Jennifer Finney Boylan, who more recently is known for her appearances on Caitlyn Jenner’s “I am Cait” show, is coming to Humboldt State University for a talk on Feb. 2 as part of the 2017 HSU Philosophy Forum. Boylan, who has identified as a transgender woman form more than 15 years, is also the author of 15 books ranging from biographical nonfiction to young adult fiction. Her broader resume includes being the national co-chair to the board of directors of GLAAD, working as a consultant on the Amazon series “Transparent” and regularly contributing the New York Times opinion and editorial pages.
She makes her homes in both New York City and Belgrade Lakes, Maine, where she lives with her wife and her two sons.
Ahead of her upcoming appearance at HSU, she answered a few questions for the Times-Standard.
Q What do you plan to share with the HSU students when you come in early February? What kind of message do you want to impart?
A I”ll be speaking about the wide range of trans identities, I imagine, and I’ll also be speaking about the importance of visibility. And the form of visibility I know the most about is storytelling. My mother used to say, “It’s impossible to hate anyone who’s story you know,” and I’m sure I’ll return to this at Humboldt. I’ll also be speaking about what the philosopher Edmund Burke called the “moral imagination”— the ability to imagine the world through the eyes of someone whose experience is different from your own. In the end, the most important thing I have to encourage Humboldt students to do is less about understanding trans experience than opening their hearts to the many different ways there are of being human.
Q What was it like working with Caitlyn Jenner? Did you struggle with working with someone with such unique political stances?
A Caitlyn is a friend, and I hope she will always be a friend. I disagree with her on pretty much everything, and politics not least. More importantly, though, we have different ideas about what “womanhood” means. For me, being pretty and posing in custom bustiers and having my own makeup brand is probably pretty far down on the list — for me it was more about a physical body, a sense of being at peace and at home, and also in raising my family and being a good mother to my sons. But this is fine. I have a pretty big tent when it comes to friends, and I like the fact that I can disagree bitterly on all sorts of issues with her and still know that she has my back. It would be nice if more people were friends with people with whom they disagree.
Q What are your thoughts on Chelsea Manning and President Obama’s decision to commute of sentence?
A Chelsea Manning is a symbol of American’s conflicted feelings about war and peace; the mutability of identity; treason and courage. We are still trying to understand the consequences of George Bush’s unprovoked war in Iraq, and anyone who opposed that war is likely to find Manning a symbol of defiance and resistance. At the same time, many vets — some of whom, yes, are transgender — question whether aiding and abetting an enemy of the United States while wearing our country’s uniform — is the best way to go about that resistance. Still: It’s also worth remembering that the usual sentence for this crime is one to three years, and Manning received a 34-year sentence. I should think that seven years served is plenty. So — all that said, while not condoning her actions (even in protesting a war I opposed), I think commutation of the sentence feels just.
Q California recently enacted a law that mandates restaurants and retailers offer gender neutral bathrooms. What are your thoughts on this?
A My first thought is, fine, great — have you ever used a bathroom in your own home? Or on a plane? Great. You’ve used a gender neutral bathroom. But more importantly, the fact that the fight for human rights for transgender people has devolved into a conversation about toilets is demeaning and disrespectful. These laws — like the one in North Carolina — aren’t really about bathrooms. They’re about the fact that some people don’t like the fact that transgender people exist in the first place.
Q What transgender issues do you feel are facing this country, especially in light of the new administration?
A Well, to be fair, no one actually knows what Donald Trump believes about anything. He appears to have no core beliefs except his devotion to his own ego. You can probably find a quote in which he appears to support both sides of almost any issue. But the people he’s chosen to surround himself with are no mystery, and Mike Pence not least. People in his administration have opposed LGBT rights from hell to breakfast and the years ahead will almost certainly see a loss of many of our rights, especially those put in place by executive order under the Obama administration. And, while marriage equality is surely the law of the land, and would be hard to undo — so called First Amendment defense acts (FADAs) are likely to be raised and passed by this congress, giving individuals the right to discriminate against LGBTQ people as long as that discrimination is based on some religious belief. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.
Q What changes have you seen as a society in the past couple decades in relation to how transgender people are viewed? What has changed in the time you have been “out”?
A I think there are so many more of us visible now; we used to live in a kind of silent secrecy. When I was young, I didn’t know there were other people like me. Now there are tens of thousands of us living our lives out loud. And another big change is that there are now many more different ways of being trans — at one point the only people you’d see were M to F [male to female] transsexuals. Now there are genderqueer people and gender-nonconforming people and drag kings and queens and cross dressers and a whole huge wide spectrum of different identities. Sometimes this makes for tight quarters, but we all should celebrate the diversity of our community. There is no one right way to be trans. It’s all cool.
Q What kind of advice can you offer to someone who might be transgender and is considering transitioning? What resources do you recommend?
A I am not really in the advice business, but I generally abbreviate my counsel with the acronym TRUE. T is for Therapy, or Talk: find someone to talk to so you can unburden yourself of a secret; R is READ, preferably everything. A first good resource is “TRANS BODIES TRANS SELVES,” from Oxford University Press. U is You: be yourself, according to your own lights. And E is Euphoria. Seek your bliss, and make a plan for your life that enables you — maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday — to find your joy.
Q What is your favorite book you have written and why?
A Well, this new one, “Long Black Veil” (coming in April) is pretty cool— my first novel in almost 20 years. It’s a literary thriller, which is not only a story of suspense, but also a way of taking another look at the issues I’ve been focusing on for the last dozen years in a new way — through the eyes of people who are not me.
Q What new projects are you working on? What can we expect to see down the line?
A Well, the new novel is set to take over the world this spring. And I continue to write columns and essays for the New York Times. I’m still the co-chair of the board of directors of GLAAD, a position that gives me great pride.
Q What’s your favorite show to binge watch?
A “Survivor.” I love Jeff Probst telling everyone that “immunity is back up for grabs.” There was a time when I felt that way about my gender— that it was up for grabs— but now I don’t feel that way. I feel pretty solid about womanhood, and no one— even the cruel and the stupid— cannot take it away from me.
Q Anything else you think Humboldt County LGBTQ folks should know about you or anything else you would like to share?
A I know many young progressives are feeling pretty sad about the election. I’ll encourage them to engage with people that they disagree with— to show respect and love. And, also, to quote Sam in “Lord of the Rings,” as he reaches for Frodo who is hanging off the edge of a cliff by one hand above the Cracks of Doom: “Take my hand. Don’t you let go. Don’t you dare let go.”
Ruth Schneider can be reached at 707-441-0520.
If you go
What: 2017 HSU Philosophy Forum featuring Jennifer Finney Boylan
When: Feb. 2, 7 p.m.
Where: Van Duzer Theatre, HSU
Cost: Free, but tickets are required
More information: 707-826-3928 or go to www.humboldt.edu/ASpresents
