Letters to the Editor
Dana Runs
Published Letters: 161 Editor's Choice: 15
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Don't own the straights' meme
[Read the article: Why the T in LGBT is here to stay]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]As I said in response to John Aravosis' piece, and as echoed by Llamda Legal and Ms. Stryker, an ENDA that deletes gender expression and gender identity would be a pyrrhic victory for gays and lesbians, as it would be so porous as to provide little actual protection. I am a civil rights lawyer, and this is something I know a little about.
We keep saying this, but it falls on deaf ears: much of being gay or lesbian overlaps with gender identity and expression. It is not the straight-acting gays or the lipstick lesbians who get the brunt of employment discrimination, but the femme guys and butch girls. And this, at its root, and even though is conceptualized as sexual orientation discrimination, is actually gender expression discrimination. It is less about sexuality than it is about violating cultural imperatives surrounding gender.
These are constructs, cultural in origin. Gender is at the very foundation of any culture. The first three words spoken about any human being are about gender. "It's a boy," or "It's a girl," are statements that evidence how central gender is to our conceptions of humanity. It affects all of our relationships. In fact, gender is the foundation upon which relationships are built. And because gender is so foundational, the culture makes strict and very important rules about gender expression; for if order is to be maintained, the foundations of culture, upon which the rest of the system rests, must be solid enough to support the weight of all other cultural matters.
When a lesbian woman comes roaring into the workplace with her loud voice, her short hair, her solid stance and her boots and denim, the thing that sets straights on edge is not her love for tits and clits, but the fact that she looks to them to be "too masculine." And "too masculine" is a statement about gender expression and violation of cultural imperatives. It is NOT about sexual orientation. And just because one thing (butchness) is associated with another thing (lesbianism) does not make them one and the same, nor does it make one the cause of the other.
Doctors constantly have to separate things that are "associated with" a disease, but which are not that disease, from the actual disease itself. Treating the associated factors might provide a little symptomatic relief, but in the end will not treat the disease. And just as homosexuality is "associated with" the violations of cultural imperatives about gender expression that are at the root of so much discrimination, treating the associated factor of sexual orientation will provide a little relief, but will not cure the cause of discrimination, which is quite often about gender expression.
Effeminate men can get fired, where straight-acting men do not. Bull dykes can fail to get promoted, while lipstick lesbians move up the ladder. This is about gender expression, folks; not sexual orientation. Face it, we have problems with straights in both these areas! And to buy into the notion that it's all about "being homosexual" is to own the toxic shaming system set up by the culture to keep us all in line.
Make no mistake, ENDA with gender expression and gender identity included is not about transsexuals. Thats the myth; that's the meme. That's just the script recited to fool you into giving away the protections that we need. It's really about us: gays and lesbians. It's for the protection of those of us who don't look and act straight.
Hey, I am one of the ones who doesn't have to worry too much. I wear designer suits and dresses, and always have my hair and make-up just right. I carry a purse. I wear cruel shoes. I'm terminally girly. And because of that my voice is heard as a civil rights attorney who doesn't threaten straight notions of what a woman looks and acts like. I am not as likely to have trouble in the workplace as is my partner, who is quite butch, so much so that I sometimes lovingly call her my "husband." I wonder if it is just a coincidence that I make about six times what she makes, or if maybe, just maybe, her bucking of the cultural gender imperatives has something to do with that.
We need an ENDA that includes protection for gender expression and gender identity. Labeling it a "T" or "transgender" provision is misleading, and buys into the straights' manner of framing our lives. By owning that meme, as Aravosis does, we're letting them control our lives, just as they have done to us since time immemorial. Let's stand up for ourselves and make it stop. Right here, right now. And if it helps straight transsexuals (and I have often thought that notions of "straight" and "gay" don't really fit well with transsexuals), so much the better, right?
Don't be a stooge for the straights. Fight for inclusion of gender expression and gender identity in ENDA. It will NOT delay passage.
That's just so much Chicken Little poop.
My brand new blog: http://danaruns.typepad.com/danarunstheworld/
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The dumb blonde speaks again
[Read the article: Why the T in LGBT is here to stay]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Thanks, Zoe. I think. You condemn me with effusive praise. Holly is right. Whatever beauty I may have on loan to me (and you really do need to get those eyes checked again) adds nothing to the world or this discussion. You, on the other hand, got yerself a darn tootin' first-rate thinkin' cap, if ah do say so mahself. And that goes a fur piece (sic) in these parts. (Sorry. I'm apparently channeling Yosemite Sam today.)
Still, I am not completely daft, and like you, I think I have something to add to the dialogue. I just wish I could be heard over the din.
One more time, folks. Let's all sing together, shall we?
It's not just about transfolk. If anyone doesn't understand why, please ask. I'll be happy to educate you.
Thank you.
http://danaruns.typepad.com/danarunstheworld/