Nancy Nangeroni

Last updated
Nancy Nangeroni
Born (1953-09-30) September 30, 1953 (age 70)
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Education MIT, 1976 - Electrical Engineering
Occupation(s)Electrical engineer, activist, radio host, designer
OrganizationInternational Foundation for Gender Education

Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition

Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico

Nancy Nangeroni is an American diversity educator and transgender community activist. She is a founder of GenderTalk Radio, the award-winning talk show about gender and transgender issues that was broadcast from 1995 to 2006 on WMBR in Cambridge, Massachusetts. [1] Nangeroni served as an executive director of the International Foundation for Gender Education and Chair of the Steering Committee of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition. [2]

Contents

Career and impact

Nancy Nangeroni created the talk show GenderTalk Radio in 1995. [3] The show was focused on transgender history and contemporary issues and co-hosted by Gordene MacKenzie and Nangeroni herself. [4] It was broadcast weekly for over 11 years, ending in 2008. [3]

In the early 1990s, Nangeroni also founded the Boston area chapter of The Transexual Menace. [1] Throughout the decade, she wrote about trans and gender issues, co-editing and publishing the collection In Your Face: The Journal of Political Activism, [5] and commented continuously on anti-transgender violence and bigotry in Boston-area newspapers. [6] In 1995, after the murder of transgender youth Brandon Teena, Nangeroni helped organize one of the first national actions against trans violence. [7] The demonstration was held outside of Falls City, Nebraska, and was attended by over 40 trans activists, including Leslie Feinberg and Kate Bornstein. [8]

With Transexual Menace, Nangeroni led the vigil for Rita Hester, a Black transgender woman murdered in Allston, Massachusetts on November 28, 1998. [9] The event of violence towards a transgender person inspired the International Transgender Day of Remembrance, a campaign held annually to remember and honor the lives of transgender people reported murdered during the year. [10] [11] Nangeroni said of the International Transgender Day of Remembrance in 2014: "Until people no longer suffer violence for daring to openly live their true gender, the TDOR remains an important reminder of the worldwide hostility, violence, and murder that too many brothers, sisters, and genderqueers suffer every day. TDOR is about remembering and honoring victims and standing together in the community against gender-based hate."

At the time of Hester's death, Nancy Nangeroni chronicled the troubled media response to the event. [12] In 2000, to commemorate the second anniversary of the murder, Nangeroni interviewed Hester's mother Kathleen and younger sister Diana on GenderTalk. [13] From 2006 to 2008, Nangeroni and MacKenzie co-produced and co-hosted "'GenderVision,' an educational cable television program about gender identity." [2]

Nangeroni is a Chair Emeritus of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition, where she served for six years. [14]

Personal life

Early life and transition

Nangeroni was born in Boston and raised in Milton, MA. [15] For many years, a closeted Nangeroni privately identified as a crossdresser or transvestite, but lived publicly as a cisgender man. Later, she moved to Silverlake, Los Angeles. When she was 27, she collided with a car while riding her motorcycle, leaving her hospitalized for many weeks. This experience led Nangeroni to decide to come out to her family as a transgender woman; while her parents were supportive, she did not immediately begin to live publicly as a woman. [16]

Upon returning to Boston, Nangeroni subscribed to TAPESTRY, a publication for trans and gender-nonconforming people published by the Tiffany Club and the International Foundation for Gender Education. [17] She attended Fantasia Fair [18] in Provincetown, MA and there felt that she was able to live freely as a woman for the first time; after that she became active in the trans and crossdressing community. [19]

Later life and activism

Starting in the 1990s, Nangeroni became an activist and leader in the Massachusetts transgender community. Nangeroni also worked as an electrical engineer until 2004, when a spinal injury forced her to leave the field. In 1998, Nangeroni met her partner Gordene MacKenzie, with whom she produced GenderVision and Gender Talk. [20] They lived together in Cambridge, MA, and then Beverly, MA until the mid-2010's. Since 2017, she has focused on design work and memoir writing. [21] Nangeroni and MacKenzie married in 2018 and currently live in New Mexico. [3] Her website details her current work, including past membership on the board of the Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico. [22]

Awards and recognition

In 2000, GenderTalk received an award from GLAAD for "Outstanding LGBT Radio". [23] In 2020, Nancy Nangeroni was an honoree for the 2020 HistoryMaker Awards, presented by The History Project, Boston's LGBTQ+ archive. [24]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transfeminism</span> Branch of feminism

Transfeminism, or trans feminism, is a branch of feminism focused on transgender women and informed by transgender studies. Transfeminism focuses on the effects of transmisogyny and patriarchy on trans women. It is related to the broader field of queer theory. The term was popularized by Emi Koyama in The Transfeminist Manifesto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transgender Day of Remembrance</span> Day to memorialize transphobia victims

The Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR), also known as the International Transgender Day of Remembrance, has been observed annually from its inception on November 20 to memorialize those who have been murdered as a result of transphobia. The day was founded to draw attention to the continued violence directed toward transgender people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexandra Billings</span> American actress (born 1962)

Alexandra Scott Billings is an American actress, singer, and teacher. Billings, a trans woman, played one of TV's first openly transgender characters in 2005 made-for-TV movie Romy and Michele: In the Beginning. She is also known for portraying the recurring character Davina in the Amazon series Transparent and has played transgender characters in ER, Eli Stone, How to Get Away with Murder, Grey's Anatomy and The Conners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Coffey</span> American actress

Elizabeth Lamont Coffey Williams, simply known by her maiden name Elizabeth Coffey, is an American actress and transgender activist. Coffey, a trans woman, had small but notable roles in four of the early films of John Waters, becoming a member of the Dreamlanders, his regular cast. Her work has been show at multiple national venues, including the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Chicago Art Institute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transgender</span> Gender identity other than sex assigned at birth

A transgender person is someone whose gender identity differs from that typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth. Some transgender people who desire medical assistance to transition from one sex to another identify as transsexual. Transgender is also an umbrella term; in addition to including people whose gender identity differs from the gender typically associated with their assigned sex at birth, it may also include people who are non-binary or genderqueer. Other definitions of transgender also include people who belong to a third gender, or else conceptualize transgender people as a third gender. The term may also include cross-dressers or drag kings and drag queens in some contexts. The term transgender does not have a universally accepted definition, including among researchers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transgender rights movement</span>

The transgender rights movement is a movement to promote the legal status of transgender people and to eliminate discrimination and violence against transgender people regarding housing, employment, public accommodations, education, and health care. A major goal of transgender activism is to allow changes to identification documents to conform with a person's current gender identity without the need for gender-affirming surgery or any medical requirements, which is known as gender self-identification. It is part of the broader LGBT rights movements.

Christine Beatty is an American writer, musician and transgender activist. She is one of the first trans women to perform and record as a heavy metal musician.

Rita Hester was a transgender African American woman who was murdered in Allston (Boston), Massachusetts, on November 28, 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laverne Cox</span> American actress and LGBT advocate (born 1972)

Laverne Cox is an American actress and LGBT advocate. She rose to prominence with her role as Sophia Burset on the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black, becoming the first transgender person to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in an acting category, and the first to be nominated for an Emmy Award since composer Angela Morley in 1990. In 2015, she won a Daytime Emmy Award in Outstanding Special Class Special as executive producer for Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word, making her the first trans woman to win the award. In 2017, she became the first transgender person to play a transgender series regular on U.S. broadcast TV as Cameron Wirth on CBS's Doubt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transgender history in the United States</span>

This article addresses the history of transgender people in the United States from prior to Western contact until the present. There are a few historical accounts of transgender people that have been present in the land now known as the United States at least since the early 1600s. Before Western contact, some Native American tribes had third gender people whose social roles varied from tribe to tribe. People dressing and living differently from the gender roles typical of their sex assigned at birth and contributing to various aspects of American history and culture have been documented from the 17th century to the present day. In the 20th and 21st centuries, advances in gender-affirming surgery as well as transgender activism have influenced transgender life and the popular perception of transgender people in the United States.

Transgender Awareness Week, observed November 13 to November 19, is a one-week celebration leading up to the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR), which memorializes victims of transphobic violence. TDoR occurs annually on November 20, when transgender advocates raise awareness of the transgender community through education and advocacy activities.

Ariadne "Ari" Kane is a crossdresser, activist, educator, and one of the founders of the Fantasia Fair. She runs Theseus Counseling Services which specializes in gender issues and remains open currently in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gwendolyn Ann Smith</span> Founder of Transgender Day of Remembrance

Gwendolyn Smith is an American transgender woman from the San Francisco Bay Area who co-founded Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day to memorialize people who have been killed as a result of transphobia. Trans/Active: A Biography of Gwendolyn Ann Smith is a biography about Smith published in July 2017.

The following is a timeline of transgender history. Transgender history dates back to the first recorded instances of transgender individuals in ancient civilizations. However, the word transgenderism did not exist until 1965 when coined by psychiatrist John F. Oliven of Columbia University in his 1965 reference work Sexual Hygiene and Pathology; the timeline includes events and personalities that may be viewed as transgender in the broadest sense, including third gender and other gender-variant behavior, including ancient or modern precursors from the historical record.

Discrimination against transgender men and transmasculine individuals is sometimes referred to as transandrophobia, anti-transmasculinity, or transmisandry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transphobia in the United States</span> Prejudice against Americans of other gender identity than assigned at birth

Transphobia in the United States has changed over time. Understanding and acceptance of transgender people have both decreased and increased during the last few decades depending on the details of the issues which have been facing the public. Various governmental bodies in the United States have enacted anti-transgender legislation. Social issues in the United States also reveal a level of transphobia. Because of transphobia, transgender people in the U.S. face increased levels of violence and intimidation. Cisgender people can also be affected by transphobia.

Jahaira DeAlto Balenciaga was a social work student, community advocate, anti-domestic violence activist, house mother, and local ballroom drag scene performer in Boston, Massachusetts, US.

Chanelle Pickett was a Black transgender woman whose death helped inspire the creation of the Transgender Day of Remembrance.

References

  1. 1 2 "Nancy Nangeroni Interview". theoutwordsarchive.org. Retrieved 2021-11-28.
  2. 1 2 Kowalska, Monika (2014-04-25). "The Heroines of My Life: Interview with Nancy Nangeroni". The Heroines of My Life. Retrieved 2021-11-28.
  3. 1 2 3 "Nancy Nangeroni bio | GenderTalk" . Retrieved 2021-11-28.
  4. ↑ "GenderTalk". iHeart. Retrieved 2024-03-09.
  5. ↑ "Collection: In Your Face - Digital Transgender Archive Search Results". www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
  6. ↑ Allen, Samantha (2015-11-20). "The Trans Murder That Started a Movement". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
  7. ↑ "Nancy Nangeroni". The Outwords Archive. Retrieved 2024-03-09.
  8. ↑ Wilchins, Riki; Beemyn, Genny (2021), "Transexual Menace", The SAGE Encyclopedia of Trans Studies, Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc., pp. 858–859, retrieved 2023-03-12
  9. ↑ Times, The Rainbow (2015-11-04). "Trans Community & Allies to Honor Transgender Lives During TDOR 2015". The Rainbow Times | New England's Largest LGBTQ Newspaper | Boston. Retrieved 2021-11-28.
  10. ↑ Phelps, Rob (23 September 2020). "Boston's HistoryMaker Awards goes virtual through month of October | Boston Spirit Magazine" . Retrieved 2021-11-28.
  11. ↑ "'Everybody knew Rita': Decades later, still no answers in slaying of Black trans woman". NBC News. 2020-07-15. Retrieved 2024-03-09.
  12. ↑ "Rita Hester's Murder and the Language of Respect | GenderTalk" . Retrieved 2021-11-28.
  13. ↑ "'Everybody knew Rita': Decades later, still no answers in slaying of Black trans woman". NBC News. 15 July 2020. Retrieved 2021-11-28.
  14. ↑ "Here's what most people get wrong about the transgender community". PBS NewsHour. 2015-04-23. Retrieved 2021-11-28.
  15. ↑ "Nancy Nangeroni". The Outwords Archive. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
  16. ↑ "Living to Tell and Telling to Live | GenderTalk" . Retrieved 2023-03-12.
  17. ↑ "Transgender Tapestry - Digital Transgender Archive". www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
  18. ↑ "About TransWeek | TransWeek" . Retrieved 2023-03-12.
  19. ↑ Kowalska, Monika (2014-04-25). "The Heroines of My Life: Interview with Nancy Nangeroni". The Heroines of My Life. Retrieved 2024-03-09.
  20. ↑ "Gordene MacKenzie Bio | GenderTalk" . Retrieved 2024-03-09.
  21. ↑ "Nancy Nangeroni bio | GenderTalk" . Retrieved 2024-03-09.
  22. ↑ "Nancy Nangeroni Online". www.nangeroni.net. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
  23. ↑ "What Does Transgender Day of Remembrance Mean to You - Q&A with Ethan St. Pierre | GLAAD". www.glaad.org. Retrieved 2021-11-28.
  24. ↑ "Announcing the 2020 HistoryMaker Awards Honorees | The History Project". historyproject.org. Retrieved 2021-11-28.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.