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sexual preference and gender identity (contrary to the academic work of theo-
rists like Butler). Subsequently, Trans Camp was set up in 1994 adjacent to the
Festival to challenge such exclusionary practices and to valorise the 'incom-
plete', 'mixed-up' appearance, preferences, self-understandings and desires of
many 'trans' individuals. Intellectually, it was inspired by Stone's manifesto
and an equally trenchant pamphlet by Leslie Feinberg (1992), entitled Tra n s -
gender liberation: a movement whose time has come . These epistemic workers and
their written works defended the right of trans individuals to refuse assimi-
lation to gender and sexual norms (even ostensibly 'liberated' feminist and
queer ones), and to be comfortable living unusual lives. They fed in to a wider
political movement, with strong academic underpinnings, that grew in size
and strength throughout the 1990s in the United States (and, to a much lesser
extent, in some other Western countries). 19
Genre blending and bending
This movement has not only faced the obvious challenge of getting the
voices and concerns of trans people heard in public life; it's also had
to confront prejudices far more visceral than those evidenced by Nancy
Burkholder's expulsion from a women's music festival. Physical attacks
against and murders of trans people continue to this day. This is true even
in countries like the United States where many academic and political rep-
resentatives have done much to destigmatise them. As Susan Stryker notes
of the 1999 Hollywood film Big Boys Don't Cry , which depicted the life and
brutal death in 1993 of a transgender youth Brandon Teena,
Those who commit crimes against transgender people routinely seek to excuse
their own behaviour by claiming that they've been unjustly deceived by a mis-
match between the other's gender and genitals.
(Stryker, 2006: 10)
This plea of having been 'misled' fails to consider the way in which
dominant norms about gender roles and sexual anatomy suffocate those
who wish to breathe in a less tightly regulated cultural atmosphere. In Kate
Bornstein's (1994: x) words, it could even be seen as a form of 'gender terror-
ism'. It's an open question whether sympathetic portrayals like Big Boys ,and
the professional success of trans entertainers such as Eddie Izzard, Lily Sav-
age and RuPaul, have done much to alter mainstream views of trans people.
It's very possible that today, in erstwhile 'liberal' societies, trans people are
perceived as exotic (at best) - they are curiosities who pose no threat because
they're so few in number. Let us remember that it was only a generation
ago when Jonathan Demme's hugely successful film The Silence of the Lambs
could pathologise a trans person without offending most viewers, namely the
fictional character and serial murderer Jame Gumb (Buffalo Bill). Gumb is
portrayed as a violent man who kills women for their skin, which he pieces
together to create a new 'body suit' so as to transform his appearance into
 
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