Introduction: Letters, Privacy and Ethics

"There is a difference between shame and the desire for confidentiality. There is a difference between pride and unnecessary exposure." -Jamison Green, FTM 28

Letters

Letters have long been the way that GLBT individuals have sought out mentors to ask the most intimate questions that they have been able to ask friends, family or their doctors. Lou Sullivan wrote to individuals around the globe mentoring them about FTM issues. This exhibit follows Lou's letters to a man named David. David's identity is kept anonymous in order to distance the letters from the past. Knowing little about who the letters are intended for, it is easier for us (present day readers) to see that the letters are actually written to all of us.

Like Lou's letters to David, Man-i-fest seeks to use newsletters, letters and photos from the past to mentor to individuals in the present. The central items in this exhibit come from Gateway: the newsletter of Golden Gate Girls/Guys; FTM; and Lou Sullivan’s photos of his transition.

For more information, visit the Lou Sullivan Papers at the GLBT Historical Society.

Privacy

The tension transmale mentors must hold, is the desire to pass as men and the need to be out in order to educate and advocate for other transmen. More on this subject can be found in FTM Issue 28 "Pride v. Confidentiality."

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  FTM Issue 28

Ethics

This exhibit makes public Lou Sullivan's intimate transition photos. Making public what are traditionally called "private" parts, runs the risk of exploiting and continuing the oversexualization that trans individuals regularly experience. However, the photos displayed are of Lou Sullivan a man who not only dedicated his life to FTM mentoring. Donated to the GLBT Historical Society, which Lou helped to establish, Lou intended these photos along with his papers to serve as a legacy of his life and work. In this way Lou continues to mentor to GLBT individuals after his death. While some may use these photos inappropriately, in today's society where so much inaccurate information about transmen can be found on the internet, these photos are intended to be educational.

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