On 1 December, Elliot Page, known for his role in Juno and the Umbrella Academy, came out as transgender – with pronouns he/they – through a heartfelt statement on social media. It may seem like a minor step in the grand scheme of queer activism, but representation matters. It was not until Laverne Cox’s role in acclaimed series Orange Is the New Black that an openly transgender person was nominated for an Emmy. Page is one of the very few trans people in Hollywood, even fewer of whom are trans-masculine. For him to come out in such a public and celebratory way is massive for a community that has been invisible for so long.

However, it did not take long for individuals and news outlets alike to refer to Page by his ‘deadname’ and question his self-recognition. Some seemed to be malicious and some off-hand, but all instances were equally as invalidating and unnecessary. Addressing someone by their correct name and pronouns is the bare minimum we should be able to expect. Doing otherwise amounts to what Laverne Cox believes to be ‘structural and cultural violence.’ Yet unfortunately invalidation, ostracization, or even violence are a part of many queer people’s common experiences. Page’s statement, while expressing joy and gratitude, brought this to attention, especially as a struggle faced by Black and Latiné trans women. 

Misogyny, I believe, underlines many of the poor attitudes towards trans folks. The term trans-misogyny, coined by Dr Julia Serano, addresses this intersection. The belief that ‘maleness and masculinity are superior to femaleness and femininity’ and that male and female are ‘rigid, mutually exclusive categories’ result in more acceptance towards those assigned female at birth (AFAB) who present as ‘tomboys’. Meanwhile, those assigned male at birth (AMAB) who present in a traditionally feminine way may often be perceived as weak, perverted or predatory. Moreover, the harmful study of ‘Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria’, one parroted by many trans exclusionary individuals, suggests that an increase in AFAB people coming out as transgender can be explained by their being peer pressured into transitioning. This not only undermines their agency but also misrepresents the treatment and diagnosis of gender dysphoria.

On the bright side, some people learned of transgender and non-binary people for the first time from Page’s coming out. There have been positive reactions from the trans community that famous trans women like Laverne Cox and Caitlyn Jenner will not be the only examples of transness. This will allow for less aware folks to have a trans-masculine perspective and hence more holistic understanding of gender identity. Because gender is so deeply ingrained in how we see the world, it may be challenging for some to comprehend gender in anything other than the rigid male-female binary. For example, whilst many understand Page’s transgender identity, some are confused about the ‘they’ part of their pronoun. They may not understand why someone would use a gender-neutral pronoun, or why a pronoun usually used for a collective is being used to refer to an individual. I believe it is important to allow time for people to adjust as confused reactions to what is, for some, is new language could very well be a learned reflex that harbours no malice. Language evolves to meet the demands of a shifting culture and indeed, what is progress if not adapting to change?

Words have meaning because we give them meaning. What are pronouns anyway? Is it a fact of life, inherent to our biology? In the West, it was merely a grammatical category before sexologist John Money and later feminist anthropologist Gayle Rubin proposed separating sex and gender in the 1950s and 70s respectively. Elsewhere, indigenous people have always lived outside of that binary, categorising instead by characteristics like age. Dr Oyèrónké Oyěwùmí argues that the ‘creation of women as a category was one of the very first accomplishments of the colonial state.’ The idea that gender roles are determined by our genitals is the result of ‘science’ designed to justify the disenfranchisement of women and people of colour. Some languages do not have gendered pronouns at all. We, as a society at large, need to re-evaluate how we see gender entirely beyond just language. The increased queer representation in the media certainly helps, and indeed Elliot Page’s coming out can be included in this. Yet, attempts to open the eyes of the public to queer and trans history have often been feeble. Trans and gender non-conforming activists have been consistently erased, even by their own community.

Seen in Pride (2014) and Stonewall (2015), film depictions of the historical events in queer history tend to utilise a traditionally masculine cis white man as a ‘gateway’ into the community. Pride shows the power of solidarity at its heart, but Stonewall seemingly whitewashes history. For example, it depicts the hero of the story throwing the catalysing ‘first brick’ of the riot, wrongly attributing this influential moment in the gay rights movement to a cis white man. The film is, according to gay activist and journalist Mark Segal, ‘uninterested in any history that doesn’t revolve around its white, male, stereotypically attractive protagonist.’ Sanitising history to appeal to the sympathies of a white, cisgender, heterosexual audience is frankly insulting.

Black and Latiné trans women have always been here. They have led the charge since the gay liberation movement of the 1960s and 70s but have been consistently excluded from the popular narrative. For example, the ‘Gay Liberation’ monument erected in 1992 in commemoration of the Stonewall riots depicted conventionally attractive cisgender white men and women, neither representative of rioters nor leaders of the gay rights movement. In 2015, activists vandalised the monument in honour of Black trans elder Miss Major, which has since grown to recognise trans activists Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Riviera for their contributions posthumously. Egregiously, Black and Latiné trans women remain disproportionately targeted to this day. The day before Page came out, actress Laverne Cox was targeted in a transphobic attack and in 2020 the majority of fatal violence has been against Black trans women. 

Part of why history has not recognised trans people’s roles is likely because there was a lack of language that could meaningfully describe their experiences. Before the gay liberation movement, trans women shared the terms ‘queens’ and ‘transvestites’ with drag queens. In fact, this has had lasting effects on trans activism to this day. Because there was no way to proclaim their transness, they were instead pushed to the sidelines. Since removing being transgender from the list of mental disorders, modern medicine has tried to diagnose transness using gender dysphoria. It describes when one’s ‘gender identity differs from their sex assigned at birth or sex-related physical characteristics,’ and the appropriate ‘treatment’ is thought to be social and medical transition. Trans medical and trans-exclusionary arguments against the self-determination of gender and non-binary genders, also argue that if one does not have an intense desire to medically transition, they are not trans. 

This is a narrow-minded view that neglects the spectrum of gender identity and alienates those who cannot medically transition due to medical or legal barriers. In fact, Page’s coming out was a silver lining to the UK Supreme Court ruling on puberty blockers that in essence, denied trans youth’s right to self-determining their gender. It is a step back in trans health care which is already severely lacking, with years-long wait times for gender identity clinics and thousands of pounds required for gender affirmation surgery.

I can attest to the fact that arguments against the self-determination of gender are the same tired ones used against gay people barely a decade ago. Nevertheless, the activism of our predecessors has led to positive change for the queer community around the world. Generation Z is the most fluid and likely to have a ‘less binary view of sexuality.’ Page’s coming out has brought trans issues to the forefront of our collective consciousness. I have hope that the future will be one where each person can self-determine the terms with which they live their life and the representation for the transgender community matters. Lived experiences prove that being transgender is about more than hating the body you were born in. Gender euphoria, the joy when you are recognised as your true gender, is what I believe truly unites trans people and what the trans experience should be about. As Page says, ‘the more [we] hold ourselves close and fully embrace who [we are], the more [we] dream,  the more [our] heart grows and the more [we] thrive.’

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