People magazine this week shelled out $300,000 to publish photos of trans man Thomas Beatie and new baby. And it's apparently paid off. The article is, according to People's website, this week's most read story, beating a cover story on Barack Obama's home life.
Questions of Beatie's intent aside, we're pretty impressed that a national magazine's going after this story. And Beatie's hardly the only queer who shows up in the weekly's pages, as a reader points out:
…Please do an amusing biting gay critique of how People has gay stories like EVERY WEEK! Seriously. This week there's something about ugly Lane Bass's HUNK, and Lindsay's dyke moment. I swear that section in the front, Scoop or insider or something either has shirtless guys or stories about gays, or is quoting GLAAD.
We're not surprised, of course. Gays do make the best gossip.
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So this Pre-op Transman had a baby,big deal.Please go raise your baby & stop being a media whore!
I am really tired of this. I don't care how much facial hair you have, how much articially induced testerone you have running through your body, if you have a womb and a vagina, if you don't possess a penis and testicles, and you are able to give birth, you are not a male, you are the ultimate drag king. Period.
Testosterone;sorry
"we’re pretty impressed that a national magazine’s going after this story."
IMPRESSED?? Are you kidding? This is just the 21st-century version of a "two-headed cow" story. "People," et al are going for the freak factor pure and simple. They dress it up like a human-interest story so the magazine wont look too "National Inquirer."
By the way–Beatie had the kid on June 29. As these pictures indicate, he has pretty full facial hair less than a month later. Thats pretty fast if he was off testosterone during the pregnancy. And if its fake hair (like the kind drag kings use)–what kind of parent of a newborn has time to glue stubble to their face?
Everything Ive read about this guy says hes a headline-chaser (including the fact that he sold his baby's photos to People.) That kid is going to have a tough road, without dad pimping her out to the press from Day One.
And before anyone gets on my case for being homophobic or insensitive, since when does popping out a kid make you noble or special or heroic?
I really have no respect for Beatie. He/She is saying, "I would like to be a man. Oh wait, I have motherly instincts still!" I don't care. It just sensationalizes trans people and makes their personal business a public spectacle.
Regarding the beard: Of course he still has his beard — once that is there after initially taking testosterone, stopping testo and going back to female hormones does not make the beard disappear. Just ask transwomen about that.
I'd also like to point out that Thomas Beaties story encouraged quite a few transmen to come forward and say "Yeah, I had children, and I would do it again, too." People who were in the closet with this, too. And it may have stopped an abortion or two from accidental pregnancies as well. (Surprisingly many ovaries seem to recover after testosterone is, usually for medical reasons, discontinued. And then there is the pre-testo boys, too.) That should count as something, too, shouldn't it?