Transgender. The word can mean pre- or post-operative transsexual, someone who feels different in "spiritual gender" than physical sex, androgynous people who seek to transcend gender roles, or anybody who deviates from societal gender norms. Whatever definition one chooses, a single fact remains. Transgendered people are fully integrated members of queer communities, and have been since the beginnings of the queer movement.
Transgenders deal with many of the same issues as lesbians, gays, and bisexuals, and they are viewed as unnatural because they don't fit into the artificial roles for gender that society has imposed on all of us.
When a man in a dress gets beat up, is he beat up because he's gay, or is he beat up for wearing a dress? The answer to the question is unclear, because the relations between gender and sexuality are inseparable, and that's why transgenders are naturally part of the queer movement. The coordinator of Yalesbians, a group sponsored by the LGB Co-op at Yale, is transgendered. I'm a coordinator of the LGB Co-op, and the word "bisexual" has never been the right word for who I am. It's androgyne.
If transgenders are members of queer communities at Yale, then why are we left out of the largest and most powerful queer group, the LGB Co-op? Why isn't the group called the LGBT Co-op? Why aren't transgenders included in the mission statement? A formal proposal to change the name and mission of the Co-op to include transgenders was made this semester. On Mon., Feb. 12, the Co-op said no.
Most members at the meeting supported a name change, but the few who were against it were able to stop the move. These members who didn't want the change had their reasons. Some feared inclusion of a group whose label was so ill-defined, even though the labels of lesbian, gay, and bisexual are relatively ill-defined as well. Some felt issues of gender and sexuality are different, and not intrinsically tied together. They thought to add the word "transgender" to the Co-op would dilute the focus. Some stated that they actually liked gender roles.
Although I disagree with these people, I think we can agree on one thing. Transgenders are here, we want to be included, and we should be. Including transgenders in the LGB Co-op will not force others to deviate from gender roles. Working with transgenders and building a stronger community will not make those who are not transgendered become transgendered. The inclusion of "bisexuals" in the name and mission has not diluted its focus or caused any fracturing, because bisexuals have always been part of the queer movement, and always will be. The same is true for transgenders.
The exclusion of transgenders from the Co-op has serious implications. Transgendered Yale employees could be harassed or fired and the Co-op would do nothing about it. And if members of the Co-op did want to do something about it, any single person could block the action, citing the lack of transgender inclusion in the mission statement.
"Transgendered people are already part of the Co-op membership. It's sad that the Co-op is basically taking an action that tells transgendered people that we are not welcome and we are not wanted there," said Katherine Kramer, who was present when the Co-op told her she couldn't be a part of its mission or name. That kind of betrayal is painful, and unless it changes its name and its mission, the Co-op will continue to hurt its transgendered members.
Gowri Ramachandran is a sophomore in Stiles.
Copyright 1995, The Yale Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.
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