Call for Questions - Podcast Conversation with Calpernia Addams!
by Suzanne Reisman

In the next two weeks, it will be my honor to talk to actress, author, and activist Calpernia Addams for an upcoming podcast! Please submit your questions, comments, and thoughts to guide the interview in the comments section.


Born genitally male, Ms. Addams served for four years as a field medical combat specialist (HM 8404) in the Navy and with the Marines during the first Gulf War. Upon her return as a decorated war veteran, set out to become one of the top showgirls in Tennessee. During one of her popular performances at a nightclub in Nashville, Calpernia met Pfc. Barry Winchell. Winchell was one of those exceptional human beings who truly loved a person for who she is, not what her physical manifestation dictates. According to an an article in The New York Times:

They fell into an easy affair. Winchell brought almost no philosophy or gender theory to this relationship. He considered his girlfriend to be a woman, yet considered himself gay for sleeping with her, friends of Winchell's say. ''He wasn't really torn or tortured about those things, and once he felt comfortable with me, our sexuality together was very easy,'' Addams says. Addams would introduce him as heterosexual, but he would always correct her, saying, ''It's O.K.''


''They were very attached to each other,'' says Mike McCoy, a friend of both from local gay bars. ''Wherever he was, you wouldn't find her too far behind. Just like an ordinary couple would be.''



Tragically, several other soldiers at Ft. Campbell were not able to accept Winchell's relationship with Addams. He was severely harassed for being gay, and eventually brutally beaten to death with a baseball bat while he slept one night. It happened to be the same night that Calpernia Addams won the Tennessee Entertainer of the Year Contest, "taking on the outsize personalities of drag queens, transvestites, transsexuals and transgendered stage legends from across the state," as the New York Times described it. The aftermath of the murder drew a spotlight on Pres. Clinton's problematic "don't ask, don't tell" policy about gays in the military, although Addam's female gender did not fit a traditional model for a homosexual relationship. The story was dramatized in the Showtime movie Soldier's Girl.

Today, Calpernia works as an actress, author, and activist. She runs Deep Stealth Productions, Inc., with business partner Andrea James, producing media with an awareness of the truth and value of trans people's contributions to society. For more background, her hilariously informative YouTube video, "Bad Questions to Ask a Transsexual: The Director's Cut," is a must-see. Christine Burns at Just Plain Sense posted a podcast with Calpernia in April when she was in London promoting her short film, Casting Pearls Bianca James at School for Scandal has a great review/recap of Calpernia reality dating competition show, Transamerican Love Story, and an interview with Shawn, who won.

Please submit your questions, comments, and thoughts for the interview in the comments below! The more input from the BlogHer community, the better the interview!

Suzanne also blogs about life at Campaign for Unshaved Snatch (CUSS) & Other Rants, about yogurt at Live Active Cultures, and about creating positive social change at Just Cause.

Submitted by Suzanne Reisman (view blog) on Fri, 05/16/2008 - 13:38

Comments

 

Here's a question

I have about fifty... but let's go with one from the recent news.

There's an uproar at a school in Pennsylvania over a third grade M2F transgender child. The child is going to transition now, children in the classroom will be told in a "sensitive manner" - parents are either supportive, outraged or indifferent.

The most frequent discussions I've seen are focused around the following questions.

Does a child really know she was born with the wrong gender by the time she's eight?

And if she does know, should she be allowed to transition then or encouraged to wait until she's older?

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager

Flamingo House Happenings

Submitted by Denise on Fri, 05/16/2008 - 14:11
 

*Bites on a bar of soap*

Good questions - but then you know those are questions I personally love to chat on, right?  

 

nelle

Submitted by nelle2nelle on Sat, 05/17/2008 - 21:15
 

Calpernia, my hero!

I recently saw the Questions video, it is absolutely wonderful. Don't have a question, just a comment: You are beautiful and so very funny, I hope we get to see you on TV and film a whole lot more, thanks!

Submitted by florencia on Fri, 05/16/2008 - 16:37
 

Questions for Calpernia Addams

Here are two - and while the first one might seem a touch confrontational, I am asking it from a neutral place and can see answers from both sides - I'd just like to hear hers.

Firstly, how would she respond to the accusation that she and Andrea James produce over-priced materials which might be seen as profiting from the desperation of many who are faced by an indifferent (if not outright hostile) medical establishment, on one side, and many who are keen to part them from their money, on the other?

Secondly, does she regret that by becoming so famous, so recognisable, that she may be thought of as "a transsexual" or "a transsexual woman", rather than simply as "a woman", by many? How does she think of herself - and how would she like others to think of her?

Submitted by Koan on Sat, 05/17/2008 - 07:23
 

Ah, transgendered politics

Guess I'm going against protocol here by not directly asking questions, at least not yet.  

I might actually have wondered on these things you ask on at one time. I don't wear being tg on my sleeve, either. I'll play with the term, laugh about it, etc... but in the end what matters to me in identification are two words: 'feminist' and 'dyke.' 

That said, if someone can make a living off of the hellhole pathway of being transgendered, more power to them. a service is rendered, those buying can buy or not. There are many things in this life I can't afford at the moment, and so I don't buy them. And hell... I can't at this time afford srs, so that stays an arm's length away, or awaits more enlightened insurance carriers.

Visibility is another element of personal choice... as mentioned it isn't how I'll define, but I don't run from it, either. 

We are all unique beings, my experience is not your experience is not her experience. We flow with our circumstance, we try to carve out a good place in life, we work with what we've got to get through.

So with that, I'll add questions...

'how do you relate and interact with the trans community? Do you feel an obligation to all those who are trans? Does any one trans person have a moral obligation to give of self back to the community? Do you view being trans as the journey to transition, and not a term to be self attached for life?' 

 

nelle

Submitted by nelle2nelle on Sat, 05/17/2008 - 07:43
 

No politics

nelle, I wasn't getting (or trying to get) "political", or judgmental, or anything. I don't think there's a "right" or "wrong" answer to the questions I asked - I asked them because I'm interested in *her* answers.

And that's all. 

Submitted by Koan on Sat, 05/17/2008 - 07:51
 

Fair enough...

and thank you for clarifying! 

 

nelle

Submitted by nelle2nelle on Sat, 05/17/2008 - 08:02
 

Love Koan's question and RE's response

Koan and Nelle, y'all are awesome.

I saw Koan's questions and cheered when I saw the second one.

Both of you know that I've asked that question before - of you and of others. I've also been a little pushy in suggestng TG women don't help their sisters by putting the trans label behind them and "just" living their lives as women, straight or gay... I understand the need for women to do this (or F2Ms) but it's frustrating for me, as an advocate for trans people when I lose those voices of experience.

I'm glad you asked the question, Koan and I'm glad RE jumped in here too. I respect you both, regardless of which labels you're actively embracing. And, I really appreciate that you've both shared your unique experiences with me and with various communities. We've learned a lot from you both and grown as people and communities because you've shared yourselves.

I also wonder if Calpernia will ever tire of being the poster girl and might some day want to move away from trans advocacy and just live her life.

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager

Flamingo House Happenings

Submitted by Denise on Sat, 05/17/2008 - 18:42
 

Thanks...

I recall a time when you believed I'd never transition.

A time when you believed I lacked the courage to fully involve with confident, mature, dykes.

A time when I'd never have engaged in this discussion, or if so, from a rather benign place. 

Yet I did these things - and more - because some cared enough to push my buttons, to challenge me to face what was within and not make excuses for it all.

It is possible to discuss - and to mentor - without being tethered to a term like transgendered. Yet we also have to be cognizant of the fact that we are rather mundane creatures of where gender can truly go. Some see no place in either traditional gender construct. Some wish to blow those old views all to heck. Some get very lost in believing they are fully boxed in by all of it, and the pain that can come from within and without. For those who feel this way, I have no desire to make my path the model for their path. It can be a lonely journey, because it can also be so uniquely our own.

Anyway, I'm not adverse to talking on my experiences, but hope at the end of the day I'm seen as woman first and foremost (and if you really know me... the other terms mentioned in another post.)

Now about your questions... 

 

 

nelle

Submitted by nelle2nelle on Sat, 05/17/2008 - 21:26
 

A new question...

based on what I've just stumbled upon.

The American Psychiatric Association has just formed a committee to review our supposed 'disorder.' Those named do not give a promising outlook for advancing tg rights and outlook. From the (oops, accidentally hit 'post' there...) petition site:

 

On the Task Force, named as Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Chair, we find Dr. Kenneth Zucker, from Toronto infamous Centre for Addictions and Mental Health (CAMH, formerly the Clarke Institute). Dr. Zucker is infamous for utilizing reparative therapy to Ccure gender-variant children. Named to his work group, we find Zuckers mentor, Dr. Ray Blanchard, Head of Clinical Sexology Services at CAMH and creator of the theory of autogynephilia,
categorized as a paraphilia and defined as man paraphilic tendency to
be sexually aroused by the thought or image of himself as a woman.
Also Dr Ann Lawrence, a supporter of his JUNK SCIENCE.. is understood to be in consideration as an alternate member.

 

Would you care to comment on the formation of this committee? What is your view of autogynephilia?

nelle

Submitted by nelle2nelle on Sat, 05/17/2008 - 10:36
 

Fantastic questions!

Thanks everyone for these excellent questions and comments! I am very much looking forward to presenting them to Calpernia and hearing her answers, too.

I am also adding two of my own here: Piggybacking on Denise's initial question, I am very interested in talking more about how we form gender identity in general. Also, given the tremendous social pressure that women face to have the perfect body, how does this affect transgendered women (and men) as they undergo various procedures to match their bodies and their gender identities?

Suzanne Reisman, Contributing Editor - Feminism & Gender
Campaign for Unshaved Snatch (CUSS) & Other Rants

Submitted by Suzanne Reisman on Sun, 05/18/2008 - 07:20