The Future of Transgender Politics and the Transgender Community

Marisa Richmond, Ph.D.

Delivered June 20, 1997


First, I would like to thank Dr. Sheila Kirk and the folks here at Renaissance for organizing this year's Congress. I would also like to thank all of you for being here today. When I first saw the Call for Papers issued last year, the topic "Gender Identity in the Third Millenium: Social and Legal Issues" especially caught my eye. I felt that I had a little bit to offer in this area.

In my role as an emerging transgender activist, as a co-founder of a local support group, the Tennessee Vals, and as Board Chair of AEGIS, I feel that I can offer an important perspective on the direction in which the transgender community is going. In addition, as a historian, I feel qualified to provide an historical outlook as the transgender community looks to the future.

In this presentation, I intend to analyze the current state of social and legal issues confronting the transgender community as the 20th Century ends and discuss possibilites as we move into the 21st Century. The analysis will be mostly personal.

But first, I would like to comment on that term, Third Millenium, and its relevance to the gender community as we look at our history. After all, we are now in Year Nine of the Heisei Period, Year 1418 After the Hegira, Year 5758 of the Hebrew calendar, and according to archaeologist Alexander Marshack, 34,000 years after the creation of the oldest known lunar calendars during the Aurignacion Period of western Europe. We know there are plenty of Hunter-Gatherer societies in the modern period of history who have documented transgendered people, suggesting we probably did exist when those first lunar calendars were devised. The origins of agriculture date back an estimated 11,000 years ago, and there are numerous non-literate agricultural societies today with transgendered people. Plus, the Kurgarra of ancient Sumeria are first mentioned in cuneiform texts approximately 5000 years ago, putting us in at least our Sixth Millenium of written history. It, therefore, seems illogical for us to ignore our own existence through all these many years of history in a myriad of cultures as that particular heading, "Gender Identity in the Third Millenium" suggests that we do.

As we know, there are many other groups that have fought to achieve recognition and equality from the rest of American society. Unfortunately, U.S. history is filled with many examples of groups being denied basic rights and equality simply because of their differences or refusal to assimilate. From the moment the first Columbus expedition landed in the Bahamas and began the destruction of the Lucayo people there, through the ethnic cleansing of the southeast and the Wounded Knee massacre of the Dakota, people attempting to hold onto their cultures and not ashamed of themselves were persecuted. Of course, the blot of slavery, segregation, disfranchisement, employment discrimination and anti-miscegenation laws cannot be changed, but they are a fact of history that a segment of the population still strives to overcome. Women, a true oppressed majority, were also victimized by ignorance that kept them off voting roles until only 77 years ago, and has kept that "glass ceiling" in place to the present day while they earn only 59% of what men earn in the workplace.

The first group to challenge successfully the prevailing norms was the African-American community. They were hardly united, however, as different groups battled amongst each other over tactics and agenda, a phenonmenon which still divides many African-Americans today. Nonetheless, many of the barriers which once existed based on the misguided definitions of "race" have now fallen. The struggle for civil rights certainly pre-dated the 1954 Brown decision, but that case did mark a significant turning point in the relationship between African-Americans and government. We in the transgender community have our own moments such as the creation of the first support group in California by Dr. Virginia Prince in the early 1960s and the efforts of those Greenwich Village drag queens and transsexuals who began to fight back against police harrassment 28 years ago this month. In the intervening years, we have seen tremendous growth with a plethora of new organizations, each with their own focus. Unfortunately, while we grow and become more visible and create more and more organizations and identify more and more "leaders," of which I now seem to be one, our victories are still few and far between.

Our relationships with various levels and branches of government have been frustrated by ignorance on the part of many officials. That is why we still wait for our Brown decision, our Civil Rights Act, our Title IX.

Fortunately, there have been gains. Police harrassment of transgendered persons has been reduced in our major metropolitan areas although most police departments could still use sensitivity training. A handful of cities have also repealed their ordinances against being crossdressed in public. But as we are all aware, transgendered people, both male to female and female to male, are often the victims of violent and brutal hate crimes.

Facing the battles with the rest of society as we do, we do not need to allow our divisions to paralyze us. Through unity, we can achieve strength.

It is easy for many around us to insist that assimilation and passing is more desirable, but where does that leave the 15 year old in middle America who does not have the benefit of visible role models, local educational programs or the law on their side?

Our efforts on behalf of a comprehensive Employment Non Discrimination Act must continue. Does there need to be one centralized organization through which all lobbying efforts must be coordinated? No. But communication and cooperation by all concerned is most certainly desirable. And while the lack of support from the Human Rights Campaign is frustrating, we need not allow ourselves to dwell on such concerns when we know that our opponents lump us together while our supporters understand that discrimination against any group must be eradicated from society.

In a similar vein, our efforts against the so-called "same sex" marriage acts being passed around the country by various states and by Congress must also continue. However, just as the federal court system began to push for equal rights for women and ethnic minorities over the objections of voting majorities, we too must concentrate our efforts in the courts to expose the blatant unconstitutionality of these laws. This is where we in the transgender community can and must take the lead. There are already plenty of "same-sex" marriages around the country for one reason or another, and the patchwork of laws created by individual states, nor the inaccurately titled Defense of Marriage Act can change that.

National efforts at pushing for recognition of discrimination and hate crimes must continue. We do not necessarily have to put aside our differences within the gender community since, as we all know, personality and philosophical disputes are a natural feature of visibility and activism. Understanding and communication are essential, however, and we must strive to do a better job of achieving these.

Can we acheive our goals? Certainly, but I am not placing much hope in our legislative branches of government at this time. I fully expect our greatest successes to come from the judicial branch. In 1954, it was the judicial branch of the federal government that knocked open the door of racial discrimination and eventually forced the executive and legislative branches to respond. I see our successes in attacking discrimination coming from the courts, even with the current conservative majority, because the pendulum towards equality for all has been swinging in our direction. Of course, it will not happen overnight. Passage of a comprehensive ENDA will help our cause, but the constant in-fighting must be tempered by the reality that we are not a large community. There are many of us still closeted, and are, therefore, afraid to speak out amongst friends and family. So those of us who are willing to be visible tend to be the same faces we see at event after event around the country.

In recent years, media coverage of transgendered individuals, as well as for the transgender community as a whole, has increased and improved. New portrayals of transgendered identities has also provided a base for improved acceptance. This increased media coverage is helping us get the message out that we are a fact of life despite protestations by the religious right to the contrary. But in getting our message out, we must also refrain from criticizing those who prostitute themselves in order to survive or have previously gone on the talk shows where they have been subjects of ridicule. They are us and we are them and the line separating us is a very thin one. Many of us could have easily been thrown out of our homes or schools at early ages, so those of us here this weekend parading all of our degrees might well have found ourselves in that same situation. Their lives and experiences are just as real and legitimate as our own, and are very much a part of the story of those born transgendered.

In the short term, as we move into that period designated the Third Millenium, we probably will not win very many battles. But as we continue our education and outreach efforts all around the country, and we challenge the constitutionality of those laws on the books, we will begin to chip away at the stonewall of ignorance and bigotry that we all face.

Although I intend to be here for awhile, I realize that our opponents are very well organized and carry with them an air of legitimacy that makes our struggle a difficult one. It is entirely possible I may not even live to see equality achieved. In 1786, the state in which we are meeting, Pennsylvania, became the first to ban slavery, but it took an additional 79 more years, and a very bloody and divisive war, before my great-great-grandmother was finally granted her freedom in Richmond, Texas, on a day many of us celebrated just yesterday, Juneteenth Day. And yet, despite the fall of slavery, racism is still an everyday fact of life in our society that keeps millions oppressed. Sexual discrimination is also still prevalent and the federal Constitution lacks an Equal Rights Amendment.

The gender community has had too many fall already, and more may be lost, but the struggle should not be abandoned. Let us never forget our overriding concern, whether we push in Washington, in our various state capitols or city councils, or through the legal system, is to end the discrimination that keeps us oppressed, closeted and alone.

This talk was titled "The Future of Transgender Politics," but as you can see, it is not really a prediction, just one person's blueprint. Recently, President Clinton called for a new volunteer activism. Many in attendance at this Congress are filled with that sense already and need little encouragement, but for those like myself whose primary work is in a local support group, most of whose members will never lobby in D.C. or attend a convention, you must encourage them to do more for themselves as we try in Nashville. You must show them their own interests are at stake. Lead by example, and the future looks bright.


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