Trans history doesn’t have to repeat

By Karen Scarpella

By now, most of us are aware that gender variance (transgender) has been around since the beginning of time. We have also come to the understanding that gender variance is a stigmatized identity in our society. This stigma and marginalization of gender variance is based on fear and ignorance about what gender variance really is. Unfortunately, we still have the need to memorialize our transgender brothers and sisters who were killed for being transgender. Although things have gotten much better, violence and hatred against gender variant people still exists.

When I began working as a therapist many years ago, transgender people who needed to transition their gender role were often forced to choose between their well-being, and losing everything. People lost their jobs, families, friends, homes and their financial resources. They frequently changed their first and last names and moved to a new town to start over. Gender variance was labeled as a mental illness by health professionals, and as a sexual perversion by society at large. Although those who transition today still experience many of these hardships, things have, overall, greatly improved. It is now common for people to transition in the workplace, remain in their relationships and receive support and acceptance from their friends and family members.

I attribute this great improvement in people’s experiences to a couple of factors. The media, for the most part, has upgraded from offensive portrayal and mocking of gender variant people a la Jerry Springer, to more informative exposure of gender variance to the general public on shows like 20/20. The Internet has opened up a portal of information and connection among people who are gender variant. People are able to clarify their search for self-understanding and interact with people like them, making them feel less alone.

Another area of growth is of professional treatment. A painful part of our historical western culture is misguided treatment of gender variance as a mental illness. The World Professional Association for Transgender Health Standards of Care were written to assist those whose gender variance caused them distress, but offered poor understanding of needs and had a lack of education for practitioners, leading to oppressive practices.

People who needed to transition their gender with medical assistance were subjected to humiliation, judgment and denial of necessary treatment. Gender variant people began to learn about the “required” script to recite to their therapist based on word of mouth and others who had gone through the process. This script is now known as the “transgender narrative,” and is still passed on today.

This unfortunate legacy is a challenge for our community today. There are many gender variant people who do not get the information that reflects our current social and professional advances. They may stumble upon old websites full of dated information, pick up an old book that describes a historical snapshot, or attend a support group whose facilitator transitioned 10-20 years ago. This distorted view gives rise to a sort of intergenerational trauma. Intergenerational trauma refers to people acquiring PTSD symptoms based not on their experience, but on the experience of others. This phenomenon is most commonly found among the descendants of holocaust survivors. Children learn from their parents’ stories and experience vicarious trauma, which they often pass on to their own children.

It is the intergenerational trauma of the transgender community that keeps some people from knowing that things have greatly improved, both in society at large and within the helping professions.

I think that it is time to show respect to our transgender ancestors, without further perpetuating the trauma of our transgender social history. The stories of our transgender predecessors need to be told, but it must be done respectfully and responsibly. It is time to tell our transgender brothers and sisters that it is OK to come out now, to expect a happy future, and that clinicians are not the enemy anymore! We must do this without discounting the experiences of those who paved the way for this enlightened time, yet providing hope for a bright future.

Karen Scarpella, PhD, LCSW, is a licensed social worker with experience in the transgender community and is the Program Director at The Gender Identity Center of Colorado.

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