Suitably, it is all about transition. A generation ago, the status that transgender culture now has in the mainstream would have been unimaginable. But today, transgender men and women are gradually seeing the worst excesses of bigotry ebb away - just as gay and lesbian men and women did before them.
Playwright Jo Clifford, a transgender woman, believes that the Miss Transgender UK event is further evidence of a shift in attitude towards the community which has taken place over the last few years.
“It’s certainly been a long time coming,” she said. “I think if people want to take part in the pageant then that’s fantastic.”
The gay, lesbian and bisexual communities have made giant strides in recent years, particularly with recent changes to the law in a number of countries- including Scotland, the UK, Ireland and the USA- providing gay marriage with the same legal status as heterosexual marriage in much of the western world, but for the transgender community, progress has been much slower. Excluded from the main LGBT movement for many years, the fight for social and cultural acceptance has proven to be much more arduous than other minority groups.
“I’ve had to confront a lot of hatred, but some people have had a lot more,” said Clifford. “When I received a small sum of money from Creative Scotland to turn one of my plays into a book, there was a storm of negativity in the tabloids, driven by extremist Christian groups.”
Caitlyn Jenner’s appearance as a Vanity Fair cover girl helped bring transgender issues firmly into the public sphere - and the coverage, Clifford notes, of the gender transition of the former Olympic athlete, and step-father to Kim Kardashian, was “broadly positive”.
Several public figures have also made their gender transition public. Kellie Maloney, the former boxing promoter, completed her gender reassignment process earlier this year. Coming from an environment as shamelessly macho as boxing, her announcement attracted initial shock, which eventually blossomed into an outpouring of respect.
British broadcasting is also catching up with the changing mood in society. Soaps like Hollyoaks and Coronation Street have already introduced transgender characters, while Eastenders plan to cast a transgender actor for a new character to be announced in the near future.
Hit US show Orange is the New Black, set in a women's prison, features Laverne Cox, the openly transgender actor who has helped put transgender issues front and centre in American life.
Cox does, however, frequently lament her status as a ‘role model’ for transgender people. She joins a host of prominent transgender people who believe that this tag sensationalises their choice, when people in their community simply want to be a valued member of society in their own right.
Clifford, however, believes that role models are crucial for the younger generation - and enable them to embrace the identity they feel comfortable with.
“We need role models. When I was growing up, there was no role model for me at all. In the 50s, the word transgender didn’t even exist. I think it’s fantastic that Laverne Cox is a beautiful, talented actress.”
Clifford is no stranger to controversy surrounding her work. Jesus, Queen of Heaven, her solo show featured at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe which began on Friday night, is no different. Reimagining Jesus as a transsexual, the show’s premiere in 2009 was marred by angry protests by Christian groups.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel