-with-artists-beau-mccall-and-souleo/ "When we went to the club we were free and didn't have the pressure of society with a magnifying glass looking down on us for being part of the LGBTQ+ community. Disco allowed us a space that was welcoming and open to people of all backgrounds and identities because the music connected us."

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]]> I first came across artist Beau McCall’s work through the Stonewall National Museum Archives and Library website (SNMAL). Located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, SNMAL is one of the largest queer archives in the United States — and the upcoming home of the REWIND: HISTORY ON REPEAT exhibition. The exhibition started as a collaboration between McCall and curator Souleo, who served as guest editor for McCall’s debut artist book REWIND: MEMORIES ON REPEAT. This collaboration between Souleo and McCall, both personal and professional, would eventually lead to the exhibition which features McCall’s collage work and archival material from the Stonewall Library. 

REWIND: HISTORY ON REPEAT spotlights Black LGBTQ+ experiences from the late 1970s to mid-1990s, and in particular, pays tribute to now-passed members of McCall’s chosen family. The exhibit is a snapshot of life during the era McCall remembers as a time of disco, the AIDS crisis, the LGBTQ+ rights movement, and anti-trans violence. Layering McCall’s personal photos, button embellishments, and archival materials, the exhibition is an invitation for all generations to feel empowered as they reflect on the past, present, and future of Black LGBTQ+ communities. 

TransLash spoke with McCall and Souleo about the exhibit, their shared artistic vision, and how we can draw strength from queer lineages. 

TransLash: Can you tell us a little bit about yourselves?

McCall: I am Beau McCall from Down South, Philadelphia. I am a self-taught button artist. My journey started many moons ago, over forty years to be precise, with a jar of clothing buttons in my mother’s basement. I saw the buttons just sitting there and talking to me. Eventually, I began to create wearable and visual art using buttons. That’s why they also call me The Button Man.

Souleo: I am a creative, curator, impresario, consultant, and muse. It sounds like a lot to digest but it’s really all about using creativity to tell stories (mainly underrepresented narratives) whether that is through exhibitions or public programs or writing. Oh, and I’m one of those rare New York-born and-raised individuals, you know, like the disco song. 

TransLash: Beau, can you talk about how you came to work on REWIND: MEMORIES ON REPEAT as a book? What was the artistic process like for you? How did the book evolve into an exhibit at the Stonewall Archives?

McCall: Nick Kline at Rutgers University’s SHINE Portrait Studio Press offered Souleo the opportunity to do an artists’ book. At the time, Souleo didn’t want to do a book about his experiences so he asked if I was interested and if he could edit the book. I thought about it for a minute and started reflecting on my core group of friends, or as I call them, my chosen family. They are all deceased. But mentally and spiritually I am still holding onto the memories of our time together. So I wanted to honor them in the book.

The day before I began to work on the book my closest friend, Tracy, passed away. So it made it very difficult to begin because I had to mourn that loss. But in many ways working on the book while mourning was also cathartic. I was able to reminisce and reflect on how important these friendships are to me. 

In terms of the artistic process, I created the collages by hand using my historical photographs (mostly shot by me), archives, and detailed images from my actual wearable and visual artwork. Before social media and camera phones, I always had a disposable camera at hand in my pocket or bag. I would document all the things me and my friends were doing whether we were just hanging out at a club or putting on makeup. My friend in the book, Antoine aka DeeDee Somemore called me “picture crazy.” But at some point, I knew I was gonna utilize all the information I collected. I just didn’t know how I would use it. 

Beau McCall, Tony I, 2020. Collage printed with dye sublimation on aluminum, 16 x 20 inches. From the book and series, REWIND: MEMORIES ON REPEAT.

The photographs I selected are heartfelt, joyous, and fun. For example, the image of me and Saifuddin Muhammad at the Patti LaBelle concert is one of my favorites. I remember us being in the lobby at the Forrest Theatre in Philly. This photographer came up to me and saw I had a photo of Patti in the breast pocket of my blazer. He asked to photograph us and we said yes, not knowing where the image would end up. The next day we were in the Philadelphia Daily News and we got 15 minutes of fame off of that photograph. 

The book and the exhibition are full of such special moments. The exhibition was a vision me and Souleo had from the beginning when we first started working on the book. We both agreed that Stonewall National Museum, Library, & Archives (SNMLA) was the perfect place to launch the exhibition. 

TransLash: REWIND: History on repeat functions like a personal tribute and memorial, as well as evidence of life in the 70s-90s. What do you want people to understand about the friends who inspired this art? About this period in time?

McCall: I want people to understand that true friendship never dies. At some point, we all reflect on the past because your past has a lot to do with the current state of who you are. Because of my experience with my friends, I am who I am today. I’m grateful for them being in my life. This time period, despite its struggles, was also joyous. I had the time of my life with them. It made my life easier with these particular folks that I welcomed in as my chosen family. They were all unique, talented, and we all had something to offer each other and the world. So I really want people to know how special these individuals were and to reflect on the friends in their lives and to be thankful for those bonds.

TransLash: Souleo, can you describe a little bit about your process working as both an editor and curator for this collection? How did you and Beau begin working together?

Souleo: We started working together really from the beginning of our romantic relationship about thirteen years ago. But it was during the COVID-19 pandemic when I officially became a consultant and started representing him. In terms of working on this project, I had to balance my role as his lover with my professional duties. There were times he would break down in tears of pain or joy reflecting on his friendships. So I had to lend an ear and comfort him during those times as a romantic partner. At the same time, I had to keep us on track to make sure we hit our deadlines, I had to ask him a lot of questions to fact-check his memories as much as possible, and be objective enough to edit and curate the work even if it meant challenging him on certain aspects. 

TransLash: The exhibit description notes: “…select collages are paired with an archival item from SNMLA that relates to the theme of McCall’s artwork. This pairing draws a parallel between the personal experiences of McCall and his friends and the larger historical moments that impacted their lives.” 

Can you tell me about the historical and social contexts the exhibit speaks to? 

McCall: One of the biggest historical moments that shaped our lives and the collection is disco. We were friends during the height of disco in the 1970s. I remember going out every Friday listening to incredible music and watching people do the Hustle dance. When we went to the club we were free and didn’t have the pressure of society with a magnifying glass looking down on us for being part of the LGBTQ+ community. Disco allowed us a space that was welcoming and open to people of all backgrounds and identities because the music connected us. 

Midtown 43 promotional flyer, 1987. Stonewall National Museum, Archives, & Library.

In terms of trans identity and expressions of gender, you have to remember that at that time we didn’t have the language we do today. There wasn’t a trans label for those who identified as such. You were just called a drag queen. In these disco clubs, I met individuals who were trans men and women. So that was fascinating to me because I was young and had never met a trans person. Seeing the confidence with which they carried themselves was inspiring to me. So the disco clubs created an environment where me and my friends felt safe enough to express ourselves in ways that were authentic to who we were and that challenged sexuality and gender norms.

Black Pride Resource Guide, 2004. Stonewall National Museum, Archives, & Library.jpg

TransLash: Beau, you’ve said that “Since the 1970s we have lost so many individuals to AIDS, drugs, and anti-trans violence. So I wanted to tell some of these lost stories through images of my own friends who experienced these issues. It is my way of honoring my friendship with them and bringing greater visibility and representation to the unsung everyday people of the Black LGBTQ+ community.”

Can you talk to me about how the three forces you name — AIDS, drugs, and anti-trans violence — have shaped queer and trans lives broadly, the lives of your friends, and the exhibit? 

McCall: AIDS was something that had a profound impact on my group of friends. Some of the images in the exhibition are from the height of the AIDS epidemic. I remember us all being on pins and needles as to who would be next to get AIDS and die. I’ve always been very particular about who I am intimate with so the fear of AIDS made me even more selective, which probably ended up saving my life. I remember each time when we would meet we’d hear of another person who died from the disease. In my circle, the disease kept getting closer and closer until it claimed the lives of some of my friends featured in the exhibition such as Antoine aka DeeDee Somemore, Joey aka Ericka World, and Saifuddin Muhammad. Mentally, it led me into a depression and I took about a ten-year hiatus from pursuing a professional creative career. I withdrew and became very guarded. After I started losing my friends I didn’t develop any new friendships in the LGBTQ+ community. 

On a positive note, these forces have led to the creation of more organizations and activism surrounding the LGBTQ+ community. There are more spaces where people can share their stories and find support. We didn’t have as much of that back then. All we had was each other. I think we’ve made a lot of progress in terms of visibility and in public policy. Of course, there is still a long way to go and the struggle continues as we see by current political efforts targeting the LGBTQ+ community. 

TransLash: When reading the exhibit description, I thought about what other generations of LGBTQ+ people might take from the exhibit, given our current political moment (and especially in Florida, where the Stonewall Archives are). Souleo, what do you hope people will take from the exhibit?

Souleo: I hope people walk away inspired on several fronts. In the queer community, some are rejected by members of their own families. So to be able to choose your family and have that support is very important. And we need to uplift those bonds as much as possible to add an alternative to the dominant traditional family narrative. 

I hope people walk away inspired with an appreciation for Black LGBTQ+ experiences. Within our own queer community, the Black experience and those of other similarly oppressed groups have been underrepresented. And when there is a spotlight it focuses on the same set of names. But with this project, we are sharing the everyday Black queer perspective from individuals who were surviving and living and trying to figure out life together. Along the way, some of them made important cultural contributions that deserve greater amplification and placement in the canon such as Moi Renee’s music and Beau’s artworks. 

Beau McCall, Triple T-shirts: REWIND: Memories on a T-shirt II, 2023. Cotton T-shirts, one size fits all.

I hope people are inspired to do as Beau did and start their own personal archives and eventually have them acquired or donated to institutions such as SNMLA. It is collections like these that add that emotional and human perspective to our collective history. In particular, this is also how we can expand archives to be more representative of Black LGBTQ+ experiences.

And finally, I hope people are inspired to take political action in one way or another by voting, signing petitions, donating to causes, or whatever it may be. The exhibition arrives during a time when LGBTQ+ rights are under assault in Florida and across the country with numerous bills introduced to restrict access to LGBTQ+ books and lessons in educational settings. That’s why I’m honored to curate this exhibition at SNMLA, because it is spaces like this where we are able to share important stories such as that of Beau’s chosen family.  

All Photos Courtesy of the Artist.

Sara Youngblood Gregory has curly blonde hair, fair skin, and red painted fingernails. Their picture sits in the middle of an orange circle and blue square that reads Spring 2023 News Fellow.

Sara Youngblood Gregory (she/they) is a non-binary lesbian journalist and writer. She is the author of THE POLYAMORY WORKBOOK and a former staff writer for POPSUGAR. She covers sex, queerness, disability, culture, and wellness. Her work has been featured in Vice, Teen Vogue, HuffPost, Bustle, DAME, Cosmo, Jezebel, and many others.

Sara serves on the board of the lesbian literary and arts journal Sinister Wisdom. As a poet, Sara has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Best New Voices. She’s also attended the Kenyon Review Workshop in 2019 and 2022, as well as a Winter Tangerine poetry workshop. Her chapbook RUN. is out now.

Photo Credit: Greg Frederick

To learn more and support Beau McCall’s work, visit his website.

Photo Credit: NayMarie

To learn more and support Souleo’s work, visit his website.

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]]> Streaming to Be Demeaned: My Addiction to Gender-Affirming Misogyny https://translash.org/articles/streaming-to-be-demeaned/ Fri, 26 Aug 2022 12:05:00 +0000 https://translash.org/2022/08/26/streaming-to-be-demeaned/ "While the misogynistic and sexually charged comments were uncomfortable, there was something oddly thrilling about the transphobic ones...these complete strangers had called my bluff. It felt electric."

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]]> I spent the first 20 years of my life trying really hard to be a girl—even if it seems the only person I ever fooled was myself. 

Before I came out, my mother often told me my gender-neutral birthname had “worked out.” Strangers asked for my pronouns all the time, even before that was particularly common. 

It frustrated me because I didn’t get it! I was giving womanhood my best shot, even as it grated and chafed against my very being. In fact, I gave my cis girl self a last hurrah back in 2019. I was dating a butch lesbian and more than happy to be their femme. I dressed up, experimented with my hair, and tried whatever makeup I could endure for half a day. I even wore lingerie! I wasn’t just “girl,” I was “girlfriend,” which inexplicably fit a lot better than the former. 

Funny enough, this relationship reopened the long-repressed gender confusion I’d felt throughout my life. My butch ex-partner was a nonbinary lesbian and was the first person I’d met who identified that way in real life. Our conversations around gender led me to question my own. I only got about as far as experimenting with she/they pronouns before we broke up. 

Then the pandemic hit. 

All of a sudden, I was alone with my thoughts—and they were the worst possible company. Many of them had to do with hating the person I saw in the mirror. At the time, I thought I was just insecure, but in hindsight, it was textbook dysphoria. I impulsively chopped off the hair on my head, and let it grow wild everywhere else. If I wasn’t on a Zoom call, I paid little mind to what I wore. After all, nobody saw me, and I avoided looking at myself too hard. 

A lot of this changed when, on a whim, I tried a new creative outlet: live streaming. It seemed pleasant enough—a way to socialize from home or with strangers from all over the world. As a musician and general fan of performing, the format of having my own virtual audience was also exciting. My intention wasn’t vain—I just missed the chemistry and connection. 

I tried Instagram, Tiktok, and even Twitch a few times. The one I found the most success on though was Reddit. 

Success is a relative term, of course—I made about $12 total over a year’s worth of streams—but I had fun! For those not in the know, Reddit is an unconventional social media experience. It’s not about following people as much as it is following communities. These communities are called “subreddits.” So in a world where influencers dominate most other platforms, it stands out. There are few famous Redditors—but many famous “subs.” 

Additionally, in 2020, Reddit launched RPAN. RPAN let anyone stream from their phone or computer with ease, and because of how Reddit works, you didn’t need a massive follower count to rack in views. I’d stream for an hour or two and get view counts in the tens of thousands. For the most part, these viewers were normal enough—they shared song requests and commented on my playing, that kind of thing. 

However, I was a feminine-presenting person showing their face on the Internet. Specifically on Reddit, which spent a good deal of the late 2010s in hot water for being home to some major misogynist communities, among other things. The site even has a Wikipedia page dedicated to its “controversial” communities past and present. 

In short: the insults were inevitable. 

A lot of it was outright misogyny. Men asked weird personal questions, demanded I take off my clothes, and called me a bitch when I didn’t humor them. As a flautist, blowjob jokes were especially common. Due to my androgynous appearance, many viewers dipped into outright transphobia. 

“Boy or girl?” 

“What’s in your pants?” 

“How old is it?” (I’d get called an “it” a lot.) 

Transphobic slurs were also liberally hurled about—ones I don’t wish to repeat. To make it worse, after my streams, some men would berate me through direct messages. They would demand I shave and become a “real woman.” 

While the misogynistic and sexually charged comments were uncomfortable, there was something oddly thrilling about the transphobic ones. I’d spent my whole life trying and failing to feel comfortable as a woman, and these complete strangers had called my bluff. It felt electric. 

Soon, I was streaming on the regular, enduring “bad” insults to hear the “good” ones. I’d care less and less about my appearance, knowing it dragged in more insults, more people denying the womanhood I was too scared to deny on my own. When people asked, I’d say streaming was just a fun outlet and got me practicing my instruments, but that’s not the whole truth—I was addicted to how they interrogated my gender presentation. 

Two major factors broke me out of this vicious cycle. First, the insults became more than mean comments. Strangers from Reddit would find my other social media accounts, or become unsettlingly sexually explicit in private messages. Grown men would rant about their pornography addictions, their insecurity surrounding their genitals, their fantasies about having sex with lesbians, and all kinds of things without my consent. I realized that while they didn’t really see me as a woman, they didn’t see me as a person, either. 

Secondly, I reached out to my own support system. Despite my own confusion, I had plenty of out and proud trans friends by then. In fact, some of the first queer communities I found myself in were led by trans folks, and many of my childhood friends also ended up trans (which, in hindsight, should’ve told me something about myself). 

Seeing trans people in my life explore their gender identities opened my eyes. I watched them deal with dysphoria, and find healthy ways to express their euphoria. When I shared my own experiences they were not only understanding, but validating. They gently nudged me towards dealing with my discomfort and finding less dangerous ways of confronting it. Lighthearted avenues to my own euphoria came about as I played with my clothes, hair, and other kinds of presentation. 

The last major catalyst though—of all things—was a meme. My friend tagged me in a silly picture about the “different types of nonbinary friends,” putting my name beside an illustration of a particularly androgynous fey creature. For some reason, that’s what made it click: this picture of a pretty, genderless being, and my name right next to it. I realized my gender didn’t have to be repressed any longer, and it wasn’t something to be ashamed of. 

These days, I continue to prioritize joy in my gender journey, and the only validation I need is from myself. Femininity and I are back on good terms—I’m a nonbinary femme dyke, and couldn’t be happier. I also make art about my nonbinary experiences—Happy art! Funny art! The kind of art that I think could help kids who are as confused as I once was. If I can help at least one trans kid not hurt themself online, I’ll have done a good job. No trans person should have to find euphoria in cruelty. I deserved better—and so do you.

Featured image by Karolina Grabowska.

Alex Masse, AKA Fairything, is a 21-year-old writer, musician, and student residing in what is colonially known as Vancouver, BC. The arts are a longtime love of theirs, and their work has been seen everywhere from the Scholastic Writing Awards to Vancouver Pride, as well as in collaboration with Penelope Scott, artsUNITE, She Does The City, and more. They’re also a neurodivergent nonbinary lesbian, which greatly affects their process.

When not writing, they’re making music, and when not making music, they’re writing. Occasionally though, they can be seen working on their Communication degree or cozied up with a good book. Find them on Instagram and TikTok.

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]]> Jayla Rose Sullivan: Dance is Key to Trans Joy https://translash.org/articles/jayla-rose-sullivan-dance-is-key-to-trans-joy/ Fri, 29 Jul 2022 12:00:00 +0000 https://translash.org/2022/07/29/jayla-rose-sullivan-dance-is-key-to-trans-joy/ “Sullivan Values Having A Safe Space As A Transwoman, Specifically In Dance, Because She Has Not Seen Herself Represented In Mainstream Media. Jayla Sullivan, 34, knew that her joy stems from dance because it released her from the shackles and burdens of societal standards. The Buffalo, New York native started dancing when she was ten … Continued

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]]> “Sullivan Values Having A Safe Space As A Transwoman, Specifically In Dance, Because She Has Not Seen Herself Represented In Mainstream Media.

Jayla Sullivan, 34, knew that her joy stems from dance because it released her from the shackles and burdens of societal standards. The Buffalo, New York native started dancing when she was ten years old and working as a competitive gymnast, but one day her coach decided that she and her teammates should take a ballet class. It changed her perspective on dance.

“Instantaneously, I just kind of fell in love with it. It made more sense moving to music and letting it take control,” Sullivan said. 

As she let the music guide her, she decided to quit gymnastics and asked her mom to let her enroll in dance. She embarked on her journey of dance styles such as jazz and tap for a year which fueled her passion for more. Dance was always an escape from the outside world for her, but she also had to battle many internal conflicts regarding her confidence. 

“I always hated freestyle. That was the worst thing for me because I would see all these people doing tricks or technical elements that I was still working on, and I felt like I just didn’t bring that much to the genre,” she said. “Moving into my adulthood, I realized choreography is going to look different on each body…you can have ten people do the same thing, but it’s going to look different on each person. So that freestyle is that moment for you to just put it all out there. It’s become one of my favorite parts of dancing. You just get wrapped up and lost in the music.”

Sullivan values having a safe space as a transwoman, specifically in dance, because she has not seen herself represented in mainstream media. 

“I want specifically trans-identifying people to be able to walk through a space, a little more weightless, a little more validated knowing that they deserve it,” she said. “People need to know that it’s okay to go out for things [and] that you deserve to take up the same space as a cisgender person.”

Growing into her adulthood, she noticed she would see and hear more harmful opinions than she would like to from the outside world, whether it was body shaming or gender shaming. She needed to find more freedom in her environment

So Sullivan decided she wanted to take a leap of faith and become a contestant on Lizzo’s reality show “Watch Out for the Big Grrrls.” “I feel like gender expression is a very teetering fine line. It’s mostly cis-gendered men and women that are a part of that dance world, so I didn’t necessarily think that I would belong,” Sullivan said. She almost missed her audition due to her battle with self-doubt.

Jayla Rose Sullivan

While dwelling in her thoughts about thirty-six hours before the audition cut-off time, Sullivan received her sign. Lizzo pointed out that her audition description welcomed cisgendered and trans women to audition for the show. 

“I was like, ‘maybe I do deserve the opportunity to go out for this,’” she said. 

She then realized the worst she could hear was no and that she would never know the answer unless she tried. The biggest obstacle she faced during and after the show was shutting out the intrusive thoughts that ran through her mind. There were times when she pivoted into thinking she was not good enough, but she continued to affirm her worthiness.

As the show continued, viewers could see Sullivan realize her joy matters. Spoiler alert: In episode four, titled “Naked,” the ladies have to dance in front of a glass door, write something on it, and then break the glass. Sullivan decided to write her name symbolizing that she would no longer be in her way, thus fully amplifying her joy. 

“Being able to break through the mirror was [that] moment where you can finally exhale,” she said. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been called derogatory names because of my gender, LGBTQ slurs, [or] been fat-shamed…you can point out all these things, you can misgender me, you can do whatever you want to be rude, but what else do you have that you truly have against me as a person?”

Throughout the show’s journey, she was affirmed in knowing that her joy deserved to be represented in mainstream media by people in and out of the queer community. “There’s been a lot of people that have reached out to me,” she said. “[There] are cisgender white women living in religious communities that are raising their children and are finally seeing [and realizing] people do deserve love, they do deserve acceptance, and I think that’s the most beautiful thing.”

Jayla bends backwards in a sheer black crop top against a green and blue background. She wears red lipstick and her black hair trails behind her.
Jayla Rose Sullivan shot by michaelaphotography

Sullivan never imagined having a large platform where people could see themselves through her. “I feel like because people haven’t seen somebody like me…that makes them feel like ‘oh, my gosh, I am valid, I deserve to be seen, and I deserve to follow my dreams,’” she said. 

Through this new platform, she can give herself the encouragement and advice that she did not have back when she started dancing at ten years old. Being able to be the visibility that the next generation wants to see is what fulfilled Sullivan the most.

“If I have anything to say to the ten-year-old me, it’s that ‘you’re not going to understand yourself necessarily. People aren’t going to understand you, and you’re gonna go through a lot of BS in your life…over time, you’re going to know that you deserve to be seen, you deserve to be loved, and you are beautiful in who you are,’” she said. 

As Sullivan embarks on her new journey, she remembers to be the joy that other people need to see. 

Primary Image by Wesley Carvalho.

Secondary image courtesy of Jayla Rose Sullivan.

I am Kenyatta Victoria, a cross-topic journalist and graduate student at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. I’m 23 years old and passionate about covering stories about music, pop culture, LGBTQ+ stories, upcoming artists and entrepreneurs, and more. I have my bachelor’s degree in Mass Media Arts concentrating in journalism from Clark Atlanta University. My passion for storytelling started when I realized I loved the feeling of telling stories about underrepresented voices in the entertainment industry. Follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

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]]> T4T Magic https://translash.org/articles/t4t-magic/ Thu, 16 Jun 2022 12:00:00 +0000 https://translash.org/2022/06/16/t4t-magic/ "Our relationship has more room to breathe and grow because the focus isn’t on being trans, but on being ourselves together."

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]]> It’s 4:00 a.m. I am collapsed on a queen mattress covered in pillows and plushies, my bare ankles tangled in the mess of blankets at the end of the bed. I turn to my right, slightly winded, and meet the soft brown gaze of the most beautiful vampire princess I’ve ever seen. Her hand touches my cheek, then slides down to my chest. Tattooed fingers trace my top surgery scars so lightly my still-numb skin can just barely feel it.

“Wow,” she says, gesturing to the flatness of my torso with a smile. Then she looks down at her own body and points at her full breasts, freshly shaved and smooth. “Wow.” She looks at me again. I smile back. We don’t need any other words to say what we feel. So I simply go back to kissing her.

If you are a member of the transgender, non-binary, and gender non-conforming community, you are likely no stranger to the fact that being in relationships while also being trans can be … complicated. Our physical forms are often works in progress, and our existence is far too often the target of hate speech and ignorant headlines. Even with our supportive cisgender partners, we can find ourselves guiding them through uncharted waters when it comes to body parts, labels, or something akin to a gender language barrier.

However, not all of us have cisgender partners; many TGNC folks fall in love with one or more kindred transgender spirits, forming what is commonly known in our community as a “T4T” (i.e. “trans for trans”) relationship. From two binary trans people with a heterosexual dynamic, to a polycule of nonbinary and genderfluid humans, these partnerships are as wonderfully varied as queer people themselves. 

Take my current relationship, for instance. I met my partner, a panromantic asexual transgender woman, shortly after I had ended a four-year relationship with a bisexual cisgender man. She was the recording engineer and technical director for a project I was tracking vocals on, and when she mentioned that she’d be taking time off for her breast augmentation surgery the next month, I asked her if she had anyone coming to take care of her during her recovery. She shyly admitted she wasn’t very good at asking for help, and I said, “Cool, I’m coming Tuesday.” I showed up as promised, thinking it would be a one-time favor for a new friend, but something about her just kept me coming back. And hey, the rest is history.

As a *demi-panromantic, asexual, and agender/gender non-conforming person, when someone experiences attraction to me, it often raises questions about who they see me as and what they’re really attracted to. Part of what brought the two of us together was the conversations we had about asexuality and queer platonic relationships (aka QPRs)—we actually began our relationship as platonic partners and later realized that it had blossomed into something more. In both the platonic and the romantic chapters of our story, the emphasis has been on providing support in the ways our previous relationships had lacked. And after just eight months of knowing each other, I have noticed with gratitude the difference in how my girlfriend affirms and cares for gender, sexuality, and even consent.

A lot of it is the little things. She calls me her “dragon” (an enchanted non-gendered term of endearment that I love) and creates spaces where I can feel like the strong one. I seek out feminine language to include in my conversations with her, like “enchantress,” “goddess,” and “hey, girly.” She made a point of shifting her language around body parts when I explained what words felt icky or not right for me. I make spaces for her to be soft and delicate, something that felt forbidden before she transitioned and was being perceived as male. Before my top surgery, she would check in with me about my chest binding to make sure I was being safe and taking breaks. At every opportunity, I make sure to compliment her on her hair, dresses, and make-up—anything that I know will make her feel girly and beautiful. We’re both always on the lookout for affirming gifts to give each other, and we casually exchange pre-transition clothes and belongings without a second thought. And the list goes on; a myriad of threads that form a tapestry of love and support.

It’s also in the unspoken things. Even though our trans experiences are not identical by any means, so much of our emotional connection starts with understanding one another on a deeper level. We never have to explain why something feels affirming, or why at times we need certain things to relieve dysphoria. We don’t have to explain what dysphoria is or feels like. We don’t need to worry about our partner’s chosen family and social circle being safe and accepting. We are also conscious of how anxiety-inducing it can be to enter new spaces, and we always attend to each other’s sense of safety. Our relationship has more room to breathe and grow because the focus isn’t on being trans, but on being ourselves together.

To be intimate with someone who has no preconceived expectations for how parts are “supposed” to operate is liberating. To be supported in your transition by someone who understands it and holds actual joy for you is exhilarating. The conversations we have, the inside jokes, the shared desire to see more queerness in media; we experience life differently from our cisgender peers, and the way our histories contain little echos of each other is just one facet of our secret language. Take it from a dragon and a vampire princess—being in love with another trans person is magical.

Definitions

Demisexual/Demiromantic: Demisexuality and demiromanticism are subsets of asexuality and aromanticism, respectively, as are the rest of the identities on this list. Demi is French for “half,” and was first coined to describe a person who does not experience attraction to an individual until a significant emotional bond has formed. This works off of the idea of primary attraction and secondary attraction. Primary attraction is attraction to people based on first impressions, such as appearance or how they smell. Secondary attraction is attraction to people that develops over time, and forms out of the relationship one has with a person, and their emotional connection. This can be applied to both romantic attraction and sexual attraction. Demisexuals or demiromantics do not experience primary attraction, but do experience secondary attraction.

Pansexual: Used to describe a person who has the capacity to form enduring physical, romantic, and/ or emotional attractions to any person, regardless of gender identity. This is one of several terms under the bi+ umbrella.

Asexual: Asexuality is probably the most well-known of the a-spec identities. Many people who identify with one of the subcategories of asexuality will use asexual when talking about their identity in public because it’s the easiest to explain. A simple definition that I use is: Someone who does not experience sexual attraction towards anyone. It’s important to remember, however, that attraction and action are not always the same: some asexuals may be repulsed by the idea of sexual contact and won’t engage in it, but others may be sex-neutral or sex-positive and will have sex. Some asexuals have a libido or will masturbate but won’t be open to sex with someone else, while others may not have a libido but will have sex with a partner because of the sense of connection that comes from it. Everyone experiences their asexuality differently, so it’s important not to make assumptions about an asexual person or their experiences.

Agender: As first reported by them., “agender” refers to people who don’t identify themselves with any particular gender. This can mean being genderless, lacking gender, or having a null gender. However, people also use “agender” to mean identifying as gender-neutral or having an undefinable gender.

Featured image courtesy of Broadly’s Gender Spectrum Collection.

Socks Whitmore (they/them/theirs) is a writer, stage and voice actor, and lyricist-composer rooted in voice and text. A graduate of CalArts, the range of their writing spans from musical theater to narrative design for games to poetry, short fiction, and op-eds. They have been produced by New Musicals Inc. and Overtone Industries and published by American Composers Forum, the Sappho Small Talk blog, and Queer Quarterly magazine, among others. Learn more about Socks here.

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