C'est Moi

code And this is me, as someone used to say. When I was asked to explain the blended nature of gender for a long time I was at a loss for an image. A spectrum wouldn’t do, a washing-line hung with gendered bits – it was a line and the male-female we are doesn’t work with lines and extremes. And then I came across QR codes, what – as I understand it – barcodes became next. I have never tried out a QR code – I’d need a mobile phone for that, and I’m a phone-phobe – but as an image it seemed to do the trick. It was multi-dimensional, made of tiny elements which promised an infinity of arrangements adding up to utter uniqueness. Look at it for a minute – it’s a game, a quilt, a decoration from an ancient temple, a mystery message, - something words cannot capture. And this is me – and you, of course. Everybody, all of us, a unique combination of male-female, often fluid, pretty much non-binary. And I said to a friend that it was the fate of a trans to work out what their code was while they transitioned so that they could fit in when they arrived. And that friend said, “Have you cracked your code?” Good question. “Nearly,“ I said, but I know that I’m still a work in progress. It’s about who we have been as well as who we are and who we need to be. There’s a thread through from past to future, - what defines me. I have come from the male side – that’s my journey, but this encyclopaedic work is about all trans. If your journey’s different add it in, won’t you? Me and my trans existence doesn’t exclude anybody. I have reached out Meanwhile my code leads to many me’s. In the laboratory of trans I am a whole series of experiments. All of them essentially myself. Of course I could be a Rubik-Cube. Here, have a go at solving me.