# The lovely Alexis Arquette: First openly trans reality TV star? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 22, 2006, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lovely-alexis-arquette-first-openly-trans-reality-tv-star/349450 "2006-03-22T17:00:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lovely-alexis-arquette-first-openly-trans-reality-tv-star/349450/21 "2006-03-22T20:37:41Z")
> [@Lochdale](#): > > I’d still throw one into Tanwy Kitaen though. This makes me wonder if anybody’s watching because they want to have sex with Sherman Helmsley. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lovely-alexis-arquette-first-openly-trans-reality-tv-star/349450/22 "2006-03-22T20:41:08Z")
> [@Ensign Edison](#): > > You’re confusing me, then. What does “I’m saying that the way she’s presenting herself as a woman is remarkably identical to how she presented herself as a drag queen.” mean? What’s remarkable about it? She’s the same person she always was. She has, as I noted in my OP, a hell of a personality, it’s true, but so what? > > I guess you must have only known one kind of drag queen, then. I’ve known many different kinds, and some are definitely divas all the time. I get what Otto’s saying. I, too, thought that “drag queen” was an act; a personality created for the stage. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lovely-alexis-arquette-first-openly-trans-reality-tv-star/349450/23 "2006-03-22T21:14:12Z")
> [@Push You Down](#): > > And Ma Brady if she makes out with him. She can actually be pretty raunchy if I’m remembering some of her appearances correctly. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lovely-alexis-arquette-first-openly-trans-reality-tv-star/349450/24 "2006-03-22T21:18:03Z")
> [@Ensign Edison](#): > > Arquette sister Alexis is now appearing on VH1’s The Surreal Life…She also seems like something of an attention whore I’d guess the first pretty much requires the second. ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lovely-alexis-arquette-first-openly-trans-reality-tv-star/349450/25 "2006-03-23T02:18:27Z")
from Merriam-Webster, online: **transvestite** : a person and especially a male who adopts the dress and often the behavior typical of the opposite sex especially for purposes of emotional or sexual gratification **cross-dressing** : the wearing of clothes designed for the opposite sex All transvestites cross-dress, but not all cross-dressers are transvestites. **transsexual** : a person who psychologically identifies with the opposite sex and may seek to live as a member of this sex especially by undergoing surgery and hormone therapy to obtain the necessary physical appearance (as by changing the external sex organs) **drag queen** : a male homosexual who dresses as a woman To be a drag queen, one must be a gay male… From wiki, with the usual disclaimers … **Drag Kings** are female-bodied or female-identified persons who either\* temporarily attempt to pass as men, usually off-stage, or\* perform male characters in often ostentatious mens’ clothes on stage, often with hilariously exaggerated macho attitudes, or \* show and/or perform a mixture of male and female characteristics, both on and off stage. This is also called gender-bending or genderqueer or\* attempt to present themselves in a male gender role without identifying as a man. To be a drag king, one need only be a female… **Drag Queens** are performers - usually gay men, sometimes transgendered women - who dress in “drag,” clothing associated with the female gender, usually highly exaggerated versions thereof. Drag queens often do drag to perform, singing or lip-syncing and dancing, participating in events such as gay pride parades, cabarets, discotheques, and other celebrations and venues. The common denominator of a Draq King/Queen is the spoofing of exaggerated gender image and behaviour. Confused yet? Arquette is best described as a drag queen who is either milking the DQ thing for all it’s worth, or who is truly transgendered and went through a stage of drag queen behaviour. If Arquette went through everything but the vaginoplasty, the correct term is pre-operative transsexual. ---
**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lovely-alexis-arquette-first-openly-trans-reality-tv-star/349450/26 "2006-03-23T02:22:16Z")
> [@cerberus](#): > > If Arquette went through everything but the vaginoplasty, the correct term is pre-operative transsexual. The correct term is whatever Ms. Arquette prefers, which in this case is ‘transgender woman’, according to her own statements. She is who she is regardless of whether random strangers on the internet think she’s lying for the fame or whatever, I’m sure. ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lovely-alexis-arquette-first-openly-trans-reality-tv-star/349450/27 "2006-03-23T03:01:35Z")
Words have meaning, :wally , and I’m attempting to clarify some of the confusion regarding the vernacular “trannie” that was expressed earlier in this thread. _If we use the words as they are currently defined_, Arquette started out as a drag queen, and at some point transitioned into a working transsexual, with the publicly-stated intention of undergoing full-on SRS. And based on sporadic comments made by Arquette, she apparantly fully intends to proceed fully with SRS. There is nothing wrong with distinguishing between the various types of GBLT people. If Arquette wants to call herself a transgendered, invisible pink unicorn, that’s just fine. But the record indicates that she is a pre-operative, male-to-female transsexual. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lovely-alexis-arquette-first-openly-trans-reality-tv-star/349450/28 "2006-03-23T03:04:36Z")
While we’re defining things (and I’m old enough not to know _what_ the hell I’m called this week), could we please cool it with “tranny?” It’s up there with “nigger” and “cunt” and is really _de trop_ in such polite company as the SDMB. (a-_hem_) ---
**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lovely-alexis-arquette-first-openly-trans-reality-tv-star/349450/29 "2006-03-23T03:04:38Z")
> [@cerberus](#): > > Words have meaning, :wally , and I’m attempting to clarify some of the confusion regarding the vernacular “trannie” that was expressed earlier in this thread. My comment was meant as an addition to yours, not a contradiction of it. I’m sorry if that wasn’t clear. Please don’t ‘putz’ me, this isn’t the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lovely-alexis-arquette-first-openly-trans-reality-tv-star/349450/30 "2006-03-23T03:05:43Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > While we’re defining things (and I’m old enough not to know _what_ the hell I’m called this week), could we please cool it with “tranny?” It’s up there with “nigger” and “cunt” and is really _de trop_ in such polite company as the SDMB. (a-_hem_) I used the word in my OP in full knowledge of its connations. The context was ‘tranny jokes’, meaning, jokes derogatory to trans folks. ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lovely-alexis-arquette-first-openly-trans-reality-tv-star/349450/31 "2006-03-23T03:09:02Z")
Sorry, thought I was being broad-sided for imputing Arquette’s intentions. There is a blurring of transsexual versus tranvestite. Tranny used to refer somewhat casually to transvestites, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lovely-alexis-arquette-first-openly-trans-reality-tv-star/349450/32 "2006-03-23T03:13:16Z")
> [@Ensign Edison](#): > > I used the word in my OP in full knowledge of its connations. The context was ‘tranny jokes’, meaning, jokes derogatory to trans folks. Connations? Connotations, of course. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lovely-alexis-arquette-first-openly-trans-reality-tv-star/349450/33 "2006-03-23T09:29:14Z")
If you want a gay man who dresses like a woman (and who has had extensive facial cosmetic surgery to appear more feminine), but who denies being transexual, transvestitie or a Drag Queen, you want [Pete Burns](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Burns). As for Alexis, well more power to her, whatever makes her happy (although I suspect that reality TV isn’t it). ---
**Author:** ![Monkey\_Chews](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@Monkey\_Chews](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monkey_Chews)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lovely-alexis-arquette-first-openly-trans-reality-tv-star/349450/34 "2006-03-23T11:06:58Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > While we’re defining things (and I’m old enough not to know _what_ the hell I’m called this week), could we please cool it with “tranny?” It’s up there with “nigger” and “cunt” and is really _de trop_ in such polite company as the SDMB. (a-_hem_) Really?? Is this true? I work in a residential service that has a fair number of transgendered clients, and includes several transgendered workers, and all of us - workers and clients - use “tranny” all the time. And not in a “reclaimed” way like “queer”, but just as a usual, everyday term. Then again, we’re in Australia, and Australians like to abbreviate everything. (From what I’ve picked up from this board, I think we also use “queer” in more polite circles than would be done in the US.) Do others find this term offensive? On the same level as “nigger”? Is there a difference between its use in Australia and the US? I was actually quite shocked when I read **Eve** ’s objection, as it’s a term I use all the time, and wouldn’t have thought twice about using it on the SDMB. (Which I obviously won’t be doing in the future, so thanks for the heads up.) ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lovely-alexis-arquette-first-openly-trans-reality-tv-star/349450/35 "2006-03-23T11:57:51Z")
…[Georgina Beyer](http://www.ps.parliament.govt.nz/mp137.htm) is a bit of a Kiwi celebrity: she was the first transexual to be elected mayor (winning the mayoralty in an area with a white, rural majority), and the first transexual to be elected into parliament, where she is currently in her second term. She is a fantastic lady, and one of the most polite people I had the pleasure of meeting in my time working at parliament. She starred in the New Zealand version of [Dancing with the Stars](http://www.georginabeyer.com/photos/dancing_290405.htm) where she simply dazzled on the dance floor. Definitely not the first openly transexual on reality TV, but most certainly one of the highlights. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgina\_Beyer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgina_Beyer) ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lovely-alexis-arquette-first-openly-trans-reality-tv-star/349450/36 "2006-03-23T12:50:10Z")
> [@Monkey Chews](#): > > Really?? Is this true? I work in a residential service that has a fair number of transgendered clients, and includes several transgendered workers, and all of us - workers and clients - use “tranny” all the time. And not in a “reclaimed” way like “queer”, but just as a usual, everyday term. I’ve only heard it used in a reclaimed way, or as an insult. > [@](#): > > Do others find this term offensive? On the same level as “nigger”? Without the cues of face to face interaction, or a larger context, I assume that the person using the term is unaware of the connotation, or is trying to offend. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lovely-alexis-arquette-first-openly-trans-reality-tv-star/349450/37 "2006-03-23T13:47:27Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > I’ve only heard it used in a reclaimed way, or as an insult. > > Without the cues of face to face interaction, or a larger context, I assume that the person using the term is unaware of the connotation, or is trying to offend. I originally thought it was “shorthand”. It never occurred to me that it was insulting. I was corrected on these very boards. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lovely-alexis-arquette-first-openly-trans-reality-tv-star/349450/38 "2006-03-23T13:59:11Z")
On the SDMB, I assume that any poster using the term is unaware of its conotation. We have people from many countries and cultures. English is not the first language of some posters. The movements by various groups to reclaim words makes it unclear what is and is not an acceptable term. Please don’t view this as an attack, but simply as information. ---
**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lovely-alexis-arquette-first-openly-trans-reality-tv-star/349450/39 "2006-03-23T14:55:26Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > On the SDMB, I assume that any poster using the term is unaware of its conotation. We have people from many countries and cultures. English is not the first language of some posters. The movements by various groups to reclaim words makes it unclear what is and is not an acceptable term. > > Please don’t view this as an attack, but simply as information. I was the only one to use the term, I believe, and subsequent uses just quoted me. I thought my context made it clear that I wasn’t using the word seriously, given my obvious trans-positive position, but I do apologize for failing to be clear enough. I have this problem often around here – see my sig, the trouble with me is I think things are funny. 😉 Anyway, it provided a Learning Moment, so no harm done, I hope. Oh, yeah, and I too have only heard it either in a reclamation context or a fetishistic one, that being the problem to begin with, of course. Just to back up the good Doc’s statement there. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lovely-alexis-arquette-first-openly-trans-reality-tv-star/349450/40 "2006-03-23T15:14:51Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > While we’re defining things (and I’m old enough not to know _what_ the hell I’m called this week), could we please cool it with “tranny?” It’s up there with “nigger” and “cunt” :eek: I always figured it was a bit crass – after all, it’s a car part. You don’t go around calling people “driveshafts” or “crankcases”\*. But an outright slur…I guess every group has to agree on at least one. \*As opposed to “crank cases,” who are all _over_ the damn place. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lovely-alexis-arquette-first-openly-trans-reality-tv-star/349450.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lovely-alexis-arquette-first-openly-trans-reality-tv-star/349450.md?page=3)