Thank you GeraldoThank you Geraldo! And Phil and Oprah and Montel and Sally and the rest of them.
I know that, as a rule, talk shows are programa non grata in TG circles. We've
all been horribly embarrassed by programs that exploit, ridicule, and offer
superficial understanding to our sisters and brothers. Then when one of the T's
from a show comes online and says, "I think I came across pretty well," the
general response is "Not even close, sister." There have even been calls for
boycotts of talk shows for their misrepresentations and mistreatment of who we
really are. As a matter of fact, T's have become the symbol in the public
mindset for what is wrong with talk shows in general.
Yes, I will concede all that and more. But before I discovered the Internet, growing up in a small town in the Midwest, talk shows were almost all I had. General attitudes of the people around me, as well as the good old passage in Deuteronomy had me convinced it was wrong, and I had no alternative opinion. Except talk shows. Weekly I would scan the TV Guide looking for anything TG related. Whether it was "Men who dress like women", "A visit to La Cage" or "Transvestites who give other T's a bad name" I watched. Those programs showed me that I wasn't alone -- that other men, adults even, had the same feelings. And when audience members attacked, I found myself defending not only the guest, but my own beliefs as well. My favorite moment in every show would be when they would wheel out the "expert". ( I want one of those for my daily life. "Great party! Oops, sorry. Fortunately I have with me today Dr. Heimler-Schmitt who will explain exactly what societal forces caused me to do that, and why I'm not at fault.") The expert would usually (depending on the expert) explain that there was nothing wrong with cross-dressing behavior. I would want to show that to everyone, "See, See, this is me, and there's nothing wrong with it!" I never did of course. Way too risky! It was hard enough to watch them without anyone catching on. "Mom, we're out of milk, could you run to the store, oh, around 9 o'clock?" "Oh, no, I'm not watching the show, silly, I'm doing a paper on the, um, commercials. Yeah, it is trash, isn't it!"
I'll always be grateful for those exploitative, condescending talk shows, and the guests who had the courage to appear. Once Geraldo did an alternative lifestyles show, and he introduced the gay couple, the lesbian couple, the S&M couple, and finally the very passable male transvestite. As she was introduced she said, looking down the row, "I guess I'm the pervert here." And I could tell by the way she smiled, that she didn't believe it. And because of people like her, I didn't either.
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