Beyond Magenta

Beyond Magenta

YA nonfiction
I first learned about transgender people in a really bizarre
way--from a legal perspective. (I was so naive then. I actually
thought there were only two genders.) I was on school committee. Our
neighboring town was involved in legal issues. A student's family was
suing the school system. That was when I learned that some people
identify with the gender that they feel more closely reflects their
inner selves (which made all the sense in the world to me) and other
people find them very frightening or dangerous (which made no sense
whatsoever). People were talking about building facilities like
bathrooms and locker rooms and legal obligations of schools and I was
wanting to step back and look at a much broader and deeper picture.
So I did what any true library geek would in the situation--set
out to learn all that I could. The way I see it there are two issues
to learn about. One is the prejudices transgender people face. We
need to be aware to help change that. The other is how our
transgender friends want us to see them and be with them.
One of the books I enjoyed reading the most was Susan Kuklin's
Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out. It's a wonderful
compilation of narrative and photography. Reading it is like being
introduced to some really fascinating young people. There's Jessy who
transitioned not only between genders, but between the cultures of
Thailand and the United States. There's Christina who came out as
transgender in a Catholic all boys school. There's Nat who self
identifies as gender neutral, neither male nor female with
characteristics of both, and wants to be alluded to as them or they
rather than he or she.
Two threads run through the book. One is the cruelty and
ignorance so often shown by the outside world. The other is the
notion that a binary male/female classification system or even a
continuum is just plain inadequate. One of the interviewees, Cameron,
envisions gender as three dimensional. Kuklin comments in her
author's note, "...Now that I've spent a few years researching and
talking with people who fall under the transgender umbrella, I am
confident saying that male/female is not the only way to describe
gender. The people I've come to know and love in the course of
writing and photographing this book have helped me better understand
the fluidity of gender and sex."
Kuklin started working on the book with the idea that she was
writing about "...boys who realize that they are girls and girls who
realize that they are boys." As she learned more, the scope of Beyond
Magenta, as the title implies, evolved. This beautiful volume has the
potential to evoke a similar change in the mind of readers. Therein
lies its power.
On a personal note, when I became a parent and said I had no problem
with gay and lesbian people folks would sidle up to me and say in an
ominous tone, but what if it's YOUR CHILD? Then they would think I
was lying, naive, or saintly. None of the above. It wasn't my
issue. Being a peace advocate, I knew my challenge would be if one of
my kids chose the armed forces. I would stick to my beliefs while
learning how to be supportive under the circumstances. With a child
heading toward the Navy that is just what I'm doing.
A great big shout out goes out to the LGBT community and allies.
Julia Emily Hathaway


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