(Trans)Gender Bending Your Ear!

If there has ever been a time when the queer community needs to join hands and lend a voice to those marginalized by politics – it is now. Current administration leaders are axing away services, programs, and individual rights at an unbelievable pace. It is our obligation to collaborate and building bridges with other movements to create change. Recognizing the connection between the recent court decisions that over-turned state sodomy laws to protect individual privacy is a small victory when balanced with the never ending fight for individual privacy through organizations like Planned Parenthood. We must make these connections and voice the relevance to others within our queer community to make change. More importantly, we must also really examine ourselves for individual privileges. What a privilege it is to be fighting for the right to marry or even adopt children. Don’t get me wrong equality is worth fighting for. I just ask you to recognize those who don’t have this privilege because they are trying to stay alive, get health care coverage, employment and housing.
I am talking about the “T” in LGBT. I want you to focus on the folks who get left behind because they do not fit physically, emotionally, and/or intellectually in the socially constructed binary gender system – the pink and the blue – that so much of the American culture is founded upon. As you become aware of this often forgotten or invisible community, go one step further and think about the cultural adjustments you made while serving in the Peace Corps. Put yourself in the shoes of a transgender/gender variant applicant or volunteer. Are you prepared for this? Are we prepared for this?

Most people think gender is fixed and immutable and that everyone is either a man or a woman, male or female. Yet, gender is far more complex than merely the description of a person’s genitals. Gender identity is determined by many factors, the most important of which is considered by some to be psychological, even spiritual, rather than physical. As transgender/gender variant people come out of the closet of rigid gender roles and identities, both the general public and professionals within the health care and social service professions find themselves lacking even a basic understanding of gender identity, gender expression and gender perception.
I have often been asked, “Why is there the sudden presence of transgender/gender variant voices? Where were they 10, 20 or 30 years ago?” The recent appearance of transgender/gender variant people is due to several factors. One of the most important is the increased availability of surgical procedures and/or hormonal therapies that enable people to transition (physically alter their bodies) fully. Many of these techniques were unheard of just a couple of decades ago.

Another factor in the increased visibility of transgender people is perhaps a direct result of both the women’s movement and the gay and lesbian movement. Both have given our country a legacy, and a blueprint for activism and advocacy. Indeed, many (but by no means all) transgender people came of age in the gay and lesbian rights movement.

It is my hope that this information will provide the Peace Corps community with a basic understanding of the transgender/gender variant community and the issues faced by those within it, as well as an opportunity to learn more about this vibrant and diverse community. It is not intended to be the final word in this multi-faceted and ever expanding story - there are many voices within the transgender community which reflect our rich diversity and some of them contradict, and even conflict with each other.

Of course, not all people who transgress cultural norms in regards to gender are, or should be, considered gender variant. The Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States uses training modules where sex, gender, and sexual orientation are three separate and unrelated identities of each individual. Trans activists and authors conclude that a person can identify with personal feelings and express any identification as desired. The key is that we must examine our perceptions of people and recognize that most of us have been socially trained to connect these three distinct identities based on socially constructed norms. Culture, names, appearance, clothes, jobs, dreams, aspirations, partner status, hobbies, etc., all have socially constructed meanings attached to sex, gender, and sexual orientation. Often times, sex and gender are even used as synonyms.

Let’s take Sam for example. Sam is 5’8” has short hair, wears pants and a sweater and boots. There is no noticeable facial hair or jewelry. Sam works as a science teacher in an urban area. Sam wants to have kids, but currently only has a dog and a cat. Sam’s partner lives in a neighboring town and works at a non-profit organization. Sam fills the weekends with painting, volunteering as a mentor, and playing basketball. Sam would like to join the Peace Corps. With this description, can you visualize Sam? Is Sam short for Samantha or Samuel? In American culture, names, appearance, clothes, jobs, dreams, aspirations, partner status, hobbies, etc. all have socially constructive meanings or attachments to sex, gender and sexual orientation. Often times, sex and gender are even used as synonyms. Ask yourself the following questions- 1) What “clues” lead you to picture Sam? What about Sam’s partner? 2) What does Sam’s genitals look like? 3) Why does any of this matter? The best way to get the answers would be to ask Sam.

I hope that Sam’s scenario can serve as a foundation for questions you may want to ask yourself when talking about recruiting, mentoring, training and working with transgender Peace Corps Volunteers. Volunteers that conform to the American socially constructed binary gender systems have to make adjustments during their service. What about the applicants or volunteers who don’t conform to these gender systems? Will they be supported by their fellow volunteers, country staff, and headquarters staff, not to mention the nationals at their work sites?

I identify as a queer, liberal, middle-class, white, educated, able-bodied young woman. I have very short hair, wear pants. I am most likely to speak my mind, be assertive, and take a leadership position. During my Peace Corps experience, I didn’t have too much of a problem during the application process, interview, or in training when dealing with Americans. I was not an openly queer person nor did I voice my political opinions often to the country staff or my national colleagues at work. I was placed in a large city that is centrally located where another volunteer also worked. I quickly learned at site that I was not the American woman my students, co-workers or counterparts were expecting. In my life in the American South, being a queer woman was much more of an issue than my gender expression, which for the most part was accepted. The opposite was true in Bulgaria. I did not realize that I would have to defend my preference for pants or my masculine personality traits while aggressively working to adjust to my country’s culture and practices.

I challenge this group of lesbian, gay and bisexual RPCVs to note their own social constructions of gender at your own home, work place, neighborhood, as well as media images from television, and print ads. I challenge you to go one step further and look within your own queer community and advocate for transgender/gender variant folks whose voices aren’t heard. Ask yourself how the LGB RPCV group can advocate the Peace Corps organization to better serve transgender/gender variant applicants and any volunteers currently serving abroad. What kind of culture training is needed? Are there security issues that need to be addressed? How can medical services be more inclusive and proactive? What can this group do to provide additional training to other volunteers at any stage of service to be more understanding and inclusive? I feel that this is the group to start asking these questions and advocating for change.

I hope the information presented here will be just the beginning of your education about the issues and needs of the transgender community and I invite you to learn more. For additional information on this complex subject, please see the resource list and other information that appears on the LGB RPCV web site version of this article (Articles Page at www.lgbrpcv.org).

Jessica Pettitt, Bulgaria, ‘96-’97, works at New York University’s Office of LGBT Student Services as a Program Advisor. You can contact Jessica through us at lgbrpcv-news@lgbrpcv.org