The Other Miss America Gender Blender

Posted on 01. Aug, 2008 by Administrator in Lifestyle

words by Lewis Haidt, photos by Robert Todd Williamson

Beauty pageants and television go together about as well as vanilla ice cream, hot fudge sauce, whip cream with nuts and a cherry on top. For a twist, throw in the most beautiful transgender women alive, the creative forces behind the ground-breaking, Emmy-winning HBO’s documentary series, Taxicab Confessions and the Internet’s digital freedom, openness and possibility, then you will have a taste of the new online series, Gender Blender. Created by Joe and Harry Gantz, directors and producers of Taxicab Confessions, The Sundance Channel’s Pleasure For Sale and Showtime’s Sexual Healing, Gender Blender premiered in June on CrushedPlanet.com, which according to Joe Gantz aspires to have “the most provocative, authentic, innovative content of any Network.”

Gender Blender follows a group of transgender women competing in the Queen of the Universe and Queen USA beauty pageants. Overseen by The Imperial Court of Los Angeles and Hollywood, these pageants represent a glorious, overlooked piece of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Queer, and the now incorporated Transgender (GLBQT) history. As the Queen USA program guide declares, “Before Stonewall in New York, before Harvey Milk in San Francisco, before almost every Gay and Lesbian organization and activist, there was José Arria (Empress José I, The Widow Norton). In 1961, José Sarria became the first openly gay man to run for public office in history. In 1965, he became Empress I of San Francisco and founded the International Imperial Court system.” Having spread to over 65 chapters around the world, The Imperial Court of Los Angeles and Hollywood, now run by President Karina Samala (1991 Queen of the Universe) occupies a unique position in the GLBQT community.

It is not surprising then that Ms. Samala, Producer of Queen of the Universe since 1999, has been wined and dined by Hollywood television producers from the beginning. Yet it was only when Joe and Harry Gantz came calling that Ms. Samala opened her doors to producers. Based on the successful twelve year run of Taxicab Confessions, the Gantz brothers had demonstrated a powerful documentary voice, one that captured the beauty, style, and rawness of life-in-progress in a way never seen before.

Over the course of filming hundreds of hours, three beauty pageant participants, Asia, Kendy, and Nikky emerge as the major characters in the series. Each of the women were born in the Philippines and traveled not only across continents, but traversed the socially defined borders of what is considered male and female. “I miss the innocence, the not knowing what this whole transgender thing is about. Life seemed so simple when you’re not aware of discrimination, transphobia, and the socially distinguished line between maleness and femaleness,” Asia reminisced. “I’m glad though that I was able to survive the rough days especially in high school when boys would harass me in the hallway for looking different, androgynous, effeminate, queer, whatever you want to call it. I was jumped, hit, had bottles thrown at me, and was called many hurtful names just because I existed. I know they had their own problems and needed to take out aggression on someone weaker than them, but I persevered through faith in God who is in control and greater than everything.”

All three of these women live regular lives, yet society has made their transition a struggle. ”I’ve been living a normal life. The transitional stage was really a big stage, but after becoming full-time, my life has become close to a normal life, although trying to fit into society is still a struggle,” Kendy shared. ”I am aware I am different as a woman, and just live life as a normal woman.” Contrast this sentiment to The New York Times‘ recent Sunday Style Thomas Beattie cover story, “He’s Pregnant, You’re Speechless.” Beattie, a transgender, fully-transitioned man, became a sensational, tabloid object of attention. American society does not know how to handle its genitals, particularly when a woman and man’s identity does not fit into neat, square boxes. Transgender men and women are not waiting for society to catch up. At the end of a moving phone interview, Nikky voiced her desire to become a mom and have a child with her boyfriend just like any couple that has infertility issues. Gender Blender dives beneath the shallow, superficial, and often sensational focus on the sexual organs of transgendered people and looks at the real personalities underneath.

We live in a time when a troubled boy in Ventura murders a fellow student who acts “gay” and when a transgender boy in the East Bay is brutally beaten to death after having sex with his school-mates, who later discover his true gender. We also live in a time when the Internet connects us to the most depressing, curious, wonderful and strange news from around the world. We have grown accustomed to getting our digital content for free, to feeling falsely connected over corporate “social networks” or being satiated with our latest Apple appendage.

CrushedPlanet.com and Gender Blender represent a different model: one that asks its audience to show commitment, to become fans not to the coolest, hippest branded appliance, but to provocative, raw, and engaging story-telling. For those who want a truly “rich” culture, who want to imagine a real, vibrant community of men and women living their lives without shame, who are turning society’s discrimination on its head and in the tradition of centuries’ old tricksters, celebrating on the grave of those who wished to restrict and box in their lives, tune in to CrushedPlanet.com and start watching the amazing women of Gender Blender.

Lewis Haidt, Digital Strategist/Founder, Blue Mandarin. He can be found online @ http://bluemandarin.blogspot.com/

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