Things aren’t always as they seem; in fact, usually they’re nowhere near.
Appearances and realities aside, however – placed somewhere in a curio with frayed prejudices and a few regrets – we’ve found ourselves, as a community, in the middle of an identity crisis. No, I’m not referring to the identities that are currently being thrust upon us in the wailing winds of identity politics currently waxing up your ears with fist-clenched disdain. Nor am I really referring to the glory that is marriage equality, a right that assumes that every LGBT civil right hinges on your private romantic allegiances. What I’m speaking of is the new “other,” and therefore, the new frontier.
Much has been made of the Caitlyn Jenner incident in the past few weeks – some of it stabs in that typically tasteless fashion symptomatic of personal anger issues being vetted from internet connections in bigot basements; some of it in lofty think pieces sprinkled with gender norms, assimilation and the general pamphleteering of the LGBT brain trust. But not a whole lot of it is about normal people, regular people, even extraordinary people lacking the makeup and lighting of a politician or a (sort-of) Kardashian.
This week we focus on several issues plaguing the transgender community, issues that should concern all of us. The “T” is generally silent in the LGBT battle – there are a million essays on why this is and shouldn’t be, but let’s just, for the moment, accept that it indeed is. That tide is turning, a fact made obvious in late July at the rather crowded podium announcing a sweeping Democratic civil rights reform bill dubbed the Equality Act. At that press conference (which is a real weepy that can be found here), two transgender citizens – a woman and a man – had a seat at the proverbial political table. And what a table it was. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer formed an equality chorus that inspired and angered the lunchtime news-watching public, depending on kindness barometers. And, likely for the first time, two transgender individuals spoke on the issues that matter to them; key among those issues is workplace fairness.
Our cover story this week tells the story of Gina Versace, an Orlando transgender woman who has – under the bright lights of the Morgan & Morgan legal-meets-media stage – been battling for her rights for years. She alleges that she was humiliated by her employer, Starwood Hotels and Resorts, regardless of the inclusive policies that the service industry magnate purports to encourage. There are bathroom issues, lunch break issues, misgendering issues and insubordination issues at play, and though the case isn’t to be heard in court until February, and we can’t leap to any judgment, those issues are real to many living their authentic lives.
Sometimes they are tragically hyper-real, as in the case of India Clarke, a Tampa Bay transgender woman who was beaten to death outside of a community center. The authorities are seemingly (or at least allegedly) rushing to point fingers at the victim, at Clarke, and those fingers, according to records and interviews, don’t want to identify Clarke, even in her death, as her authentic female self. It’s strange and difficult to witness how the scale of justice shifts when perceptions and prejudices prevail.
Elsewhere, we sing a happier tune in honor of a huge landmark for Orlando gay resort and bar Parliament House, which just turned 40 (I can’t WAIT until I’m 40, cough). We catch up with the cast of Heathers the Musical and talk about bullying. We do what we normally do: inform, entertain, laugh and cry. But then again, nothing is really normal, is it?
Times are changing. Let’s try to keep up.
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