Jamie Bauer transitioned decades after their work in ACT UP, and now is nonbinary, but they came from the women’s peace movement and the lesbian activist community and functioned in ACT UP as an emissary of those legacies. Here I found that Nan Alamilla Boyd’s pioneering 1999 article “Looking for Lesbian Bodies in Transgender History” is very helpful to those of us telling lesbian and transgender histories through the same individuals. Jamie had particular experience in the Women’s Pentagon Action, in 1979, had great knowledge and commitment to nonviolence, and was learned and skilled in civil disobedience training from a feminist perspective. In fact, in our pretransition interview for the Oral History Project, Jamie details how they and others like John Kelley, BC Craig, Robert Vázquez-Pacheco, and Alexis Danzig (straight, bi, future trans, queer, gay, lesbian, white, Black, Brown, female, and male) educated ACT UP about nonviolent civil disobedience; organized and ran trainings for protesters, marshals, and legal observers; and basically supervised and organized ACT UP’s unwavering use of nonviolent civil disobedience.

I find Schulman’s language here TERF-y at worst and belabored at best. I don’t like the name of the article cited in the context of the TERF hysteria around “they’re trans-ing all the butches!” but, as far as I can tell, Boyd isn’t a TERF, just maybe playing on that language in the title of a trans-inclusionary theory/history. (I don’t have the institutional access I’d need to read these scholarly articles for myself.)

But in any case, I find it strange that Schulman felt the need to suddenly cite an article here. Her language throughout isn’t scholarly. I don’t recall her citing any other academic texts.

And the result of this suddenly “scholarly” use of language is strange. If Schulman’s language reflects Jamie Bauer’s, then that’s completely valid, of course! I’ve just never personally heard a non-binary person describe their journey with gender like this. It’s sometimes akin to “coming out”, as in, “I’m now sharing my real name/pronouns with you” or sometimes it’s more like “I’ve explored different gender expressions, and here’s where I feel comfortable (for now).” But I’ve never heard “I’ve been a Woman, but now I’m going to Transition and become a Non-binary.”

In any case, I just don’t think this whole discussion is warranted. It’s simply not confusing (or even surprising) that a non-binary person was involved in feminist & lesbian organizing. I’m reminded of Miss Major talking about being radicalized in a men’s prison or her son calling her “Daddy”. I don’t think anyone genuinely reacts to that with “But how, when you are a Woman???”

Super long post to call something belabored, hahah. This has been bothering me!