Okay, first off, I support full rights for transsexuals and sympathize with the plight of those trans men who, for one reason or another, retain their female sexual organs and find themselves a bit adrift in a world, gay or straight, that worships cock. I'm not trying to make fun of anyone or of their choices, but I can't help but find a certain bizarre aspect to this that I think has its humorous aspects. Let's face it -- sexuality can sure be funny. In fact, if I were religious I'd say that sex was God's little joke on humanity.
Anyway, on a previous post I went into the reaction some gay males have to learning that there are gay (trans) men out there cruising gay bars who have pussies. Now we have a man, Thomas Beatie -- a Trans Man (a female-to-male transsexual) -- who seems to have retained his female sexual organs not because artificial penises don't look good or because they're too expensive, but because he wanted to get pregnant. Which is, of course, his prerogative. (His wife -- apparently he is a hetero Trans Man -- cannot have children.)
Frankly, I have to wonder if all Trans Men are thrilled with this development. Here they are, innately male, trying to be as outwardly masculine as they can be, some Out and Proud as Transgender, some trying to "pass," but still wanting to be recognized by the world as men.
And along comes Thomas Beatie, a Trans Man who's carrying a baby! (And apparently he's not the first. Just the most publicized and the first to get a book deal.) Beatie says that he's all man inside. "I see pregnancy as a process. It doesn't define who I am."
Beatie is quick to make it clear that he was never a lesbian. "When I was a teenager I had an attraction to women, but it wasn't a sexual attraction." But if he was always innately male deep within himself, even a sexual attraction to women wouldn't have made him a lesbian, would it? (It would be ironic -- and a little sad -- if Beatie, who is a man carrying a baby, was embarrassed or ashamed to have anybody think he might be or might have once been a "dyke!" Oy vey!)
The New York Post did a surprisingly respectful strictly-the-facts piece on Beatie (although one wonders how respectful it would have been had Beatie's partner been a man). Still, the piece, by Michael Starr, admirably avoided any snideness or judgmental attitude. But it also avoided any tough questions.
Will most people, even in the gay community, see Beatie as a true man, a grotesque combination of male and female, or just a lesbian who isn't facing the facts about herself? A woman who wants a sense of male power while retaining abilities peculiar to females? I, and many others scoffed at a young bisexual lady on a gay message board who suggested that there was a trend in "butch lesbians" transitioning into men -- even Trans Man porn star Buck Angel remarked that switching sexes is becoming easy and "trendy" -- but while most transsexuals are truly transsexual, sometimes you have to wonder.
One reason many guys will have trouble seeing Beatie as really being a guy is the simple fact that he actually wanted to get pregnant. Guys not only do not want to get pregnant, most don't want to get anybody else pregnant, although many stupidly do because they're drunk, horny, and can't bother with a condom. I speak primarily of straight guys, of course, along with some bi-identified men and even a few gay men who occasionally enjoy a poke with a kinky female friend.
But now there's this new wrinkle. I can picture it. Horny, drunk gay guy gets picked up by a macho, bearded stud in the local leather bar. Once home, they tear each other's clothing off, only the gay guy discovers that the other gay guy is a Trans Man with a vagina. Initially distressed by the phallic-less state of his date, he's drunk enough to fuck him anyway. He figures, what the hell? Pussy or no pussy, at least the guy looks like a hairy macho man.
Then a few months later, a very pregnant bearded guy walks into the Eagle and slaps the gay guy with a court order for child support!
Yikes!
Like I say, get out those condoms, fellas, LOL!
2 comments:
Hey Bill,
I'm gonna try to address your questions one at a time.
1) Almost no-one is happy with what Beatie did, for a variety of reasons.
- His self promotion and media tour have already had negative results on the transmale community. He has exposed legal loopholes which allow people to change their gender on state IDs without genital surgery. The common reasoning is that genitals make the man , so it would only make sense to require genital surgery and sterilization. However, the cheapest possibility runs about 12K, which is entirely out of reach for most transfolk. We are disproportionately overeducated and underemployed and simply cannot afford it. Requiring genital surgery to change a state ID makes most transpeople unemployable ( because the ID would out them and ENDA is trans free thanks for Barney Frank, HRC and most stepford fags out there), further locking them into a cycle of poverty. There are already rumblings in the Oregon legislature to amend the law to require genital surgery AND sterilization. Beatie basically fucked over the next generation of FTM's , along with the current one. At least when Matt Rice ( Pat Califia's ex) had a baby, he had the sense not to turn himself into a circus.
- Secondly, he essentially made the lot of us look like we're crazy/confused/paying-the-system/cheaters. Most FTM's would never ever do this for the simple fact that we are men. Men don't get pregnant, full stop. And now this guy comes along, makes like a magician fulling his pregnancy out of a hat and the rest of us are suspect. Add on rabid feminist screaming about privilege ( Advocate.com letters section is a 'goldmine') and you have the picture. He has essentially demolished 10 years worth of work and activism to validate our right to exist.
- On another note, he has the gall to bitch about not getting support from Lambda et al, but he was advised , over and over not to go public.... What a selfish dumbfuck.
2) As far as your gay bar horror scenario, I'd have to say that it's biologically impossible. Testosterone effectively shuts down the female reproductive system. A transman who's been on T long enough to have the beard and the stud build would have a reproductive system that's so awash in the male hormone that there is no chance of pregnancy, accidental or otherwise. Beatie had to be off T for 2 years ( which to me is nuts), and have a few rounds with the turkey baster to get knocked up.
That said, any self respecting horny gay guy should be using the rubbers. Syphilis, HIV and the rest of them are hardly an experience anyone want.
-KJ
Many thanks for your comments, Ksen. I appreciate hearing what you have to say on the matter. I was pretty much just being facetious with my gay bar scenario, but I appreciate your explaining the reality of the situation.
You also have made it clear why it is so important for ENDA to include transsexuals, and why no one (especially someone who needs a job) would want to wait several years longer to be included in a new bill.
I'm sure that many people, gay and straight, don't think enough about all the crap that transgendered people have to deal with.
Keep your chin up! I greatly appreciate your clarifying things for me and wish you the best. Bill
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