Finding the Trans Voice: A Review of the Literature on Accommodating Transgender Singers

Abstract

Reviews of Literature As transgender issues become more visible, conversations about transgender individuals are beginning to surface. In 2015, Caitlyn Jenner came out as a transgender woman. Because of the widespread media coverage, a national discussion about transgender people's place in our society began. In March 2016, Governor Pat McRory of North Carolina signed a bill (HB2) into law stating that individuals must use the bathroom corresponding with the gender they were assigned at birth (Tiberii, 2017). The signing of this bill brought the topic of bathroom use by transgender individuals into many conversations around the country. As transgender youth are beginning to disclose their gender identities at a younger age (Grossman & D'Augelli, 2006), topics surrounding transgender students are beginning to be explored and discussed by educators, politicians, researchers, and community members. Dissertations and publications of more recent years have explored the intersections of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) identity and musician identity. This review of literature synthesizes these works to provide implications for choral music educators and private voice instructors to work with transgender singers. Articles and dissertations reviewed were selected for two reasons: (a) the literature provided an in-depth examination into the transgender singing experience or (b) the literature provided clear suggestions for working with transgender 772561U PDXXX10.

An Examination of Orchestras and Repertoire Performed at the Midwest Clinic From 1990 Through 2019

“…Caution must be exercised when interpreting the data, particularly with composer and arranger gender. Although I attempted to determine composer and arranger gender using previously used protocols (Sheldon & Hartley, 2012; Shouldice & Eastridge, 2020), the assigned genders may not accurately depict their identified gender (Aguirre, 2018). Accurately determining a person’s identified gender may be difficult without asking them or locating records of their identified gender.…”

“…Although some individuals may identify their gender as nonbinary (Aguirre, 2018; Webb et al, 2015), for the purposes of this study, composer and arranger names were grouped into binary gender categories—male and female (Sheldon & Hartley, 2012; Shouldice & Eastridge, 2020). Similar to Shouldice and Eastridge (2020), I inferred assumed gender based on whether the name was traditionally gendered as male or female in the United States.…”

“My voice speaks for itself”: The experiences of three transgender students in American secondary school choral programs

“…School choral music in the 21st century can be gendered in many ways—consider “men’s” and “women’s” choirs, choir dresses and tuxedoes, gendered rehearsal language, and lyrics portraying heteronormative situations. It may be difficult for trans students in a school and a program that may continually reinforce cisgender-centric (the tacit assumption that everyone is cisgender) ethos and heteronormative attitudes (Aguirre, 2018; Miller, 2016). Many of the main tenets of these American school choral traditions have remained unquestioned (McBride, 2016; O’Toole, 1994, 1998; Palkki, 2015).…”

“… 21. For a further discussion of policies that support trans choral singers, see Miller (2016) and Aguirre (2018). …”

Understanding an Invisible Minority: A Literature Review of LGBTQ+ Persons in Music Education

“…Much effort has been put into generating information concerning transgender issues in the area of choral pedagogy (Aguirre, 2018; Cayari, 2019; Palkki, 2017; Silveira, 2019). Teachers’ significance as mentors, asking for and acknowledging students’ pronouns, and implementing performance attire policies that are either gender-neutral or more fluidly interpreted are common themes and recommendations (Palkki, 2017; Silveira, 2019).…”