Political Correctness Run Amok
There are more important priorities requiring attention.

I watched a news story on CNN last night that left me shaking my head. It was about the fact that some people take offense to the term “Christmas Tree”, and instead want to refer to this universal symbol as a “Holiday Tree”. I think the goal is a noble one – to spread what a Christmas Tree represents to those who may not necessarily support the religious doctrines of the holiday. But, really, I think this entire thing is political correctness run amok. Who really cares what you call it?

Actually, I saw a second story on CNN yesterday which was similar. Except, the other situation hit closer to home.  It had to do with the Transgender community.

Apparently, GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) distributed a press release to media outlets yesterday outlining the “correct” way to refer to us. We’re going to be getting quite a bit of visibility in mainstream entertainment circles over the coming months in a variety of recently released/soon-to-be released movies:

And, apparently GLAAD wanted to be sure that the media’s references to us were politically correct. When referring to the characters in these movies, writers are instructed to avoid using the words "transvestite", "transsexual", and "sex change".  (Read the entire GLAAD Press Release here).

Apparently, the fact that the GLBT community is unhappy with these words was of such interest that there was a segment on CNN Showbiz Tonight last night dedicated to this. They interviewed Felicity Huffman from TransAmerica who said all the right things. And, and they interviewed Mara Keisling, Executive Director of the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) about it. After watching it all unfold, I was left with one big question: "Why?"  Why are we discussing this?  Why does it come across that the transgender community is somehow unhappy with these movies?  It seems to me that we've allowed ourselves to become involved in a discussion that never needed to happen in the first place.

Frankly, I doubt that many of us agree on the labels generally assigned to us. I attended one session at Southern Comfort a couple of years ago that reviewed the results of a survey and – believe this or not – there were over 200 different terms that people who self-identified as part of our community used to describe themselves. Over 200! I was amazed.

Shortly after I had my surgery a friend invited me to join a “Post-Op Only” Yahoo Group that she thought was worthwhile. So, I joined to see what it was about. For the first five days I suffered through emails going back and forth with people flaming each other about labels. Some self-identified as Transgender, while others vehemently hated that term. Some felt that they were transsexual before their surgery, but afterwards the term no longer applied. Some used the term “genetic woman” to explain those who were born as female. Others argued for the term “Woman-born Woman”. I could only stand it for a few days before I had to quit the group. Watching that is like watching a tiger slaughter its young. 

So, as I listened to the recommendations that GLAAD sent to the media the first thing I wondered was who came up with these recommendations? I’ve had issues with GLAAD in the past – that they seem to have little or no trans inclusion anywhere that I can see. No trans presenters at any of their 3 annual awards shows. The GLAAD Leadership has been woefully under-equipped to really engage the trans community – despite the fact that they purport to be trans inclusive.  Although I've supported them by attending one of their awards dinners each year I didn't do it last year and I won't until things change - I have other places to spent my limited annual charitable donation budget.

I’ve been sharing emails with someone from GLAAD who asked what I thought about all the things they’ve been doing to support the trans- community. I felt almost apologetic to respond that I wasn’t aware of a single thing – that she’d have to enlighten me. I hope this press release wasn’t the thing she was referring to.

The visibility that these movies provide is a good thing. No, it’s a GREAT thing. Who would have imagined that our little community would be getting this kind of attention in mainstream movies that will be in theaters all at the same time?! I tell you here and now – Felicity Huffman is going to be nominated for an Academy Award for her role as Bree in TransAmerica. Do you know what that will do? Do you have any idea how many people will watch that movie?

And, in light of all that – here we are telling them that they shouldn’t use the word “transsexual”. They shouldn’t use the term “sex change”. Despite the fact that one individual in these movies self-identifies as a “transvestite” they shouldn’t use that word. I hate to tell you – how many of us use some or all of those terms?! I know I do. It's almost like we're apologizing for them. 

The thing we need to understand is that the rest of society is not as “hip” on transgender lingo as we are. For many, we’re lucky if they use the word transgender at all – instead of “freak”, “queer”, or “faggot”. For many, I’m not sure that this is the time to try to add new words and terms to that vernacular.

The problem, you see, isn’t with the word itself. It’s just a word. The problem is with the connotation of the word. And, it seems that some have chosen a strategic path to address this: to identify new words and terms for the same thing. I, on the other hand, espouse a more restrained approach. We need to win back our words. We need to do what we can to change the connotation, not to introduce more new words and terms. Where does that stop? How could we ever agree on such things?

I understand that they’re doing this with the goal of educating, of teaching proper etiquette. But you know how it’s perceived? It’s perceived as complaining. It’s perceived that we’re never happy with anything and here’s another opportunity to be bitter. It’s sour grapes. Why can’t we just be happy with the fact that we’re getting this kind of positive visibility? Why do we have to micro-manage it?

I tell you this – if someone calls me to interview me about these things I’m confident that the word “transsexual” will be part of that conversation.

Frankly, in the end, who really cares? I mean, there’s another article in the paper this week that has me much more upset than arguing about which terms the media should or shouldn’t use when they refer to us.

Here are portions of an article from the San Diego Union Tribune on Nov. 30:

  Authorities say transsexual woman who died had fought with deputies
 

A transsexual woman stopped breathing during a melee with sheriff's deputies at the downtown jail Nov. 17 and died after four days on life support, authorities confirmed yesterday.

She became enraged en route to a hospital, broke free from her leg restraints and kicked out the window of the ambulance, he said.

Paramedics and hospital staff sedated her several times over several hours. She was treated for multiple cuts and released to deputies later that day.

Empson said she became violent again after leaving the hospital and kicked out the window of a patrol car.

He said an unknown number of deputies fought with Facen when she was inside the intake area of the downtown jail known as a "sally port."

Empson said it was during that struggle that deputies noticed Facen had stopped breathing and called for an ambulance.

Although Facen had breasts and lived as a woman, the Sheriff's Department was treating her as a man because she had male genitalia, Lt. Tom Bennett said.

The Sheriff's Department had not made news of her death public until yesterday because of a "miscommunication" about who was handling the news release, Bennett said.

Facen, who was born male in St. Louis, had lived as a woman for about 15 years, her mother said.

Diane Facen said she was thankful that she was able to be with her daughter shortly after she died.

"I just put my hand on her and rubbed her shoulders," she said. "I spent time with her crying and talking to her. I think we'll have some closure when we figure out what made her act the way she did."

 

That's tragic.  That's more than tragic.... 

I’ll tell you what made her act the way she did. The fact that the paramedics treated her like a man despite the fact that she was obviously living as female. The fact that these people chose to disrespect her – that they chose to attack her dignity when the proper course of action was apparent. That’d make me crazy, too.

Somehow - maybe it's me - it seems like they're almost implying that she deserved what she got.  She "fought with deputies".  The complete write-up makes her out to be completely crazy - kicking out windows (not just of an ambulance, but of a police car too!).  And, at some point during this "struggle" they just happened to notice that she had stopped breathing?  You've got to be kidding.  And, to top it off, they delayed making this news public for over a week because of a "miscommunication".  I don't care what other words you use for it.  This stinks to high heaven.

This isn’t some little backwater Mississippi town we’re talking about here. It’s San Diego. It’s a progressive metropolis where you’d think people would be trained on how to handle situations like this. But you know what? They weren’t. Or, perhaps they were but they chose to take matters into their own hands. Who knows. What we do know is that one of our own died needlessly. We know that the release of details surrounding this tragedy was bungled. And, we know that this could happen to any of us.

I’ll tell you words that are more appropriate when discussing us: Dignity. Integrity. Authenticity. Courage. Death. These are words worth fighting about. These are words that get to the heart of our day-to-day struggle for acceptance and happiness. Instead of telling writer's what words not to use, how about we tell them what words to use.  Not special words - words that only refer to us and that confuse everyone else to the point that nobody really cares.  We need to promote using everyday words that people can understand - and that when they see these things in us they'll recognize them for what they are.  That's what's needed here.

I wrote the the reporter who wrote the story in the newspaper.  I found contact information for the police Lieutenant who released the information about her, and wrote to him, too (Thomas.Bennett@sdsheriff.org).  This needs to be investigated.  This doesn't smell right.  There are way too many holes in this story to make any sense.  And, one of our sisters is dead - apparently, for no good reason.  I told him that there is a country of people out here who care, who are watching, who need answers, who won't forget. 

Let’s get real, people. Let’s be smart about choosing our battles. Let’s keep perspective. Let’s be sure we have our priorities straight. This is an amazing time to be who and what we are. Let’s focus attention on real-world issues and situations we face, not on problems some have with the terms being used. There are more important focuses for our energies.

I'm a transsexual woman and I have no desire to have some other label, that perhaps is more sanitary, more "acceptable", to describe me.  I certainly respect that others may not feel likewise. It has taken me forty six years (and counting) to get comfortable saying that and I'm not about to change course now. 

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