I was recently asked a few questions by Ron Hogan (of Beatrice.com and GalleyCat.com) about the news that JT LeRoy is a sham.
He asked:
As a writer in a relationship with a transgendered person, what is your reaction? Have you and Betty ever wished you could simply send a “stand-in” to deal with all the hassles of going out in public, let alone the threat of attack? And what’s your take on “Leroy’s” taking up an identity which, for Betty and other transfolks, is a real day- to-day struggle and, apparently, using it as a cover for a pseudonym?
For that matter, I should ask: Did you have any awareness of/contact with JT Leroy prior to these revelations? If so, have your feelings about his writing/your acquaintance changed?
It turns out that JT LeRoy is not only not trans, but she was never a he in the first place. (NY Times, New York magazine, SF Chronicle).
“‘As a transgendered human, subject to attacks,’ the statement read, ‘I use stand-ins to protect my identity.’ In the past, JT Leroy has invoked transgenderism to explain confusion over his identity.”
I’m not sure if I’m more frustrated as a writer or as a transgender educator – probably a combination of both. That JT LeRoy used transness as an excuse for this sham just adds to the heap of misinformation about transpeople. The association of transness and ‘big fat liar’ – when transpeople are everyday accused of being deceitful, and often harmed as a result of that perceived deceit – is supremely irresponsible. I think once the dust settles, some of the money she collected from celebrities should go to organizations like NCTE and the IFGE – organizations that help diminish the myths surrounding transpeople and work on legislation that makes harming transfolk hate crimes.
Because of stuff like this (& the various negative portrayals of transpeople, in general) Betty and I don’t have the luxury of sending someone else in our stead. As talented, reasonable people, we feel a real need to go out there and present any kind of example that isn’t so negative.
As someone who writes about trans subjects, it’s even more frustrating. So many good books about transness don’t get light of day – no reviews in the Times, no reviews in magazines, etc – yet people can’t stop talking about JT LeRoy because of her transnes. Believe me, the irony isn’t lost on me.
But then there’s the history of women writers and pseudonyms, and for that I can’t really blame her for using any kind of “cover.” Being reminded of being a “woman novelist” or a “woman writer” is enough to make any woman who writes borrow whatever front she might in order to stop hearing that. “Helen Boyd” is a nom de plume, after all, and I chose it in order to protect my family from the kind of transphobia that JT LeRoy claims she was protecting herself from.
Does being trans mean you’re subject to attacks? It can. Especially for less priveleged transpeople, trans people of color and those lower on the economic scale. None of us feel especially safe, but you take the risks you have to in order to educate people as fast as you can.
JT LeRoy certainly didn’t do trans people at large any favors.