#everydayexample

Discussion of an Everyday Example.

Post 5: Discussion of Real Example: Sam Brinton

           A way of bringing this research on conversion therapy into everyday life is through the example of Sam Brinton. He is a public speaker and representative for the movement titled #BornPerfect. He travels all over doing workshops which are like a mini course on conversion therapy in which he discusses the history, medicalization, religious affiliation, and his own personal experience receiving these treatments.Sam starts by discussing the history of conversion therapy in regards to it being a medical treatment through examples such as the procedure of transferring testicles of heterosexual men into homosexual men in hopes of changing their sexuality. He also speaks about how after homosexuality was taken out of the DSM we saw a rise in conversion therapy practices being carried out by religious communities. Reasons for this could be the changes in how the APA (American Psychological Association) has questions the ethics of this therapy due to it not being something that follows their guidelines resulting in less participation in these treatments. People that used religion as a reasoning for the necessity of this treatment were no longer protected by medical professionals and therefore carried out this therapy on their own.

           Sam also shares his personal narrative with being forced to participate with conversion therapy when he was a minor. He discussed the mental and physical ways they harmed him. Some being ways of trying to condition his mental state to “cure” his sexual variance. Other ways were more physical like attaching hot wires to his hands or even submerging him in ice cold water until he gave in. These treatments did not work as Sam still identifies within the LGBTQIA community today and is not an advocate for ending these types of therapies. He works to provide resources and support for people who have or are going through these treatments while also fighting to end conversion therapy.

           Attending one of his workshops last year at MBGLTACC (Conference) proved to be one of the most influential and educational workshops I have attended in my college career. To know about these horrific practices is one thing but to see how they translate into real life when somebody right in front of you is telling you their story along with how it impacts your entire life was a powerful narrative to hear. Hearing Sam speak about specific stories and see that it still triggers his physical and emotional reactions even to this day while hearing explanations of how he just interacts with people differently was emotionally exhausting but in a good way. It should have had that impact on the people in that room because he was taking us on a journey with him through traumatic experiences.

Pictured above is Janet Mock’s memoir, Redefining Realness.

5th post—Discussion of a real example

A real example of a transgendered person using art to empower themselves is Janet Mock with her Redefining Realness. In the first few chapters of the book that I read Mock uses the memoir to talk about her childhood. She discusses her relationships with her drug abusing father who didn’t approve of her femininity as a young boy and her brother who sexually abused her at a very young age.

Mock describes how she always knew inside that she was a girl. From the start, she was not like the other boys, and she knew it. Mock uses her personal experiences to empower herself by sharing her story and not being afraid to be who she feels she is. Mock’s book became a New York Times bestseller. Through her fame, Mock has been able to create more visibility for trans people as well as be an advocate for them.

     For the majority of the analysis thus far I have focused on a western or U.S context in relation to the framing of violence against low-income transgender women. However in this example I will examine a transnational occurrence of violence involving the killing of a Filipina transgender woman by a U.S Marine. The Marine Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton was recently found guilty homicide for killing Jennifer Laude. The killing took place in a motel room October 2014. The charge was lowered from murder to homicide, and Pemberton was sentenced to 12 years in jail. The reason for the lowering of this sentence was in light of mitigating circumstances. These circumstances were that Laude and Pemberton after meeting in a bar had agreed to have sex, however upon beginning to engage in sexual activity Pemberton became aware that Laude possessed male genitals.

Gay gene and a real life situation.

I have had a recent conversation with a coworker who defines within the lgbtq community about the gay gene. I asked them if they were aware of the research that has been done with the gay gene, and they were not aware of the term, so I explained what is was. As soon as I finished explaining, they were pretty upset because they thought the theory itself was stupid. They thought it was stupid because they believe that if there was a gay gene, then every generation would have some sort of recessive allele that passes it on to the next generation, and so on; technically making everyone have half a gay gene, and if everyone has some sort of gay gene, then that must mean they can be gay which, to them, makes no sense whatsoever. 

I have been extremely fortunate to find a man like my fiance. Unfortunately at the beginning of our relationship we had some clashes with the way that we lived our lives. I am a bisexual woman who is comfortable wearing a variety of clothing from both sections of the department stores. I am a college student and I have a job. He spent majority of his childhood in Mexico. The family he lived with is really religious and unfortunately doesn’t agree with a lot of things that affect who I am. 

For starters, I am bisexual. Homosexuality is frowned apon a lot. Not only within his family but a lot of the rural areas in Mexico. Mexico in general is very Homophobic. When I told my fiance, love interest at the time, that I was bisexual he seemed really uncomfortable by it. Mostly do to lack of understanding, but he told me how in mexico, where he lived, those types of things weren’t tolerated. Women were for men. He grew out of this believe. Secondly, me being in college with a job. He himself didn’t have a problem before, but his friend did. He would constantly be mocked of because he used to make as much as me. At some point he wanted me to quit my job. He said I wasn’t supposed to work. I explained to him how it didn’t matter. That the income of a man shouldn’t be more than a women. If it was supposed to be like that what was the point of me going to college. He grew out of this believe. The one thing that I really hated was the discomfort he felt when something emotionally hurt him. Around his family he was taught he wasn’t suppose to cry. “Los hombres no lloran”, men don’t cry. I explained to him how it wasn’t about him being a man, but about him being human. He grew out of this believe. 

One of the many problems with Machismo is the lack of space it gives a person to choose how a man should act. It’s like a mold that is premade for a child and with the lessons he learns and what he sees he is able to fit in that mold. In places like mexico, it is easier for ideas like this to become popular. Fortunately, as people learn more about ideas a concepts more, especially in places where this was less possible before, people push away from these ideas. Which is what the author from ‘Hombres y Machos’ was talking about.