One of the things that's part of being an activist, especially one who has writing talents and an ever increasing media profile is critcism. I'm a big girl and I expect it, nor do I presume that 'errbody' agrees with what I have to say. I welcome constructive criticism if it is done in a loving way that helps me become a better person and a better activist.
But this is what was sitting in my e-mail inbox when I checked it early on the morning of January 25 after doing 15 hours at work.
From: "Sue Robins"
To:
Subject: I owe you thanks
Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008 14:35:25 -0800
Minica;
I wanted to thank you for showing your true colors up on Bilerico today. You really should stick to what you know best and keep out of the bigger picture. What you and others are demonstrating is the inability of the transgender community to function in a polite environment without saying disrespectful thing. I have heard it from more then a few of my post-transition friends that you and your ilk are making a mockery of the transgender rights cause. This is the very reason people have been leaving the TG movement in droves. You don’t seem to understand you have to work with straight middle class men and women if you want to insure progress in transgender rights. You have to play the game by their rules not Barney Frank’s. One of those rules is there is only two sexes Men and Women fortunately a large part of the transgender community understands that. You just keep posting your disrespectful comments you are showing the world that transgenders are nothing more then freaks to be seen on Jerry Springer; thankfully my transgender friends don’t act that way.
Have a nice day
Hugs
Sue Robins
--------------
(Cue Papi Boulevardez laugh)
FYI TransGriot readers. I didn't put my first post on the Bilerico Project blog until 6:48 PM Friday evening. So at the time I read this e-mail I didn't know what the hell she was talking about.
I've since discovered that Sue Robins is one of those white transsexual separatists that I've been tangling with in various online transgender groups since the late 90's.
Before I start the fun and festivities taking this e-mail apart and rebutting her WBT azz (and in this case the WBT stands for weak-minded belligerent transsexual) enjoy this music video from Jill Scott for her hit song 'Hate on Me'.
I wanted to thank you for showing your true colors up on Bilerico today. You really should stick to what you know best and keep out of the bigger picture.
Why? What is it about lil old me that 'scurrs' you and your ilk so much? And as for keeping out of the bigger picture, too late. While you were cowering in your closet, I was lobbying congressmembers in 1998. I was sitting at a table at Task Force HQ in DC back in 2000 during their National Transgender Policy meeting. I've been in this effort for ten years now and I ain't going away.
What you and others are demonstrating is the inability of the transgender community to function in a polite environment without saying disrespectful thing.
There you go again with that BS 'horizontal hostility' crap. The interesting thing is that every time this shade gets thrown by nekulturny people like you, y'all jump off crap, then you wanna whine and holler 'horizontal hostility' when people call you on it.
I have heard it from more then a few of my post-transition friends that you and your ilk are making a mockery of the transgender rights cause. This is the very reason people have been leaving the TG movement in droves.
Oh really? The one thing that's making a mockery of the transgender rights cause is the inept way that it's been handled for the last ten years by some peeps that share your ethnic background.
As for your assertion that people are leaving the movement in droves, got any facts to back that statement up? Methinks you're just counting your whiny clueless 'WBT' peeps who have repeatedly demonstrated breathtaking ignorance on a vast array of subjects and the inability to work and play well with others.
You don’t seem to understand you have to work with straight middle class men and women if you want to insure progress in transgender rights. You have to play the game by their rules not Barney Frank’s.
This is priceless. White male privilege in action, folks. You are not only discounting and disrespecting my intelligence and abilities, but have the nerve to try to lecture me about how to pass rights legislation when I've been to Capitol Hill, two state legislatures, and recently the Jefferson County school board to do precisely that.
One of those rules is there is only two sexes Men and Women fortunately a large part of the transgender community understands that.
Umm, medical science and biology says otherwise. I think our intersex friends would have a bone to pick with you about your narrow assessment as well. Fortunately a larger section of the transgender community and our allies understand that gender is a continuum, and everybody fits somewhere along that line. The only peeps that share your gender=genitalia dogma besides some of your WBT friends are the Religious Right, the Catholic Church and Barney Frank.
You just keep posting your disrespectful comments you are showing the world that transgenders are nothing more then freaks to be seen on Jerry Springer; thankfully my transgender friends don’t act that way.
FYI, Jerry Springer's peeps called me and asked me to come on their show in 1997. I told them hell no and lose my phone number.
Funny, media professionals over the years seem to like my comments enough to continue to ask me to do interviews such as my local newspaper or the Colorlines magazine one I just did. Go pick it up at a bookseller near you.
The 600 hits per day I get on this blog seems to indicate that peeps like what I have to say. I wrote a newspaper column in a GLBT paper for three years and co-hosted a radio show for two.
So what have you done to uplift transgender peeps today or over the last ten years besides sit behind your computer all day and rant?
By the way Sue, I have a fresh batch of Hater tots prepared for you that y'all can munch on to go with that Vanilla Ice flavored Hateraid you and your friends are drinking by the 55 gallon drum.You have a blessed day.
19 comments:
Good job Monica. I'm a long-time reader but this is my first post. It takes tremendous courage to continue to fight in the wake of all the hate out there. When I first came out as transgender I was shocked that so many gay, lesbian, and bisexual friends failed to support me, but even more appalled at the number of people in the trans community who tried to dictate my transition for me. We're divided along class, sex, disability, and race lines in this movement and you're a strong voice pointing that out. Thanks for all of your work, and congratulations on the wonderful ColorLines article.
I've been checking into past and present comments by Sue and it seems she always pulls the same crap, which she'll probably try to pull here if she reads this blog. 1. she asserts shes intersexed which, to her, puts her above us mere tranny's, 2. she always has friends who are TG and they always agree with her, 3. she makes claims that she knows of a majority of people who conform to a binary, but I haven't seen her proof, 4. She likes to argue to bring the topic of discussion off to where she wants it to go, taking away from the original topic. I'm sure others could add to this list, but its just ridiculous, her holier than thou attitude is patronizing and annoying and she shows up all over the place to spread her hate on whomever she can. If she not adding to the discussion she should stick to like minded blogs (maybe Hearts blog?) where her opinions will be appreciated. So thank you Monica for being who you are and for being able to be hilarious in the face of hatred.
....Minica?
Minica?
You know I have to say I just started laughing my behind off and couldnt stop with just that alone.
Arent you like, six feet tall?
*giggles*
Robins and her ilk seem to have an obsession with usage of the restroom.
As do a lot of the Religious Reich. People need to get real. Restrooms have stalls, after all. If Robins and her ilk got their way, you'd have to have a cop checking people's crotches and assigning restrooms accordingly. That is why restrooms have stalls, people - so that there is no need for a crotch inspection. I wonder which restroom Robins would intend for an intersexed person to use, or a person with ambiguous or absent genitalia. As for the fears of people about pedophilia, I will point out that sexual predatory acts are already illegal and punishable by considerable jail time, as they should be, and if people really want to stop pedophilia, they should keep kids away from heterosexual married males.
AirMonica,
Seems she has it in for that name. I have been a target of her hate for years. She is a sick puppy that has shown to agree with Bailey and such. She tried to post to my blog and each time I blocke her E-mail, she created a new one. I finally figured out how to block her completely, but I won't reveil it here, incase she shops up to scream on your blog.
Autumn knows her better than any of us, because Sue lives in San Diego. She is a lonely and bitter person who has caused herself to be banned from any LGBT function. If she is trying to be stealth, she sure is logged onto a lot of LGBT sites, lists and blogs. You could say she's the bad penny that shows up, but a penny is at least worth one cent.
Thay's why I took the Geraldo Rivera approach on this one.
He used to say, "Sunlight is the best disinfectant' when it comes to people like this.
I was more than a little pissed off that she sends this to my personal address, then on the Bilerico thread welcoming me to the blog posts a syrupy 'welcome to the blog' message.
I can't stand two faced people like that, much less two faced IGNORANTones.
Sea Monica,
Shoot that to me privately.
I first encountered Sue Robins just a couple weeks ago on Bilerico, and already I can tell she's a bigoted, deeply disturbed person.
Right now she is trying to act polite over on Bilerico -- wonder how long that will last. They ought to ban her.
Don't let her get to you, Monica. Just scrape her off your shoe.
The email by Sue is a little irritating because Sue hasn't done the research on Monica -- heck, I know I'm stating what many here already know, but Monica was IGFE's Trinity Award winner for 2006. Sue...well, I don't think she has any awards for her "I love me" wall -- definitely not one as prestigious.
I know how much civil rights work Monica has done over the years to benefit multiple communities -- I know Monica understands that life's most urgent question is "What are you doing for others?" I would dare say Monica has a much, much better "big picture" understanding of federal civil rights issues than Sue does, as what work Sue has done has all been on the very local level.
I guess I should mention that just as Sea Monica noted, I've known Sue personally. Like me, she's a San Diego resident. Prior to 2004, she with transgender people in support groups/support organizations (and still works with a small group called Neutral Corner), worked with others at Family Health Services of San Diego to get a transgender needs assessment published, and worked with others in support of amending San Diego's Human Dignity Ordinance to add transgender employment protections.
Her focus really changed around the time of her SRS. Frankly, I can't figure what happened to her perspective on transgender people between late 2003 and now; however, I know she's no longer considered to be in the mainstream of transgender activism here in San Diego.
Honestly, she really has turned into a web agitator at this point. Her work at this point is mostly agitating against those who are trying to achieve social justice for transgender people as a whole, as opposed to post-operative women of transsexual history.
(sorry, I left an anchor tag open in the previous attempt. I'm sure this one'll be fine now...<_<)
Actually, I'm pretty embarassed to link you to this, but, hey, it was Marti Abernathey who pointed to it first, so half the shame is hers.
Anyway, the bottom line is Sue Ann is not just a total troll, she's also far from the True Transsexual™ she claims to be. Before her srs she was a supporter of Autogynephilia. She was also a notorious usenet troll, infesting alt.support.srs for years, apparently. I sifted around the dirt on that unbelieavably aggravating list a bit and I can't find any mention of her having an intersex condition, prior to her srs, or even after. I think she came up with that much later, when she felt strong enough to venture forth into the real world.
I didn't look too close, because my eyes hurt and because I was primarily looking for info on wombozo the clown, whom I have this little unfinished business with, but you can do the spade work, it's you she's attacking.
So, here, the links:
Sue Ann's profile on Lynn Conway's site:
http://www.tsroadmap.com/info/susan-ann-robins.html
Article on Encyclopedia Dramatica:
http://www.encyclopediadramatica.com/Sue_Ann_Robins_%28Usenet_Troll%29
And Sue Anne by, um, mable the goat on alt.support.srs:
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.support.srs/browse_thread/thread/55cc48f409b6d9fd/45307fe59a925c7d?lnk=gst&q=sue+ann+robins#45307fe59a925c7d
Petty, catty and downright offensive, especially the Encyclopedia Dramatica article, but enlightening nonetheless.
Now, excuse me, I have to go wash myself with gasoline and a zippo. I linked to Lynn Conway...
Lynn Conway!!
No wait. The usenet info is taken from Lynn Conway's site.
Oh well. Maybe she is mable the goat.
I swear that wasn't intentional btw... O:)
I do find this sexist rant very offensive and I appeciate your response, Monica. The ignorance of intersex issues and the binary fundamentalism expressed by this person cause great damage to intersex children and many others who do not fit the unnatural norms brutally imposed on ALL people. If this person feels she meets these norms, fine. Others would not agree, especially those in charge of the norms.
Curtis E. Hinkle,
Founder, Organisation Intersex International
http://tinyurl.com/2kv4dw
As a woman born to have a transsexual history I have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed your deconstruction of Sue Robins.
Actually, Monica, your writing reminds me of some of the best of bel hooks' writings on feminism in general and minority/poor women's feminism in particular.
Although I will maintain my female-hood til the day I die, I am also aware that perspectives of what it means to be a woman are definitely skewed among WBTs toward a feminism very reminiscent of the feminism of Betty Friedan in 1963. That is, the problem with patriarchy back then was a problem with 'I want the same prerogatives as the man I am married to and to which my social class should entitle me.'
That feminism often neglected the fact that women of color and poorer white women had other concerns and a different pov entirely about what and how feminism was/is. Often the interest of the subordinate classes was in overthrowing patriarchy, not being co-opted and included in it.
This became very evident when such women joined the white middle-upper class feminists in meetings and debates. The primary mode at that time and throughout the eighties was that the dominant-class feminists would basically demean and exclude the concerns of subordinate-class women and when argument came accuse the subordinate women of 'attacking.'
I'm sure the parallels with what goes on in the current spats are evident to all who take the time to review a bit of history. Women have fought this fight once and paid a large price for both being co-opted and for alienating various women from the women's movement. Must TS/TG women and men go through that same process now?
I see this tension playing out again in the WBT vs. Other controversies we read on various blogs. I think it may well have played a large part in the comments of Susan Stanton that have recently received so much flak.
Not all women can immediately afford to place $100,000 on credit cards, let alone pay cash for surgical and electrological services. Does that make them less female than their more fortunate sisters who have been able to afford the payments?
The divide does seem very often to be a tension that develops in many of the WBTs who find a loss of their former class and status 'privileges' gone after they transition. They often seem to feel a need to assert 'power' somewhere and generally make the overall argument that women who haven't been able to afford what they have afforded are 'less-than' Their other argument seems to be that as women they should be readmitted to the same power-structure that they lived in prior to transition.
Their generally propounded reason for not having this status is that 'all those women who still are men in dresses' have caused that alienation.
I hope I am not the first to inform them of this, but the 'men in dresses' are not keeping you out of the halls of the power you once walked. The people still in those halls are keeping you out because they view you as 'men in dresses' as well and that view is what needs changing. Merely saying I am better than them will not change that view nor the political reality.
I think it's time that both sides search themselves for the source of all this anger. I suspect that much of it comes from 'loss of privilege' and from 'lack of privilege ever.' Perhaps our energies would be better served by uniting with various sorts of folks to topple the privilege altogether.
The insidious success of patriarchy and the socio-economic system that accompanies it in the USA is that it has been incredibly successful at admitting to its power corridors a limited number of 'others' who then assist the structure in ending the debate and the push for change. I really doubt that we 'trannies' will be any more successful in making change than were any other groups have been in the past.
Addendum: Certainly not by ourselves, especially not a small percentage of people by ourselves. Perhaps we need to find ways to unite rather than to separate into smaller and smaller splinters.
Nichole,
We won't know how successful we have the potential to be unless we at least try.
Sue,
You take that issue up with Marti.
Me and my community are looking at thus asinine rehash of a 20th century argument and shaking our heads at it.
I agree, Monica.
The continuing arguments about who is 'tranny enough to be real' I think are exactly rehashes of things fought and discovered by our sisters years ago.
The battles may establish privilege-hierarchies within a subordinate group about who gets to talk with massa up' th' big houz, but don't provide any pathway to freedom or inclusion at the big house for even the 'most real tranny' left standing.
A little realistic application needs to be made by the WBTs and the 'others.' Is it worth the battle to establish an ability to pay for surgery as what defines 'real?'
The foundation of that argument is class and ethnic privilege if you ask me. I might get to sleep with 'massa' occasionally. But, if I have a child she's not going to inherit anything but my pain and my position.
I think it's time we started seeing that and putting to rest our insecurities about ourselves and our own worth. Those are personal and only I can fix my own.
OTH, a united front might go some way to ameliorating at least a little of everyone's pain.
In nutshell, I now must conclude:
Sue is wacked, and a dangerous loose cannon, spouting off and attacking anyone and everyone she sees as in her way in opposition to her narrow views, and not caring who she harms in doing so.
I've now had to ban her from my radio show because her irresponsible actions threatened it's continuance. While I always welcome and encourage diversity of thought and opinion on my show, Sue simply cannot be trusted to keep the discussion in the proper forums, and behave responsibly. Therefore, in the interests of protecting myself, my friends, and my show, I feel she can no longer be trusted to participate responsibly and fairly.
Monica, I encourage you not to take her seriously. As I have discovered, Sue is not only a poor advocate for her own viewpoint, but is without credibility, manners, or a sense of fair play. You're best off to just ignore her and hope she'll go away, as trolls usually eventually do. She does not deserve your attention or your time.
Becky
Reposting with better words:
Wow, great thread.
Nichole,
"The battles may establish privilege-hierarchies within a subordinate group about who gets to talk with massa up' th' big houz, but don't provide any pathway to freedom or inclusion at the big house for even the 'most real tranny' left standing."
I think I said something very much like this when I first started reading Monica's blog. It's one of the reasons I got very tired of being on trans mailing lists or newsgroups several years ago, because of the attempts to establish or enforce a hierarchy based on assumed and supposed legitimacy.
Also on the feminism, and on Monica's writing: Monica, you're one of the most powerful voices I've read when it comes to civil rights.
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