‘The other kind of coming out’
Transgender people and the coming out narrative genre
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/genl.v3i1.53Keywords:
transgender, gay and lesbian, coming out, narrative, identity, ideologyAbstract
This article demonstrates the importance of considering transgender speakers apart from gays, lesbians, and bisexuals, even where there is significant overlap in the linguistic practices of these groups. Through an analysis of transgender coming out narratives, it is shown that previous accounts of this genre, which have focused on gays and lesbians, do not extend to the entire LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community. Coming out as transgender differs from coming out as gay or lesbian primarily in that there are two distinct ways a person can come out as transgender: before and after a change in gender role. The dissimilarity of coming out before such a transition and afterwards presents a challenge to previous characterizations both of coming out and the narratives that result from this practice. Ultimately, the coming out narrative genre reveals itself as a venue for making sense of stigmatized identities in community-specific ways.
References
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Borba, Rodrigo and Ostermann, Ana Cristina (2007) Do bodies matter? Travestis’ embodiment of (trans)gender identity through the manipulation of the Brazilian Portuguese grammatical gender system. Gender and Language 1: 131–147.
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Chirrey, Deborah A. (2003) ‘I hereby come out’: what sort of speech act is coming out? Journal of Sociolinguistics 7: 24–37.
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Gaudio, Rudolf P. (2009) Allah Made Us: Sexual Outlaws in an Islamic African City. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
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Kulick, Don (1998) Travesti: Sex, Gender, and Culture among Brazilian Transgendered Prostitutes. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Kulick, Don (1999) Transgender and language: a review of the literature and suggestions for the future. GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies 5: 605–622.
Labov, William (1972) The transformation of experience in narrative syntax. In Language in the Inner City 352–396. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Liang, A. C. (1994) ‘Coming out’ as transition and transcendence of the pubic/private dichotomy. In Mary Bucholtz, A. C. Liang, Laurel A. Sutton and Caitlin Hines (eds) Cultural Performances: Proceedings of the Third Berkeley Women and Language Conference 409–420. Berkeley: Berkeley Women and Language Group.
80 Gender and Language
Liang, A. C. (1997) The creation of coherence in coming-out stories. In Anna Livia and Kira Hall (eds) Queerly Phrased: Language, Gender, and Sexuality 287–309. New York: Oxford University Press.
Markowe, Laura A. (1996) Redefining the Self: Coming Out as Lesbian. London: Polity.
de Monteflores, Carmen and Schultz, Stephen J. (1978) Coming out: similarities and differences for lesbians and gay men. Journal of Social Issues 34: 59–72.
Morrow, Deana F. (2006) Coming out as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender. In Deana F. Morrow and Lori Messinger (eds) Sexual Orientation and Gender Expression in Social Work Practice: Working with Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender People 129–149. New York: Columbia University Press.
Munt, Sally R., Bassett, Elizabeth H. and O’Riordan, Kate (2002) Virtually belonging: risk, connectivity, and coming out on-line. International Journal of Sexuality and Gender Studies 7: 125–137.
Pugh, William White Tison (1998) ‘It’s just my job to be ‘out’’: tenure stories of lesbian, gay, and bisexual academics. Journal of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Identity 3: 93–112.
Rasmussen, Mary Lou (2004) The problem of coming out. Theory Into Practice 43: 144–150.
Schiffrin, Deborah (1993) ‘Speaking for another’ in sociolinguistic interviews: alignments, identities, and frames. In Deborah Tannen (ed.) Framing in Discourse 231–263. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sedgwick, Eve Kosofsky (1990) The Epistemology of the Closet. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Seidman, Steven, Meeks, Chet and Traschen, Francie (1999) Beyond the closet? The changing social meaning of homosexuality in the Untied States. Sexualities 2: 9–34.
Whitman, Joy S., Cormier, Sherry and Boyd, Cynthia J. (2000) Lesbian identity management at various stages in the coming out process: a qualitative study. International Journal of Sexuality and Gender Studies 5: 3–18.
Wood, Kathleen M. (1994) Life stories as artifacts of a culture: lesbian coming-out stories. In Mary Bucholtz, A. C. Liang, Laurel A. Sutton and Caitlin Hines (eds) Cultural Performances: Proceedings of the Third Berkeley Women and Language Conference 777–786. Berkeley: Berkeley Women and Language Group.
Wood, Kathleen M. (1997) Narrative iconicity in electronic-mail, lesbian coming-out stories. In Anna Livia and Kira Hall (eds) Queerly Phrased: Language, Gender, and Sexuality 257–273. New York: Oxford University Press.
Wood, Kathleen M. (1999) Coherent identities amid heterosexist ideologies: deaf and lesbian coming-out stories. In Mary Bucholtz, A. C. Liang and Laurel A. Sutton (eds) Reinventing Identities: The Gendered Self in Discourse 46–63. New York: Oxford University Press.
Bauman, Richard and Briggs, Charles L. (1990) Poetics and performance as critical perspectives on language and social life. Annual Review of Anthropology 19: 59–88.
Besnier, Niko (2003) Crossing genders, mixing languages: the linguistic construction of transgenderism in Tonga. In Janet Holmes and Miriam Meyerhoff (eds) Handbook of Language and Gender 279–301. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Bing, Janet M. and Bergvall, Victoria L. (1996) The question of questions: beyond binary thinking. In Victoria L. Bergvall, Janet M. Bing and Alice F. Freed (eds) Rethinking Language and Gender Research: Theory and Practice 1–30. London: Longman.
Borba, Rodrigo and Ostermann, Ana Cristina (2007) Do bodies matter? Travestis’ embodiment of (trans)gender identity through the manipulation of the Brazilian Portuguese grammatical gender system. Gender and Language 1: 131–147.
Briggs, Charles L. (1986) Learning How to Ask: A Sociolinguistic Appraisal of the Role of Interview in Social Science Research. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Briggs, Charles L. and Bauman, Richard (1992) Genre, intertextuality, and social power. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 2: 131–172.
Cameron, Deborah and Kulick, Don (2003) Language and Sexuality. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Chirrey, Deborah A. (2003) ‘I hereby come out’: what sort of speech act is coming out? Journal of Sociolinguistics 7: 24–37.
Coon, David W. (2003) Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Issues and Family Caregiving. San Francisco: Family Caregiver Alliance.
Corrigan, Patrick W. and Matthews, Alicia K. (2003) Stigma and disclosure: implications for coming out of the closet. Journal of Mental Health 12: 235–248.
Cromwell, Jason (1999) Transmen and FTMs: Identities, Bodies, Genders, and Sexualities. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
Fields, Jessica (2001) Normal queers: straight parents respond to their children’s ‘coming out’. Symbolic Interaction 24: 165–187.
Gaudio, Rudolf P. (2009) Allah Made Us: Sexual Outlaws in an Islamic African City. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Hall, Kira (1997) ‘Go suck your husband’s sugarcane!’ hijras and the use of sexual insult. In Anna Livia and Kira Hall (eds) Queerly Phrased: Language, Gender, and Sexuality 430–460. New York: Oxford University Press.
Human Rights Campaign (2009a) Glossary of terms. Retrieved on 1 February 2009 from http://www.hrc.org/issues/3336.htm
Human Rights Campaign (2009b) Coming out as transgender: a lifelong journey. Retrieved on 1 February 2009 from http://www.hrc.org/issues/transgender/3438.htm
Hunter, Ski (2007) Coming Out and Disclosures: LGBT Persons Across the Lifespan. Binghamton, NY: Haworth Press.
Kulick, Don (1998) Travesti: Sex, Gender, and Culture among Brazilian Transgendered Prostitutes. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Kulick, Don (1999) Transgender and language: a review of the literature and suggestions for the future. GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies 5: 605–622.
Labov, William (1972) The transformation of experience in narrative syntax. In Language in the Inner City 352–396. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Liang, A. C. (1994) ‘Coming out’ as transition and transcendence of the pubic/private dichotomy. In Mary Bucholtz, A. C. Liang, Laurel A. Sutton and Caitlin Hines (eds) Cultural Performances: Proceedings of the Third Berkeley Women and Language Conference 409–420. Berkeley: Berkeley Women and Language Group.
80 Gender and Language
Liang, A. C. (1997) The creation of coherence in coming-out stories. In Anna Livia and Kira Hall (eds) Queerly Phrased: Language, Gender, and Sexuality 287–309. New York: Oxford University Press.
Markowe, Laura A. (1996) Redefining the Self: Coming Out as Lesbian. London: Polity.
de Monteflores, Carmen and Schultz, Stephen J. (1978) Coming out: similarities and differences for lesbians and gay men. Journal of Social Issues 34: 59–72.
Morrow, Deana F. (2006) Coming out as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender. In Deana F. Morrow and Lori Messinger (eds) Sexual Orientation and Gender Expression in Social Work Practice: Working with Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender People 129–149. New York: Columbia University Press.
Munt, Sally R., Bassett, Elizabeth H. and O’Riordan, Kate (2002) Virtually belonging: risk, connectivity, and coming out on-line. International Journal of Sexuality and Gender Studies 7: 125–137.
Pugh, William White Tison (1998) ‘It’s just my job to be ‘out’’: tenure stories of lesbian, gay, and bisexual academics. Journal of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Identity 3: 93–112.
Rasmussen, Mary Lou (2004) The problem of coming out. Theory Into Practice 43: 144–150.
Schiffrin, Deborah (1993) ‘Speaking for another’ in sociolinguistic interviews: alignments, identities, and frames. In Deborah Tannen (ed.) Framing in Discourse 231–263. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sedgwick, Eve Kosofsky (1990) The Epistemology of the Closet. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Seidman, Steven, Meeks, Chet and Traschen, Francie (1999) Beyond the closet? The changing social meaning of homosexuality in the Untied States. Sexualities 2: 9–34.
Whitman, Joy S., Cormier, Sherry and Boyd, Cynthia J. (2000) Lesbian identity management at various stages in the coming out process: a qualitative study. International Journal of Sexuality and Gender Studies 5: 3–18.
Wood, Kathleen M. (1994) Life stories as artifacts of a culture: lesbian coming-out stories. In Mary Bucholtz, A. C. Liang, Laurel A. Sutton and Caitlin Hines (eds) Cultural Performances: Proceedings of the Third Berkeley Women and Language Conference 777–786. Berkeley: Berkeley Women and Language Group.
Wood, Kathleen M. (1997) Narrative iconicity in electronic-mail, lesbian coming-out stories. In Anna Livia and Kira Hall (eds) Queerly Phrased: Language, Gender, and Sexuality 257–273. New York: Oxford University Press.
Wood, Kathleen M. (1999) Coherent identities amid heterosexist ideologies: deaf and lesbian coming-out stories. In Mary Bucholtz, A. C. Liang and Laurel A. Sutton (eds) Reinventing Identities: The Gendered Self in Discourse 46–63. New York: Oxford University Press.
Published
2009-08-28
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Zimman, L. (2009). ‘The other kind of coming out’: Transgender people and the coming out narrative genre. Gender and Language, 3(1), 53-80. https://doi.org/10.1558/genl.v3i1.53
