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About Gwendolyn Ann Smith

Gwen Smith will not cede an inch. You’ll find her at www.gwensmith.com.

Bravery

By |2021-03-23T10:54:50-04:00March 23rd, 2021|Opinions, Viewpoints|

There comes a time when a non-binary or transgender person comes out when a friend of theirs will cast them as being inherently brave or courageous for doing so. I know I heard it plenty [...]

Water in the Desert

By |2020-07-08T11:03:13-04:00July 8th, 2020|Opinions, Viewpoints|

Netflix has recently released "Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen," a documentary created by Sam Feder, Amy Scholder and Laverne Cox. In it, a cast of transgender and nonbinary people examine the history of trans images [...]

The Trans Body

By |2019-12-11T14:29:06-05:00December 11th, 2019|Opinions, Viewpoints|

Transphobia, like homophobia, isn't generally using the suffix "-phobia" to mean "fear," but to mean "aversion." It's the same notion as hydrophobic surfaces refer to their ability to repel water. That said, I feel there [...]

One Day After

By |2019-11-20T15:15:20-05:00November 20th, 2019|Opinions, Viewpoints|

On Nov. 20, transgender and non-binary people — and our allies — across the world come together to honor those murdered due to anti-trans violence. This year marks the 20th since a group of people [...]

Revealing, But Not What You Think

By |2019-11-06T16:05:38-05:00November 6th, 2019|Opinions, Viewpoints|

In 2008, a woman named Jenna Karvunidis sliced open a cake, revealing pink frosting within the layers. With her, the "gender reveal party" entered the popular lexicon. A decade or so later, the gender reveal has gone a long way from those humble beginnings becoming something far different from that cake.

She/Her/Hers

By |2019-10-30T16:12:12-04:00October 30th, 2019|Uncategorized|

"Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.)" - Walt Whitman "Song of Myself." I find myself grappling with an unusual contradiction, and one I find myself [...]

On Being Trans at Halloween

By |2019-10-23T16:08:58-04:00October 23rd, 2019|Opinions, Viewpoints|

Halloween is a time of magic and mystery. Traditionally, it once served as the end of the year, where autumn — and the abundance of the harvest — gave way to the dark and dim days of winter. In that liminal space between the seasons, one could get a moment to pierce the veil between other states, even between life and death itself.

The Time for Trans Pitches is Now

By |2019-10-02T15:13:35-04:00October 2nd, 2019|Opinions, Viewpoints|

Every week, in my email, I receive dozens of story pitches. Some are quite good, connecting me with engaging people and interesting stories that I might otherwise have missed. Most, however, are pretty useless to me in the overall scheme of things. A lot only tangentially veer into any topic I write about, or are blatant product pitches or just an overall bad fit.

Rapid Onset

By |2019-09-18T15:03:54-04:00September 18th, 2019|Opinions, Viewpoints|

I have always been intrigued by history. I love to look at how things came together over time, and how advances in knowledge, technology and society — for both good and ill — helped to [...]

A Battle Won, but the War Rages On

By |2019-08-21T13:23:58-04:00August 21st, 2019|Opinions, Viewpoints|

Gavin Grimm, at long last, has won his case. When Grimm was a sophomore at Gloucester County High School in Virginia, he came out as a transgender boy. As soon as he opted to use the boys' restroom, the Gloucester County School Board decided to require that all changing rooms and bathrooms, "shall be limited to the corresponding biological genders, and students with gender identity issues shall be provided an alternative appropriate private facility."

Transmissions: Emerging victorious

By |2019-08-07T15:35:16-04:00August 7th, 2019|Opinions, Viewpoints|

At long last, North Carolina's House Bill 2 is dead. For those few who are reading who may not know the significance, I'll explain: The Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, otherwise known as HB2, was a bill passed in North Carolina in 2016.

As in a Mirror

By |2019-05-01T14:08:21-04:00May 1st, 2019|Opinions, Viewpoints|

So often when people who are not transgender speak of transgender people, there is one important thing that is gotten terribly wrong, and I think it's a core part of understanding exactly what it is to be transgender.

Being Seen

By |2019-04-10T16:58:53-04:00April 10th, 2019|Opinions, Viewpoints|

I grew up in a Southern California suburb in the 1970s, a short distance from the smog-filled skies of Los Angeles. Right around the time of Fleetwood Mac's Rumors album, mood rings and bell bottoms, there was a veneer of patriotism brought forth thanks to the bicentennial.

Ducking Transgender Athletes

By |2019-03-13T13:43:26-04:00March 13th, 2019|Opinions, Viewpoints|

Centuries ago, during the witch trials of the medieval era, a unique way of determining who was or wasn't a witch was created. A woman suspected of being a witch would have her right thumb bound to the big toe on her left foot. She would then have a rope tied around her waist, and be thrown into a nearby pond or river.

Transmissions: We Are One for the Ages

By |2019-01-09T13:25:29-05:00January 9th, 2019|Uncategorized|

It amazes me how so many seem to view the notion of "transgender people" as if it was something that magically winked into existence just five years ago. It feels as if so many think the moment they first heard of transgender people is the moment transgender people came to existence, rather than it merely being the moment they stopped living in ignorance about the existence of transgender identity.

A Holiday Wish

By |2018-12-19T12:48:11-05:00December 19th, 2018|Opinions, Viewpoints|

So, once again, we reach the closing of the year. For many of us, this is a time of trees festooned with tinsel and glass baubles, or nights filled with candlelight or a myriad of holiday traditions. It's a time of gingerbread and gelt, kinara or hanukkiyah, and all sorts of things we hold dear.

A Beacon of Hope

By |2018-09-26T14:12:40-04:00September 26th, 2018|Opinions, Viewpoints|

Recent reports say that 0.7 percent of teens identify as transgender. At the same time, a recent study from the American Academy of Pediatrics reports that 50.8 percent of trans masculine people attempt suicide, with [...]

Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Our Story?

By |2018-09-19T12:20:15-04:00September 19th, 2018|Opinions, Viewpoints|

To me, it becomes an issue of accuracy versus truth. It may indeed be accurate, for example, to include the name I was born under, answered to and used on legal documents until I was in my early 20s — but this isn't exactly my truth. That surely isn't me, and isn't my identity now. It's not the person who pens these words, or has been under this name and gender for the more than half of this life.

Their Past, Our Present

By |2018-08-08T14:19:20-04:00August 8th, 2018|Opinions, Viewpoints|

I look at that photo from 1921, at those proud, resolute transgender people from nearly 100 years ago. How many of them were able to escape what was happening around them, or were they forced into hiding? We're any of them amongst those beaten when the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft was destroyed? Dare I even ponder if these folks enjoying a nice day in the sun would, just a few years later, be forced to wear the pink triangle and live out their remaining days in a concentration camp?

Pride is More Than Performance

By |2018-06-27T15:58:31-04:00June 27th, 2018|Opinions, Viewpoints|

It's pride month, and this means a whole lot of people will take or have taken to the streets across the world, festooned in their best rainbow gear. We'll march, party and do all those things we'll do at pride. It will be crazy and chaotic, and we will be the big messy community we are, in all our glory.

Transmissions: Secrets and Truths

By |2018-05-09T12:41:48-04:00May 2nd, 2018|Opinions, Viewpoints|

Trans people - and I am using the term in its broadest sense, inclusive of gender fluidity and nonbinary identities - tend to have a pretty short list of wants. Really, I can boil it down to one simple statement: we just want to live our lives.

Striking gold

By |2018-04-04T13:55:05-04:00April 4th, 2018|Opinions, Viewpoints|

To be transgender in 2018 is to deal with challenging, difficult times. We face attacks from all sides, and the specter of death itself lays heavy upon our community. As a result, I find I often have to spend a lot of time ringing the alarm bells, and warning of dire times.

Rollback

By |2018-03-28T12:57:28-04:00March 28th, 2018|Opinions, Viewpoints|

The Trump Administration has once again attempted to ban transgender people from serving in the U.S. military. This time out, the ban was secretly drafted by Vice President Mike Pence, with assistance from Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council (FRC) and Ryan T. Anderson of the Heritage Foundation.

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