Artist:  Venus (All The Pretty Horses) 

Date:  11 April 2001 

BEAUTY AND THE BEASTS

The following is a true account told to The Mayfair Mall by Venus the lead singer of All The Pretty Horses about a shocking experience that happened to him whilst performing in Minneapolis. This highlights the typical behaviour shown by certain 'official' bodies who go out of their way to make it difficult for anyone who wants to be seen as an individual and not just another stereotype.

Before you click off reading about his experiences as a trans-person in the world of rock just stop for a moment and think of him more as a person.

Many of you out there will be fans of Marilyn Manson or Placebo. You will be accustomed to seeing grown men wearing make-up and women's clothing. That's fine, that's our right as an individual to be able to do that and not be victimized because of who we are or how we dress. For a lot of these rock performers this is a character they use for onstage and media performances, then after that they go home and dress 'regular'.

For Venus it is a way of life, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, s/he dresses the part both on and off stage. S/he is NOT some fake drag act trying to get h/ir band noticed by wearing women's clothing. S/he is the real thing. S/he is a transgender person who just happens to be the lead singer in a very talented rock band. If you don't believe me go check them out - www.prettyhorses.net.

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The incident took place in a heavy metal basement bar club called 'The Underground' which is held at Sharkeys in a place called Hill Top, which is a suburb of Minneapolis.

The venue is well known for its staged bar which gives alternative rock bands the chance to perform and have their music heard. All The Pretty Horses had played gigs at this venue a number of times before and there had never been a problem. Then one fateful night a number of city council people were at the venue keeping an eye on what was going on.

After the show had finished the club was cited and Venus was pointed out as violating an obscenity law by having exposed breasts and a G-string. Well at this point we would like to inform you that Venus didn't have exposed breasts. S/he was actually wearing h/ir 'paste-ons'. They are large stuck on shapes that cover the whole nipple area and some of the surrounding area as well. As far as s/he was concerned this was legal as they covered everything and nothing was exposed.

This is also the sort of outfit that s/he would wear at most of h/ir gigs in the States.

Venus is half way through a course of hormone treatment to change from Male to Female. S/he has not had any operations and so legally s/he is still very much a man as far as the law should be concerned. It is because of this that s/he shouldn't have to worry about it at all because there are no laws which say that a man may not go topless, let alone that s/he is breaking the law by covering up h/ir breast area with pasted on shapes.

If they arrested Venus then they would be doing so for something that is only applicable to females and if they threw h/ir into a jail cell then they would still put h/ir in male cell, which would be dangerous to his life. So basically the punishment would be for a male but the arrested offence is an offence only for a female.

Venus was forced to contact a G.L.B.T. (Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transsexual) organization to get some advice and assistance from their legal system official. Luckily enough Venus does in fact have pictures of h/ir performance that night at the club and so the G.L.B.T. official is assisting h/ir to prove what actually went on that night and to find out the definition of this ambiguity of how legal h/ir costume was. As far as s/he was concerned s/he was legal either way. But it does seem that s/he has been picked out and held up as a warning to other performers, even though s/he did nothing wrong.

The case is being brought to the A.C.L.U. , which stands for the American Civil Liberties Union. This is the organisation where h/ir letter concerning the violation was sent by an advocate from a MPLS. based G.L.B.T. organisation called "Outfront.". They are checking on the first amendments rights to check if what happened to Venus is legal. It's all down to the term of definition that determines that, but as far as Venus is aware h/ir costume should be legal whether s/he is defined as male or female because s/he was covered up.

There is a minister at the city council who is really starting to take this thing on and all parties are currently looking at the case.

The case may very well turn into court action. Venus is quite happy about this possibility because s/he wants to have his gender legally defined once and for all. To date s/he has only had hormone therapy and if the case goes to court and they define h/ir as female then this ruling would change the whole of American law.

Right now there's no legal status for people in this situation and so they usually go by what's on your driving license, but even then that's is not even honoured if you are in a restaurant. Your license can have female on but if you have not had genital surgery then you still have to go into the men's toilets. So there seems to be no legal status available to trans-people. It could be an excellent opportunity for a lawyer interesting in pursuing that to help solve something that has so far remained legally unsolved. It is a pretty big problem facing a lot of individuals.

Venus is married to a wonderful woman called Lynette and they did have an opportunity many years ago to pursue this gender non-definition problem. But at the time she didn't want to, but this upset Venus at the time. It's times like this that they both wish they had been strong enough back then to have it sorted it out once and for all.

They are both very keen to have this problem resolved properly this time around and not back down until it has been clarified legally where he stand in the eyes of the law.

Lynette was called for Jury duty and it was only her second year in her job (she's a school teacher), although its illegal to discriminate against you for what your spouse is doing, Lynette was very afraid that if she went for jury duty then she might lose her job. She is more aware now that unless she does a crap job at work or does something illegal then they can't get rid of her just because of her husband's situation. This has given her the confidence to support Venus totally all the way this time.

The case could take many years to get sorted but it could finally get the definition that a lot of trans-people have been praying for. For many of them even a simple thing like going to the bathroom can be a nightmare. If they look like a woman but are genetically a man which one do they use? If they use the men's toilets then they risk being beaten up, but if they go into the women's then they could be breaking the law.

As it stands at present the license issue with female replacing male without genital surgery is a matter of dealing with the Law. If you're confronted for anything, such as bathroom use, you may need to deal with the law, and though having changed your license from say Male to Female, should be protected, but if you're arrested, and have not had genital surgery, you are still seen a Male (or Female,) according to your arrest and detention. Your genitals determine where you would be kept in lock-up. So basically if somebody complained then they could be arrested for using the women's toilets, although this is the safest solution and they do have cubicles for privacy so nothing is seen anyway.

If during this case they define Venus as male then s/he is fine and s/he doesn't have to worry about h/ir paste-ons. S/he could then go topless if s/he wanted because s/he knows there is nothing they could do h/ir for. S/he does point out that this is something s/he is never going to do anyway but it would prove h/ir status either way.

If they decide to define h/ir as female even though s/he still has h/ir male genitalia (and is keen to keep it for the time being) then they would have to follow through all the way with the implications this ruling would have on society. If s/he is defined as being female, even though s/he still has male on his driving license, and in h/ir physical attributes, then that is going to challenge the whole way the legal system looks at trans-people.

One of the main things to remember throughout this whole problem is that a lot of trans-people never go through with the whole surgery thing and quite often decide to keep their natural born genitalia in tact. Discrimination has become so bad that a few years ago a natural born female, who was in no way a trans-person, went into the women's bathroom in a shopping mall, was seen by two security guards who took her to be a trans-person. They followed her into the toilets and beat her up for being in the women's bathroom because they mistook her for being a male-female and not as she actually was a natural born female.

She was a track runner and had slightly larger build perhaps than you would expect from a natural female, but other than that she had every right to be in there.

This athlete did not want to be associated with the transpeople society as she had nothing to do with them, but the case itself highlights the narrow mindedness of certain people in society and the problem and hostility which this whole section of our society have to put up with every day. It shows how the paranoia can affect all of us who choose to look or be a little bit different from the 'regular' members of society.

You don't have to want to change your sex to be subject to this hatred. The way you dress, the way you speak, the things you like to do, can all open you up to hostile behaviour by other people and unless the law is there to protect you then who can you rely on for help?

A lot of companies will not employ you if you are a trans-person because they don't want to have any of their clients meet you incase it effects their business. Venus is successfully self-employed and so s/he doesn't have to face this issue as much as some of the other people in the trans community have to, but s/he is very aware of the problems they face every day.

Even if Venus had the full operation to remove h/ir male genitalia then s/he would still have h/ir slightly deeper voice and facial features. S/he explained that you can practice your speech to make it sound more feminine but it is always going to be a little lower than most genetical females. Usually female-male trans-people pass better than male-female ones. They are usually slightly short and have some facial hair and generally pass better.

Venus can easily be mistaken as a female all the way up to a shop counter but as soon as s/he speaks it can sometimes give it away. S/he has had some electrolysis to remove some of h/ir facial hair but still has to shave. There is a new procedure with laser treatment to help with this problem but s/he wants to find out more about it before s/he decides whether to have that or not. S/he points out that the electrolysis can be painful to have at times.

Ever since the hugely successful film 'The Crying Game' came out people have become more aware of trans-people and actually go out and try to spot them in the crowd. Before that if you went and had the full surgery and everything most people wouldn't realize. But now people are more aware of this section of the community. Whereas before if a woman was slightly more masculine in her appearance then no one would take any notice. Now people tend to wonder whether she is simply a masculine woman or a trans-person. Before the film they were largely ignorant and didn't know how to tell. The film has brought about more public awareness but maybe not always the desired reaction.

Venus always had an idea that s/he would like to have the body of a woman but it wasn't until his late 20's that s/he decided to 'come-out' and tell h/ir loved ones and friends. Lynette and h/ir had been married for quite a few years by the time s/he decided to come out and up until then she had no inclination that this is what s/he wanted. All the time s/he had been suppressing it from everyone around h/ir.

S/he did look into having the full operation and having everything taken off but discovered that they would have had to get divorced and everything before s/he could go through with it.

During this time Lynette was, and still is, very supportive of h/ir and whatever s/he decides s/he would like to do with h/ir body. S/he has come to a natural state of happiness where s/he prefers to remain half male, half female. I think this half way point in h/ir sexual status could explain a lot of the ways in which s/he thinks about others. S/he has a lot of both male and female qualities and of course when you're married you can find it quite handy to keep your natural genitalia in tact.

Venus is 6 foot tall without h/ir heels and this makes h/ir a very striking figure. S/he is a very beautiful person in both appearance and personality. We spent a few days with him and Lynette in London and saw how people reacted to h/ir. S/he dressed as a female all the time and looked very much a woman. To be totally honest I don't think s/he had a particularly deep voice either but this could have come from years of practice.

Just try to imagine you're walking down the street and coming towards you is this gorgeous rock babe dressed in tight black leather trousers, small tight t-shirt showing off her natural womanly curves, high heeled boots, long blonde hair and a very pretty face. She smiles at you as you pass and you think 'nice!'. It then strikes you that she was taller than you. Over 6 foot in her heels, is she a super model? No, she can't be, she had a gorgeous womanly figure.

Well if you were in London last weekend then you had just met Venus in all h/ir glory. Be it day or night I saw the looks the men were giving h/ir, they all took h/ir to be female and looked liked besotted puppy dogs when they saw h/ir. I wonder at what point they realized 'she' was actually a 'he', that's if they did at all.

Anyone who was in rock clubs would have seen h/ir in action on the dance floor. Like moths to a candle a crowd rapidly gathered of people clambering to be near h/ir and to dance near h/ir. S/he has this kind of aura that attracts people to h/ir without h/ir even doing anything other than being himself. It was totally amazing to watch.

If this is the effect s/he has on people who do not know who s/he is and that s/he is in the band, then what must they be like when they go to see the band perform live in concert? It was quite funny because everyone from the waiters at the Mexican restaurant we ate at who kept bringing us more free drinks on the house, to the taxi drivers who almost halved the fare home every night, they all adored Venus, they might not have been sure if he was a she, I suspect they thought s/he was indeed female, but they all fell over themselves to be near h/ir and to spoil h/ir like few females ever get the chance to experience.

They didn't know who he/she was but they certainly wanted to find out.

Don't be afraid of things and people you aren't familiar with. Venus is absolutely gorgeous, don't just take my word for it, Playboy were so impressed they did a special feature on h/ir when he was in New York.

It's time for the trans-community to come out and live out in the open. Its time for both the law and society to accept them for what they are and let them live their lives in peace like everybody else.

Interesting enough Venus told us that the Native Americans used to always recognized there were 6 genders. Straight males, straight females, gay women, gay men, trans-gender male - female, and trans-gender female - male. It's only our narrow-minded society that has condensed this to simply male or female, regardless of the preferences of the individuals.

The gay community has fought to give all gay people political stability and the legal system is very much behind them. The time has come for the trans-community to come forward and make the same stand for their rights, the same rights that you and I take for granted in our everyday lives.

With the Native Communities they used to by-pass all that by recognizing you as a 'special' person if you were transgender. They knew that these people could see it from both sides. They tended to accept people more. Over the years the younger generations have tried to get away from all that and have tried to fit in with society as a whole and their way of thinking.

There is a group of Native Americans who are working towards bringing back this way of thinking into their community.

Venus is very aware of the problems that face people who think they might want to be another sex. For many years s/he felt like s/he was the only one who felt like this and hid it from the world, even those closest to h/ir for fear of how they might react.

Anyone who feels like they are confused about their sexuality, or would like to talk to someone about having similar feelings can do so in the strictest of confidence by contacting Venus through the website for All The Pretty Horses (www.prettyhorses.net).

S/he is more than happy to talk to anybody about the problems that they might be having. Although things are so much easier than they were when s/he was younger and peoples attitudes have relaxed a bit more, it still has a long way to go before society accepts trans-people fully and learns to live in harmony with them.

We would like to give special thanks to both Venus and Lynette for their assistance in making this interview possible and wish them and the band every success.

Official All The Pretty Horses site: www.prettyhorses.net

 

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