Trans Or Not Trans

I believe that a trans-person should play the part of a trans-person but I was called a hypocrite because of the fact that I am going to see Neil Patrick-Harris play “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” on Broadway today.

But I don’t see Hedwig as trans. If you don’t know the play “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” it is about…

Hedwig, born a boy named Hansel in East Berlin, fell in love with an American G.I. and underwent a sex-change operation in order to marry him and flee to the West. Unfortunately, nothing worked out quite as it was supposed to - years later, Hedwig is leading her rock band on a tour of the U.S., telling her life story through a series of concerts at Bilgewater Inn seafood restaurants. Her tour dates coincide with those of arena-rock star Tommy Gnosis, a wide-eyed boy who once loved Hedwig... but then left with all her songs.

Hedwig didn’t have gender dysphoria, he was gay and he wanted a way out of East Berlin so he has a sex change operation (I didn’t use “Gender Confirming Surgery” because he was never diagnosed with gender dysphoria); does that make him transgender?

What about the gays in Iran who are given the choice between having their head cutoff and having the operation, are they trans or are they victims? Hedwig never crossed dressed until he had the surgery and he saw as a way to escape and not as a gender identity issue.

So that is why I don’t object to Hedwig being played by a non-trans-person and I let you know how I like the play. I just hope that Neil Patrick-Harris plays the part of Hedwig and not an understudy.