It’s hard to imagine how far the gay community has come in just a decade.
I vividly remember waking up to a phone call at 7am from my best friend who informed me that supreme court had made gay marriage legal in all of the United States and we aren’t even American. I was born and raised in Canada. The tears down my face as I’m sitting on my bed with the sun on my face watching the DC Gay Men’s Chorus sings National Anthem on Youtube after Supreme Court legalizes same sex marriage. I told my best friend, “I never thought this day would come..for them”.
For them. Thinking about about the ‘them’ as the people who lead the way for sexual revolution in the west, Ru Paul to the trans people of colour who led the stone wall riots are definitely the first things that come to mind. I’m a millennial, so it’s hard not to recognize Ellen, Tyler Oakley, Laverne Cox...as the role models that I grew up with in my teen years. THEM or THEY go from advocates to celebrities. And this is where things get tricky. This is where it gets cloudy when we don’t know who constitutes the role of an advocate, a revolutionary, a role model.
Growing up within a Mainstream understanding of Social Media...I think I’ve seen first hand how the internet has been used to educate and empower individuals of diverse sexualities and genders. Peer to Peer education, spreading fasting, increasing the productivity of queer youth of tomorrow. In better understanding the world, but more importantly themselves in a post-gender society. Hashtag Finn Enke’s ‘Non-Binary Pedagogy’.
I see the value in Hollywood and Celebrit(ism) and how it has allowed THEM to have a platform, and give a platform to people of colour who may have not had a voice before. Deconstructing Hollywood and the so called Celebrity with “fans”.
@cinnamonebuns from twitter writes “willam is so problematic but all his fans are like haha yeah we know, its he’s brand he doesn’t care.... thats the problem”
Now excusing the grammatical confusion that might exist in that tweet, it stuck out to me this evening as I came across quotes from PinkNews and the video rant of Willam Belli; American actor, Drag queen, Model, Reality Television Personality...etc. What concerns me is the seriousness of someone who claims comedic justification of their actions instead of taking pure accountability for ones poor use of such a “Celebrity” platform or brand.
My interest are not millennials, as much as I continue to respect and learn from mentors of mine who are not only millennials but also members of Generation X, Boomers, and Maturists. My interest is looking at the empirical evidence as much as the anecdotal. The anecdotal as in the lived experiences of queer youth. Referencing Vice Magazine; Generation Z...those born after 1995 have said to have the highest population of over 52% who identify as Queer and know someone that uses gender neutral pronouns.
Sexual Revolution comes The Gender Revolution.
Looking at the video, your immediate understanding is that these two individuals (Willam and Courtney) are answering questions and giving advice to people tuning in. You’ll notice in the video that the question that is asked is already transphobic.
commentator responses...“..but he’s basically a butch lesbian..”
What producers are running this show? Are there even any trans or non binary people hired to work for this show? Who approved these questions to be aired on National Television? Who’s accountable to begin with?
Willam responses “..he bamboozled her..”
Those two statements are enough to make any trans or non binary person sick to their stomach. The assumption that you can so casually make derogatory comments on someones gender identity let alone their transition. The assumption that it’s appropriate to throw around words without taking into account someones gender expression versus gender identity. The assumption that a trans person not immediately disclosing their trans status is wrong and shameful.
And Willam, a so called “Celebrity” role model, who carry’s a platform that is able to reach audiences in the millions..affirming and validating the transphobic question and statement. How is this what has become of the gay community? And you wonder why countless transgender and/or non binary people don’t associate themselves or feel welcomed within mainstream queer cultures..or should I say queer-cis cultures.
I don’t even want to review the segment further...preventing myself from being even more infuriated and ashamed of these recent events. Events caused by who?
What makes me frustrated most of all is that the corporations that hire people like William and use their platform as a means of comedic efforts and financial gain at the expense of transgender and non binary individuals (which continue to render us invisible) are THEMselves cisgender. Cisgender Gays and Lesbian executives. I can’t imagine a better example of Homo-normativity...let alone Hetero-normativity. Courtesy of the academic studies; Queer Theory, Queer Of Colour Critique, and Trans Studies.
Sooner or later people are going to realize that the word Queer may be an umbrella term for the community but the term itself definitely doesn’t speak for the entire community and communitIES. Willam doesn’t speak for LGBTQ+ people, especially trans and non-binary identified people. Frankly it isn’t Willam’s place.
This article isn’t for Willam, and it isn’t for Gay-Cis people, and it especially isn’t for Drag Culture. This article is for trans and non binary youth and youth of colour that are continually marginalized by gay-cis-men, and gay-cis people. I can’t speak for you, all I can do is encourage you to speak up. Speak up against transphobia.
[And as for THEM as in YOU the majoritarian in mainstream queer culture, queer corporate, the cis-passing and queer-cis-passing have a responsibility to listen, support and set an example of gender inclusivity within a system that STILL primarily benefits you. Setting an example for Audre Lorde’s intersectional feminism and giving transgender and non-binary youth and youth of colour the platform to speak. You aren’t entitled to your opinion, you’re entitled to your informed opinion. White-cis-gay-men spewing off their opinions about gender and racial minorities is just as bad as white-cis-heterosexuals debating gay marriage among themselves on Fox news.]
Transgender means anyone that does NOT identity as the sex they were assigned at birth, and if you do identify as the sex you were assigned at birth..that is commonly defined as Cisgender. Transphobia is not just a prejudice, it works within a system of oppression. Not all trans people transition but transphobia renders us invisible in this system ON TOP OF feeling that our experiences are not valid. Genderism a form of passive transphobia also renders non-binary identities invisible.
The practice of transphobia...the acknowledgment of transphobic behaviour that renders us invisible. Renders our dysphoria painless. Renders our identity a joke. Renders our transition invalid. Renders pronoun respect a secondary priority. Renders queerness a commodity. Renders advocacy as entertainment. Render sexuality as binary. Render biological sex defined by genitalia. Rendering medical transition as validity. Rendering gender as performative (..contrary to Judith Butler.) when gender is ACTUALLY a consent of identity.
By acknowledging the seriousness of THEIR transphobia...we make visible our continued oppression.
Oh, and one more thing..HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) does in fact change ones gene expression and soon with CRISPR we will be able to change individual chromosomes.
As for me? They/Them/Their pronouns. Thanks.
Ps. Canada announced Gender Neutral; Health Cards, Drivers License, and Passports a few months ago..and you know what? Still shedding the tears.