Messina

Imagine this scenario: You wake up tomorrow morning and realize your
body has changed overnight. If you were male, you are now female. If
you were female, you are now male.

What would you do?

“While you might be a little fascinated and a little curious, it
would wear off pretty quickly,” says Alison Davison. “You’d probably do
whatever it took to get back to being yourself.”

Davison, the program director for the Southern Arizona Gender
Alliance, speaks from experience. Born male, she began a transition to
become female 11 years ago. Acknowledgement of her gender discomfort
began at age 5.

“I didn’t feel at home in my body,” recalls Davison. “I’d known who
I was since I was pretty young, and I wanted to do something about it,
but I didn’t know what. … One of the things true for me and a lot of
(others) is you spend a lot of years mulling it over.”

Davison eventually began the process of changing gender in the late
1990s, and moved to Tucson in 2001. Now a transsexual woman, Davison
helps others through the process and works to promote greater
understanding of transgender people. She openly welcomes questions. For
example, she explains that transgender is an umbrella term.

“It only tells you a person is not 100 percent comfortable with the
gender they were born with, or presenting in that gender. …
Transsexuals are people who feel so discordant with their bodies that
they feel a need to make a transition—that is, go through medical
procedures—so their bodies are more closely aligned with what
they see to be their core identity.”

Davison emphasizes that being a transsexual has nothing to do with
mental illness.

“We feel driven to get right with ourselves. … It’s not a
lifestyle,” she says. “It’s not something we would choose. Who would
choose this? We’re compelled to do what we’re doing. We know there’s
something that doesn’t match.”

While some media coverage may focus on (or even sensationalize) an
individual’s surgery, hormone treatments or clothing, Davison says
there is a lot of depth missed. “We are nice, interesting people who
have a unique perspective on life that most people don’t have. I think
we are well-worth getting to know.”

Sadly, some transgender people don’t live long enough to tell their
life stories. From November 2008 to November 2009, 99 transgender
individuals have been reported murdered worldwide, with more likely
unreported.

The killings are often brutal. “It’s not like someone is shot. There
are multiple assaults. It’s not unusual to see someone bludgeoned,
shot, stabbed or dismembered,” says Davison.

She provides some examples of those viciously assaulted. Feb. 22,
1996: Logan Smith died from internal injuries after being kicked by the
police. March 4, 2000: Michelle Lynne O’Hara committed suicide after
being beaten and raped.

To honor and mourn those who have died and to raise awareness of
hate crimes against transgender people, the 11th Annual International
Transgender Day of Remembrance takes place Friday, Nov. 20. It comes on
the heels of the October signing of the federal Matthew Shepard and
James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. In Tucson, an outdoor vigil
and procession down Fourth Avenue begins at 5:30 p.m. at Catalina Park,
at First Street and Fourth Avenue.

The event wraps up the fourth annual Tucson Transgender Awareness
Week (Nov. 16-20). Visit www.sagatucson.org for more
details.

Davison says it’s important to recognize that violence continues to
happen. “We are victims, but we are much more than that. … I want
people to accept us and want transgender people to be part of the
fabric of the larger communities.”

She believes Tucson is “somewhat of a progressive oasis in Arizona,”
with an equal number of transgender individuals transitioning from male
to female and vice versa. In either case, they face challenges. “We
suffer from a lot of isolation and depression,” says Davison. “That’s
secondary to where we stand socially. We are generally not
well-received socially.”

Imagine the courage it takes to change gender or present differently
in a society where discrimination, intolerance and violence are too
common. Transgender people have a difficult road and at the very least
deserve respect and understanding. After all, they are just following
the old adage: To thine own self be true.

This article appears in Nov 19-25, 2009.