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televison worth watching
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Oct 2 11:41 UTC 1998 |
"Transgender Revolution," an A&E Media Revolution
Sarah Fox
[Columbus, OH, Sept. 22, 1998] With the "help" of Geraldo, Jerry
Springer, and their ilk, transgendered people are becoming a familiar
sight on the American landscape. Unfortunately their tabloid
productions bear no more semblance to reality than the tacky
souvenir shops that litter our highways. Few, if any reputable
transgendered people would dare participate in their media side
shows, so actors have frequently been cast in their places.
"Somebody from [a notorious daytime talk show] called here, wanting
actors to come in and portray 'guests' on the show," said Dee
Shepherd, Artistic Director of Columbus' Reality Theater. "They're
scraping the bottom of the barrel if they're trying to get actors to
pass off as real people. They even have a casting agent!"
The public is perhaps not as gullible as Geraldo and Springer would
want, and there is an emerging curiosity about these elusive people
who are far more prevalent in our society than once believed. Only
recently have the more responsible journalists started exploring this
hidden world, with higher profile pieces such as the BBC
documentary, "Brain Sex," a 20-20 segment on transgender political
activism, and recent articles in Time Magazine and the New York
Times.
Transgendered people will observe another milestone October 5, 9:00
PM EDT (check local listings), when A&E Network's "Transgender
Revolution" premieres. From the Emmy Award-winning series,
Investigative Reports, it will be the first television documentary
devoted exclusively to transgender issues and will feature many of
the most important leaders within the transgender political movement.
This excellent documentary will give the public its first
uncolored look at the real people behind the transgender
phenomenon. Many of them are my friends, finally represented as I know
they are -- not as lavishly sequined drag queens throwing chairs at
skinheads, but as real, often unremarkable people who must live
extraordinary lives. "We wanted to look at the real issues of the
transgender community," Said David Heilbroner, producer of the
documentary. "We wanted to take this beyond the tabloids' focus, to
portray the heart and soul of a community that is demanding its
rights."
Of course no hour-long program can cover a topic comprehensively.
While "Transgender Revolution" addresses transgender hate crimes
and political activism, it falls somewhat short of its mark.
Transgendered Americans may as well live in a lawless, third-world
country. We have few discernible civil rights, and the law is often
used to persecute, rather than to protect us. An hour is not long
enough to capture the horror of being harassed, fired, falsely
imprisoned, raped, or murdered with impunity. It cannot capture the
despair of knowing that vital medical care is usually unavailable and
uninsured. It cannot capture the indignity of having one's right
to use a public toilet or even to appear in public questioned in
some states or of hearing the Religious Right rail against us with
invented "scripture" to justify that we are somehow evil, while we bury
our friends who have fallen to "the system" one-by-one.
No program could document this nightmare we live, and even if it
could, few would believe it. However, Investigative Reports is to be
commended for what is clearly the best treatment of these issues in
television history. Said Riki Anne Wilchins, Executive Director of
GenderPAC, "I think we are, at last, turning a corner." Those wanting
to learn about our invisible and maligned community, rather than to
gawk at male actors in dresses throwing chairs, should not miss this
ground-breaking production.
Dr. Fox is Communications Director for the transgender advocacy
organization, It's Time, Ohio!.
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