In honor of Transgender Awareness Month, Georgia Equality was fortunate to interview transgender trailblazer, Sean LaMont. Sean is a trans artist, author, and activist.

The interview is conducted by Jessica Douglas, Development & Communications Manager, denoted by “J,” Connor Hurt, Development & Communications Intern, “C,” and Sean LaMont, “S.” It explores topics about transgender experiences and how politics, advocacy, how support has developed over time, and more.

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C: Hi, Sean. Could you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do?

S: Okay, I’m Sean LaMont. I am a trans artist and author. As a matter of fact, I have a show today, as soon as we are done with this. It is downtown at the Sheridan Courtland, so that’s where I am headed after this. But I do LGBTQ art and I write books for our community as well. I am an advocate, I love to fundraise for different trans organizations like Just a Pose and THA, Trans Housing. Basically, that’s all I do. This is what I do for a living. I go from state to state selling art and books.

J: Congratulations on your show today! That’s really exciting.

S: Thank you.

C: I have seen a lot of your art and I think it is really incredible. 

J: Sean, would you mind sharing your pronouns? 

S: She/her, but I really use anything. I just don’t care, that’s something that’s totally new to me.

J: Well, thank you. I just want to make sure that in any communication that I am addressing you in the way that you want to be addressed, but I also understand that there’s plenty of trans folks out there who don’t choose to use pronouns and that’s also okay. 

S: Right, old school. I am over fifty, so yeah I am an old girl. 

J: Well, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us today. I am really excited to be able to showcase you and some of your work with our audience.

C: So just to hop right in to the questions:  I would like to know what year did you come out or how do you think your experience might have been different if you came out at an earlier or later date, with the knowledge of newer terminology not being exposed at the time, trying to find yourself at that time.

S: I came out actually in 1985, the year I graduated from high school. I think if I would have come out earlier, I would have been a gay male because at that point in my life, I didn’t even realize that trans was an option. I didn’t know any trans people, so I just thought I was gay. 

C: If you’re comfortable sharing, what kind of town did you grow up in and do you feel like you had a support system in your hometown? If you didn’t, when did you first feel supported?

S: I grew up in San Diego, California. I’ve always had the support of my entire family. Like I said, I was leaning towards the gay side, so at fifth or sixth grade I was introduced to musical theater, where I finally found where I belonged.  So, at that point I did everything, and I was really good at it, so my family was there, center stage at every performance I have ever done. Front row, center stage, so huge supportive family, and I mean the entire family. Aunts, uncles, everyone was there to support me, whatever show I did. I have always had a supportive family. 

J: That’s really amazing.

C: That’s really great, yeah. I feel like being supported is such an important thing. I mean, I wish my family was so unified in that support. I know that I have people that are supportive and some people that aren’t just from different ideologies and it’s so important just to have that support system. If you would like to give support to trans folks who are new in their transition, if you could give them any advice, what would you say is the most important thing to learn that will help someone feel confident in their identity?

S: Patience, I say patience, because it took you a long time to develop before you started transitioning. Say you were fifteen or sixteen, that was fifteen or sixteen years that you had to develop into the person you were at fifteen or sixteen. So, when you start [transitioning] it is not overnight, it’s more than women putting on men’s clothes and men putting on women’s clothes. You have to develop the person that you’re going to be, as far as trans is concerned. So, patience is a virtue. I think a lot of young trans people just jump in and say, “I’m a woman, this is who I am,” and then their life is hell; maybe they’re homeless. So, I feel that if you’re patient and you grow into the person you’re evolving into. Patience would be the one thing I think they could learn. 

J: That’s really interesting and I think it sort of touches on something that Chanel and I actually discussed in our interview the other day. It was this idea that for a lot of trans elders, you didn’t have the same level of visibility or knowledge about your identity at the time you were transitioning and that the visibility is such a double edged sword.

For trans young people now, who have the criticism and the weight of the world on them, versus for other trans elders, they’ve had a little bit more privacy to learn and develop and grow into who they are. Trans youth now have to do that immediately and are expected to know exactly who they are and defend it.

S: Right, I totally agree.

C: As a younger trans person like myself, in social media and things like that, you’re expected to have figured it out and tell other people exactly what you think, when in reality a lot of things about my identity, I’ve been questioning, but I ‘have to find a label because it’s not real if I haven’t found one,’ right? So, as I have gotten older as I have gone to college, I have found that I am okay with not labeling my sexuality and things like that because it is still changing.

S: You’re learning it, you’re developing, exactly. You have to be patient. You’re becoming the person Connor is, you know what I mean?

C: Yes. This might be a little bit of a jump in topics, but on a bigger scale, connected to how things have been changing over time, how do you feel that the political climate has changed since you came out and do you feel that there is hope for positive movement in the coming years towards a world that is more accepting and knowledgeable? 

S: As far as the climate change, it is far more diverse and inclusive than when I came out, and it’s not a huge voice, but they finally are listening to what we have to say now. That wasn’t what they did when I was coming out. So, we do have a voice, now I may not necessarily agree with the collective whole of the LGBTQ community, but I am certainly grateful that we do have a voice and it’s finally being heard. 

J: I think that’s also important, is recognizing that there’s room for nuance within the community because everyone has a different experience and a different opinion on things and that should be absolutely welcomed and we should be able to have conversations about those things. 

S: Each part of the community has their own issues; trans issues aren’t gay issues. So, I think as a community that we need to have representatives of all parts of the community. 

J: I think sort of what you’re touching on is that solidarity is important and so is having your own identity represented by someone who identifies as that thing, because you have different struggles. When we can all have solidarity and fight the same fight for one another, we also have to recognize that we don’t have the same experience, and that’s okay.

S: Exactly, that’s exactly what I wanted to say.

C: And recognizing that the experience of being trans, even under the same label, is very different for every individual. The way that they see themselves and even with people who are gender non-conforming, understanding the way that people experience gender is very different and unique to each person. Finding a label is a sense of comfort and community, but you also have to understand that it is all very unique to each person.

Just to elaborate a little on big-picture initiatives and programs, what do you feel has been the most impactful initiative or program that has been set by advocacy organizations or different legislative actions that could improve in the coming years or if you’ve experienced them improving over your lifetime?

S: I love the things that we’ve done as far as realizing our voting power. I love the same-sex marriage initiatives, I love the employment rights, which I didn’t have when I lost my job, so I love what we’ve done so far, to this point. I think that instead of saying how different we are, our community needs to show our common connections to the human experience. I think it would be a lot easier for us and we would be a lot more relatable to society in general. Let’s compare what we have: we all have hearts, we bleed, we breathe, we eat, we sleep, you know? There is so much more that we have that we are alike than we are different. I just think we need to focus on what we have the same, in my opinion. 

C: Definitely, anything to help not make ourselves “othered” or distanced because truly, that’s the only way that we can make a connection with those different from us. People use our differences as a polarizing technique and our world is so polarized right now with everything on social media and politics, so I think you’ve made an amazing point. We just need to focus on what we have in common, that we are all people. 

S: Yes, it’s that simple. 

C: It’s so simple that I think some people forget it. 

S: Right, we have gotten so deep into it instead of saying, “Hey, we are all human.” Regardless if you like women or you like men, it doesn’t matter. You’re still a human being and you deserve love and respect. That’s what we’re here for, to love and respect one another. It’s a big, beautiful world.

J: I also think we’re facing an anti-LGBTQ opposition that is so good at dividing us because of those things. We want to point out the ways in which we are different.  

C: I want to know your thoughts on how to facilitate a world that allows for a civil conversation on political topics. I want to know that if we have all of these problems, what we can do to talk about them. 

S: I love that, because that’s the only way we are going to figure it out is to talk about it. I have no idea how to do that but I would love to be a part of that conversation. 

C: I would also like to hear more about your artwork and how you came to get involved in the world that you do and the pride and accomplishment that you have for that. I would really love to hear a bit more about that before we close out this interview.

S: Well, I was a fashion designer in high school and I thought that was going to be my career and my best friend said, “Sean, don’t buy me a birthday present, draw Prince for me.” The singer, Prince. I said, “I don’t draw people, I design clothes.” And she said “Girl, try!” So, I’ve been drawing people ever since. So, that’s why I became an artist, but once I started drawing celebrities and different things, I realized that there was a void in our community. There was no art that really represented how we live and love, and I said, ‘You know what? That’s where I am supposed to be.’

So, that’s where this whole gay and lesbian art and books and everything comes from. Just to celebrate how we live and love. I think it’s beautiful and even heterosexuals that see my art are like “Oh my god, I love that piece, I am not a lesbian but that piece says so much to me.” So, you know, that’s what I do and I love it.

J: That’s really incredible. You know, with all of our talk about the differences we have in language and opinions and stuff I think art is truly one of those things that overrides all of that. It defies language, it defies labels. Art is so broad. 

S: But also if I walked into your house I can see what kind of person you are by what you have on the walls. So, it’s self-reflective as well. I just love it. Now, I am doing books, so they say my books are better than the art so I am starting to find ways to turn my books into films. That is where I am today. 

J: That’s really amazing. 

S: I am trying to broaden and spread out and figure out what I am supposed to do with all of this. 

C: That’s amazing and I am so glad that even if I am not in Atlanta, I am still able to see your artwork and it is beautiful. I also hope to be able to get one of your books at some point.

S: They’re on my website! All of my books and my art are on my website. 

C: I am very inspired by you so it was an incredible opportunity to get to talk to you today.

S: Thank you for the opportunity.

J: Absolutely, Sean is there anything else that you want to make sure that we get included? Anything that you want to say to trans youth of today that you want to make sure we get included?

S: Let them know that we are loved, they are loved. Trans youth are loved, when they feel like they have no one else, you are loved and we love you. 

 

Georgia Equality is grateful to Sean LaMont for her important work and advocacy, and for taking the time to share her insights with our team. To see Sean’s artwork and to learn more, please visit her website.