"I was one of those very classic literature trans people"

December 20, 2018 1:50 PM

Eventually, when I did find an organization that might help, it was the Transsexual Counseling Unit, which was a part of the police department in San Francisco. A woman there tried very, very hard to discourage me from transitioning by walking me around the Tenderloin [neighborhood of San Francisco] and showing me every possible horrible thing about [being] transgender that she possibly could. I took it differently. It didn’t discourage me, it just made me angry that the transgender people I saw were being neglected and abused in the ways that they were.

Zackary Drucker interviews Sandy Stone, pioneer in transgender studies and in the seventies, sound engineer for Olivia Records.

The interview is part of Broadly's Trans Legends oral history project, so far featuring the following articles:

• Ceyenne Doroshow on Going from Homeless Trans Youth to Holistic Caregiver
• Felicia Elizondo's Wild Memories of Trans Life in 60s San Francisco
• Legendary Showgirl Tiffany Arieagus Wants Trans Youth to Get More Political
• After Years of Fighting for Trans Kids, Lawyer Mia Yamamoto Came Out Herself
• LA's 'Mother' Karina Samala on Years of Transgender Advocacy
• Trans Performer Chilli Pepper: What I Learned from Decades of Entertaining
• Transgender Activist Judy Bowen Recalls the Stonewall Riots
• R&B Legend Jackie Shane On Growing Up Trans in the South
• Trans Icon Miss Major: 'We've Got to Reclaim Who the Fuck We Are'
• Victoria Cruz on Life as a Trans Sex Worker in 70s New York
• Sabel Samone-Loreca on Living as a Black, HIV-Positive Transgender American
• 13 Legendary Transgender Pioneers on Survival, Resilience, and Joy

posted by MartinWisse (8 comments total)

HOLY CRAP YES
posted by nikaspark at 2:07 PM on December 20, 2018

Gosh, this series is so good.

I didn't know Sandy Stone had worked with Karen Dalton, that's wild!
posted by ITheCosmos at 2:52 PM on December 20, 2018

I didn't know that she studied with Donna Haraway! Neato!
posted by Frowner at 2:57 PM on December 20, 2018 [2 favorites]

I didn't know Sandy Stone had worked with Karen Dalton, that's wild!

I WAS JUST COMING IN HERE TO SAY THAT, like, what a haunting combination.
posted by nebulawindphone at 3:35 PM on December 20, 2018 [1 favorite]

Wow that's great. Just start up an electronics repair store, as one does.
posted by fleacircus at 3:56 PM on December 20, 2018

> I didn't know Sandy Stone had worked with Karen Dalton, that's wild!
>I WAS JUST COMING IN HERE TO SAY THAT, like, what a haunting combination.

I love that she was like "Karen Dalton and people like that who you probably haven't heard of" and that I'm also chiming in to say KAREN DALTON!
posted by desuetude at 8:32 AM on December 21, 2018 [2 favorites]

Thank you so, so much for posting these. I had no idea this series existed, and I'm so glad to know about these folks. I listened to the reissue of Jackie Shane's R&B recordings earlier this year, and I felt a lot like Zachary Drucker does in the introduction to Shane's interview:

where else did we exist in plain sight throughout history?
posted by elsilnora at 7:21 PM on December 22, 2018 [1 favorite]

I had no idea this series existed, and now I'm going to be making time to read the whole thing and keeping an eye out for future installments. Thanks so much for posting this, it means so much!
posted by bile and syntax at 6:24 AM on December 26, 2018