Breasts right but down there!

So the business of genitalia confusion if not error during sexual negotiations has come up again. A transgender commercial sex worker found herself in exactly such a position over the Christmas/New Year’s holidays as she plied her trade in New Kingston; more commercial sex workers or persons who rely on it to make some money come out to pound the pavement. She reportedly met a man where they left the hip strip to handle business but the man after fondling her breasts went further, the victim tried the old ‘I am having my menstruation’ excuse to avoid the man going too far physically via fondling but he would have none of it. The man while not assaulting the trans woman did eventually got his hands at her genitalia area only to discover a bulge instead of an expected flat surface. 

Transsexual people experience a gender identity that is inconsistent with, or not culturally associated with, their assigned sex, and desire to permanently transition to the gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (including hormone replacement therapy and other sex reassignment therapies).

Things got tense as the man reacted violently but thankfully the young tranny (the friendly version of the word) being petite in body was able to elude her raging attacker as she was not wearing her shoes in the form of a six inch pump. She made her way along the eastern section of Grenada Crescent judge a couple hundred yards from the infamous Shoemaker Gully where the homeless transgender/MSM reside. That part of town has always had some issues over time from shots fired at persons to men pretending to be clients but who unleash an attack when they get close in proximity to the intended target(s). How does transgender sex workers navigate this problem if you will?

Using the menstrual cycle excuse is the oldest trick in the book and is a little unethical if you ask me as it is not the truth but then again the client is seeking a fantasy to be fulfilled in the real world so the seller has to try to conform to the needs of the paying customer. Oral sex is usually the way out to avoid too much body contact and fondling, trouble with that based on engaging some persons is that some men are turned on via touching and exploration to strengthen their arousal and such. It was only December 17 this blog observed International Day against Violence towards Sex Workers and it was subjects like this that came up in an online social media group call. The ins and outs of this came out quick loudly.

I am reminded of the murder of transgender vogue queen in the US Amy Mizrahi whose body was found days later under a bed in a motel, as the news spread locally many were disturbed at the murder then in the nineties and the subject came up in terms of safety for street workers. Then the stabbing incident in 2003 of the popular and well liked “Browning” who was killed by a soldier who was a client of hers on the night in question, she too used the menstrual cycle excuse as part of negotiations to guide the client towards oral sex but the attempt failed based on the word allegedly of the perpetrator who was said to be bragging that he killed a ‘battyman’ dressed in women’s clothes. Browning managed to escape from the car and ran and scaled a fence but he pursued her until he got her. Being a soldier with a stronger frame he was able to overpower her and then stabbed her repeatedly and left the body. She was discovered by other walkers and cruisers of the day.

Folding ones penis under between the legs is not necessarily an option that works especially if the genitalia is of a larger size of 8 inches, with walking and so on things can shift and a thong or a similar clothing apparatus may not guarantee a vaginal appearing presentation to supposedly ‘fool’ or trick male clients. “Coming out” as pre-operative transgender is not an option in Jamaica just yet as the level of knowledge is simply not there when compared to our counterparts per say in Cuba. They already have a national program via CENESEX that hosts serials and TV PSAs and so on highlighting transgender issues long before the wave came in the United States and eventually worldwide. They also offer some reassignment surgery services for free essentially for qualified persons but the longstanding problem in that department is the quality of the healing and other post surgery treatments, many prefer Thailand as the place of choice for transitioning.

The US has been reaping some better success since the challenges in the eighties where breast implants would have ruptured from poor silicone gels encasements and leakage into the body causing more disastrous complications, they experts alongside manufacturers of implants have since improved the products from the shape from egg-shape or elliptical to tear drop types that hang better for nipple placement post the surgery. Vaginoplasty has also seen some leaps and bounds with better formed vaginas as it were complete with sensitive areas that act as a clitoris as the tip of the penis is reshaped to attain that. While some local efforts are being done to educate doctors and surgeons one gets the feeling some are not condoning or are receptive to the information. Surgeries locally are not available at this time in as far a vaginoplasty are concerned, breast implants are already here via plastic surgeons but some locals are not too impressed especially the ladies in the dancehall arena who have now taken on enhancement activities to enhance the optics for their careers. 

Many go overseas of pump up via Botox injections and so on. The ugly business of underground pump up actions by some is here with us in ever increasing reports, they do so by using non traditional methods and ingredients such as cooking oil, olive oil, estrogenic laced concoctions, illegally obtained syringes or burrowed/shared ones and so on which can be risky in terms of HIV transmission. Then there is the cross population concerns as gay friends may also be in the presence of some of this at pump parties or so and may also experiment in a desire to conform construct and not feel left out. Then there is the psychology of some of this as I expressed some concern recently to a leading transgender activist that some persons professing transgender may not be so, seeing that it is easier to escape homophobia in a sense by physical appearance adjustments or aesthetic but they may not feel ‘born in the wrong body’ many times after a psychological analysis they are found not to be transgender but gay and effeminate. Besides not everyone’s body can handle hormones either even transgender individuals, that all important pre-surgery physical examinations are so crucial to determine that.

Unless and until the powers that be locally allow more reassignment surgery opportunities for transgender folks who may otherwise cannot afford it fully we may have challenges such as this genitalia mishap, the young transperson has since been on the low hoping she does not come across the man again in case he decides to exact some follow up. Such are the realities of pounding the pavement; a girl has to earn her coins.

Peace & tolerance

H