TransGriot Note: Guest post from Antonia E. D'orsay
I know that question to you two right now is not going to be very
nice. Especially coming from me, when both of you likely know I'm pretty
upset with this whole mess.
So I'm going to ask you, each, How much do you *really* care about making lives better for trans people?
What
are you willing to sacrifice, to give up, to surrender, to set aside in
the effort to do things like get a non discrimination act passed or to
end the stigma and shame associated with being trans, or to take GID out
of the DSM or to stop newspapers from printing really stupid and
horribly insulting stuff about us?
Are you willing to die
for what you believe in? Autumn, are you willing to take a bullet over
calling Ashley out? Ashley, are you willing to be beaten and tortured
over Autumn being a member of this "gay inc" thing you talk about?
Ashley,
are you willing to have your life ended over this division you promote
between "transvestites" and "transsexuals"? Autumn, are you willing to
be thrown literally to the lions to make sure that even someone like
Jennifer Usher has a chance to be treated fairly?
I'm not
saying that you have to be willing to do those things. If you are not,
that's ok. But how far are you willing to go to make these things
happen? Will you give up some belief?
Autumn, would be be willing to say that Ashley is right if it means that a real ENDA is passed?
Ashley,
would you be willing to say that maybe transvestites are little
different from transsexuals if it means people would stop using the word
tranny?
How much do you *really* care about these things? Seriously.
Think
on that. You don't have to reply here -- both of you know my email addy
is tonidorsay@msn.com. I also don't give a damn if you don't like each
other.
But both of you have been deeply irresponsible --
and keep in mind that if *I* am the one telling you this, when my
reputation is that of a loose cannon who fires off at friend or foe with
equal abandon, then there's a serious problem here that will undermine
all the work both of you have done.
I would like a reply,
though. And it is only fair for me to say that it would not be private.
Your reply will be something I talk about.
Answer that question, and we can start to see something far more important than anything either of you have done.
Oh,
and while I'm at it, and before you both unfriend me for being the ever
irascible Dyssonance, have either of you made your five dollar donation
to This Is H.O.W. yet?
http://www.thisishow.org/ is
a place that has helped over 300 trans folk of all sorts, all kinds,
all shapes and sizes in the last four years. It deals with substance
abuse, with freeing one's self from the world of sex work, with escaping
domestic violence, with recovering from rape, and more. Most of the
people helped are men and women of color, who have it so hard that
anything the three of us combined have gone through is a walk in the
park.
It takes 5000 dollars every three months to keep the
doors open. I'm asking for 1000 people to donate 5 dollars each. That's
all. If I can get that 1000 people to do that 4 times a year, I can
keep TIH open and actually grow the organization and expand the services
to other cities and other states.
And, as ever, both of
you are absolutely free to come over to Phoenix and tell me off to my
face any time you'd like. Or just have a cup of coffee and take a tour
of TIH's Residence and community Room.
But answer that
question and make that donation. Because right now, the two of you just
started something that is not going to go smoothly, and to be perfectly
frank, I'd appreciate and end to it fairly soon since my phone has been
ringing off the hook for the last three days and I'm getting ten to
fifteen emails a day about this whole thing.
I'd like to diffuse the situation. Or at least shift the discussion away from you two as people.
No comments:
Post a Comment