In January 1989, jazz musician Billy Tipton died from a bleeding ulcer with his son, Billy Tipton, Jr., by his side. When the paramedics arrived, they and the younger Tipton discovered Billy — who lived as a man — was assigned female at birth. A media circus questioning how Billy had “fooled” everyone for decades ensued.
“No Ordinary Man,” a new documentary from Aisling Chin-Yee, Chase Joynt, and Amos Mac, is both a reclamation of Billy’s story and a celebration of trans voices. Instead of the transphobic voyeurism and mockery that took place in the wake of Billy’s death, this film presents his biography with sensitivity, context, and respect. Crucially it does so with the participation of trans performers, artists, writers, and critics. (Co-director Joynt and co-writer Mac are both trans as well.) Transmasculine actors depict scenes from Billy’s life, and trans commentators discuss his legacy. As one interviewee puts it, Billy is a “hero” in the trans community: he lived as himself, without the resources that are available to trans folks today.
Watching “No Ordinary Man,” one realizes that so much has changed since Billy’s death in 1989 — and so much has not. After his passing, tabloids sensationalized Billy’s story, misgendered him, and placed his family under a microscope. (His life and death served as the inspiration for Jackie Kay’s novel “Trumpet,” which I also highly recommend.) One archival clip sees a journalist teasing Billy’s ex-wife for using he/him pronouns while talking about her former husband. “Suits Me,” the book Diane Middlebrook wrote about Billy, posited that he was actually a woman “posing” as a man in order to succeed in the male-dominated field of jazz — a transphobic narrative that stuck.
Had Billy been born in, say, 1954 or 1964 instead of 1914, his life may have been very different. Perhaps he would have felt empowered to be open about his trans identity, and not felt the need to hide it from those closest to him. It’s tempting to wonder what if when watching “No Ordinary Man,” but the doc is too smart to play into chronological snobbery. Trans folks’ humanity is still very much under attack, in the micro and macro sense. If Billy were alive now, he could encounter everything from assholes refusing to use the correct pronouns to legislative discrimination to physical violence.
In light of this, I’m so happy “No Ordinary Man” exists, as an addition to trans history, as a documentary about a trans icon, and as a showcase for contemporary trans artists and thinkers. In one scene, Billy Jr. is pleasantly surprised to learn his father is much revered in the trans community — he thought Billy Sr. had been completely alone in his experiences. “No Ordinary Man’s” existence shows that Billy Tipton was far from alone. This doc is as much about the profound impact he has had on the trans community as it is him.
“No Ordinary Man” is now in theaters. Find screening info here.
