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02 Apr 2013
Tune in to tonight's Primetime on RTE 1 at 9:30 which will be a debate about marriage equality and will also feature a short film/polemic on the subject by Max Krzyzanowski from LGBT Noise, who is also of course Pantibar's doorman.
marriage equality
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gay politics
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pantibar
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29 Mar 2013
(thanks Bunny)
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gay politics
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campaigns
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27 Mar 2013
In the current issue of GCN a column by the magazine's Deputy Editor has created a lot of heat. Check out the comments under the article (or on Twitter or Facebook).
In her column, Ciara McGrattan argues that the "LGBT...QIA..." label has become too unwieldy and suggests that we should return to basics and simply use the term "gay". Along the way, she argues that trans folk, and bisexuals, and other groups should be excluded, unless they are currently sexually attracted to someone of their own sex, i.e. a trans lesbian is in, but a trans woman who is attracted to men is out.
As was to be expected, a lot of people have taken great offence and the editor of GCN has responded, defending the printing of controversial or difficult opinion - and attracting a lot more angry comment.
Which of course is fair enough. I think a large part of the offence comes from the fact that this was printed in GCN which is supposed to be a "safe haven" for our community - including it's trans members - so it feels a lot like a slap in the face to read within GCN someone arguing to exclude some of our community. And to make matters worse it's written by the magazine's Deputy Editor, and it's hard to argue that it's simply her personal opinion and not that of the magazine's when she carries that title.
But, you can also argue that GCN has fulfilled it's remit to provoke debate and an exchange of ideas. You'll have to take your pick!
On a personal note... I am abolutely happy of course to have our trans and bisexual comrades - and anyone else who doesn't fit the traditional sex or gender roles - under the same umbrella. I suspect it makes our community stronger, and while there may be differences in our struggles, there are enough common threads.
However, I do wish we could agree on a simple umbrella term. I think the ever lengthening acronym is confusing and off-putting to people outside our community. It makes our case a harder sell. But what the simpler umbrella term is...? Sheesh! Search me! I like "queer" but I know lots of people hate it. I was speaking at an event with Senator David Norris last week and in my speech I referred to him as a "queer warrior" and he hated it, lol! "Puff" or "fairy" he was fine with, but not "queer".
The other thing I sometimes wonder is if it actually serves the trans community well to put themselves under the broader sexuality umbrella, rather than fight their fight under their own gender umbrella? Is their hand strengthened by associating with a larger group with whom they share a natural affinity, or is their case weakened? Are their waters muddied, so-to-speak, by issues of sexuality rather than gender? I don't know. But it seems clear that the trans community has, in general, decided it strengthens their hand, and that being so, I'm certainly happy to have them on board. Being T is definitely a harder path to find yourself on than being L, G or B, so the last thing they need is to be excluded from our already diverse and rag-tag group just because the name is a bit of a mouthful.
gay politics
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gender
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ideas
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28 Apr 2010
When the trailer for Ticked Off Trannies With Knives, a "trannie revenge movie" inspired by 70's exploitation movies, hit the internet some months ago it received a little attention and caused some small controversy among the trans community. Was it offensive? Or empowering (within it's genre)? The original trailer (which I posted, but has since been removed) opened with references to real trans-phobic murders and that caused the most controversy. The new trailer is below.
However, after the film was chosen for the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival in New York, the controversy stepped up a gear. Various LGBT groups denounced it's portrayal of trans women, and even mounted pickets.
Now a (fun looking) trannie has written a fantastic review of the film. She's pissed off with the movie, but not for all the reasons the various LGBT groups are. And she's pissed off with them too. It's a great read. Read it all HERE.
Ticked-Off Trannies with Knives is a bad film with a few good things going for it -- and a lot of angry people going after it. When I first heard about the film, I couldn't wait to see it. Even the problematic first version of the trailer (more on that later) made it look to me like the film would be just the right blend of camp, politics, heart, sparkle, and blood, and I wrote as much online. I also wrote that some people would need to be warned about the film so they wouldn’t freak out or trigger a trauma -- I warn people about some of my own work for the same reason. But I had no question in my mind that I was about the see a kick-ass, tranny-empowering film on the big screen. Sad to say, I find that I’m the ticked-off tranny.
She also has some interesting (and right on Sister!) things to say about the relationship between drags and trannies which you don't hear very often:
Please consider this statement from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation:
“…while some of the actors in the film identify as transgender, the characters are written as drag queens, 'performing' femininity in a way that is completely artificial. The very names of these over-the-top female caricatures (Emma Grashun, Rachel Slurr, et al.) drive this point home.”
Excuse me, GLAAD. You’re lovely people. You do GREAT work. But until you add T to your name, please stop telling me and my people how to perform femininity or masculinity. Please stop driving a wedge between transgender and drag queen. It’s a classist and often racist thing to do. Yep, many of us have taken chosen names. Some of our names are funny and brave and fierce and that is in the tradition of our queen mothers and king fathers. I owe my trans-soul’s allegiance to Doris Fish, ‘Tippi,’ and Miss X. The denigration of our drag royalty is a sign of just how far the U.S. antisex culture has permeated today’s sex-and-gender mainstream activists. The drag queen moments of the film are among its most touching elements.
GLAAD continues…
“Because of its positioning as a transgender film, viewers unfamiliar with the lives of transgender women will likely leave this film with the impression that transgender women are ridiculous caricatures of 'real women.' It demeans actual transgender women who struggle for acceptance and respect in their day-to-day lives and to be valued for their contributions to our society.”
Whoa. Ticked-Off Trannies isn’t airing on PBS. It’s not being hosted by Rachel Maddow or Oprah. It’s a midnight showing at a downtown New York film festival. Just who the heck do you think is going to go to see this film? People who are concerned about the genuine portrayal of the lives of transgender women? Hell, no. It’s going to be an audience hungry for the kind of girl-gets-revenge story that men have been making up since forever.
And excuse me once again, GL(noT)AAD, but… “actual transgender women?” You actually said "actual transgender women" in opposition to drag queens? No, no, no. Transgender does not equal only trans men and trans women who make themselves and their lives as close as they can to you. Transgender is a experience shared by countless people with a limitless number of gender expressions. Drag queens and drag kings are transgender people, family, tribe. It’s a tactic of power politics to divide and conquer. The last thing we need is an ally like GL(noT)AAD unintentionally driving a wedge into our tribe along class lines, with transgender being a higher class than drag queen and therefore a more respectable identity. That’s just not true. If anything, the opposite is closer to the truth.
Drag queens and drag kings are transgender tribal royalty -- they bravely go where few men or women have gone before. Why do you suppose we call them kings and queens? They are breathtakingly brave, gorgeous, and fierce. Please keep in mind, it was the chicks with dicks and the bull daggers who led LGBT people into revolutionary battle at Stonewall in 1969. Our queens stood on the front lines for us. Do you get it, GL(noT)AAD? Without drag queens, you’d have nothing to be glad about.
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gay politics
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29 Jun 2009
This article in New York Magazine makes a lot of points that will be familiar to anyone who happened to see my new show A Woman In Progress.
Forty years after Stonewall, the gay movement has never been more united. So why do older gay men and younger ones often seem so far apart?
(thanks Chris)
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