Mona Rae Mason & The Transgender Project
Posted at 3:52 PM Jul 02, 2008
There's a lot of really excellent and inspiring activism and research happening with regards to transgender and transsexual populations. Here in New York, the National Development and Research Institutes has a transgender project that, according to its mission statement, "is designed to describe the economic, social and personal, family and workplace experiences of male to female trans-persons, how these experiences change over the course of our lives, and the impact of these experiences on our mental and physical health."
Naked City contributor Charlie Vazquez had some questions for NDRI's Mona Rae Mason about identity, being in the closet, and challenges that trans folks face.
Charlie Vazquez: So Mona, what is it that you do as an organizer and activist?
Mona Rae Mason: I work for National Development and Research Institutes and I’m the Field Coordinator for ‘The Transgender Project’, a longitudinal study of metro New York City’s male-to-female transgender population. This study is funded by The National Institutes of Health and is the first and largest of its kind for this community—almost six-hundred volunteer participants from all walks of life. I also serve on the Board of Directors of Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. I’m very concerned with the homeless and hungry in our LGBT community—I’ve seen far too many young sisters who’ve come to me for their interview, with precious few clothes on their backs in bitter winter, to collect the meager $30.00 stipend we pay for interviews. As a result, I’ve organized and promoted several clothing and food drives and I also organize and promote NYC’s longest-running and free “transgender and friends” weekly get-together, currently at Nowhere Bar, on Thursday evenings.
Three more questions and their answers after the jump
CV: So when and how did you identify as a trans-person?
MRM: I recall discovering the word ‘transvestite’ in the dictionary at the age of twelve and had been experimenting with female gender presentation since I was five. I wasn’t thrilled about how the word sounded, but realized that—if there was a name for this—that there must be others out there like me and was a little comforted by that. I spent the next thirty-plus years deep in the closet—dressing, purging, dressing, denying, dressing, suffering guilt, shame, anxiety, embarrassment and all the other emotions so many of us experience. It wasn’t until nine years ago that I summoned the courage to throw myself a little ‘coming out’ party. As soon as I hit the street and the night air, I felt the weight come off my shoulders and I haven’t looked back since.
CV: What are some of the reasons transgender people remain in the closet?
MRM: They’re very similar to the reasons gays and lesbians stayed/stay closeted—fear of disclosure, fear of discovery and even fear of self. As so many male-to-female trans-persons ‘look’ so different—we tend to draw a lot of stares and rude comments. Many of us are susceptible to physical attacks, as well. For many, the fear of losing jobs, family and financial security all play a role in keeping in the closet—a very lonely place.
CV: No doubt about that. The term “trans” covers a broad range of both sexuality and identity—such as the stark differences between transvestites and transsexuals. Can you elaborate on this?
MRM: Um, an old and amusing axiom…
Q: What’s the difference between a crossdresser and a transsexual?
A: Five years.
Some of us are happy as ‘crossdressers’—the weekend warriors. Some of us live as female part-time, others 24/7. And some of us need to have gender-corrective surgeries—one is not necessarily more transgender than the other. Many of us oscillate between male and female and some of us even transcend gender altogether and need to have gender reassignment surgery.
So here’s a question for you: If you have a penis, but you see yourself as a woman—and you have sex with men—does that make you a homosexual man or a heterosexual female? Thus, the complexity of this issue.
