Trans bodies, trans selves : a resource for the transgender community

1243 Pages·2014·30.44 MB·English

by  Erickson-Schroth

TRANS BODIES, TRANS SELVES
TRANS BODIES,
TRANS SELVES | A RESOURCE
FOR THE TRANSGENDER
COMMUNITY
Edited by
Laura Erickson-Schroth
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Trans bodies, trans selves : a resource for the
transgender community / edited by Laura Erickson-Schroth.
pages cm
ISBN 978–0–19–932535–1 (paperback) eISBN 978–0–19–932537–5
1. Transgender people. 2. Transgenderism. 3. Gender identity. I. Erickson-Schroth, Laura.HQ77.9.T714
2014306.76′8—dc232014007921
Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface – Laura Erickson-Schroth
About This Book
Throwing Our Voices—An Introduction – Jennifer Finney Boylan
Introduction to Media Spotlight Series – Dallas Denny and Jamison Green
Introduction to Trans Political Leaders Series – Jamie Roberts and Anneliese
Singh
SECTION 1
WHO WE ARE
1 Our Many Selves
HOLIDAY SIMMONS AND FRESH! WHITE
2 Race, Ethnicity, and Culture
KORTNEY RYAN ZIEGLER AND NAIM RASUL
3 Immigration
KATE KOURBATOVA AND ELANA REDFIELD
4 Disabilities and Deaf Culture
SYRUS MARCUS WARE AND ZACK MARSHALL
5 Religion and Spirituality
Delfin Bautista AND QUINCE MOUNTAIN WITH HEATH MACKENZIE REYNOLDS
6 Sex and Gender Development
LAURA ERICKSON-SCHROTH, MIQQI ALICIA GILBERT, AND T. EVAN SMITH
SECTION 2
LIVING AS OURSELVES
7 Coming Out
REID VANDERBURGH
8 Social Transition
HEATH MACKENZIE REYNOLDS AND ZIL GARNER GOLDSTEIN
9 Employment
JESSICA LINA STIRBA, ZIL GARNER GOLDSTEIN, AND CECILIA GENTILI, WITH HEATH
MACKENZIE REYNOLDS, TOBI HILL-MEYER, AND DEAN SCARBOROUGH
10 Legal Issues
KYLAR W. BROADUS AND SHANNON PRICE MINTER
SECTION 3
HEALTH AND WELLNESS
11 General, Sexual, and Reproductive Health
NICK GORTON AND HILARY MAIA GRUBB
12 Medical Transition
MADDIE DEUTSCH
13 Surgical Transition
JULES CHYTEN-BRENNAN
14 Mental Health Services and Support
RUBEN HOPWOOD AND lore m. dickey
15 Mental Health Concerns
TAMAR CARMEL, RUBEN HOPWOOD, AND lore m. dickey SECTION 4
OUR RELATIONSHIPS AND FAMILIES
16 Intimate Relationships
SARAH E. BELAWSKI AND CAREY JEAN SOJKA 17 Sexuality
TOBI HILL-MEYER AND DEAN SCARBOROUGH
18 Parenting
KEL POLLY AND RYAN G. POLLY
SECTION 5
LIFE STAGES
19 Children
AIDAN KEY
20 Youth
COLT KEO-MEIER AND LANCE HICKS
21 Aging
JOE IPPOLITO AND TARYNN M. WITTEN
SECTION 6
CLAIMING OUR POWER
22 US History
GENNY BEEMYN
23 Arts and Culture
LAZLO ILYA PEARLMAN, JAE DK SZESZYCKI-TRUESDELL, AND KESTRYL CAEL
LOWREY
24 Activism, Politics, and Organizing
PETER CAVA
Afterword
Contributors
Glossary
Index
Suggestions
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This project would not have been possible without our professional editor,
Celeste LeCompte, who agreed to work on this book practically as a probono
project because she believed so strongly in it. Jonah A. Siegel and A. Robin
Williams were core organizers for this project when it was in its infancy. We also
received assistance very early on from Scott Edelstein, who helped to shape our
proposal to publishers. One of the most enthusiastic responses to our inquiries
came from Dana Bliss of Oxford, who continued to send excited e-mails almost
weekly throughout the process of putting together this book. Probono legal
advice came from Maura Wogan (Frankfurt, Kurnit, Klein, and Selz) and
Victoria S. Belyavsky, Jesse M. Brush, Adam E. Fleisher, Jennifer Kroman,
Garth Spencer, and Stephanie Atwood (Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen, and Hamilton).
On a personal note, the editor would like to thank her partner, Amanda
Rosenblum, for her extensive work on the editing and shaping of this book, as
well as organization of book-related events and the creation of the book’s
nonprofit entity. In addition to participating in this process, she was patient
through times when the work did not stop at home.
PREFACE
I was 12 years old when I first opened my mother’s copy of Our Bodies,
Ourselves (OBOS). I was fascinated by just about everything I read. I flipped
through for interesting photos and pored over diagrams. Among my favorite
parts were the quotes that appeared on nearly every page, representing the voices
of hundreds of women. In some cases, I yearned to have their experiences; in
others, I hoped I would never have to face them. I was comforted by all of the
stories, knowing that they came from real people.
A few years ago, I bought a copy of an early edition of OBOS in a used
bookstore. It was older than the one my mother owned. (Though she had seen
this edition, she had been good at updating her collection.) Published in 1973, it
was yellowing and thinner than the newer editions I was used to. On the cover
was a photo of an older woman and a younger woman holding up a sign together
that read, “Women Unite.”
The 1973 edition of OBOS was billed as “by and for women”—a strikingly
radical proposition then. At a time when over 90% of physicians were men, and
only a small number of states allowed legal abortions, it was an extremely daring
and exciting thing to publish a book in which women taught other women about
their bodies, their sexuality, and their rights. This wasn’t the stuff of polite
conversation. It was about abortion rights, rape, intimate partner violence, and
lesbian and bisexual identity. From the very beginning, OBOS questioned the
medical establishment. If male doctors would not allow women access to
information about their bodies, they would get that information, and they would
share it with other women. Childbirth, once clouded in secrecy, would be a two-
page photo spread, so that women could see just what they were in for if they
decided to make that choice. To the writers of OBOS, it was clearly a choice.
They believed that no one had the right to tell women whether or when to have
children.
Trans Bodies, Trans Selves (TBTS) is written by and for transgender and
gender nonconforming people (although we hope that many allies will read it as
well!). We have endeavored to make it as radical as its predecessor. Where
OBOS challenged the medical establishment’s monopoly on knowledge about
women’s bodies, TBTS shares trans health information and implores medical
providers to educate themselves about trans bodies. Where the original
questioned psychiatry’s condemnation of lesbian identity, we fight the similar
treatment of transgender identity. As a psychiatrist, one of my personal goals for
activism is to help lead the fight against pathologization of trans identities.
Not all feminists are trans allies, but I believe they should be. I wasn’t sure
what to expect when I first reached out to Judy Norsigian and Wendy Sanford,
current board members of OBOS. Immediately I received mountains of
enthusiasm for our new book, as well as indication that they were working hard
to update the latest edition of theirs to include information on transgender and
genderqueer identities. They even printed a story about our project in their most
recent book. It was invigorating to see that they understood that all of our fates
are linked.
In 1973, the cover price of OBOS was $2.95. Our book is more expensive, but
we have fought to keep it affordable by today’s standards. As we began writing
this book, we also started a nonprofit organization with the immediate goal of
disseminating the book to as many people and organizations as possible,
regardless of ability to pay. All author proceeds from the book will go toward
Trans Bodies, Trans Selves, Inc. Our hope is that we will publish, with your
help, many more editions of this book, in many countries and in many
languages, and the work of our organization will expand to include additional
education around transgender issues.
In the lower right corner of the back cover of the 1973 edition of OBOS—the
place where the reader finds, literally, the book’s last words—there is a simple
sentence: “Please share this book with others.” After 40 years, this is still the
most important message I can send. Please share this book with others.
Laura Erickson-Schroth, MD, MA