In 1965, on New Year's Eve, Italian photographer Lisetta Carmi was invited through a friend to a house party in the former Jewish ghetto in Genoa. Little did she know at the time that the invitation would have opened up to her an entire new world.
In that house Carmi met indeed a community of cross-dressers and trans-women; she asked permission to photograph them and obtained it, carrying out a personal and touching research on sexual identity, spanning from 1965 to 1972.
Carmi's pictures depicted a community living in a liminal area of the city and in secrecy but with honesty: the protagonists of her visual stories move in the streets where they prostitute themselves; they are pictured in microcosms of joy and pain, in bedrooms and living rooms with decorative wallpaper and kitsch paintings on the walls, and tacky dolls on beds.
Some of their looks are inspired by the icons of those times: you get echoes of Mina, Dalida and fierce Maria Callas in Pasolini's film Medea in their hairstyles and makeup, something that points at their hopes of being accepted in an oxymoronic world desiring and rejecting them at the same time.
A book of photographs by Carmi followed in 1968: entitled "I travestiti" it costed ten million lire to publisher Sergio Donnabella to print three thousand copies for Essedì, a publishing house purposely created for the book. The volume was groundbreaking and dangerous: it looked like an art book, but it was also an anthropological visual investigation of a fringe community.
In her notes accompanying the book, Carmi wrote about this community: "For many of them, there is no alternative work available. As men, they have a distinctly feminine appearance, and as women, they face the obstacle of their male legal status. They endure incredible states of loneliness because, on the one hand, society seeks them out, and on the other hand, isolates them, practically forcing them to live in ghettos (...). Society fears recognizing itself in them. It uses them, pays them, judges them, deliberately ignoring the fact that they are human beings."
Italy wasn't ready for "I travestiti": at the end of the '60s it was considered a crime to appear in public dressed as a woman according to the Italian Court of Cassation.
Bookstores hid the volume away maybe scared by the honesty of the images, by that portrait of the Gitana posing on the cover, their masculine features so evident, but that wig twisting the male identity and that irreverent smile on their face, unapologetically free in a world that pigeonholed people into roles and conventions and trapped them in invisible chains.
Among the profiles in the book, one told the story of a trans woman heating floor wax and injecting it into her breasts to shape them. At that time, hormones were expensive, the results weren't guaranteed and silicone treatments were unknown. There was another trans woman who had turned to this practice; both died before the age of 40.
You can just imagine the physical pain behind this transformation, the toxic chemical flowing into their bodies to achieve that identity that they felt belonged to them, but that society denied them. Floor wax. Shocking. Unthinkable nowadays.
Things have changed, though, this is 2023 after all. Only yesterday Google Doodle celebrated Willi Ninja, the iconic dancer and choreographer known as the "Godfather of Voguing."
Willi played a pivotal role in championing Black LGBTQ+ visibility and inclusivity during the vibrant decades of the 1980s and '90s. The performers featured in the video part of the Google Doodle, are current members of the House of Ninja, the community he founded in 1982. This was well-deserved tribute and a great way for Google to celebrate Pride month.
Yet, certain achievements and tributes shouldn't be taken for granted as there is definitely a backlash against the increased visibility of transgender and non-binary identities.
In Italy the right-wing Lazio region pulled its sponsorship from today's Roma Pride march, claiming the event supported surrogacy, that, the Italian right states, should be a universal crime. The decision came from Lazio governor Francesco Rocca, elected earlier this year and backed by the right-wing coalition of Italian premier Giorgia Meloni. Rome's centre-left city council assured its patronage to the event, but the decision of the region sounded like an excuse to actually sabotage the theme of the Pride march - "QueeResistenza" (QueeResistance).
This is a very relevant theme considering the concerning backlash the LGBTQ+ community has been experiencing in America.
Last November a shooting at Club Q, a LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs, left five people dead and injured another 25.
Drag story hours, events designed to familiarize children with the world of drag queens, have faced protests, violent threats, and the propagation of conspiracy theories related to grooming and abuse. In a disturbing incident in March this year, just a week before a drag story hour was scheduled to take place in Ohio, neo-Nazis attempted to burn down the venue.
Republicans have introduced legislation aimed at restricting and banning drag shows, drag story hours at libraries, and the attendance of minors at such events. Anti-drag legislation varies across US states but typically includes similar provisions. Most bills define drag performers as individuals who present themselves with attire, makeup, and behaviors associated with a gender different from their assigned sex at birth. Some bills specifically mention lip-syncing as part of the definition, and many indicate that the performance be conducted in front of an audience.
In March this year Tim Burchett, a Republican congressman from Tennessee, passed a drag show ban and a law to ban all forms of gender-affirming care for transgender people under 18.
In Texas, there are currently at least four proposed bills that aim to classify venues hosting drag performances in the same category as adult movie theaters and strip clubs. It is clear that, through their focus on drag performances, legislators aim to instill fear among transgender and non-binary performers and undermine LGBTQ+ rights within state legislatures throughout the United States.
There are other states that have filed legislation against drag performances, including Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa and Kentucky, to mention a few ones.
When the bill was introduced in Tennessee the American Civil Liberties Union stated that the anti-drag measures were "a malicious attempt to remove LGBTQ+ people from public life".
This prevailing negative sentiment has had an impact on commercial products associated with Pride month as well. Traditionally, during the month of June, numerous brands and companies introduce rainbow flag-themed capsule collections, products, and promotions to empower the LGBTQ+ community. Some brands also donate proceeds to charities supporting the community. However, in past years, while certain brands demonstrated deeper engagement by providing support and sponsorship to specific Pride marches, others faced criticism for engaging in "rainbow-washing." This term refers to the perception that these brands are obviously only interested in the money they make from Pride collections in June, but neglect the community for the rest of the year.
Yet this year there has been another twist in this story, with some brands experiencing in America a rightwing backlash from conservative consumers and media, influenced by Republican state legislatures.
Certain brands have maintained their tradition of launching rainbow flag-inspired collections and promoting them on social media as usual. For instance, H&M enlisted actress and activist Laverne Cox as the face of its Love for All collection and campaign.
Similarly, Levi Strauss & Co, known for its participation in the San Francisco parade, introduced a Pride campaign and apparel line. Companies like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Starbucks confirmed parade sponsorships, while Google has taken a different approach by organizing "virtual Pride parades" that enable individuals to join an event using smartphones and headsets from any location.
However, a few brands experienced significant backlash and criticism: in May Adidas launched a collection in collaboration with South African queer designer Rich Mnisi entitled "Let Love Be Your Legacy".
According to the sportswear brand, the purpose of the collection is "a shared ambition to encourage allyship and freedom of expression without bias, in all spaces of sport and culture." In this spirit of allyship, the collection is characterized by a vibrant colour palette and paired with the slogans "Love Unites" and "Let Love Be Your Legacy".
However, when the collection was introduced, the sportswear company didn't attract much love and instead faced a barrage of enraged anti-trans comments and calls for a boycott. The backlash extended beyond the collection itself and centered specifically on the Pride Swimsuit, which featured a male model whose gender identity was not publicly disclosed.
Among those who joined the chorus of criticism and directed their ire at Adidas was former Team GB Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies, who is well-known for her outspoken opposition to trans inclusion in sports. Davies took to social media, utilizing the hashtag #AdidasHatesWomen, and argued that trans inclusion represents an "assault on being female."
Like Adidas, The North Face found itself facing conservative calls for a boycott, spearheaded by the far-right congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The source of anger in this instance was an advertising campaign that prominently featured drag queen Pattie Gonia as part of the brand's Summer of Pride initiative.
In some cases, the boycott involved a brand and the same member of the LGBTQ+ community. In April, for example, trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney partnered with Nike for one paid partnership Instagram post. The collaboration sparked calls for a boycott of the company – again led by Olympic swimmer Davies.
Mulvaney also collaborated with Maybelline, another partnership that led to further calls for boycott, and with Bud Light. This particular partnership attracted not just criticism, but extreme hate. A man vandalized a display of beverages within a Walmart in Kansas, while singer Kid Rock filmed himself shooting a pile of Bud Light cans. The beer brand also witnessed a significant decline in sales.
"Get woke, go broke" is the mantra of bigots when it comes to collaborations between commercial brands and members of the LGBTQ+ community and, with some brands, intimidation actually worked, proving that making money for some companies is actually more important than standing for human rights. For instance, Target has a Pride-themed clothing line this year, but made the decision to withdraw from its shelves certain items due to reported threats made against its employees.
Other brands are showing a more unwavering stance: Disney has the financial power to feel strong enough to ignore boycotting threats and did so launching a new Pride apparel collection and organizing two "Disneyland After Dark" Pride nights in June, marking the first time such events will be held.
For the past year, the company has actually been entangled in a dispute with Ron DeSantis: Florida's Republican Governor is known for his history of targeting the queer and trans community. In May, DeSantis signed anti-LGBTQ+ legislation that expands the so-called "Don't Say Gay" law passed in 2022, and that includes a provision aimed at regulating drag shows.
Florida's "Don't Say Gay" law, which prohibits the teaching of sexual orientation or gender identity to children from kindergarten through third grade, sparked a fight with Disney that opposed it. In response, DeSantis publicly called on lawmakers to reconsider the special privileges that Disney has enjoyed in Florida for several decades over its self-governing district.
It is crucial for brands to find the courage to reject hateful rhetoric and not succumb to the fear of potential financial repercussions. Nevertheless, it is of greater significance for all of us to maintain a vigilant stance, as those who exhibit hostility towards the LGBTQ+ community at times heavily criticising certain collaborations, campaigns, products and rainbow symbols may be concealing individuals with far more malevolent intentions, seeking to undermine the rights of others.
History has shown us how seemingly insignificant acts of discrimination can pave the way for the erosion of fundamental rights and the rise of oppressive ideologies.
While chronicling the lives of her travestiti, Lisetta Carmi found answers about her own identity: as she shared their liminality, she understood they were just rejecting the roles imposed on them by society. Carmi was doing the same, she was indeed just a person living "without roles". Observing them she understood that "everything that is masculine can also be feminine, and vice versa" and that "there are no obligatory behaviors, except within an authoritarian tradition imposed on us since childhood."
In her notes to "I travestiti" there is actually a quote that could be used to explain why there is this backlash against all things LGBTQ+. As Carmi states: "(...) the judgment we pass on others is almost always a judgment we pass on ourselves; what frightens us in others is within us; and we always defend ourselves by offending that part of ourselves that we reject."
It is indeed only by recognizing that the fear of the "other" is rooted in our own self-perceptions and by confronting our own complexities and embracing the diversity that exists within us and around us that we can dismantle the barriers that hinder the progress towards a more inclusive and compassionate society.
For a chance to ponder more about identity, rights, gender roles and freedom, visit the display of photographs from Carmi's series dedicated to the transgender community of Genoa currently on at Maxxi in Rome (until 18th June). The six photographs are a preview of the upcoming exhibition "FUORI TUTTO. Esporre i depositi", opening at the museum on June 28.
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