[Tlhingan-hol] Sex and Gender in Klingon

Wed Mar 9 16:57:13 PST 2016

First, a little note about precedent:

I've been able to find one mention of same-sex relationships in the canon, namely an e-mail from Marc Okrand where he says "sister-in-law" can be translated as {be'nI' be'nal} or {loDnI' be'nal}, and likewise "brother-in-law" can be translated as {be'nI' loDnal} or {loDnI' loDnal}.

It's not clarified if these expressions are actually in common use by Klingons, or if they were provided primarily for our benefit.

http://klingonska.org/canon/2010-12-22-email.txt

However, same-sex Klingon couples are attested in the "soft canon" of Star Trek. For example, in the Vanguard series, a Klingon woman, Lurqal, enters into a romantic relationship with a Vulcan woman, T'Prynn. Her same-sex relationship is described as a deviation from tradition, but apparently not as big a deal as the fact that she's with a Vulcan.

"Sinking into bed beside T'Prynn, however, she decided that the dishonor of her next life would be a small price to pay for such a love as this one."

In Star Trek Online, there is also a Klingon woman with a female mate in some of the missions, which doesn't seem to be too big a deal.

http://massivelyop.com/2015/05/31/star-trek-online-flame-wars-erupt-over-gay-backdrop-npcs/

Anymawho:

While it would be very interesting to know how Klingons themselves speak of sexuality and gender, I agree that we shouldn't necessarily expect it to be well-suited to LGBTQ matters here on Earth.

After all, terminology referring to gender and sexuality vary a lot from country to country, or even organization to organization and subculture to subculture.

For example, some people would probably like the idea that nIqolay suggested of translating "trans*man" as {choHta'bogh loD}, or possibly {loD mojta'wI'}; the same people who interpret the trans- prefix as "having transitioned" would perhaps find this suitable. Meanwhile, others would object to it, arguing that they have not changed or become anything new; they've always been the gender they identify as, even if others (or even they themselves) haven't always realized it (I've seen people object to expressions such as MTF and FTM for this reason in the past).

Therefore, rather than Marc telling us "This is how LGBTQ persons should refer to themselves, period" and us accepting it by word of god, perhaps it's better to request broader terminology that allows LGBTQ persons better ways to describe themselves in their own words.

For example, instead of individual words for "be heterosexual", "be homosexual", "be bisexual", "be pansexual", "be asexual" and so forth, we might get a word/expression for "be attracted to", or "attract".

We might also get a word/expression for "be same-sex" or "be different-sex", which could also be useful in other contexts (such as discussing familial relations or group dynamics).

A word for sex/gender might also be useful, so that we can speak of genders other than {loD} and {be'}.

It might also be good to have terminology to discuss having something as a genetic trait vs. having a trait by virtue of one's mind/spirit. This could be useful for discussing intersex, trans* and other non-normative gender identities, but might also be useful for describing, say, origins or religion ("I may have Romulan genes, but my spirit is all-Klingon!").

Perhaps there are some famous people in Klingon history who were known to be of a particular sexuality or gender identity, and people who identify with them could describe their status by analogy.

For example, imagine a legend of a Klingon trans*woman, named X, who would challenge anybody who questioned her womanhood to a vItHay', and won every duel.

Perhaps a Klingon trans*woman would simply say {be' jIH.} most of the time, but if she needed to explain her situation in more detail, she might proudly announce that {be' jIH; X vIrur!}

After all, the Klingons have a long and varied history, and a penchant for story-telling. If we had a sufficient number of stories to choose from, perhaps everybody could find a figure that they felt they could relate to.

These are just suggestions to keep the discussion going; I'm not remotely qualified to talk about LGBTQ terminology. It might be a good idea to put a group together to figure out which distinctions they would like to be able to make and where they find that the current vocabulary comes up short.

As a closing note: I wonder if my father's brother's husband would be my {'e'mamnal}, my {tennuSnal}, or something else.

________________________________
From: Ed Bailey <bellerophon.modeler at gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 9, 2016 18:02
To: tlhingan-hol at kli.org
Subject: Re: [Tlhingan-hol] Sex and Gender in Klingon

It would surprise me very much for Klingon to have language that handles the intricacies of human sexual identity to the satisfaction of humans who are interested in discussing it in Klingon. (I'd as much expect Klingon words for caboose and typewriter.) If Klingons were discussing these matters, I'd expect them to appropriate our words or force their own words to fit, much like the situation for Terran fruits and vegetables. They'd arrive at a Klingon understanding adequate for their own purposes, precise but not necessarily accurate. I'd also expect them to focus on outward behavior, rather than inward experience. ram meqmey.

And as lojmIt tI'wI' nuv pointed out, the intricacies of Klingon sexuality are of necessity mostly unknown to us. We shouldn't expect them to be another version of us in outer space, just as they are not merely a stand-in for the Soviet Union/Mongol Horde, or merely outlaw bikers in space.

--
mIp'av yergho
bu''a'
baHwI'
IKAV chuch 'etlh

My modeling blog:          http://bellerophon-modeler.blogspot.com/
My other modeling blog:  http://bellerophon.blog.com/
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