The following is a video guide to the “7 Things You Should Never Ask a Trans (or Gender Non-Conforming) Person”, with trans actress, creator and model Hari Neff. This video challenges normalizations that are commonly raised about those folks who do not hold the knowledge of understanding trans and gender non-conforming bodies. Neff educates from her personal experiences while empowering those who do not identify on the gender binary. There is a common misconception that by not conforming to a male or female identity, they are making an improper decision or cannot decide. The child in the Medicine Hat court case questioned their self-worth when the court demanded clothing restrictions, “at four, they didn’t feel that the world wanted them to be a girl. That they were no good.” (Kassam) In the 2016 video, Neff states, “because there’s so much stigma and shame we often question ourselves, and we often wonder whether we’re making the right decision. Because we don’t have very much evidence around us to allow us to feel affirmed…” Neff refers to the need for more knowledge and research to be done for those who identify as trans and non-conforming gender identities. For just because they are not recognized in dominant patriarchal, cisnormative and heteronormative society, their lives are not invisible.
References
Kassam, Ashifa. “Canada Order barring Child from Wearing Girls’ Clothes Prompts Call for Change.” The Guardian. November 19, 2016. Accessed December 03, 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/19/canada-gender-identity-training-lawsuit-clothing-public-alberta.
The following are responses to the legal court case:
By representing the many voices and perspectives involved with this legal case, one is able to see the juridical and ethical impacts that are interlinked between the case, as there are two major aspects: 1) the demands of the child’s right to express their gender identity. And 2) understanding and respecting the child’s gender expression through a patriarchal colonialized society.
*Important to note that the main Facebook Post on CBC News was deleted after a disclaimer was added to the original article on October 31, 2016, stating:
“After the CBC first published this story, legal experts clarified that judges are not subject to human rights legislation and suggested the appropriate procedure for the mother if she wanted to raise concerns about a court order would be to file a complaint through the Office of the Chief Judge.” (Underwood)
“There is still a need for much education on gender identity and expression, not only in Alberta but across our country including Ontario. Human rights laws are changing to protect and accommodate diverse gender and this kind of behavior from our judicial system is not only unacceptable but extremely harmful and even deadly to those individuals with a gender not matching their sex designation assigned at birth.”
Trans Coalition Project is a new collective of trans and gender non-binary support and activism based in Toronto. This project stands in solidarity with those confronting human rights law for trans and non-binary bodies within Canada.
Susan Smith (pseudonym for mother of the child)
“My first reaction to that was kind of like an out-of-body experience, like this isn’t my life, this isn’t happening, and then complete fear of how am I going to break it to my kid.”
“When they’re really that young it’s really cute … and I just left it like that.”
“My child was severely unhappy and was prepared to do anything to prove to mom that they were not a boy. It was basically like a ton of bricks, I got hit. It was a major wakeup call.”
“Our eyes locked and it was maybe the millionth time they told me they were a girl… and I promised I was going to do whatever I could to validate and support them and to be that one person they could go to.”
“I’m not going to hide under a rock and just give up — this is still a big fight.” (Underwood)
In the original CBC News article, Smith personifies the court case by representing the child and the identity which they chose to express. We understand that she is trying to do everything she can, despite the many barriers she has had throughout the three court orders.
“I’m the person that knows this kid more than anybody in this world […] It’s like telling your kid who has a huge thing for being Spiderman – and that was allowed to have a Spiderman backpack, a Spiderman shirt, a Spiderman pencil and a Spiderman cup – and all of a sudden you come along and you take all of that away. And you give them a Batman cup.”
After Smith allowed her child to express a feminine identity, she said, “Everything was perfect.”
“My kid then started talking about dying. At four, they didn’t feel that the world wanted them to be a girl. That they were no good.”
“My kid was asking me, ‘Mom, does it hurt to die? How can I die, where would I go when I die? Mom, now that you know, when I die, grow me in your belly but grow me as a girl, not with a penis. Because now you know.’” (Kassam)
In further journalism, Smith was able to expand further on the violent impact that the court proceedings have had on the child, suggesting thoughts of death.
Angela Reid, Trans Equality Society of Alberta (TESA)
“If it’s actually a boy who thinks he’s a boy but he wants to wear dresses anyway, that is totally OK, and that should not be prevented by the court.”
“The fact that we’re seeing multiple cases where someone’s gender expression is being dictated by the court tells us that perhaps a more visible ruling that, that it’s not OK in our court system, would be very useful.” (Underwood)
“We certainly believe she has grounds […] Even with the order having been corrected, I would agree that there’s been some harm done.” “What we are objecting to is an agent of the state — in the form of the judge — having a court order that limits the child’s expression.” (Purdy)
As an ally with Smith and her child, TESA is a not-for-profit organization founded in Edmonton, Alberta. The society aims to be both a voice and witness to trans-identified Albertans, practicing their human rights within the Alberta Human Rights Act.
Alberta Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley
“Last fall, we amended the Alberta Human Rights Act, adding gender identity and gender expression as prohibited grounds of discrimination […] This is now law, and we expect all Albertans to follow the law.” (Underwood)
Kris Wells, University of Alberta’s Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services
“These kinds of decisions shouldn’t be happening, particularly when our human rights legislation has changed […] Some of these attitudes need to be challenged and corrected.” (Purdy)
References Kassam, Ashifa. “Canada Order barring Child from Wearing Girls’ Clothes Prompts Call for Change.” The Guardian. November 19, 2016. Accessed December 03, 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/19/canada-gender-identity-training-lawsuit-clothing-public-alberta.
Toronto Trans Coalition Project Facebook page. Accessed December 3, 2016. https://www.facebook.com/torontotranscoalitionproject/
Purdy, Chris. “Judges in Medicine Hat Custody Case Ordered Boy Not to Wear Girls’ Clothes in Public.” Calgary Sun, The Canadian Press. October 24, 2015. Accessed December 03, 2016. http://www.calgarysun.com/2016/10/24/judges-in-medicine-hat-custody-case-ordered-boy-not-to-wear-girls-clothes-in-public.
Underwood, Colleen. “Medicine Hat Judges Ordered 4-year-old Not to Wear Girls’ Clothes in Public.” CBC News. October 24, 2016. Accessed December 03, 2016. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/medicine-hat-judges-ordered-4-year-old-not-to-wear-girls-clothes-in-public-1.3816829.
In today’s Western media, there has been a growing contribution to the many dialogues that challenge gender identity, heteronormativity and cisnormativity. Understanding gender as a construct, the need to categorize a body has become violently determined through one’s biological sex. Cisnormativity runs on the assumption that most bodies are cisgender; while heteronormativity suggests that all bodies are distinctly men and women who are in heterosexual relationships, and anything in-between is ‘abnormal.’ These rigid structures represent a ‘superiority/inferiority’ rhetoric, that violently others bodies. To acknowledge the difference that is being made visible in popular culture and the media, it is commonly misconstrued that gender non-conforming and trans* identities have not always been a part of mainstream Western culture. This however, is based off the assumption of the coloniality of gender, as discussed in Lugones’ “Heterosexualism and the Colonial/Modern Gender System”. It is important to understand that these experiences have always exist, despite criticisms that are produced. Referencing Julie Greenberg, Lugones states:
“Sex is still presumed to be binary and easily determinable by an analysis of biological factors. Despite anthropological and medical studies to the contrary, society presumes an unambiguous sex paradigm in which all individuals can be classified neatly as male or female […] The manner in which the law defines the terms male, female, and sex will have a profound impact on these individuals.” (Julie Greenberg in Lugones)
These “profound impacts” are necessarily imagined when reading the experiences of the young child in the blog’s legal case from Medicine Hat, Alberta. Considering the (lack of) representation of the child’s voice, the court orders bound clothing restrictions that became the responsibility of the parent in charge. This is problematic as it not only dismisses the voice of the child, but suggests that the child should conform to their biological sex and listen to whomever is caring for them at the time of dress. After confirming their aspiring feminine identity numerous times, the mother said, “Our eyes locked and it was maybe the millionth time they told me they were a girl… and I promised I was going to do whatever I could to validate and support them and to be that one person they could go to” (Underwood). In addition to the silencing of the child, the father and his lawyer made no comments on the case. This silencing demonstrates a patriarchal power that is attempting to devalue the child’s truth of expressing a feminine identity.
In a 2014 The Globe and Mail article, entitled “Transgender kids: Have we gone too far”, Margaret Wente considered how gender identity in children and adolescents has become ‘popular‘ in the West. Wente shares a fear that “we’re manufacturing more problems than we’re solving” through a desire to achieve social progress of accepting an individual on their terms. After interviewing Dr. Zucker, the head of the Gender Identity Service at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, he claimed “The No. 1 factor is the Internet […] If you’re struggling to find out where you fit, the Internet is filled with things about gender dysphoria.” Drawing on the conclusion of gender dysphoria is highly problematic as it assumes a disorder, at the odds of one’s assumption to not identify as cisgender. Dr. Zucker considers the affect on young children who raises the commonality of ‘gender confusion’ and its likelihood to pass, stating “a child’s identity must be honoured, and that treatment should start sooner rather than later”. The discourse of this article dismisses the coloniality of gender, essentializing visibility and discussion as ‘popular’.
By considering the following two CBC News Short Documentaries, both films below were ontologically created to explore the discourses around gender identity from a child’s perspective as feminist subjects. The films challenge the constructs of what make up a masculine and feminine identity, mobilizing real representation. Contributing to the dialogue of gender politics and the production of Canadian media, the films effectively include the voices of the children by allowing them to speak on behalf of their experiences. When watching Princess Jack and Genderize, there is an impact of emotion and passion, where one can see that a child is more than capable of confirming their decision. Both films exemplify how the individuals would like to be identified through their difference and understanding, which ultimately embody and represents a shift from Western norms.
September 27, 2016: The film explorers how 11-year-old Jack chooses to express through fashion, challenging stereotypes of masculinity. With a passion for princesses and fairy tales, the film follows Jack on a trip to learn how to sew a ball gown.
“When I put this dress on I am going from rags to riches! I’ll never forget this.” – Jack
August 30, 2016: Created by transgender filmmaker, Chase Joynt, he sits down with three siblings to discuss their understanding of gender identity, the affect of parenting, and puberty. Four years later, Joynt interviews the three children again, allowing them to speak on the same questions. The film tackles the construct of gender and the limitations that gender could have on engaging in feminism.
“I don’t really understand why it can’t be mostly just stalls. Like, you can use a toilet like a urinal, but you can’t use a urinal like a toilet.” – Dexter, age 10
References
CBC Short Docs. August 30, 2016. Accessed December 03, 2016. http://www.cbc.ca/shortdocs/shorts/genderize & http://www.cbc.ca/shortdocs/shorts/princess-jack
Lugones, María. “Heterosexualism and the Colonial/Modern Gender System.” Hypatia 22, no. 1 (Winter 2007): 186-219.
Underwood, Colleen. “Medicine Hat Judges Ordered 4-year-old Not to Wear Girls’ Clothes in Public.” CBC News. October 24, 2016. Accessed December 03, 2016. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/medicine-hat-judges-ordered-4-year-old-not-to-wear-girls-clothes-in-public-1.3816829.
Wente, Margaret. “Transgender Kids: Have We Gone Too Far?” The Globe and Mail. 2014. Accessed December 03, 2016. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/transgender-kids-have-we-gone-too-far/article16897043/.