Monday’s article in The Daily Orange, titled ‘Alter Ego: Drag kings and queens switch gender roles with dynamic, comedic performances,’ has demonstrated the continuing need for education surrounding the verbiage and vocabulary used when discussing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning issues. The uses of ‘transsexual’ and ‘hot tranny mess’ to describe the performers are such examples of the need for education. The terms ‘transsexual’ and ‘transgender’ alone have different meanings, and to use them as synonyms for ‘drag’ is a large mistake. Drag is an art, a form of cultural expression that refers to the use of clothing, makeup and other accessories when performing or entertaining.

The misuse of pronouns in the article also reflects the need for further education. In reference to drag king Windz, the author writes ‘she’ and ‘her’ in the article. What needs to be understood is that when performing drag, a person takes the form of the performer and sheds the identity of who they were prior to the performance. To illustrate this point, take for example the many drag kings and queens who have separate Facebook pages for their drag persona. They sometimes are even Facebook friends with their ‘pre-drag’ identity. This illustrates the importance of using the proper pronouns when referring to the performers in the show. You must understand the separate identities attached with drag.

The LGBTQ community has made tremendous strides in the past year. States continue to update their laws to include marriage or civil unions and to include benefits for same-sex couples. The end of last year saw the Senate overturn the policy known as ‘don’t ask don’t tell,’ another milestone in the fight for equality. With all the progress being made, society can’t afford to take a step back, thanks to the spread of uneducated, incorrect media coverage.  

To all of you students, administrators and community members, do everyone a simple favor: take the few hours to go through Ally Development training, a simple process to allow you to be more educated about the LGBTQ community and the terms and concepts that go along with it. This simple step will allow you to understand the terms some people throw around without an understanding of what they mean. Stop the spread of ignorance, get trained.

Taylor Carr

Chair of the Committee on Student Life, Student Association

 

Published on March 29, 2011 at 12:00 pm