I don't want to burp on camera.
- That's a big part of what I cut out of videos often is me burping so... uhm
- Oh my god, burping is so much better post-T!
Since transitioning, I've been like (fake burps) (laughter)
Hello! I'm Jackson Bird and welcome to another installment of my Queerstory series.
Today I am joined by legal assistant and aspiring lawyer, Ryan Rasdall.
Ryan, thank you so much for joining me today.
- No problem.
- You know what you're saying.
Like uhm, you are, you are educated.
You've done you're research, BUT - I'm also not an attorney.
I'm not a lawyer.
- If Ryan says something and you're like, "that's not right!" or I don't know like
- I'm sorry - Yeah.
So Ryan, how do you identify?
- I identify as a black trans guy.
- The common narrative for trans men tends to be when we transition we kind of get a
greater understanding of male privilege and a lot of us talk about how much less harassment
and discrimination we face.
But I found that like usually the guys who are saying that are white.
So what has your experience as a black trans man, how has that been different?
- I definitely experience the male privilege.
Y'know people listen to you more.
- Yeah.
- Even just like physically walking through the world, people like move out of your way.
But as a black guy walking through the world, uhm it's definitely a different experience.
Given all the events that have been happening and just in general I think you learn from
a young age as a black person that like you're just policed in a different way and so even
moreso as a black man and being read as a black man, uhm I feel like I am y'know stared
at longer.
I live in a neighborhood that's already heavily policed and I can't speak for all black trans
guys or all trans people of color, but definitely for me, I'm definitely more hyper aware of
where my hands are and especially like going into stores if I have like backpack on me
or I'm going up and down lanes - and that's something I've experienced all my life, but
I feel like it's hyper, it's been hyped up since transitioning.
So I always try to just be as, as, in my best way I feel like y'know making other people comfortable.
That's something that I constantly have to think about.
- What are some of the challenges that trans people do face when they're changing their name?
- Because birth certificates are done state by state, there's no like one way that everyone
can y'know change their, their birth certificate and change their name.
- Which makes it so much more complicated.
- Makes it so much more complicated and I'm thinking now also I might be overlaying this
with gender marker changes as well - Yeah.
- which require sometimes doctor's letters - again, depending on the state
- again, depending on the state - different requirements
- There are some states that won't even allow you to change uhm your gender marker because
that's the law of that state.
- Oh wow.
- So you know, there are trans people who are struggling to you know be seen in the
world as who they are and to change their names accordingly and this is important for
employment, just important for themselves and to affirm like this is who I am and this
is who I will be in the world.
It's really really hard.
- It's just such a mess.
Yeah, like I know, I was born in Michigan and I haven't even begun to look at like what
I would have to do there to change my birth certificate.
- I lucked out.
My mom named me Ryan - Really?!
- Yeah.
- Wha - I didn't know that!
- My birth certificate has an F on it and she named me Ryan, R-Y-A-N from birth.
- Wow.
- And when I was a kid, I hated my name.
I was like, "this is a boy's name!"
Like, I don't fit in.
I think that was just my way of being like, I get teased about this and I hate it.
And so I'm experiencing it y'know kind of in reverse for a lot of trans people.
It's like I hated my name when I was a kid because I was very much y'know socialized
to be a girl and I was being a girl in the world and I was being teased for having that
name.
And now, I fucking love my name.
- Yeah!
- And I'm not going to change it.
And I thought about it for a second.
I was like, "should I change me name?"
I'm like, no.
Absolutely love Ryan.
- And all of this costs a lot of money, which trans people in particular are like more likely
to not have the money to be able to afford things like this.
- Absolutely, i think a new passport is like a hundred and twenty dollars or something.
Or a hundred and fifty dollars.
I'm not exactly sure.
Don't quote me.
New York City is one of the few places where you can now get an ID made uhm for free, through
the city, and you can choose if you want male or female or you can even leave it blank.
- Yeah, and I know the New York City ID like that is also very helpful for undocumented
people to have some form of ID for them, photo ID that's in New York City.
What are U.S. prisons currently required to provide for incarcerated trans people and
what do you think an ideal world would look like there?
- So that's a complex issue.
So state prisons and state jails are subject to that state's uhm own administrative bodies
and laws.
And so trans people are treated across the board very differently depending on where
they are being incarcertated - in terms of if that y'know jail or prison is going to
house them according to their gender identity, if that institution is going to respect them
enough to provide them with hormones.
And I know that obtaining surgery for a lot of folks is also something people have been
seeking out, but it's a really, it's not, there's not a lot of history of people being
successful in that manner.
There's a few cases I know of where some trans people are challenging the states to y'know
get hormones, saying it's medically necessary and same for surgery.
Uhm but state by state, it varies.
Federally, the protections that I know about are through PREA, which is the Prison Rape
Elimination Act.
Which was passed unanimously by congress basically saying that if you are incarcerated, by y'know
the federal government, you have the right to be free of like sexual assault, bodily
harm and that's the government and the state's job in those institutions to ensure that you're
safe.
PREA's the law, but uhm unfortunately trans people are still experiencing a lot of y'know
violence and attacks on their safety.
- Yeah, that's what I was going to say, is like... okay, yeah that law sounds great,
but like how does that really help?
- Especially trans women of color are experiencing the denials of their humanity, denials to
safety, denial to hormones and surgery, and so because there are higher rates of policing
in communities of color, you'll see a lot of that represented in our prison system.
- Mhmm.
So many things we gotta fix in this country, man.
- So many! - (clears throat) Are you ready for the lightning round?
(thunder clap sound) - Lightning round.
Boom boom pow.
- What is Title IX?
- Title IX is a federal law that states that discrimination based on sex is illegal in
federally funded institutions.
So like schools and such.
- Who's your favorite Rocky Horror Picture Show character?
- I actually don't know it well enough to name a character.
I've only seen it once.
- Oh man.
- I went to a fantastic performance.
I went to Smith.
- Oh, okay.
- And there was a theater downtown and I went to that theater and I was just talking about
this other day and they like, you paid for your ticket and then you got like the baggie
full of like all the like things to use to interact
- Toast and - - Yeah!
To like interact with the movie.
I had never - that was like my first and also my last time seeing the film.
So I don't know it well enough and I'm sorry.
- What?
(laughs) You don't have to apologize.
- I promise to re-watch it.
I promise to get back to you and let you know.
(laughs) - Thanks.
Thank you.
If you were a pasta, what type of pasta would you be?
- Ooh.
Lasagna.
Like the the lasagna pasta.
- Ohhh.
So like the - - The long, flat ones.
- Yeah, okay.
But a little wavy.
You got some personality.
- A little wavy and there's always like awesome things around the lasagna.
- So you like hanging out around awesome people.
- I like hanging out with cool people, like you.
- Oh, well.
Thank you.
While I still have you here today, what is one thing that people watching can do to take action?
- If you're an ally, I would say if you know any trans people, definitely uhm listen to them.
Listen to their story.
If you're an ally or trans person with the means, I would definitely y'know look and
try to find trans led organizations that center trans women of color.
I think if we center the people who are the most marginalized, in our community then all
of us do a lot better.
And so like organizations like the Trans Women of Color Collective, the National Center for
Transgender Equality.
Around this bathroom issue, around North Carolina and HB2, when we're telling trans people that
they can't use the correct bathroom, what we're really saying is we don't believe you.
You know, in a community that has forty-one percent suicide attempt rates, high rates
of poverty, it's really really important that we say we believe you and we know who you
are and it's okay to be who you are.
And so we have to y'know step up and say that discriminating against trans people in this
way is not right.
Just affirm trans people.
- Yeah.
- Affirm them and support them if you can financially.
Support the organizations that are doing this work on the ground.
That's what my advice would be.
- That's amazing.
That's so good.
Thank you so much for joining me today, Ryan.
- No problem!
- To everyone watching, I want to know if you were a pasta, what pasta would you be?
Let us know in comments down there.
Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss any future Queerstory videos.
Again, thank you Ryan, and thanks to all of you for watching.
I'll see ya next time.
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