Dan Savage's Transphobic Azz Strikes Again

TransGriot Note: A wonderful post from my brilliant sis Renee at Womanist Musings. And no sis, you aren't alone in your observation that Savage is a (you name the phobic) jerk.

Well, Dan Savage is a winner isn’t he? Is there a group of people that he is unwilling to verbally assault and “other,” in order to assert his undeserved privilege? It seems that for Savage, the best way to attack someone, is to suggest that they are trans, even when the opposite is true.

To the right is a photo of Washington state Attorney General Rob McKenna, who Savage declared was FTM

It's staggering that Rob McKenna, a female-to-male transsexual, is making it harder for other FTMs (and MTFs) to access the life saving sex-reassignment surgery that allowed Rob to become the man he is today. Rob had the resources to finance his own sex-reassignment surgery—presumably—but that doesn't excuse Rob's cruel disregard for his low-income transgendered brothers and sisters or his making common cause with anti-trans bigots in states like Virginia and Mississippi.

For shame, Rob.

Really Savage? You’re going to take something that is so incredibly serious and then make tongue in cheek statements. If he did not have a history of making transphobic commentary, perhaps I could believe that he simply failed to do the proper research, but his own history convicts him.

When dealing with a conservative, there are plenty of ways that you can be critical, only someone drunk on privilege decides that the best course of events is to attack a marginalized group. When we consider that the gay community has a history of throwing the trans community under the bus, his commentary is truly problematic. Dan Savage does not speak for all gay men; however, his extremely high profile suggests that many continue to consider his views to be of great importance, though he has a history of making racist, abelist and transphobic comments.

I really think that Dan Savage needs a huge cup of STFU. Until he begins to recognize his various privileges (and yes, gay men can still be privileged), he is doing far more harm to his community than good. When you throw your allies under the bus, and taunt them cruelly, it makes people that much more reluctant to stand up and fight when you are being abused, because we wonder if we are next in the line of fire.

I don’t care if Dan Savage is your gay super hero with a capitol G; if the man is being abelist, racist and transphobic, perhaps your definition of hero needs to be examined. How many times have marginalized groups suggested, that when you fail to take an intersectional approach to organizing, we all suffer? Only a man like Savage who is White, male, class privileged and cisgender could fail to see that his, I’m just like you approach to advocacy is damaging. No movement for civil rights has ever been successful without allies, and yet people like Savage continue to believe that they can just throw people under the bus, while minimizing their humanity and then demand that they come to bat for you as needed.

So, I am just going to say it: The man is not amusing or enlightening; he is cruel. As long as he continues to sit in judgment of others and to perpetuate a harmful hierarchy of bodies, he has no business sitting in judgment of anyone. Glass houses Savage, perhaps it’s time you discover that you live in one.

Teabaggers, You Owe Great Britain A Lot Of Money!

TransGriot Note: I have no love for the racist white wing Teabagger movement. Saw this interesting post from Maura Hennessey which points out that if the Teabaggers continue to claim they are the heirs of the peeps who conducted the original 1774 Tea Party in Boston, there may be potential legal and fiscal consequences.

Teabaggers, you owe Her Majesty's Government a lot of money

Dear Teabaggers,
As a former counsel attached to the Chancellor's office, and having once represented the parent company of Messers Davison, Newman and Company, Ltd, I feel that it is my duty to my clients to bring to your attention the following facts:

You claim to be the legal heirs, as well as the moral heirs, to a group of gentlemen who illegally trespassed upon the merchant ship Fortune, a brigantine then commanded by Benjamin Gorsham, Master and carrying a mixed cargo, including Twenty Eight Teak Chests containing Tea, the lot consigned to Mr Henry Lloyd of Boston Massachusetts, a merchant.

These gentlemen committed the following illegal act on the Seventh of March, the 1774th year of the Common Era and the Thirteenth Year of the Reign of HRM King George III of happy memory, to wit: They did trespass upon Fortune, breaking into the hold, and brought the tea onto the decks where they broke the chests and spilled them into the Charles River.

Of this shipment, Sixteen Chests were the property of Davison, Newman & Co, Tea Merchants and Importers, London. Said Sixteen Chests and their Contents were insured by Messers Peregrine Cust, James Bradley, Charles Harris, Robert Thornton and William Greenwood who wrote a policy with themselves holding the Risk at Lloyds signed and effective upon the Twenty Third of December in the year 1773.

Messers Cust, Bradeley paid to the policy holders Messers Davison, Newman & Co the sum of Four Hundred Eighty Pounds Sterling, the agreed and insured value of the Sixteen Teak Chests and their Contents.

Messers Cust, Bradley et al did therefore petition His Royal Majesty for relief, successfully, with His Majesty's Government covering the expenses and levying a tax to recover said expenditures upon the responsible individuals.

Owing to the subsequent unpleasantness in the Americas between 1775 and 1783, this amount was not reimbursed in spite of it being legally levied in response of the willful destruction of private property.

Therefore, the responsibility for the payment of said amount devolves upon the legal heirs and assigns of said perpetrators, which you freely claim to be.

Said legal heirs currently include Ms Sarah Palin, Mr Glenn Beck and the membership of an Organisation known as "Tea Party Patriots"

On behalf of the Government of Her Royal Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith, etc, the successor to the Government of His Late Royal Majesty George the Third, I petition and demand that the owed sum of Four Hundred Eighty Pounds Sterling, legally levied in the Year 1774 be paid with suitable interest, said sum in current monetary value now being the equivalent of $8,924,601,649.92 reckoned at six percent per annum.

I remain your Obedient Servant,
Maureen Eileen Hennessey, Q.C.
On behalf of Her Majesty's Government

My GLBT Brothers And Sisters Are My Family

TransGriot Note: A guest post by my Canadian sister Renee, the editor and scribe in chief at Womanist Musings.

First, it must be stated that the sexuality of POC has been used against us as a weapon. Black women have been understood to be hypersexual Jezebels, constantly in search of the next available penis. Black men have either been understood as thug rapists, or as highly effeminate. In each instance this has been to promote White supremacy. POC are not allowed to experience their sexuality as naturally occurring, rather it exists simply to satisfy the needs of others or to promote our bodies as a continual threat to Whiteness.

Due to the White leadership of the mainstream GLBT community, many have refused to accept and or embrace our same gender loving members. Homosexuality is not a White thing; it is not a perversion of bodies of color. Many believe that by rejecting homosexuality that they are rejecting Whiteness, when indeed what they are truly rejecting is our OWN PEOPLE.

The marriage of Michael and Jamil set off quite the firestorm in the Black community. A Morehouse College administrative assistant Sandra Bradley sent the following e-mail.

"I can't believe this wedding. It's 2 men. They don't smile in a lot of pictures and they look like a few brothers I've seen in the streets looking STRAIGHT. Black women can't get a break, either our men want another man, a white woman (or other nationality that's light with straight hair), they are locked up in jail or have a "use to be" fatal disease. I'm beginning to believe Eve was a black woman and we Black women are paying for all the world's sins through her actions (eating the apple)."

Some may view this e-mail as simply a commentary regarding the difficulty of young professional Black women to find a successful Black mate and others see homophobia. It certainly cannot be denied that Black women are likely to remain unmarried or will partner below their class level. This has to do with the ways in which Black femininity has universally been devalued.

The sexuality of Michael and Jamil has nothing to do with the supposed drought of eligible men. It would seem to me to be a very basic fact – Gay men are not attracted to women and any coupling with them would be unsuccessful based on this one simple truth. To belittle them, or question their masculinity is to misplace anger.

When AIDS first became a serious threat many in the Black community, so many refused to speak out and claimed it was the price for engaging in “lifestyles” that were either patterned on White behaviour, or displeasing to God. The very same people who express rage at the genocide that occurred during the middle passage, easily ignored the deaths of thousands. These people had much to contribute to our community and now their voices have been silenced forever, without even a murmur of regret.

Whether someone is same gender loving or trans they are still Black. Their color did not disappear because they chose to live their lives not hiding who they are. We speak about the Black community but what community exists when we deny the happiness and well being of our members? Same gender loving people marched alongside Dr.King for our rights. Same gender loving people are subjected to racism and hatred just as any other person of color. They did not give up their race because they decided to be true to who they are.

When I read commentary like the above I wonder who they think wins when we decide that the same gender loving people in our community do not deserve to be embraced. In fighting and divisiveness serves Whiteness. We must speak with a unified voice to demand equality and by choosing to silence those in our community that make us uncomfortable due to undeserved privilege, we are supporting the very same system that keeps us all understood as secondary citizens. You cannot claim to love Blackness or Black people, if you do not love openly all of its manifestations.

The DNC Is Ready To Embrace Us

Guest column by Monica F. Helms

I recently spent three informative and productive days in Las Vegas with the hierarchy of the Democratic National Committee. Kathy Padilla from Philadelphia, PA was also there. I’m happy she came because she is a very knowledgeable person in the political arena. We were visible, we were vocal and we were active.

The structure of the weekend was such that on the first day, Thursday, they had the “Women’s Leadership Summit Agenda,” then an Issues Briefing with Q & A after lunch. During the Issues Briefing, two people had a presentation on the issues facing the DNC and the country. They used a Power Point slide that listed the various areas of the population the DNC include. On the list I saw the words “sexual orientation,” but I didn’t see “gender identity and gender expression.”

When they asked for questions, I got up and stated the DNC needs to start including those words, because “sexual orientation” doesn’t cover transgender people. If they don’t use them, they will be leaving out 3 million Transgender Americans. Kathy also got up and asked if all the vendors at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver had non-discrimination in their EEO policies that covered all GLBT people. Apparently, one didn’t.

On Friday, we had what was called “Constituency Sessions,” where the various constituency groups held all-day workshops that pertained to their specific issues. Besides the LGBT group, there was one for the Asian and Pacific Island Americans, African Americans and Hispanic Americans (which is how it was listed in the manual.) Some people checked out different workshops in different groups to get a feel of what the various groups were talking about, while others, like myself, stayed with one group all day.

I found the discussions interesting. The six different workshops/panel discussions in the LGBT Constituency Sessions were broken up into different subjects, with people on the panel who have had experience in that subject matter. Kathy was on the “Diversity in 2008 and Beyond” panel, which talked about diversity in the LGBT community. In that session, a very frank and heated discussion broke out on the issue of racism that is so prevalent in the LGBT community today.

On one panel, a lesbian from the Gill Action group presented us with various polls with American people that have been taken on LGBT subjects. Not surprising, most of the issues excluded anything having to do with transgender people. However, even when she was making generic statements, she used only “gay and lesbian.” I held up my hands and formed a “T” with my index fingers. She asked me if I had a question and I said, “No. I’m making a ‘T’ with my fingers so you won’t forget it.” From then on, she started saying, “gay, lesbian and transgender,” still leaving out the bisexuals.

Dennis Kucinich was there. I came up to him and thanked him for including transgender people all along. He told me it was the right thing to do and gave me a big hug. Another time, Gov. Howard Dean stopped in the room where the LGBT panels took place and gave a little speech. After that, he asked for any questions and I asked, “In 2004, transgender people were left out of the Platform. Will we be included in it this time?” He said a quick and strong, “Yes.” He then followed it by saying that he didn’t have complete control of that and reminded us that he was the only candidate that included transgender people in 2004 and couldn’t understand why others have a difficult time even saying the word. I’m hoping he has a little control over the Platform language in 2008 to ensure we are there. Of course, one of us needs to be ON the Platform Committee.

What I have also found out during that weekend was that all of the candidates support including us in federal legislation that has language for “sexual orientation.” The candidates should have updated their websites to have fully inclusive language. If anyone has a problem with their websites, they should contact the web masters of those sites and bring it up with them. Keep in mind, the one issue where we are not included and where we shouldn’t make a fuss about is Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Yes, it affects us, but the language doesn’t include us, so we just support the repeal of this law.

You have to keep in mind that the people who attended the summit were the heart and soul of the DNC. These were District Coordinators, National Caucus Chairs, DNC Officers, State Chairs, State Diversity Officers and many ground troops that will run the DNC’s “50 State Strategy.” These people are the ones who will have control over the Platform language. They will help and train others to work with the party and get the people out to vote. The DNC wants to focus on one state at a time, one county at a time and one neighborhood at a time, all done by thousands of people at the same time.

These were also the people who set the goals for their state to ensure that the 2008 Delegates look like the face of America. This includes us. Some of the people there are the ones running the various state and local Stonewall Democrats chapters. One person from the Colorado Stonewall Democrats stated that they are working with the Convention Planning Committee to set up “family restrooms,” so women with small children or anyone else who wants privacy can use them. They thought of us.

One thing that bothered me was when they discussed the way each Republican candidates make a case for themselves and what we needed to do to focus on making a case against them. When they put up Rudy Giuliani, they showed a picture of him wearing a dress and makeup. Many people in the audience laughed, but I was angry. Before I could say something, a gay man got up and said that he was a member of the LGBT Caucus and the picture highly offended him. He pointed out that by using that picture it says that people can make fun of the transgender community. I shook his hand. They got the message and apologized for using the picture, saying they would not do it again.

I walked away from that weekend completely convinced that the DNC heard Kathy and I. Everywhere I went (except in the general population,) I wore my “2004 Transgender Delegate” button and one that said, “Trans and Proud.” I now know in my heart and soul that WE WILL NOT BE LEFT OUT THIS TIME. I’m sure several people won’t even believe it if they saw the language in the Platform, but it is true.

So, now what? If any transgender person wants to get involved in getting the “T” out to vote, contact me at mfhelms@earthlink.net. I have a plan on what we need to do in regards to the DNC this time. We need to drive home one simple message. “One Percent.”

Why “One Percent?” Over the last 5 years there have been various independent surveys/studies/researches done that when combined, we get a picture that one percent of the American population falls under the transgender umbrella. We don’t need to get into details on whether some no longer identify as being transgender or never were. For the sake of politics, if anyone has crossed the gender lines, even temporarily, they are in that One Percent. Hell, non-trans people are confused enough as it is, so let’s not make it worse for them.

We can easily use this “One Percent” to our advantage by constantly reminding the DNC on how many elections that took place in the past where a Democrat lost by less than one percent. In 2000, Al Gore lost by 537 votes in Florida. That comes to .003% of the population of Florida, according to the 2000 Census. If Al Gore carried just one more percent of the population in Florida, he would have won by over 158,000 votes. In 2004, John Kerry lost Ohio by 136,000 votes, which is slightly over one percent of the population in Ohio, but he lost Iowa by only .4% and New Mexico by .3%. We are no longer a voting block they can afford to ignore.

If any of you get asked about the hard numbers and where the One Percent comes from, a friend of mine, Jessica Xavier, told me to say something to the affect, “The intensity of the social stigma of transgenderism and things like violence, discrimination, harassment and multiple barriers to access of health care, drives most of us into secrecy, out of a need to survive an intolerant culture.”

I realize that not all Transgender Americans are registered to vote, or even old enough to vote. I also know that some transgender people vote Republican. (Yes, it’s true.) Many are registered Independent. When Transgender Americans talk to the DNC, they don’t need to get into those details. “One Percent” is all the DNC needs to know.

What I personally would like to see is an increase in registered Democrats in the transgender community and to see an increase in transgender people volunteering with the DNC at a local level. I would also hope to live long enough to see an openly transgender person speak from the podium at the Democratic National Convention and to see an openly transgender person elected to Congress. This is truly the MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION in our lifetimes. It is time for the Democratic Party to fully recognize us a part of their party, on all levels. They appear to be doing that. Now, it’s time for us to help Democrats on all levels of government to win in 2008.


Monica F. Helms is one of the founders and president of TAVA, the Transgender American Veterans Association

The Trouble With Harry

By Dr. Sylvia Rhue
August 9, 2007

Bishop Harry Jackson, of the High Impact Leadership Coalition, is back in the news with attacks on Barack Obama, calling him a "dangerous man" and a "junior or infant Christian."

Barack Obama appeared on LOGO and HRC's presidential debate Thursday August 9. All of the candidates were asked about marriage equality for LGBT people. Although he is for full civil union rights, Obama feels he cannot open the door of equality all the way with full marriage rights for LGBT people. But even his moderate stance gets a
berating from Bishop Jackson.

When speaking to a group of Black ministers at a forum in Tennessee, Barack stated:

"I specifically pointed out that if there's any pastor here who can point out a marriage that has been broken up as a consequence of seeing two men or two women holding hands, then we—you should tell me, because I haven't seen any evidence of it…And there are some folks who, coming out of the church, have, you know, elevated one line in Romans above the Sermon on the Mount."

Jackson's response: "He's dead wrong concerning what the scriptures say, and more importantly, he's dead wrong in terms of the Scriptures, and in terms of reading culture. The culture has gone in a different direction, and the devaluation of marriage is a major problem, and I believe that he's a very dangerous man because he sounds reasonable, he sounds engaging, but he's misinformed." Jackson goes on to call Obama a "junior or infant Christian."

He states that "I think what most African-Americans buy is that there should be justice for all, in terms of the outworking of civil law. What they do not buy is that we should not rename sin as something righteous and holy."

Bishop Jackson is dead wrong. It is Jackson who has an infantile understanding of human sexuality and a wrong headed theology regarding Christ's message of inclusion. Jackson does not understand, or refuses to understand the concept of sexual orientation. Sexual orientation is morally neutral.

One of the definitions of the word "sin" is "to miss the mark". Jackson misses the mark of the Love ethic for his gay and lesbian neighbors, which is central to Christian theology. When Bishop Jackson came to NBJC's Black Church Summit this past Spring, he had the opportunity to look LGBT people in the eye and hear their stories of love, commitment, devotion, honor and duty. He nodded his head acting as if he understood. He acted as if he had learned something. Unfortunately, from his behavior and statements since that day, it was all just an act.

We should defer to an authentic Biblical scholar, Rev. Peter Gomes the Plummer Professor of Christian Morals at Harvard University, who writes: "No credible case against homosexuality or homosexuals can be made from the Bible unless one chooses to read scripture in a way that simply sustains the existing prejudice against homosexuality and homosexuals. The combination of ignorance and prejudice under the
guise of morality makes the religious community, and its abuse of scripture in this regard, itself morally culpable."

If Bishop Jackson ever thought he might be a drum major for justice, he has missed he mark.

Dr. Sylvia Rhue is Director of NBJC Religious Affairs. She can be reached directly at shrue@nbjc.org

Bishop Harry Jackson's Claims Divisive and Untrue

Jackson's Claims Divisive and Untrue

July 1, 2007
by: Rev. Dr. Michael Eric Dyson
Sylvia Rhue, Ph.D.

Bishop Harry Jackson of the High Impact Leadership Coalition and pastor of Hope Christian Church in Maryland is leading the misguided attempt to scare Black ministers into backing his efforts to derail the much needed Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act also known as the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act. In doing so he is distorting the facts about a law which would provide local law enforcement with addition tools to stem the tide of intentional acts of violence and murder.

Contrary to Bishop Jackson's assertions, this bill will not "muzzle clergy", and it is not "anti-Christian". This bill should be passed because it is fair, overdue and much needed. The House passed a version last May and the Senate should pass it as well.

Bishop Jackson's claims are based on bias that is divisive, destructive and untrue. Hate crimes laws punish violent acts, not beliefs or thoughts, not even violent thoughts. The proposed federal statute does not punish, nor prohibit in any way, free expression of one's religious beliefs.

Pastors will remain free to condemn, demean, defame and dehumanize their gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered congregants and neighbors as they feel called by their religious beliefs. This bill will not change the First Amendment and we would not support any law that undermined this precious freedom.

On the other hand, we work with clergy who respect gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, and honor the many gifts they have brought to the Church, especially to the Black Church. We believe this is the American way—we value the separation of church and state. We also believe it is the authentic way of Christ.

We also suggest that Bishop Jackson take a course in basic human sexuality since so much of his resistance to equal rights for LGBT people lies in his stated assumption that homosexuality is a "choice", while being black is not. Sexual orientation is not a choice. It is a innate, God-gifted, morally neutral state of being.

We hope and pray that Bishop Jackson will focus some attention on Christ's message of inclusion as we did when we invited him to speak to our members during our recently held Black Church Summit at Mother Bethel AME Church in Philadelphia. From that experience alone the good Bishop should have known that we would never support a law that would silence him in his own pulpit.

Rev. Dr. Michael Eric Dyson
Sylvia Rhue, Ph.D.

The writers are respectively the Chair and Director of the National Black Justice Coalition's Religious Advisory Committee.

Austin Reflections

Guest column by Fredrikka Maxwell

There’s a bridge across busy Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas. It crosses the Colorado River and is the home for the largest bat colony in the world and is a tourist attraction in the Texas capital.

And there’s a plaque on that bridge, still shiny and new, naming it for Ann Richards (1933-2006) the lady governor of Texas from 1991-1995 who was in essence a bridge builder advocating for equality of the races, women’s rights and rights of GLBT people

I was in Texas on the July 4th weekend giving a seminar at the Dignity USA convention in Austin. And as I explored the bustling downtown area and watched the variety of people young and old, black and white and brown going to and fro, I discovered the plaque on the bridge and realized that this is what it was really all about.

Building bridges.

And that was what I was doing in Austin that weekend. Building a bridge from the transgender community in the largest Roman Catholic GLBT group in the country to the group at large--a group that called itself a trans-inclusive group since the mid 1990s but had had nothing trans in its convention line up --which horrified me. It turned out that the transperson they had on the committee putting on the convention had to leave the committee for personal reasons. And, since conventions can take on a life of their own, it basically snowballed and I really believe that the trans aspect went out of sight and out of mind.

So I suggested that perhaps we could squeeze a trans workshop into the convention and I even prepared an outline. The convention chair and the Dignity list moderator both realized I knew my subject. And having been reared Catholic and so had a background for understanding the church didn’t hurt at all. In fact, that probably sealed the deal. So they invited me to give the workshop that we hoped would educate the general run of dignity convention-goers and help them grasp the issues inherent in being trans-inclusive.

It turned out that it was not a large gathering. Maybe 225 to 250 individuals all told gathered at the Hyatt Regency downtown. About a dozen showed up. But they were prominent people in the Dignity community and they were interested and I could see people taking notes and folks asked good questions. It felt very affirming.

I’ve read some figures from NCTE that there are maybe between 750,000 and 3,000,000 trans people in the US. That’s a liberal estimate and may not be exact. So many of us are in the closet, so many of us are stealth, living a life with a secret we pray never gets out. It is hard to know exactly how many of us are out there and that’s especially true for the minority population. It's hard to rally the numbers that will translate to the votes that we desperately need to get Congress to pass the laws that we need.

And so we need all the allies we can find. That was also true in the Dignity community. And some of them were in the gay, lesbian, and bisexual communities.

But many of them don’t always understand us and our issues. And we may not always understand theirs. It was--and is-- therefore important to strive to find common ground. And to find common ground you have to educate folks in your issues and you have to let them know that some of their issues overlap and are right there with ours.

For instance, anti-hate crime legislation is a trans issue. It is also a gay and lesbian issue as well. I personally don’t know if Barry Winchell was REALLY gay or not and frankly it doesn’t matter if he was or not. The thing is it has to be OK to be who you are, whether you’re gay or straight, bi or trans, whatever. But somebody thought it did matter and killed him as a result. He’d probably still be walking around today if that hadn’t happened. So would Nokia Baker. Trust me, anti-hate crime legislation is a must.

Health care is also a gay and lesbian issue. Since it’s also tied to marriage equality getting it for oneself and one’s partner is a challenge. Especially if the person’s employer doesn’t offer domestic partnership benefits.

And sometimes hospitals will not allow a gay person at the bedside of the beloved because of policies that dictate only “family” may visit and only “family” may make healthcare decisions for the patient--and if you’re gay and you can’t get married, then you could be out of luck because only married people are respected as “family”

Although it’s possible to draft legal paper such as durable powers of attorney for health care, and legal paper to declare yourself next of kin so that you can visit the patient that might get around that. But it’s not automatic as it is for straight married couples That makes it a real burdensome issue for gays and lesbians.

And also a trans issue. We know, for instance, that many insurance companies do not cover what we need in the way of health care. many do not cover Gender Reassignment Surgery, and some don’t cover hormones, and some don’t cover facial feminization surgery, the procedures that make the face more feminine for male to female trans people for instance. Health care is for sure both a trans issues and a gay and lesbian issue.

And it’s understanding issues like that that will go a long way towards strengthening the GLBT alliance, allowing us to find common ground and understanding of our sometimes joint issues.

So I was glad to be a bridge builder. Thank you, Ann Richards, for reminding me.

Celebrities , Body Image and Acceptance: The Effect On The Transsexual

Guest Column by Elizabeth

What is it with transsexuals and their obsession with outing celebrities as closet transsexuals? I understand that some girls really want to be feminine and perfect. They want to be admired, passable, unclockable and unspooky. Some feel they may not be so flawless or that they are too close to being boyish or mannish.

Of course when transsexuals are obsessed with their looks and less concerned about actually living the role of women I think more than gender dysphoria is involved and they suffer from some form of body dysphoria. People who are just unhappy with their bodies like Michael Jackson and well, Amanda Lepore (a NY transwoman). She's had hundreds of cosmetic procedures and plastic surgeries performed on herself.

Do girls need role models, though? Everyone is lacking in some feature or characteristic when compared to another. It seems as though the typical teenage girl has to idolize someone, be that Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Paris Hilton, Beyonce Knowles, Jennifer Lopez or Madonna.

Many of these celebrities are in fact talented, attractive and feminine but does it go beyond admiration sometimes when folks want to be like them? Of course it seems transsexuals take the admiration to the extreme sometimes. Amanda Lepore wanting to look like cartoon character Jessica Rabbit. A show on MTV called I Want A Famous Face recently featured a transsexual girl who wanted to look like Jennifer Lopez.

I think it's quite sad when genetic or transexual girls look up to these celebrities and think that celebrities have the perfect body when that is not the case. The photos that appear on the CD covers and magazines from celebrity photo shoots are often Photoshopped and manipulated. Obviously there are people in the media and entertainment industry that don't think certain celebrities meet those perfect standards. For example, seems someone thinks Serena Williams is too manly/muscular and Beyonce's boobs are never big enough.

Just check out the portfolio of Glen Feron sometimes. He's an artist hired to Photoshop and retouch photos of celebrities for magazines and CD covers. He smoothes over their faces, gives them flawless complexions, exaggerates makeup, narrows the waists of women and gives them plumper and fuller breasts and butts.

Transsexuals and Their Obsession With Celebrities

I've seen other transsexual girls ask each other, "Is so and so a transsexual?" "Look at her forehead and those man hands." It just seems like there is some grand witch hunt to out and expose these celebrities. Maybe it's just that trans girls would feel better knowing that there is someone out there in the world who is transgendered, has made it and has gained acceptance. Highly doubtful that any of them are indeed transexuals.

I feel that sometimes transsexual sisters idolize these girls and celebrities but do nothing to really be anything like them. Being transsexual has stopped some girls from modeling, acting or singing such as Harisu, Jordana LeSesne, Dana International, Roberta Close, Caroline 'Tula' Cossey, Claudia Charriez or Gia Darling.

Of course my feelings on the subject are if they aren't out or admit to being one in the first place then why do I want them to be labeled as a transsexual icon?

Much like gay black men and their obsession to label people like Malcolm X, Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis and Luther Vandross as gay. They never admitted to it in their life publicly or otherwise and there is no hard evidence to support such labels. Seems like part of the "gay agenda".

What gay black people are doing is proclaimimg someone to be their black gay messiah whenever it seems most convenient. I know they seek greater acceptance and recognition in the larger white GLBT community but really, why not admire someone who actually lived and identities with the life? Why settle for anything less than the real thing? Transexuals must stop and not do the same thing. We won't find wide acceptance this way.

Ciara Harris, That Whole Transsexual Mess and Why She Is My New Flawless Role Model!

Sometime in 2004 rumors began circulating that R&B singer Ciara was a transsexual and that she even admitted so on Oprah. Only problem is that she has never appeared on Oprah, so the rumor is bogus. Ciara denied this and the controversy has sorta gone away and died down.

I have to admit that during the height of those rumors some people commented that she looked quite mannish in one of her videos. I certainly do believe that she possesses features that would leave some room for doubt. No one can be 100% perfect though I'm sure she is 100% female. I mean it's not as if I want to diminish any part of her femininity. I look at her now and think, 'Wow, she does have some broad shoulders and a bit of a square chin.' It's a 'things that make you go hmm' kind of moment.

I have broad shoulders. I look at more it more like, well if Ciara looks like she does and is accepted as being beautiful, sexy and desirable by Black men and society at large then why can't I be accepted as female with my features?

Maybe I should stop feeling so bad about myself for having broad shoulders.

TSTBC Conference Manifesto

To all prospective TSTBC conference attendees and trans-allies everywhere:

In every struggle, there are as many paths to civil liberty and justice as there are opinions. From the initial formation of our conference in 2005, there have been many voices that have been opposed to our own. There are some who believe that our efforts are about self-aggrandizement and motivated solely by ego. Nothing could be further from the truth. Many of us have experienced classism and other such “isms” that have kept us apart and separate.

As transpeople of color, we are doubly aware of how these “isms” can render people powerless and deny access to people and systems that would empower us. We have stated from the outset that we are not calling for separation from our White transbrothers and sisters or from any other trans-population of color – nor even from our lesbian sisters, gay brothers, bisexual and intersexed persons.

The TSTB Conference is a channel for empowerment for all transcommunites of color, in the hope that we might be able to enjoy the fraternity and sorority that others have enjoyed just by virtue of being who they are. TSTBC does not claim to have all the answers nor do we make any claim to extraordinary cosmic insight to end injustice of all kinds. Our conference and all its activities are just a forum to begin a dialogue so that such an understanding may be forthcoming.

We welcome anyone who comes to the TSTB conference with an open mind, heart and a genuine thirst for justice and fairness for all people. If your opinion is different than our own, as long as it is framed in a respectful manner, we welcome it and humbly invite you to present it. However, we do not believe that backbiting, rumors, hate-mongering, jealousy or envy provide the means for a qualitative discussion for social justice, equality and empowerment. We ask only that all of us come to the table with what we have to offer in order to empower all of us and to hear the many voices that either been silent or ignored for far too long.

Only by hearing all the voices can we truly strive for that American ideal – “E pluribus unum,” out of many, one.

Thank you for your attention and we hope that you accept our invitation to travel our path to justice for all transpeople.


TSTBC Conference Manifesto written by A. Dionne Stallworth
Philadelphia, PA
April 2006

Perception

Guest Article by Akilah al-Khaliq
Photo by Mariette Pathy Allen

Many of us face issues daily, some sort of issue regardless what it may be!

I have found that as transgendered individuals (whether mtf or ftm), we are often railroaded and bombarded with expectations of others! We have been caught in the same lapse that others have put us in!

Among MTF transsexuals it's often said, if you use "that" thing, then you aren't a woman and if you are a non-op or don't plan on having surgery then you're not deserving to be called a woman. Which is simply incorrect.

Among FTM's (which I am not but I have talked to one in particular who has hooked me up with a lot of info on transmen), it's often said that if you have no problems with using that "thing" then you can't possibly be a FTM. You're simply a delusional individual trying to not be called a lesbian so you start calling yourself a man. You'll never be a man as long as you use it and not have surgery! This is MOST incorrect!!!

It's most unfortunate that many of us assume that each and every single one of us assume that the other has the same level of discomfort as the next with our bodies! On one hand we have the person who is completely comfortable with the body given to them via genetics and will never take hormones or anything else and will never do any body alterations whatsoever, then you have the one who is completely insecure about their body and will do EVERYTHING to change their body many times not because they want to change their body but because they are trying to live up to a standard that says 'this is what a woman looks like and this is what a man looks like'.

Everyone else fits somewhere in between those two extremes. Somewhere on that line you fit, I fit, and everyone else who is of transgender or non-transgender experience.

In reality, do you know how many natal men and natal women do ALL that they can to CHANGE themselves because they are uncomfortable with what they see in the mirror...they want to change and in a sense feel they HAVE to change!

In retrospect, I look at what I put myself through many times and realize, I've been doing the right thing! I've finally learned to listen to "self" and not listen to what everyone else is telling me!

A friend of mine told me something that is most important to me personally! He told me that I spoke life into everyone I met but refused that same life that I allowed others to partake of! He said in a sense I'm a gatekeeper helping people find their way but my path seems cloudy and unsure! He said to me only thing left to do is LISTEN AND HEED what is being said by me! This is where you find truth, revelation, wisdom, understanding, overstanding, knowledge and love!

This is what I say to all of us today. Let us look deep within self and learn to seek truth, revelation, wisdom, understanding, overstanding, knowledge and love!

So...whatever your path from androgynous to ultra-fem or ultra-masc., BE TRUE TO SELF!!! LISTEN TO YOUR SOUL!!! FIND WHO YOU ARE!!!

People will always have opinions but remember that you are the one who have to live with the opinions of others should YOU choose to live your life through their perception!!!

It's quite tiring hearing from not only the "non-trans" community but also the "trans" community that someone will never be a woman or are not trans
because of these small minor issues! For some reason, both communities are obsessed with genitalia and this mind view is a very narrow mind view!!!

I do agree that there is a responsibility to your sexual partner to let them know what's between your legs before the day comes that you are in the bed together trying to get you some. HOWEVER, this limited view of BEING a man or woman is sickening and poisoning not only to us as transmen and transwomen but to the mainstream population and we wonder why we are not accepted! We have let them define us by their perceptions and have said nothing about it but continue to live up to their perceptions!

Personally, I believe that if I can change one, I've done my part! If I can help ONE person come to a more open worldview of who I am and percieve me and others like me on another level...I've done my part!!!

Am I A Woman Now? HELL YES!!! Without a doubt, I don't have a vagina but a vagina is not what defines me! I DEFINE ME!!! This is the level that we each need to get to! Defining ourselves in lieu of allowing everyone else who has NO idea of what is going on with us doing the defining!!!

Tell me...what is it that makes a woman a woman? Many outside and even within the community will say you must have breasts and a vagina! Well what happens when I am a "real" woman by those standards and I tell a man that I used to have a penis and I get stabbed 21 times in the chest or shot in the head because according to him I used to be a man!?

But society says that being a woman or man is dependent upon either having breasts and a vagina or a penis! This is what society says. So why is there a great number of people who are willing to kill me even though I have those things now?

Or maybe it's having an hour glass shape or a straight up and down body with no curves whatsoever that defines us as a woman or man!? If it is, I know many "men" who are women and many "women" who are men!

Case in point...it's not these outside influences or secondary sexual characteristics..IT IS HOWEVER YOUR POINT OF REFERENCE COMING FROM WITHIN!!!

My authentication comes solely from the inside and that is something that no surgical modification or hormonal modification can change! I also don't believe that someone not having a problem with their genitals and/or function makes that person any less of a man or a woman!!!

As long as you are living up to YOUR standards...life will be sweeter as the days go by! Yes we will have to put up with foolishness but under no circumstances will that make us HATE ourselves because we are listening to ourselves and not to outside influences that affect our perception of who we should be!!!

So...being that we are all different, unique and marvelously made in the image of God...let us not attack one another but let us come together, accept the other person's perception of self and love one another all the same! There is enough outside attackers that we ought not put ourselves and sisters and brothers through this and foremost...DON'T PUT YOURSELF THROUGH IT!!! We most assuredly attack ourselves too much and develop hatred of self! This is what I'm fighting against. Let us learn to love self in all of our forms and not hate self which causes too much bitterness and dissension!

Life after Gwen

An Op-Ed piece that appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle
----------------------------------------------------------------
Sylvia Guerrero
Thursday, January 26, 2006


I am not sure how I expected to feel at this point. When my daughter Gwen, a transgender teenager, was brutally murdered on Oct. 4, 2002, I was sure that I would never feel whole again. Looking back, I didn't yet know exactly what "transgender" meant or how to fully embrace my child's identity. But I knew one thing: I wanted justice for my child.

I thought that maybe I'd feel better on the day when the four suspects in her murder were brought to justice. More than three years and three months since Gwen's murder that day is finally here. On Friday, these men are being sentenced to prison terms for their actions, two of them convicted of second-degree murder and two taking plea bargains for voluntary manslaughter. I guess I hoped that once we got to the sentencing date, the pain would end and I could get back to my life. But it hasn't and I can't.

No amount of justice can return the part of me that these men took when they killed Gwen. The closure that people keep talking about hasn't come. It would be so much easier to write that it had. After all, that is what most people want to read: The system worked; my family is whole; the story is over. It would be comforting and allow us to get on with our lives. Of the many things I'm feeling, closure isn't one of them.

I'm angry. Angry that Gwen's brothers and her nieces and nephews won't get to grow up knowing her the way her aunts, uncles, older sister and I did. Angry that instead of celebrating her birthday, we get together each year to commemorate her death. Angry that, in both trials, the defendants tried to blame Gwen for her own murder. Angry that other young lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender kids continue to face the discrimination she did in our public schools and our workforce.

I'm also grateful. Grateful that my family and our friends rose to the challenge and sat through two gruesome and explicit criminal trials to make sure that everyone knew that Gwen was loved for who she was. I'm grateful for the support we've all received from perfect strangers who have told us in-person and through e-mail that we are in their thoughts and prayers. I'm grateful for the remorse that two of the defendants and some of their family members have expressed to me and my family.

And I'm sad. Sad that I'll never get to see Gwen grow into the beautiful woman she would have become. Sad that four men chose to end my daughter's life, and throw away their own simply because they thought they were acting like "real men." And sad that other transgender women have been killed since Gwen's murder and that we don't have a realistic end in sight to that violence.

Within this mix of emotions, though, the one that I hold onto most dearly is hope. Since that tragic night, my own family has grown by two beautiful grandchildren. More and more parents are supporting their transgender children. California has become the country's most protective state for transgender people. And just this month, a new law has been proposed in Sacramento, the Gwen Araujo Justice for Victims Act, authored by Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, D-Mountain View, and sponsored by Equality California, an LGBT civil-rights lobbying group, to protect people from being blamed for their own murder.

Maybe the reason I don't have closure around Gwen's death is that there is still work to do. If I've learned anything since Gwen's murder, it is that hope alone is not enough. Each of us who hopes to live in a state where our families are protected needs to work toward making California that place. For instance, boys and girls in schools throughout the Bay Area need to hear, firsthand, how important it is to be themselves and to respect each other's differences.

None of us can change the way the world was on Oct. 4, 2002. But each of us now has an important role to play in creating a state where we can celebrate more birthdays and commemorate fewer murders.

Sylvia Guerrero is the mother of Gwen Araujo and an activist for LGBT civil rights. She speaks at schools around the Bay Area through the Gwen Araujo Transgender Education Fund administered by the Horizons Foundation.