GIEC Credibility Chasm Widens

2000 IFGE Trinity Award winner Dawn Wilson has a saying that was taught to her by her Sunday school teacher in Lexington, KY and often repeated during our frequent conversations in the seven and a half years I lived with her in Louisville.

When me, her and Polar would discuss the travails of the trans community over the now eleven years I've known her and the Polar Bear, she would at some point in our conversation say and repeat this saying like a mantra:

Accountability plus responsibility equals credibility.

I've taken to writing and saying it at times in shorthand like a math equation: A plus R equals C

But in the wake of the post I penned earlier this week about GIEC, Dawn's words came back to me with stark clarity as I perused the comments left on the TransGriot post, the e-mails I've received about it, the commentary throughout the Transosphere, and comments on mine and the FB pages of GIEC.

It's clear that I wasn't the only person in Trans World who had concerns about GIEC and their credibility gap.

Umm, now that I think about it, GIEC doesn't have a credibility gap.

It has a credibility chasm.

In the wake of the mea culpas posted to their site and their blog there's a spirit of glasnost now sweeping through the organization. But it seems old habits die hard for the trans comrades that can't shoot straight (pardon the pun) and they are up to their maskirovka tricks again.

The GIEC website just posted pictures of their 'alleged' board members.

Note the word 'alleged' in quotation marks.

I was sent an e-mail by a respected trans community icon pointing out to me that this posted board resembles the title of an Alexander O'Neal song.



She pointed out to me in that e-mail and subsequent conversation we had that none of the pictures have names underneath them, nor are the names of the board members listed on that page.

The names can only be accessed in pulldown menus, thus avoiding easy discovery of their inclusion on that page should the peeps in question do Google searches on themselves.

One of the photos she recognized was a friend of hers. and she contacted him to ask if he was part of the GIEC board.

That friend turned out to be noted intersex activist and ally to our community Curtis Hinkle.

When contacted by the respected trans community icon, Hinkle was shocked to discover his photo was uploaded to the GIEC page and is not happy about it.

This is the e-mail he sent to me and CC'd to the respected trans community icon yesterday.

From: "Curtis Hinkle"
To: “Monica Roberts”
Sent: Wednesday, September 08, 2010 6:32 PM
Subject: Urgent concerning Ariana Davis

Dear Monica,

I am writing to let you know that I have been informed that Ariana Davis has posted information about me which makes it appear that I am a board member of the GIDC. I have never been aware of such a position. I simply joined an email group and then agreed that OII (Organisation Intersex International) supported the goals of the GIDC, which we do, i.e., the depathologization of transsexuality and transgenderism. I have heard nothing from Ariana in over a year, maybe longer, and she is no longer associated with OII.

I am very concerned about the situation that has developed and wished to inform you that OII is in no way associated with it.

Kindest regards,
Curtis

***

Curtis, so am I and a lot of people in the trans community.

To the folks whose photos are posted, let me know if you are or aren't a member of the GIEC board that was posted to their site.

Note to Arianna, Katerina and the rest of GIEC. A plus R equals C and I'd suggest you repeat that on a daily basis before it's too late.

Because of your inattention to accountability and responsibility, GIEC's credibility is rapidly dwindling.

The eyes of this trans Texan aren't the only ones upon you. There are others who are paying attention to what you have been doing and will not hesitate to speak out and call you out.

GIEC's actions have given me and others the impression you don't or are simply clueless not ready for primetime poseurs.

I and many people in the community would like to believe that you have the best of intentions for this community and our best interests at heart.

But the trans community in the second decade of the twenty first century doesn't have the luxury of thinking with its heart.

We can't allow ineffective 'all hat and no cattle' organizations with credibility problems to speak or attempt to speak for it.

We need effective organizations and leaders who know the meaning of A plus R equals C.