Transpeeps and the Po-Po's Still Have Drama

There's been a long history in the United States of tension between the police and the transgender community. In fact, the August 1966 Compton's Cafeteria Riot in San Francisco and the June 28, 1969 Stonewall Riots that are considered the start of the United States GLBT civil rights movement have a similar root cause:

GLBT people finally getting fed up with being harassed by police.

So it didn't suprise me when Amnesty International released on September 22, 2005 the first in a series of reports that documented what we in the transgender community have known, talked about and experienced for years. Despite the major gains we've made over the last 40 years in having our civil rights recognized and respected, the problem of police harassment still persists.

Called Stonewalled: Police Abuse and Misconduct against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people in the United States, the Amnesty International report revealed that transgender people experienced some of the most egregious cases of police brutality.

AI heard reports of transgender individuals being subjected by police to discriminatory profiling as sex workers; “policing” of transgender individuals bathroom use; sexual, verbal and physical abuse; inappropriate and illegal searches to determine a transgender individual’s “true” sex; and a failure to protect transgender individuals from abuse while in detention.

A subsequent report was released in March 2006 called Stonewalled: Police Abuse and Misconduct Against Lesbian, Gay and Transgender People in the U.S. that documents serious patterns of police abuse, including incidents amounting to torture and ill-treatment. It also points out that GLBT persons of color are particularly vulnerable to this abuse and it is compounded by the systemic racism and homophobia prevalent in many US police forces. GLBT peeps are also singled out for selective enforcement of "morals regulations," bars and social gatherings regulations, demonstrations and "quality of life" ordinaces.

How serious is the problem? In San Antonio, one of the four cities profiled in the September 2005 report, veteran police officer Dave Gutierrez was convicted and sentenced on January 19 to 24 years and four months in prison for raping and assaulting then 21 year old transwoman Starlight Bernal during a June 10, 2005 traffic stop.


It's also come to light that the investigation into transwoman Nizah Morris' death in Philadelphia is pointing disturbing fingers at the police. The recent classification of transwoman Erica Keel's death as an accident has exacerbated tensions between the Philadelphia police department and the transgender community to the point that it became an issue in the Philadelphia mayor's race.

The negativity affects us in multiple ways. The police failing to act, or being openly (or covertly) hostile to transgender people affects their attitudes toward solving crimes committed against us.

That lack of action emboldens people who wish to bring harm to us. They assume that the police, their ministers, society and the justice system are on their side and they'll get away with committing the crime against us. Previous cases in which people were prosecuted for committing murders against transgender people that received little or ridiculously low sentences feed into that perception. The 'trans panic' defenses that attorneys use to get their clients off also don't help along with the reluctance of prosecuters to use hate crimes statutes if they happen to have one in their jurisdiction that covers us. That has the unfortunate effect of encouraging crimes to be committed against us, not deterring it.

The drama between us and the police means that many transpeople are reluctant to report crimes when they occur because of the fear you'll get even more harrasment from the officer that's supposed to help you. If you think I'm kidding, ask JoLea Lamot's family what happened on November 24, 1998 when her mother Nancy called 911 on JoLea's behalf because they feared she'd accidentally overdosed on some medication.

The late Marvin Zindler used to say on his reports back home that 'it's hell to be poor'. It's also hell to be transgender. One message that needs to be made loud and clear is that we transpeople are taxpaying citizens as well. We don't need the po-po's adding to the drama we already get just for living our lives.

Serving and protecting the public also includes us as well.

Stephanie and Ukea-Rest In Peace

Five years ago today at the same Southeast DC intersection where transsistah Tyra Hunter was involved in the fateful auto accident that took her life, two transsistahs named Stephanie Thomas and Ukea Davis were brutally murdered.

19 year old Stephanie and 18 year old Ukea met at a SMYAL (Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League) meeting and became best friends. They were inseparable to the point where they helped each other transition and lived in an apartment together.

And unfortunately, they died together as well.

At 11:30 PM on August 12, 2002 the girls told friends they were headed to a nearby gas station to pick up cigarettes. No one's certain whether they actually accomplished their stated mission and were in the process of returning or had even left. At around 3 AM the girls were sitting in Thomas' Camry at a stop sign at 50th and C Streets. Suddenly a car rolled up next to them and sprayed them with semi automatic gunfire.

According to an eyewitness, another car approached the intersection after the shooting and the driver got out to ascertain what had happened. Ukea Davis was already dead and the driver nudged Stephanie to see if by some miracle she was alive.
She acknowledged she was by moaning as he touched her shoulder.

But unfortunately the good Samaritan was forced to flee when the shooters came back to finish their grisly work. The shooter got out of the car and peppered the mortally wounded teens with more gunfire. By the time rescue workers reached the bloodsoaked car Stephanie was also dead. She and Ukea had taken ten rounds each.

Even in a city with a high murder rate such as Washington DC, the execution style killings of two transgender teenagers rocked the city and the DC transgender community. Their joint funeral was packed. The people who spoke at the vigil held for them included then mayor Anthony Williams and DC congressional Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton.

As of this writing the perpetrators in the murders of Stephanie Thomas and Ukea Davis still haven't been brought to justice. To make things worse just four days after the vigil marking the one year anniversary of the killings Washington underwent a series of transgender murders. In the span of eight days two transwomen were killed and another survived a shooting near the US capitol building.

The sad part about the Thomas-Davis killing was the brutality of it. While I'm happy that in the short time they had on the planet they got to transition, sometimes it shocks me just how visceral the hatred is toward transgender people. It saddens me to think about the fact that Stephanie and Ukea didn't get a chance to unleash whatever potential their lives held for them. It angers me to think that someone hated or felt so threatened by Stephanie and Ukea just openly living their lives that they picked up a gun and killed them.

Rest in peace, ladies.

Bishop Harry Jackson's Claims Divisive and Untrue

Jackson's Claims Divisive and Untrue

July 1, 2007
by: Rev. Dr. Michael Eric Dyson
Sylvia Rhue, Ph.D.

Bishop Harry Jackson of the High Impact Leadership Coalition and pastor of Hope Christian Church in Maryland is leading the misguided attempt to scare Black ministers into backing his efforts to derail the much needed Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act also known as the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act. In doing so he is distorting the facts about a law which would provide local law enforcement with addition tools to stem the tide of intentional acts of violence and murder.

Contrary to Bishop Jackson's assertions, this bill will not "muzzle clergy", and it is not "anti-Christian". This bill should be passed because it is fair, overdue and much needed. The House passed a version last May and the Senate should pass it as well.

Bishop Jackson's claims are based on bias that is divisive, destructive and untrue. Hate crimes laws punish violent acts, not beliefs or thoughts, not even violent thoughts. The proposed federal statute does not punish, nor prohibit in any way, free expression of one's religious beliefs.

Pastors will remain free to condemn, demean, defame and dehumanize their gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered congregants and neighbors as they feel called by their religious beliefs. This bill will not change the First Amendment and we would not support any law that undermined this precious freedom.

On the other hand, we work with clergy who respect gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, and honor the many gifts they have brought to the Church, especially to the Black Church. We believe this is the American way—we value the separation of church and state. We also believe it is the authentic way of Christ.

We also suggest that Bishop Jackson take a course in basic human sexuality since so much of his resistance to equal rights for LGBT people lies in his stated assumption that homosexuality is a "choice", while being black is not. Sexual orientation is not a choice. It is a innate, God-gifted, morally neutral state of being.

We hope and pray that Bishop Jackson will focus some attention on Christ's message of inclusion as we did when we invited him to speak to our members during our recently held Black Church Summit at Mother Bethel AME Church in Philadelphia. From that experience alone the good Bishop should have known that we would never support a law that would silence him in his own pulpit.

Rev. Dr. Michael Eric Dyson
Sylvia Rhue, Ph.D.

The writers are respectively the Chair and Director of the National Black Justice Coalition's Religious Advisory Committee.

Where My Sistahs And Brothas At?

I tuned in to watch the Larry King Live show on transgender peeps earlier this evening on CNN hoping to see if the transgender community would pick up on a recurring omission they make when they put these shows together.

Sadly, they didn't.

So what is the glaring omission you ask? I have no complaint about the content of the show. It was tastefully done and informative as Larry King shows usually are. But there was one thing missing. As usual, there was NO African-American transperson as part of the panel.

Yeah, the white transgender community will point to the Latina that was part of tonight's panel and state quizzically, "What was wrong with it? There was a person of color on the panel."

No, my Caucasian sisters and brothers, there was a LATINA on the panel. There were three white people on that panel. There were three transwomen and a transman on that panel.

There were NO African-Americans on that panel.

The reason I'm griping about it is because once again, just as last night's HRC sponsored GLBT Democratic presidential candidate forum ignored the concerns of African-American, Latino/a's GLBT peeps and the transgender community, the white transgender community repeatedly and conveniently forgets us when these media opportunities arise.

News flash: There are intelligent African-American transpeople who can easily speak for ours and the entire transgender community and look fly while doing it. We need that face time, too. We need to have my people (and yours) see African-American transpeople in a setting other than a pageant stage, an adult website or a smoky GLBT club.

Once again in a nationally televised setting, I didn't see someone representing me or my community. The transkids that share my heritage didn't see someone on that stage tonight that represents them.

That's what I'm upset about

The Most Important Man in Black America

Tavis Smiley frequently says (and I agree with him on that point) that Dr. Martin Luther King is the greatest American we ever produced.

The most important man in contemporary Black history next to Carter G. Woodson or Dr. Martin Luther King I would argue is John H. Johnson.

John H. Johnson is the Arkansas born man from humble beginnings. His father died in a sawmill accident in 1926. His mother Gertrude saved her money in order to move herself and John to Chicago. Upon their arrival in Chcago in 1933 he was enrolled at all-Black DuSable High and was exposed for the first time to middle class African-Americans. Some of his DuBale classmates were Redd Foxx, Nat King Cole and entrepreneur William Abernathy. He studied hard during the day and devoured self-improvement books at night.

In 1942 he took a $500 loan against his mother's furniture and started Johnson Publishing Company. He launched Negro Digest which was the forerunner to Ebony. By June 1942 the circulation of his magazine was up to 50,000 copies and doubled to 100,000 copies in October 1943 when First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt penned one of his regular guest columns called "If I Were A Negro."

JPC (now run by his daughter Linda Johnson Rice) grew to become the largest black-owned publishing company in the world. The iconic Ebony magazine he founded in 1945 is the nation's number one African-American oriented magazine with a circulation of 1.7 million and a monthly readership of 11 million. Jet Magazine, the newsweekly magazine he founded in 1951 also became a staple in African-American homes. JPC not only publishes books, it produces the Ebony Fashion Fair traveling fashion show and owns Fashion Fair Cosmetics as well.

Ebony became the African-American version of Life magazine. Without the existence of Ebony, the words of an Atlanta born preacher by the name of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wouldn't have been exposed to millions of people. The early civil rights marches and events would have gone uncovered.

In the 80's a Chicago DJ by the name of Tom Joyner was hired to host the Ebony-Jet Showcase TV show. That exposure led to Tom Joyner's radio show becoming a syndicated property that's heard by 11 million people daily courtesy of Cathy Hughes' Radio One.

His wife Eunice Johnson started executive producing the Ebony Fashion Fair shows in 1963. The show is celebrating their 50th anniversary in 2008. The shows proved that not only do African-American women have a unique sense of style and flair, we look good strutting down runways wearing those couture outfits as well. Those traveling shows not only have raised $57 million for local charities, they jump started the acting careers of former Ebony Fashion Fair models Richard Roundtree, Judy Pace and Diahann Carroll.

Before Pat Cleveland became an internationally known supermodel, she strutted her stuff at Ebony Fashion Fair fashion shows during the 60's. Fashion Fair model alumni Janet Langhart Cohen, Sue Simmons and B. Smith used their time there as springboards to greater success in other fields. The Ebony Fashion Fair shows also give Black fashion designers such as Tracy Reese and others a chance to showcase their talents as well.

The best selling Fashion Fair cosmetics line is the largest cosmetics company that caters to women of color. Over time it eventually forced white-oriented makeup lines to broaden their products and make shades compatible with our skin tones.

So as you can see, the influence of John H. Johnson and his company have had far reaching ripple effects on not only our culture, but profound effects on our country over the last 60 plus years as well.

Nichelle Nichols

Another installment in my ongoing series of articles on transgender and non-transgender women who have qualities that I admire.

photos-Nichelle Nichols in 2004, as Lt Uhura, the EBONY magazine cover, Dr. Mae Jemison, Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan, the christening of the Space Shuttle Enterprise

Nichelle Nichols in addition to being a trailblazing actress has been an inspiration for people of my generation and subsequent ones to not only follow their dreams, but reach for the stars.

She was born in Robbins, IL as Grace Nichols on December 28, 1932, just outside Chicago. She toured the Unites States, Canada and Europe with the Lionel Hampton and Duke Ellington bands. She appeared in a Chicago production of Carmen Jones before she moved west and had her fateful meeting with Gene Roddenberry. Before casting her as Lt. Nyota Upenda Uhura on Star Trek, she'd worked as a guest actress on Roddenberry's first television series The Lieutenant.

As we Trekkies all know, it was Star Trek that made her a historical icon, launched her life into a new direction and sharpened her interest in space exploration.

But she almost quit the show. Frustrated during the first season over what she perceived as playing just a glorified telephone operator, she was ready to hang up the Starfleet uniform until she ran into Dr. Martin Luther King at a civil rights rally. Dr. King was a huge Star Trek fan and urged her not to quit. He pointed out to her that she was the first African-American actress who was on a network TV show playing a non-stereotypical role.

According to Nichols, he told her "Don't you know you have the first non-stereotypical role in television? For the first time the world will see us as we should be seen -- people of quality in the future. You created a role with dignity and beauty and grace and intelligence. You're not just a role model for our children, but for people who don't look like us to see us for the first time as equals."

She stayed and later made television history with the first interracial kiss on TV with costar William Shatner. She costarred in the six subsequent Star Trek movies and eventually her character was promoted to Commander.

Once Star Trek ended, she worked for NASA in the 70's and early 80's as part of a program to not only encourage African-American youth to consider math and science careers but recruit women and minority astronauts for NASA. She recruited Dr. Sally K. Ride, US Air Force Col. Guion Bluford (the first African-American in space), Dr. Judith Resnik and Dr. Ron McNair, who flew missions before both were killed in the 1986 Challenger disaster. The essay contest I won in 8th grade in which I earned a trip to NASA was part of that program.

And like other issues that Dr. King was prescient on, he was on target in terms of Nichols being a role model to African-American children and others. She was the inspiration for another Chicago girl who grew up to become the first African-American woman in space, Dr. Mae C. Jemison. She also inspired a New York City girl by the name of Caryn Elaine Johnson to shoot for an entertainment career after seeing her on Star Trek. Caryn Elaine Johnson would not only accomplish that goal, but would have a recurring role herself on Star Trek-The Next Generation as Guinan.

Nichols is considered part of the NASA family. She flew aboard NASA's C-141 Astronomy Observatory on its eight hour high altitude mission to analyze the atmospheres of Mars and Saturn. She was present along with her Star Trek castmates when the first space shuttle Enterprise was christened and was a guest of the Jet Propulsion Lab when Viking 1 soft landed on Mars on July 17, 1976. She has written two science-fiction novels about a tough black woman in space, Saturn's Child and its sequel, Saturna's Quest and is working on a third. She has since the mid 80's sat on the Board of Governors for the National Space Society.

So if you haven't had the pleasure of meeting her like I did back in the mid 70's, check out this multi-talented and passionate ambassador for space exploration.

Live long and prosper, Nichelle.

The Only 'F' I Ever Want

Back when I was in school the 'F' was something to avoid and be ashamed of. It was a source of negativity and a graphic representation of failure. I wanted to avoid seeing it on any report card I handed to my parents, any test that I took or any paper I wrote.

Since transition however, the 'F' has taken on a new connotation for me and other transwomen. It represents validation and official acceptance of our lives.

The gender marker code on our official documents is another war that we must fight just to validate our personhood. Back in 2000 I was determined to vote in that upcoming presidential election under my new name and have my voter registration reflect it. You don't know how happy I felt when I left the Harris County courthouse an hour later with a brand new voter registration card with my new name and an 'F' in the gender code box. I felt eight feet tall when I handed my new voter registration card to the precinct judge during early voting and affixed my signature to the line on the computer printout of registered voters that had Monica on it.

Gender codes reflecting our reality are vitally important to us. In a society in which we have to present identification every day for mundane things, it's a source of embarrassment, shame and anger when we are required to produce an ID that has a femme name on it but a big fat 'M' in the gender code box. A gender code that you know deep down is based on your genitalia's configuration at birth.

My old Texas driver's license had some gender memories attached to it. Back in 1978, when HISD was still offering driver's ed I took it in summer school, which was being hosted by Jones. For the road driving portion of it we were put in groups of four. I ended up in a car with three other women. One was my Thomas Jr. High homeroom classmate Rita Roy who now attended Lamar. The second sistah was a girl named Yvonne Sibley who attended Sterling and the third was a sista named Berlye Magee that went to Yates.

It was bad enough I was in a car with three gorgeous sistahs. I had a crush on Rita back in fifth grade and she'd become even more beautiful since we left Thomas. It was another aggravating reminder that I was on the wrong side of the gender fence.

The Real ID Act, passed in the wake of 9-11 is an aggravation for all transgender people. One of the other things I lobbied for back in May in addition to passage of hate crimes was the repeal of Title II of the Real ID Act. It makes it harder for us to change the gender marker on our identity documents. Those markers should reflect who we are in 2007, not what our genitalia was thirty to forty plus years ago.

The wrong gender marker also opens us up to discrimination. You don't have to be a MIT grad to figure out what's going on if a person standing in front of you in a female body hands you an ID with an 'M' in the gender marker portion of it.

If you think I'm exaggerating about this, check out this August 2 Dallas Voice story about transwoman Jodi Pleasant, who was denied entry into a Bossier City, LA casino because the gender marker didn't match her presentation.

We transpeeps are also having problems with the Social Security Administration. Your Social Security number is permanent and you aren't allowed to change it but you can change the name. What the SSA has been doing since 2002 is sending employer's letters if a SSN doesn't match with the name in the SSA database. That has the effect of outing transpeople to their employers. If those employers are transphobic, then that letter has the effect of potentially costing them their jobs.

Transpeople shouldn't have to jump through hoops to change gender codes on any identity documents. Neither should we be required to produce letters proving that we've had SRS. Not everyone will be able to have SRS for fiscal or medical reasons. For transmen their surgeries aren't even close to being satisfactory for them and they often forgo them. Simple proof that the person has been living in their new gender for an extended period of time should be enough to do that.

We need to strike a compromise that balances the needs of society to accurately ID a person and balance it with the desire of transpeople to have that ID accurately reflect their new reality.

Tyra Hunter Anniversary

Today is the twelfth anniversary of the death of transsistah Tyra Hunter.

The major differences in her death is that it didn't happen at the hands of a violent transphobe wielding a knife or gun. Her death was preventable. The disgusting part of it is that the transphobes in this case were a doctor and a Washington DC firefighter.

Tyra Hunter had been transitioned since she was 14 years old. On the morning of August 7, 1995 the popular 24 year old hairdresser was on her way to work as a passenger in a car. That vehicle ended up being involved in an accident at the corner of 50th and C streets in Southeast DC.

Tyra and the driver had been pulled from the smoking ruins of the vehicle by onlookers and were lying on the ground when fire department personnel arrived at the scene. The neighborhood began gathering to watch as a male firefighter began treating Tyra for her injuries. That is, until he cut open her pants leg and noted she had male genitalia.

At that point, according to eyewitnesses, the firefighter, later identified as Adrian Williams stood up and backed away from Tyra. She was semi-conscious, complaining about pain and gasping for breath as he was quoted as saying by one witness, "This bitch ain't no girl...It's a nigger, he got a dick."

Williams began joking with the other fire department personnel at the scene as the bystanders pleaded with them to resume working to save Tyra's life. One bystander is quoted as saying, "It don’t make any difference, he’s [sic] a person, he’s a human being."

The firefighters on the scene didn't share that assessment. They were more concerned with honing their comedic skills than doing their duty. Another witness at the scene heard one of the firefighters say, "look, it's got a cock and balls." While the firefighters stood around doing their not ready for prime time act, Tyra's treatment was discontinued for 5 to 7 critical minutes while bystanders pleaded for them to resume treatment. Finally an EMS supervisor arrived and resumed treating Tyra. She was rushed to DC General Hospital where she arrived at 4:10 PM.

But the nightmare was just beginning for Tyra. The DC General Hospital ER staff compounded the insulting neglect of the fire fighters. A doctor refused to treat her and she died of blunt force trauma at 5:20 PM in the now closed hospital's emergency room.

The case alarmed and enraged not only African-American transpeople nationally, but the entire transgender and local African-American community. Over 2,000 people attended her August 12 funeral.

Tyra's mother Margie Hunter, who ironically works as a nurse, filed a $10 million civil lawsuit in February 1996 in DC Superior Court against the District of Columbia, the firefighter and a DC General Hospital physician. The allegations contained in the suit alleged that the D.C. Fire Department personnel called to the scene of a car accident involving Tyra made derogatory comments about Tyra's personal appearance and withdrew emergency medical treatment. Mrs. Hunter also charged that Tyra died as a result of medical negligence while, or after being treated at D.C. General Hospital.

On December 11, 1998 a jury awarded Margie Hunter $2.9 million in damages. The jury determined that DC Fire Department employees violated the 1977 DC Human Rights Law, and that Tyra Hunter's death was caused by medical malpractice at DC General. Experts testified during the trial that had Tyra received proper medical care at either stage of treatment, she had an 86% chance of surviving the accident.

The city further angered DC transgender residents by immediately appealing the decision. The case was later settled for $1.75 million. DC transpeople were further enraged when they discovered that not only were none of the firefighters at the scene disciplined, but Adrian Williams had subsequently received a promotion.

In Washington DC the Tyra Hunter Drop-In Center is named for her and the sensitivity training that DC fire department personnel attend is named in her honor as well.

We must never forget what happened to Tyra on this day. We must also diligently work to ensure that what she suffered at the hands of emergency personnel is not replicated in our locales. The message must be made crystal clear to our first responders that when they swear to serve and protect, that means ALL citizens.

Sick of Hearing the Term "Race Card'

Did you get your race card?
Hell no, I didn't get my race card
Did you get your race card?
Hell no, I didn’t get my race card!
Everything ain't black and white.
Did you get your race card?
Homeboy, when you get your race card
Did you get your race card?
White boy, what is a race card?

Indeed, what the hell is a 'race card'? It's a right-wing creation for starters that I absolutely despise.

I'm sick of people, usually of European extraction throwing out that conservaline 'you're just playing the race card' any time a serious discussion is taking place that gets to the root cause of negative race relations in the United States.

The color line.

It wouldn't be necessary to 'play the race card' as you peeps so derisively put it if you Euro-descended Americans ancestors hadn't set up a system that demonizes non- whites, maximizes benefits to your ethnic group, stacks the deck to maintain that advantage, marks the biggest face cards in the American cultural card deck for themselves and passes them on to their children.

As far as racial face cards go the 'white card' trumps all. I'm tired of having my ancestors 200 plus years of pain and suffering during slavery and our very real experiences with 100 years of Jim Crow racism dismissed, trivialized and disrespectfully compared to a card game.

There are two Americas, a white one and a Black one which are separate, unequal and more hostile to each other thanks to GOP misrule. One of the reasons it's hard for us to talk to each other on many subjects is because we don't see things the same way.

And if we can't at least come to a decision on mutually agreed ground rules for the conversation, the end result is that it devolves into a disorganized mess once the words 'race card' are injected into the discussion.

Using the words 'race card' is for the intellectually lazy. If you can't make your arguments without using reason and logic to buttress your viewpoint, then don't get into a discussion that's turbocharged with race to begin with.

Sooner or later this country is going to have to come to terms with what your ancestors did to mine. Until we get that apology for slavery by whoever's occupying the White House, we African-Americans are going to continue to have bitter feelings toward whites in this country. It makes slavery for us impossible to 'get over'. Until whites come clean on what happened, you're going to be defensive about the subject of race.

In the end, to solve the vexing problem of race relations in the US, we're going to have to deal with it like we've dealt with other problems in this country. We've got to tackle it head on. Both sides need to honestly verbalize their feelings instead of tap dancing around the subject. Only then will we come up with solutions that everybody can be happy with.

And if y'all stop using that BS 'race card' line, it would make me and other African-Americans extremely happy.

When You Say POC, Y'all Ignore Me

photos-Lorrainne Sade Baskerville, the late Alexander John Goodrum


I got another reminder of why I'm starting to loathe the term POC (person of color) a few days ago. When POC gets used, the folks who are intending to be inclusive inadvertantly (or deliberately) forget the African-American part of that supposed inclusive term.

I was on a transgender activist list a few days ago when the fallout over the Advocate's lack of transgender nominees for their 40 Heroes of the GLBT Movement poll blew up. A few peeps immediately started putting together a short list of transgender heroes that met the Advocate's criteria.

Only one problem. There was not one African-American transperson on it. It took the 2006 winner of the IFGE Trinity Award to point out that glaring omission.

I'm getting more than a little fed up about the whitewashing, either unintentional or deliberate, of the African-American contribution to the transgender community's history. It's gotten so bad in the white transgender community that when I posted the initial names list of African-American transpeople I came up with it was greeted with "who are they?"

You mean, you don't know who Alexander John Goodrum, Lorrainne Sade Baskerville, or Kylar Broadus are?

You don't know (or don't wanna know) who my peeps are and their contributions to our history, but expect me to know and revere yours as heroes. Excuse me?

There haven't been as many African-Americans involved in the transgender rights fight as I would like, but the ones who have stepped out there have become major players. We've been involved in every major event and GLBT organization since the Stonewall Rebellion and our contributions need to be acknowledged and celebrated just like everyone elses. We are more than just martrys for transgender hate-crime violence or afterthoughts. We are in many cases the frontline troops or the peeps coming up with the out of the box strategies to advance the cause that you resist.

It was Dawn Wilson who stood tall for the entire community against bigotry in Louisville when the Forces of Intolerance came after our comprehensive GLBT rights Fairness law in December 2004. She uttered the definitive quote that was soundbited on the local news for the next several days.

"Bigotry cloaked in religion is bigotry none the less, and should never be allowed to stand."

Miss Major was at Stonewall (and the Attica Prison riot in 1971.) African-American transpeople helped found GenderPac and NTAC. In some cases we have been creators and innovators, as in the drag balls in Chicago and Harlem for example that have morphed into the ballroom community.

So if you're wondering why you've heard increasing calls from some African-Amerocan transgender people to put more emphasis on forming and supporting our own community, this is just one example of why we're increasingly working to make that happen.

Stealth vs. Out

photos-Halle Berry and Lonette McKee from the miniseries Queen, Ellen Craft, the ladies of the MBU pageant system, Iman

Besides telling family and friends that you are beginning the process of gender transition, the next biggest decision in a transperson's life is whether to do is openly or as we call it in the transgender community 'stealth mode'.

Basically stealth mode is a 21st century twist on what our ancestors used to do back in the bad old days of slavery and Jim Crow racism: Passing.

There are some African-American peeps who back in the day took advantage of their vanilla creme complexions and 'good hair' and basically faded into white society for various reasons. For example, some of Sally Hemings' children that she bore for Thomas Jefferson did so.

There's the fascinating story of Ellen Craft, the daughter of a white slave master and his slave mistress who executed a daring escape from bondage by passing for white. She and her husband, who posed as her slave, traveled for four days by train, boat and carriage from Macon, GA to Philadelphia. During one part of the journey Ellen even passed as a white man. There are other cases of Black people passing for white for employment or other reasons as late as the 50's and 60's.

From the early days of gender transition to about the mid-80's people were advised by the HBIGDA/WPATH orthodoxy at the time to blend into society and never let anyone know your transgender status. But by the time the 90's rolled around that paradigm was giving way to the 'out and proud' model of the gay and lesbian community.

By the time I transitioned in the mid 1990s transwomen had a choice. If they possessed naturally feminine features that didn't require extensive surgery, some went the stealth route while others of us went down the out and proud path.

For African-American transwomen, who tend to transition earlier and avoid the ravages of extended testosterone exposure on our bodies, our experiences are different from our white counterparts.

Because we transition earlier, the estrogen we take has less testosterone to fight and helps feminize us to the point where we are almost indistinguishable from our genetic sisters. Even if that African-American transwoman is tall like I am, the fact that we have many biosisters that are 5'10" or taller with various body builds helps us blend into society more effortlessly. I can't tell you how many times over the years I've been asked if I was a fashion model or a WNBA ballplayer.

The fact that we don't have at present a large organized community like our white counterparts and face more negativity if we openly transition, we gravitate more toward the stealth path.

But in the fifty plus years since Christine Jorgensen's very public transition, we African-American transpeople have come to painfully realize that having a history to pass down and role models are important elements of the process as well. Our images have been negatively distorted by too many transwomen taking the escort and female illusionist path in the mistaken belief it's the only way they can make money as a transperson. We have African American transwomen succeeding in various fields such as IT, teaching, modeling and various other fields just to name a few that I'm aware of. The problem is that because these people are stealth transwomen the WORLD, our people and our fellow transpeeps don't kmow that.

It's one major reason why one of the things we are doing in terms of taking our image back is having more of us boldly proclaim that we are not only proud African-Americans but transgender as well. You will see more of us organizing and getting involved in fighting for transgender issues as well.

The Stealth vs. Out debate can evoke intense and passionate emotions on both sides when transpeeps discuss it. I was reminded of that thanks to a discussion thread we've had going in Transistahs-Transbrothas since Thursday about the issue.

Both paths have their pros and cons. If you go stealth, the benefits are that you blend in with society. Stealth transpeople are in positions to hear what people really think about transpeople that they won't say in front of us. Those who continue to stay in contact with the transgender community are then able to pass that information back to the out activists. They can also do education on the inside as well. The cons are isolation from your fellow transpeeps and the necessity of constant vigilance to ensure your transsecret doesn't get out.

Out peeps don't have that problem. The people they interact with may or may not know and they don't worry about it. We out transwomen concentrate on living our lives. One of the cons of out status is that it does open you up to more discrimination, drama and the possibility of being targeted for a hate crime.

The stealth vs. out debate will continue to be an ongoing discussion in the transgender community into the forseeable future, even with the Internet and the erosion of the right to privary as factors.

The most important point to make concerning the issue is this: We're all on the same team with the same goals. We have the ongoing mission of getting African-American peeps to embrace their transgender brothers and sisters, 'ejumacating' them along the way, and getting them to recognize that helping transpeeps get full citizenship rights helps expand civil rights coverage for all of us.

755!

Barry Bonds has finally tied Hank Aaron's home run record.

In the second inning of the Giants 12-inning 3-2 loss to the San Diego Padres, Bonds smacked a Clay Hensley fastball into the left field stands and off an advertising sign at Petco Park for a no doubt about it opposite field home run. He'll sit out today's game in San Diego so that Bonds can break the record in San Francisco. The Giants will have a seven game homestand at AT&T Park starting Monday versus the Washington Nationals and Pittsburgh Pirates.

How you feel about about this milestone achievement depends on your ethnicity and I've commented on it in a previous post.

MLB commissioner Bud Selig released this statement concerning the milestone homer.

"Congratulations to Barry Bonds as he ties Major League Baseball's home run record. No matter what anybody thinks of the controversy surrounding this event, Mr. Bonds' achievement is noteworthy and remarkable.

"As I said previously, out of respect for the tradition of the game, the magnitude of the record and the fact that all citizens in this country are innocent until proven guilty, either I or a representative of my office will attend the next few games and make every attempt to observe the breaking of the all-time home run record."

Too bad Hank Aaron and Barry's critics aren't giving him that presumption of innocent until proven guilty.

Fracked Up

An MKR Poem



photo-actress Kandyse McClure as Battlestar Galactica's Lt. Anastasia Dualla-Adama














Fracked up
Jacked up
Makes me wanna act up
To keep me from blowing up

'Bout how you hate me
Berate me
Constantly denigrate me
My African-American family

There's other transpeeps like me
Out and proud as can be
From sea to shining sea
Sharing your DNA history

Praying to be free
To match mind and body
With our gender identity
That's our reality

Want to live our lives
Without the shuck and jive
Not struggle to survive
Ready and eager to thrive

Sick of your jealousy
Your faith-based hypocrisy
Taking out your anger on me
About our jacked up society

Just because I changed gender
Doesn't make me a pretender
I'm a phenomenal contender
My Blackness I refuse to surrender

Don't care if you think
It's fracked up
Jacked up
Or I just need to shut up

Because you think I should be
In my birth body
Deny my true identity
To make your insecure azz happy

Keep chomping on the Hater Tots
Ashamed of being transgender I'm not
No more tears, anguish and strife
Cause I'm honestly living a life

That's not fracked up

Miz Bones Makes No Bones About Her Schtick

By Betty Baye
Louisville Courier-Journal
August 2, 2007

Just when I thought the insulting of black women couldn't get any worse (think Don Imus, think Eddie Murphy), a recent issue of The Louisville Eccentric Observer brought news of Shirley Q. Liquor. The headlines said, "The Most Dangerous Comedian in America. Why in the world is a gay white man putting on blackface and performing as a boozing welfare mother who drives a Cadillac?"

Why indeed?

Shirley Q. is poor. She drinks malt liquor (hence her last name), has 19 "chirrun" with colorful names and talks "ignunt" about most anything that pops into her head.

Shirley Q. is the black-faced (yes, a minstrel) creation of a white, gay man named Chuck Knipp, who seems to leave no stereotype behind.

David Holthouse's Rolling Stone article, reprinted in LEO, said that Knipp "has emerged from the dive bars and semi-underground gay clubs in the South, and he has rapidly developed a second-tier celebrity cachet." Wealthy whites book Knipp for private parties, prompting him to tell LEO, "I can see that my being there as Shirley makes them feel it's acceptable to openly mock black people in a way they otherwise would not, and that does cause me to have second thoughts. If what I'm doing is truly hurtful, then I need to stop."

But he won't. His minstrel act pays, so Knipp soldiers on as Shirley Q., despite the protestors who dog his appearances.

Knipp has offered various rationalizations for his monstrous Mammy creation. He's compared himself to Dave Chappelle making fun of white people and to Eddie Murphy's Rasputia, the fat, black, over-sexed character in the movie "Norbit."

Knipp also has insisted Shirley Q. is a response to a higher calling. "I think God's plan for me is to get right in the middle of all the tension (between whites and blacks) and just make them laugh."

In response to my e-mail, he offered a different explanation, but he wanted me to know, too, that "most African Americans who have seen my show laugh heartily; they see Shirley Q. Liquor as a representative of the dirty laundry and 'down home ignunce' that embarrasses so many people of color."

He added that most African Americans have taken up Dr. King's challenges to excel "as individuals of excellence and character," but others have chosen "to revel in perpetual victimhood … and rather than deal with their own cultural choices, i.e., hip hop, neckboning and clowning, some in the Black community still find it easier to play the underfunded card to justify the more embarrassing aspects of black culture."

Knipp believes he's performing a public service. But for which part of the public? The Klan?

And to think, many of the same people who have contempt for fat, poor, black women have equal distain for fat, white, gay drag queens.

But everybody needs somebody to look down on, I guess.

Monica Roberts, a member of the Louisville Fairness Campaign's advisory committee, appealed to the owners of a local establishment that caters to gays to reconsider an invitation for Knipp to perform.


Roberts, an African American, described Knipp's act as a minstrel show using "blackface images" that, even in the 21st Century, "carry much pain, anger and historical baggage." Not only that: Inviting Knipp to perform in our city gives cause, according to Roberts, "for African-American GLBT people in Louisville to seriously question our place in this community if our concerns, as your supposed allies, are going to be cavalierly brushed aside."

Carla Wallace, also of the Fairness Campaign, often has made the point that there are "interconnections between racism, sexism and homophobia."

What these sustained hateful assaults on poor, black women in music, film, "comedy acts," and sometimes even on the floor of Congress, suggest is that the women's lib movement has left many poor, black women behind. Otherwise we should hear a greater outcry.

It seems that Knipp's southern upbringing has trumped any extra compassion or sensitivity one might have expected, or at least hoped for, from someone who surely knows how badly stereotypes can wound, or even provoke some people to violence. But what goes around comes around, and maybe one day the joke will be on Knipp.


Betty Winston Baye is a Courier-Journal editorial writer and columnist. Her column appears Thursdays. Her email address is bbaye@courier-journal.com

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.

August 2007 TransGriot Column

Universal Health Care-What’s In It For The GLBT Community?
Copyright 2007, THE LETTER

While only 7 months into his administration, President Harry S Truman proposed implementing universal health care. The ideas Truman set forth in a November 19, 1945 speech came to Congress in the form of a Social Security expansion bill. It was co-sponsored by Senators Robert Wagner (D-NY) and James Murray (D-MT) along with Representative John Dingell (D-MI) and became known as the W-M-D bill.

Predictably, the American Medical Association launched an energetic attack against the W-M-D bill that capitalized on American fears of Communism by calling it "socialized medicine". In a foreshadowing of 50’s McCarthy-era rhetoric, critics labeled Truman White House staffers ‘followers of the Moscow party line.’
President Truman gamely continued efforts to implement the W-M-D bill until the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 forced him to abandon them.

In the latest attempt to implement Universal Health Care, Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) has introduced HR 676, which would create a single payer health care system in the US. It would cover all necessary medical care for US citizens and include prescription drugs, primary and preventative care, emergency services, dental and vision care, chiropractic and long term care, mental health, home health care, hospital, surgical, outpatient services, physical therapy, substance abuse treatment and rehabilitation.

HR 676 would also end deductibles and co-payments and economists predict that 95% of Americans would see a reduction in their health care costs

HR 676 is currently in committee and has 75 cosponsors. (Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) is one of them). The Louisville Metro Council, Boyle County, the city of Morehead, KY and the KY House of Representatives have passed resolutions along with other municipalities across the US supporting the bill. HR 676 also has support from labor and other organizations such as the Jefferson County (KY) Teachers Assn., the American Library Association, the (national) NAACP, and the National Education Association.

It even has some corporate support. US based corporations are tired of competing with a handicap in the global marketplace. It’s one of the factors affecting the survival of US automakers. For example, if you buy a GM auto, $1200 of the price you pay for the vehicle is to cover the cost of the worker’s health insurance that built it. Toyota doesn’t have to factor health care costs into their auto pricing.

So what’s in it for transgender peeps and the GLBT community? My initial reading of the bill leads me to logically conclude that the medication and other care we require should be covered. AIDS medication would be available and acquired at much lower costs. Because GID is a medical condition listed in the DSM-IV, a transperson could get their hormones, medical exams, counseling, surgery and checkups covered at reasonable rates as is done in Canada, Great Britain and several other countries with universal health care plans. The Reichers and health care companies will fight tooth and nail to ensure that we aren’t.

We GLBT peeps are inevitably gonna get older. Wouldn’t it be nice to pay a flat fee for the medications and care that you require instead of the grossly inflated prices we pay now? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to HAVE medical coverage that’s not tied to whether or not you’re employed? The 46 million people that are currently uninsured definitely think so.

If you want more information, check out www.PNHP.org the website of the Physicians for a National Health Program, www.kyhealthcare.org or call (502) 899-3861 or (502)636-1551.

It's not gonna be easy. You will see obscene amounts of money spent, negativity and disinformation spread about Universal Health Care that makes what the GOP, the health insurance and pharmaceutical companies did to kill the Clinton plan in 1993 seem like a church picnic by comparison.

But it will probably happen in the next five years. Universal health care is not only a human rights issue, but also one with broad-based support that the GLBT community should get behind. It’s a bridge-building opportunity that gives us a chance to work with labor, business, government and other interested parties. We need to get off our behinds, educate ourselves about universal health care and fight for our issues in the implementation of it.