My Congressman Cares: Denny Heck

I had a book table at All Bethel Community (ABC) Day yesterday at Spanaway Lake High School. Much to my surprise, Bethel Superintendent Tom Seigel and Congressman Denny Heck stopped by a lot of vendors’ tables. Mine was one of them.

 

When they got to my table, I smiled and asked Congressman Heck if he was “going incognito” at the event because, although Superintendent Seigel was “branded” with a badge stating his name and office, Denny Heck was wearing a Puyallup Fair t-shirt and a light jacket with no other identifying marks. Unless you knew who he is by looking at him (I didn’t at first–he looks decidedly different in 3D than he does in 2D in pictures and on TV), you would never guess he was a Congressman. I liked that…but it did surprise me!

 

As he came into the booth at my request to stand by the DeForest Kelley book poster and me to have our pictures taken, I gave him a quick background story, filling him in on the facts that DeForest Kelley launched my writing career in 1969 and that, at the end of his life, I became his personal assistant and caregiver. He said something like, “That’s amazing! How did that happen?” I pointed to my book and said, “That’s why I wrote the book. To find out the answer to that question!”

 

I asked if he was a Trek fan. He whispered something that indicated a degree of assent. I smiled and said that if he’d like my book, I’d give him a copy. Then I blanched a little and said, “Oh, wait! You’re my Congressman! Can you even accept gifts?”

 

He explained carefully and methodically, “I can accept three types of gifts [without violating the rules]: baseball caps, t-shirts, mugs…” and then he created a pregnant pause and finished with “… and books.”

 

I let out a breath of relief and said, “Oh! Good!”

 

I handed him a book. He thanked me and then asked me to inscribe it to him. I asked, “How? To Congressman Heck?”

 

He said, “No, to Denny.”

 

While I was writing  a little blurb, he asked me, “Are you working on another book?”

 

I said, “Yes.”

 

He asked, “What’s it about?”

 

I said, “I haven’t divulged the topic to many people yet. Let me finish this inscription to you and then I’ll tell you.”

 

He said, OK” and waited while I wrote, “With love and thanks for all you’re doing, Denny. Live Long and Prosper, Kris” (The book was already signed “Kristine M. Smith” below the author name farther down on the page, so I didn’t want to be redundant.”)

 

I closed the cover, handed it to him, and then we stepped back toward the back of the “booth” near the wall of bleachers. I then confidentially told him that I was born either intersex or naturally transgender. I told him, “No records of intersex ‘normalization’ surgeries carried out on infants were ever documented in the 1950’s when I was born and intersex is as common in newborns as is natural red hair!” (Ref. http://oii-usa.org/2563/how-common-is-intersex-in-humans/) and that my next book was tentatively titled Womb Man.

 

He was very interested, very kind, wonderfully nonplussed and curious.

 

He asked, “Are you planning to have the surgeries? I hear they’re multi-stage, very complex, and that the transition takes a long time.”

 

I said, “No. If I was fifteen years old right now and the surgeries were as successful as they are now, I would do it in a heartbeat. But I’m 65. I don’t want to throw my sisters and their families for a loop. My grandnieces and nephews all call me Auntie Kris or Aunt Kris. This late in the game, being called Uncle Kris would even throw me for a loop! I’m okay with it.”

 

Then I told him that although my gender identity was a problem for most of my life (I always felt like such a fish out of water until I learned about intersex and transgender over the course of the last ten or fifteen years), I have come to embrace it as some Native American cultures do. I told him they call people like me Two Spirit People because we understand both genders so well.

 

He listened intently and nodded. “Now all I want to know is ‘Are you happy’?”

 

I almost cried when he said that. He was taking it all in, doing his best to identify with me and to understand what all of this has meant to me and done to/for me for more than 60 years.

 

I said, “Yes, I’m happy.”  He patted my hand and said sincerely, “That’s what counts.”

 

I told him then, “I wrote Womb Man because I don’t want any other kids and teenagers going through what I did, thinking there is something wrong with them. I want them to know it gets better, so there won’t be as many suicides of young people.”

 

He asked how soon the new book would be out. I said, “Probably next year. I have a few final touches to put on it, some additional resources to research and include, but it’s 99% finished.”

 

He said, “It’s an important book. I look forward to reading it.”

 

As he turned to depart, I said, “If you like the Kelley book, you might want to tell your friends that I’ll be doing a book reading and signing at King’s Books in Tacoma on November 10th at 7 p.m. Here’s a flyer about it.”  I handed him a flyer.

 

Since he was standing right there next to the stack of flyers,  he grabbed a couple more. He repeated, “November 10th. If I’m in the area, I’ll probably attend.”

 

My eyes flew open. I asked, “Really?! That would be great!”

 

He said, “I’ll look at my calendar.”

 

I said, “Gosh! Thank you very much!”

 

He said, “Thank you.”

 

Lisa commented afterward, “He spent more time at your table than anyone else on the row.”

 

I don’t know about that. The time we spent seemed brief but now that I’m recounting it, it was probably longer than I remember. I know I watched as Superintendent Seigel and Congressman Heck came toward us down the row and noticed that they were spending quite a bit of time at each table.

 

What I do know is this:

 

I felt listened to, respected, and 100% blessed by the man I am proud to call one of my representatives in Congress: Denny Heck.

 

I love his campaign slogan too: GIVE CONGRESS HECK!

 

I plan to do just that on November 8th!