Trans* Teenagers

In response to criticism from the LGBT community and allies over its coverage of a fire that killed a transgender woman this weekend, the New York Times released a statement that reveals a lack of understanding of how serious this problem is.

New York Times Metro Editor Carolyn Ryan stated: “We typically try to capture the personal stories of those whose lives are lost in a fire, and we sought to do so in this case. We certainly did not mean any disrespect to the victim or those who knew her. But, in retrospect, we should have shown more care in our choice of words.”

Unfortunately, the problem with the Times’ article on the death of Lorena Escalera, a transgender woman of color, is bigger than their “choice of words” or with their attempt to “capture” her story. It’s their failure to recognize trans women as women.  

The decision by writers Al Baker and Nate Schweber to call her “curvaceous” in the first sentence was not a poor choice of words. It was a poor choice of focus. The way this entire article is framed comes directly from an idea that transgender women are curiosities. That they’re other. That they should be treated differently than other people.  Saying that Lorena was “called” Lorena, even though that is exactly how police identified her, was not a poor choice of words. It was a disrespectful jab at her identity as a trans woman, by implying that she wasn’t really Lorena.

Lorena was a daughter. She was a friend. She was a beloved member of a community. But the only elements of her story that writers Al Baker and Nate Schweber seemed concerned with were; what she looked like, what her neighbors thought she looked like, and whether any items that would typically belong to a woman were in her apartment when it burned. Very little of this is relevant to the actual personal story of Lorena Escalera’s life. It seems very clear that this personal information was included in order to “spice up” the story by exploiting Lorena’s status as a transgender woman – not to actually inform readers about her life.

“As my city’s and our nation’s paper of record, I would expect the New York Times to treat any subject, regardless of their path in life, with dignity,” said trans advocate and journalist Janet Mock. “In Lorena Escalera’s life she was so much more than the demeaning, sexist portrait they painted of girls like us. It goes beyond a ‘choice of words.’ According to the Times’ limiting, harmful portrait of Lorena, she was nothing more than a ‘curvaceous’ bombshell for men to gawk at. That is not the ‘personal’ story of any woman, and until we treat trans women like human beings - in life and death - with dignity, families and struggles, our society will never see us beyond pariahs in our communities.

Unfortunately, many Americans, including members of the media, do view transgender people – and trans women of color in particular – as curiosities at best, or not deserving of basic human dignity at worst. And very few Americans know any trans people in their day-to-day lives, so this viewpoint is never dispelled.  This is why extra care must be taken when reporting on a story that involves a transgender person, especially if that person is no longer able to speak for themselves, as is the case here. Writers and editors alike must be made aware of how common this underlying bias is, and make a conscious effort to remove it when they see it.

This is where the Times’ statement truly fails. Not only does it not show an understanding of what the problem with the original article was, it also makes no assurances to the community that it will educate its writers and editors about how to report on transgender people in the future. There’s nothing forward-looking in the Times statement.

GLAAD did ask the Times to detail what steps will be taken in the future to ensure this doesn’t happen again. We were told that this statement “will be all there is from us on this.”

But this statement is not good enough.  The New York Times has highlighted the personal and inspiring stories of transgender people in the recent past, including an article on Harmony Santana, Laverne Cox and other transgender actresses, a piece on triathlete Chris Mosier and one on classical pianist Sara Davis Buechner. We can be almost certain that the New York Times does understand the problems with its piece on Lorena, and is embarrassed that it ran. Now it’s time for them to say so publicly, and to tell its readers that steps are being taken to ensure that an article like this won’t be printed again.  We thank members of the LGBT community, including trans leaders like Janet Mock, Autumn Sandeen, Laverne Cox, and Jennifer Finney Boylan, trans author and New York Times contributing writer, as well as Colorlines and Feministing, for bringing attention to this story. We hope to continue putting pressure on the Times until they offer assurances that changes will be made.

(Source: transfeminism)

theselfmademen:

WWW.BLITZTRANS.ORG

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“YOU ARE AN ARTIST OF YOUR OWN CREATION”

VISION STATEMENT
Creating a safe space for the exchange of ideas and resources for all people under the trans-umbrella and those exploring gender identity.

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Through the development…

gqid:

subtlecluster:

Genderqueer Links and Books

The following are link and book recommendations, all evaluated myself, as helpful resources that relate to genderqueer and non-binary concepts and identities. If there is a resource you would like to suggest, please use the GQID submit form (select Submit a Link from the drop-down or copy and paste a list into the default text box). See also Marilyn Roxie’s genderqueer tag on Delicious. If you are instead looking for the bibliography for the Genderqueer History and Identities project, click here.

     Links:

Genderqueer-friendly Tumblrs

Androgynites Unite, Anything But Binary, Ask a Non-Binary, Break the Binary, LGBTQ Advice, Fat Genderqueers!, Fuck Yeah Androgyny!, Fuck Yeah Bigender!, Fuck Yeah Genderless, Fuck Yeah Gender Studies!, Fuck Yeah, Genderqueers!, Fuck Yeah, Transitioning GQs, the gender bender agenda, The Gender Book, Genderforkr, GenderPanic, Gender Queeries, Genderqueer, The Genderqueer Activist, GenderQueer Confessions, Genderqueer Fashionista, Genderqueer Problems, GQ Moments, KNOW Homo, LGBTQ Connections, Neutrois, Nonbinary, Non-binary Artists, Nonbinary Autistics!, Non Binary Confessions, Non-Binary Folk, Non-Op, no gender rules, nullgrade, Practical Androgyny, Queer Dictionary, Smashing the Binary, spectrumofgenders, STFU Binarists, T.R.A.N.S., Transcending Anatomy, Trans*Opinions, Trans* Transgressions, Trans* Tumblr Directory, transbears, TransFess, TRANSPRIDE, ygender[queer]

GQ-friendly Livejournal Communities

Androgynes, Bigender, Birls, Gender Blur, gender_fluid, Genderqueer, Gender.queer_FTW, Girlfags and Guydykes, Transgender

Websites and FAQs

Androgyny Rarely Asked Questions, Chroanagram, Crossdreamers, Genderfork, Genderology, Genderpedia, Genderqueer in the UK, GenderQueer Revolution, Gender Sphere, The Midwest Trans & Queer Wellness Initiative, Nonbinary.org, Non-Op: Another Option, pipisafoat: FAQ on Genderqueers, Gender Expression, and Gender Variance, Practical Androgyny, Questioning Transphobia, T-Vox, We Happy Trans, World Professional Association for Transgender Health, YGender

Organizations and Events: Click here for a list

Forums and Groups

AVEN: Gender Discussion, Forum GenderQueer (Russian), Last.fm: Genderqueers Group, Laura’s Playground, Scarleteen: Gender Issues, Susan’s Place, TransYada, What is Gender?

Identity Sites

Androgyne Online, Bigender, Bi-Gender the Bisexual Partner, GirlFags, Neutrois.com/Neutrois Outpost, Neutrois Nonsense

Prounouns and Titles

Art of Transliness: Gender Neutral Relational Terms, Freelance Writing: The History of the Indefinite Singular Pronoun, Gender Neutral Pronoun Blog, Gender Queeries: Gender Neutral/Queer Titles, Genderqueer in the UK: Misc, or Mx: A Gender-neutral Title, MIT’s Ally Toolkit: Gender Neutral Pronoun Usage, Warren Wilson: Using Gender-Neutral Language in Academic Writing

Articles: Click here for a list

Fun, Videos, Podcasts, & Performance

Agender Earthworm, Facts About Queers (Humor), Fuck Yeah Non-Binary Seahorse, Genderqueer Chat, Gendercast: Our Transmasculine Genderqueery, Gender Queeries,Kreative Korporation: Yay genderform! (a comprehensive and fun-to-play-with list of gender, sex, orientation, and more identities), Midwest Genderqueer, regender: A Different Kind of Translator, Trans Parrotfish, Trans Parrotfish’s Significant Other

Education

Gender Diversity Project, Gender Spectrum: Resources, Queer Teaching Tips, Safe Schools Coalition, TRANScending Identities: A Bibliography of Resources on Transgender and Intersex Topics, Transgender Student Rights, Trans What?: A Guide Towards Allyship

Sex Ed: Click here for a list

The Trevor Project: “The leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services” to LGBT youth: 866-4-U-TREVOR (866-488-7386) Also available for matters of less pressing urgency, Dear Trevor is an “online, non-time sensitive Question & Answer resource for young people with questions surrounding sexual orientation and gender identity.” A directory of previous questions in the category of Transgender/Genderqueer is also available.

Social Media

Click here for a list of social media with options apart from male and female, as well as scripts to alter options on websites that don’t provide these options by default

Fashion and Transitional Gear: Click here for a list

Banner: This Journal is Gay/Lesbian, Bisexual, Pansexual, Transgender, Intersex, Genderqueer, Asexual Positive banner (with flags; without flags). Designed by nethdugan.

     Books: 

Note: Use Worldcat.org, the world’s largest global library catalog, to see if the book you’re seeking is available at a library near you!

Gender Now Coloring Book - Maya Christina Gonzales

Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women and the Rest of Us - Kate Bornstein

Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation - Kate Bornstein

Hello, Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks, and Other Outlaws - Kate Bornstein

My Gender Workbook: How to Become a Real Man, a Real Woman, the Real You, or Something Else Entirely - Kate Bornstein

Books and essays by Ivan Coyote

Grrl Alex: A Personal Journey to a Transgender Identity - Alex Drummond

GenderQueer: Voices From Beyond the Sexual Binary - Joan Nestle, Riki Wilchins, Clare Howell

Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity - Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore

PoMoSexuals: Challenging Assumptions About Gender and Sexuality - Carol Queen and Lawrence Schimel

Queer Theory, Gender Theory - Riki Anne Wilchins

Read My Lips: Sexual Subversion and the End of Gender - Riki Anne Wilchins

Trans Bodies, Trans Selves (in-progress) - Laura Erickson-Schroth

whatever.odt (free!) - JD O’Meara

Feeling Wrong in Your Own Body: Understanding What It Means to Be Transgender - Jamie A. Seba

That’s Revolting!: Queer Strategies for Resisting Assimilation - Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore

Transgender Voices: Beyond Women and Men - Lori B. Girshick and Jamison Green

Transition and Beyond: Observations on Gender Identity - Reid Vanderburgh

(Looking for a list of books concerning gender, sex, and orientation that aren’t genderqueer specific instead? Click here)

Book lists compiled by others:

Bibliography of Books Concerning Androgynes and Androgyny

Booklist for Trans Youth on Goodreads

Genderqueer Chicago on Goodreads

I’ve updated this yet again on site and used the reblog post format that subtlecluster had put up to share it - keep sharing and suggesting more resources that I should include!

kiriamaya:

This goes out to all the cis people who, it’s quite obvious, want to help and befriend trans people, but who keep alienating and angering us instead. I’ve seen the befuddled looks on your faces when this happens, and I thought I’d try to clear a few things up for you. Let’s look…