Non-binary male who believes little girls are ‘kinky’ featured during LA school districts week-long celebration of Transgender Day of Visibility

The LAUSD’s Instagram page contains information about the type of activities taking place during this week-long Day of Visibility with a caption explaining that the school district strives to “make every school a welcoming, safe, healthy, and affirming” environment for all students, staff and families, including transgender and non-binary communities.

For elementary school students, teachers are advised to read books with trans or non-binary characters to mark the occasion, and to have students complete colouring pages to help them learn more about transgender and non-binary activists and trailblazers.

At the secondary school level, teachers are directed towards lessons on LGBTQ+ history and encouraged to take part in a “school-wide” door decorating contest.

For all schools, it is recommended to “have announcements introducing transgender trailblazers and activists throughout the day.”

The trailblazers and activists are listed along with scripts for the announcements. There is Bamby Salcedo, described as a “trans Latina activist” from Los Angeles whose life has been dedicated to “uplifting and supporting the trans ‘Latinx’ community.”

Then comes Mia Yamamoto, a trans-identified male criminal defence attorney in California; and Marsha P. Johnson, a gay drag queen who has in recent years been given the label “trans woman” despite not ever identifying in such a way.

The only female to make it onto the list is professional boxer Patricio “Pat” Manuel. Manuel made history by becoming the first transgender boxer to compete in a professional boxing match in the US and win.

But the last trailblazer on the list is a controversial choice.

“Let’s meet Alok Vaid-Menon,” begins the announcement script. “Alok is a gender non-conforming performance artist and author who expresses themself [sic] through colourful fashion. Alok believes, ‘man and woman are two of many - stars in a constellation that do not compete but amplify one another’s shine’.”

Leaving aside how confusing such wishy-washy sentiments might be to young impressionable minds still discovering the world, there are other reasons to question the suitability of presenting Alok as a role model to students.

Words attributed to Alok, from a Facebook post shared on the non-binary activist’s Darkmatter Facebook page, express some questionable views. Darkmatter was the name of the performance duo to which Alok participated, along with Janani Balasubramanian, a fellow queer artist and activist.

“I believe in the radical notion that little girls, like the rest of us, are complicated people,” reads the post. “There are no fairy tales and no princesses here. Little girls are also queer, trans, kinky, deviant, kind, mean, beautiful, ugly, tremendous, and peculiar.”

Your kids aren’t as straight and narrow as you think they are,” continues the post. “Like everybody else. I’ve been a cute little girl. And a gender nonconforming adult. Let me tell you, everywhere along that spectrum I’ve been complicated and strange.”

Then the post goes on to suggest The Exorcist horror film is actually a story about a little girl discovering her sexuality, masturbating and exploring her demons who can only be saved by white men from a church.

“What if instead of moving from the ‘Exorcist’ model of little girlhood, we moved from a place that acknowledged that no one is a perfect pure flower that can be corrupted. That everyone is at once capable of receiving and enacting violence, including little girls,” concludes the post. “That we all give and receive violence to varying degrees, but that this is not a fairy tale. No one is purely good or evil. Look around: there are no princesses.”