'Tranny Roadshow' uses humor to educate

Wearing a debutante gown on a dress rack, Scott Turner Schofield wheeled down the aisle at the "Tranny Roadshow."\n"When you're coming out as a debutante," he said, "you pray for a summer gala to avoid being spotted in white after labor day. Isn't that what being queer is all about?"\nUnion Board sponsored the 10-performer show from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday in the IMU Gallery.\nFabric swatches, collage cutouts and colored pencil drawings plastered the walls with slogans.\n"It isn't our fault," one paper read.\nSchofield acted out a hilarious scene involving him in a southern Alabama Walgreens wearing a visor and shirt that read "Gay Phi Gay Dirty Fratboy" while trying to buy makeup for a friend's debutante ball. On stage, he changed into a leopard dress, struggling with the zipper and high heels.\nWill O'Berry, a program coordinator at GLBT Student Support Services, said the show visited IU as part of the National Day of Silence, which is today. Volunteers wear T-shirts that say "equality is my priority" and take a vow of silence for one day to represent the quiet that closeted individuals face everyday.\n"When comments are made, there is a certain silence that is placed upon that person," he said. \nSome of the "Tranny Roadshow" performers told stories about the way people react when they come out.\nKelly Shortandqueer, a transgender male who has changed his name, performed a stand-up comedy routine about his time working at OfficeMax. \nTwo days after he started taking testosterone, a male co-worker casually mentioned that he used to find Shortandqueer attractive.\n"You don't look any different after two days of taking testosterone," Shortandqueer said.\nShortandqueer, who wore a brown T-shirt and black baggy pants, played a tape of his voice before he started taking testosterone. He recorded his voice on one tape before every injection. In a five-minute span, he played a tape that represented a year's worth of testosterone shots and octave drops.\nAnother performer talked about the anxiety he felt when coming out to his father.\n"These things can either turn out like 'I burnt some muffins' or 'I killed the babysitter,'" he said.\nThe Roadshow tries to invite local transgender people to perform with the show when it's town.\nIlan Blustein, who lives in Bloomington, used a spoken-word skit to teach the audience about gender conformity.\nBefore the show, he said he was taking a big risk by putting himself on stage and confronting his own transgender biases.\nJamez Terry is one of the people who started the Tranny Roadshow. \n"My dream was a show that would mix education with entertainment and make trans issues seem more fun and less intellectual," he said in an e-mail. \n"Our mantra has been that our trans-identities are singular facets of who we are, and the Tranny Roadshow aims to present transpeople as whole, multi-faceted people"