Serano - Outspoken : a decade of transgender activism & trans feminism

OUTSPOKEN

A Decade of Transgender Activism andTrans Feminism

Julia Serano

Switch Hitter Press

Outspoken

A Decade of Transgender Activism and TransFeminism

Copyright 2016 by Julia Serano

Published by Switch Hitter Press

PO Box 11133

Oakland, CA 94611-1133

www.switchhitter.net

Distributed by Smashwords

2003 performance poetry photo on left side of frontcover by David Huang

2009 APA protest photo on right side of front coverby lore m. dickey, PhD

cover design and book layout by Julia Serano

All rights reserved. No part of this book may bereproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronicor mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by anyinformation storage and retrieval system without the writtenpermission of the author, except where permitted by law.

Smashwords License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoymentonly. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people.If you would like to share this book with another person, pleasepurchase an additional copy for each recipient. If youre readingthis book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for youruse only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer andpurchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work ofthis author.

Publishers Cataloging-in-Publication

Serano, Julia, author.

Outspoken : a decade of transgender activism and

trans feminism / Julia Serano.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references.

LCCN 2016916191

ISBN 978-0-9968810-0-5 (print)

ISBN 978-0-9968810-2-9 (eBook)

1. Serano, Julia--Literary collections.

2. Transgenderism--Literary collections. 3.Transgender

people--Literary collections. 4.Feminism--Literary

collections. I. Title.

HQ77.9.S469 2016 306.76'8

QBI16-900051

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the countlessgender-variant people in the past who paved the way to make itpossible for me to live as an outspoken trans woman around the turnof the millennium.

And to the many trans folks of my owngenerational cohort, with whom I engaged, debated, collaborated,and/or performed, and whose writings, art, performances, andactivism influenced much of the work in this collection.

And to the next wave(s) of transgender peoplewho will no doubt explore new paths, pioneer new forms of art andactivism, and make even greater inroads into garnering respect andappreciation for trans lives and perspectives.

Table of Contents

My original idea for this book was relativelystraightforward: Since 2002, I have written extensively abouttransgender experiences, issues, and activism. These writings havetaken many forms: performance poetry and spoken word, personalstories, blog posts and essays, speeches and keynotes, academicarticles, and magazine and webzine pieces. While much of this workhas already appeared in my first two booksWhipping Girl: ATranssexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininityand Excluded: Making Feminist and Queer Movements MoreInclusive]many other pieces (including some ofmy personal favorites!) have not been readily available up untilnow. Much of my earliest work first appeared in various zines andmy own self-made chapbooks, which are no longer in print. Otherpieces were published online, but may be difficult to find giventhe Internets relentless prioritization of new content over old.Still others were written for a one-time performance or event, andhave not seen the light of day since. So in 2014, I began diggingthrough my old computer files, searching for these previouslyunpublished or difficult-to-find pieces, with the intention ofcompiling and publishing them together for readers who areinterested in my writings and/or in trans activism moregenerally.

As I pored over these older texts, I was struck byhow much trans communities and activism have changed over such arelatively short time period. While many pieces in this collectionare as relevant now as they were at the time that I wrote them,others felt like rediscovering something that had been buried in atime capsule. Some of the earliest pieces espouse notions andlanguage that were popular in the wake of 1990sera transgenderactivism, but which have since fallen somewhat out of fashion. Afew of the chapters describe community dynamics and debates thathave subsequently receded or which now take on different forms.Even the pieces that I wrote about trans-specific psychiatricdiagnoses during the latest DSM revision (during 20092012),while still quite pertinent, feel as if they are from a previousera, as much of the trans community has since turned its focus ontoother concerns.

The speed at which trans activism has evolved is atleast partly due to the cyclical nature of trans communities: Oftenthe people who are most active and involved (especially in onlinesettings) tend to be relatively new to the community, such aspeople who have recently come out as trans and/or who aretransitioning (or have recently transitioned). And after a severalyear period of being passionate about, and absorbed in,conversations about trans identities, experiences, and activism,many trans people disengage to some degree, or move onto otherinterests or concerns. As a result, we (the community as a whole)tend to have a somewhat short memory span, even when it comes tofairly recent events in trans history. So rather than present thisbook as simply a collection of writings, I additionally set out toreconsider this recent past and to contextualize it for those whowere not there to personally witness it.

In addition to providing glimpses into recent transhistory, the pieces in this collection also chronicle my ownpersonal transformation from a genderqueer musician who wasrelatively new to writing and trans activism when I first began, toa trans feminist author who is (in some circles, at least) takenseriously as a gender theorist (a designation that still soundssomewhat surreal to me). I have never been inclined to write amemoir or an autobiography, as the minutia of my daily life neverseemed particularly interesting to me. But I am a huge fan ofbehind the scenes stories and documentaries that reveal the lifeevents and thought processes that ultimately led some person(s) toproduce a particular creation or endeavor. I am often asked abouthow I first became involved in trans activism, or how I came towrite Whipping Girl, and so on, so I thought that it mightbe fun for me (and potentially interesting to readers) to sharesome of these backstories. More importantly, I found that thesebackstories significantly helped with my previously stated goal ofhistorically contextualizing many of these writings.

For all of the aforementioned reasons, I have decidedto format this book like a reader. The chapters cover a time spanfrom 2002 through 2014. This is admittedly a little bit longer thana decademy apologies to literalists out there. The chapters areorganized (roughly chronologically) into five parts: Performanceand Poetry, Articulating Trans-misogyny, Pathological ScienceRevisited, Communities and Disparities, and Differences ofOpinion in Trans Activism. Each of these sections represents anevolution in my perspectives and interests, and each begins with anintroduction that provides the necessary backdrop to understand thematters at hand. Additionally, each chapter includes a briefintroductory sentence or paragraph detailing when (and sometimeswhy) it was written, where it was originally published orperformed, and other potentially noteworthy information. Othersupplementary details and commentary are provided via the Notessection at the end of the book.

While some of the pieces have been edited forclarity, to reduce redundancy, or to include additional relevantinformation, for the most part they adhere to their original form.As a result, some of the language and opinions that I express inearlier chapters may differ somewhat from those that I forward inlater chapters or have stated elsewhere. Since such differences aregermane to my aim of illustrating how trans activism has evolvedover time, I have tried to keep the pieces relatively intact ratherthan smoothing over these inconsistencies. To help readers navigatethe shifts in language, and to aid readers who are relatively newto transgender identities and issues, I have created an onlineglossary called There Is No Perfect Word: A Transgender Glossaryof Sorts (which can be found at http://juliaserano.com/terminology.html )that provides not only definitions, but commentary and resourcesregarding history and differing opinions about said terms.