Trans 100
April 12, 2013 1:34 PM   Subscribe

The Trans 100 is a list curated by We Happy Trans based on nominations of 100 key trans people breaking ground in American culture, arts, social justice, and politics. posted by divabat (36 comments total) 30 users marked this as a favorite
 
Awesome list, including some friends who do great work.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 1:35 PM on April 12, 2013


Windy City represent!
posted by PMdixon at 1:42 PM on April 12, 2013


Very, very, very glad to see Monica Roberts from TransGriot on the list.
posted by bakerina at 1:53 PM on April 12, 2013 [2 favorites]


Popular culture is slowly coming along: DC Introduces First Transgender Character in Mainstream Comics.
posted by ericb at 1:56 PM on April 12, 2013 [1 favorite]


ericb, slowly but surely. In contrast: Michigan Womyn's Music Festival letter reaffirm trans exclusion
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 1:57 PM on April 12, 2013


Seriously, no Wendy Carlos?

Sure, she's sort of a cranky figure in the trans world, and awfully protective of her privacy, and hasn't updated her website in forever, but she was in there and up front way, way back in prehistory.

Plus, and I hate to be an alphabetizing pedant, but are we really sorting lists by first names now? Sure, that would have put me thirteen slots closer to the cafeteria in school, but schweeesh.
posted by sonascope at 2:10 PM on April 12, 2013 [9 favorites]


Lynn Conway too.
posted by rodii at 2:13 PM on April 12, 2013


Surprised not to see Charlie Anders / Annalee Newitz in the mix.
posted by markkraft at 2:20 PM on April 12, 2013


It would help to clarify that these are not simply trans people who are doing great things generally, but specifically trans people who are "making a difference in the day to day lives of trans people in a tangible way." That helps explain why each of the figures has some direct connection to the broader trans community.
posted by crazy with stars at 2:24 PM on April 12, 2013 [2 favorites]


I was surprised not to see Coy Mathis on the list.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 2:24 PM on April 12, 2013


Pretty great to see a ton of transman recipients as well!
posted by tittergrrl at 2:24 PM on April 12, 2013


Those noticing omissions might want to check out the "introduction" that was in press materials for the list, but not reproduced in the Buzzfeed/Autostraddle versions. This piece explains what the organizers had in mind, and responds to some questions about people who were and were not included. It's clear that the organizers had two goals in particular that might be important to keep in mind: 1. Avoiding over-representation of white women, who are very often the only representatives of trans*people when trans people are even noticed/recognized at all. 2. Focusing on people who are doing specific work to advance the recognition and rights of trans people. I think this leads to the omission of some people who are in the category of "famous trans* person who is successful in their chosen career." Others in this category who aren't on the list would include Chloe Schwenke and Deirdre McCloskey.
posted by cushie at 2:25 PM on April 12, 2013 [3 favorites]


This list? Awesome!

Making it consist of images of text? Ridiculous. Not bothering to include accessibility for those images of text so the visually impaired can have access? Inexcusable.
posted by fader at 2:29 PM on April 12, 2013 [5 favorites]


uh huh...
posted by zscore at 2:29 PM on April 12, 2013


Popular culture is slowly coming along: DC Introduces First Transgender Character in Mainstream Comics.

Actually, no. That would be Wanda in Neil Gaiman's Sandman volume, A Game of You.
posted by Kitteh at 2:59 PM on April 12, 2013 [6 favorites]


Thanks for this. This is a subject I always feel hopelessly ignorant about, to the extent that I'm generally too nervous to even know how to frame a question for fear of causing offense or putting someone on the spot just to satisfy my curiosity. Which is the exact opposite of why I want to lose the ignorance. I look forward to really spending some time reading about the people on this list.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:05 PM on April 12, 2013


Thanks for the post.

There was an interesting mini-kerfluffle a couple of days ago over the concurrent release of Out Magazine's "Power 50," which according to the magazine highlights LGBT people with significant influence in broader society. Activists pointed out that the list, which gets much wider circulation than the Trans 100, had a severe lack of trans people and people of color. The people from Out argued that their list has a completely different purpose than the Trans 100 and it's not their job to editorialize as to who actually has power in Western society.

I hate linking to BuzzFeed, but it's the best comprehensive post on the debate I can find, and the comments are worth a read too. The editor from Out chimes in to defend their list, as do, I believe, people involved with We Happy Trans.
posted by Pfardentrott at 3:39 PM on April 12, 2013


DC Introduces First Transgender Character in Mainstream Comics

Not quite. The supporting character from Sandman has already been mentioned, but there was also Milestone's Deathwish miniseries, written by an actual trans woman, Maddie Blaustein (then still Adam Blaustein) and starring "lt. Marisa Rahm, the first pre-operative transsexual police lieutenant the city has ever employed".

Then there's Doom Patrol, which was full of trans characters (Danny the Street, Rebus and the Rachel Pollack created Coagula; Pollack herself is also a trans woman), but that was at Vertigo so may not have been entirely mainstream.

But how could people forget science officer and Elemental Lad love interest Shvaughn Erin off off the Legion of Superheroes, who turned out to been biologically male but had been regularly taken one of those thirty century superdrugs that turned her female?
posted by MartinWisse at 3:44 PM on April 12, 2013 [2 favorites]


I was also surprised not to see Wendy Carlos , plus I was surprised not to see Cynthia Webster. Synapse Magazine was a big deal back in the day.
posted by luckynerd at 4:05 PM on April 12, 2013 [1 favorite]


Others in this category who aren't on the list would include

... Lana Wachowski, obviously, who got her own award last year (and the widely circulated acceptance speech). [previously] Beyond that single instance, Wachowski is clearly successful almost exclusively within her career.

There's a really great aspect to this -- it's that there are so many widely respected trans people that a list of a hundred can't include them all. #thirdgenderproblems

Of course, lists are made to be argued over.
posted by dhartung at 4:06 PM on April 12, 2013


The people from Out argued that their list has a completely different purpose than the Trans 100 and it's not their job to editorialize as to who actually has power in Western society.

Figures. That sounds very objective, but why use these criteria to create your list in the first place: what's the point of making a list that " reflects the hierarchies of mainstream society for better or worse". As if the only validation you can get is in how well you fit in with the white men at the top of society.
posted by MartinWisse at 4:08 PM on April 12, 2013 [3 favorites]


Making it consist of images of text? Ridiculous. Not bothering to include accessibility for those images of text so the visually impaired can have access? Inexcusable.

I think the 'real' list is this pdf, which can be read by VoiceOver in OS X. But only because the website is otherwise useless and the tumblr has no content. I'm really kind of baffled by how they intended for this list to be distributed. In PDF form, apparently, but that seems like a fairly odd and non-fashionable choice. Given the appearance of 'curate' in the FPP, one would expect a hopelessly fashionable tumblr.
posted by hoyland at 4:40 PM on April 12, 2013


It's raining Florence Henderson:
Sent you a PM...
posted by roboton666 at 5:00 PM on April 12, 2013


If the comics thing isn't too inch of a derail, there's also Lord Fanny, one of the most badass characters ever.
posted by middleclasstool at 6:02 PM on April 12, 2013 [1 favorite]


Curiously, I just heard about the Trans 100 this week, when I attended, almost by accident, a lecture by Drago Renteria and Jennifer Mantle. I was aware that Drago was a transgender activist but unaware that he was deaf. I walked into an oddly silent auditorium with people signing boisterously in toward the front. The presentation was entirely in sign, with a couple of people at the front interpreting in spoken English for the sign illiterate. It was... well, interesting... to get a taste of what every deaf person gets at pretty much every lecture ever. And the presentation was quite good -- informative, moving, troubling, and challenging, with a bit of sappy humor to hold it together with a good balance of Gender 101 for the deaf-focused audience and Deafness 101 for the gender-focused audience and the main themes about Renteria (and Mantle's, later) personal experiences in unpacking some of the many issues surrounding one particular transition. Anyway, if you get a chance to see them present, Renteria and Mantle are well worth the effort.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:04 PM on April 12, 2013 [2 favorites]


We few.
We happy few.
We band of Brothers Sisters siblings.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 6:19 PM on April 12, 2013 [2 favorites]


hoyland: Thanks for the pointer. A PDF is... better than images of text and helps cool me down a bit. This just happened to hit a weird confluence of issues I care about and left me happy on the trans visibility side and furious on the accessibility side. (Not to mention bewildered on the "but text and HTML are so much easier for everyone involved!" side.) While the format has its flaws, I'm definitely happier passing on a link to a PDF than the abomination that Buzzfeed made of it.

(And all that said, thanks to divabat as well for the pointer and post!)
posted by fader at 7:56 PM on April 12, 2013


Hello everyone.

I'm Toni D'orsay -- the notorious Dyssonance. The Trans 100 was created by me. There were 17 curators for the list, and it was my job to keep them focused on the task at hand.

I sorta stumbled across a link to this post, and I apologize for not having known of it earlier. If anyone has any questions about the Trans 100, feel free to contact me personally. You can reach my via toni at thetrans100 dot com on this directly. The email will go to both Jen and I, and we will be happy to answer your questions and listen to your critiques.

For those who didn't know about the list until recently, that's something we expected, and shouldn't be too much of a problem going forward. In addition to the website, the tumblr, the facebook page, and the twitter account, you will also be able to find out on my personal blog, the We Happy Trans website, and This Is HOW's website.

The background on the list is pretty simple: I was asked a question by my son, and that triggered my efforts. Jen saw the idea, loved it, and our respective organizations partnered up from there.

The project is a labor of love on the parts of both Jen and myself, and reflects our respective commitments and efforts to assist the trans community in a positive, uplifting, and inclusive manner.

For a really good look at the process, and also the standards (which explain why some people were left off the initial example), feel free to check out my blog post "The Process" on dyssonance.com (I am unsure if I will be able to use the link, as my account is brand new, so am erring on the side of courtesy).

We are releasing an updated PDF this weekend that has some corrections for errors that arose in the copyediting process we didn't catch and that are, in a word, mortifying.
posted by Dyssonance at 9:13 PM on April 12, 2013 [13 favorites]


I'm not brand new, so, for those who are interested, here's a direct link to Dyssonance's "The Process" piece.

Thanks!
posted by Rev. Syung Myung Me at 11:40 PM on April 12, 2013


No questions, Toni; just a thank you :)
posted by ArmyOfKittens at 5:27 AM on April 13, 2013


Surprised not to see Charlie Anders / Annalee Newitz in the mix.

Both of them? I thought only Charlie Jane? Perhaps I am wrong. I could be.

DC Introduces First Transgender Character in Mainstream Comics

I'm also curious about this claim. I am sure there is a 1960s Marvel character who would qualify (or early 1970s), but my brain is not co-operating, and it is possible they've changed definitions, again, or who is what and why.

And, as someone who really doesn't think about these issues, I was also surprised not to see Wendy (Walter) Carlos.
posted by Mezentian at 7:41 AM on April 13, 2013


DC Introduces First Transgender Character in Mainstream Comics

What's fun for me about this claim is the fact that it's debatable. Comics (and other pulpy areas) are almost always more progressive than more "respectable" entertainments.

Anyway, great job, Dyssonance (and everyone else).
posted by Sticherbeast at 7:46 AM on April 13, 2013


Fun list.

(NEEDS MOAR CALIFORNIANS :) )
posted by klangklangston at 12:17 PM on April 13, 2013


Needs more Californians. Including Alameda County Superior Court Judge Victoria Kolakowski.
posted by MeanwhileBackAtTheRanch at 1:52 PM on April 13, 2013


Thank you to Rev. Syung Myung Me for posting the link.

It is much appreciated.

You can also download the full Trans100 pdf from the above link (it is at the bottom of the post).
posted by Dyssonance at 4:14 PM on April 13, 2013


I think the list is fine and I understand its orientation towards activists, but Thomas Page McAbee should make a list. I always look forward to his writing.
posted by octobersurprise at 4:38 PM on April 13, 2013


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