Gerald Walton
These two orientations mirror contemporary questions about sexuality, namely, what are the private motivations for being out and known as gay or lesbian? Who gets to decide on being out, or not, and on what basis? What does being out mean in a context where being a sexual or gender minority is a struggle for representation in broader society? How might the “it’s nobody’s business but my own” rationale undermine broader social change?
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featured in the film, their parents. Indeed, perhaps the most moving and educational aspect of the film are the accounts of parents who unreservedly support their trans* children. Parents who respect their children enough to support their social transitions to identify and express themselves as the gender that feels most natural to them are commendable. Unfortunately, such parents are rare; most pressure their children to conform to their assigned gender, belittle their children’s perceptions about their own gender, or reject them outright. It is mentioned in the film, but not explored in depth, that the percentage of trans* youth who are homeless and suffering from mental health issues are disproportionate to their cisgender counterparts. No wonder. The problem, as Hershel Russell explains, is not being trans* itself, but transphobia that operates widely in society.
Passing and outness are personal decisions that are rooted in social politics. So are bathrooms in what has been dubbed the “transgender bathroom wars” by Politico Magazine. Although the film is not a foray into issues of bathroom usage, Transforming Gender offers a critical voice to counter the ongoing public debates about trans* people’s right to use washrooms that match their gender identity. U.S. politicians and others have employed transphobia with aplomb, arguing that predators in women’s clothing will invade the “wrong” bathrooms and assault women and girls. Such notable politicians include the former Governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee, and the current Governor of North Carolina, Pat McCrory, among many others who utter the predictable transphobic tedium of the U.S. Republican Party and their socially conservative agenda. It is certainly facepalm-worthy that bathrooms have become a plank in the Republican political platform. Fortunately, Transforming Gender carries weight in its ability to educate against such ignorance and, in doing so, it can certainly be described as political, or at least having political implications. Unfortunately, those who could learn a thing or two about gender will probably never see it. Parents, students, teachers, and scholars who interested in gender and trans* issues will be drawn to the film; I am not so sure about others.
Also problematic is that, although the film is not a feature length documentary, the notion of being genderqueer is entirely absent. Genderqueer is an identity and gender presentation that disavows the gender binary and normative cisgender expectations. It might also incorporate being trans*, but not necessarily. For people who identify as genderqueer, passing isn’t a priority. The film also overlooks passing as an issue of class. Those in the film who find passing important for themselves have acquired the social, financial, and medical resources to undergo a range of hormonal and surgical strategies to enable the transition. Certainly, it is the case that trans* people are varied in what they can and choose to adopt to help them in their process of transition. However, the film fails to represent those trans* people who do not have such resources, and thus are left vulnerable to the daily risks of harassment and violence that inevitably come with gender presentations that do not conform to cisgender norms.
The politics of everyday trans* life aside, Transforming Gender offers a glimpse into challenges faced by trans* people and, in the case of trans* children
The omissions that I have identified are not faults with the film. It is not possible, or even desirable or effective, to address every issue on a complex
Vol. 1, No. 1 | Winter 2016
