Gender in Trans-ition
Trans liberation politics in Mexico's changing society, a short article and a poem
Transplant, transport, translate—the list goes on. We use “trans” to mean crossing a boundary, moving something to a different place, connecting where there was no connection before.
Transgender people, those who are not of the sex wrongly assigned to them at birth, fit the general definition of a fluid action that benefits the sides being connected. We can save a person’s life with transfused blood or a transplanted kidney without hurting the donor. We can produce food in one place and carry it to another place where that food is needed. We can put the words of one language into the words of another to foster understanding.
The gender binary was never universal. For example, Indigenous people of North America called nonbinary people “two-spirits,” recognizing that far from being defective, they had twice the power of men or women. Under capitalism, the binary became important and enforced: men primarily performed the labor that produced wealth, women primarily produced more laborers to replenish the supply. It’s past time to do away with this gender binary, and it’s a revolutionary task.
As nonbinary Mexican activist and slam poet Edwing Roldán knows, transcending the gender barrier today is dangerous and can generate conflict even among those in the feminist and LGBTQ+ movements. But taking actions that disrupt the way things are, even when those actions are beneficial, always takes experimentation and risk before we get it right. How many ships went down looking for transatlantic passages?
What is clear is that nonbinary people are transforming our societies, and our relationships with one another. As Edwing says, “Trans rights are popular rights too!”
Meizhu Lui, lifelong troublemaker, is the co-founder of the Mexico Solidarity Project, https://mexicosolidarityproject.org/ and mexicosolidarity.com
They Say We’re Unpronounceable…
They say we are unpronounceable
meaningless signs that contaminate
and hinder its structure
because they make them stop at every step,
notice what it means
have only a couple of options.
To be or not to be
it is a dilemma of death.
We are your vanishing point
his ineffable cross,
the mark in
significant
which nullifies its dual logic.
reverse reading,
lyrics that are ghosts
vestiges of sexes
that they wanted to erase
and they don't disappear.
Dicen que somos impronunciables,
signos sinsentido que contaminan
y entorpecen su estructura
porque les hacen detenerse a cada paso,
reparar en lo que significa
tener solo un par de opciones.
Ser o no ser
es un dilema de muerte.
Somos su punto de fuga,
su cruz inefable, su tache inaudito,
la marca in
significante
que anula su lógica dual.
Lectura inversa,
letras qux sxn fantasmxs
vestigios de desexs
que han querido borrar
y no desaparecen.
Edwing "Canuto" Roldán
World Poetry Slam Organization Secretary
https://www.worldpoetryslam.org/
I like this article. But it has one matter a bit confusing. We know there is a connection between sex and gender, but we also should know they are not the same or interchangeable. Sex is a biological matter, and is a binary, save the one percent or less born 'intersex,' ie, where the physical reproductive organs of both male and female are present. Gender is another matter. It's largely social, and is oten not binary, and can come in four, six, eight or more varieties. At least that seems to be the thinking of most scientists working on such matters. We should be open to new discoveries. Why does it matter? To my thinking, for what its worth, we shouldn't be too quick for surgeries and other chemical drugs to supress or alter the biological sex characterists of those under 18. As to gender, it's democracy all along the line, and we should oppose all attacks, ridicule and other forms of oppression.