"The Transgender Day of Remembrance is a solemn time to reflect on those who have been murdered because of their gender identity or expression.”
Mara Keisling, National Center for Transgender Equality.
I had the honor of meeting one of the most amazing people on the face of this Earth, Mara Keisling. I am hardpressed to find an individual as positive, motivational and friendly as Mara is. I really plan on interning for the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) just to be around her hehe :).
My first year of college as introduced me to a group of people who I used to either ridicule or ignore: transgender individuals. Keep in mind, transgender is a very broad term, that includes many levels and categories of identification.
The definition of transgender as defined by a college student's best friend-wikipedia- is an overarching term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies that diverge from the normative gender role (woman or man) commonly, but not always, assigned at birth, as well as the role traditionally held by society.
Transgender is best understood through personal definitions, and I would like to share with you my bond with two very inspirational transgender individuals in my life.
The first inidivdual I have already introduced as the head of NCTE, Mara Keisling. To know such a well-articulated person is a gift. It is through Mara that I have committed myself to transgender advocacy. Hearing her speak at my university was a turning point in my life. The second individual happens to be a person that I talk with pretty much every other day- KT. Sure, what we talk about is almost always business related (He's the head of the American University Student group known as Queers & Allies and prefers mixed gender pronouns), but I at times feel put to shame when I notice how aware she is of making sure that people around him feel like they are in an inclusive environment.
Whenever I'm around KT, I realize that my speech, my choice of words, says a lot for who I am and especially says a lot for how committed I am to equality and inclusiveness. We've gone through this change in language before. Certain ways of talking about women, minorities, the disabled and people of faith have been changed because many in society decided that they were not going to consider that form of speech acceptable anymore. Society is slowly changing now concerning transgender inclusiveness. I used to not know how to respond when people used to ask me "so is KT a man or woman?". I never knew what to say, but now I know that my response is "Does KT have to choose?" Is it impossible to imagine someone who sees themself as something besides the usual "pick or choose" male or female?
We're entering a period where the GLBT movement is being "trannyed up" as Mara Keisling likes to put it, with the eventual goal of "trannying up" the progressive movement. Transgender issues span a range of issues, including challenging the apartheid wall that makes up our society's gender and sexual boundaries. There are certain things expected of women- and only of women- as well as there are certain things expected of men- and only of men.
Why does our society work that way? It hasn't been questioned as widely or as deeply as it is being questioned today. This has led society to raise eyebrows whenever an individual TRANcends these expectations of a man and a woman, and also the expectation that there are only "men" and "women".
The rights of transgender individuals are the rights for people to mix up "masculine" and "feminine" traits as much as WE want. There is no such thing as full manly man or a completely girly girl, and that's ok. We're not saying it's bad to be whatever you identify as, even if it is very close to what society expects. The human individual comes in billions of shades. Whatever you are, come as you are, as long as it is your choice, and not something that was imposed on you. Just as I hate it when people call my homosexuality a "defect", when bisexuals are called "confused" and when the transgender are referred to as "freak shows", I do not want my entire life defined by the fact that society expects everything of me that they expect a man to be.
When "sports-playing" girls are called dykes and men in womens' bodies it is a transgender issue. When women are derided as sell-outs when they wear make-up and high heels, it is a transgender issues. When boys are "sissified" for cooking and cleaning, it is a transgender issue.
Here's to trannying up the movements for equality. Put together, our goals intermingle to one.
Author's Note: My name is Kevin Ballie, a student at American University (AU). I happen to work at the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Ally (GLBTA) Resource Center at AU. My area of activism centers particularly around GLBT activism. My goal is to write diaries on DailyKos as a regular update concerning issues facing the GLBT community. I sincerely hope to gain a readership base of committed GLBT activists and our supporters. Such a base will only enhance DailyKos and provoke greater thought. Just as a note, I may use terms like gay, lesbian, bisexual transgender (GLBT) or queer (a substitute for GLBT).