Ok, I am about to admit a little ignorant statement I made the other day. Then, I will defend my reasons, but all the while acknowledging how ignorant I sounded and how wrong I was.
I was having dinner with my newfound friend/colleague last week in the heart of West Hollywood. It was a warm night, and I ordered a glass of white wine. It was Monday night, and the only reason it has taken me so long to write about it is because I got ill that night with some sort of flu-bug, then hives for 3 days, and today was the first day I felt better. Ok, so back to my story. My friend is a doctor. She is also transgendered. She has a practice a block away from mine and she provides medical care for transgendered individuals. She is obviously (or not maybe to all) a M2F, or Male to Female, and identifies not only as a female but as a lesbian. This is key when dealing with people. Acknowledge and accept their gender. Well, I was buzzing, and then I found out she plays drums! Well, my rock band always said we wanted a "Trannie Drummer," we blatantly wanted Hedwig or someone as fabulous as Hedwig, and once we even advertised that: "We require un drummer. Are you he? she? a he/she?" OK. That ad was politically incorrect on a lot of levels, I mean the use of "un," a Spanish word, mid sentence is rude, and then a he/she? how insensitive. who is going to respond, "Hi, I am he/she, and I play drums?" Naturally, that's what we wanted, were dying for, searching for, being glam fans of the likes of David Bowie, Iggy Pop and movies like the Velvet Goldmine. We dreamed of that person. But, in this day and age homophobia is so great that although slightly unrelated, are people truly going to admit they are in between two sexes? People want to be associated with one gender or the other. This is why people transition. So, I really offended my friend by saying "Oh my god, we've always wanted a tranny drummer." Bam. Foot in mouth. Naturally and thankfully she corrected me. She is not a drag queen, nor just a cross-dresser, she is just what she is, and don't you ever forget it. So I learned a valuable lesson. Not all transgendered individuals can nor want to exist in "trans"it. Mind you, I lived in San Francisco in the 90's, prior to the mainstreaming of sex reassignment surgery, when most people had to, without choice, exist in the "trans." But, it is also highly accepted in San Francisco to be in the "trans". There are butch women (seriously butch with beards, strapped down breasts and -on dildo's) all over the place, who do not opt for the surgery. There are drag queens and kings and and there is a large scene for them. Most do not opt for the surgery, they do not have to for there is a world for them where they belong. This is NOT the case here in Los Angeles, out in the real world I guess, and I am sadened for my professional, hard-working friends who feel they can only gain acceptance by going all the way. I've never been one to go all the way.
So, as I help the African American and Latino prostitutes dressed in drag on Santa Monica Blvd get off the streets, get off the needles, and get into homes, I am all of a sudden awakened to difference of class. Would these kids still be drag queens if given the opportunity to have the surgery?
As I walk down the street late at night in West Hollywood past the drag shows, with my gal pal who loves "trannies," I am reminded that these are drag queens, they are performers, female impersonaters, and theatrical workers. They are sex workers. And possibly, they would be out of work. And they are those who can because of their profession perhaps, exist in the "trans", a demi-monde or underworld of living in between.
And not everyone is like that.
No comments:
Post a Comment