Buckminster Who?

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When you ponder inspirational figures for the transgendered community, who is the first person you think of? I’ll wait while you consider your answer. <Jeopardy Music Plays>

Okay, time’s up! If you said Buckminster Fuller, well, uh, ummm. . . you didn’t. The fact of the matter is that the late great American architect and inventor had nothing to do with the TG community, yet his legacy made a profound impact on my life. Beyond the break you will find out how I came to be acquainted with his work and what stood out and influenced me in a way I never thought possible.

Let’s rewind back to June of this year, when my sister in law was in town and my wife and I finally got the chance to visit the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. She had been pestering me for weeks to go because each Tuesday was free admission and this day happened to be a — you guessed it — Tuesday.

We began by browsing the captivating exhibits, floor by floor, until we arrived at the top level. There was much to explore there and as usual, I moved at my own pace, focusing on what grabbed my attention and dismissing what didn’t. Before long, I made my way into an amazing section filled with futuristic housing complex models and dynamically drawn blueprints. This was my introduction to the world of R. Buckminster Fuller.

Among his many achievements are geodesic domes and a map which exhibits minimum distortion when printed on a flat surface. He also had an affinity for forward thinking and is classified as a futurist. Don’t worry, I won’t bore you with any more science droll, I’ll save that for my other blog, jessica-who-is-a-nerd.edu (okay, just kidding).

I was mesmerized by Fuller and even sat down to watch a compilation of his greatest interviews. My wife and sister in law found me about two hours later and I was giddy like a little kid at Christmas. I began sharing with them all the models, drawings, book excerpts and personal notes of Fuller’s that I had come across, but the best was yet to come.

As we walked toward the elevator to leave I saw a magnificently large quote displayed on the wall:

“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” — Buckminster Fuller

This struck a chord with me and I immediately pulled out my phone to jot down what I had just read. For the rest of that day, all I could think about were these powerful words. While this saying was meant for construction, environmentalism and even world hunger, I took it and applied it to being transgendered.

What I realized that day was that my purpose in life wasn’t necessarily to change things by kicking and screaming, which is not to say that this doesn’t have its time and place. I fully acknowledge that there are people out there fighting for our rights and freedom through writing, activism and other actions. Without these things, I wouldn’t be afforded the luxuries that I enjoy today. I’m obviously not the first to blog about being a crossdresser (though I was blogging back in 2002) and I’m fully aware that many others have campaigned energetically before me to pave the way for the next generation.

However, it’s not necessarily in me to influence people in that way and this is one of the most valuable lessons that I have ever learned, which is ironic since I’ve paid tons of money to attend great universities and I picked up this tidbit of knowledge during a free day at the museum.

Through my life and written words I hope to exemplify and extend upon what Buckminster pioneered, using my unique gifts and talents to create a new “model” of crossdresser. I utilize my sense of humor, good-natured spirit and lightheartedness to try to inspire others in my position — whether drag queen, part time crossdresser, full time trans woman or anyone else for that matter.

This is already taking place in my life, as each time I come out to someone they tell me that I was the last person they’d ever suspect of donning a wig, bra and dress behind closed doors. From there on out, their view of transgendered people is forever positively changed.

It is my sincere hope that through my blog and future projects I can not only help myself but also uplift the community and be a positive example in my one-of-a-kind way. I am fortunate to have my wife by my side and all of your cherished support in this blogging endeavor.

I may revisit the works and writings of Fuller in forthcoming posts, but for now I shall leave you with this: