Jackson Bird, a 25-year-old Texas native, has gained a sizable online following from his YouTube show, Will it Waffle? In it, he uses a waffle iron on a variety of random foods to answer the titular question: Will it waffle? (Snickers bar, yes; Happy Meal, no).
Bird is also the communications director for the Harry Potter Alliance (HPA). Through his work with HPA he’s helped galvanize online fan passion for stories like Harry Potter and The Hunger Games to fight child slavery and battle economic inequality.
And last week, in his self-described “actual, serious video," Bird came out as transgender. In the few days since it was posted, Coming Out has been viewed more than 25,000 times.
In his video, Bird discusses how media representation has
failed trans youth. He also talks about how his transition process will
take place, and how he hopes to talk to friends and family about his
transition going forward.
Bird acknowledges that change is difficult, and that
education takes time. “I will be patient, I promise,” he says, in a
moment that calls upon the deep privilege afforded by heteronormativity.
“Even though I will point out that I have been being patient for 25
years.”
In the days since his video went live, I e-mailed with Bird
and asked him how he learned about gender and sexual identity, why he
thinks it’s so difficult to talk about gender equality, and what made
him decide it was time to come out.
Zumski Finke: You mention the number of
times you have re-written this video, the amount of rehearsal in your
head that went on throughout your life. How does it feel, having
published and released it to the world?
Bird: I've written fragments of it for
years so it feels really good to have put it all in order and made a
complete script out of it. Having released it to the world is real
weird. I'd been planning on releasing it on this day for so long and
working so hard at various logistics that, in many ways, it just feels
like what I had to do. I have to keep reminding myself that it was
actually a very big deal.
Zumski Finke: You’ve been involved in LGBT education efforts, but your most recent video, Coming Out, is a personal history. Why did you decide that now was the time to tell your own story?
Bird: I
think I'm also still in shock. I'm still sifting through all the
messages and stuff that I've gotten so I haven't had too much time to
adjust to life on the other side of coming out yet. Here and there I
keep reminding myself like, "Oh yeah, I can say [insert mundane part of
my life] online now!" Because people know. It'll be weird not having to
filter things from a gender perspective anymore.
"I had to build up the strength in myself before I could share my story."
I've been working up the strength to transition for five
and a half years. A few months ago, I started planning the actual
logistics of starting to transition, which necessarily included telling
the online community I'm a part of. Because my professional and social
lives (as well as my internet and IRL lives) are so inextricably
entwined, and because transitioning as transgender is much more
physically visible than being open about your sexuality. The only way I
could possibly do this without being public about it would be to quit my
job, quit everything I do on the Internet, stop talking to just about
everyone I know, and move away or something.
That used to be reality (and still is) for a lot of
transgender people, but I knew it didn't have to be for me because I'm a
part of such a progressive, welcoming community. I knew they'd have my
back. I just wasn't sure about the rest of the world, the people I grew
up with in Texas, my extended family. So I had to build up the strength
in myself before I could share my story.
Zumski Finke: There hasn’t been a lot of
education around transgender identity in the United States. Where did
you learn the language of gender identity?
Bird: I grew up in Texas so there wasn't
even basic sex education, let alone any discussion of LGBTQ issues. The
only time I can remember a teacher ever mentioning something other than
heterosexuality was when my biology teacher told us bisexual people were
more susceptible to the flu.
"...my biology teacher told us bisexual people were more susceptible to the flu."
Fortunately, my older brother always liked pushing the bounds of gender a bit too. He introduced me to Rocky Horror Picture Show,
Eddie Izzard, and glam rock at a young age. I grew up idolizing anyone
who rebelled against gender norms, but I had zero language to describe
it and I didn't think that any of it could apply to me. All the examples
I saw were men experimenting with femininity—not women experimenting
with masculinity.
I didn't learn about the difference between the words sex
and gender or that transgender people could be gay or that transitioning
was even possible until I was a freshman at Southwestern University
(often referred to as the "Gomorrah to University of Texas' Sodom" by
Texans). It was a haven for liberal LGBTQA students and even had an
openly genderqueer professor.
Once I got some basic education, it was like seeing the
world for the first time after having been in Plato's cave. I started
experimenting with my own identity and started consuming every single
thing I could about trans issues. I watched documentaries and YouTube
videos. I spent hours on trans Tumblrs, subreddits, and discussion
boards. Once I transferred to New York University, I read every single
book in the transgender section at Bobst Library. While the academic
side of educating yourself is helpful, the more important thing is
listening to real people and thinking critically about the complexities
of all of their experiences.
"... it was like seeing the world for the first time after having been in Plato's cave."
Zumski Finke: You talk a lot about words
in this video. From the words you used in your youth—sister, daughter,
girlfriend—to the pronouns that now accurately describe your own
identity. Why do you think it’s so hard to wrap words around sexuality
and gender?
Bird: We're always taught that words have
power, but we don't like words to mean different things than what we're
taught. We don't like words to change. When we're told we can't say
certain words because they have the potential to hurt or trigger someone
or further systemic discrimination, we get annoyed at having to be
"politically correct." I think that's a big part of why some people can
have trouble switching names and pronouns or figuring out the right
words to say when referring to other people's' identities and
experiences.
There's also the fact that our basic education and media
representation really sucks at explaining anything that's not
heteronormative. There's a lot to it. We have a lot of work to do as a
society. Equality for LGBTQ people isn't going to happen when marriage
equality is legal everywhere, just like we don't live in a post-racial
society just because Barack Obama is president. There is so so much more
to it.
Zumski Finke: I think the most powerful
moment in your video is when you state, calmly, “I will be patient.” Why
is it so hard for so many people to talk about gender identity?
Bird: Huh, I didn't expect that to be the
most powerful moment at all. It's interesting you thought that. I
suppose one reason it's hard for people to talk about gender identity is
because they have a specific idea about who they think people are and
it's hard for them to rewire their brains to something else.
It's very difficult to know everything about a person, even
if you are very close friends or family, but especially if the person
is just someone you know of, like a public figure. It's natural for
people to fill in gaps of information by creating their own narratives
that eventually just become fact in their brains.
