Trans For Obama Effort

It's been past time for us to take the next steps in securing our rights. Lobbying legislators is only one part of that. You also have to reward your friends and defeat your enemies.

Since Sen. Barack Obama has stated over and over again his support for an inclusive ENDA, we need to donate cash to him so that he can successfully finish this last leg of the journey to the White House.

I've already started doing so by purchasing Obama gear directly from the campaign. No disrespect to you peeps trying to make a living with the cool street Obama shirts, but I want whatever dollars I spend on Obama gear to go straight to whipping McPalin behinds.

A campaign kicked off Monday organized by Helen Boyd and the Stonewall Democrats in which we transgender peeps and our allies have been donating funds to this ActBlue page for the Obama campaign. As of this writing it has garnered 283 donors and $13,145 dollars.

But we could always use more.

When the Purple One says 'we haven't been educating Congress', what he means in Washingtonspeak is that the transgender community hasn't been handing them checks for their reelection campaigns.

Yo Barney, when you quit cutting my people out of ENDA you might see some of this 13K on the regular that's going to Obama. We reward friends, not 'frenemies'.


So if you could just give up $5 or whatever you can spare, it would go a long way toward ensuring your civil rights and send the message that we're not only here, we support our friends as well. For our allies, you send the vitally important message that you believe that civil rights for your fellow transgender citizens is important as well.

Nominations Sought For 2009 Trinity Awards

The IFGE Awards Committee is seeking your help in searching for candidates for the 2009 Trinity Award. These awards will be presented during the 23rd Annual IFGE Convention to be held in Alexandria, VA (South of Washington DC), February 4 to February 8, 2009 at the Alexandria Hilton, Mark Center (by Old Town), Alexandria, VA USA.

The Trinity Awards honor our heroes: living Transgender persons who have performed extraordinary acts of courage and love in service to the Transgender Community.

We welcome your participation in the awards process and consider it very important that you nominate worthy candidates. We hope to see you at the awards ceremony at our 2009 convention.

To nominate a candidate for the Trinity Award, we will need the following Nominee Information:

Nominee Name:
Address:
Phone:
Email:
Support Statement or Nomination information:

Nominated by:
Name:
Address:
Phone:
Email:

If you want help or need more information refer to the IFGE web site.
Please E-mail all information to: ycr1@juno.com by October 20, 2008.

The IFGE 2008-2009 Awards Committee, Yvonne Cook-Riley

2009 IFGE Conference Call for Presenters

The International Foundation for Gender Education is requesting presentation and workshop proposals for its upcoming 2009 IFGE Conference. The event will be held February 4-7, 2009 at the Alexandria Hilton at Mark Center, in Alexandria VA, and is being hosted by the Transgender Education Association (TGEA) of Washington DC, in coalition with other groups in the mid Atlantic region. The theme for this year's gathering is: "Working Together for Change."

This year are giving priority to presentations on the following themes:

* Issues impacting Transgender Youth, and Children of Trans Parents
* Issues impacting Transgender Elders
* Issues and concerns of FTMs (We are reserving a full track for FTMs)
* Issues and concerns of Crossdressers
* Transgender Health, Medicine and Legal Concerns
* TGs in Relationships - for Significant Others, Couples & Individuals
with or without partners
* Changing the perception of Transgender People through Education.
* Creating unity in the Transgender Community

New ideas, new topics and new faces are also of strong interest. We will be holding special panel discussions for the benefit of students, researchers and educators to learn more about the trans community.

(Student registrations rates will be available.)

Presenters and panel moderators will receive a $100 discount on any conference registration package. Registration information is available online at http://www.ifge.org/register/

If you are interested in presenting, please submit your proposal as soon as possible to insure space and schedule availability, but no later than September 30, 2008. Use the online Program Proposal Form on our web site http://www.ifge.org/conference or fill out the attached form and mail it to us.

Your proposal must include a short biography and any A/V needs. If it is for a panel, the moderator should submit the proposal and list the names and pertinent information (as to addresses, etc.), and provide bios for the other panel members. If this panel information is omitted from this initial proposal it may not be included in the program book.

If you have additional questions regarding your proposal, please contact Alison Laing by email at programs@ifge.org, or by writing:

IFGE Programs
P.O. Box 540229
Waltham MA 02454-0229

New England Trans Pride March Calls for Organizations to Participate

May 20, 2008

(Northampton, MA) The organizers of the first New England Transgender Pride March and Rally invite community organizations to sign up for the June 7 event in Northampton, Massachusetts. "We invite the participation not only of transgender and LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) individuals and groups, but also of schools, businesses, labor unions, religious and civic organizations, and anyone else who supports the equal rights of transgender people," states Marie Ali, one of the coordinators of the march.

Interested organizations throughout the region can register free of charge as a contingent to march with their banner by going to the New England Transgender Pride March website at www.transpridemarch.org.

The march will begin at noon on Saturday, June 7 from Lampron Park/Bridge Street School in Northampton and proceed to a rally downtown from 12:30 to 5:00 p.m. at the Armory Street lot behind Thornes Marketplace. The rally is free, open to the public, and will feature a range of transgender and transgender-supportive speakers and
performers.

Ali adds that people can also support the New England Transgender Pride March by giving financially, becoming a sponsor, or volunteering to help at the event. More information about donating time or money is available on the march's website.

I'm Going To Denver!

To be precise, I'm going to Boulder, CO and the University of Colorado campus.

This has been an interesting year for me so far, and this morning I received an early birthday present. (BTW, TransGriot readers, my birthday is Sunday)

I received word from the wonderful folks who put on the TRANSforming Gender conference on the CU Boulder campus that yours truly has not only been invited to participate in the 2008 edition of this conference, I'll be the keynote speaker!

The speakers at the two previous conferences CU's GLBT Resource Center and other campus organizations host have included people such as my 2006 Trinity classmate Gordene MacKenzie, Pauline Park, Andrea James, Calpernia Addams, Thea Hillman, Jamison Green, Dean Spade, Anderson Toone, Diane Tor, Avy Skolnick, Helen Boyd, Julia Serano, Matt Kailey and Dylan Scholinski.

The third annual edition of this event will be taking place October 17-19, and as I get more details about it I'll be passing that info on to you. It'll give you peeps who live in the Denver metro area who wish to attend an opportunity to meet the TransGriot. It's been twenty years since I spent July 1988 in the Denver area taking a training class when I worked for CAL, and now it looks like thanks to the Project and CU I'll be back twice in the span of a few weeks.

I'm really excited to be participating in this conference and I'm looking forward to seeing some of you on the CU Boulder campus in October.

New England Trans Pride March Announces Rally Lineup, Seeks Support

The organizers of the first New England Transgender Pride March and Rally have announced the following lineup of speakers and performers for the event, scheduled for June 7, 2008 in Northampton, MA.

11:00 a.m. Assemble at Lampron Park

Noon March steps off

12:30 – 12:45 p.m. Marchers arrive at Armory Street Lot (behind Thornes Marketplace)

12:45 – 12:50 p.m. Welcome by MC Louis Mitchell and Proclamation by Mayor Clare Higgins

12:50 – 1:00 p.m Political official TBD

1:00 – 1:10 p.m. Miss Major (Grand Marshal; Transgender, Gender Variant, Intersex Justice Project)

1:10 – 1:20 p.m. Gunner Scott (Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition)

1:20 – 1:30 p.m. Jerimarie Liesegang (CT TransAdvocacy Coalition)

1:30 – 1:40 p.m. Jill Berlin (TransForming Families)

1:40 – 1:45 p.m. Elliot Halloway (Trans youth)

1:45 – 2:00 p.m. Ellen Wittlinger (Author reading from Parrotfish)

2:00 – 2:05 p.m. Alex Pangborn (Generation Q)

2:05 – 2:15 p.m. Lee Elder (FTM folksinger)

2:15 – 2:30 p.m. Joe Stevens (singer/songwriter of Coyote Grace)

2:30 – 2:40 p.m. Announcements / Intermission

2:40 – 2:50 p.m. Monica Roberts (Trans Griot blog, founding member of National Transgender Advocacy Coalition)

2:50 – 3:10 p.m. New England Transgender Pride Steering Committee members:

Bet Power, Marie Ali, Dru Levasseur, and Jacklyn Matts

3:10 – 3:25 p.m. Statement from Leslie Feinberg (Trans author and activist)

3:25 – 3:35 p.m. Moonhawk River Stone (Trans psychotherapist and activist)

3:35 – 3:40 p.m. Vickie Boisseau (Intersex activist)

3:40 – 3:50 p.m. Imani Henry (Trans activist and performance artist)

3:50 – 4:00 p.m. Dr. Enoch Page (Associate Professor of Anthropology, UMass Amherst)

4:00 – 4:10 p.m. Cathy Worthley (MTF folksinger)

4:10 – 4:20 p.m. Ethan St. Pierre (TransFM Radio)

4:20 – 4:30 p.m. Donna Rose (TransEducate, resigned from HRC board over ENDA)

4:30 – 4:45 p.m. Kate Bornstein (Trans author, playwright, and performance artist)

4:45 – 5:00 p.m. All The Kings Men: Boston’s Drag Troupe

“Presenting our foremost transgender authors, along with 1969 Stonewall Rebellion veteran Miss Major, and several prominent trans activists and musicians on one stage may be unprecedented,” said Bet Power, a Trans Pride steering committee member. “It will certainly be an historic event, a pivotal day that the national, regional, and local transgender community is very much looking forward to. Trans people and our allies will be traveling from both coasts and locations in-between to march for our civil rights and celebrate our pride in who we are.”

Trans ally and steering committee member Alicia Jay stated, “It has been a powerful experience organizing with the trans community, and I feel very honored to be part of this event. It is crucial for trans allies to get involved in the growing trans civil rights movement, and support the right of all communities to stand up and be heard.”

New England Transgender Pride is seeking sponsors, donations from organizations and individuals, and volunteers to help on the day of the march. For more information or to participate, visit www.transpridemarch.org.

#######

Note: Speaker and performer bios and photos are available upon request.


TransGriot Note: As many of you probably noted, I'm one of the speakers for this event. The logo in this post is designed by artist Yohah Ralph and is on the t-shirts available for purchase for this historic event.

Colleges Recruit GLBT Students At UC San Diego

If you're a college bound GLBT student or ally on the West Coast looking for a GLBT friendly campus, you may want to make that hop down to San Diego on Friday, April 11 for the Campus Pride College Admission Fair.

It's free for any LGBT or Ally youth and their families. No registration is necessary for this event. It will be taking place at the Price Center Ballroom on the University of California-San Diego campus from 11 AM to 2 PM PDT and is being hosted by the UC San Diego LGBT Resource Center.

In addition to grand prize drawings featuring iPods, books, and CD's throughout the day, there will be seminars during the event as well on these topics:

“Finding Your LGBT-Friendly Campus”
by Shane L. Windmeyer, Executive Director of Campus Pride
11:15 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.

“Pros and Cons of Selecting a United States Service Academy:
The LGBT Experience”
by USNAOut.org -- Alumni Group
11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

“Navigating the College Admissions Process”
by the UC San Diego Office for Admissions and Relations with Schools
12:15 p.m. to 12:45 p.m.

"Point Foundation Scholarships”
Financial support, mentoring and hope to meritorious students who are marginalized due to sexual orientation or gender identity
12:45 p.m. to 1:15 p.m.

“Financing Your Education”
by the UC San Diego Department of Financial Aid
1:15 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.

As of April 3, 2008 this was the list of colleges and organizations that were slated to participate in this event:

Bard College at Simon's Rock
Bennington College
Boise State University
California Lutheran University
California State University, San Marcos
Columbia College Chicago
Eckerd College
Eugene Lang College
Emory University
Georgetown University
GLSEN (Local/Regional Chapters)
Green Mountain College
Humboldt State University
Illinois Institute of Technology
Ithaca College
Kalamazoo Collegee
Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (LIM College)
Lewis & Clark College
Mills College
Northeastern University
Pennsylvania State University
Pitzer College
Point Foundation
Princeton University
Roosevelt University
Stanford University
Sonoma State University
University of Arizona
University at Buffalo
University of California, Riverside
University of California, San Diego
University of Colorado at Boulder
University of Denver
University of Illinois at Springfield
University of Maryland
University of the Pacific
University of Pennsylvania
University of Puget Sound
USNAOUT.org -- Alumni Organization
University of San Francisco
University of Southern California
University of Utah
University of Washington
Whitman College
Whittier College
Yale University

If you need further details about this event, you can visit www.campusclimateindex.org/events contact Campus Pride at (704) 277-6710, visit their website at http://www.campuspride.org/ or e-mail them at info@campuspride.org.

It's Houston's Turn To Protest An HRC Dinner

The Houston HRC dinner will be held on Saturday, April 12 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston, and like other HRC dinners elsewhere in the country they will have company.

The transgender community continues its series of protests of HRC dinners that night. According to some sources attendance has taken major hits at the HRC dinners previously held in other locales. The protests are estimated to have cost HRC $1 million in donation income.

The Houston protest is being coordinated by Phyllis Frye, Josephine Tittsworth and Vanessa Edwards-Foster and they plan to be there for several hours.

If you wish to participate meet these ladies at the corner of Polk Street and Avenue de las Americas sometime around 4:30 CDT. They'll put you in the best position to stand up for your rights.

Give 'em hell, H-town!

New Rally Location Set for New England Transgender Pride March

The organizers of the first New England Transgender Pride March and Rally have announced a change in location for the rally. The march, which will step off at noon on June 7, 2008 from Lampron Park/Bridge Street School in Northampton, MA will proceed, not to Veterans Field, but to a rally in the Armory Street Lot behind Thornes Marketplace in downtown Northampton.

Veterans Field is unavailable due to re-seeding this year. The Armory Street Lot is the same location where Northampton Pride is held each May.

“We’re pleased with the new rally location, as it is more central in Northampton and more easily wheelchair-accessible than Veterans Field,” said Justin Adkins, a member of the Trans Pride steering committee. “We’ll be providing American Sign Language (ASL) interpreting for the entire event.”

The rally, which will begin at 12:30 p.m. and end at 5:00 p.m., will be headlined by Leslie Feinberg, a pioneering transgender writer whose books include Stone Butch Blues, Transgender Warriors, and Drag King Dreams; and Miss Major, a veteran of the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion and Lead Community Organizer of the Transgender, Gender Variant, and Intersex Justice Project, which advocates for the human rights of transgender prisoners. Several activists are slated to speak who will address proposed gender identity/expression anti-discrimination legislation in MA and CT, and the civil rights needs of transgender people in employment, education, housing, healthcare, and public accommodations. Featured performers will include the Boston-based drag troupe All The Kings Men and Joe Stevens of Coyote Grace.

New England Transgender Pride is currently seeking volunteer workers and sponsors for the event. Interested individuals and organizations may sign up online at www.transpridemarch.org, and groups that wish to march with their banners may register there, as well.

TransGriot Note: I've just accepted an invitation to speak at this upcoming historic pride march. Hope to see you there!

The TransGriot's On Bilerico!

During my recent New Year's Day Internet radio interview with Ethan St. Pierre, he congratulated me for becoming a contributing poster to The Bilerico Project blog.

At the time I hadn't been notified by Bil or anyone connected with it that I was being considered, but that changed on Thursday afternoon.

Say congrats to the newest contributor to The Bilerico Project.

It's a huge honor. It's invitation only and they only add a certain number of new bloggers to their roster every year, so I'm thrilled to get the call since I'm a Bilerico Project fan as well.

It's a diverse crowd. I'm happy to be associated with some of the folks who post there such as Pam Spaulding (Pam's House Blend), Terrence Heath (Republic of T), fellow transgender bloggers like Rebecca Juro and Marti Abernathey, and other people I've come to admire like Rev. Irene Monroe and Nadine Smith. I'm looking forward to getting to know them better as the year moves along.

One of my resolutions this year was to focus more of my creative energy into my writing and my novels, and two weeks into 2008 it looks like that's already starting to pay some dividends for me.

I'm going to write original pieces for The Project on African-American transgender issues, and we'll see what transpires from there.

Lambda Legal Announces Garner Fellowship

Lambda Legal announces the Garner Fellowship as it prepares to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Lawrence and Garner v. Texas, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision, in June 2008.'

New York, January 8, 2008
Lambda Legal is proud to announce the establishment of the Tyron Garner Memorial Fellowship for African-American Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Civil Rights, named for one of the men in Lambda Legal's landmark lawsuit that overturned existing sodomy laws across the United States.

Through the program, Lambda Legal hopes to extend its current work serving people of color, and to increase the diversity of attorneys working in the movement for LGBT rights by mentoring law students who intend to focus on those issues within the African-American community. The Garner Fellowship will address the intersection of LGBT discrimination and racism, sexism, and poverty that affects African-American LGBT communities.

The fellowship committee is looking for candidates who have first-hand understanding of the issues that affect communities of color and have experience working with LGBT and HIV issues within the African-American communities.

"Tyron Garner didn't set out to be an activist," said Lambda Legal Executive Director Kevin Cathcart. "But he had the courage and conviction to stand up to an unjust law. Because of his challenge to the Texas sodomy law, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that love, sexuality, and family play the same role in gay people's lives as they do for everyone else. His struggle will have a lasting impact for all of us, gay or straight, who value our constitutional rights."

The fellowship is a tribute to Garner, an fellow Arican-American man and Houstonian who died in 2006 at the age of 39.

For more information on the fellowship, go to: http://www.lambdalegal.org/about-us/jobs/attorney/tyron-garner-memorial-fellow.html

***

Some Lawrence and Garner v. Texas Background:

On September 17, 1998, Harris County sheriff's deputies burst into a Houston apartment and discovered Garner getting intimate with John Lawrence.

The arrests stemmed from neighbor Roger David Nance's false report of a "weapons disturbance" in their home — that because of a domestic disturbance or robbery, there was a man with a gun "going crazy." Nance had earlier been accused of harassing the plaintiffs.

Both men were arrested and charged with violating Chapter 21, Sec. 21.06 of the Texas Penal Code, the 'Homosexual Conduct' Law. They eventually appealed their case, Lawrence and Garner v. Texas, to the U.S. Supreme Court, where Lambda Legal's victory swept away sodomy laws remaining in 13 states, and vindicated the constitutional right to privacy between consenting adults.

BBC America 'Teen Transsexual'

BBC America
Sunday, December 30, 2007
10:00pm EST /7:00pm PST
Repeated at 1:00am EST / 10:00pm PST

All Richard Parker wants for his 18th birthday is to be Lucy Parker.
Richard has spent his life dealing with gender identity issues and has long dreamed of the day when he can have surgery to become a real woman.

Unable to get the surgery until he turns 18 and has proven to doctors that he is psychologically committed to life as a woman, Richard has spent the last two years living as Lucy. This is her story.

Premieres December 30th at 10pm et/pt. Part of BBC America Reveals.

New Transgender Veterans Survey

Transgender American Veterans Association
Contact: Monica F. Helms, President
president@tavausa.org
www.tavausa.org

A new survey has been created to achieve a more accurate picture of the state of the transgender American veteran population. Many of the issues facing transgender veterans are no different than those facing the rest of the transgender community. However negotiating healthcare thru the Veterans Administration and dealing with the Department of Defense poses its own unique set of challenges. This survey is also for those transgender people who are still serving in the military and those veterans who identify and are diagnosed as intersex.

The detailed survey of 117 short questions only takes between ten and twenty minutes of your time and it is the first of its kind to be undertaken. Many of the questions have several choices to them, but just a few will take multiple answers. A large percentage of the questions are a simple “Yes/No.” Some require a written response. While transgender veterans who do not, or have not ever used the VA for their medical needs, can skip that entire section.

The survey can be accessed at:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=SpQUvMM5ZvidQ8hNGCcIQA_3d_3d

TAVA would appreciate as many transgender/intersex veterans and active duty service members to take this survey as possible. If anyone knows of a transgender veteran who does not have access to a computer, then please help them log on at a local library or community center so TAVA can obtain their responses as well. The answers to this survey will not only help veterans’ organizations in providing assistance to their transgender members, but it will benefit other organizations from the answers not having to do with the military. Since there are no questions about personal contact information, this survey is completely confidential. For additional inquiries about this survey, please contact the Transgender American Veterans Association at: info@tavausa.org, or go to our web site at www.tavausa.org.

***


Founded in 2003, the Transgender American Veterans Association (TAVA) is a 501 (c) 3 organization that acts proactively with other concerned civil rights and human rights organizations to ensure that transgender veterans will receive appropriate care for their medical conditions in accordance with the Veterans Health Administration’s Customer Service Standards promise to “treat you with courtesy and dignity . . . as the first class citizen that you are.” Further, TAVA will help in educating the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) on issues regarding fair and equal treatment of transgender individuals. Also, TAVA will help the general transgender community when deemed appropriate and within the IRS guidelines.

East Coast GLBT National College Admission Fair

photo-University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

For out college bound GLBT students, choosing the right campus for them can be a trying experience. Fortunately there's a 501c3 organization called Campus Pride that wants to not only help students find the perfect college, but halp create a safer learning atmosphere for them as well.


On Saturday, December 1 they will be holding a National College Admission Fair from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Houston Hall on the University of Pennsylvania campus. The address is 3417 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA Any prospective high school students and their families are welcome to attend the fair and no registration is required.

In addition, Campus Pride will host special feature presentations throughout the day including a 1:30 p.m. presentation entitled 'Finding Your LGBT-Friendly Campus'.

Campus Pride was founded in the fall of 2001 and launched a year later in October 2002. It started as an online community and resource clearinghouse called Campus PrideNet founded by M. Chad Wilson, Sarah E. Holmes and Shane L. Windmeyer, witn Windemeyer serving as its executive director.

In 2006 the organization broadened its outreach efforts and restructured as the current educational non-profit organization Campus Pride. As part of the restructuring process, the Lambda 10 Project for LGBT Fraternity & Sorority Issues became an educational initiative of Campus Pride.

Campus Pride envisions campuses and a society free of LGBT prejudice, bigotry and hate. It works to develop student leaders, campus networks, and future actions to create such positive change.

So if you're a GLBT student or ally who lives near the University of Pennsylvania campus, you may want to check out this interesting college admissions fair.

If you need further infromation about this upcoming event you can call (704)277-6710 or E-mail Campus Pride ED Shane Windemeyer at shane@campuspride.org

Dirty Tricks In KY Governor's Election

Fairness Campaign Urges Kentuckians To VOTE November 6 and To Report Illegal Phone Calls

LOUISVILLE, KY
Desperate opponents of Steve Beshear have stooped to a new low by using deceptive automated telephone calls falsely representing themselves as the Fairness Campaign. Fairness has received dozens of calls from concerned Kentuckians who have reported receiving these misleading and inaccurate phone calls.

The Fairness Campaign has issued the following statement: “We believe Kentuckians are looking for a governor who will work to bring Kentuckians together to improve the lives of all people in the Commonwealth. That’s why CFAIR, the Committee for Fairness and Individual Rights, has endorsed Steve Beshear for Governor. These last minute dirty-tricks should remove any doubt about who fair-minded Kentuckians should elect as their next Governor on November 6.”

Neither CFAIR nor the Fairness Campaign are making any automated calls in this election. Voters who receive an inappropriate call should report it to the Secretary of State’s Office (502) 564-3490, the Attorney General’s Office (502) 696-5300, and their local Board of Elections (Jefferson County: (502) 574-6100).

Call For Transsexual Narratives

From Julia Serrano

I am currently working on a paper (which I plan to submit to a peer-reviewed psychology journal) that challenges psychologist Ray Blanchard’s causal theory of “autogynephilia” (which has recently gained attention via J. Michael Bailey’s book The Man Who Would be Queen). This theory posits that all transsexual women who are not exclusively attracted to men transition to female because we are sexually aroused by the idea of being or becoming women. Many trans women (including myself) find this theory to be flawed because it mistakenly confuses/conflates sexual orientation, gender expression, subconscious sex and sex embodiment, and it unnecessarily sexualizes the motives of countless trans women who transition to female for reasons other than sexual arousal.

To refute the assumption that lesbian/bisexual/“asexual” trans women are the *only* transsexuals who experience pre-transition fantasies about being/becoming their identified sex, I am hoping to collect applicable narratives from the following groups:

1) FTM transsexuals: narratives that discuss/describe any pre-transition sexual fantasies you may have experienced that primarily centered on you physically being or becoming male rather than on the physique of another person.

2) MTF transsexuals who are exclusively attracted to men: narratives that discuss/describe any pre-transition sexual fantasies you may have experienced that primarily centered on you physically being or becoming female rather than on the physique of another person.

To refute the assumption that “autogynephilic” fantasies *cause* transsexuality, I am hoping to collect applicable narratives from MTF transsexuals who are lesbian, bisexual or “asexual” in orientation and who:

1) were stereotypically feminine and girl-identified as young children and transitioned during late teens/early adulthood

2) never experienced pre-transition sexual fantasies that primarily centered on physically being or becoming female

3) did experience such fantasies, but only after consciously recognizing/realizing that you wanted to be female

4) regularly engaged in such fantasies pre-transition, but then experienced a sharp decline or a complete absence in those fantasies over time. (Note: if you fall into category #4, please include any reasons/explanations as to why such fantasies no longer arouse or appeal to you).

Narratives should briefly describe the pertinent details in 1 to 4 short paragraphs. There is no need to be overly graphic or detailed - just the basic facts will suffice. Please be sure to include the age at which you first became aware of your cross-gender identity/desire to be the other sex, and the age at which you first experienced such fantasies (if applicable). Narratives that are germane to the points I wish to make will be compiled onto a single webpage that will be used as supplemental data for my article. I can assure you that YOUR NAME AND CONTACT INFO WILL NOT BE PUBLISHED OR SHARED WITH ANYONE. Obviously, other people will be reading these narratives, so be sure to omit any unimportant info that you feel might place your anonymity in jeopardy (e.g., where you live or work, names of partners, etc.)

For those interested, please send your narrative to me at hi@juliaserano.com - be sure to paste the narrative into the body of the email (no attachments please). Along with the narrative, please include the following information:

1) whether you are an MTF or FTM transsexual
2) whether you are sexually oriented toward men, women, both or neither
3) a statement along the following lines: “I certify that all of the provided information is true to the best of my knowledge, and I give Julia Serano permission to permanently post this narrative on her website and to include and/or excerpt it in her forthcoming article.”

The purpose of my article is not to discount or discredit trans women who self-identify as autogynephilic, but rather to finally take into account the experiences of the many trans women for whom sexual arousal was not a primary motivation for transitioning. In other words, this study aims to clarify the psychological literature on this matter, not to distort it further. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that you be completely honest and open in the information you provide. If I have reason to suspect that any narrative I receive is fabricated, I will not include it.

Feel free to cross-post this call for narratives on any trans-focused websites/email lists at your discretion. It is also available on the web at this link: http://www.juliaserano.com/artifactualAG.html

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to email me at hi@juliaserano.com

Thanks in advance!
-julia

TAVA Press Release on ENDA

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act
From: Monica F. Helms, President and Co-Founder
president@tavausa.org
Transgender American Veterans Association (TAVA)
www.tavausa.org
October 13, 2007

There has never been a moment in the five-year history of this organization where we had to step forward and put our very existence on the line. The events of the last three weeks have changed all of that.

As a 501 (c)3 organization that specifically focuses on veterans’ issues, we are not allowed to be “political.” Some people may say that supporting a fully-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act and opposing any bill that excludes transgender people maybe consider “political.” The Board of TAVA disagrees. We see this as a matter of survival for the transgender community and TAVA will do what we can to fight for that survival.

History has shown us that since this country has begun, transgender people have fought in every war this country had. Some crossed gender lines so they could fight for this country, and others cross gender lines after they fought in various wars. No matter what, they were proud of their service our nation.

“Honor, duty and country.” Everyone who has served America proudly understands these words all too well. However, we are now witnessing people who have no honor, show only the duty to serve themselves and envision a country where their needs are met over everyone else’s. As veterans, this saddens us greatly.

There are estimated to be three million Americans who happen to be transgender people, with 300,000 of them being veterans. Many of them are without jobs and are living on welfare. Some, who retired from the military are surviving on their retirement check that comes once a month, but that hardly pays for much in this day and age.

The Transgender American Veterans Association implores all who read this that on Monday, October 15 to start calling the Democratic Party members of the House Education and Labor Committee. You can find them at: http://edlabor.house.gov/about/members.shtml. Ask them to send only a fully-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (HR-2015) to the House floor for a vote in Thursday instead of the flawed version, HR-3685 (Frank's Folly). That version will not only leave out Transgender Americans, but many others who do not confirm to society’s gender norms, regardless of their sexual orientation.

We especially would like to see all veterans, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, contact the House Education and Labor Committee to help save those veterans who may have saved your life in the heat of combat. We put our lives on the line to give time to this country. Now, we ask you to put time on the line to save our lives. TAVA thanks you.


***

Founded in 2003, the Transgender American Veterans Association (TAVA) is a 501 (c) 3 organization that acts proactively with other concerned civil rights and human rights organizations to ensure that transgender veterans will receive appropriate care for their medical conditions in accordance with the Veterans Health Administration’s Customer Service Standards promise to “treat you with courtesy and dignity . . . as the first class citizen that you are.”

Further, TAVA will help in educating the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) on issues regarding fair and equal treatment of transgender individuals. Also, TAVA will help the general transgender community when deemed appropriate and within the IRS guidelines.

2007 Weblog Awards Nominations Are Open

The nominations are now open until October 15 for the 2007 Weblog Awards. I'm going to shoot for the Best LGBT Blog award and Best Individual Blog. I'm also going to be nominating a few blogs that I believe are worthy of garnering recognition as well.

While getting awards isn't the motivation I had for starting TransGriot, it doesn't hurt to be recognized either. I'm told that this is a quality blog that has inspired and motivated people, and awards tend to verify that.

So may the best blogs win.

NAACP And The Jena 6 Case

TransGriot Note: For those of you who question whether the NAACP is relevant, this is an e-mail blast I received yesterday about the Jena 6 case.

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It's an American outrage that demonstrates the continuing shame of racism in our country.


Six black teenagers in a small Louisiana town are facing some of the most overly aggressive prosecution we've seen - all over a schoolyard fight with white students. The group has come to be known in the media as the Jena 6, in reference to the small town where a series of racial incidents escalated after three nooses were hung from a tree at a local high school.


Click here to add your name to the Justice for Jena petition now!


The events led to the arrest of the young men - all being charged with serious criminal offenses that could lead to decades in jail. But, the white students involved were not initially prosecuted; they received a three-day in school suspension for hanging the nooses.


In a trial that lasted only two days, an all-white jury convicted Mychal Bell, the first of the group to be tried. The public defender presented no rebuttal or witnesses, and the jury deliberated for less than two hours.


On Friday, the Louisiana Court of Appeals took an important step towards justice for the Jena 6. They tossed out Bell's conviction for aggravated battery, stating that he should not have been tried and convicted as an adult. But, Mychal Bell remains in jail awaiting a new trial. The legal fight is far from over for him and his co-defendants.


Donate to the NAACP Justice for Jena Fund.


How the NAACP is Advocating For Justice

The NAACP is mobilized to secure justice and equity for these young men.

* The NAACP, in conjunction with the American Civil Liberties Union, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Southern University Law Center, has provided some additional legal support and resources to the defendants' attorneys and remains committed to the defense of the remaining young men.

* We presented a petition of over 62,000 signatures (gathered on the NAACP website; signatures now exceed 92,000) to the Governor of Louisiana on Sept. 17 as a symbol of the thousands of citizens concerned with the unequal treatment of the defendants and the pubic acknowledgement that the hanging of the three nooses is a serious hate crime offense.

* We have demanded that the Attorney General's office investigate the prosecution and monitor the trials.

* We organized activities, including a rally and town hall, in Jena on Sept. 20 in the spirit of justice and equality. The town hall will focus on racial disparities in the education and criminal justice systems.

* We are actively monitoring the situation and remain committed to the defense of the six young men to ensure proper treatment by the court system and protection of their rights under the law.

If you can't come to Jena, you can participate in our efforts via the NAACP website by signing the Justice for Jena petition, donating to the cause, or by viewing our live webcast of the rally and town hall meeting on Sept. 20. Forward this email to your family and friends and ask them to sign the petition.
We cannot afford to be silent when so much is at stake.


Sincerely,

Dennis Courtland Hayes
Interim President & CEO
NAACP

2007 Black Weblog Awards Nominations Are Open

The nominations are now open for the 2007 Black Weblog Awards. I believe and I'm told that this is a quality blog and I've put a lot of time and effort into making TransGriot entertaining as well as informative.

Awards give those comments credibility. But since I can't submit my own blog for consideration, that task falls to you dear TransGriot reader. (Hint, hint)

From now until August 15 you'll have the opportunity to nominate TransGriot for awards covering several categories. This year there will be TWO winners per category. The winners will be announced September 5.

Black Weblog Awards Categories I believe TransGriot fits in.

3. Best Blog Post or Blog Post Series
This category is for a single post in a blog or a series of posts in a blog about a particular topic. Posts can be fiction or non-fiction, but post series must be linked by a common and identifiable theme with the ability to skip forward or backwards through the series (for judging purposes).

The May Genetic Women and Transwomen post series fits that category.

6. Best Culture Blog
This category is for blogs which talk about Black culture in a multifaceted and dynamic way.

15. Best LGBT Blog
This category is for blogs that relate to or are about the LGBT community. No pornography, please (for judging purposes).

18. Best Niche Blog
This category is for blogs of topics not included in the present Black Weblog Awards categories. (Hey, we can’t catch ‘em all!)

19. Best Personal Blog
This category is for blogs which feature the opinions of the author. Blogs do not have to adhere to a specific theme.

22. Best Political/News Blog
This category is for blogs which are about politics or current newsworthy topics.


27. Best Writing in a Blog
This category is for blogs which have exceptional writing. This category is judged not on a single post basis, but on the overall posts of the blog.

28. Black Blogger Achievement Award
This category is for bloggers that have been blogging visibly since January 1, 2003. This award can only be won once (sorry George and Lynne…we still love ya).

29. Blog of the Year
This category is pretty self-explanatory; the blog of the year has it all: great writing, frequent posts, active comments, and a strong reader base.

30. Blog to Watch
This category highlights the best “undiscovered” blog in the blogosphere; keep your eye on this one! This is for that great blog that not everyone knows about…but should!

The Black Weblog Awards have been around since 2005. It's rapidly becoming a coveted prize for those of us in the African-American blogosphere. I'd love to have TransGriot considered for one (or more) of those awards this year since I didn't find out about them in time last year to get TransGriot nominated.

So may the best blog and blogger win.