Matt Kailey

Tonight I am appearing on TruVue Radio with Roland Hinds – at least my voice is. This is Internet radio. Regardless, it should be an interesting show, with myself, Stephanie Brill, author of The Transgender Child: A Handbook for Families and Professionals, and adult video star and trans man Buck Angel. (Update: there were last-minute changes in the guest list, but the show went on.)

We will all probably have something different to say. And that’s one of the good and the bad things about the multitude of trans “spokespeople” out the there, and the multitude of media that is available for trans people who choose to use it.

As new types of media reach an even broader audience and more people use that media to present their personal experiences and their personal views, any one particular “message” becomes convoluted as the non-trans public hears a variety of things and tries to piece together the reality of the trans “community.”

When the Internet did not exist — when there were a handful of media streams that reached larger audiences, like a few major newspapers, a few national radio shows, and three major television networks (yes, I actually remember these days) — various groups had one or two national spokespeople controlling the “message” for that group.

The few visible spokespeople that did exist for a group did not always agree with each other, but those outside of the group still only had a couple of messages to choose from and could make up their mind about that group and base their knowledge of that group on whatever those limited messages were. Other members of the group might not even agree with their national spokespeople, but they had limited choices and often just had to go along.

Now that the Internet has basically given everyone a voice who wants one, the “message” is virtually impossible to control. But is that a problem? Some people think it is. If trans people are not presenting a uniform message — if we are not using identical language and reflecting a unified platform — the non-trans public will just assume that whatever trans person they hear first, or at the moment, is representing the trans “community” — an impossible feat.

The reality of the trans “community” is that there is no one message, other than the desire for recognition, respect, and equal rights. This was also the desire of other groups in the past who had one or two spokespeople to convey the group’s “message.” Other than that, there was always disagreement as to what that message should be and how it should be presented.

No group has ever been a monolith. It’s just that each group has appeared to be so because of the limited opportunity for various thoughts and opinions to be aired.

While it’s true that most non-trans people will be exposed to one or two trans “spokespeople,” will take that person’s (or those people’s) words as trans gospel, and will not bother to do any additional digging to find out that various opinions and positions that exist within the community, it is also true that, in most cases, some exposure is better than none. And there are those people who will take the time to seek out additional information and realize the diversity of thought and experience in our community.

Personally, I am in favor of a lot of voices. I think the Internet has been more of a boon than a detriment to our community as a whole. Sometimes I cringe when I hear a trans person relate something as fact when it is merely personal opinion or personal experience, but I’m sure that there are others who cringe when they hear something I say.

In my mind, the most important thing is that people are hearing something. They are finding out that our community exists. We do have national spokespeople, but the Internet gives us the opportunity to publicly disagree even with them, and I don’t think this is a bad thing.

For my part, I try to issue a caveat that this is my thought, my experience, my opinion, and that it does not necessarily reflect the community as a whole. I realize that this doesn’t always make a difference to those who are listening, but I still think it’s important.

Regardless, I hope you tune into the show. I have no idea what questions will be asked or how the show will go. It’s one of life’s many fun little surprises.

What do you think?

(Photo: Roland Hinds)