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I’m So Pretty: The Trans Community’s West Side Story

From Donna Rose’s blog:

I wanted to follow-up on something from my last post.  Specifically, the situation in IL where the ACLU is suing the state for its Birth Certificate change policy that requires proof of surgery.  Several people left comments indicating that they support the requirement, and so do I.  That’s why I indicated that it’s a good thing nobody is asking me to support the lawsuit, because it’s not something I can support. I find it unfortunate that we’re punishing those who have more supportive policies while other states who have stricter, less supportive ones (or downright prohibitive ones) aren’t receiving that same kind of challenge.

Perhaps it’s a generational thing – I can’t say – but as politically incorrect as it might be I admit that I can’t wrap my mind around being able to change a birth certificate without that kind of disciplined structure.  I’d argue that that’s what makes it legitimate.  I know as well as anyone reading this that anybody can get a letter from a psychologist saying pretty much anything so using that as the standard not only removes the discipline, it removes much of the validity.

So all of you that are pre-operative/non-operative trans women that don’t work for a multi-national corporation and can’t afford to have facial  surgery with Doctor Ousterhout and SRS with Dr Bruce Meltzer, I guess you’re not women. Your transition, your safety, and your existence doesn’t matter. If there’s no “structure” (surgery), then you don’t deserve the safety that comes with a change of the birth certificate.  You haven’t “earned” your change.

“See the pretty girl in that mirror there:
Who can that attractive girl be?
Such a pretty face,
Such a pretty dress,
Such a pretty smile,
Such a pretty me!

I feel stunning
And entrancing,
Feel like running and dancing for joy”

To those people who will transition before securing funds for surgery, this type of “structure” requirement may mean arrest, outing at any job they apply for, and for in some cases being harmed/harrassed/abused.

“I feel pretty,
Oh, so pretty
That the city should give me its key.
A committee
Should be organized to honor me.”

Regardless of how this effects your life, employment or safety, you don’t deserve it. You haven’t earned it.

“I feel dizzy,
I feel sunny,
I feel fizzy and funny and fine,
And so pretty,
Miss America can just resign!”

I wonder if she’d require that same “structure” for Jamison Green?

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Transadvocate contributor: Marti Abernathey  (1926 Posts)

Marti Abernathey is Transadvocate.com's blog editor. She's also a podcaster, activist, and radiologic technologist in Madison, Wisconsin. She's been a part of various internet radio ventures such as TSR Live!, The T-Party, and The Radical Trannies, to name a few. As an advocate she's previously been involved with the Indiana Transgender Rights Advocacy Alliance, Rock Indiana Campaign for Equality, and the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition. She's taken vital roles as a grass roots community organizer in The Indianapolis Tax Day Protest (2003), The Indy Pride HRC Protest (2004), Transgender Day of Remembrance (2004), Indiana's Witch Hunt (2005), and the Rally At The Statehouse (the largest ever GLBT protest in Indiana - 3/2005). She was a delegate from Indiana to the Democratic National Convention and a member of Barack Obama's LGBT Steering and Policy Committee.


  • Anonymous

    I work for a major university and have the same financial situation. I get to work beside my male peers for far less pay…the gross difference in one year would be sufficient to pay for surgery.

  • Kathleen

    Hmmm…generational thing. No – I’m a bit older than Donna and don’t agree with her on this. Sounds more like a class thing. 

    A-RAB: (As Psychiatrist) Yes! Officer Krupke, you’re really a
    slob. This boy don’t need a doctor, just a good honest job 

  • Anonymous

    I can’t think of one single other medical condition where the most extreme measure is the only only one that constitutes a legitimate cure.

  • Balros

    Z̨̛̯̟̬͎̼̱̺̗̘̠͇͙͉͖̠̦̜̘̓͆͒̇͐̀ȃ̸̵̙̞͈͉͇̮̟̙͕͓̏͗͒̎̚̕͡l̸̢̛͕͈̥̥̹̭̦̋̅ͫ̀̅̀ͣ͋̈́͊ͭͭͨ̅̎͡g̶̷̨̼̰͈̬̫͚̜̟̪̽̈́̊ͣ̕oͯ̾͗ͯͥͪ̈ͮ̆ͬ̊ͤ͛̎̀͜͏̛̭̙̙̰̹̖̩̪̮̙͈͟͢

  • Christine Burns

    When we worked with the government here in the UK to draft the Gender Recognition Bill one of the first issues we discussed was the long list of possible reasons why surgeries might not be accessible or feasible for some trans people.

    The most obvious scenario was the poor state of surgical sophistication and outcomes for phalloplasty. However we also covered the personal clinical contraindications for some trans women on grounds of age, obesity, etc…

    We found we didn’t have to push  very hard on that particular door to reach the point where the civil servants working with us could grasp the ethical and human rights issues involved.

    They could understand that it would be unacceptable to make access to a provision which protects an individual’s privacy and fundamentally recognises who they are contingent on having to undergo a medical procedure which might not be safe for that person.

    Who else would accept the idea of having to undergo a surgery which might do you harm just in order to access a fundamental human right enjoyed by the rest of society. Never legislate for someone to have to do something you wouldn’t wish on yourself.

    The Ministers responsible for steering the Bill through Parliament ‘got it’ and could explain it to their colleagues. The opposition leadership ‘got it’ too.

    There were inevitably some MPs representing the opposition to the Bill who enjoyed thinking up all the ways that the world might end as a result of such legislation.

    Predictably they were rather more concerned with the idea of women with penises rather than the prospect of men without them. Perhaps the men could imagine a scenario where they might find themselves in that position and realised they wouldn’t stop being men.

    Such hysteria was firmly rebuffed by the MPs who understood the facts.

    The Gender Recognition Act was passed in mid 2004 and took effect in April 2005. It has therefore been in operation for over six years without incident.

    Granted, if an applicant for legal recognition hasn’t had genital surgery then the committee reviewing applications will want to understand why. Nevertheless such applications have been approved.

    The reason it poses no issue is that we don’t go around inspecting strangers’ genitals when we meet them. What’s between someone’s legs is a private matter. Once you accept that then it is inappropriate to get hung up about it all.

  • Guest

    Apparently, ugly people aren’t people at all.

  • Pingback: It’s Raining Letters! | ObamaPress

  • ellysabeth

    A rather disgusting side-effect of surgical requirement for properly representative identity documents is that with the current state of medical technology, such requirements equate to mandatory sterilization.

  • Robyn Carolyn Montague

    As an advocate of identity document reform for transsexual
    individuals, my thoughts are those along a path towards surgery. However, I
    understand the difficulty some may encounter and may be prevented from surgery
    due to chronic illness. Imagine a transsexual with cardiac issues where one
    might not survive a long period of anesthesia. One also should note that
    cardiac issues are not limited to older people alone, and does affect younger
    individuals, including those that are TS. Should we not be compassionate in
    this event?

    And do we lack the compassion for those that for no reason
    of their own cannot afford surgery. I have seen comments before like “they
    should work harder,” but find that offensive when I look around and see
    the majority that I know, without employment opportunities, or have lost their
    jobs with beginning of transition. Do we cast those away with such misfortune,
    in almost a sense of ‘ethnic cleansing?’ I think not.
    (paraphrasing myself on a FB thread of yesterday afternoon)

  • Anonymous

    I see these sentiments echoed by white post ops with means far too often.    They seem to be oblivious to the fact that not all people can afford surgery for various reasons

    They also seem to conveniently forget that the need for pre-op/non- op trans people to have ID that matches their gender ID and feminine/masculine presentation is just as critically important as it was for them.

    And it shouldn’t be based on genitalia that you can’t see from the waist down, but what you see from the waist up.

  • Beckygrrl

    My problem with a surgical requirement for legal recognition in one’s gender of choice is that it reduces a trans person to the sum of his or her parts, exactly what we’ve been fighting against for decades now. It would limit legal recognition to those who not only are good medical candidates for surgery, but also those who can afford the procedures. In today’s economy and given the current state of laws regarding the legal status of trans people, a surgical requirement excludes poor and lower middle class trans people from recognition and therefore equal treatment under the law. It’s as conservative and frankly Republican a position as you could expect from LCR, GOProud, and many  straight conservative groups (those who would offer us any recognition at all).

    In the past, I’ve usually found myself in agreement with Donna Rose and I have great respect for her. I believe her standing up to HRC’s self-serving elitist agenda and resigning from the HRC Executive Board over the way they treated trans people and issues in 2007 was an example of standing up for principles all of us should honor and respect. Yet, I believe she’s completely wrong on this one. Her position here limits a trans person’s reaching for his or her dreams solely to those who can both afford surgery and who are fortunate enough to be able to handle the physical requirements of surgery. It’s not only grossly unfair just in general, but in today’s economy and political climate in many areas of the country it’s downright dangerous both to trans people personally and to the overall movement for full and equal treatment of Americans in general and to transpeople specifically.

    Frankly, I’ve come to expect far better from Donna in the past and I’m disappointed we’re not seeing that here.

  • gina morvay

    Totally agree with your critique of Donna’s post. On a more trivial point, it’s Toby not Bruce Meltzer.

  • Michellerose3

    Whenever I hear or see phrases like: “I can’t wrap my mind around…”, I know I’m being jerked around by someone who can’t defend their position.

    Structure? THIS is a reason to require hideously expensive (and risky) surgery to declare one’s own identity? STRUCTURE? Yo, Stalinist Russia had structure. The Roman Empire had structure; lots of it. 

    Do we mean conformity, Donna? Is that what we’re getting at, oh-so-hesitantly? In other words, exactly what our adversaries are demanding: adherence to a cultural norm.

    Over my dead body you’ll have your effin’ structure…

  • Bayne

    Once again there is an unavoidable connection here between transsexuals, non-transsexual transgender and intersex. Because this issue effects all three and because legislation intended for some will impact the human rights of the others. Surgical requirements often prevent miss-assigned intersex kids from having their documents amended. And just like some bi-gender genderqueer et al folk would rather have ‘sex not specified’ IDs and documents so too do some Intersex people. All people should have their right to self identification and their right to recognition of that identification protected and enabled by law. After all, and lets be blunt, the primary day to day practical function, whether intended or not, of sex markers on documents is the denial or delay of services to people whose gender expression and physical visible appearance does not match an officials expectations for the sex marked on the document.

  • Nikki Gasko

    Donna Rose literally saved my life by placing her story on the internet and the many essay’s she has posted there. I have great respect of Donna. I have to take the opposite side of many commenters here. I think the point Donna was trying to make is that  Ill does allow gender change with proof of surgery while many states do not allow gender change for any reason. I think the original intent of her blog was the main effort or our resources should be focussed on changing the laws of the states that do not allow a gender change for any reason.

    I am disturbed by her comments that SRS/GRS should be a condition for gender change on birth certificates. I gree it is easy to get a psychologist to write a letter backing up a persons self-itentity. Perhaps more validation is needed from other sources. Maybe a second Psychologist letter or even a medical doctor’s statement. Maybe proof a person has lived a year in their identified gender or a legal name change document.

    I do agree, as so many have stated here, surgery is not available or even wanted for so many of us and making a document gender change dependent on surgey should not be the only type of proof allowed for such a change. I am puzzled why Donna would make such a statement.

    Nikki

    • http://twitter.com/valeriekeefe Valerie Keefe

      Hear hear, among other things, for being the first person thus far to say not every trans woman wants surgery.

  • Darya N

    Thanks for posting this in a succinct, clear and humorous way, Marti. I think the last line in your piece sums up the absurdity nicely, although Monica’s point about this requirement being especially onerous to those of any background with limited economic means is spot on, as well.
    I think Donna may be echoing a now-faint meme from the early days when we were frankly happy to be called “Transgendered” as opposed to “Drag Queen”. I do remember someone saying, back then, “I’m a Transsexual, because I’ve had the surgery” Would that include Greg/Gloria Hemingway, who had SRS but presented alternately as male and female up until her death?
    We don’t need this crap; we have bigger fish to fry.