Tokenization

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Submitted by nclarkson on Thu, 07/13/2006 - 8:51pm.

I've been particularly interested lately in anti-racist training. I know how frustrated it makes me to be tokenized as a transguy; I know that I don't know enough of what I need to know to make sure I'm conscious of the ways in which I might tokenize and otherwise frustrate people of color.

A link to the following story came across the gay Indy email list. I think it speaks well to some of the problems of white gay activists perspectives on how they think people of color should fit in to a white gay activist agenda.

Please take some time to read some of this piece.

Taking back the black gay movement

Why is it all the white-led LGBT groups think they know how to reach out to African-Americans about gay rights? And do they willingly push black queer groups out of the way in the process?

By Jasmyne A. Cannick

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#21 On Thu, 07/13/2006 9:54pm INTRAA Chair said,

First, thanks, Nick for posting this. It's a great article, and I echo Nick's urging everyone to read it.

Second, I want to point out the necessity that we keep the context of this discussion in mind. It is often easy to read articles written by other oppressed individuals and say, "yes, I feel that, too" and miss what is unique to those individuals' oppressions. While it is true that all oppression shares an underlying thread of commonality, there is much difference in both the implementation and the perception thereof.

What I find particularly jarring about this piece is the malicious intent ascribed to segments of the white LGBT movement, but as I allow myself to think about it more, I realize the reality of it in my own perceptions. The idea calls me, as a white trans person, to task in my participation in the trans movement, because I am working for rights that I would like to see protecting a community that incorporates everyone, POC and whites. Furthermore, I must evaluate the mechanisms by which I approach my activism so as to fully understand how I am participating in the constructions that Cannick discusses.

With luck, that evaluation will lead to growth.

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intimidation

#27 On Fri, 07/21/2006 7:21am pennyjane said,

i wonder if maybe i shouldn't comment here, but what the heck, i'll give it a shot. As a transwoman if i criticize what ms cannick has said i fear i may turn back into a fag just as blacks whose strategy she disagrees with turn back into negroes. i guess it's better then niggers but somehow the sentiment seems about the same to me. as someone who associates mainly in the straight community i can really sympathize with the frustrations of being tokenized and i get a lot of grief whenever i try to blend in with the gay community. gays don't "get it" any more then straights do when it comes to trans issues but they sure think they do. i cringe every time someone brags in front of me about how they don't mind being seen out in public with me or just love to point out how they had invited me to this or that function. i get the distinct impression that it wasn't me being invited at all, it was a token t-girl. disclaimer: i am not black and not gay in any traditional sense. but i do think i understand the crux of ms cannick's frustration. what i do in these situations is point out to the "offender" how that makes me feel and hope that with enough exposure they may come to understand what i am saying. i can't see where calling them names would help. they are usually well intentioned if somewhat ignorant people, with flaws and warts, not much unlike myself. understanding promotes understanding and criticism is often warranted but name calling might not be the best way to bring folks together. mainstreaming is the goal for all of us i think, and folks have different priorities in that movement. as an aging person, health care is more and more the focus of my interest, but i am sure listened to more closely and with better interest when i speak of trans issues. because i am trans and most often the only trans in the conversation i am considered the resident expert regardless of my qualifications. because of this i feel a certain responsibility to educate myself about the issues and concearns of other transfolks, even those whose agenda might not mirror my own too closely. i'd rather not be to contentious with these folks so terms like, fag, transvestite, drag queen and such, eventhough handy, are not ones i use to describe transwomen and men, even in anger or frustration. as can be seen from this post i took more away from ms cannicks article from her use of the one word, negro, then i got from what was probably the substance of her thoughts. it just works like that. good luck to all and lotsa love. pj

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confusion

#28 On Fri, 07/21/2006 7:46pm parkerb said,

Penny,

First, you should always comment when you have something to say. If we are going to have an interactive community each of us using our voice is essential.

Second, I agree with some of the sentiments that you express but also would like to challenge some of your assumptions...

You say, "As a transwoman if i criticize what ms cannick has said i fear i may turn back into a fag just as blacks whose strategy she disagrees with turn back into negroes. i guess it's better then niggers but somehow the sentiment seems about the same to me."

I wonder if you are misreading the speech of the author of the article. I believe she was writing primarily for a black audience and was speaking in culturaly specific ways. Potentially, to reflect the ways the author feels like the white organizers that she is criticizing view her community.

you say, "i get a lot of grief whenever i try to blend in with the gay community. gays don't "get it" any more then straights do when it comes to trans issues but they sure think they do."

As the primary person who works with the lgb community on behalf of INTRAA, I agree that sometimes "the gays" just don't get it. However, again we have to be cautious of making comparisons between racial identity, sexual identity, and gender identity. When "the gays" make comparisons between sexual identity and gender identity in sweeping ways it often loses meaning.

Your notion of the dangers of tokenization reflect very well on the ways that mainstream lgb organizing attempts to co-opt trans voices and agency in attemps to help us organize. I believe this point does not contradict the article that we are discussing but instead echoes it.

You say, "mainstreaming is the goal for all of us i think"

I worry because rather than trying to assimilate or "mainstream", I would prefer to change the mainstream.

Audre Lorde tells us, "The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house." I pretty much believe her.

Thanks,

Bruce

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unconfusion

#33 On Wed, 07/26/2006 8:42pm pennyjane said,

hi bruce, nice to hear your comments and thank you for the welcome. by "mainstreaming" i mean moving us as we are into the mainstream, which will definately affect a change in the mainstream but i surely hope not with us. i am one who cringes at the very sound of "stealth". i would no more want to pass as gg then i did as male, i pass as what i am and am very happy to be, a transwoman. i wish more of us would. the only way we will ever be accepted for what we are is to let the world get to know us for what we are. if i actually believe what i profess which is that there is absolutely nothing wrong with me because of my different gender presentation, then i feel compelled not to hide it from anyone. i feel it is an honor and a privelege to put myself out in front of the public and take the heat. it to me is the most wonderful blessing God has given me to be a steward of this what is often seen as the lowest of His human creation. i don't believe God would have made me this way if He didn't see a need among us for overcoming even our worst fears and insecurities. He gave this ability to me not for my own gratification but to diseminate among the rest of His wonderful creation. in referring to ms cannnics article, i can't speak for the black culture, but my reading of referring to black people as negroes is demeaning and i note that she stuck with black except when she spoke of those she wasn't in tune with. the point of my bringing that up was to expose my own reaction. i feel i missed what might have been some of the meaning of her article because i reacted so negatively to her use of the word in that way. certainly others did not and i can't speak for them, it was just my take. i know that when i hear "drag queen" brought up in conversations in reference to transwomen, whatever the conversation might have been about just changed for me. now we are going to talk about how inacurate that term is to describe me and how demeaning it is to me. if she was not talking to those people then i guess her use of the word didn't make alot of difference but if she might have wanted some of them to hear her and react positively to her criticism she might have used a different expression. just my thoughts, and again, thank you so much for welcoming me into the conversation and providing this forum to do so.

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