Seasons are, by their nature, transient — short-lived shifts in climate and lifestyle choices that rarely transform into something more important than their three-month transference of solar energy. But this past season was different; this summer — which ended on Monday — will be less known for its transience than its trans-ness. Yes, the summer of 2015 may henceforth be known as the Summer of Trans, culminating perfectly (as if on cue) with Sunday’s Emmy Awards and the triumph of Transparent — an Amazon series about a Los Angeles family’s hilarious and tumultuous experience with the gender transition of its p(m)atriarch.
Looking back, our societal transition toward greater acceptance of the trans community was not without foreshadowing. The summer began with Rochel Dolezal’s troubled attempt to identify as transracial, continued with President Obama’s equally troubled attempt to broker the Trans-Pacific Partnership and was dotted with countless other trans-moments — from this week’s revealing study about the human toll of trans-fat to the ongoing crisis affecting trans-continental Syrian refugees. But of course the only T word that will transcend this short-lived season is transgender, thanks to the very public transition of Caitlyn Jenner, whose emergence as a woman has propelled the term into the forefront of our national conscience.
