Sadly, I do have to start this post differently than the other ones.
This project is an inherently political project. This project stems from both love and hatred for the theatre community that built me up since age eight to ultimately reject me for who I was at twenty-three. There was a rejection for who I was in the context of politics.
Donald Trump ran a campaign based on policies to get rid of trans* people in the public eye (banning trans women from sports, stripping our history from school curriculums and libraries across the United States) and getting rid of the care we need starting from denying those under eighteen access to reversible puberty blockers and in those who are old enough to start hormone replacement therapy (or HRT), hormones. About 1.1% of Americans identify as transgender, and another 1.5% did not identify as either male or female, leading to the assumption that these individuals are nonbinary. This is the creation of a trans hysteria.
I do not have the time to doom over the policies of our president-elect– I spent the weekend doing that already. What I do have time for is how to make this into art. The election threw in another chapter into this video essay. I am speaking with friends and former interviewees about the recent election, and that impact on their art. I will be talking to more people about how art from other times of oppression lead to the creation of today’s art.
For now, I will be rewriting bits, choosing a new center to focus on, and going through with that plan.