<
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/15/opinion/trans-visibility-legislative-rights.html?unlocked_article_code=1.V00.0ikT.ABIjZhDw5K36>
"In my childhood, trans representation was largely confined to sensationalized
daytime talk shows — think “Jerry Springer” — and fictionalized stories of
cisgender people reacting with disgust or violence upon learning someone was
trans — think of the movies “Boys Don’t Cry,” “The Crying Game,” even “Ace
Ventura: Pet Detective.”
In the past several years, popular culture in Hollywood and publishing has
begun to elevate and even celebrate trans characters. That’s a welcome change.
And yet while we can finally, at least on occasion, see or read accurate
stories of our lives, this rise of visibility has coincided with and perhaps
even precipitated a widespread political assault on trans people across the
country.
This duality felt particularly stark at the Sundance Film Festival in Park
City, Utah, last month, where the comedian Will Ferrell and a longtime friend,
the former “Saturday Night Live” writer Harper Steele, premiered their film
“Will & Harper,” on the same day that the Utah legislature voted on a sweeping
bill curtailing the rights of trans people. The film documents the pair’s
17-day road trip from New York to California, which gave Mr. Ferrell a chance
to learn about Ms. Steele’s experience as a transgender woman and her decision
to come out and live openly as herself at age 59.
The Park City audience gave the film multiple standing ovations. But little
attention was paid to efforts to criminalize the presence of trans people in
public spaces — including their use of bathrooms and locker rooms — happening
just 45 minutes away in Salt Lake City. Indeed, the very premise of the film —
traveling across the country — could very well soon switch from comedy to
terror, as lawmakers across the United States continue to aggressively train
their attention on the bodies of trans people of all ages.
Films like “Will & Harper” allow cisgender people to see trans people’s full
humanity, and they give trans people a welcome chance to see ourselves
onscreen. Visibility is a gift when you grow up thinking your existence is
impossible. But being invisible can also bring protection. I might not have
seen myself onscreen in childhood, but neither did I have to deal with dozens
upon dozens of bills filed each year questioning my right to use the restroom
that matches my gender, have access to health care, learn about the history of
trans people in school or worry about which sports teams I was allowed to play
on. Though representation of transness onscreen is crucial for building
empathy, trans visibility has also contributed to a false sense that the
community possesses a degree of stability and power that, in reality, continues
to elude us."
Via Janet Logan.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
