Transfolk in Music

Anyone ever tell you that nobody ever talks about transgender issues? Have you ever heard anyone argue that you never hear about them outside of queer events or culture? Do you think trans issues don’t make appearances in mainstream movies, shows, stories, or music?

Have you heard any of these songs?

“Lola” by the Kinks
“Well I’m not the world’s most masculine man,/ But I know what I am and that I’m a man,/ So is Lola.”

“Somebody Told Me” by the Killers
“Somebody told me you had a boyfriend/ Who looked like a girlfriend/ That I had in February of last year.”

“Turn the Page” by Bob Seger
“Most times you can’t hear ‘em talk, other times you can/ All the same old clichés, is that a woman or a man?/ And you always seem outnumbered, you don’t dare make a stand.”

“Walk on the Wild Side” by Lou Reed
“Plucked her eyebrows on the way/ Shaved her legs and then he was a she.”

They say any publicity is good publicity, but you’ve got to wonder. Aside from the Bob Seger song—which is interestingly written in the second person, and largely about feeling like an outcast—the majority of these songs are about transgender prostitutes. The majority of trans characters on TV are cast in a similar way (think Law and Order or CSI). Why do you think this is? What can we do to change it?