Kate Bornstein’s queer evolution

Cult following

By THOMAS PAGE MCBEE  |  May 23, 2012

[Photo: Kate]

Feisty transgender icon Kate Bornstein's newest book, A Queer and
Pleasant Danger (Beacon Press), is best summed up by its subtitle: The
True Story of a Nice Jewish Boy Who Joins the Church of Scientology
and Leaves Twelve Years Later to Become the Lovely Lady She Is Today.
Bornstein, 64, is the beloved "Auntie" to queer and trans folks, and
the author of several books, including: Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women,
and The Rest of Us and My Gender Workbook. I spoke to her about her
latest endeavor by phone last week.

I GAVE MY MOM MY GENDER WORKBOOK BEFORE I CAME OUT AS TRANS, AND SHE
LOVED IT. Really? You've got a cool mom!

I DO, I'VE GOT AN AMAZING MOM. BUT THIS NEW BOOK IS MUCH MORE PERSONAL
THAN THAT ONE. IT'S BASICALLY A LETTER TO YOUR DAUGHTER AND YOUR
GRANDKIDS, WHO ARE STILL SCIENTOLOGISTS. It was really, really hard to
write because I've done so many things that traditionally a parent
wouldn't be telling their children about. But here I am at 64 now, and
there's my daughter, she's 39, and my grandkids are in their teens and
tweens, I think. So I wanted to write— I did write it for them. But of
course I knew that, okay, lots of other people are going to see this,
so I included in the way I wrote all the people I call my kids, like
you.

YOU WERE ON THE SEA ORG SHIP WITH L. RON HUBBARD HIMSELF AND ALL THAT,
AND THAT ALONE IS REALLY STRIKING. BUT ALSO YOU OBVIOUSLY WERE A
RADICALLY DIFFERENT PERSON IN PRETTY MUCH EVERY WAY THEN. HOW DID YOU
EMBODY YOURSELF IN THE BOOK? I think it would take a trans person to
ask that question. Most people don't think about, "Well, if I remember
back to a certain time in my life would I be able to embody that
person who I was?" And, frankly, when I sat down to write the memoir I
didn't think I was going to be able to. But then I started writing
myself in the first-person boy — man — that I was, and it was easy. I
just told the truth of it without judging myself. And yeah, it has
helped me resolve a lot. Writing that book has helped me come to — a
lot closer to not man, not woman, and both. And that's the kind of
state of grace that I aspire to.

IT FEELS TO ME THAT THE QUEER COMMUNITIES HAVE BECOME VERY DIFFERENT —
IT FEELS LIKE THE CONVERSATION IS SHIFTING FOR EVERYBODY TO THE TOPIC
OF GENDER. I think in queer communities, yes, there is a rise in the
focus toward gender. But that's in queer communities. That's not
necessarily LGBT communities. It's somewhat generational, it's
somewhat race, it's somewhat class. It's certainly sexuality. These
things, you know — how free and sex-positive is a person? How willing
are they to bend the rules of gender or just simply be okay with
someone else bending the rules of gender? That still is a problem for
many LGBT communities. But, generationally, the queer community is the
outer margins of the American culture whose youth is just now coming
to go, "I'm fine with gay marriage, so what?" And that's a big jump
for a group of youth to say. Well, the outer margins have jumped just
as far. You know? So there's still a big gap between the queer
community and the straight community. And by the straight community,
I'm talking about people who are more or less, "Well, let's not talk
about sex. I don't want to think about it. And gender, come on. No,
no!" And that's straight. And that means there are straight lesbians
and gay men. . . . Really what I think is going on is we're getting
back to that old "Dungeons & Dragons" [idea] of order versus chaos.
And queer represents a faction of chaos, and straight represents a
faction of order. It's like, when George W. Bush was president, I
mean, people! He used to say, "I'm never going to change my mind," and
you'd go, "Oh dear! Oh dear! Thank you for warning me!"

YOU GIVE SOME REALLY BEAUTIFUL ADVICE TO YOUR DAUGHTER AND YOUR
GRANDCHILDREN AT THE END OF THE BOOK. DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR QUEER
AND TRANS FOLKS, AS WELL? Do whatever it takes to make your life more
worth living, period: whether that's sexuality and gender, whether
that's wearing a Star Trek uniform to work. Whatever the fuck it is,
do it. No limits. Only one rule: don't be mean.

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