California State University, Northridge

The Minority

Amir Yamini
Brianna Aguilar
Natalie Aparicio
Nick Vo
English 115 #13931
Professor Kubler
09 December 2014

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The Minority
Is it wrong? Is it wrong to be different? Our group dubbed The Minority in
Professor Kublers English 115 class is here to answer that with our project Lost In
Transgender. My main goal as the Director for this music video is to really get across the pain
any lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individual feels. The song Am I
Wrong by Nico and Vinz we have chosen questions repeatedly if the decisions they make in
life are wrong much like any LGBTQ individual. The scene breakdowns progress the same
way we have progressed through this third progression: clips and shots from all videos we have
seen because I feel using them is the right way to show my feelings towards this subject. We
watched many videos and read many articles that helped us understand the struggles of LGBTQ
individuals. A few of the most important to me were the stories of Ludo in My Life In Pink, Jazz
from the documentary I am Jazz, and the stories of Veda and Chi Chi in To Wong Foo Thanks
for Everything, Julie Newmar. I used these stories as inspiration to tell my own.
What we are really trying to discuss is how transvestite people if they should be
considered people at all should fit into society. A little over a year ago, a bill (AB 1266) was
passed that was designed to bring better accommodations to transgendered individuals, and allow
them to fit better into society. The bill allowed for any individual transgendered or not to
choose any gender they best identified with and continue their day as if they were that gender,
Specifies that a pupil shall be permitted to participate in sex-segregated school programs,
activities, and facilities, including athletic teams and competitions, consistent with this or her
gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil's records (Buchanan 1). Now all of
this sounds great because after all the discrimination and harassment transgendered individuals
have endured they can finally be allowed to utilize the restroom they want to, they can try out for

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the sports teams they want to, and they can be the person who they want to be, but alas there are
downsides to everything great. The harassment will not stop towards these children because nonsupporters of AB 1266 will find a way to retaliate. There are two main chorus sections of this
song If you tell me Im wrong, I dont want to by right which I believe really displays how far
LGBTQ individuals have come in their own confidence. They are finally being proud to be
themselves and are no longer scared of being different. It is not right to just blow off LGBTQ
individuals because they have lives to live also. During the music video I helped edit I believe
that I made a strong point to how they can feel on the inside when they are thrown aside and not
acknowledged. During the main chorus I will time clips that are showing an LGBTQ individual
standing up for themselves. Along with the repetitive chorus of Am I Wrong, where I will
show an LGBTQ individual possibly doubting themselves, or being pressured and bullied by
outside people like for example Ludo in My Life in Pink. Unfortunately, because so many
people dont understand these individuals and their situation many people suggest that they can
be fixed but of course this is never the case. The National Center for Transgender Equality
puts it like this, All people, including young people, have a gender identity a deeply rooted
sense of themselves as male or female. Gender identity is distinct from sexual orientation, but
like sexual orientation is a fundamental part of a persons identity that cannot be voluntarily
changed (Face 3). This perfectly sums up the fact that transgender individuals are just like
everyone else, and the only difference is that they were not born with genitalia that usually goes
with the gender they identify with.
Our Project Lost In Transgender was inspired by the struggles that every transgender
individual has to overcome in their life, and the movies we have been exposed to this semester.
As Graphic Designer, I was in charge of creating a newsletter that expressed our views on the

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topic of transgender youth. In my graphic newsletter I included many of the images that I felt
really represented our topic, these images included shots from movies My Life in Pink, and To
Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmar. Bits from these movies were put into the
newsletter because not only were they included in our projects video, but they showed a lot of
emotion through the action of the characters facial expressions and body language. Our message
in images such as the ones where the characters are applying makeup and drag wardrobe are
meant to be easily interpreted. We wanted to show the audience that not only was the song about
being yourself and finding your place in the world, it also meant to say that its still okay to be
yourself no matter how different from others you may be.
Other images shown in the newsletter were from the heartfelt documentary I Am Jazz.
The images used from Jazzs documentary were used to show a more realistic yet more hopeful
side of being a transgender individual. Jazzs images show that with the help of family and
friends and by accepting yourself you can have the life you want. Her images were important to
include because they tie in very well with the songs main theme of if you tell me Im wrong, I
dont want to be right. Most importantly these images really do show what great things can
come when you follow your own path to happiness and dont look back as the song also
suggests. All the pictures used in the newsletter were meant to convey the message that you can
find happiness being exactly who you are, but I believe that the images from the Jazz
documentary expressed it best.
For the layout of the newsletter I also wanted it to represent the theme of the video, which
included a lot of scenes from movies. Because of this I decided to use a movie theme in my
newsletter as well. The movie theme was conveyed through the film strip where I also placed
most of the images. For the title page I used a theater like mirror as the border to add a

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Hollywood like feel. Colors were also used to create the illusion of a sort of theater stage
background, which is why I used colors like burgundy, red, and black. Another part of the
newsletter used to represent a theater stage was the spotlight at the end of the newsletter. The
reason I used the theme of Hollywood, theater was because a lot of the times we talked about
transgender individuals the topic of gender performance came up. This then reminded me about
Judith Butlers theory that gender is something that is performed and not something you are born
with. Overall I wanted the newsletter to really grasp what it means to be transgender in our
society, and also what being transgender is associated with.
In our music video, I did most of the editing. The music video consists of three different
films that we focused in for our argument. We used the films, My Life in Pink, To Wong Foo,
and I am Jazz. We incorporated these films in to our video because we want to show the type of
things transgenders go through. I used certain shots to exaggerate our points across. For example,
I used all of the transgenders, Ludo, Veda, and Noxeema, beginning to get ready. Theyre all
putting their make-up on and getting crossed-dressed. I chose to start the video with these scenes
because it showed the way transgenders change their appearance to be who they truly feel they
are. To show how some of our society treats one as transgender, I used clips from My Life in
Pink where Ludos mother is making him remove his lipstick because he is embarrassing the
whole family in front of the whole neighborhood. I also used a clip where his mother is yelling at
him for simply being himself, which is one of the troubles transgenders go through every day. It
is hard to be accepted by certain people. You get judged left from anything you do. Can you
imagine what kind of things people say about transgenders? What about transyouth? These poor
children who are only being themselves have much more difficulty in being accepted. It not only
affects them, but it affects their families and everyone around them. As you can see throughout

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this music video, Ludo gets bullied and has a difficult time living his life and growing up. We
see two transyouth, Jazz and Ludo, who already know who they truly are inside at such a young
age. Jazz has it a little easier because of how accepting her family is, but there are others who do
not accept nor condone transyouth. Many say its just a phase for our youth to cross-dress and
act out of character. But once the child is consistent with its differences, the family starts to
realize what theyre in for, and can decide whether theyre going to keep their obligation as a
parent which is to love their child unconditionally, or to betray their child and not accept them
for they are.
We also see the bright side to being transgender. Eventually, the transgender individual
will stop caring about what others think and just love themselves for who they are. As I included
in the video, we see all the characters, Ludo, Veda, Naxeema, ChiChi, and Jazz, coming to
accept themselves. We see the three drag queens from To Wong Foo, acting accordingly to the
lyrics of the song that say, thats just how we feel. We see everyone having fun, embracing
themselves. I used scenes from the films where the individuals are having fun and I placed it into
the chorus of the song. The lyrics say Fight for yours and don't let go, don't let them compare
you, no, don't worry, you're not alone, that's just how we feel which is how the characters are
acting. No single transgender individual is alone in their situation. There are Lesbian Gay
Bisexual Transgender Queer (LGBTQ) communities who offer comfort and support to people
who fall in to the LGBTQ categories. The lyrics also insist that people may think they are wrong,
but the transgender individuals dont care. They feel happy being who they are and they are
flaunting what they have. I used the scene from To Wong Foo, when Veda is walking down the
runway as the song says Walk your walk and don't look back, always do what you decide, don't
let them control your life which our group interpreted that no one should control your life or

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what you want to do. Everyone has the right to be who they want and express themselves in any
way that makes them comfortable. Everyone is supposed to feel comfortable in their own skin,
no one should get in the way of that. I use clips from the films of everyone being themselves and
they look genuinely happy. Why would anyone want to take away from that? What someone else
does is not anyones business but their own, so why are there so many nosy, judgmental people
in our world?
The webmasters task is to create a website that will supplement the groups main
argument. The website is comprised of five pages: the home page, background information page,
statistics page, analysis page, and a conclusion page. These pages together form a supplemental
argument to the groups overall argument. The website is called Color the World and the main
point of the site is that gender issues are not black and white. They cannot be simply be placed
into two categories-right and wrong. This brings us to the song Am I Wrong by Niko & Vinz.
A line from the song, If you tell me Im wrong, I dont wanna be right. The definition of right
and wrong is based upon opinion. One mans right could be another mans wrong.
The home page of the website provides an introduction to the supplemental argument.
The background of this page is comprised of a series of small black and white symbolic
representations pairs of people (mostly male-female pairs) and within that series are some
different colored pairs of people (female-female/male-male) that are green, blue, etc. This
background is used to reinforce the idea the black and white idea and also visually show how the
LGBT community is a minority. A black and white image of a crowd is also on the home page.
The special thing about this image is that everything is black and white, except for the LGBT
pride flag. This image ties in with the background well because they both argue the same idea.

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The next page on the site is the background page. The background page is meant to be
informative. It provides the user with information to jump start the brain. Two comic strip
illustrations are used on this page. One is of a gay man whose parents refuse to accept him and
how gay marriage has to be fought for. This is a glimpse of how gay individuals suffer from
rejection. The other comic is of a transgender woman who has to use the bathroom and a security
guard refuses to let her in because he notices she is a male. In the end, the transgender woman
ends up urinating on the spot and on the security guards shoes. This is a way to provide comic
relief while also bringing attention to the challenges transgender individuals face such as simply
using the restroom. Information on Californias law regarding transgenders and the use of
restrooms in school is also provided. Information on the nature vs. nurture debate is also on this
page to inform the user on the different arguments regarding homosexuality and gender queer. A
YouTube video of the documentary I Am Jazz is on this page to give the user a look at the life
of transgender youth in America.
The third page of the website is the statistics page. This page uses infographics and
statistics as concrete evidence to strengthen the supplemental argument of the webmaster. Most
of the infographics on this page relate to the LGBT community and they show the percentages of
those who feel unsafe at school and those who are harassed and called names. These infographics
are used to help the user understand the challenges people in the LGBT community face and how
rejection and harassment affect their lives.
The fourth page is the analysis page. The analysis page is a formal analysis of all the
information on the previous pages. On this page, is evidence behind the nature side of the nature
vs. nurture debate, as well as evidence on the nurture side of the debate. There is also a YouTube
video of Judith Butler and her argument on performativity. This page shows the various sides to

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the source of homosexuality and gender queer. It is meant to prove that there are many sides and
approaches to gender issues.
The final page is the conclusion page. This page sums up the argument in a short
paragraph and also introduces the groups song and artist they are using. The paragraph quickly
explains how gender issues cannot be simply categorized as right and wrong and there are
various sides and arguments. It also ties the webmasters supplemental argument to the groups
overall main argument. Lyrics to the song Am I Wrong are posted on this page for the user to
read and also an image of the artist, Niko & Vinz is on this page. A YouTube link to the groups
project is also provided.
Each of our parts were really important in giving our project an identity. We wanted the
identity of our project to represent something that shined a light on the LGBTQ community and
did it justice. Their problems are real, and it is up to us to help them and that is definitely not
wrong.

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Works Cited
Bradley, S. J., G. D. Oliver, A. B. Chernick, and K. J. Zucker. "Experiment of Nurture:
Ablatio Penis at 2 Months, Sex Reassignment at 7 Months, and a Psychosexual Followup in Young Adulthood." Pediatrics 102.1 (1998): E9. Experiment of Nurture: Ablatio
Penis at 2 Months, Sex Reassignment at 7 Months, and a Psychosexual Follow-up in
Young Adulthood. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.
Brown, Tyler. "The Dangers of Overbroad Transgender Legislation, Case Law, and Policy in
Education: California 's AB 1266 Dismisses Concerns about Student Safety and
Privacy." Brigham Young University Education and Law Journal. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Dec.
2014.
Cummings, Avi, and Dean Spade. "Womens Colleges Are on the Wrong Side of History on
Transgender Women." N.p., 09 June 2014. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.
Face, Ese Young People, 1325 Massachusetts Ave. Nw, Suite 700, and Dc 20005 Washington.
"Peer Violence and Bullying Against Transgender and Gender Nonconforming
Youth." Peer Violence and Bullying Against Transgender and Gender Nonconforming
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Horton, Richard. "Is Homosexuality Inherited?" PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.
"I Am Jazz." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2014.

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LeVay, Simon. "The Paradox of Gay Genes." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 01
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"To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 28 Nov.
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Vinz, Nico &. "Nico & Vinz - Am I Wrong [Official Music Video]." YouTube. YouTube, 20
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