Born Both by Hida Viloria

Author:Hida Viloria [VILORIA, HIDA]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs, Social Science / Gender Studies
Publisher: Hachette Books
Published: 2017-03-14T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 12

Going Public

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

JANUARY 2001

HI, HIDA,” A VOICE on my answering machine says. “My name is Alice, and I’m a producer for the ABC News program 20/20. We’re doing a segment on intersex and I’m wondering if I could talk to you about possibly being in it.”

I’d grown up watching 20/20 almost every Friday once I was old enough to stay up till eleven. Although I stopped watching TV almost entirely once I left home, it’s still a popular and respected show. Also, my mom watches it.

“Geez, 20/20—that’s the big-time!” Beth says when I tell her.

I’m hanging at her place, as I often do on the weekends.

“How’d they find you?” she asks.

“From some article in a New Orleans newspaper, apparently, which is interesting because I haven’t done any interviews in New Orleans, but I forgot to ask them for details…”

“Did I hear you say 20/20?” Marina asks, walking into the room.

“Yeah,” I answer. “Kind of crazy, right?”

“Yeah, a lot of people watch that show. Are you sure you’re ready for that kind of exposure?” she asks.

“Yeah, I bet your mom still watches that,” Beth adds.

“She does. Not religiously or anything, but often.”

This means I’ll have to tell her about it. It wouldn’t be fair to her for it to be a surprise, or for a coworker who recognizes my name to see it and ask her about it. Telling her that I’m an intersex activist and that I’m going to out myself on a major television show is not something I have any desire to do, given what a hard time she has dealing with the fact that I’m openly gay. But I guess I’ll have to because being on 20/20 is too important for intersex visibility to pass up.

Fortunately, the 20/20 production team is meticulous in their preparation, and filming won’t take place for months, which gives me time to mentally prepare myself. Also, I learn that Barbara Walters will not be the one interviewing me, which is a relief. As much as I respect her, she’s known for asking those blunt, difficult, and somewhat invasive questions that can sometimes make people cry. Just speaking about being intersex so publicly is revealing and stressful enough for me. Also, the fact that I do respect her and have been watching her for years would only make me more nervous.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.