What's Between My Legs Is None Of Your Business

Friday night while I was compiling a post I had a Barbara Summers of Columbus, Ohio hit me up for a chat on Facebook.

I like online chats with people and find them enjoyable when I have the time to do so.  Since the profile stated in their words this person was 'a genetic girl who supports transgender people',   I was interested in hearing what she had to say and paused what I was doing to take a few moments to listen.


On this one, should have followed my instincts and ignored it.

Five minutes into the chat she asked me if I'm pre or post op.   I believe that far too much time is spent being fixated on what's between a trans person's legs and not what's between the trans person's ears. 

Not enough time is spent determining the content of the transperson's character, either.

So what was Barbara Summers' response after I politely told her it was none of her business and explained why my genital status not a topic of discussion?

She 'unfriended' me.

See ya.   I have over 1000 Facebook friends.   Leaves more room for the peeps who really do want to be there.   Wouldn't be surprised it this fauxgressive person was one of those trans chasers who hide behind fake femme profiles but who after talking to them for a few moments reveal themselves to be anything but female


It's one of the things that irritates many transpeople as we're trying to live our lives and interact in society.  Yes, we realize that we are all ambassadors for our community and there's a lot of intriguing things you'd like to know about our lives.   In some cases we're glad to share as much as we feel personally comfortable with.

But asking about the genitalia between our legs when we're not in an educational setting is going too far into personal territory.    I don't answer that question even in my Trans 101 presentations because it's past time to shift the discussion of trans issues and trans people away from genitalia.  .

If you cis people don't define yourselves by your genitalia, why are you forcing a 'biology is destiny' standard on transpeople that reject for yourselves?

My good friend Laurie Cicotello posted this in the ensuing comment thread on my FB page talking about the incident that sums up this subject.

Thing is, while many people have surgery, there are also many people who cannot have the surgery for a plethora of reasons from financial to physical. We need to love and accept people for who they are and where they are in their life path.

What's more important is the person's character.    If the emergence of transpeople hasn't taught society anything else, it's that  when it comes to humankind,  Mother Nature doesn't operate with a nice neat gender binary.    She likes diversity of the species and when you're talking about trans people the level of diversity can be downright dizzying at times.

So unless you're about to get intimate with me, enter into a long term relationship or hand me a wedding ring, what's between my legs is none of your business.

Dear Black GLB Community

Dear Black GLB Community,
As one of your award winning trans sisters, I have had the opportunity since 1980 to observe the peaks and valleys of this community.

I have watched our community get ravaged by HIV/AIDS. At the same time, I have had the pleasure of watching it like the mythical phoenix, arise from the fire, stand up, grow, and begin to follow in the footsteps of our ancestors by doing things for ourselves.

We have managed to hold on to our faith and spirituality while demanding that we be accepted for who we are as African descended TBLG people both inside and outside our chocolate flavored community.

We are also beginning to see the emergence on the Mother Continent and across the Diaspora of TBLG people speaking loudly for fairness and equality sometimes even at great risk to themselves.

But sometimes I've observed behavior that is distressing to me as an African descended person. There have been times that you chocolate flavored GLB peeps have either been too silent in terms of condemning the violence, discrimination and outright faith-based distorted lies aimed at your African descended trans brothers and sisters, or have been willing accomplices in the denigration and demonization of the trans element of the community.

Black GLB community, your trans brothers and sisters are counting on you to do a better job of integrating the 'T' into our subset of the larger GLBT community than the piss poor job over the last 40 years by your Euro descended GLBT counterparts.

African-American cispeople have begun stepping up to the plate to do so. We need you Black GLB peeps to be shining examples to your fellow GLB peeps and our fellow African-Americans in terms of showing by example how to be exceptional allies to your chocolate transbrothers and transsisters.

While there are organizations such as the International Federation of Black Prides and others in various communities across the country that do a wonderful job in making sure we can participate in and have a voice shaping the destiny of the African American GLBT/SGL community, there are some that clearly need to not only step up their game, but do Trans 101 before they embark on that journey.

Black transpeople are ready, willing and capable to do the work on our end as well, but you've got to meet us halfway. By doing so it will be a mutually beneficial situation for all concerned as a stronger African descended subset of the GLBT community..

Black GLB community, because we share a common history of struggle and success as a people, what we need from you more than anything else is love and acceptance.

And I hope and pray that those steps to build a African flavored GLBT community with a thoroughly integrated trans element in it happen sooner rather than later.

Sincerely Yours,
Monica
The TransGriot

Theta Beta Chi Anniversary Conference In Winston-Salem, NC

Theta Beta Chi Fraternity, Inc. is a non collegiate Greek letter fraternity of unique men that was founded in 2008.

Theta Beta Chi in conjunction with Church of the Holy Spirit Fellowship will be sponsoring their Unity and Understanding conference in Winston-Salem NC from April 22-25.

The event will include a Black tie awards dinner, workshops, and a Greek party along with on-site vendors.

The theme for the event is 'Recovering The Spirit That Is Within Me' and will also serve as a celebration of Transgendered People of Color.

I've been asked by one of the organizers to attend and I'd love to be there if my schedule allows me to get down to North Carolina.

One of the scheduled presenters is Kylar Broadus, the board chair of the National Black Justice Coalition. There's also another person I'm interested in meeting whose name I'd heard of thanks to one of my Dallas cousins, Min. Carmarion D. Anderson.

Should be an interesting weekend down in Winston-Salem

If you need further information you can also dial 336-833-6435

MP Hedy Fry Says Canadian Transpeople Aren't Getting Medical Needs Served

Seems as though my Canadian transbrothers and transisters may have another friend in Parliament besides NDP MP Bill Siksay.

Dr. Hedy Fry, a physician and the Liberal MP for the Vancouver-Centre riding said Monday in Saskatoon that transgender people are not being fully served under the Canada Health Act.

"I feel like it's the last piece of discrimination under medicare,"

Fry hosted the nationally televised CBC series Doctor Doctor and served as president of the British Columbia and Vancouver medical associations before becoming an MP in 1993.

She is attending the annual Canadian Medical Association meeting being held there from August 16-19 to hear concerns from a number of groups in the city including seniors' groups, the GLBT community and city officials.

MP Fry, the Official Opposition Critic for Canadian Heritage, is also taking the time to participate in a multiculturalism round table.

Fry also met on Monday with University of Saskatchewan Students' Union president Warren Kirkland to discuss concerns of the GLBT community as well as the dearth of young people in politics.

The lack of access and equality for transgender people is a huge issue across the country, said Fry, whose medical practice served a high number of GLBT patients at the time she was first elected to Parliament.

"I found out that the suicide rates were high. I was seeing patients who didn't want anybody to know that they were teachers or public servants."

Dr. Fry is now serving her sixth term in Parliament after succeeding Kim Campbell, who became the first Canadian female prime minister. Fry herself was in the running for the Liberal party leadership before bowing out of the race eventually won by Michael Ignatieff.

Though much has changed since she was elected, Dr. Fry feels transgender people are still being discriminated against.

"There have to be legislative changes to make sure that the Canada Health Act is being observed," she said.

While being transgender is defined as a medical condition, Fry said it is still difficult for people to receive proper care. Care across the country is "spotty" at best.

"Transgender patients do not have access under medicare to the things that they need," she said. "It discriminates against an identifiable group who are not just wanting to do something, but are clearly a medical diagnosis. It's a clear diagnosis."

Allies Aren't 'Homophobes' or 'Transphobes' For Telling The Truth

The late poet Gwendolyn Brooks said it best when she stated that 'truth tellers are not always palatable, there's a preference for candy bars.'

One of the things that irritates me is when the people in the GLBT community who prefer candy bars start hollering 'homophobe' or 'transphobe' when allies offer constructive criticism. Many times that criticism is not offensive, but is offered in the spirit of Kingian love in terms of helping to improve or contribute to the ultimate success of the movement they support.

It takes courage for a straight ally, knowing they will probably take a lot of crap for doing so to stand up and publicly declare that they are with us. Many of them see the interconnectedness of the issues that we are fighting for and realize those issues also impact them as well. It takes even more courage for one who is a politician or similar public figure to do so.

There were many whites, Asians, Latino/a's and GLBT people who helped us (and still do) in advancing the African-American civil rights struggle. Many straight people and transpeople are fighting for same gender marriage equality not only because it is a simple fairness issue, but they see their rights under attack as well. In many cases the anti gay marriage laws are being written to attack unmarried couples and transgender ones as well to mask the bigotry and make hem not as easy to overturn in state or federal courts.

One of the tendencies I see in the GLBT movement is when allies offer criticism, especially when it comes from people of color, cisgender people, or straight peeps, they immediately start screaming 'homophobe'. If the person happens to be a POC, transgender or SGL leveling the charges, they escalate into borderline racist or transphobic personal attacks or claim the person 'doesn't know what it's like to be gay' in order to silence the criticism they didn't want to hear.

The problem with that shortsighted knee jerk reaction is that potential allies who are on the fence about supporting you see the nekulturny negativity. It not only turns off the ally you attacked, it gives the opponents ammo to point to that they'll use against your cause. It also turns away people who were on the fence about supporting you. Many times they are closely observing how you treat the declared allies before they make their final decision as to whether to support your cause or not.

Transpeople are just as guilty as well, and we need to chill with that, too.

Every ally is a precious resource. They can speak for us in settings that we're not able to reach or talk us up in their influence circles. Every person they can get to see the light that GLBT rights equals their rights is one less person signing a petition for an anti gay referendum, voting against us if a referendum occurs or standing up against homophobic/transphobic bigotry and intolerance in their own lives.

So it's time to work smarter, not harder. It's a sign of the maturity level of your movement if you can take the criticism and make the necessary changes. But if you insist on chomping white chocolate candy bars and ignoring valid criticism, sooner or later your movement will start to develop truth decay.

You'll also end up alienating the very people you can't afford to piss off.

Dr. Ousterhout Planning To Retire In 2011

If you're thinking about getting facial feminization surgery from Dr. Douglas Ousterhout, better do it before 2011.

The pioneer of facial feminization surgery is planning to retire, according to comments posted on the Transsexual Road Map website attributed to his office manager Mira Coluccio.

Dr. O as he's affectionately known in the transgender community, is the author of the book Aesthetic Contouring of the Craniofacial Skeleton. He's penning an upcoming book about FFS written for a lay audience and holds an MD as well as a DDS degree.

He is a great friend and a wonderful ally to our community, and his surgical skills have been utilized by many in our community to help them not only look better, but feel better about themselves.

Hopefully, he'll pass on his knowledge to another colleague or younger doctor willing to take on the challenge.

Congratulations, Rebecca!

With all the various events going on in the last few weeks including the historic presidential election, I forgot to post my congratulations to our honorary transwoman Rebecca Romijn, who is expecting twins sometime this winter with her hubby Jerry McConnell.

As many of you TransGriot readers know, Rebecca plays transwoman Alexis Meade on one of my fave TV shows, Ugly Betty.

The way they've explained Alexis' hiatus on the show writing wise is that she fathered the French child originally thought to be Daniel's pre-transition (y'all are gonna have to get with the program and catch up) and has taken a leave of absence from Meade Communications to jet off to Paris and spend quality time with her son.

Her son's mother was a French model who died and left instructions in the event of her death to find the Meades.

I hope that she reconsiders leaving the show and whatever drama between her and the new writing staff gets squashed. I'd love to see more of our honorary transwoman strutting through the halls of the Mode building running thangs in future seasons.

I love watching her play Alexis almost as much as I enjoy watching Vanessa L. Williams play the deliciously wicked and always scheming Wilhelmina Slater, and Mark Indelicato playing Betty's Broadway loving fashionista nephew Justin Suarez.

Shoot, the entire cast on that show rocks.

And yes, I did say 'honorary transwoman'. She considers herself a friend of the community and backed up her words with her actions.

When a group of us protested last year's Washington DC HRC dinner in the wake of the ENDA backstabbing, Monica Helms passed a 'Transgender Pride' button to one of our allies who was going inside the convention center to attend it. That ally promised they would get the button to Rebecca, who along with Michael Urie was there that evening to accept an award on behalf of the show.

When they appeared onstage to accept it, Rebecca was wearing the button.

Rebecca has also made it clear that she wanted to portray this role as accurately as possible and even consulted her transgender girlfriends on how to do so. It clearly showed in the performances she gave during that first season that she (and the previous writing team) got it.

So congratulations, Rebecca. May you and Jerry's twins be born healthy and may life continue to bring you both much happiness and success.

Isis On Tyra

TransGriot Note: The YouTube video finally has been uploaded, so for those of y'all who didn't get to see Isis' appearance on the Tyra Banks Show Tuesday, here it is.

Part 1



Part 2- Isis' Mom


Part 3- Confronting Clark



Part 4




Part 6

The 2008 Louisville TDOR Ceremony

Just arrived back home a little over an hour ago from the sixth annual local observance of the Transgender Day of Remembrance at the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

The mood was a little more somber than usual because one of our own was on the list. Nakhia's cousin Yana and twin sister Nicole were also some of the 40 people in attendance here along with our friends, LPTS students and allies.

After a welcome from LPTS Dean David Hester (no joke, peeps) the service began with remarks from Sienna (the local gender group) president Christina.

There was a prayer read before the reading of the names part of the ceremony commenced. As I silently read the list of names, many of them whose stories I've chronicled in this blog, I felt this feeling of sadness washing over me.

But what I was feeling probably paled in comparison to Yana and Nicole's reactions when their late relative's name was read aloud and the candle was lit for her.

We had a wonderful rendition of We Shall Overcome after the reading of the names performed by pianist Harry Pickens, an inspiring speech from Beth Harrison Prado, prayer and an additional song from Carol Kraemer.

Once the TDOR service concluded, we moved to the Winn Center for a reception and the announcement of the 2008 Butterfly Award winner.

It's a new award that the LPTS Women's Center began presenting last year to the person doing outstanding work in the local transgender community. Beth was surprised and pleased to learn that the award would be going home with her.

Beth in her short acceptance speech for the Butterfly Award hit the nail on the head about the purpose for the TDOR's.

While we mourn the people tragically taken away from us, it's also a celebration of the fact we are openly and truthfully living our lives as transgender people.

The ceremony reminds us that in any struggle in which oppressed minorities fight for their full citizenship rights, people will lose their lives along the way before the majority of them reach the promised land of equality.

We must keep fighting and pushing for that day while never forgetting the ones who paid the ultimate price for being their authentic selves.

The best way to encapsulate what I'm thinking and feeling right now is to close this with some words from Maya Angelou that were on the front of our TDOR program.

You may shoot me with your words
You may cut me with your eyes
You may kill me with your hatefulness
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Sleep well, my fallen brothers and sisters. You have risen to a better place. We who you left behind will continue the fight to make this a better world for us and future generations to live in.

Isis' Early Christmas Present

Christmas is about five weeks away, but if you tune into today's Tyra Banks Show you'll not only get the pleasure of seeing her on the screen again, Tyra has a surprise for her.

I'm also looking forward to seeing Isis set Clark's sanctimonious (and non-ANTM Cycle 11 winning behind) straight.

Oh well, might as well tell y'all since the word is already out there on the Net. Isis is going to get her sex reassignment surgery.

Dr. Marci Bowers will be performing the surgery. Dr. Bowers is a transwoman herself and in 2003 was picked by the legendary Dr. Stanley Biber to take over his practice in Trinidad, CO when he decided to retire.

Congrats sis! I know you've wanted this and I couldn't be happier for you.

Enjoy the trip to Colorado.

2008 Louisville TDOR Events

The 10th Anniversary of the Transgender Day Of Remembrance is rapidly approaching, and once again our sponsor for the local TDOR events held at the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary will be the Women's Center at LPTS and More Light.

For the second time since the local events began to be hosted by the LPTS in 2002, there will be a heightened level of sadness for us in Da Ville this year. One of the names we'll read will be one of our own, Nakhia Williams.

The week of events leading up to the November 20 service will kick off tomorrow with a Transgender 101 Workshop from 12:30-1;30 PM in the Winn Center's McAtee Dining Room.

On November 19 there will be a 6:30 PM screening of the film Soldier's Girl followed by a discussion at the Caldwell Chapel's Fellowship Hall. Doors open at 6 PM for that event.

On November 20 there will be another panel discussion from 12:30-1:30 PM on Transgender Experience of Faith Communities in the Winn Center's McAtee Dining Rooms with the Memorial Service happening at 7:00 PM in the Caldwell Chapel.

As part of the service we have someone from the local transgender community as the featured speaker, and this year it will be Beth Harrison-Prado. (Just as an FYI, I was given that honor in 2002-2003)

Following the service will be a reception and the presentation of the 2008 Butterfly Award, which honors a person whose done outstanding service for the transgender community.

As of yet haven't heard if the GLBT group on the University of Louisville campus is planning anything for the TDOR, but if they are I'll post it to the blog.

For further info on the 2008 TDOR events at the LPTS, click on this link to the Wimminwise Blog. Hope to see you peeps there.

Isis-The Transsistah On 'America's Next Top Model'

You loyal TransGriot readers know that I can't stand reality TV shows.

However, with transsistah Laverne Cox being a contestant on I Want To Work For Diddy and now hearing the news that a transwoman will be one of the contestants on the upcoming season of America's Next Top Model, it's making me reexamine my militant stance on reality TV shows.

Long time TransGriot readers know that I love Tyra Banks and when I was beginning my transition in 1994, she was one of my role models. I was happy to discover that Tyra loves us transwomen back as well.

Ironically an e-mail popped up back in May 2007 from one of her talk show's producers on the Transsistahs-Transbrothas Yahoo discussion group I founded seeking transpeople willing to talk about dating for an upcoming show. It popped up too close to the show's air date for some TSTB members to let them know they were interested, but the producer made it clear that Tyra was serious about her support of and being an ally and friend to the transgender community.



Not long after that e-mail popped up on TSTB, several transgender themed shows aired on her talk show. Tyra has treated the subject with a knowledgeable respect and dignity I haven't seen since Phil Donahue tackled the subject on his Emmy award winning talk show in the late 80's.

During the previous ten years America's Next Top Model has been on, there was speculation that there may have been a stealth transwoman contestant or two, but those rumors were never confirmed.

For Cycle 11, there will be a transwoman openly competing amongst the other 13 girls on America's Next Top Model to get the top prize.

22 year old Isis is an executive assistant for a non-profit organization from Prince George's County MD, but now resides in New York. If she wins, she'll get a management deal with Elite Model Management, a $100,000 CoverGirl contract and a cover story and six-page fashion spread in an issue of Seventeen magazine.

Isis is also known in the ballroom community as Isis Tsunami. She rocks the runway category and now she'll get the opportunity to do so on a much larger stage.






Isis stated in an US magazine interview on newsstands now, "My cards were dealt differently. I like to help people, but I'm here to follow my dreams."

ISIS TSUNAMI RUNWAY ICON BALL 2008



With Tyra handling this, it'll hopefully be treated much more seriously than Janice Dickinson disrespectfully did with Claudia Charriez on her first season of 'The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency.




Here's hoping that Isis makes her dream come true. We'll get to watch her progress towards making that dream a reality starting on Wednesday, September 3 at 8 PM ET.

The Transgender Sista Among Us

Minister Lisa Vazquez at the Black Women, Blow The Trumpet blog had a very interesting post she wrote on July 17 entitled 'The Transgender Sista Among Us: Chaos or Community?'

Check this thought provoking post out, TransGriot readers.

There are also as of this date 36 comments that run the gamut of opinion as well. If you wish to comment on it, please do so first on Lisa's blog. I also don't mind if y'all want to leave comments here as well.

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.

Power of US Conference 2008

I'm a little bummed that I couldn't go to this event that's concluding in Baltimore today. I had the pleasure of being introduced to National Black Justice Coalition CEO H. Alexander Robinson at an event in Louisville a few years ago by Mandy Carter.

The Power of US conference in Baltimore combined their Black Church Summit event (the previous two were held in Atlanta and Philadelphia), a Health and Wellness Summit, and a leadership Development & Mobilization Summit.

I definitely wanted to be there for the leadership part of the conference. In addition to the folks I would have been met there through various networking opportunities, it's always nice to learn some new strategies, skills and tactics for passing progressive legislation. The bonus on this one is I would have gotten to meet fellow GLBT African-Americans from all over the country as well.

It would have also been nice to witness the Black Church Summit as well and see which sellout megachurch ministers (if any) showed up. Bishop Harry Jackson attended the Philly event, but less than 24 hours after he left Jackson was on conservative websites blasting it.

It also would have been interesting to check out the Health and Wellness part of it to see if they addressed health issues of concern to transgender peeps. Unlike a certain organization on Rhode Island Ave, the NJBC is part of United ENDA and is definitely worth donating some cash to if you feel inclined to do so.

Unfortunately my work schedule wouldn't allow me to attend this conference and I sincerely hope the NJBC is planning another one for next year.

Rev. Paul Turner Declines HRC ATL Dinner Invite

TransGriot Note: I've had the pleasure of meeting the Rev. Paul Turner at a 2004 SCC. His congregation at Gentle Spirit Christian Church in the ATL is GLBT inclusive, and Whosoever, a ministry he's an integral part of exists to provides a safe and sacred space for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Christians to reclaim, rekindle and grow their relationship with God. Needless to say Pastor Paul is not happy with HRC's dissing of transgender people in l'affaire ENDA. Here is his open letter declining an invite to Atlanta's upcoming May 3 HRC dinner.



First, the e-mail inviting him to the dinner:

Jason Lowery & Ebonee Bradford Cordially invites you to attend the 21st Annual Human Rights Campaign Dinner. Keynote speaker Kathy Nahjimy, Entertainment the incomprable crystal waters! tickets are still available for may 3, 2008

Awardees: Rev dennis meredith, Tabernacle Baptist Atl.-Dan Bradley Humunitarian Award/ Frank Bragg Metrotainment cafe/leon allen & Winston Johnson Community leadership award. www.boxofficetickets.com or www.atlantahrcdinner.org



Pastor Paul's response:

Thank you for the invitation...However, I will not participate with anything involving HRC until the Transgender Community is really part of the LGBTQI they so often say they represent.

There are those in our community who think I am being "childish" and "foolish" about this, however, I cannot nor will I stand with an organization which uses a part of our community as a political chess piece.

I cannot nor will I stand silently by while our sisters and brothers in the Transgender community are told they must wait for protection, or "they must understand we are not there yet". Every year I stand at the State Capital to hear more names read of our sisters and brothers who have been slaughtered. Yet, HRC does not see the need to take a stand on their behalf? The HRC really thinks it is OK to have just LGB?

I will once again say:

There is no going forward if everyone is not with us.

This is not Animal Farm where "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal then others"!

HRC has made and continues to make a horrible and tragic miscalculation...a poll of 500 people does not speak for the entire LGBTQ community.

HRC sold it's sisters and brothers down the river for a bill they knew was not going to pass or have a chance in hell of becoming law. So what better time then to take a moral and courageous stand?

Does HRC not understand the Transgender community is in real and serious danger? When a house is on fire you don't stand outside and decide whom you are going to rescue, the attempt is made for all.

Of course what HRC has forgotten is it was these folks who started the whole “gay rights” movement we know today when they stood toe to high heal with the New York City police department at Stonewall.

HRC confidently forgets the Trans community has been with us every step of this bloody fight for our rights, our self worth and our very souls.

HRC forgets or ignores that each day when a trans person gets out of bed and steps into the world it may in fact be their last day.

If the hypocrites in congress don't want transgender people in a bill of protection for LGBTQI folks, then there should be no bill for consideration...not have HRC bargaining and agreeing that a part of our community is expendable and could simply wait for another day.

By not including Transgender people in any bill sent to the floor of congress y'all send a clear message to everyone concerned that the transgender community is somehow not on equal footing with the rest of the community.

This is wrong and HRC knows it. Pastorally speaking HRC has chosen to be the Esther who didn't bother to go before the King (Esther 4 New International Version).

Shame on you. I wonder how many Transgender people will die because even HRC does not think they are worthy of protection? This was and is a time for leadership, guts and courage.

It has been said a bill couldn't get through with Trans as apart of it, that it would be defeated...well my friends you may have won the battle with the US Congress but HRC has made themselves hypocrites in the truest sense of the word.

"The Human Rights Campaign is the nations largest civil rights organization working to achieve gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality" Just where does the needs of the transgender community meet HRC's definition of civil rights if not within ENDA?

I know this doesn't mean a hell of lot to you, as I am not one of the high profile pastor's for which HRC has fooled into believing they care about the total community. Yet, how does one deal with a statement from your Executive Director which as it turns out was a flat out lie?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_GhTiBO8Cw

This statement was made in front of a room full of Transgender folks. So did your Executive Director mis-speak? Although I thought his statement was pretty clear. Are we to pretend this statement of support was just to say something nice to the trans community?

I cannot express how sad and disappointed I am in this organization. HRC should know that God's people are not expendable at any price!

The recent attempts to "explain" to "sooth", to "justify". to "spin" this despicable act on the part of HRC is arrogant, shameful and not worthy of a people who want our money so they can "fight for our rights"

I am no longer a supporter of HRC, I will not honor their name or pass on their e-mails with their weekly calls for money.

They will not again receive one dime of my money or the church's and I will certainly encourage folks to find other organizations to support with their hard earned money other then HRC. I do believe there are organizations out there that still understand the meaning of community and that without all the hard work of the Trans community we would be nothing.

There is talk of a calling for a boycott of the HRC dinner in Atlanta as well as any other HRC events in this city that seek our hard earned money. I am inclined to agree with boycotting the dinner and HRC in general. It is an appropriate way to send a message from Atlanta, the cradle of the civil rights movement that if we are not all protected by the law then none of us has protection.

No, I will not be going to this dinner and I would encourage anyone who has a basic sense of fairness, compassion and a sense of community to not go either.

I would encourage Rev. Dennis Meredith not to attend and accept an award from a group of people who are not willing to stand by all who are apart of the community.

Reverend Paul M. Turner
Sr. Pastor
http://www.gentlespirit.org

Don't Diss My Community To Build Pride In Yours

I happened to be off from work on the day Oprah broadcast her show on intersex people. It's a community that can definitely use the media face time and I eagerly tuned in to watch and learn more about a community that definitely needed the media face time. I was enjoying the show until a panellist made this comment in an effort to explain the differences between the transgender and intersex communities:

"Intersex is a medical problem, transgender is a mental one."

FYI to that person, there is increasing research into transsexuallity that point ot such causes as the 'hormone wash' theory and the BSTc brain regions of transgender people being being at variance with the biological birth gender identity. That would make it a MEDICAL condition.

Transgender people have to deal with enough drama from the religious Right, conservatives, ignorant sheeple in society, right wing talk show hosts and elements of the GLB community. The last thing we want or need is piling on from the intersex community as well. You can respectfully point out the differences between our communities without making incorrect statements as this person did on Oprah.

So what is intersex? It's the preferred description for what used to be called hermaphroditism, which according to the Intersex Society of North America, is a general term used for a variety of conditions in which a person is born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t seem to fit the typical definitions of female or male. It occurs in one out of every 1500-2000 births.

For example, a person might be born appearing to be female on the outside, but having mostly male-typical anatomy on the inside. Or a person may be born with genitals that seem to be in-between the usual male and female types—for example, a girl may be born with a noticeably large clitoris, or lacking a vaginal opening, or a boy may be born with a notably small penis, or with a scrotum that is divided so that it has formed more like labia. Or a person may be born with mosaic genetics, so that some of her cells have XX chromosomes and some of them have XY.

Intersex is the preferred term of the community. Using the old hermaphrodite term is considered by some people in the intersex community as an insulting and derogatory slur, while others are seeking to reclaim it as a pride word to describe themselves like some people in the GLBT community did for the words 'queer' and 'dyke'.

But a sometimes contentious debate in the intersex community roils up about not only how far do they go to raise awareness and educate the public on these issues, but how to build coalitions with allied groups to advocate for the interests of intersex people.

Some of that debate is exposing some peeps in the intersex community's frustrations with being lumped in transgender people. There are some intersex people who have expressed the opinion that 'transgender activists' are 'forcing them into an unwanted association with the GLB and transgender communities and trampling their rights to self-determination'.

As someone who is one of those 'activists' that peeps love to throw shade at, speaking for myself, that charge is ludicrous and baseless.

The last thing that I or any transgender person wants, given our own tortured history with the GLB community, is to be perceived as someone or a group interfering with the self-determination rights of others like our intersex friends.

I lived for two years with a roomie that was intersex, and I'm deeply aware of some of the shame and guilt issues she had (and still has to) deal with along with her post-surgery gender transition during her late teens. As Lynell Stephani Long can tell you, it ain't easy being an African-American and growing up intersex.

I agree with this closing paragraph from the ISNA website in the section concerning the differences between transgender and intersex people.

People who identify as transgender or transsexual also face discrimination and deserve equality. We also believe that people with intersex conditions and folks who identify as transgender or transsexual can and should continue to work together on human rights issues; however, there are important differences to keep in mind so that both groups can work toward a better future.

Amen. There are issues in which intersex and transgender people can collaborate on that will result in a win-win partnership for both groups. The anti-gay marriage push has negative effects on our and intersex people's marriages. We need to be in coalition fighting ANY Religious Right sponsored legislation that seeks to fix gender definitions based on birth genitalia, makes it harder to change identity documents or even narrowly defines what a woman or a man is legally. We also have shame and guilt issues we have to work out, and that's common ground for jump starting a dialogue between our communities.

But those working partnerships have to be built on a foundation of mutual respect and trust.

Why Transgender Issues Matter to Members of Faith Communities

From the Wimminwise blog
by Ha Qohelet


About 15 people, not counting panelists and others, gathered in the Women’s Center Tuesday to talk with 3 panelists from the local area about the relevance of transgender issues to people in general and to members of faith communities in particular. The Women’s Center is deeply grateful to Beth Harrison-Prado and colleagues who took time from their schedules to make the panel discussion a reality.

One point that came through particularly clearly in the discussion was that transgender people are not the only people who chafe under a rigid binary gender regime, in which there are two and only two genders, masculine and feminine, which are supposed to be determined by a clear and unambiguous physical or anatomical profile, and which in turn are supposed to determine lots of other things in turn - behaviors, attitudes, interests, sexual attractions, skills and aptitudes, . . .

Transgender people demonstrate the inadequacy of that gender regime pretty dramatically, but many many other people and phenomena demonstrate it in smaller ways. Little girls who want to be boys because “boys get to play sports.” Well-wishers who want to know immediately whether the child on the way is a girl or a boy “because we want to know what to buy” - since there are girl gifts and boy gifts, and it would be wrong to give a girl gift to a boy and vice versa. Little boys who want to wear pretty, colorful clothes, which for some inexplicable reason always turn out to be girls’ clothes. Women who are in various ways unfeminine, men who are in various ways unmasculine. . . .

The witness of trans-folk shines a bright light on all the variance masked by the culturally approved gender standard. Which difference is permitted, which prohibited varies from place to place and time to time, but the differences that challenge the simplicity and ruliness of gendered humanity surface over and over.

Transgender people don’t create the inadequacy of the rigid gender binary, but transgender people do bring that inadequacy into sharp focus. And the Transgender Day of Remembrance reminds us, among other things, that we all live in a world in which some people would rather commit murder than permit the inadequacy of the notion of the clear, natural male-female structure of reality to be seen clearly as such. Trans people die because they call attention, in a particularly vivid way, to something that most people could observe in their own lives: the limited, restricted models of gender that we work with do not describe most people. Instead, they seem to operate to keep people within bounds, to keep things simple (easier to understand; easier to administer; easier to ignore).

Another theme that surfaced in the discussion was honesty. Transgender awareness and openness to transgender information, learning, and acceptance, has to do with building communities in which people can live safely and at the same time openly and honestly, rather than having to sacrifice safety for honesty, or honesty for safety. The reality of domination - who makes what rules, for what reasons, about what is allowed and not, what will be acceptable and what not, to what end - lies not-always-so-clearly behind and below the question of who may live their particular path in life out loud, and who must remain silent, or else risk much, perhaps even life itself.

Faith communities have, at times, participated in setting some stringent and rejecting rules around gender. Faith communities have also, at times, participated in breaking down rigid barriers and transforming the world so that more lives can be embraced and lived humanly and fully, in relationship with others. Faith communities always have to make a choice.

So we learned again that there is a deep connection between the values people affirm at the heart of their faith, and the practice of accepting transgender people, learning about the particular struggles and choices faced by transgender people, and having the conversations necessary to meet one another as human beings with reciprocal demands, responsibilities, gifts, and qualities.

And Now, A Word From An Ally

TransGriot Note: I mentioned on a previous post that the LPTS Women's Center is the host of our TDOR ceremonies in Louisville and we have a five year relationship with them. This is what they had to say about why they sponsor the TDOR from their Wimminwise blog.


Ten Reasons the Women’s Center Observes the Transgender Day of Remembrance
by Ha Qohelet

One friend of mine in particular has been challenging me to say why the Women’s Center spends any of its clearly finite time and energy on organizing an observance of the Transgender Day of Remembrance. That question no doubt deserves some extended reflection and comment. Here, however, are some preliminary thoughts:

Because this year some people died too soon, because someone hated them to death because of their gender, or how they lived it.

Because transgender people are real people, created in the image of God, and because every person’s life is unique and precious to God, and because anti-transgender murder denies both those things.

Because the killers of transgender people often go to great lengths to obliterate the memory of these people, so preserving that memory is an act of solidarity and resistance.

Because we affirm that no one’s life is disposable or not worth mourning and honoring.

Because whether or not we are transgender ourselves, transgender people are our neighbors, relatives, friends, colleagues, students, teachers, parishioners, pastors - that is, valued and valuable members of our world.

Because the “gender” in transgender concerns everyone; gender issues are women’s issues.

Because we are working for a world in which no one becomes the victim of deadly violence for refusing to conform to someone’s expectation of what is proper for a man or a woman.

Because difference is not defect; because the idea that there is a right and a wrong way to have or live gender, and that the current norm is that right way, is a mistake.

Because it is not yet totally obvious enough to everyone why the Women’s Center supports the Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Because we are working for a time when the reasons the Women’s Center would support the Transgender Day of Remembrance are obvious, but the observance itself is no longer necessary - because people no longer die from anti-transgender violence.