Wed, Oct 15, 2008
 Musician Bruce Blackstone, setting up speakers for his Too Much Information band's performance at the "Transgender 2008" conference, terms himself "gender-fluid."
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Tucson, Arizona | Published: 04.06.2008
For some people, "he" and "she" are limiting terms.
While many of the transgender people at last week's "Transgender 2008" conference in Tucson were transsexuals who strongly believe that at one time they were a woman trapped in a man's body or vice versa, others said the distinction is less clear.
Some say "man" or "woman" doesn't describe who they are. A few prefer gender-neutral pronouns, like "ze" for he and she, and "hir" (pronounced "here") for his and her. Others refer to themselves in written form as s/he to denote both their male and female sides.
Post-genderism or moving beyond the gender binary was a common theme during the conference, particularly among many younger transgender people who are more at ease than some of their older counterparts with calling themselves gender blenders, gender queer or nonconforming.
Evan Brown has given up trying to figure out his gender category.
"I've decided to be whoever I want to be. I'm trying to do whatever I need to do to be happy with myself," he said.
The 18-year-old California native is now studying psychology and women's studies at the University of Arizona. Brown was born female and was raised as a female but never felt right about it.
"I felt like a drag queen in a dress," he said.
He now identifies as male but says that doesn't quite fit, either. He strongly identifies with women on many women's issues and believes he has much more fear of sexual violence than most men. He doesn't take hormones and hasn't had any surgery. He still uses the women's bathroom.
He likes gender-neutral pronouns but doesn't enforce them.
"Ze and hir are really cool, but I'm going to pick my battles," he said. "I do intend to medically transition to male to be comfortable in my own body, but it's not because I want to conform to gender norms. I'm not going to be a normal man."
On surveys that give two categories for sex, male and female, Brown usually adds his own. On the last one he filled out he wrote "gender queer F to M." Ideally, Brown and many other gender-variant people say they'd like forms to say "gender" with a blank line beside it.
"I don't do boxes," Brown said. "There are a lot of things people think are dichotomies that aren't. Personally I like to use 'queer' as my identity. It doesn't specify anything. For me, queer is a rejection of labels and normalcy."
Similarly, dividing the world into two groups —male and female — does not reflect reality for Tucson musician and business owner Bruce Blackstone.
Blackstone, 48, is biologically male and usually appears in his professional life as a man.
But outside of work he most often dresses like a woman. He is partial to skirts, heels and sparkling brooches, belts and earrings. He shaves his legs and arms, and he paints his toenails. He doesn't try to soften his voice or wear his hair in a feminine style. He's never taken female hormones and has no desire to have sexual-reassignment surgery.
"I don't feel I'm trapped in the wrong body," Blackstone said in an interview during "Transgender 2008," an international conference in Tucson that wrapped up Saturday night.
"I like the term bi-gendered. Some days I feel more male. Other days I'm drawn to the woman side of me and I want to be more feminine. It shifts. I am gender-fluid. I am very much an anomaly in my age group."
One thing that Blackstone and other gender-variant people make clear is that gender identity and sexual orientation are distinctly different. Many transsexuals, for example, identify as heterosexual and don't affiliate with the gay and lesbian community.
Though he is primarily attracted to women, Blackstone identifies as bisexual. He emphasizes that being bisexual is separate from his identification as bi-gendered. He does see both gender and sexuality being on a continuum, where some people are strongly at one end or the other and others fall at various spots in between.
"I think over a period of time there has been more openness to express where you are at, separate from only being male-identified or female-identified," said Lori B. Girshick, a professor of sociology at Chandler-Gilbert Community College in Chandler and author of the 2008 book, "Transgender Voices: Beyond Women and Men."
"The term transgender does not just refer to people who are transsexual. The rest of them fit into other kinds of categories — gender queer, androgynous, cross-dressers, intersex, some of them have multiple labels. There are many labels used within subcommunities, like tranny boi or sissy guy."
Gender blending isn't new. Blackstone said he was inspired by androgynous 1980s rockers like David Bowie and Robert Plant, and he notes the musical "Cabaret," set in 1929-30 Berlin, is full of people pushing the gender envelope. The difference is that now gender-variant people are seeking more acceptance and visibility in an everyday life context.
But being gender-variant is not without difficulties. Youths who spoke about being gender-queer talked about rejection from families and peers. One attempted suicide. A few had been kicked out of their homes.
"Sometimes I get tired of the whole gender thing," said 23-year-old Tucsonan Ben Griffith, who spoke on a youth panel with Brown. "All it is, is a label, for paperwork. Our souls are not determined by what our outer shells are."
Like Brown, Griffith was born female but now identifies as a man and has given himself a male name. But he plays in a women's football league, and, like Brown, has not taken any hormones or had any surgery.
Girshick would like to see a world where people could self-identify their gender. She sees dangerous consequences in having a simple, binary system. Those who don't fit into the two choices feel omitted, she said. That can spur harassment, trauma and all kinds of negatives.
"People are very comfortable with easy choices because it's easier. But people are complex, the world is complex," Girshick said. "Most people in the present system identify as a man or a woman. But in another system, who knows?"
● Contact reporter Stephanie Innes at 573-4134 or at sinnes@azstarnet.com.
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