Transsexual performer entertains

What do gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender and transsexuals have in common with Southern… What do gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender and transsexuals have in common with Southern belles who attend debutante balls?

Coming out.

Scott Turner Schofield – a female-to-male transsexual entertainer – visited Pitt Wednesday night to perform “Debutante Balls,” a solo performance that recounts gender ambiguous issues while using the setting and the preparation for debutante balls as a metaphor for the search of identity.

The event was sponsored by the Rainbow Alliance and the Campus Women’s Organization.

Schofield changed out of his pants and fake tuxedo T-shirt into a leopard dress with a shawl and high heels to enliven the audience. He even took off boxers to reveal leopard skin panties.

Schofield also made many jokes, toying with stereotypes that people have about gender, social classes and the South.

But, beyond laughter from the audience, some serious thoughts were presented.

Normal lighting dramatically changed to spotlighting when Schofield addressed something profound such as being caught in the “light” of other people’s judgment.

The room went dark during one point of the show. Schofield then turned on a flashlight. He shined the light onto random people and asked, “What are you?”

Responses ranged from “gay” to “straight” to “normal,” and the crowd supported every answer by clapping and hollering.

“The message of my work is about accepting yourself and to bring out commonalities. Everyone has a gender,” Schofield said. “Come out for whatever you are.”

The show ended with a question and answer session about his career and about transgender and transsexual issues. Audience members had a chance to further their learning because, as Rainbow Alliance President Sara Fatell said, these issues are not something that everyone understands.

According to the pamphlet handed out at the event, a transgender is someone whose gender experience does not match the sex they were born with, whereas transsexuals take hormones or use surgery to modify their sex features.

Alyssa Andrea, a member of the Rainbow Alliance, attended the event to learn.

“I have a lot of transgender friends, so I was interested in the issues,” she said.

Schofield said that he always felt like a boy, even as a child. Throughout his adolescence and early adulthood, he transitioned from a lesbian to a transgender to a transsexual, which happened about two years ago when he began taking male hormones.

He started his career in 2000 in New York City, and his self-written show “Debutante Balls” has been performed at college campuses since 2004.

Schofield presents himself as male and female during his show as a means to tell his story, which he feels is a key to creating change.

“Any kind of change happens when you listen to each other’s stories,” Schofield said. “And we all have important stories.”