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Boy Has Only Become More When We Are Born, We Are Around Gender, Whether We Choose Timely, Poignant, Illuminating and Essential

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Boy Has Only Become More When We Are Born, We Are Around Gender, Whether We Choose Timely, Poignant, Illuminating and Essential YOUR GUIDEYOUR TIMELINE TO PRODUCTIONS CHICAGO PREMIERE BY ANNA ZIEGLER DIRECTED BY DAMON KIELY BACKSTORY “Something profound is happening three years ago), Boy has only become more When we are born, we are around gender, whether we choose timely, poignant, illuminating and essential. And assigned a gender. Usually this to see it or not.” – National Geographic whether your life experience has included a depth is straightforward: a child’s body of understanding about gender identity, or these is neatly defined as “male” or In January 2017, National Geographic issues feel foreign or taboo, the characters in the “female,” and they grow up to declared us to be in the midst of a “gender play are so recognizable and relatable. identify accordingly. People revolution,” as issues affecting transgender Dear Friends, On the subsequent pages of this Backstory, who identify with their gender and intersex people have pushed to the fore- I’m proud to welcome you to Anna I encourage you to further explore a glossary of assignment are referred to as front of news cycles and legislative agendas Ziegler’s Boy. We previously fea- terms and the play's historical context, a timeline CISGENDER (CIS), and com- alike. In Boy, Anna Ziegler tells one of the sto- A MESSAGE A tured this beautiful play at a one- of notable events, and on the following page, a prise most of the population. ries at this revolution's roots—the story of Dr. night event in 2014, also directed further examination of why TimeLine is eager to But it isn’t always so simple. PLAY THE John Money (the basis for the character of by Damon Kiely, as part of our share this story today. Roughly 1 in 1,500 people are Dr. Wendell Barnes in Boy), who co-founded America’s first gender identity clinic 50 years TimePieces Play Reading Series. While David Reimer’s life ultimately ended in INTERSEX, with bodies that Anna was still developing the play have traits typically assigned ago, and more importantly, the very personal tragedy, Anna elected to focus (and conclude) her story of his signature patient. at the time, and we’re delighted to play with hopefulness and love, while opening a to both genders. Many appear continue our collaboration with her door to issues in need of further examination and visually ambiguous, while others That patient, David Reimer (the basis for the as she quickly becomes one of the conversation. In the artist interview starting on seem clear-cut until the onset character of Adam in Boy), would most likely country’s most prolific and insightful POINT STARTING THE of puberty reveals unexpected have identified himself as neither transgender page 9 of this Backstory, actor Theo Germaine AND ITS TIES TO TODAY playwrights. results. Intersexuality often nor intersex. But his story strikes at the heart articulates some of those issues with thoughts BOY Boy is inspired by the true story of that are as eloquent as the performance Theo carries an incredible stigma. of the issues facing both of these popula- David Reimer and the decisions gives as the central character, Adam. Historically, doctors have typi- tions today. Like many transgender people, cally forced intersex people into he was raised in a gender that didn’t fit about his gender identity that his Finally, I must acknowledge one of the invaluable FROM ARTISTIC DIRECTOR POWERS PJ one gender or the other, includ- him; like many intersex people, that gender parents and Dr. John Money made advocates for this play—Josephine Kearns. A WORDS TO KNOW TO WORDS ing through “normalizing” sur- assignment was surgically foisted upon him during David’s childhood. Raised as colleague of more than a decade and a TimeLine a girl, David was forced into an iden- geries in infancy that can have in infancy, causing him lifelong trauma and Associate Artist, serving as both Dramaturg and devastating life-long effects. medical complications. tity he didn't choose, and that never Gender Identity Consultant on this production, fit who he knew himself to be. Josie’s insight and generous spirit have infused this There are also TRANSGENDER Yet Adam was a cisgender male. He was Anna acknowledges that her initial production and our organization in innumerable (TRANS) people—the roughly labeled male when he was born, and he way into writing this play was as a ways. She’s not only one of the most inspiring peo- 1 in 200 who identify with a gen- identified as male later in life. It was only a mother, pondering the countless ple I’ve had the fortune to work alongside, she also der different from the one they horrible accident that changed his story. And ways in which parents can harm exemplifies what TimeLine’s mission is about— were assigned. This could be a so his story illuminates the innate sense of their beloved children’s lives, even taking us by the hand into a discussion about how switch to the opposite gender or gender we all possess, and shows us one with the best intentions or with the the past and present connect and encouraging us a switch to a non-binary (neither example of what can happen when the world best information readily available. all to strive to build a better, more inclusive future. male nor female) identity. around us doesn’t reflect it back to us. Decisions made at even a very young She’s as authentic as you’ll find, therein illuminat- Trans people live in a society TimeLine’s production of Boy features the age can profoundly alter not only a ing the core of what this play is all about. where many laws either allow work of more than half a dozen artists who child’s image, but their ability to live Best, for or explicitly condone dis- identify as transgender. Every element of the as their most authentic self. crimination against them, and production reflects not only Adam’s life expe- In the time since Anna’s initial inspi- as a group they suffer from riences, but also those of the artists telling his ration (and even since our reading unemployment, housing and story. Their stories can be found here, too— work discrimination, suicide, and in the lobby, in this program, on the shelves murder at many times national of the set, and embedded in every detail of “Whether your life experience has included a depth of understanding averages. In all cases, the most the show. Hopefully through their stories and about gender identity, or these issues feel foreign or taboo, the affected group is trans women through Adam’s we can each, whatever our characters in the play are so recognizable and relatable.” of color. identities, see a bit of our own stories as well. THE TIMELINE: For most of the 20th Century, more such stories were told, more trans people GENDER IDENTITY gender was mostly viewed as an began to come out. immutable, binary concept: one AND INTERSEXUALITY was simply either male or fe- OUTSIDE THE BINARY IN MODERN AMERICA male. Males were tough, strong Meanwhile, intersex people—whose bodies 1919 Magnus Hirschfeld’s Institute providers; women were nurtur- typically couldn’t be easily pinned down as either male or female—had been confounding doctors for Sexual Science, the world’s first ing, emotional homemakers. And gender institute, is founded in Berlin. children were raised accordingly, for centuries. Historically, medical treatment of 1933 The Institute for Sexual Science with clothing, toys, schoolwork, and intersex people had been wildly inconsistent. is burned by the Nazis. behavioral expectations separated But in the late 1950s, a team at Johns Hopkins University, headed by Dr. John Money, posed a 1937 The first standardized intersex into distinct groups. The Reimer twins at age five, when David was being raised unique theory: that gender was not strictly innate, treatment protocols are published by THE CONTEXT THE Doctors, too, believed in the impor- as female. but remained fluid through the first couple of Dr. Hugh Hampton Young. tance of this segregation. Organiza- years of life. of the horrors of growing up in a forced gender and tions like UCLA’s Gender Identity Re- December 1, 1952 Christine in a body that didn’t fit him, and called the practice Jorgensen’s gender transition is search Clinic in the 1960s and ‘70s Dr. Money suggested that if intersex infants were of forcing a gender upon infants into question. His revealed in the American press, existed solely to force children into forced to conform to a single gender—including words took on an especially tragic tone when he making her the world’s first the rigid boxes of societal expecta- surgeries to “normalize” ambiguous genitalia— committed suicide in 2004. transgender public figure. tions, especially working to “prevent they could grow up happily in their prescribed 1955–1958 Dr. John Money’s team at [transgenderism] and homosexuality identities. These surgeries, hidden even from the At the same time, the newly formed Intersex Society Johns Hopkins publishes its landmark by training feminine boys to behave patients themselves, quickly became a standard of North America (ISNA) had begun making a similar treatment worldwide. argument. It turned out that the surgeries performed intersex papers, revolutionizing the in masculine ways.” But the boxes treatment of intersex infants. upon intersex infants—which had never been given had begun to be pushed anyway. A LANDMARK CASE a follow-up study—had been damaging lives, too. April 27, 1966 At eight months old, TRAVERSING THE BINARY In 1967, Dr. Money was presented with a unique Many intersex people came forward with stories of David Reimer’s body is mutilated by a botched circumcision.
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