Last week was Transgender Awareness Week. I missed it. My wife’s four medical appointments and medical emergency overrode Trans Awareness.
The GLAAD Trans Awareness Week webpage states that the Week is intended “to help raise the visibility about transgender people and address issues members of the community face.”
Over the years, I think I have done my share of making civilians aware of transgender people. It was actually kind of easy once I overcame my fear of mixing it up with civilians. Once I found out that I had nothing to fear except fear itself, I loved going out and finding new venues in which to strut my stuff as a woman, trans or otherwise.
It was “easy” because almost all of my friends and acquaintances, who knew the male me accepted the female me.
My former co-workers knew the male me long before they were introduced to the female me and things did not change when they were made aware that I was trans; I was the same old Stan, but with an improved fashion sense.
Strangers were almost as easy. I assumed that I passed some of the time because no one pays much attention to old women like me, so old transwomen can fly under the radar and not be closely scrutinized.
On the other hand, I also assumed that some civilians suspected that I was a trans, but they did not make an issue of it. The worst experience was the use of wrong pronouns, but I can live with that especially in the cases when the person using the wrong pronoun corrected himself/herself.
Doing outreach at colleges and universities was different because going in, the students knew we were trans, so there was no fooling them. On the other hand, I think we probably enlightened some of the students. How many of them expected over-the-top drag queens to show up and were surprised when we appeared looking just like other civilians?
Awareness, indeed!
Caveat Emptor: This is an edited repost.
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| Wearing Alice + Olivia |
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| Phillippe Nicaud (left) femulating in the 1959 French film Come Dance With Me. |
Looking fab, as always. I always try to look and act as an ambassador for the "sisterhood" whenever I'm Rachel. So much negativity directed at people who don't fit neatly into the gender binary is all about fear of people whom civilians don't really know anything about.
ReplyDeleteGays and Lesbians became gradually less "scary" to the mainstream, as that mainstream realized that their favorite Aunt Emily, Cousin Tim, or their trusted family dentist were not straight.
Just running errands, having dinner in a restaurant with my wife, or going to the movies or the Kennedy Center in DC as Rachel, I hope, contributes in some small way to making it safer for all of us to be ourselves.
One can't help but think of the events in Colorado Springs on the night before the Day of Remembrance.
We all hope your wife is better soon, Stana.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes, Penny from Edinburgh.
After the events in Colorado on this weekend The work you are doing to make more young people aware of the trans community is very important. If things are to change it will take ALL coming together in a common acceptance of people and allow ALL to be who they are or wish to be. May those who were shot either rest in peace or recover from their wounds and know many support them in their personal journey.
ReplyDeleteStana,
ReplyDeleteAs always you are the epitome of femininity in the room.