Kate Bornstein

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Kate Bornstein
Kate Bornstein2010.jpg
Kate Bornstein at Babeland in Seattle in December 2010
Born (1948-03-15) March 15, 1948 (age 76)
Neptune City, New Jersey, U.S.
Residence New York City
Occupation Performance artist
Website katebornstein.typepad.com

Katherine Vandam "Kate" Bornstein[1] (born March 15, 1948) is an American author, playwright, performance artist, and gender theorist. Having been assigned male at birth and then received gender confirmation surgery in 1986, Bornstein identifies as gender non-conforming, saying "I don't call myself a woman, and I know I'm not a man",[2] and prefers the gender neutral pronouns "ze/hir" in place of "she/her" or "he/him". Bornstein has also written about having anorexia, being a survivor of PTSD and being diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.[3] Bornstein has chronic lymphocytic leukemia and in September 2012 was diagnosed with lung cancer.[4]

Bornstein and partner Barbara Carrellas live in New York City with three cats, two dogs and a turtle.[5]

Biography

Early life

Born in Neptune City, New Jersey, into a middle-class Conservative Jewish family of Russian and Dutch descent,[6] Bornstein studied Theater Arts with John Emigh and Jim Barnhill at Brown University (Class of '69). Bornstein joined the Church of Scientology, becoming a high ranking lieutenant in the Sea Org[7][8][9] but later became disillusioned and formally left the movement in 1981. Bornstein's antagonism toward Scientology and public split from the church have had personal consequences; Bornstein's daughter, herself a Scientologist, no longer has any contact per Scientology's policies.[10]

Transition and post-op

Bornstein never felt comfortable with the belief of the day: that all trans women are "women trapped in men's bodies."[11] Bornstein did not identify as a man, but the only other option was to be a woman, a reflection of the gender binary, which required people to identify according to only two available genders. Another obstacle was the fact that Bornstein was attracted to women. Bornstein had gender confirmation surgery in 1986.

Bornstein settled into the lesbian community in San Francisco, and wrote art reviews for the gay and lesbian paper The Bay Area Reporter.[12] Over the next few years, Bornstein began to identify as neither a man nor a woman. This catapulted Bornstein back to performing, creating several performance pieces, some of them one-person shows. It was the only way that Bornstein knew how to communicate life's paradoxes.

Bornstein also teaches workshops and has published several gender theory books, and a novel. Hello Cruel World, was written to derail "teens, freaks, and other outlaws" from committing suicide. "Do whatever it takes to make your life more worth living," Bornstein writes, "just don't be mean."[13]

Cancer diagnosis

In August 2012, Bornstein was diagnosed with lung cancer. Doctors thought that Bornstein was cancer free after having surgery but it emerged in February 2013 that the disease had returned. Laura Vogel, a friend of Bornstein's, launched a Go Fund Me campaign on March 20 to help fund the cancer treatment.[14]

Works

In 1989 Bornstein created a theatre production in collaboration with Noreen Barnes, Hidden: A Gender, based on parallels between Bornstein's own life and that of the intersex person Herculine Barbin.[15] Bornstein edited Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation in collaboration with S. Bear Bergman.[16] The anthology won Lambda Literary and Publishing Triangle Awards in 2011.[17][18] Bornstein's autobiography, titled A Queer and Pleasant Danger: A Memoir, was released May 2012, and in April 2013, Bornstein released My New Gender Workbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Achieving World Peace Through Gender Anarchy and Sex Positivity.

Books

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  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. The portrait-film, Kate Bornstein is a Queer & Pleasant Danger by Sam Feder, will be released in 2014[needs update]
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Performance pieces

  • Kate Bornstein Is a Queer and Pleasant Danger
  • The Opposite Sex Is Neither
  • Virtually Yours
  • Hidden: A Gender
  • Strangers in Paradox
  • y2kate: gender virus 2000
  • Hard Candy

References

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Further reading

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  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. An Interview with Kate Bornstein and S. Bear Bergman.

External links