Jim Beaux
10-03-2008, 03:47 PM
From bekhsoos.com, a GLBT oriented site in Lebanon (where homosexuality is still illegal).
http://www.bekhsoos.com/issue0/issue0.php
"Transsexuals on TV: We Want to be Like You by Nadz, June 2008
Recently, the Lebanese media has taken a special interest in transsexuals, featuring at least two talk shows on the topic; one on LBC and the other on New TV. Again, taboo topics sensitive to our population’s eyes and ears are treated in a sensationalist manner. The purpose of these features, I believe, is to showcase individuals that are believed to be “freaks of nature,” in the hope of attracting viewers and increasing TV ratings.
The main problem with these, as well as other shows discussing homosexuality, is that the media outlets couldn’t care less about tackling the issue from the sociological, cultural, or psychological perspectives of improving the lives of LGBTQ individuals or changing society’s attitudes towards them. Even the “impartial” presenters stand there with stern, disapproving looks on their faces, overshadowed only by their looks of self-righteous pride.
Still, my problem with the recent shows about transsexuals is not so much the TV stations’ attitudes, but rather the attitudes of the transsexuals themselves: “We are not gay! We were just born in the wrong body.” Most of their speech asserts that they are not homosexuals, using words like “qawma loot” or “shawaz,” and by doing so, they are endorsing society’s prejudice towards gays and lesbians as sick and deviant. “We want to be normal” is something they have also repeated when asked about why they want to change their biological sex.
I personally have taken giant strides towards understanding and respecting sexual identities that differ immensely from my own lesbian self, but why transsexuals would be homophobic is beyond me. They might view it as a strategic argument to claim that they want to conform to society’s views, and that by changing their sex, they can do so. They might want to integrate into the society they call “normal” using their post-operation gender. But they, of all people, should understand the devastating consequences of discrimination, of hate crimes, and of being called freaks just because they are different.
Where is the solidarity that we often assume when using the term LGBTQ? Granted, different sexualities have different battles to fight, different arguments to use. And it is a possibility that transgender and transsexual individuals have faced so much discrimination from the gay community itself that they want to alienate themselves from such association."
More on Lebanon re culture and GLBT
http://www.menassat.com/?q=en/news-articles/4653-show-them-were-not-zoo
http://www.bekhsoos.com/issue0/issue0.php
"Transsexuals on TV: We Want to be Like You by Nadz, June 2008
Recently, the Lebanese media has taken a special interest in transsexuals, featuring at least two talk shows on the topic; one on LBC and the other on New TV. Again, taboo topics sensitive to our population’s eyes and ears are treated in a sensationalist manner. The purpose of these features, I believe, is to showcase individuals that are believed to be “freaks of nature,” in the hope of attracting viewers and increasing TV ratings.
The main problem with these, as well as other shows discussing homosexuality, is that the media outlets couldn’t care less about tackling the issue from the sociological, cultural, or psychological perspectives of improving the lives of LGBTQ individuals or changing society’s attitudes towards them. Even the “impartial” presenters stand there with stern, disapproving looks on their faces, overshadowed only by their looks of self-righteous pride.
Still, my problem with the recent shows about transsexuals is not so much the TV stations’ attitudes, but rather the attitudes of the transsexuals themselves: “We are not gay! We were just born in the wrong body.” Most of their speech asserts that they are not homosexuals, using words like “qawma loot” or “shawaz,” and by doing so, they are endorsing society’s prejudice towards gays and lesbians as sick and deviant. “We want to be normal” is something they have also repeated when asked about why they want to change their biological sex.
I personally have taken giant strides towards understanding and respecting sexual identities that differ immensely from my own lesbian self, but why transsexuals would be homophobic is beyond me. They might view it as a strategic argument to claim that they want to conform to society’s views, and that by changing their sex, they can do so. They might want to integrate into the society they call “normal” using their post-operation gender. But they, of all people, should understand the devastating consequences of discrimination, of hate crimes, and of being called freaks just because they are different.
Where is the solidarity that we often assume when using the term LGBTQ? Granted, different sexualities have different battles to fight, different arguments to use. And it is a possibility that transgender and transsexual individuals have faced so much discrimination from the gay community itself that they want to alienate themselves from such association."
More on Lebanon re culture and GLBT
http://www.menassat.com/?q=en/news-articles/4653-show-them-were-not-zoo