#eddie izzard interview

[3nn-express]

Eddie Izzard describes how her fear helped her become a pilot.

Eddie Izzard told Donal Skehan on Saturday Kitchen that she overcame her phobia of flying by learning to be a pilot.

Face many fears

Eddie Izzard’s admission that she is a licensed pilot startled Saturday Kitchen anchor Donal Skehan. The announcement of Izzard’s talent outside of acting and humor left the cook and presenter perplexed. Izzard revealed that after overcoming the intense dread of coming out as transgender several years ago, she has learned to face many fears. Flying was one of those things.

Article Source Link

[tentothemonkeynine]

‘He just had his career, lived his life, did charity work and great work with pets, that’s a wonderful thing that he did. And his sexuality sort of had nothing to do with it – he simply was that person, and he was open and honest about it.’

Izzard added that this was a major positive for her, explaining: ‘In this world of people deciding to lie left right and centre, it’s really nice when people come out open and honest.

‘I always say, “you have one life, live it well” – and he did.’

[infinitemonkeytheory]

We covered many things, including her current feelings about John Cleese, why she’s interested in portraying Hamlet (and every other character in that play for her forthcoming one-woman show), and why she prefers telling stories instead of jokes on stage. Oh, and she has some thoughts about whether comedy can change the world.

[whatacartouchebag]

cis people are so funny like they’re just out there shaking & cowering in fear bc they can’t tell what gender someone is. relax

[awaywithjay]

going back and (re-)watching old eddie izzard interviews is always wild

2003 out here on jonathan ross talking about having breast envy and implying the only reason she's not transitioning is because she would "look like a bloke who's changed sex"

and people really had the gall to say she wasn't always trans

[denimbex1986]

'Between Andrew Scott’s “Vanya,” Sarah Snook’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” Jodie Comer’s “Prima Facie,” and Eddie Izzard’s “Izzard Hamlet New York,” theater audiences — or theater producers, at the very least — have a fever for one-person shows...

...Snook, Scott, and Izzard tackle theatrical classics like Wilde, Chekov, and Shakespeare. With one-person productions occurring today, it’s easy to ask why the material is better served with a singular performer. Texts like “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” a story about narcissism, more easily justify themselves than “Uncle Vanya” or “Hamlet.” That being said, thought certainly went into adapting these works for a single actor. In an interview with Theater Thoughts, “Vanya” director Sam Yates said that by having Scott act out all roles, “we put the act of storytelling central to this story,” which allows the audience to look at themselves through the characters...'

[fearsmagazine]

DOCTOR JEKYLL - Review

DISTRIBUTOR: Hammer Studios

SYNOPSIS: In a contemporary adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's novella, "Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde," Nina Jekyll, is secluded as she recovers from an undisclosed incident. Seeking assistance, she interviews candidates for a live-in personal assistant to provide companionship, manage her meals, and assist with medication. She establishes a bond with her newly employed helper, Rob, and together they must collaborate to prevent Hyde from destroying her life. However, as Rob settles into the household, Dr. Jekyll experiences peculiar mood shifts, becoming hostile towards him.

REVIEW: Over the years, Robert Louis Stevenson's novella, "Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde," has been adapted numerous times for both the big and small screens. In 1971, Hammer Films released their unique take on the novella, titled "Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde," directed by Roy Ward Baker. This adaptation featured a gender-bending twist. Approximately 50 years later, Hammer Films is releasing a new adaptation of Stevenson's novella, starring actor Eddie Izzard. This latest adaptation promises to bring a fresh perspective to the classic tale.

Dan Kelly-Mulhern's approach to the material is subtle and reserved. The story unfolds predominantly on Dr. Jekyll's estate, with a few additional locations, such as Rob's flat, a market, and a bar. The estate, a lavish British property, confines the action to a limited number of rooms, including the classic "locked room" trope. The plot unravels as Rob finds himself ensnared between Jekyll and her enigmatic "secretary," Sandra, who disapproves of Rob's presence. Initially, it is unclear whether Jekyll's medication or a peculiar green cigarette is responsible for her erratic mood swings, which intensify over time. Rob, depicted as somewhat naive, fails to recognize himself as the prey in this dangerous game of cat and mouse. The third act serves as a pivotal turning point, where all pretenses are dropped, and Rob is confronted with a crucial decision that drastically alters his perceived reality. Kelly-Mulhern's work presents several elements that could have been further explored for a more profound examination of the concepts of good and evil, as well as morality. At its core, the story primarily delves into the character study of Jekyll and, to a lesser extent, Rob. Notably, an aspect of the tale evokes the feeling of a staged play, particularly in its lack of smooth transitions when Jekyll transforms into Hyde.

The captivating performance of Eddie Izzard as Doctor Jekyll adds compelling layers to the film. Izzard's screen presence exudes the essence of British society, transitioning effortlessly between empathy and sociopathy. In particular, there are scenes where Izzard seamlessly shifts between vulnerability and authority, creating a dynamic interplay with Rob, played by Scott Chambers.

Chambers' portrayal of Rob prevents him from being merely a bad character. He allows the audience to perceive his character's flaws and bad choices without judging him as inherently evil. The chemistry between Izzard and Chambers is undeniable, contributing to their captivating performances.

The supporting cast, comprised of talented British actors, provides solid performances that enhance the narrative. Their collective efforts contribute to the film's overall intensity.

DOCTOR JEKYLL boasts strong production elements. While it lacks a distinct "wow" factor, the costumes, locations, lighting, editing, and production design coalesce to craft an engaging and cohesive world that serves as a riveting backdrop for the story. Blair Mowat's musical score deserves special mention, as it effectively complements the film's atmosphere, enhancing the emotional impact of the performances. Occasionally, the score evokes the classic Hammer film scores.

Hammer's first new film in decades, DOCTOR JEKYLL, deviates from expectations of a modern interpretation of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novella. Set in a contemporary yet classical environment, the narrative seems shallow, failing to address the novella's profound questions. However, Eddie Izzard and Scott Chambers' captivating performances create an engaging cat-and-mouse dynamic. While the film's climax features an unexpected twist, incorporating supernatural elements that I found unconvincing, DOCTOR JEKYLL ultimately remains a solid film. Despite its inability to fully embrace the complexities of Stevenson's tale, it falters in the climax.

CAST: Eddie Izzard, Scott Chambers, Lindsay Duncan, Simon Callow, Jonathan Hyde, Morgan Watkins, Robyn Cara, Isabella Inchbald, & Tony Jayawardena. CREW: Director/Producer/Editor - Joe Stephenson; Screenplay - Dan Kelly-Mulhern; Based on “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson; Producers - Liam Coutts & Guy de Beaujeu; Cinematographer - Birgit Dierken; Score - Blair Mowat; Editor - Andrew Hulme; Production Designer - Natalie O’Connor; Costume Designer - Libby Irwin; Special Effects Artist - James Onley; Visual Effects - Lexhag Visual Effects. OFFICIAL: www.doctorjekyll.film FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/hammerfilms TWITTER: https://x.com/hammerfilms TRAILER: https://youtu.be/5aJR5fnMGDA?si=s7yMle_CrVkdRj3H RELEASE DATE: In theaters & VOD August 2nd, 2024.

**Until we can all head back into the theaters our “COVID Reel Value” will be similar to how you rate a film on digital platforms - 👍 (Like), 👌 (It’s just okay), or 👎 (Dislike)

Reviewed by Joseph B Mauceri

[pdj-france]

Le célèbre animateur de talk-show britannique Sir Michael Parkinson est considéré comme "le roi du chat show" après sa mort, à l'âge de 88 ans.La famille de Parkinson a annoncé dans une déclaration qu'il était décédé à la maison des suites d'une brève maladie.Le directeur général de la BBC, Tim Davie, a annoncé que Parkinson "était le roi de l'émission de chat et il a défini le format de tous les présentateurs et émissions qui ont suivi".Michael Parkinson : Une vie en images"Il a interviewé les plus grandes stars du 20e siècle et l'a fait d'une manière qui a captivé le public. Michael n'était pas seulement brillant pour poser des questions, il était aussi un merveilleux auditeur."Michael était vraiment unique en son genre, un animateur et un journaliste incroyable qui nous manquera énormément."Sir David Attenborough , l'un des rares égaux de Parkinson en termes de renommée et de longévité de la télévision britannique, l'a évoqué comme "le meilleur intervieweur du secteur"."[He was] extrêmement professionnel, vous saviez qu'il connaîtrait tout le contexte et vous n'aviez rien à remplir", a-t-il déclaré à la BBC."Vous saviez qu'il ferait ses devoirs et qu'il poserait des questions qui ne vous viendraient pas à l'esprit."Il était extrêmement généreux, il voulait que vous brillez et riait toujours de vos blagues et vous donnait l'occasion de les rendre plus drôles qu'elles ne l'étaient en réalité."Le célèbre animateur de talk-show britannique Sir Michael Parkinson est considéré comme "le roi du chat" après sa mort, à l'âge de 88 ans. (Getty)L'acteur Matt Lucas a appelé Parkinson "un titan de la télévision, l'ultime animateur d'émissions de chat"."Nous n'oublierons jamais ses brillantes interviews avec Muhammad Ali, Dame Edna, Billy Connolly et, bien sûr," cet émeu sanglant "", le dernier invité provoquant référence à son interview du comédien britannique Rod Hull qui était un double acte avec un marionnette d'émeu, qui a harcelé l'animateur tout au long du spectacle.La superstar de la musique Elton John a qualifié le diffuseur de "légende de la télévision qui était l'un des plus grands"."J'ai adoré sa compagnie et son incroyable connaissance du cricket et du Barnsley Football Club. Une véritable icône qui a provoqué ressortir le meilleur de ses invités. Condoléances et amour à Mary et à sa famille", a-t-il déclaré sur Instagram.Dans la même émission de radio World at One qu'Attenborough, Michael Palin, légende de la comédie et membre de Monty Python, a fait écho à ces pensées."C'était un très bon intervieweur", dit Palin. "Il voulait attirer des gens dans son émission qui le divertiraient et donc qui, d'après lui, divertiraient le public."Eddie Izzard a évoqué Parkinson comme "le roi de l'interview intelligente".L'actrice Elaine Paige a annoncé "nous ne reverrons plus jamais son pareil".Barnsley Football Club a annoncé que "la ville a perdu l'un de ses fils privilégiés, et nos pensées vont à sa famille et à ses amis en ce moment".Parkinson était aussi un fan de cricket réputé et une fois révélé avec légèreté malgré tous ses réussite, son père pensait qu'il était un échec parce qu'il ne jouait pas pour le Yorkshire.Mais le monde du cricket ne le considère certainement pas comme un échec, à en juger par la quantité d'hommages qui affluent des fans et des anciens joueurs.Sir Geoffrey Boycott, qui a joué avec Parkinson au Barnsley Cricket Club avant d'ouvrir le bâton pour l'Angleterre, a annoncé qu'il avait été abandonné une fois au profit de la future star de la télévision, qui a continué à faire un siècle."Je pense qu'il était le meilleur intervieweur à la télévision parce qu'il aimait les gens", a annoncé Boycott au Yorkshire Post, ajoutant que Parkinson était un bon joueur de cricket.« En fait, il a écouté ce qu'ils ont dit."Quand Michael a posé une question, il a en fait écouté la réponse de la personne. Il s'est réchauffé avec les gens, et ils se sont réchauffés avec lui."L'arbitre international Dickie Bird, qui a démarré

à jouer au cricket à Barnsley et a continué à jouer pour le Yorkshire mais pas pour l'équipe nationale, a annoncé qu'il n'y aurait jamais un autre animateur de chat comme Parkinson."Il n'y aura jamais personne de meilleur que lui dans votre vie, la mienne ou la vie de quelqu'un d'autre", a-t-il déclaré.Parkinson avait un lien fort avec l'Australie et a eu un impact profond sur un large public Down Under.Une longue liste de personnalités australiennes de l'industrie des médias s'est alignée pour rendre hommage.Le diffuseur Mike Carlton s'est souvenu de son passage à la radio avec Parkinson à Londres."Génial, très amusant à côtoyer, fils de mineur, il détestait le snobisme et la prétention. Et avait un grand coin de son cœur pour l'Australie", a-t-il déclaré sur X."Il n'y avait personne tout à fait comme lui."Le co-animateur d'Aujourd'hui Extra, David Campbell, a annoncé que voir Parkinson grandir était un régal du samedi soir"."Il a écouté. Il a ri. C'était le maître des enquêteurs. RIP au plus grand", a-t-il déclaré.Peter FitzSimons a rendu hommage à un "homme merveilleux", qui était "un homme très engageant au déjeuner et au dîner!"

[incorrect-hs-quotes]

Roxy: like ten years ago, i came out of the closet

Roxy: wait, when did you, how long ago did you come out?

Kanaya: ...I’m Not--I’m Not Out!

Roxy: ohhh, ur not out.

Roxy: u may as well do it now--

Kanaya: My "Husband" Is Watching!!

[tentothemonkeynine]

On March 23, 2023, Suzy Eddie Izzard appeared on the British talk show Lorraine. They spoke about Great Expectations, politics, and the origin of Suzy’s name.

This article from Pink News gives an excellent overview of the interview:

[dejaruhe]

I have been watching old Eddie Izzard specials and can't see her as anything other than a woman now, even as she's joking "they're men's dresses because I'm a man". She is (thankfully thankfully thankfully 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻) alive to tell us we can still call her Eddie, but she likes Suzy, and she's a woman. I look at old Kurt interviews and really, I see it there too, even though Kurt didn't have the language to self-determine.

I'm cis. I played with they/them pronouns for a bit but I'm a woman. I'm tall and a theater kid and got cast in male roles a lot, I recently shaved my waist-length hair off and am having a new gender experience because of it. Still a woman. To me, the way that I am and have always felt like a woman is clear in trans women. I just see it! I don't know! They're just so obviously women!

This perception has not always been available to me. When I first started watching Ms. Izzard in the early 2000s as a teen, I 100% took her at face value when she said she was a man. It has taken me years of reading, listening to, and loving trans women (personally and parasocially, Margaret Killjoy is one of my very favorite writers and podcasters) to come to a point where I look at people and feel like I know. I, like OP, would never breathe a word about an alive person if they did not explicitly tell me — self-determination is vital and whatever inkling I think I have is irrelevant until I'm told otherwise. I'm not even claiming to have *good* eggdar (is that a term?), I do not go around looking for eggs. I do not see them often. I just. Have a sense when I have a sense. Kurt gave me a sense even before I read all of this post and now I've gotta say, I'm convinced. Oh, Kurt 💔 wish we could ask you.

Kurt Cobain Will Have His Revenge on the Straights

Had a video call with my brother Chuck the other day.  Things got heavy:

KATE: Was Kurt Cobain a trans woman?

CHUCK: What?

Kurt Cobain.  Rock musician.  He was in a band called Nirvana.

I’m familiar with him, yes.

Was he a trans woman?

Um.  No?

OK.  Why not?

I mean, he wasn’t.  It’s like asking why he wasn’t an astronaut.

He wasn’t an astronaut because he never went to space.  Why wasn’t he a trans woman?

Because he didn’t transition.  I mean, he didn’t ever say he was a woman, didn’t ever say he was trans.  So no.  Kurt Cobain wasn’t a trans woman.

So someone is trans if they say they’re trans.  Self-determination.

That’s what you’ve told me.  Is that wrong?

No, that’s right.  We know ourselves better than anybody else can know us.  If we say we’re trans, nobody can say we aren’t.

And Kurt Cobain never said he was trans.

So was I trans in 1994?

I don’t know, were you?

Yes, but if you’d asked me in 1994, I would have told you “no”.

So if I tell you I’m trans, I’m trans…

Right.

But if I tell you I’m cis, I might still be trans?

If you tell me you’re cis, I believe you.

That’s not the same thing as “I’m cis”.

That’s a really good point.  This is sort of what some queer people are getting at when they say “gender is a construct”.

Come again?

Well, you’re cisgender, right?

As far as I know, yes.

Aha.

Hmmm?

You hedged.  “As far as I know” isn’t the same thing as “yes”.  “As far as I know” opens up the possibility that you could be trans and not know it.

It doesn’t seem terribly likely.

That’s an interesting statement.  Early on in transition one of the biggest problems I had was dealing with the sheer unlikelihood of my being trans.  I mean, I knew trans people existed.  I knew somebody had to be trans.  I just couldn’t wrap my head around the idea that it would be me.

Do you think this is why you’re on this whole “Kurt Cobain was a trans woman” kick?

Hey now, I’m just asking questions.  You know.  Like J.K. Rowling is “just asking questions”.

Kate, you are literally wearing a T-shirt that says “KURT COBAIN WAS A TRANS WOMAN” on it right now.

Am I?  Oh, shit.  I thought I was wearing my “Skip school, take hormones, kill God” T-shirt.  To your question, though - yeah, I do think that’s part of it.  Honestly, the hardest thing about growing up trans was believing that nobody in the world had ever experienced what I was experiencing.  I didn’t have any role models.  I didn’t wonder if I was the only one.  I was convinced of it.

So being able to say that this incredibly gifted songwriter, the voice of a generation, was a trans woman like you…

I need someone like that.  I need to not be the first of my kind.

Of course you’re not the first trans woman.

No, but before a couple of years ago almost every trans woman would tell you they always knew, unquestionably and innately, that they were women.

So it’s not just about him being trans, but specifically his being a trans woman who didn’t know he was a trans woman.

An egg.  Right.

Why Kurt Cobain, anyway?  What’s so special about him that you’re trying to induct him into the Egg Hall of Fame?

He knew things.  Things cis guys don’t know.  Things I didn’t know until after I started transition.  He understood women, what we’re like, what we experience.  “Pennyroyal Tea”.  “Rape Me”.  I just have a hard time thinking of a cis man who could write songs like that.

It wouldn’t be the only way in which he was exceptional.

True.  Ahhh.  I don’t know.  I mean, I know, I can give you all the reasons, but there’s something in his eyes.

Something in his eyes.

All the pictures of him.  No matter what he’s doing.  If he’s grinning, or sad, whatever he’s doing, you can see something trapped there.  Trapped and in pain, wanting to get out but not quite knowing how.

Huh.  You, uh, know that what you’re doing is pretty much the textbook definition of projection, right?

Maybe.  Chuck, do you think I’m happier?

Since you transitioned?

Yeah.

Of course.  Absolutely.  Night and day.

Everyone says that, and honestly, I see it.  Even in pictures, you know?  I see it.  You’ve seen some of my transition timelines, right?

You do look really different.

It’s not just me.  Every single person who transitions looks like that.  We look so much happier, so much more alive, so much more us.  I don’t understand how anybody can hate us.

I don’t get it either, Kate.

And when I look at any timelines, I look at the before photos… and I see something in their eyes.  Transmasc, transfem, doesn’t matter.  There’s something trapped wanting to get out.  Every picture I’ve ever seen of Kurt Cobain looks like the “before” picture on a transition timeline.  It’s just that with him, there aren’t any after pictures.

And it’s not just the eyes, either.  The way he dressed, the whole “grunge look”.  It’s just literally egg fashion.  We dress with total disregard for our appearance or how we look because no matter what we do it’s wrong.

“Egg fashion”, egg this, egg that… isn’t it a little bit anachronistic, judging him by 2022 standards, 2022 values?

Is it?  Chuck, I was alive in 1994.  I was an 18 year old egg.  I know what that feels like.  I know what that looks like.  I lived that.  Why didn’t I come out as trans in 1994?  Because I didn’t have the opportunity.  Because self-determination needs to be informed, and none of us were.  None of us.  Look.  You know what he said to Melody Maker in 1991?  “I knew I was different. I thought that I might be gay or something because I couldn't identify with any of the guys at all.”  That’s what he said.

Holy shit.  Really?

Really.  September 14, 1991.

Hold on, let me look that up.  Oh, yeah, I see it.  Look, if you look at the full quote he’s just saying he’s not a jock.  Like he didn’t fit in with the jocks. 

Well, what about the dresses?

What dresses?

Kurt Cobain wore a lot of dresses.  Like, a lot, both onstage and off.  On MTV in 1991, he said “It’s ‘Headbanger’s Ball’ so I thought I’d wear a gown.”  He said in a 1993 interview, “I personally like to wear dresses.  I wear them around the house sometimes.”  This is not some shameful secret he kept hidden from the world.  He was open about this.  He was proud about this.

Yeah, but… it’s just clothes.

Except it’s not just clothes.  Listen to his songs.  Listen to his lyrics.  “Should have been a son”.  “I’m a lady, can you save me?”  “Everyone is gay.”  The original lyrics to “All Apologies” from his journals – “Boys write songs for girls.  Let me grow some breasts.”

I mean they’re song lyrics.  There are all kinds of ways to interpret song lyrics.

Sure.  All kinds of ways.  You ever read Michael Azerrad’s biography of Cobain, Come As You Are?

Nope.

Azerrad spent weeks talking to Cobain.  He was Cobain’s biographer, but also his friend.  And he has his own interpretation of the lyrics.  For instance, Azerrad talks about all the lyrics about guns, and to me, now, I look at that, and I think of how he died, but Azerrad, when Kurt was alive, he looked at it another way.  He thought it’s about dicks.  “To paraphrase Dr. Freud,” he says, “sometimes a gun is just a gun.  But not this time.”  He talks about “Come As You Are”, where Kurt keeps singing “I swear I don’t have a gun.”  That’s not my interpretation.  That’s never been my interpretation.  That’s what this cis man says.  More than one cis man.  Kurt says Dave Grohl’s dad, he said the same thing.  Yeah.  There are all kinds of ways to interpret lyrics.

“By this time,” Azerrad wrote, “one begins to wonder how Kurt rationalizes being a man at all.  His first response is revealing.  ‘I don’t know,’ he says.  ‘Castration.’”  I don’t wonder how Kurt rationalizes being a man.  I rationalized “being a man” in all kinds of ways.  What strikes me is that he needed to rationalize being a man.  Had to come up with some kind of excuse.  It just strikes me kind of funny.

Kurt’s songs have meanings.   The lyrics to “In Bloom”, Kurt was pretty explicit about that.  The lyrics he wrote have meanings.  “Heart-Shaped Box”.  You know what that refers to?  When Courtney Love was flirting with Kurt, Michael Azerrad says in Come As You Are, “She gave Dave (Grohl) a package to give to Kurt – little sea shells and miniature teacups and a tiny doll, all packed into a small heart-shaped box.”  A tiny doll locked away inside a box shaped like a heart.  That was what I felt like before I came out.  A tiny phantom doll.  Kurt and Courtney first kissed after a show at the Cabaret Metro in Chicago.  Rumor was that they fucked against the bar, but they denied it.  What actually happened, Azerrad says, is that “Courtney had a bag of lingerie with her for some reason and Kurt ended up modeling the contents.”  And then they went to Kurt’s hotel room and they fucked.

You’re making it sound…

Maybe it was.  Because you look at that and you think that if it was like that, it was perverted and wrong, because that’s what you were told, that it’s a sick fetish thing, and I look at it and it isn’t.  To me, that’s normal.  That Kurt Cobain was sexually aroused while wearing Courtney Love’s lingerie, that’s normal.

Kate, he was a punk!  He hated jocks, and wearing a dress pissed off jocks, so he wore dresses.  He talked about wanting to wear a dress and piss on a redneck A&R man’s desk!  You think that was some kind of sex thing?

Sexuality is part of being a woman.  Part.  Rage – and Kurt Cobain had a lot of rage inside him – that’s another part.  Am I interpreting, am I looking at things from my perspective as a trans woman?  Yes, certainly, just like you’re interpreting, looking at it from your perspective as a cis man.  When cis people interpret things, their conclusion is never “they were trans”.  Never.

Ed Wood wasn’t a trans woman.  He was just a transvestite.  He was a man.

Pete Burns from Dead or Alive wasn’t a trans woman.  Sure, he got all sorts of feminizing surgeries, but he never said he was a woman.  Man.

Prince Nelson adopted a female persona, feminized his voice, and recorded a song about wanting to be a woman's girlfriend, but he was also a Christian and believed that being queer was wicked and sinful, and that's the identity of his we need to respect.  Man.

Richard Wright, who wrote the Phish song “Halley’s Comet”, spent most of the 1980s telling everyone he knew he was a transsexual lesbian named Nancy, but after being consistently treated like shit changed his mind about that, so none of that counts for anything.  Man.

Dave Carter was on HRT when he died, but he was just questioning.  He didn’t tell anybody for sure that he was a woman.  Man.

Quentin Crisp said just before he died that if he was younger, he absolutely would have transitioned, but wanting to transition isn’t the same as actually transitioning.  Man.

All men.  Always, always men, whatever they do, whatever they say.  I know how that works.  I was told all these same things about myself for decades, all these same reasons, and now, I don’t know, I guess people will make a personal exception for me, but for everybody else, the same old assumptions, the same old arguments, they still apply.  They’re still legitimate.

I thought we were talking about Kurt Cobain.

And the only way to do that is to talk about him in isolation.  There’s no larger context to consider, no bigger picture.  I can’t really know.  I can’t really judge.

I mean, everybody else does.  I guess I can’t tell you not to.  But all of this circumstantial evidence, all of the dresses and the lyrics that you I guess know the real meaning of – none of that makes him a girl.

Sure.  And nothing can make him a girl.  Because he’s dead.  Because he killed himself.

Oh, here we go.  After thirty years and countless speculation, you have at last uncovered the real reason Kurt Cobain killed himself – gender dysphoria.  Do you have a book deal yet?

Working on it.  And yes, people say a lot of stupid things about Cobain’s death, like it’s this big shock that this guy who hated himself and wanted to die killed himself.

Right.  He was pretty well-known for being a heroin addict, which isn’t exactly something that improves one’s quality of life.

Sure, but why did he start heroin?

I don’t know.  Why does anybody start heroin?

To help him cope with his eating disorder.

Wait, what?  Eating disorder?

You don’t know about that?  He had stomach problems, for a long, long time.  He could only eat certain kinds of food, certain kinds of food that wouldn’t make his stomach hurt.  Doctors looked but they could never find any organic cause for it.  Nobody took it seriously.  So he self-medicated with heroin.  “It was my choice,” he told Azerrad.  “I don’t regret it at all because it was such a relief from not having stomach pain every day.”  I know, though.  Lots of cis guys have eating disorders.  Doesn’t mean anything.

Kate there’s a lot of interpreting going on here.

Yeah, I guess there is.  Is that necessarily a bad thing, though?  Is that necessarily wrong?  Like.  You’ve seen The Matrix, right?

Only the first one.

Yeah, that’s fine.  So you know how important The Matrix is to a lot of trans women, right?

Yes, but I’m not really sure why.  Just seems like a retelling of Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” with extra fight scenes.

It’s pretty trans, though, right?

Clearly.  It was directed by two trans women.

And trans women who watch it – eggs or otherwise – find their own lives and experiences reflected in it in ways that cis people, like you, don’t.

I guess, but the fact that it was actually made by two trans women carries a little more weight with me.

OK, but what if the Wachowskis had died in 2000?  In, like… a car crash or something?  Does that mean The Matrix isn’t a trans film?

Well, no, because it’s still a film made by two trans women.

A film made by two trans women that speaks to the trans experience, and that is recognized by living trans women as speaking specifically to the trans experience.  The only difference is that, in this scenario, nobody knows the Wachowski Sisters are trans women.  And we can’t prove it.  We can’t possibly prove it, and nobody is going to just believe us when we say it’s a trans movie, that the Wachowskis were trans women, because they didn’t say it, they didn’t say the special magic words.  Self-determination.  You know what self-determination meant to Kurt Cobain?  I remember seeing Courtney Love on television reading his note, I remember her interrupting to say that he was an asshole, that what he was saying was bullshit.  She didn’t respect his self-determination.

Um…

“Pennyroyal Tea”.  Cobain told Azerrad “It's a cleansing theme where I’m trying to get all my bad evil spirits out of me and drinking Pennyroyal tea would cleanse that away.”  Pennyroyal is an abortifacient – but, Azerrad notes, only in lethal doses. 

Hell, not just that song.  The whole album.  In Utero.  The collage on the back cover, the one Cobain described to Azerrad as “Sex and woman and In Utero and vaginas and birth and death".  The occult symbols surrounding it, taken from Barbara G. Walker’s The Woman's Dictionary of Symbols and Sacred Objects1.  There was something inside Kurt Cobain, something inside him waiting to be born, but he was told, over and over, that it was a monster, so he killed it, the only way he could.  By killing himself.

That could have been me.  That could so easily have been me.  I was told all the same things he was.  We all were.  When I was 27?  When I was 27, I was addicted to benzos, benzos they prescribed me because I was trying to bury, trying to kill this thing, this thing I had inside of me.  I was a zombie.  Walking dead.  When I quit, I quit cold turkey.  Nobody told me about the withdrawal syndrome.  Nobody told me it could have killed me.  And if it had, everybody would remember me, everybody would think of me, as a cis man.  Forever.  They would perpetuate the Lie.  That’s why I transitioned, why I chose to go through all the shit I went through.  The writer and musician Margaret Killjoy, in 2017 she talked about what she went through the day before she came out:

“All I could think was: ‘Oh god, I don’t want to die a boy.’”2

I felt the same way, came out for the same reason.  I figured no matter what I did, I was dead.  I didn’t do it live, but to at least have an honest death.  I genuinely believed transition would kill me.

It didn’t, though!  You’re alive and you’re beautiful and I’m so, so glad for that.  It didn’t kill you.

It could have.  Still could.  Transition has helped, has made it easier­ for me, but it’s not that way with everyone.  People have been kind to me, in ways that they aren’t kind to other trans women.  Others of us… aren’t so lucky.

Who are we respecting, exactly, by remaining silent about our shared experiences, our shared perspectives, things we see that you fucking don’t, that you can’t see?  Of course I can’t prove it.  I can’t prove that I’m trans.  You can’t prove that you’re cis.  Cis people, though, cis people never have to prove anything.  Their prejudices are the null hypothesis3.  If I was to go out there and say that Kurt Cobain was a cisgender man, would anybody say I was wrong?  Would anybody object or complain?  Even though my saying that is an anachronism, is meaningless.  The word, the concept, it literally didn’t exist when Cobain died.  Have you ever heard the word “agnotology”?

No?

It means making a false claim to ignorance.  Claiming that we don’t know something that we do.  That we can’t know something that we can.  We know things now, Chuck.  We know what the symptoms of gender dysphoria are.  We know what it does to people.  How eggs think.  How eggs act.  How eggs die.  But we pretend we don’t.  We still pretend.  We pretend suicide is an individual act, even when we know it’s not, that the reasons for it are wholly personal.  We pretend that when someone dies by suicide, their reasons for doing so die with them.  And they don’t, Chuck.  We’re still dying, still dying for the same reasons Kurt Cobain did.  It’s not just that we aren’t allowed to recognize ourselves.  We aren’t allowed to recognize each other.  Individual choice or social contagion.  Those are the options we’re given.  And neither of them are right.  Neither of them are who we are.

Kurt Cobain wrote, thought, talked, died like eggs do.  I don’t care if he never said the magic fucking words.  We know our own.  We recognize each other.  And if someone is alive?  If someone is alive I will go my whole life without ever breathing a word.  Because as long as we’re alive, we do choose, and that means we can choose ignorance.  What I think, what I want, for someone else, for us, it doesn’t matter.  I do that, I follow that code, for the benefit of one person – the egg themselves.  Once they die, all bets are off.  Omerta no longer applies.  Kayfabe no longer applies.

To be queer is to be erased, to experience erasure.  I still hear straight men arguing, as if they have any right to argue, as if they know, that Emily Dickinson was not a lesbian.  Emily Dickinson!  I’m supposed to listen to people who say this shit?  I’m supposed to take them seriously when they say well, actually, calling Dickinson a “lesbian” is historically anachronistic, we can’t apply the standards of the present to the past, and Jesus fuck have you read her letters?  She liked girls.  She really liked girls.  Kurt Cobain was a trans woman.  Kurt Cobain was every bit as much a trans woman as Emily Dickinson was a lesbian.  Refusing to say it isn’t “respect”.  It’s perpetuating the crime perpetrated against Cobain, against every other trans woman who ever killed herself because of the lies we were told about ourselves.  No more.  Kurt Cobain was a trans woman.  I can’t, as an individual, say that.  I don’t have the right.  No trans woman can say that, individually.  But collectively?  All of us together?  The things we see in each other, we see those things in him too.  Not all of them, and not all of us.  Absolutely not all of us.  But enough of us.  Enough that we have the right.  We have the right, and I will fucking say it, and if you don’t like that, you can go fuck yourself.

Kate, are you ok?

I’m fine.

Do you want a hug?

Fuck you, Chuck.

OK, well.  I’m, uh.  Gonna go to the other room.  You should, uh.  Drink some water.  Stay hydrated.  Love you, Kate.

Love you too, Chuck.  Sorry.

Shhh.  It’s OK, Kate.  It’s OK.

1 Diane Purkiss criticizes the occult nature of Walker’s encyclopedia in "Women's Rewriting of Myth", in Carolyne Larrington (ed), The Feminist Companion to Mythology, London, 1992, p. 444: “In Donna Haraway's influential terms, these women may wish to be goddesses, but they are cyborgs all the same”. The work she’s referencing is Haraway’s “A Cyborg Manifesto”.  Haraway was, it happens, an academic advisor to the trans woman Sandy Stone, and her “Cyborg Manifesto” was a pivotal influence on Stone’s “The Empire Strikes Back: A Post-Transsexual Manifesto”, one of the foundational works of transgender theory.

2 Margaret Killjoy, https://birdsbeforethestorm.net/2017/06/im-not-even-going-to-try-to-pass/

3 Natalie Reed, https://freethoughtblogs.com/nataliereed/2012/04/17/the-null-hypothecis/

[richardarmitagefanpage]

Interview with Harlan Coben for BT.

[teashadephoenix]

I hate not knowing what to call myself.

Nonbinary? Agender? Genderfluid? A cosmic being of infinite whimsy and indecision. Pour me in a cuppa, I’m half-n-half.

I love my name, my mother gave it to me. I love that I am her daughter, that I’m my brother’s sister. But when I’m not defining myself by other people I don’t know who I am. Sometimes I don’t feel like an Elizabeth but I don’t know who I do feel like. 

I told a friend the other day that both femininity and masculinity are performative to me. I don’t care if someone sees me and guesses that I’m a man-- it’s happened before and I don’t get offended. But somehow it bothers me that someone would look at me and guess that I’m a woman. It feels incorrect. Not wrong so much, just... slightly left of center.

I’m a little left of lady.

[marsixm]

very iconic 90’s goth lesbian looks from mizz izzard

[sir-sanguinus]

Comedian Suzy Eddie Izzard, who is genderqueer, had a show in 1998 (Dress to Kill). During this show she refers to herself as an executive transvestite frequently. It is her identity and the label she chose, but she was restrained by the language of her time. In more modern interviews she uses the term transgender to cover her identity.

So people change labels based on what they know of. You can't label yourself something if you don't know of that label, and labels like transgender have not been around forever.

Suzy Eddie Izzard, in calling herself an executive transvestite, is kinda disproving it's status as a bad word in the late 90s. Would a comedian, who is openly genderqueer, yet fairly successful (Dressed to kill won two primetime Emmys), both use a term that is harmful to her own identity, and still have won 2 Emmys if it was such a taboo term?

I don't know. Just something to think about maybe.

Love that time I brought up how "transvestite" used to be a term du jur (not the only term, but a well-known term) before it fell out of favor for transexual and then transgender and was immediately given the "um actually it's always been a bad word sweaty :)" routine when like

[Image Description: the Wikipedia page for Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries". The opening paragraph says "Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) was a gay gender non-conforming street activist organization founded in 1970 by Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson, subculturally famous New York City drag queens of color. STAR was a radical political collective that also..." the screencap cuts off the rest of the article. End ID]

To drive the point home, it later changed its name Street Transgender Action Revolutionaries to reflect the changing terminology preferences but Jesus fucking Christ learn your damn history

(This is also why terfs and other transphobes claiming that Marsha P. Johnson was "only" a transvestite in order to de-legitimize trans involvement in queer history, activism, and liberation is such bullshit because that was the fucking term back then and had Marsha not been murdered there's good chance she'd be calling herself transgender now. Or not, there are trans elders who still call themselves transvestite and proudly so.)

[awaywithjay]

Wee woo wee woo HELLO EVERYONE the Suzy Eddie Izzard interview from 2004 with super intimate questions about sex and gender is back from several years of copyright restrictions!!!!!!

I have been thinking about this interview for YEARS since it got restricted and wondering if I was remembering it correctly, but yes, this IS an interview from 2004 where Eddie says things like how she's "always wanted to have boobs, but you know I look kinda blokey" and how she would prefer being a woman when having sex (because that's what the question was about).

It's clear that the interviewer, while open-minded and friendly (and shameless about invasive questions), comes at the transvestite thing from a sex and/or kink angle, and that's why her questions centre on sex and genitalia. But Suzy's answers are so clearly, indisputably trans. To me. And it's just so important to me because even though we as fans (and observant queer non-fans) can and have seen that Suzy being a 'transvestite' has been about her gender identity from the very start - a lot of people still think, or insist, that she has recently changed the way she thinks and talks about herself (from 'executive transvestite' or 'male tomboy' to transgender). I think she has always thought of herself this way, maybe just without feeling like she was allowed to, like it was possible. In this interview, from twenty years ago, she says "I'm exploring quite how to, how to be transgender, how to express myself."

Just, watch it.