An interview with MY HUSBAND BETTY author Helen Boyd (Thunder’s Mouth)
starts airing tonight on Richler Ink/Book Television Wednesday, January
19th @ 10:00pm ET / 8:00pm MT Saturday, January 22nd @ 7:00pm ET /
5:00pm MT Sunday, January 23rd @ 10:00pm ET / 8:00pm MT
Betty in the NYT
From the Tuesday, January 18th edition of The New York Times and an article titled “Actors Exit One Troupe to Build Another”:
“The longtime familiarity among the actors was critical, said Jason Crowl, who played Titorelli, the artist who finally reveals to Joseph K. the truth of his horrible situation, as a sinister, epicene figure. Mr. Crowl left the Cocteau about two years ago because he was unhappy.
Mr. Crowl, who describes himself as transgendered, said, “I wouldn’t have made Titorelli as interesting as he was if I didn’t know the people in the cast and couldn’t say, ‘I’m going to make him freaky and androgynous and hope everyone is O.K. with that.’ ”
That would be my husband Betty. I’m newly amazed by her bravery, coming out in the paper of note.
(Thanks to Eddie Izzard for opening the door.)
Please Donate
Betty & I are planning to do some great events this February and March, but I can’t afford to order my own books to sell! If you can donate, to help us do our outreach work, please do.
Thanks,
Helen
Upcoming Events
Betty and I will be doing a few interesting events this coming February and March that I’d love for people to join us at, and to say hi if they’re attending.
February 18th – 20th we’ll be in Phoenix, AZ, at the Glitz Ball. I’m doing one workshop, participating in another, and will also be the Banquet Speaker.
On Tuesday, February 22nd, I’ll be moderating a forum of crossdressers for Yale’s Trans-Week. It’ll be called “Part-Time Ladies.” The Yale Daily News did a nice piece about my presentation last year.
On the weekend following Trans-Week, February 25th – 27th, I’ll be presenting a workshop on trans-sexuality at the all-kink inclusive Dark Odyssey. Betty & I had a great time at this event last fall, and are excited about going again. This year, with the privacy afforded by hotel rooms, I’m hoping to see a lot more trans-couples attending. The remarkable Kate Bornstein will also be attending, and it will be wonderful to see her again.
The very next weekend, we’ll be going up to Burlington and the University of Vermont. David Houston, an anthropology professor, has asked me to speak to his class; they’re reading My Husband Betty as part of their “kinship and identity” coursework.
While I’m in Burlington, I’ll also be participating in the Translating Identity Conference on March 5th. I’ll be doing a workshop on trans sexuality, as well as teaming up with FTM partner Jill Barkley for a caucus on partners’ rights. I’m very much looking forward to meeting Leslie Feinberg, whose Stone Butch Blues is a seminal work (and which I recently recommended as part of my reading suggestions for Book Television in Canada).
MHB Goes to College!
Since the fall, I’ve discovered that MHB is being taught in a few college classes:
At the University of Vermont, it’s being taught as part of an Anthropology class, for the section of the class about “Kinship and Identity.”
At Columbia, it will be taught this semester as part of a “Feminist Texts 2” class.
At USC, Dr. Richard Docter is teaching it in his course on Transgender Issues.
If you hear of any others, I’d love to know!
Board Betty
As some of you may know, Betty was being considered for membership on the board of a nation trans organization.
Tonight, we met with NCTE Director Mara Keisling who confirmed that Betty will indeed be one of the NCTE’s Board Members. NCTE (National Center for Transgender Equality) “is a social justice organization dedicated to advancing the equality of transgender people through advocacy, collaboration and empowerment.” So says their website. We’ve met with Mara Keisling a few times and have been continually impressed by her dedication, political savvy, and her wit.
Please do go check out their website, read more about them, and if you can – make a donation! (Tell them Helen & Betty sent you, too!)
Last Performance
I wanted to take a moment to thank all of your who came to see Betty in The Trial – especially before that stunning New York Times review came out, which said:
This noir reading is at its most effective in a comically creepy scene when Joseph K. visits the garret of the court portraitist, Titorelli, played by a throaty, androgynous Jason C_____.
Androgynous, indeed. It turned out to be a very successful show, and a perfect start for a new theatre.
Thanks again to all who came, and we’ll let you know the next time Betty is onstage!
The Boards are Back Up
The Boards are back up, for your pleasure.
I have no idea what happened, but the good folks at our hosting company fixed it overnight.
Now, onto 20,000 posts!
Message Boards Down
For unknown reasons, the MHB Message Boards are currently down. Betty is onstage, but our hosting company is aware of the problem.
This has happened before, and usually takes a few hours to straighten out. As far as I know, they went down sometime between 5:30 and 7:30 PM est.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
Helen Boyd
Partner Research
Hello all!
I could use your help.
I’ve posted a questionnaire for partners/SOs/SOFFAs of transpeople in order to help aid and direct my research for two upcoming essays and possibly/probably for the next book.
I’ve posted it in the MHB Message Boards and would love for people to post it on other message boards, Yahoo! groups, and listservs.
Thanks to all!
Helen Boyd