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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I need some input! I have an upcoming consultation or rather ‘surgical evaluation’ for VFS (voice feminization surgery) through the public healthcare system and I’m wondering what the best way to go about it would be.
Since it’s an evalutation I’d be inclined to falsely make my voice sound worse/more masculine on purpose since my voice seems to pass in day-to-day life, and I’m not sure if my voice passing is a contraindication for surgery. Like in that case would the surgeon determine the risks of surgery to outweigh the outcome🤔
I’ll definitely try to leverage being a med student as that usually makes doctors more talkative/friendly😅, but all in all I’m not even sure how much the surgeon decides since I did get a referral for the surgery (which I wasn’t even counting on in the first place). So I’m overall in doubt about how to go about the evaluation😵💫
But yaa any input is appreciated😊
What does VFS stand for?
Oh I should probably have mentioned that in the comment😅. VFS stands for voice feminization surgery, I’ll edit my first comment too😅
I assumed based on the rest of the comment and ffs that it was something like that. But I wanted to be sure.
My instinct would be to talk however is most “natural” to you (like without putting any particular effort into your voice either way) so that way they have an idea of what they’re working with. I don’t have any experience with this, so I hope someone more knowledgeable chips in, but I think these things are typically done on the basis of how you feel and how comfortable you are with your body, so I would just talk about why you want the surgery, what you wish your voice was like, and what you hope to get out of it. Although, if you already have a referral, then I think the ‘surgical evaluation’ thing is just to see if you’re medically fit for surgery (like safe bmi, no severe hart conditions, or something like that I’m not a surgeon idk). That said, it might be different in your country and it’d probably be helpful to ask local trans people about it if you can
My most natural voice is now generally my fem voice, I have to put in effort to revert back to my old voice😅, but my mom told me to do the same, like use my most “natural” voice. Now that I think about it, in terms of pure biology how my voice sounds is irrelevant as they’d have to physically check my vocal chords anyhow I suppose🤔
I’m not exactly sure, but my main concern is being denied because they assess the risk as being too high for the potential outcome if my voice sounds feminine enough, and it does pass in day-to-day life. I’m in Denmark and the healthcare system is truly awful. They try to do the bare minimum which is why I don’t want to risk being denied if they deem my current voice to be acceptable😭
There are sadly no trans people I know who’ve gotten the surgery. The gender clinics never bring it up as an option, so it’s mostly up to the individual to find out that it’s offered. The trans woman who got the first VFS done here sued the hospital and won which is why it’s now offered, but she’s anonymous and it only happened like two years ago. Finding any information on gender affirming care here in Denmark is truly a nightmarish process😵💫