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Interview with June LaTrobe, Transgender Liaison at the Center on Halstead
by Sentell Harper and Lynne Pace Green

ATC: As you know ATC is doing a production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. What are you looking forward to seeing in our production?

June: I think the first thing is the different musical era that you will be incorporating. I personally love the music in Hedwig but it will be interesting to see [the effect of] updating it, and what effect that has on the performance and ... the feel of the show. That’s the number one thing. Then number two, I always find it interesting…I don’t know anything about the two performers who have relatively’ trans’ roles but it is always interesting to me to see how someone is able to make that transformation or not. One of the things I find very interesting is someone who performs this [trans-role] on a regular basis [as] opposed to someone who only does drag on the weekends here and there. So I find it interesting how people interpret ….being feminine and what they do to identify as feminine…

ATC: What do you think is the message behind Hedwig?

June: That is an interesting question because I am not sure if I think of [the film] Hedwig as a message film. From the very, very, technical sense, some of the stuff in there is…. I would question if Hedwig is transgender or merely went through the botched surgery as a way to get out of Eastern Europe. …. But on the other side of the coin there are some very interesting parts [of] John Cameron Mitchell’s portrayal that are coming back to perception [and] what is feminine and what is masculine?…

ATC: Do you think that Hedwig is an important film to the transgender community?

June: I think how Hedwig fits, is that it is an opportunity for everyone to be presented with different points of views about gender identities and how we relate with [each] other based on that. So, I know there is one scene in the film where Hedwig is with the young boy before his stardom, and they were in the trailer and they started to make out and he was standing behind her and she turns and says something about the front of me. That certainly rang true to me, someone who is transgender, and I know it does to other people. How it rings [for the] basic audience I’m not sure, but in terms of the transgender community it says so much. There is a lot of message in that.

ATC: Can you elaborate a little more about that?

June: Let me take a step back to cultural competency. Transgender refers to your mental state. Specifically, gender identity refers to how you identify. How do you feel about yourself? How do you see yourself? How do you perceive yourself, relative to how your culture and society identify feminine and masculine roles? Transsexual on the other hand, refers to your anatomy. And different people, even though the feelings of being in the wrong body may be quite strong, many people deal differently with that. So if you are someone for whom the ultimate surgery, gender conformation, or sexual reassignment surgery is not on your map, not something that you plan to [have] happen, then there is an issue when you’re with someone in an intimate situation. There is an incongruity with your anatomy and how you identify. So it is to a large extent an ongoing issue for Trans women and to some extent with Trans men. Most of my comments are from a trans-woman standpoint. Trans-men have a different issue ….Trans-men are not practically and realistically able to have the same result [in] what is referred to as lower surgery as trans-women are. And so there is that issue which carries on forever for them.

ATC: What brought you to Chicago?

June: Well I was born and raised in Chicago. I grew up in the southwest side. It was called Stickly. It is now called Burbank. I grew up on the Southside so long ago I know why Ford City is called Ford City. I graduated in 1960 and about 6 months later went into the Air Force and what not.

ATC: So I’m hearing a sense of pride in the city?

June: Oh yeah, I feel like I have always been a big chauvinist for this city of Chicago. And for me today, since I have became gender aware and become active within that community, Chicago is a remarkable place. The city itself has been extremely supportive to the whole rainbow community and certainly the Trans-community as well.

ATC: So has it always been a positive experience for you living as a Transgender female here in Chicago?

June: Yeah, for me it has, and I should point out that my experience was less typical then your average. And average would be, “oh I always knew. I knew when I was little.” The average [trans-people] tells stories about wearing their mother or sister’s clothes when they were teens and dealing with that. That’s not my situation at all. Over the course of those decades it was more that I felt attracted to someone who is Trans and of course this goes back to before the expression transgender was around. I only became aware of my own identity about four years ago. So, for me I haven’t had the challenges that many Trans people deal with. I am long since divorced. I have no family issues. I am long since retired so I don’t have any job issues. I have lived in this area for 5-6 years so I don’t have any neighbor or neighborhood issues. All of those things can for many Trans people be serious barriers. Many trans-people will take steps in their life in response to feeling transgender, which as times goes on become barriers for them. I can’t tell you how many transgender women I know who were in the Special Forces and the green berets, and iron workers. [They] did everything in the world to say this is me and this is who I am. And of course many people will enter into relationships [to say to themselves] if I get married it will cure me. So you end up in a relationship where it is challenging to say the least. None of those were my case. So for me it has been great. My association with the center here, which started a month and a half after they opened has been extraordinarily validating for me. I mean no one here has ever known anyone but June so there was no case of people getting used to it here.

ATC: So it sounds like you have had a lot of support here in Chicago.

June: Yeah. ….The city is exceptional in that there are a couple of very active and major organizations such as Chicago Gender Society and the Tri-Ess organization… that are formal support [systems]. You also have a number of groups that are [on] more of a social level, not technical or serious. And then there are programs that we offer, [and] that Howard Brown offers. All of those provide a tremendous network and support for the community it is exceptional even for a big city. I mean there are people who have to drive seventy-five miles to go to a crappy little bar to be who they are. It can be very challenging.

ATC: It’s a great thing that Chicago is so rich with support for not just the Transgender community but the whole LGBTQ community. What advice would you give to Trans youths who don’t know where to go for support, who don’t have access to a community center like this one?

June: Wow. Well, first let me get on my soapbox. An issue in the community is that the Chicago Public School system has an anti-bullying policy in place. The do not [however] have a policy in place in terms of gender identity, so we have many young people [in Chicago] who can only be themselves when they are here. They do not have the support or protections in the schools to be themselves. First of all to be any part of the Rainbow community can be challenging. And quite candidly if you are a young person of color it can be life threatening. And then to be what Rick Garcia of Equality Illinois so eloquently describes as “the most visible element of the LGBT community”… to be Trans….It makes it a reallly difficult situation. So the short answer would be online, for which you know most kids are certainly better [at] doing than I am. But in terms of organized resources, there aren’t that many.

ATC: Are there resources that could be researched online or found in print that would be helpful to Trans youth?

June: Well there are several. There is one that is called TS Roadmap for instance, which helps transgenders in making decisions and taking steps. That is one. I mean there is a great deal of resource [material] for any marginalized group out there on the internet.

ATC: Going back to Hedwig, I remember that last week you discussed one of the songs, “Wig in a Box” and how many transgender people can relate to that. Can you explain that more?

June: Well you know, whether you’re 24/7 or not, but particularly if you are, the importance of being yourself and to be able to take that wig down and put on the make up…I’m not even sure what to offer as an analogy. It’s really very challenging. I do a lot of “Trans 101” things at various places and I have an exercise that I do with people. I ask people to take their shoes off and I have them put them on but on the wrong feet…. So it looks a little odd and it feels a bit uncomfortable. Then I have them stand up and take a step or two. Now imagine your life [is] like that every day. When you look in the mirror… that’s not quite you in the mirror. And for trans-people that can be very, very taxing.

ATC: I can imagine that you are very welcoming and comforting to a lot of people who are going through that path themselves.

June: Well I hope so. I mean, it can be…what is the young person’s expression….a real head-trip. I would say quite candidly, not every LGBTQ community center is anywhere near as genuine in their desire to be inclusive of the Trans community. There is an expression in the gay community at large, that the “T” is silent in LGBTQ and Tran’s folks would add that the “T” is also ignored. That has never been the case at the Center on Halsted, so that makes a big difference. To have someplace to go everyday and be myself. That is extraordinary.