The photo is a 1974 photo of Leslie Feinberg, from the FBI file on hir. I’ve written a piece on my interpretation of Transgender Warriors and Trans Liberation, but I don’t think it’s quite polished enough, so I’ll post it later. Instead, I’ll go over hir FBI file: https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/dc-metro/rg-065/6282555/Batch0010/6282555_100-HQ-480756.PDF.
The FBI thought Feinberg could be violating the Communist Control Act, advocating the overthrow of the government, and engaging in rebellion. Needless to say, a hero to all of us. Feinberg was a member of the Workers World Party (the party still exists, but more notably PSL split from it), which apparently wasn’t openly advocating for the overthrow of the U.S, they just think it’s inevitable.
My favorite line? “captioned subject is believed to be a white female, who became male through some kind of sex change operation, and is possibly homosexual”. Some interesting language choice, and it’s an interesting snapshot into the evolution of Leslie’s identity.
The FBI found Leslie’s place of birth and birthdate from public school records. It’s a bit of an interesting look into all of the many places the FBI can get their information, along with how information like that was so much more patchwork before the digital age.
“Interview of subject is not being recommended because of the questionable nature of his sexuality”. Hmm, interesting.
It’s interesting how their investigation spanned multiple cities, from Kansas City to NYC to Bufffalo to Boston. It probably involved quite a few officers, though I’m sure it wasn’t the main focus for all of them.
There’s some interesting mention about changes in Leslie’s gender identity. Born a girl, for a time wearing a beard and mustache, then going back to “she”. I’m sure we all know, Feinberg’s gender didn’t stop evolving there.
“Subject reportedly contributes all extra money to WWP”, Leslie definitely was dedicated to the cause. Leslie doesn’t attend NYC WWP meetings, but the FBI doesn’t mention why.
The FBI isn’t immune to typoes, Leslie did some “criminal terspass” that garnered some attention.They wasted some time checking if Leslie was in Boston, but verified where Leslie in NYC lived by pretending to be a part of the Voter Registration Commission.
There’s a whole 43 pages of documents, all just from 1974-75. There’s plenty of interesting tidbits in there, so maybe check it out.
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homophobic/transphobic stuff?
Seems odd to say given the genderbending seems like it at least started mostly done as a “haha, it’s gay to be attracted to Naruto” joke regardless of how characters in the show treat it.
I still lean towards agreeing with you, but I wonder if “weirdly decent” is just a low bar because of how awful some other media was.
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This is why I specificed “for the type of show it is.” gender-bendering/non-conforming stuff being treated uncontroversially “in universe” is a low bar most of its peers didn’t cross if they even bothered to do anything not explicitly cis-het at all. Its also surprising considering it draws from the same well of misogyny as its peers.
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Particularly in the anime sphere lmao
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Yeah, i look back at things i loved and theyre pretty rough. Ranma comes to mind, i know myself and a bunch of other transfemmes latched on to it, but good lord its fulllll of misogyny (among other things). I still love it, but im hesitant to rewatch it and see it through different eyes.
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Uh critical support to Ranma though, that one I’ll tolerate. Ranma is allowed :3
(We need an anime salute emoji!)