Drag queen challenges societal ideas of gender


Monday, April 6, 1998	Drag queen challenges societal ideas of gender By CJ ENGEL Collegian Staff Writer He slides on a dress and steps into heels. He slips on his jewelry and puts on his wig. He applies his lipstick and shadows his eyes. His transformation is complete, and so is his sermon. It's time for the Rev. Trinity to preach. Trinity, a gay man who dresses like a woman, delivered his message of spirituality to a small audience in the HUB Assembly Room Friday night. His speech was part of Pride Week, sponsored by the Lambda Student Alliance (Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Student Alliance). Trinity, decked out in full drag, explained how being in touch with both his masculine and feminine sides actually enhances his spirituality. But the path that led to his preaching actually took many turns. He was raised Jewish, but his eventual "spiritual journey" led him to include other beliefs as well. Now, the part-time preacher calls himself a "self-ordained Jewish spiritual Unitarian pagan minister."
The Rev. Trinity laughs during a speech Friday night in the HUB Assembly Room. Trinity spoke about the spirituality of genders in an America with "serious male testosterone problems." (Collegian Photo/Dan Saelinger - click for full size image)	He kept the audience laughing throughout his sermon, often playing with notions of sexual identity. He joked about his cleavage (he uses tape to get the desired effect) and the shaving and clothes needed to complete his gender transformation. "It takes a lot of work," he said. "A woman in heels deserves respect, because it ain't easy, baby." He said he does not dress in drag all the time, usually only when he preaches or sings with his jazz band. But underlying all his humor, Trinity had a more serious message. He said he was saddened that transgendered people are made to feel like outcasts, adding that someone once asked him if it was necessary to be transgendered to fight for the rights of transgendered people. His response was clear. "I replied, not on your life, honey. Anyone can fight for anyone." He said transgendered people are everywhere, in all walks of life, and more and more are "coming out" all the time. He said the United States is having "serious spiritual trouble, serious male testosterone problems," that transgendered people are better able to solve because they are in touch with both their male and female sides.
*"A woman in heels deserves respect, because it ain't easy, baby."* - The Rev. Trinity	The Rev. Carl Synan, director and campus pastor for United Campus Ministry, praised the sermon. "Trinity was able to explain spiritual growth and that we don't all have to live in the little religious boxes we are either given or create," Synan said. "Growth like that is very much the Christian understanding of freedom." United Campus Ministry co-sponsored the speech. Trinity concluded the sermon by urging audience members to follow their dreams, a point Christina Colon (sophomore-psychology) took home. "If you don't follow your dreams and your goals, you'll never truly be happy," Colon said. "You will be living someone else's life."