BY Lux Alptraum
April 14, 2008
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We were reading the Sunday Styles section of this weekend’s New York Times — specifically, the article on the brand spankin’ new Brooklyn flea market — when something caught our eye:

It is safe to assume Lane Bryant never offered options like those Glenn Marla was wearing, as she helped her boss, Deb Malkin, set up a stand selling plus-size vintage clothing. Just as with pronouns (Glenn Marla identifies as a trans-person) there are no easy fits for some folks, so they improvise.

That’s odd, we thought. Why did they go and mention the fact that Glenn is trans?

Sure, it’s nice that the Times is trying to raise transvisibility — but Glenn Marla’s gender has nothing to do with flea markets. Absolutely nothing. Which makes mentioning it, well, counterproductive.

The whole point of something like transvisibility is to normalize being trans — to make it as ordinary as having, say, blonde hair or freckles. Taking every opportunity to mention someone’s genderqueer identity, while it may be well-intentioned, does exactly the opposite.

So, uh, nice try, New York Times, but try again.

[Fun fact! The year Glenn Marla won the Miss Lez Pageant, Lux Alptraum was crowned Miss Congeniality. We're just saying.]

[Photo by kaptainkobloid]