Fearless Friday: News round-up
(Icon via garwlban)
It's been a week to mark progress on the march toward gender and sexual equality.
1.
Vermont's alternative newspaper, Seven Days, noted victories scored under the radar. The smaller of the two is one the public will perhaps notice most, but it's one that makes so so much sense: All single-stall bathrooms in state buildings must now be gender neutral. It's a move that's already been made in some schools and hospitals. I suspect that now it will spread further. And really, why shouldn't all single stall bathroom be unisex anyway?
The more important new law is one that will affect transgender Vermonters. It says that a doctor's note suffices for a transgender Vermonter to obtain a new, "clean," birth certificate (previously birth certificates would have the old birth name and gender crossed off and the new ones written in). The old birth certificate will be sealed in a storage facility while the new one will be put in the town's vital records, which are public documents, available to anyone who requests them.
That's great news, because it means transgendered Vermonters can officially be who they say they are, with no shadow of doubt, which the cross-offs would leave. And, as the Seven Days article points out, without having to undergo expensive surgery that's seldom covered by insurance. State legislator Bill Lippert, who was central to the passage of Vermont's civil union law in 2000, was this law's key advocate.
2.
A Florida teen has been crowned the first transgender prom queen. Andii is also the president of the school's Gay-Straight Alliance. The prom king was another Gay-Straight Alliance member. McFatter High School sounds like a far cry from Freak Show's Dwight D. Eisenhower High. Good for everyone all around.The story is here: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/43230133/ns/today-today_people/t/transgender-student-makes-history-prom-night/
If you're a language person like me (and you must be if you're reading this blog, right?), you'll notice the masculine pronouns referring to the prom queen. This is the point at which the copyeditor in me says, "whatever the person prefers." However, I will quibble with "transgender lifestyle," because to my mind, in my opinion, "lifestyle" implies choice and a possible transient state. Webster's 11th Collegiate says, "the typical way of life of an individual, group, or culture." Is there a "typical" transgender way of life? What do you think?
In addition to the news, these gender-related posts also caught my eye.
3.
This news item from http://www.gayya.org/?p=277 refutes the "lifestyle" question by challenging writers to go beyond "The Narrative," that is to say, the idea that someone who is transgender must do things in a certain way, or he or she isn't a "true transgender," whatever that is. We have to remember that our characters are as individual as real people, that their main concerns may not be their gender and sexuality, but may be how to get a summer job, write a college application, find a way to honor their dead uncle, or get out of the wilderness after a freak storm.
4.
For an interesting reflection on sexuality and passing, one that relates to the lifestyle question, read Lee Wind's May 27 post about why he decided to wear a gay t-shirt every day in June. I had an interesting similar discussion earlier this year with the Teen Advisory Board I visit from time to time, because extremes of height (or weight) are rather like race in that they (usually) can't be hidden. And if you haven't seen it, do watch Aimee Mullins' TED talk about redefining the term "disabled."
Honestly, I'm not sure I'd assume Lee was gay simply because he was wearing a gay-themed t-shirt. I might think he was an ally. But maybe that's me or maybe it's living in Vermont, because I tend not to assume sexual orientation until either something is said, or it's obvious. It's not really my business, anyway.
5.
Lee Wind also posted an interesting article about parents who refused to let their newborn's sex be made public.
(If it's biology, it's sex; if it's cultural, it's gender; if it's who you're attracted to, it's sexuality, so in my book, you're born a member of one sex[or two, if you are intersexed]. The moment someone slaps a pink or blue cap on you, you're gendered.)
Here's the link: http://www.leewind.org/2011/06/walking-enlightened-gender-walk-parents.html Writers, what might this child be like as a teenager? ...
BTW, if you're not following Lee's blog and you're interested in YA literature and the queer, what are you waiting for? It's a great place to hang out.