Ive seen political tension between trans men & feminist lesbians change over the last 5 decades
When I was first realizing that I was trans, back in the 1960s and 70s, the second wave of feminism was at its highest crest, typified by widely available posters and t-shirts printed with the declaration, A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle!Feminist consciousness-raising circles were common, though lesbians were still largely closeted, and lesbian inclusion was openly debated within the activist group National Organization for Women, whose leaders worried that recognizing queer women would jeopardize the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (which still has yet to pass). There were no trans men visible to me, let alone on the national stage, and the possibility of female-to-male (FTM) transitioning was barely imaginable. Related Trans mans culture shock after transitioning provides critical insight into male loneliness The human species looks so much colder standing from this side. While I was a student at the University of Oregon in Eugene from 1966 to 1970 (ages 17 to 21), and in the MFA program for creative writing from 1970 to 1972 (graduating at age 23), there was virtually no one to talk to about transness in my neck of the woods. I had already figured out that I was cross-gendered, by which I meant that my brain was not female. And although I knew plenty of butch (and femme) women, I didnt know anyone like me.I had stopped wearing any feminine articles of clothing, and I had already changed my name to Jamison (or Jamie for short), which was cute, safe, and androgynous. I had two different girlfriends during my six years at the university, and neither of them were lesbian-identified; people around me either assumed I was a young man or a butch dyke. Dive deeper every day Join our newsletter for thought-provoking commentary that goes beyond the surface of LGBTQ+ issues Subscribe to our Newsletter today Upon completing my studies, I moved to Portland, Oregon, where there was a large queer community and a flourishing lesbian feminist scene. After doing odd jobs for a few months, I landed a position with Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Company, becoming the first woman in the region to work as a construction cable splicer. It wasnt what I had hoped to do after six years of college, but it paid well, and I got to wear jeans, coveralls, and flannel shirts.It was hard physical labor, but I was comfortable in my body. Meanwhile, my parents, back in Oakland, California, were disappointed that I was wasting my education and that I wasnt trying to find work or social activities that would make me into a socially acceptable adult woman.The front page of the FTM Newsletter, issue #41 | The Digital Transgender Archive By the mid-1970s, there were a few trans men in North America who were actively trying to connect with others and educate about what was then called FTM transsexualism, notably Jude Patton (in southern California), Rupert Raj (in Toronto, Canada), Mario Martino (in New York and Florida), andclosest to meJason Cromwell (in Seattle, Washington). But because the networks for information-sharing were so limited in those days, I didnt learn about any of them until the late 1980s. Some queer community newspapers sometimes carried, or adult bookstores (sex shops mostly frequented by heterosexual men) might display, cautious notices about local trans-related meetings, but I never went to those places or saw any such notices.I did see Steve Dain, an FTM gym teacher who made headlines, on a television talk program in 1976. He had gained notoriety because he lost his job as a high school girls physical education teacher in Emeryville, California, due to his transition to male. But it took me 12 years after his TV appearance to locate and speak with him. I had so many questions that I believed only he could answer.Of course, all trans men do not start off as lesbians; though many were always attracted to men and perceived themselves as gay men. Also in 1976, a friend of mine was accepted into a gender program at a major university hospital, and I watched him become a happier person and fade into the fabric of society. Did we talk about masculinity? No, never. He only talked about how good it was to transition, feeling like he was more comfortable in his body, and that he seemed to fit better in the world when others perceived him as a man. In 1978, I returned to the San Francisco Bay Area with my lesbian partner. We both wanted to be closer to our families there, and to have more expansive job prospects. I also hoped to locate Dain. I was gradually becoming more confident that transitioning would be a positive move for me, too.In 1987, I contacted Lou Sullivan, who lived in San Francisco, through a small notice he had placed in a newsletter from Atlanta, Georgia, called The Transsexual Voice. The notice advertised his pamphlet, Information for the Female-to-Male Cross-Dresser and Transsexual, for $5. Lou and I became friends, and he was able to connect me with Steve Dain and many other men with transsexual histories. A week before Lou died from complications related to HIV infection in March of 1991, he had asked me to take over his FTM Newsletter (which is still available at the Digital Transgender Archive) and to help keep alive his FTM support group that met quarterly in San Francisco. I couldnt let him down. It was through the newsletter and the support group which soon began meeting monthly and was led by me until August 1999 that many conversations about trans masculinity began to take shape.Many of us trans men thought of ourselves as feminists, and we recognized the resentment between us and lesbians who worried about butches becoming men through the establishment of trans masculine community organizations in the 1990s. Regardless of our bodies or our differences, our disabilities, or our actual or presumed privilege, we are men, and the size or shape or fact of our masculinity cannot be threatened because it belongs to each of us.Of course, all trans men do not start off as lesbians; though many, like Lou Sullivan, were always attracted to men and perceived themselves as gay men. Others tried hard to be straight women before they figured out they were actually men and discovered that transition was a possibility. The borders defining these and many other identities were beginning to shift, blur, and even dissipate as the 21st Century approached.Trans men in the 1990s began to speak and write openly about their identity development and the evolution of their self-perceptions as men. Aware of their difference from men who were socialized as male by a patriarchal system and aware of the irrational oppression that was visited on women our ideas of trans masculinity began to take new forms.In San Francisco, on March 28, 1998, the Public Library hosted a Butch & FTM Day of Dialogue (reported on in the June 1998 issue of the FTM Newsletter, #41), that gave voice to serious frustration on between feminists and trans men, encouraged by polarizing presumptions that our culture broadly engages in not much different than that which divides our politics today.At that time, typical catchphrases were Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, or Women are good and men are evil. Today, similar catchphrases are Toxic masculinity vs feminine purity, There are only two sexes, and Biological reality. Yet in the 90s, there were glimmers of hope that we could work together to bridge the cisgender and transgender divides if we wanted to.The persistent invisibility and the marginalization of trans men continue to harm us collectively. Powerful political forces today are threatening our livelihoods, our healthcare, and our very existence, and this may be discouraging many of us from both community building and self-expression.In January 2005, I published an article in the journal Men and Masculinities called Part of the Package: Ideas of Masculinity among Male-Identified Transpeople. There, I explored the then-current literature that focused on masculinity and trans-masculinity, and reported the results of a small, very informal study I conducted with both cis and trans men about their perceptions of their own masculinity. I concluded, Masculinity by itself is not the problem for feminism; maleness is not the problem for women. The problem is the paradigm that frames females as inferior and encourages men (and women) to see maleness and masculinity as not feminine. Both masculinity and femininity can be corrupted by the desire for power over others, all while gender is easily scapegoated as the cause of such corruption.Questioning the categories and rigid definitions of sexuality and gender, while actualizing their masculinity, many trans men today have been working in opposition to toxic masculinity, to develop the qualities that support healthy masculinity, which includes many principles of feminism and mindfulness.Sure, there are some trans men today who buy into the patriarchy and expect to enjoy the privileges given to men, regardless of their culture or race; like I said, were not all alike. But my favorite forum for exploring healthy masculinity today is the Intentional Man Project, which is doing excellent intersectional and intergenerational work to actualize health and wellbeing for trans men and their extended communities.A copy of Jamison Greens keynote address from the 1st FTM Conference, published in the FTM Newsletter, issue #59, 2005 | The Digital Transgender Archive On the individual or small group level, many trans men today are finding themselves actualized and in strong communities with each other, with cis men, and with feminist women. We have more trans men who are writing fiction and nonfiction, actors who are landing major roles in mainstream productions, entrepreneurs, politicians, physicians, mental health professionals, and this is great.But in the bigger picture, the persistent invisibility and the marginalization of trans men continue to harm us collectively. Powerful political forces today are threatening our livelihoods, our healthcare, and our very existence, and this may be discouraging many of us from both community building and self-expression. I believe we will survive the current zeitgeist and we will find our footing again, but doing so will require focus, courage, and sometimes patience. Creating polarizing requirements for belonging will diminish our core strengths and weaken our collective ability to solve the pressing problems of our LGBTQ+ communities, both in the US and globally.One thing most of us trans men know, or are learning to know, is that regardless of our bodies or our differences, our disabilities, or our actual or presumed privilege, we are men, and the size or shape or fact of our masculinity cannot be threatened because it belongs to each of us.Ill be 77 years old this fall. Im married to a strong, feminist woman whos a proud social justice activist, Im about to become a grandparent for the first time, Im working on films and new books that are telling the stories of our communities, and Im not planning to stop. Being alive in my transitioned male body has been the best possible way I could live my life because I know who I am. Masculinity doesnt require me to be anything other than myself.Jamison Green led FTM International from 1991-1999, has made changes to laws and policies to improve trans visibility and access to medical care and civil rights, and is the author ofBecoming a Visible Man, and an author/editor ofA History of Transgender Medicine in the United States: From Margins to Mainstream.He held a leadership role in the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) from 2003 to 2018.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.
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