Frilly werewolf
Christine Beatty is Not Your Average American Girl
01.25.12 - 2:11 pm | Marke B. |
http://www.sfbg.com/2012/01/25/frilly-werewolfLIT "When you've lived so far like I have," Christine Beatty's wry voice came crackling through the phone as she drove to Las Vegas to play the slots, "you sometimes just have to catch your eye in the rearview mirror and laugh. I've led such a charmed life, really."
Some doe-eyed Wisconsinite may have snagged the Miss America crown last week, but in terms of representing this nation's glorious variousness, that tiara should be tucked neatly into Beatty's glovebox. A transsexual activist, author, and good-time girl, Beatty just published her memoir, Not Your Average American Girl on her newly christened Glamazon Press (available at Modern Times bookstore in the Mission,
www.mtbs.com). In it, she tells her story of growing up and discovering her inner self during a very turbulent time in Northern California, through the stoner 1970s to the economically rocky '80s to our own time, when trans people have gained an unprecedented visibility yet still find themselves the targets of discrimination from both conservative quarters and other LGBTs.
"I started Glamazon Press because I want transwomen to have another outlet for expression that I think is lacking, " Beatty said. "I feel that the Internet has brought us more visibility, but we're still tucked under the wing of the gay movement, and maybe it's time to move out. I don't want to divorce the 'T' from LGBT, it's been very politically beneficial in many ways. But we need to develop our own voice. There are situations unique to us — the surgery costs money, and we're completely vulnerable in the work place from a legal viewpoint, if people employ us at all."
