'TrAnnie' raises ire of trans people
Author // Serkan Ozturk
http://gaynewsnetwork.com.au/news/northern-territory/8952-trannie-raises-ire-of-trans-community.html (http://gaynewsnetwork.com.au/news/northern-territory/8952-trannie-raises-ire-of-trans-community.html)
Cabaret performer Trevor Ashley and the Sydney Opera House have apologised but say their new show trAnnie will still go on despite some members of the transgender community voicing concerns the panto perpetuates negative stereotypes.
A parody of the recent smash musical production Annie, the show written by Phil Scott and Ashley is to have its premiere season at the Opera House from December 5-23.
It follows the "hard knock life" of ten year old orphan Fannie who is desperate to have "long-overdue" gender reassignment surgery but must first escape the Sutherland Shire Children's Orphanage and the clutches of boozy matron and registered sex offender Miss Trannigan.
Members of the trans community though are said to be not amused with either the show's title or its plot, with many late last week taking to social media sites to air their upset with the show's producers.
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Drag show slammed: 'It's notOK to say ->-bleeped-<-'
Matt Akersten
http://www.samesame.com.au/features/8949/Drag-show-slammed-Its-not-OK-to-say-->-bleeped-<-.htm (http://www.samesame.com.au/features/8949/Drag-show-slammed-Its-not-OK-to-say--%3E-bleeped-%3C-.htm)
A new comedy set for Sydney Opera House is under fire from transpeople who view the word "->-bleeped-<-" as just as offensive as "->-bleeped-<-got" or the n-word.
Starring popular drag queen singer Trevor Ashley, trAnnie will be an adults-only take on the adventures of ginger kid Annie. In the show, set to take to the stage this December, a ginger-haired orphan boy seeks gender reassignment surgery.
But its title is an increasingly controversial derogatory term used to describe transgender people – and several have contacted Same Same with concerns about the dehumanising and hurtful way the word "->-bleeped-<-" is used to describe them.
Many feel that it is not OK for anyone who isn't a transgender woman to use the word, and they're also concerned about the gender reassignment plot of the show – trivialising the deeply personal journeys of real-life transpeople.
Sydney Opera House 'TrAnnie' panto outrages trans Australians
Drag artist Trevor Ashley's pantomime for Christmas 2012 lampooning the musical Annie has been attacked as transphobic and sexist
09 October 2012 | By Jane Fae
http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/sydney-opera-house-%E2%80%98trannie%E2%80%99-panto-outrages-trans-australians091012 (http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/sydney-opera-house-%E2%80%98trannie%E2%80%99-panto-outrages-trans-australians091012)
Transgender activists in Australia have criticized Sydney Opera House for a pantomime called 'trAnnie' which they say is transphobic and sexist.
[...]
Sydney Opera House have responded with an apology, but add that the work shows the transgender character 'in a positive light' and 'hopes to encourage more understanding of the transgender community'.
Ashley adds: 'Although I appreciate that the word may brush some transgendered people up the wrong way, the intent is not to harm, but take the sting out of what I'm sure could be a painful word for some.
'Being a part of the GLBTQI community for many years, we are people who can reclaim words that have been used in harmful ways towards us in the past.'