The Reinstatement of the Second T

The purpose of our blog as a whole is to address the social policy concerns for the LGBTTQ* community, but you may be surprised as to how few of people actually know and understand what the second T stands for in LGBTTQ*.  I work in the retail industry and find myself interacting with a lot of fellow students, discussing our projects and what they might entail.  The L, G, B, T, and Q were generally known to most people but the second T remained a mystery.  When explaining to people that one of the T’s stood for “Two-Spirited”, the reaction was very similar, what exactly does the term Two-Spirited stand for? 

Two-Spirited, according to Canadian Federation for Sexual Health (CFSH), is defined as “a First Nations term for individuals who are considered to be neither women nor men.  It often implies a masculine spirit and a feminine spirit living in the same body ” (CFSH, 2009).  I had never spent a lot of time thinking about the second T, but as I continued my research I was intrigued and surprised as to the history attached to the term.  The colonization of the Indigenous People destroyed many of their traditions, values, and spiritual ways, including their acceptance and appreciation of those who considered themselves Two-Spirited.  Everyone had a role in the community before colonization.  Two-Spiritedness was viewed as gift from the creator, they were considered to be important in spiritual and ceremonial roles, and also seen as mediators between men and women because they held an understanding of both perspectives (Giroday, 2008).  So where does that leave the current status of the Two-Spirited community?

Due to the stripping away of traditions of the Indigenous People through colonization, the Two-Spirited peoples are addressed with feelings of homophobia within their own community where their ancestors would have treated them with honor. However, not all has been lost for this community.  In 1988, Albert Mcleod and 10 other Winnipeggers attended a conference in Minneapolis specific to “aboriginals who identified themselves as gay or lesbian, or had alternative ways of identifying their gender or sexuality” (Giroday, 2008).  This initiative taken on by Mcleod was the first step in giving Two-Spirited people a name they can be proud of with no negative stereotypes attached.  In doing this the Indigenous People, specifically the Two-Spirited community were able to reclaim a sense of identity and also recognition. 

In Canada, a country that prides itself on diversity, it can be hard to remember the harsh reality that racism and homophobia are still very prominent today.  Before colonization, the Indigenous People accepted everyone in their culture as contributing equals.  As stated by Morrissette (2006), “the individual is subsumed under collective responsibility but not in the deterministic sense where individual expression is quelled or silenced”.  People were celebrated for their differences in the Indigenous community, but today in current society differences are seen as problematic and penalized by the unaccepting views of the majority.  The recognition of niizh manidoowag, the traditional Ojibwe term for Two-Spirited, is a step forward for the Indigenous People reclaiming their traditions and spiritual culture. 

References

Canadian Federation for Sexual Health (CFSH). (2009). What does it mean to be transgendered or two-spirited? Retrieved from http://www.cfsh.ca

Giroday, G.(2008). Winnipeg term `two-spirited' goes global. Postmedia News. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/460835684?accountid=14569

Morrissette, V. (2006). Towards an Aboriginal perspective that addresses ideological domination in social policy analysis. Chapter 5: Implications for Social Work (pp.162-189). Unpublished master’s thesis, University of Manitoba.