Genny Beemyn
| Pronouns | they/them[1][2] |
|---|---|
| Gender identity | genderqueer[1] |
| Occupation | Historian, writer, advocate |
| Known for | A Queer Capital: A History of Gay Life in Washington, D.C. |
Genny Beemyn, Ph.D. is a historian, writer, and LGBTQ advocate. They are the director of Stonewall Center at the University of Massachusetts and co-chair of International Pronouns Day.[3] Their books include A Queer Capital: A History of Gay Life in Washington, D.C. (Routledge, 2014) and, with Sue Rankin, The Lives of Transgender People (Columbia University Press, 2011).[4]
In 2019, Beemyn contributed to the collection Nonbinary: Memoirs of Gender and Identity.
Beemyn began openly identifying as transgender in the late 1990s.[5] They realized they identified as neither male nor female after reading Leslie Feinberg's Stone Butch Blues.[6] Around 2001, Beemyn requested that some colleagues, friends, and queer community members use ze/hir for them, but found continually correcting slip-ups and explaining the unfamiliar pronoun set exhausting. In 2006, Beemyn moved to a new position at UMass Amherst, and started going by they/them, hoping others would find it easier than using neopronouns.[6]
In 2015 Beemyn was given a Research and Assessment Award from the Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals.[7] In 2019, they were given the Lou Sullivan Torch Award for their work in scholarship and advocacy for transgender inclusion on college campuses.[3]
Quotes[edit | edit source]
| « | Being seen as a nonbinary trans person is very important to me, as both a personal
reflection of my identity and a political challenge to the dominant gender system. But I struggle at times with how to be recognizable and thus recognized as trans, when being transgender is often equated with being a binary trans person who has or is transitioning. Moreover, to the extent that nonbinary trans people are perceived by the larger society, it is because our gender “stands out”—i.e., because we are not readily able to be placed within a gender binary or our appearance sends “mixed gender signals.” The result is that only individuals who present androgynously or whose gender expression clearly violates societal expectations get to be nonbinary. For me, this means that my gender identity is often invisible, especially as I age and look more male because of the long-term effects of testosterone. I am left wondering how to enact my gender in the absence of visible signs of gender nonconformity, as well as the absence of cultural images of older nonbinary people. Society may never “get” me in my lifetime, but I can only be myself. |
» |
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Rupp, Leila (June 2019). "Podcast Transcript: The Experiences of Trans People (pdf)" (PDF). tolerance.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 July 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
- ↑ http://www.umass.edu/stonewall/about-us/staff Archived on 17 July 2023
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Pietrewicz, Ana (23 October 2019). "Stonewall Center Director Genny Beemyn receives first Lou Sullivan Torch Award". Massachusetts Daily Collegian. Archived from the original on 17 July 2023. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ↑ "Interview with Genny Beemyn- Author of "The Lives of Transgender People"". The Critical Lede. August 26, 2012. Archived from the original on 17 July 2023. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
- ↑ "Trans Youth: Introduction". Journal of Gay & Lesbian Issues in Education. 3 (1): 3–5. 2005. doi:10.1300/J367v03n01_02. Archived from the original on 21 July 2023. Retrieved 2 May 2020.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Beemyn, Genny. “Being Genderqueer Before It Was a Thing.” Nonbinary: Memoirs of Gender and Identity, edited by Micah Rajunov and Scott Duane, Columbia University Press, New York; Chichester, West Sussex, 2019, pp. 41–47. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.7312/raju18532.11. Accessed 5 Dec. 2020.
- ↑ Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals. "Genny Beemyn – Research and Assessment Award" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 July 2023.
