Making more progress

In my last post, I said that my chest surgery was important for my transition. But since then I've had a total hysterectomy. Even though this hasn't changed my outward appearance, it has done more to change how I feel about myself than I ever imagined it would, and it did more for me than the chest surgery did. In the trans masculine community, the myth is that chest surgery is the be all and end all of the transition process, but the hysterectomy was the shangri-la for me. As soon as I woke up from surgery, I knew that progress had been made and that the M on my documents mattered and that what was in my head matched my body for real. If you have any questions or would like to talk more about my transition, please let me know.

Chest Surgery with Dr. Gary Lawton

I am a trans man. For me, having my chest reconstructed via double incision mastectomy with nipple grafts meant more than anything else for my transition. I thought long and hard and did a lot of research about where I would go for this procedure. After looking at www.transbucket.com and asking lots of questions in various FTM Facebook groups and even attending a post-op show and tell at Gender Odyssey, I started asking doctors questions. I e-mailed and called several clinics. I was especially interested in the BIG 3 - Garramone, Raphael, and Medalie. But I also was interested Gary Lawton. The more I researched, the more I realized that there are really a BIG 4 and Lawton is one of the BIG 4. In fact, I'd say that Dr. Lawton is ahead of Garramone and Raphael in some of his knowledge of the transgender community and in the way his staff treats transgender clients and respects names, pronouns and gender identity. After deciding on Dr. Lawton, I went in for my consultation, and I learned that Dr. Lawton has a background in mechanical engineering and his surgical training from Yale - items that inspire the intellectual in me. When I was in Dr. Lawton's office for consultation, he and his staff told me that they operate on an informed consent basis, so we had an interview that demonstrated that I needed and wanted the surgery - no letter from a therapist required. He explained the procedure he would do and measured my breasts to talk about how the procedure would work and when we could schedule it. Within two weeks, I was in Dr. Lawton's operating room, and the nurse that was prepping me was calming and reassuring. She ran the IV, and the anesthesiologist came and visited with me to verify that I understood the procedure. Then, Dr. Lawton came in and drew his marks on my chest. I loved that part because it was the last step before twighlight. Things went quickly and everyone kept me comfortable and calm. I can't speak highly enough of the staff. The next thing I remember is waking up in recovery. I had no adverse reactions to the anesthesia. Some people are nauseous after, but I wasn't at all. Also, I have severe sleep apnea, so the staff made sure that I brought my CPAP machine with me, and they put it on me as soon as I was in recovery so that my sleep apnea wouldn't interfere in my waking up. While I was in recovery, Dr. Lawton came and visited, as did the anesthesiologist. Dr. Lawton told me that he had removed 4 kilos of material from my chest! Pretty soon, the nurses got me dressed and called my partner and her daughter back to tell them all about my post-op care. I felt great. But then there were some drugs coursing through my veins still! The nurse taught my partner how to manage my drain tubes, and we headed home. I slept for quite a while that first day, and we went back to Dr. Lawton for a follow up the next day. Dr. Lawton said that everything looked great, and he taught us how to take care of my nipple grafts with silverdene cream. Dr. Lawton reminded me to take it easy and to rest and to take the series of vitamins that he prescribes that help with healing. I went back a week later and got some of the stitches out and had the drain tubes removed. I realized at that visit that one of the most amazing things about Dr. Lawton's office is that even the receptionist knows me when I walk in. I come in the door, and, as busy as that clinic is, she greets me with an enthusiastic, "Hi, Brandon! How are you feeling?" Dr. Lawton again examined his work and talked about how well I was progressing and about what to expect. He reminded me to continue to sleep on my back in an inclined position and not to do anything strenuous - not even going for walks yet. Lots of sleep and rest and taking vitamins and finishing the antibiotics until they're all gone. It's been 13 days since my surgery, and last night I took my shower without any help for the first time. This kind of little thing helps me feel stronger everyday, but the moment I woke up from surgery I felt more like myself than I have since before puberty. To have a chest that looks to the world the way it has always looked in my mind and that feels like I think it should feel is an amazing experience. While I've been going through this experience, I've been re-watching the series nip/tuck via Netflix. They do a lot of work with trans women on this series, and the doctors (Christian and Sean) are so unrealistic, it makes me laugh. My partner thought I was crazy to want to watch this of all things while I was going through plastic surgery of my own, but it's really helped to see this crazy take on something that was so fun and worthwhile for me. My surgeon, Dr. Gary Lawton, changed my life for the best. I don't hunch over, and I'm not embarrassed to go outside. As soon as I get my energy back and am healed and cleared by Dr. Lawton, I'll be out at the gym and the river taking advantage of my chest!

Trans literature

A few trans novels

Trans*cend at Texas State

Trans*cend at Texas State

Trans Healthcare

Trans Healthcare

New Student Organization at Texas State

Proud to announce a new organization at Texas State University - Trans*cend - by, of and for Trans* students and their allies. Follow us on Facebook!

Feminism

According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Feminism is both an intellectual commitment and a political movement that seeks justice for women and the end of sexism in all forms." Some people will claim that only women can be feminists, but clearly people of any gender can uphold the ideals of feminism. As a Trans* man, I have been accused of being anti-feminist simply because of my identity. I have been accused of abandoning women. But I identify as a feminist and as a Trans* man. I uphold the intellectual commitment and support the political movement that seeks justice for women and the end of sexism in all forms. I believe that feminism serves to advance Trans* rights and that feminism and Trans* activism work hand-in-hand. I seek to end gender oppression in all forms. I identify as a Trans* man because I seek to defy the gender binary. I am not at one end of a binary. I am part of a fluid spectrum, and I believe that the goals of feminism serve to advance the same purposes my gender identity serves to advance. We can work together.

Hothouse on Katie, Carmen and Laverne

My latest hothouse post: http://www.hothousemagazine.org/katie-and-carmen-and-laverne-oh-my/

Twin Peaks and Transgender Characters

I love Twin Peaks. One of my favorite parts of the show was always David Duchovny's appearance as Dennis/Denise, the transgender DEA agent helping Dale Cooper in Season 2. I am rewatching Twin Peaks right now in order that Marcia Luciani might see it for the first time. Watching it now that I am into my own gender transition and seeing Duchovny's portrayal of the transgender character that David Lynch wrote for Twin Peaks makes me very happy. I'm glad I saw this when I was younger. The first time I saw Twin Peaks was not in 1990 when it came out, but in about 1997 when John Paul and Claire Chancellor Yabraian hosted a group of Rice friends for a watch-a-thon and costume party of Twin Peaks. Yay for David Lynch and Dale Cooper and Denise and David Duchovny and Kyle McLachlan!

The Advocate on 20 Years after Brandon Teena

The Advocate on 20 Years after Brandon Teena

2013: Transgender Rights in Review (via Hothouse Magazine)

2013: Transgender Rights in Review

Phil Robertson and Facebook (via Hothouse Magazine)

Phil Robertson and Facebook

TDoR at Texas State University

Tuesday, November 19, 6pm, Alkek 105

My recent Hothouse Post

Click Here

What kind of man do you want to be?

I had the opportunity to visit with a group of doctoral students recently as part of their multicultural studies class for their studies of sexism, homophobia, and transgender oppression. As I told my story of my on-going medical transition from female to male and my experiences with sexism and homophobia and transgender oppression, I was asked, "What kind of man do you want to be?" I loved the question, and I was happy to share that I want to be a kind of man that I'm not used to seeing, but the kind that I have seen my dad be...one that defies stereotypes and sexism...one that is a feminist...one that blends feminine and masculine characteristics in a unique way...genderqueering for the love and respect of my cisgender female partner and all other cisgender women who are still fighting for their own equality in our society. I want to be a man like my father who is calm, logical and collected - not the kind that I observed drunk and disorderly cussing and verbally abusing refs and players at the football game I attended tonight. Thanks for the question.

Toys

When I was a child, my parents let me/encourage me to play with toys that interested me. They never said, "That's for boys, not girls. You're a girl." My grandmother used to get toys for me and my two cousins - she'd get the two younger girls dolls and me some kind of stuffed animal because she knew and understood I wasn't interested in dolls. I liked footballs and He-Man and GI Joe and Legos. Today, I was walking through Wal-Mart's toy section. Did you know that there are now products that have traditionally been stereotyped as "boy" toys being made in pink with flowers on them and sold in the section with the Barbies? Nerf makes dart guns that are smaller and have pink, floweredy darts. And Lego makes pink Lego sets of things like doll houses and kitchen sets. Are we really so gender-biased that we can't let girls play with regular Nerf products if they are interested? Can we not encourage girls who want to build to use Lego sets that are designed for robots and spaceships that come in the regular Lego section? And does all of this mean that if a boy wants to play with something pink that there is something wrong with him? Or if he wants the Barbie doll next to the pink Nerf gun - what then? I have a friend who is trying to rear her children free of gender bias. At home, they have no problems, but at school - what's being taught? What's being reinforced? Will the little boy who carries his toy cars in a pink purse be able to carry his purse to school in a few years? He is in ballet class and at age 3, this is fine. How long will he be able to continue in ballet without societal repurcussions? At least his parents are prepared and are supportive and are reinforcing his identity development appropriately at home. Creativity, learning, expression, and activity - those characteristics are what's important - not pink or blue.

Cher Talks about Chaz

I love Cher!

Bisexuality Visibility Day

Bisexual Round Table at White House What did you do for Bisexuality Visibility Day? I attended, with colleagues, a webinar on Beyond Binaries: Bisexual, Pansexual, Fluid and Queer Students.

An important post on health

A great article I just read about trans health care

FOOTBALL!

My recent contribution to HOTHOUSE is all about women and football!

University of Arizona

Transgender Studies Faculty Cluster Hire The correct link for applying is here.

Teaching Philosophy

My teaching philosophy stems from a combination of my readings in gender studies and public pedagogy theory, my university teaching experience, and my experience as an Allies trainer. Student experience and popular culture provide valuable teaching tools, especially in the field of women, gender and sexuality studies – which are based on grassroots movements and pedagogies of everyday life. I believe that a well-taught class is one based on literature, popular culture, and student experience(s?) in which lively discussion and interaction among students and professor build knowledge in a collegial atmosphere. For me, it is inherent to the curriculum of a course that requirements and designed curriculum as provided by state and federal guidelines, departments, and standardization across a discipline be combined intelligently and sensitively with the interests and experiences of the individual instructor and the unique students in the specific course. Within a given structure, room must always be made for adjustments based on current events, student ideas and interests, and collegial discussion around certain topics and concerns. The banking method of education is outdated and not appropriate for a dynamic field such as women, gender and sexuality studies; and students in classes in the women, gender and sexuality studies field need room to express their own ideas and share their experiences in order to find a way to combine interpretation, experience and activism in order to create knowledge and progress as independent thinkers. Judith Butler (2007) speaks to the problem of identity within movements related to gender and sexuality. She says that “to universalize, then, means first of all to render categories of sex obsolete in language” (p. 520). In describing the project of Wittig in advancing a feminine and lesbian position, Butler says “to ‘universalize’ the minority position . . .is to pluralize the feminine and the lesbian, to render existing categories of sex obsolete, to set up the plural feminine as an absolute subject, to produce a shock for the reader, any reader, and to conduct an assault of some kind” (p. 520-1). Ultimately, Butler describes the need to “dethrone the presumptive place of masculinity as the precondition for the articulation of the universal itself” (p. 522). Butler’s philosophy is extremely important to my teaching philosophy and my pedagogical practice, as I seek, especially through my incorporation of stories of my own experience and choices of media and literature to include in my courses, to question, queer and radicalize traditional and stereotypical notions of male and female and Western patriarchy. For example, I identify as female-to-male transgender, but I do not hold to stereotypical male tenets in my transition. I am not seeking some kind of dominance or power from a male position, nor is my transition based on some deemed lack or need that I perceive one sex to have over the other. Explaining this as experiential helps students to understand the social constructs of gender and gender roles in our society. Furthermore, reading texts such as Butler’s but also bringing in literature from authors such as Jeanette Winterson, Elizabeth Bishop, Leslie Feinberg, Richard Siken, and Genny Beemyn and Susan Rankin helps expose the notions of women and gender that are presumptive and have so often been universalized because of their minority position. Public pedagogy occurs in both institutional and informal sites of learning and is characterized in part by the leadership of public intellectuals in forming democratic learning communities (Jeanne Brady, 1998 & 2006; Jennifer Sandlin, et al, 2010 & 2011). “Public intellectual” may refer to specific individuals, though in feminist views of public pedagogy this construct often refers to grass-roots advocacy taken up by collaborative actors. I believe strongly that my classroom should always be a place where public intellectuals are students and students are public intellectuals. Every discussion had, every essay written, every text read and interpreted, should be an opportunity for grass-roots advocacy to be taken up by collaborative actors. The democratic social space of the classroom is one of wonder and awe. I am not a great being at the head of the class deemed worthy of filling empty minds with knowledge but a facilitator of adventure and exploration through worlds of gender and sexuality that may not have been considered by my students before but can be gotten to through many avenues of art, literature, and language. References Brady, J. F. (2006). Public pedagogy and educational leadership: Politically engaged scholarly communities and possibilities for critical engagement. Journal of Curriculum & Pedagogy, 3(1), 57-60. Brady, J. F. (1998). Critical feminist ethics in the multicultural debate. Cultural Circles, 2, 107-116. Butler, J. (1990/2004). Imitation and gender insubordination. In S. Salih & J. Butler (Eds.), The Judith Butler Reader (pp. 119-137). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. Sandlin, J., O’Malley, M. P., & Burdick, J. (2011). Mapping the complexity of public pedagogy scholarship: 1894-2010. Review of Educational Research, 81(3), 338-375. Sandlin, J., Schultz, B., & Burdick, J. (2010). Handbook of Public Pedagogy: Education and Learning Beyond Schooling. New York: Routledge.

Portland State University

A position for faculty in the Women and Gender Studies department is open at Portland State University. I'm preparing my teaching philosophy for my application. I'll be sharing parts of it here as I sort it all out. The first part I'm working on is how being trans* influences my feminist public pedagogy as a framework from which to investigate the world and to explore texts. More to come.

The Trans* Story

I read an interesting article today on "the acceptable trans* narrative" and I also turned my dissertation proposal over to my committee for their comments before I move forward with my research (My dissertation is collecting trans* narratives as part of a larger project). I have my own life narrative as a trans* person, and I've been following Laverne Cox closely recently as she's been in the news and highlighted in social media since taking on the role of Sophia Burset on Orange is the New Black. What does it mean to have an "acceptable" trans* narrative? Is this when you are part of the accepted and easily transitioned folks who don't rock the boat? I hope not. I hope that anyone with any story is welcome by the trans* family and that all narratives are recognized.

an interesting article on Russia and LGBT rights

The Washington Post

An FTM blogger's perspective on OITNB

Link

Gender Odyssey 2013

Gender Odyssey was held in Seattle, WA, from August 1-4, 2013. I am so fortunate that I was able to attend. I met so many wonderful people and learned so much about gender, the gender spectrum, presenting and performing gender, and respecting gender. My own gender journey is on much more solid footing now and with that in place, my dissertation will be even stronger.

OITNB

Laverne Cox Rocks

FTM Poster I found on Tumblr

Trans*

Trans-, the prefix, literally translates as beyond, so transgender means beyond gender. I love this poster because it includes all kinds of identities beyond gender. That's why when I write, I use Trans* instead of some subcategory term. Recently, an acquaintance has been railing against this use of trans* to include people who question gender and who aren't transitioning or post-transition. I think perhaps he needs to reconsider trans-sexual as the word of choice for him and look at this poster as a way to let the younger and more fluid people use trans* to mean beyond gender. However, I understand that some people will have their beliefs/opinions and nothing can change their way of thinking. His experience is his, and I would not try to take it from him; I just hope he's not trying to take other people's experiences from them.

Tumblr Block

No more searching for "Gay" on Tumblr - Read more in The Advocate - here

NPR reports on gender fluid identity

Interesting recent NPR report on Gender Fluid Identity I like that they talk about generational challenges in the trans community and the current youth crisis with homelessness and HIV but also focus on how our Allies are supporting us and how important that is. I commend Margot Adler for taking on this topic in a respectful way.

5th Annual Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit

Another exciting day at University of Houston!  Today begins the Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit.  We have guest speakers talking about earning an a in transgender inclusion on college campuses, transgender legal issues, contemporary transgender history, national transgender discrimination survey data, and great networking opportunities.

One of the transwomen hosting the event is a Houston city council woman and many of the people here are employees of universities.

I learned that my alma mater, Rice University, was the first school in Texas to implement a gender and sexuality nondiscrimination policy.

Next, Dr. Kristen Benson from North Dakota State University will be speaking about inclusion of the transgender community on college campuses.

TransTexas Health Summit

Very excited to be joining with trans* Texans and healthcare providers and other interested parties at The 2nd annual TransTexas Health Summit.  Hearing from members of TENT, guest speakers on the Affordable Care Act, mental health and transition, imrpovong the image of transpeople, obstacles to transgender health, the effects of testosterone on the mental health and sexuality of transmen, and violence and the LGBT community.  What a great opportunity to network, meet mentors, and learn about my community.

Major Crimes Episode 2.6

The writers of TNT's TV show Major Crimes worked with GLSEN to get things right for Episode 2.6 "Boys will be Boys" which aired July 15, 2013.

TNT describes the episode: "When a child with gender dysphoria goes missing, the Major Crimes division scrambles to solve the emotional case before it's too late. Torn between several suspects, the squad has to be careful as it tries to connect the evidence to a dangerous bully. Meanwhile, Jack Raydor (guest star Tom Berenger) attempts to make up for years of lousy parenting." I was very impressed with the way the show dealt with gender dysphoria - right down to the fact that the new DSM V language of gender dysphoria was used throughout the episode. The missing child was 13 and the characters in the Major Crimes police squad worked to stick with the child's gender identity throughout the episode. The mother of the child refused to acknowledge that she had a daughter and continually badgered her husband for giving in to the child. Despite the mother character being transphobic and having done less than what it is advised for parents of children with gender dysphoria, the Major Crimes characters, especially Captain Raydor, continue to advocate for the rights of the child and her gender identity - even with the mother. One of Captain Raydor's suspects was a teen bully who had perpetrated physical, verbal, and online violence against Michelle, the transgender child. However, the bully was not the murderer. One thing that I especially liked about the episode: the police respect of the gender identity of the victim. Another thing that I liked about the episode: the father's love of his daughter even though she was born a son. A third thing that I liked about the episode: several scenes showed Michelle, the transgender victim, before her death, happy with family and friends - making plans for a positive future as a woman Another thing that I liked about the episode: Captain Raydor said, "All murder is hate crime." Another thing that I liked about the episode: Some of Rusty's past came up since gender dysphoria often gets talked about at the same time as sexuality, but Captain Raydor advocated for not pressuring him and reminded that just because he was forced to work in the gay sex trade does not mean he identifies as gay. Overall, I think Major Crimes handled a tough subject in a sensitive, accurate and professional way.

Upcoming Conferences in Texas

TransTexas Health

Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit

Why we need ENDA

Mia Macy tells her story

Skip Ender's Game

"When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me." (1 Cor 13:11, NIV)


Join Geeks Out and don't give your money to homophobic bigot Orson Scott Card. Skip Ender's Game


When I was a child, I loved Orson Scott Card's books - especially Ender's Game, but I was young and naive. Today, I am a transgender person who advocates for LGBT rights, and I say, Skip Ender's Game.

New California Law

California Law for Trans* Youth

Improve your vocabulary

Does it offend you when people use the word "gay" inappropriately?

Share this Upworthy link with them to teach them a thing or two about our beautiful language.

GAY GREEN CARD GOES GREEN!

Marsh and Povov get the green card they need to stay in the US!

Response to NYT Sunday Dialogue: Our Notions of Gender 6/30/13

Sunday, June 30, 2013, The New York Times Sunday Dialogue was called "Our Notions of Gender: When a child identifies with the other gender, what to do?"

It was a series of psychiatrists, writers, actors, parents and one self-identified transsexual talking about the story of Coy Mathis - a 6-year-old transgirl - and whether or not there is an appropriate age at which to identify children as trans*.

I have known I was trans* since I was in preschool.  I didn't have the word "trans*" to go with what I knew, but I have known.  I don't regret anything from my childhood.  I think maybe some things would have been easier if my parents and I had known about gender identity disorder or gender dysphoria or "trans*", but at the same time, the struggles I've had and my own timeline for coming out have made me who I am, so I don't think I really want to have anything change for me.  But I do wish that our society was more open about the spectrum of gender and gender diversity so that boys who want to play with girl toys and girls who want short hair are not discriminated against.  I wish that it wasn't considered a mental illness to be born in one gender but to feel like the other gender.

I think that the people who commented in the Sunday dialogue made some good points.  Like when the first author said "no one knows whether Coy will continue to feel that she is a girl when her body develops further".  That's valid.  We can't predict the future and gender is fluid and not timebound.  But someone needs to be there to support Coy no matter what expression goes with his/her identity at any given point in his/her development.  I would hope that she can always be a girl with a penis or at some point be allowed to have her penis removed because it's not how she sees herself.  But I'm not her or her parent, so it's not my decision.

Personally, I've wanted to be rid of my breasts for as long as I've had them, but I haven't done anything with them because my mom considers the act of mastectomy mutilation and can't stand the thought of me doing that to myself.

One of the participants in the dialogue talks about children being "famous for their fluid sense of fact, fantasy and fiction, being dubbed transgender".  I'm pretty sure that the criteria for that label is a lot more strenuous than just being a story-teller.  I know when my friends and I used to play make-believe in pre-school, I was the only one who ever played a different gender and I did it consistently.  Heather, Amber, Bambi, Anthony, Jeremy - they played girls if they were girls and boys if they were boys - I was a girl who played a boy.  Period.

I realize that there's a great divide within the transgender community, too.  This is addressed somewhat.  One contributor says, "most transgender adults aren't transsexuals whose lives depend on gender reassignment:  many are crossdressers, gender fluid or gender queer".  You know what, though?  Many transgenders whose lives depend on reassignment ostracize those who are queer or fluid and claim they are not "real" trans*.  So, let's just realize that kids need parental support and good counseling so that they don't get pushed by "mentors" in the category who are pushing their own agenda instead of the child's best interests.

I agree wholeheartedly with Ladin's statement: "We live in a wold still organized in terms of the gender binary, it's hard to create spaces in which our children can safely explore nonconforming gender identities".  As a former teacher, I wish that gender exploration was more accepted and applauded, but, especially here in Texas, it's not welcome, even from the youngest kids.  We need to work to change this so that kids can find out what's in their own heads instead of running into depression later on.  Believe me, I've done my turn with depression, and I'm tired of seeing that sick cycle repeat in others.

So, can a 6-year-old be trans*?  Absolutely.  But they need support from all sides to make it through safely - just like any child with any aspect of life.

Trans* Rights Campaign in China

Trans Visibility Campaign Launched in China - Anna Leach, 8 May 2013

As part of IDAHO (International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia), Queer Comrades began a campaign to increase visibility of trans* Chinese people.

I'm interested to see more about this campaign and to see how other countries take a model from this lead.

Ding, Dong...DOMA's Dead

Ding, Dong...DOMA's Dead

#morethanmarriage

I am thrilled DOMA was repealed today, but I am ready to move on with the Transgender Law Center's #morethanmarriage campaign.  As a trans* individual, I appreciate the rights granted to me today by SCOTUS and believe freedom to marry is important.  However, our community needs more than marriage to survive.  Transgender Law Center's #morethanmarriage campaign "is a community-based effort to amplify the voices of our community and to raise awareness of the critical issues we need to address in order to thrive - including marriage, immigration, bullying, health care access, family rights, employment, and more." (Transgender Law Center, #morethanmarriage)

Supreme Court Repeals DOMA

CNN reports on VICTORY in Supreme Court

Pew Research Center on LGBT

How LGBT adults see society about new research from Pew Research Center just in time for Supreme Court's decision on DOMA and Prop 8.

Josie

Josie's story on Youtube is monumental and really teaches us a lot about the transgender child.  The part that really tugs at my heartstrings is when Josie offers to be a boy if her mom wants her too even though it isn't who she really feels she is.

Educational Leadership Research and LGBT

The response to a fundamental question of literature reviews – what do we know about this topic? – is a resounding “very little.” This review documents that transgender persons and experiences are highly peripheral in the educational leadership research base, inclusive of research identified as social justice oriented or LGBTIQ/queer oriented. This review of the literature is supplemented by data from Capper and O’Malley’s (2012) survey of how LGBTIQ topics are included in principal preparation programs at UCEA member institutions. That data documents minimal attention to transgender persons in principal preparation programs and their institutional climates, as well as a lack of understanding on the part of educational leadership professors of rudimentary terms such as “gender identity.”

Grant, Mottet, & Tanis (2011) report the following results from a study conducted for The National Center for Transgender Equality: 41% of transgender persons surveyed (6,450) cannot change their gender on their legal identification; 57% of transgender persons surveyed were rejected by their families; 19% of transgender persons surveyed have experienced homelessness; 19% of transgender persons surveyed were refused medical care; and 47% of transgender persons surveyed have attempted suicide. GLSEN (2012) reports that gender nonconforming students are at particular risk for bullying and that teachers are unprepared to address issues of gender expression in elementary schools in the U.S. GLSEN (2009) reports, “Transgender youth face extremely high levels of victimization in school, even more so than their non-transgender lesbian, gay and bisexual peers” (n.p.). Even though advocacy organizations are reporting on issues facing transgender students in schools and transgender persons in society, educational research in the field of educational leadership and administration remains behind the mark by not directly addressing the needs and identities of transgender people.

An integrative literature review has been conducted, a process that involves reviewing, critiquing, and synthesizing relevant literature to come to new understandings of a topic (Torraco, 2005). Scholars in disciplines within and beyond education have been using the term transgender in their research and writing in earnest since the early 1990s; others have been drawing on the ideas of transgender as an identity, if not always specifically using that term, since the 1960s and 1970s. However, there has been little attempt to synthesize this literature—I did not locate a single review on the topic. I thus undertook this research to provide a synthesis of what has been done in this area and to provide guidance for future research, believing that this body of literature would benefit from “a holistic conceptualization and synthesis of the literature to date” (Torraco, 2005, p. 357).

The literature sample includes articles published in 7 leading educational administration, policy and research journals published in the US between 1993-2013. The seven leading journals were chosen because of high impact factors or other measures of repute in the field. Educational Researcher, Review of Educational Research, American Educational Research Journal, Educational Evaluation & Policy Analysis, Educational Administration Quarterly, Educational Leadership, and Review of Research in Education comprised the journals of the primary literature review. The years 1993-2013 were surveyed for articles containing transgender persons as a topic. 1993 was chosen as the opening year of the survey because Michael Warner published Fear of a Queer Planet in that year – beginning the discussion of heteronormativity as a problem in our society and our education system.

Within the 7 leading educational administration journals surveyed from 1993-2013, an alarmingly small number of articles addressed LGBT issues at all and within those, transgender was mentioned as part of the acronym “LGBT” (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) and most of the information presented in the articles focused on lesbian persons and gay persons, not on bisexual persons or transgender persons. Many articles in the journals surveyed addressed race, gender, class, bullying, technology, and able-ism, yet, within those areas of diversity, intersectionalities with sexuality and transgenderism rarely came up. It also seemed that the issues related to race and class that have been part of educational struggles since Brown v. Board in 1954 still prevail and newer Civil Rights struggles such as those of sexuality and transgenderism cannot yet be addressed because we have age-old issues to address still.

I have decided to present the literature review journal by journal and within journal chronologically because I believe this representation gives the best view of how little material exists within educational leadership, policy and research literature on LGBT persons. Interestingly, the journal with the highest impact factor, Educational Researcher, had the most articles addressing LGBT issues from 1993-2013 with a total of 11. The journal surveyed with the fewest articles addressing LGBT issues from 1993-2013 was the one specifically policy journal, Educational Evaluation & Policy Analysis, with 0. Because no articles singly addressed transgender issues, articles addressing LGBT issues were surveyed for content related to transgender persons.

A review of Educational Researcher, 1993-2013.

Of the journals reviewed, Educational Researcher had the highest impact factor and the most articles published between 1993 and 2013 with 11 articles. In Educational Researcher, the first article addressing a topic related to LGBT persons or issues appears as a review in April of 1997; this is concurrent to the earliest LGBT publication in any of the journals (see A review of Educational Leadership, 1993-2013.). Reed (1997) presents a review of three films: The Crying Game, Orlando, and M. Butterfly. The first line of Reed’s review brings to light just how critical her review is to this study: “In recent years, there has been a significant proliferation of popular cultural practices that, in some way, include gender-bending, female ‘impersonation,’ or transgressive sexualities” (p. 30). The films reviewed actually came out in 1992, 1993 and 1994, respectively, but this review doesn’t get published until 1997. Reed’s work discusses ways that feminists theorize sex, gender and the body, and she draws on Foucault and Butler to talk about relationships of power when it comes to gender and sexual transgressors. Interestingly, the work has little to do with educational leadership or research, yet this is where we find it housed.

Educational Researcher published Capper (1999) on “(Homo)sexualities, Organizations, and Administration: Possibilities for In(queer)y” in which she addressed “the possibilities for research with lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender school administrators and for the broader study of queerness in schools as organizations” (p. 4). Interestingly, Capper’s article suggests low numbers of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender administrators in schools. However, low numbers are cause for more research following in suit of other minorities, such as women and people of color. If there aren’t more of us, why not? Capper also suggests that heterosexism in schools is detrimental to all people in the schools and thus greater work needs to be done in overcoming that heterosexism.

In April of 2001, Kumashiro’s first piece in the body of literature appears in Educational Researcher. Kumashiro (2001) writes on “anti-oppressive education” and uses feminist and queer perspectives to address the question of what it means to teach core curriculum in an anti-oppressive way. Kumashiro points out that “All students come to school with partial knowledges. In some ways they may not know much about marginalized groups in society, but even when they do know about the Other, that knowledge is often mis-knowledge, a knowledge of stereotypes and myths learned from the media, families, peer groups, and so forth” (p. 4). In April of 2002, Kumashiro appears again in Educational Researcher when Butin (2002) writes an article in response to Kumashiro (2001). Butin (2002) uses a “Foucauldian lens…to provide an alternative means by which to further a more constructive and less constrictive classroom environment” than what Kumashiro had proposed in 2001. Kumashiro (2002) offers a rebuttal to Butin (2002). Ultimately, Kumashiro is highlighting anti-oppressive education again as a means to social justice.

2002 also saw the publication of Davis’s (2002) review addressing race, gender and sexuality. In the review, Davis reviews two books: Bad Boys and Subject to Identity. Important to this review is the advancement of sexuality in the language of the conversation: “In the last few years, identity politics has emerged as a critical watchword in educational theory and practice. Special attention given to the intersection of identity categories such as race, class, gender, and sexuality in the academic and popular press attest to a growing interest in the politics of identities” (p. 29). Ultimately, the review calls for “other work that challenges ‘understood’ theoretical positioning of gender, race, and sexuality and the representation of research subjects that occupy these categories” (p. 32).

Educational Researcher did not have another LGBT related article for five years, at which time Asher (2007) came out addressing gender and sexuality as part of multiculturalism. As the abstract of the article describes, Asher “discusses the challenges of educating teachers to engage, rather than deny or repress, differences that emerge at the dynamic, context-specific intersections of race, culture, gender, and sexuality” (p. 65). Asher points out that in teacher education, by 2007, multiculturalism is a given and preservice teachers are expected to take multicultural courses as part of their requirement, yet she still sees “teachers typically let homophobic slurs go unchecked in schools” (p.65). Asher offers practical and relevant advice for operating an open and honoring multicultural preservice university classroom based on her experience doing so at Louisiana State University.

Glasser and Smith (2008) published “On the vague meaning of ‘gender’ in education research: The problem, its sources, and recommendations for practice” in Educational Researcher, Vol 37, No 6. Quite explicitly the authors are addressing the misuse of the term gender for biological sex: “Writers for both academic and popular audiences often use the term gender when considering differences between the educational experiences of male and female students, and the distinction often appears to be based on a traditional understanding of the term sex” (p. 343). Glasser and Smith even criticize Asher (2007) for her vague use of the term gender. They seek to “draw readers’ attention to a more general problem in education research: the lack of explicit clarity about the meaning of gender in researchers’ analyses, especially with respect to the relationship between sex and gender” (p. 343).

Renn (2010) provides a report on the state of LGBT and queer research in higher education. Renn states, “Although colleges and universities are the source of much queer theory, they have remained substantially untouched by the queer agenda” (p. 132). While analyzing the existing literature addressing LGBT and queer issues in higher education, Renn finds that “colleges and universities have evolved to tolerate the generation of queer theory from within but have stalwartly resisted the queering of higher education itself” (p. 132). Even the terms “LGBT”, “queer”, and “queer theory” are contested terms in the literature.

Educational Researcher published Robinson and Espelage in 2011 and 2012. Robinson and Espelage (2011) addresses inequities in outcomes between LGBT and straight students in middle and high school, while Robinson and Espelage (2012) examines bullying as a partial cause of the risk disparities between LGBT and heterosexual students. Robinson and Espelage (2011) present a study in which a “large, population-based sample of students spanning middle school to high school” is investigated looking for “differences between LGBTQ- and straight-identified youth in both psychological and educational outcomes” (p. 315). The quantitative study presented in Robinson and Espelage (2012) suggests that “LGBTQ identification remains a unique predictor of risk after accounting for peer victimization, raising concerns about policies that focus almost exclusively on bullying prevention to address LGBTQ-heterosexual risk disparities” (p. 316).

A review of Review of Educational Research, 1993-2013.

While Educational Researcher had articles addressing our topic of LGBT issues as early as 1997, Review of Educational Research does not have any articles concerning this topic until 2000, at which time the Spring issue presents three articles related to LGBT concerns. One of the articles is by Kumashiro, who appeared in Educational Researcher in 2001 and 2002. Kumashiro (2000) is a precursor to his Educational Researcher articles; i.e., it is an article leading up to his later work on anti-oppressive education. Also in the Spring 2000 issue of Review of Educational Research, Riehl (2000) presents a view of the principal’s role in creating inclusive schools for diverse students. This literature review serves to examine how schools can address “the recurrent nature of the theme of diversity [in which] American public schools arguably serve a more heterogeneous population now than ever before and are under increasing pressure to effectively educate a student body that is diverse in terms of race and ethnicity, social class, gender, national origin and native language, sexual orientation, and physical disability” (p. 56). In the same issue, Blount (2000) tackles “Spinsters, Bachelors, and Other Gender Transgressors in School Employment, 1850-1990”. Blount begins, “Young people learn powerful lessons about gender in schools” (p. 83). She importantly historicizes the role of schools in housing gender transgressors in the role of teacher and administrator: “In spite of persistent efforts to maintain the gender status quo, however, schools also have been historically important sites for gender challenges and even rebellion” (p. 83).

Review of Educational Research takes several years to return to the issues so aptly addressed in Spring of 2000. Unfortunately, their return is also their most recent publication related to LGBT issues. North (2006) brings us back to the minority LGBT student with “More than Words? Delving into the Substantive Meaning(s) of ‘Social Justice’ in Education”. North discusses ways to solidify the meaning of the term “Social Justice” and enacts examples of these various methods. She says, “The remedying of recognition injustices therefore does not require eliminating group differences…but instead revaluing them or reinventing conceptualizations of the human being that lead to oppression and domination” (p. 514). For North, “With regard to sexual differentiation, for example, which remains largely though not entirely a recognition issue, the transformation of the unjust consequences wrought by a dominant view of heterosexuality as natural and normal and of homosexuality as perverse and despised requires a change in the status of particular social groups rather than an overhauling of the political economy” (p. 514).

A review of American Educational Research Journal, 1993-2013.

The only two articles in American Educational Research Journal related to LGBT issues from 1993-2013 were in September of 2008. Eckes and McCarthy (2008) wrote about LGBT teachers and legal protections while Ashcraft (2008) wrote about teen sexuality. Ashcraft’s article focuses on an ethnography of a community-based sex education program that has been shown to help diverse youth become leaders. Participants included openly gay students and opinions and discussions dealt with LGBT health and political concerns.

A review of Educational Evaluation & Policy Analysis, 1993-2013

No articles in Educational Evaluation & Policy Analysis between 1993 and 2013 addressed LGBT issues.

A review of Educational Administration Quarterly, 1993-2013.

Three articles in Educational Administration Quarterly between 1993 and 2013 addressed LGBT issues. The earliest from this journal was six years after the earliest in any of the journals. Lugg (2003) writes, “This article seeks to chart a course through the contested areas of gender and sexual orientation in hopes of establishing a theoretical framework and an agenda for much needed future research” (p. 97). Lugg points out that “neither our Constitution nor our governmental institutions that are bound by Constitutional strictures are colorblind—nor are they classless, gender neutral, and so forth” (p. 95). Lugg even points out that, since the 1970s, ballot initiatives have tried to prevent people suspected of being queer from working in public schools. Lugg’s article builds off of Queer Legal Theory, which developed in the mid 1990s in “response to larger political and legal events” (p. 102). According to Lugg, Queer Legal Theory “is dedicated to eliminating those U.S. legal and social structures that privilege and enforce heterosexuality, patriarchy, White supremacy, and class advantage, with the legal and social liberation of sexual minorities—queers—as its principal focus” (p. 103). Lugg posits that “Much of what is found in contemporary public schooling contains legacies from the cold war” and “Public schools still expect that students should exhibit a high degree of gender conformity, and schools can be intensely homophobic” (p. 110).

Several years later, we find Lugg addressing us again in Educational Administration Quarterly, this time as second author on a 2010 article. Tooms, Lugg and Bogotch (2010), in “Rethinking the Politics of Fit and Educational Leadership”, discuss what is meant by the illusive term fit in the hiring and firing practices in educational leadership. Tooms, Lugg and Bogotch examine the nature of essentializing – “the act of treating a social category as standing for an essence or a set of intrinsic qualities or characteristics residing within a group of people” (p. 114) and discuss the damaging effects of the historical practice of many Anglo-centric cultures by which “school administrators have been historically essentialized as White, Protestant, heterosexual, male” (p. 114). Ultimately, according to Tooms, Lugg and Bogotch, “In educational leadership, this has reduced those persons who are not members of this dominant culture to the status of ‘other’ or, more bluntly, someone who does not fit” (p. 114).

Educational Administration Quarterly is the only journal surveyed with a 2013 article. deLeon and Brunner (2013) share “Cycles of Fear: A Model of Lesbian and Gay Educational Leaders’ Lived Experiences” in the February issue. From the abstract, “The article’s purpose is to highlight a national qualitative study that generated a model for understanding how society’s actions and attitudes affect and inform the lived experiences of lesbian/gay educational leaders” (p. 161). deLeon and Brunner conclude that “study participants moved from silence to voice and back again to silence but with varying degrees of intensity” (p. 196). Ultimately, “Heteroprivilege power often forced the participants to live without emotion” (p. 196).

A review of Educational Leadership, 1993-2013.

The second largest collection of articles from any one journal comes from Educational Leadership with 6; however, this journal has the lowest impact factor of all those surveyed. As in Educational Researcher, April 1997 is the earliest issuance of an article in Educational Leadership addressing LGBT issues. While the earliest article in Educational Researcher was a film review, the April 1997 article in Educational Leadership is a call to action titled “Let’s Stop Ignoring Our Gay and Lesbian Youth” (Edwards, 1997). Edwards describes gay and lesbian youth as a “hidden minority” (p. 68) and calls educators to follow some simple guidelines to make schools safer and more equitable for gay and lesbian youth, such as, “Use the words gay, lesbian, bisexual”; “Provide classroom speakers”; “Display or wear a gay-positive symbol”; “Challenge homophobic remarks”; “Provide positive role models”; “Demand inservice training for all staff”; Include discussions of gay, lesbian, or bisexual issues in class”; and “Create social situations for both gay and straight friends” (p. 70). However, the article does not address transgender students at all.

In October of the same year, Educational Leadership published Gevelinger and Zimmerman’s (1997) article “How Catholic Schools are Creating a Safe Climate for Gay and Lesbian Students”. Gevelinger and Zimmerman begin with the acknowledgement that “In schools across the county, students are struggling to deal with issues of sexual identity” (p. 66). They, like Edwards (1997) give advice to schools and school leaders for making schools safer and more equitable for lesbian and gay youth. “Make careful decisions about the messages we convey to students concerning gender roles”, say Gevelinger and Zimmerman.

Lamme and Lamme (2001) present strategies for welcoming students from diverse families, those with gay parents, into schools. They use “gay” as “an inclusive term that refers to sexual orientation…include[ing] gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people” (p. 65). Their suggestions are that schools become informed about LGBT people and “the issues that influence their lives” (p. 66), provide diversity training for faculty and staff, teach respect, provide quality counseling, and encourage activism and inquiry.

Four years after Lamme and Lamme (2001) appeared in Educational Leadership, Salas (2005) talks about using theater to address bullying with a tagline of “Acting out personal experiences with bullying fosters compassion and empowers all students—bullies, victims, and witnesses—to stand up for what’s right” (p. 78). Salas relates how the theater experiences empowered a gay youth to overcome the bullying he had been facing at school through voicing his experience in front of others. Salas says, “We have found that this sense of altruism is not unusual” (p. 80).

Another six years pass before another LGBT related article appears in Educational Leadership, at which time we find McGarry (2011) writing on stopping antigay speech. McGarry describes an incident in which a gay student stands up for himself in others by speaking back against homophobic slurs. The gay student, pseudonym Fabulous, “articulated a key factor that he believed perpetuated homophobic language in schools—the silence of educators and other bystanders” (p. 56).

The final article in Educational Leadership was also about bullying. Weissbourd and Jones (2012) report statistics on bullying in United States schools and describe schools where “adults tout respect for others yet fail to act when they hear students using harmful language like ‘That’s so gay!’ or see boys making lewd comments to girls” (p. 30).

A review of Review of Research in Education, 1993-2013.

Only two articles appear in the annual Review of Research in Education—one in 2000 and one in 2007. Epstein, O’Flynn and Telford (2000) present the article “ ‘Othering’ Education: Sexualities, Silences, and Schooling” in which they present a review of literature on sexuality and education in response to “media across the Anglophone world [being] preoccupied with questions surrounding sex education, young people, and sexuality” (p. 127). They report that “heterosexuality has been the unmarked, the norm, the assumed but invisible” (p. 128). Specifically, they “have focused on using the literature to make an argument about the normalization and policing of heterosexualities, through homophobia and heterosexism, in educational institutions in late capitalist Anglophone countries” (p. 128).

Mayo (2007), in “Queering Foundations: Queer and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Educational Research”, says “Since the beginning of the modern homophile movement, gay people have made education of themselves and heterosexuals central to their political project” (p. 78). Mayo’s purpose in the chapter presented in Review of Research in Education is to discuss the theme “of the place of coming out in LGBT and queer research in educational foundations” (p. 79). Mayo uses “a wide range of published research as well as some observations from [her] own research on queer youth…to show that youth are as involved in the complexity of questions researchers ask as the researchers themselves” (p. 79).

References available in portfolio.

Exciting Job

I'm really excited to be helping, through my job, with preparing a new curriculum for training faculty and staff at my university for LGBT inclusive practices.

I had a meeting yesterday with my supervisor, one of the VPs of the university, and one of the faculty/staff liaisons for the faculty/staff LGBT organization that sponsors the trainings.  We had a blast talking about the future of services and programming for LGBT faculty and staff at our university and ways that faculty and staff can work with and for students.

It's especially exciting to be doing this work during Pride Month.

I hope that we can work locally to reach some young folks who will in turn reach global scales of changing the way our world is socialized.