The Darrah Update
You can read Darrah de jour’s December Femme in the City column here.
Also, Darrah was recently featured in Blade Newsmagazine:
MSJCPAGE interviewed myself and others in the community to talk about the term “tranny chaser.” The result, a well-scribed and informative yarn-spin about gender, appears in December’s Blade Newsmagazine, on stands now!
Blade Newsmagazine is not available online, but here’s a snippet of the article for you:
If a queer femme is attracted to masculine gender outlaws, especially if she acts upon that attraction, she may be called a “tranny chaser.†Even if she is coming from a point of advocacy, she is subject to be included in the “tranny chaser†category, rather than to be seen as a valuable ally. Some girlie girls feel more comfortable with the fluidity in the queer (inclusive of trans and gender-gifted) community, than the lesbian community. They identify as queer femmes, rather than with the “L†word.
If Darrah, a beautiful young femme writer and performer, is called a tranny chaser, her first response is to feel disrespected. “Queer femme is my gender expression and the queer community is mine too! I am not just identified by my partner. I don’t like the ‘why are you here?’ feeling I have experienced at trans’ events. I don’t want to feel under the gun to explain myself.â€
If you’re in the LA area, pick up a copy of Blade Newsmagazine to read the rest!
You can find Maria on MySpace here and read her current call for essays on femme identity here. Pick up Queer Shorts, her new anthology, at MergePress.com.
When the words “tranny chaser” comes to mind, I think of a male. Tranny chaser, to me, has bad connotation because of the fear. Men are more likely to assault me because of their own internal homophobia, than women.
As far as Darrah feeling “under the gun,” I think she should feel that way. Just because one is trans doesn’t mean they are queer. If she attends a trans event, she’s trolling for a certain aesthetic.