A transgender person could face a tough choice when deciding whether to use the men’s or women’s bathroom, transsexual Nic Sedillo said.
Last year, Sedillo said there was a problem with Albuquerque Pride security monitoring outside the restrooms to make sure males and females were going into the correct ones. He said problems such as these embody ambiguous gender issues in the modern world.
“It’s not that there’s something wrong that needs to be fixed,” he said. “It’s something that occurs in nature … it’s not so much you have to get rid of it, you have to make it better.”
This problem, as well as many others affecting the LGBTQ community, is where the Albuquerque Pride’s 2012 New Mexico Pride Pageant comes in. Several individuals compete for the titles Miss, Ms., Mr., and MisTer (see graph). The contestants’ titles depend on their combination of gender expression in daily life and onstage. The winners spend the rest of the year campaigning for the platform of choice.
Sedillo will be the first in the pageant’s history to run a second year for a different title, exemplifying how changeable gender identity is. His current MisTer title is for those who live as females but perform as males. This year, Sedillo said he opted for the 2012 title of Mr., someone who lives and performs as a male, because this year he has made the full transition from a female to male.
Both Sedillo and Tiffany Di Marco, current Ms. New Mexico Pride titleholder, chose the Transgender Resource Center.
Though Sedillo said society is starting to accept transgender individuals, some problems still exist, from the media misidentifying transgender murder victims as prostitutes to transgender individuals being unsure of where they fit into society.
The glam comes in handy capturing an audience to educate and entertain, said Marshall LaRhya, current Miss New Mexico Pride titleholder. LaRhya chose to focus on HIV/AIDS prevention and education. LaRhya has done fundraiser drag performances one to three times every week for the past year.
Since the ’80s and ’90s, when HIV carriers were treated as though they all had full-blown AIDS, LaRhya said activists have worked to remove the stigma. However, he said there’s a widespread mentality that living with HIV is not like leading a normal life.
“So a lot of work was done to make sure people knew that wasn’t the case, that it wasn’t a death sentence,” he said. “That message got convoluted, amongst younger gay men especially.”
Michael Vasquez, current Mr. New Mexico Pride titleholder, said more than just educating the general public, titleholders represent all individuals struggling with gender expression. He chose to focus on teen suicide prevention.
His memory of the titleholders’ visit to the Phoenix pride events stands out most, he said.
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“There was one moment where somebody came up to Tiffany (Di Marco) and they said, ‘I’m here today because of you, personally, because of you standing up and representing yourself as a transgender woman,’” he said. “It brought her to tears, and it kind of got me to tears, and it was amazing to hear someone say that.”
In light of the progress the current titleholders have made, Vasquez said he and others are skeptical about how capable the 2012 contenders will be.
“You always see these people out and about with their crown and drinking and all this other stuff, but when it comes down to it, it’s representation, and if that’s what you look like, it’s not good,” he said. “A lot of people don’t have a lot of faith in the people that are running this year.”
2012 Albuquerque Pride Pageant
Saturday
7-9:30 p.m.
Sandia Prep Performing Arts Theatre
$15 general admission, $10 students, seniors
Abqpride.com
