‘Trans Diaries’ actors counter election attacks with a powerful tool: their own stories

The performers gathered in the West Hollywood City Council Chamber for two presentations of “The Trans Diaries” — monologues that serve as vehicles for trans people to share their stories.

These shows Tuesday coincided with Transgender Awareness Week (which runs through Nov. 19) and the Transgender Day of Remembrance (Nov. 20), but they also landed soon after an election day that ushered in a new political landscape.

Lindsey Deaton, a musician and artistic director who served as West Hollywood’s first appointed transgender commissioner for arts and cultural affairs, created “The Trans Diaries” five years ago. The show, which consists of episodic nonfiction pieces, is directed and performed entirely by members of the trans community. Each iteration of the show is different, reflecting a cast that changes from year to year.

Cast members of this year’s “Trans Diaries,” from left: Seth Gomez, Josh Gershick (kneeling), Lee Faelnar Te, Jen Winslow and B Alexander.

(From B Alexander)

This year’s “Trans Diaries” includes three returning cast members: Seth Gomez, Lee Faelnar Te and Jen Winslow. New performers are B Alexander and playwright Joshua Gerschick, who also served as dramaturg.

This year’s performances are co-produced by the city of West Hollywood and Diversionary Theatre in San Diego, where “Trans Diaries” will be performed this weekend.

The Times spoke over Zoom with Gerschick and trans writer-actor Shakina Nayfack, who directed the show. Below are excerpts from that conversation, edited for length and clarity.

Shakina, you and most of this year’s “Trans Diaries” cast members are working actors or writers in Hollywood. How have your careers been affected by the current slowdown in the film and TV industry, as well as the broader political climate?

Nayfack: When there’s a contraction overall, the first things to go are the marginalized voices. So while maybe all of Hollywood is feeling the pinch economically and politically, it feels like major steps are being taken back in terms of opportunities for trans writers and performers. There seems to be a fear of inclusion because audiences have been radicalized against us and executives are intimidated to stick their necks out for what they know is right.

Gerschick: Which doesn’t make much sense, does it? Since TV now is such a Balkanized affair. If you don’t want to look at LGBTQ material, you don’t have to. We’re not stuck with the three major networks.

Nayfack: This is why I love “The Trans Diaries,” because I came off two years writing on “Quantum Leap,” where I got to create radical trans representation on network television, and then I haven’t worked in a year. With this show, I knew that, come the week of the election I would have a room to be in with trans artists through that whole process. I couldn’t be more grateful.

What was it like preparing for “The Trans Diaries” the week of the election?

Nayfack: Our first rehearsal was on the day of the election. We knew coming into it that we were going to be together no matter what. And that was a source of comfort and empowerment for each of us in different ways. When we came together on Wednesday, there was a heaviness in the room and a sense of grief and loss and confusion and paralysis. But also, we had the text, we had the stories, and we had the commitment of knowing we had a show to do. If you’re in the theater, that’s a lifesaver.

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Going back to talking about Hollywood, I want to add that [we have made progress]. Nava Mau was nominated for an Emmy for “Baby Reindeer.” There are entire sections of LGBTQ teen fiction in mainstream bookstores. We have a foothold in culture that we’ve never had before. But our identities have been weaponized, and our stories have become taboo again.

Gerschick: This is the wonderful thing about “The Trans Diaries.” In this terrifying time, these stories stand in stark contrast to the lies about our lives, particularly the lies that have been told during this election cycle. As you may know, a certain political party spent a quarter of a billion dollars running anti-trans ads.

What was it like for you to see those ads on TV?

Nayfack: It’s traumatic — or triggering if you’ve already been well-dosed in that trauma, as both Josh and I have. I’ve steeled myself against the bigotry and hatred for so long, and I’m so comfortable in my role as a cultural worker, that I feel emboldened by that sort of rhetoric. The work I’m doing just becomes that much more vital.

The part that is so infuriating is how misleading and untruthful it is. There are rational, grounded conversations one can have around the process of transitioning and trans people in sports and trans youth access to gender-affirming medical care. But these are not the conversations we are having at a political level. What we’re seeing are simply lies and hate-filled rhetoric that aren’t based in scientific truth or community truth.

Gerschick: This is not my first rodeo. I remember all these same things being said about gays and lesbians. In the early ’80s, surveys showed that very few Americans knew a gay person or a lesbian, or knew that they knew one. So that was an environment in which lies were circulated and believed. Back then we were called predators. Today the term is groomer. It’s all just recycled hate. Today, everybody knows a gay man or a lesbian. But few people know — or know that they know — a transgender person. So they easily believe the lies.

Again, that’s why this piece is so important. In the L.A. audience this weekend, most of the attendees were cisgender people. They came up to me afterward and said they laughed, they cried, and also that it was illuminating, that they learned so much. And that’s the point. There’s power in learning about people and expressing curiosity. When you meet us, you find there is much more that connects us than separates us. But first you have to be willing and open to learning and setting aside your beliefs about who and what we are.

What is your message for people whose votes were influenced by those anti-trans ads?

Nayfack: I wish more evangelical Christians would go back and read their Bibles. I’ve read the New Testament, and the teachings of Jesus are quite loving.

Gerschick: Ah yes, “Love they neighbor as thyself.” You know, some friends of mine were in the audience last night. They have a trans son. The mom told me that her father had voted for Trump. She said to him, “What are you thinking? You have a trans grandchild.” And he said to her, “Oh, you’re brainwashed. Nothing’s going to happen. That’s all just propaganda.” So there’s a huge disconnect. People heard these hateful things and yet don’t believe that the man who is making these threats will actually carry them out. This is very dangerous business; 2024 has been a record-breaking year for anti-trans legislation.

Nayfack: I think people don’t realize, especially if they don’t have a family member or close friends who’s trans, the kinds of material hardships that anti-trans legislation creates for our lives and our well-being. Whether it’s the ability to get legal documentation that matches your identity and presentation, or the medical care that you need to feel comfortable in your body, or the nondiscrimination protections that would enable you to go to work or get an apartment or go to the doctor without fear of discrimination or persecution.

Josh, as a performer in this year’s “Trans Diaries,” what is it like to share your personal story?

Gerschick: A little frightening, because the story I tell, about finding Josh, that’s an intimate story. All of these stories, honestly and intimately told, reveal the truth and the joy of our lives.

Nayfack: That’s the goal of the kind of autobiographical storytelling we’re doing in this show, disclosing something specific that touches the universal. Storytelling is an engine of empathy.

At the end of the show, the cast performs a song by B Alexander that is a call for allyship.

Nayfack: Exactly. People have to put some skin in the game if they really care about diversity and taking care of our most vulnerable.

Gerschick: If you see something, you must say something. This kind of hate can’t persist in an environment in which we call things out and we act in the moment. That kind of active allyship must come from cisgender people.

Beyond this weekend’s performances in San Diego, what do you envision for the future of “The Trans Diaries”?

Nayfack: There will always be a need to tell our stories. And there are so many voices that deserve to be heard. This show feels like such a grassroots way to empower trans artists. I hope these monologues can be collected in a volume at some point and shared. I also want folks to know they can do this in their own communities too. All it takes is the chutzpah to get together and commit to rigorous storytelling.