In the news article “I can’t be myself here: At the Border, Transgender Women Navigate 2 worlds” is a story of a transgender women named Ms. Taylor, 39, who crosses borders from Mexico to the United States. Ms. Taylor describes how moving between boarders requires her to move between genders. Taylor is biologically a male but identifies as a woman. Taylor mentions how in Mexico there is major intolerance towards homosexuals because there is a strong and powerful force of Catholic religion which perceives different sexual orientations then heterosexuals as sinful. Taylors mentions how physical attacks are not uncommon and when they do occur in Mexico, they are often unpunished. In Mexico, Taylor is forced to live her life as a man when she feels she is a woman. Her family in Mexico makes her dishes separately from the rest of the family because they are afraid, she carries transmitted diseases because of her sexuality. Taylor decides to move to California for job opportunities as well as a place that accepts her identity. She cannot afford housing in California but rather than going back to Mexico she chooses to be homeless in the USA sleeping on friends couches or garage. Taylor prefers to be homeless while finding a job because she feels she can express her true sexual identity in California as a woman. There is more acceptance and social services in California for gay, lesbian and transgender people which is what draws Taylor to the USA.
This article summarizes how heterosexuality is still deemed as the favorable sexual identity in our society. Sexuality comes from colonization and the hegemonic, heterosexual patriarchy normative that still exists in our society. This causes an enormous amount of discrimination and sexism. Taylor’s story is one of many stories that describes how being of a different sexual orientation or identity is not accepted in many cultures and parts of the world. This causes people to have to leave their countries or communities in search of a community that accepts them. In Taylors case, she moves to the USA because of her identity as well as economic opportunity. This can be related to globalization and migration. Taylor is also searching for a job in the USA which can be related back to capitalism.
Pseudonym: VicK
I found this article important in that it allows the reader to see clearly the intersections between gender expression, sexuality, and migration through a transnational feminist lens. It is clear in your summary and in reading the article that navigating the border while simultaneously moving between genders is an uncomfortable, if necessary, experience for transgender migrants like Jess Enriquez Taylor. I also know from listening to the No Borders Media Podcast episode Canada's Complicity in the Migrant Caravan that LGBTQ+ people face a much higher degree of discrimination, abuse and neglect from border authorities than most other migrants. Something I found interesting in my research, and that this article neglected to mention, is the fact that the United States has…
Thank you for this article! I am immediately reminded of Gloria Anzaldua’s theorizing of borderlands, as places that are both here and there, as well as separations between Latinos and non-Latinos, heterosexuals and non-heterosexuals. They are a mix of historical, cultural, and ethnic differences but are combined to create place that is no place at all. Here, Ms. Taylor embodies this term in her movement across a border that Anzaldua was also crossing and thinking through, Mexico and the Southern US. As well, we often see the border as a place that separates cultures, but not always as a gateway towards acceptance. Ms. Taylor speaks of California as an oasis of acceptance, and this is often what sexual minorities feel…