From: Martin, Hyacinth
Sent: Tue 7/1/2008 10:19 AM
To: Bailey, George
Subject: Journal-Record story?
Dr. Bailey,
My name is Hyacinth Martin. I’m a reporter with the Bedford Falls Journal-Record. Various people have contacted us recently, telling us that you’ve had gender reassignment surgery. If you’d be willing, we’d like to share your experience with our readers. Please let me know if you’d like to sit down for an interview. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Hyacinth Martin
Bedford Falls Public Affairs Reporter
Setting aside the motives of the “various people [who] have contacted us recently,” I figured Hyacinth needed a reply, and I was reminded of the advice given to me by Mara Keisling in January regarding publicity of any sort as I wrote the following reply.
Hyacinth, thanks for your invitation, but I don't think an individual's transition is newsworthy, so I'll have to decline. I mean people have been doing this by the thousands for decades all over the world. And most of the "human interest" stories that newspapers do about these people don't really get into what's interesting, preferring to stay with the surgical story, or the make-up story, or the "how hard it's been to lose everything" story. Most transsexuals are productive members of society -- lawyers, doctors, professors, authors, truck drivers, journalists (like Christine Daniels of the LA Times, in sportswriting, no less) -- and the real story for them is the fact that they finally got the albatross off their necks, dealt with their awful depression and shame, and then moved on to continue treating patients, arguing court cases, writing news stories, driving trucks, raising kids, participating in democratic America, and a million other productive things. That's the big story -- the transition story is only the flash of change from one state to another.
If the Journal-Record is interested in these types of stories, there's a lot happening in the transgender world that's distinct from the so-called GLBTQ umbrella, like the very first congressional hearing of all time on workplace discrimination towards transgendered people, just last week: http://nctequality.blogspot.com/ (videos at http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=NCTEquality). Or the fact that of the Big 12 universities, 2 (Kansas State and Iowa State) have added gender identity to their EEO non-discrimination language, but Bedford Falls University has not. Or the fact that Bedford Falls has a statistically-expected transgender population with fully-transitioned transsexuals working all over the place and closeted transgendered people meeting in support groups and church groups (just as you’d find in Denver or Detroit). Or the really big story — Bedford Falls isn’t some rednecked backwater where diversity is ridiculed (which is what everyone else in the state thinks) — in fact, its citizens are kind, tolerant people and this city is as good a place as any to be a transsexual — because what you are (and people get this, I think) really isn’t Transsexual, but a professor or lawyer or engineer with an interesting past.
I'm not against telling my story, and I'd be happy to have a beer with you and Kiera and other friends off the record, but it honestly isn't the most interesting story out there, but just a little footnote to much bigger and more interesting things.
Yours,
Joyce
July 1, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Good on ya! It’s funny how often media people assume we’re just itching to tell our “stories” to the press. I believe in public education and sensitisation but, as Mara Keisling advised you, it has to be for the right reasons AND boundaries are important.
I think it’s good that you made it a point to educate this journalist. Hopefully, the points you raise get followed up. And you’re right - reading personal story after personal story about transition isn’t going to change society. Rather, the public needs to be educated about injustices and discrimination as well as on the positive outcomes a transition can have on a person: a fulfilling life, etc.
July 1, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Already followed up, as you hoped, Jacky:
Joyce,
Thank you for the compelling e-mail. I think it would serve our readers well to know more about the issues you brought up.
Perhaps you could direct me to some of the support groups you mentioned. Do you know if anyone tried, but failed to add gender identity to EEO non-discrimination language at BFU?
Thank you again for your time and insights.
Hyacinth
And my reply:
The most interesting story in compassionate Bedford Falls is its PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) chapter (national website is http://community.pflag.org/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?pid=194&srcid=-2 )- I’ve written to the president to see if she wants the group to have any stories in the press, but suffice to say it’s old-school Bedford Falls looking out for its diverse fellow-citizens, and that includes the transgendered, as well as the lesbian and gay community, as well as PFLAG’s main constituency, parents and friends of those other populations. It’s the best story in town, in my opinion.
Bedford Falls does not have a chapter of COLAGE (national website: http://www.colage.org/), which would be a support goup for kids with LGBTQ parents — they have terrific resources for kids (and just come out with a new publication for “Kids of Trans” that my children approve of). I wish we did have a chapter.
I’m sure you’re aware of BFU’s various support groups for students through the student mental health center. And we have the only psychotherapist specializing in transgender issues (among his other specialties) within 400 miles right here in town–people come here from hundreds of miles away to see him. I don’t know if he wants publicity, but you’d never figure Bedford Falls to have such a talent.
Regarding EEO language, no, it has not been attempted, so its absence isn’t from any sort of obstruction, but from just not considering the different kinds of diversity that benefit universities and their communities. I suspect there will be a push to add this language to BFU’s EEO statements in the next year or so
Joyce
July 1, 2008 at 1:44 pm
That’s great! Thanks for making a difference!
July 2, 2008 at 7:14 am
Very, very well played, Joyce. You should consider forwarding your responses to NCTE and the other advocacy orgs. It makes an excellent model, I think.