I did not know that Warren Beatty and Annette Bening had children together. I didn't know that they had a transgendered son. And I definitely didn't know that he is as well-spoken and delightful as he is in this video.
Stephen Ira Beatty recorded this video as part of a project for WeHappyTrans - a site for members of the transgendered community to share positive trans experiences. They asked their members to create a video that answers the following seven questions:
1) What’s your name? Chosen or otherwise.
2) Who has been most supportive of your transition? If you haven’t started transition, who’s been most supportive of your gender expression, questioning or explorations?
3) What do most enjoy about your life since beginning transition? That is, what are some of the things you love doing now, that you couldn’t do before? And if you’re not there yet, what about the possibility of transition excites you the most? What do you look forward to?
4) Who are your trans role models? or Who have you looked up to in the trans community? Who inspires you? Whether it’s someone you know, or someone you’ve admired from afar, this is your chance to give a shout out.
5) What change(s) would you most like to see in the world? This can be trans related, or not, but we’d love to know where your passion lies.
6) What are you doing to make those changes happen? That’s right all, no getting off the hook! We’re all in this big ol’ mess together, and we each need to do our part. Share with us how you’re the change you want to see.
And finally, magical number 7, tell us something, anything, special and unique about you, your interests, your story. Never forget, gender is just one part of the larger project of becoming a fully authentic human being.
I really love all those questions. Any person would have to do some heavy soul searching to answer those questions. I'm thinking of incorporating them into my yearly New Year's resolutions.
Stephen's responses are personal, inspiring and geeky. I particularly love the phrase "Any male identified person that wears thigh-highs or garters, the world belongs to YOU." Most of the geeky stuff comes at the end, but many phrases - such as choosing to "imagine each other more complexly" – come from a mind that has been exposed to sci-fi, comic books, and fantasy. If we can imagine worlds in which people can shoot laser-beams from their eyes, can we also imagine a world with more sophisticated gender identities?
I especially liked his shout out to Hollis Mason for being one of the only morally unambiguous characters in Watchmen.
You can see more of the "Seven Questions" videos at WeHappyTrans.
