The past and the future
Transmissions
Published 09/09/2010
by Gwendolyn Ann Smith
http://www.ebar.com/columns/column.php?sec=transmissions&article=145My 25th high school reunion is coming up next month.
It was the mid-1980s, the era of Miami Vice and Culture Club, a neon-colored haze of shoulder pads, thin ties, and Nagel prints. Reagan was president and LGBT issues were revolved around one issue: AIDS. The transgender community at the time was largely closeted, and transgender issues were all-but-unvoiced. This was not the era of pioneers like Christine Jorgensen, but that of "Bond Girl" Caroline Cossey, a transgender woman outed by the press and since faded back into obscurity.
There was gender transgression, don't get me wrong. As well as Boy George, you had Pete Burns of the band Dead or Alive and Annie Lennox of the Eurythmics pushing boundaries. New Romantics and Hair Metal both pushed the boundaries on how much makeup, hairspray, and Spandex was acceptable for males.
