GL Community, Live Up To Your Own 'Dallas Principles'

At a meeting held in Dallas, TX from May 15-17 a group of GLBT activists got together to compile what have become known as the Dallas Principles  


The following eight guiding principles underlie our call to action.   
In order to achieve full civil rights now, we avow

1.Full civil rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals must be enacted now.  Delay and excuses are no longer acceptable.

2.We will not leave any part of our community behind.

3.Separate is never equal.

4.Religious beliefs are not a basis upon which to affirm or deny civil rights.

5.The establishment and guardianship of full civil rights is a non-partisan issue.

6.Individual involvement and grassroots action are paramount to success and must be encouraged.

7.Success is measured by the civil rights we all achieve, not by words, access or money raised.

8.Those who seek our support are expected to commit to these principles.

In light of those compiled lofty principles, the trans community would submit that they have already been violated.   The passing of a DADT repeal that left transpeople behind and an attempt to return to making another push for gay marriage issues which only benefits a narrow slice of the BTLG rainbow community leaves many transpeople with the impression that the Dallas Principles are just more of the same old same old BS.   .  

Many members of the BTLG community see jobs and securing employment rights as one of the important issues the community needs to make a serious push on.     It's why many of us were more than a little pissed that momentum on the passage of the Employment Non Discrimination Act was shelved in favor of passing the DADT repeal that violated Dallas Principles 2, 3 and 7. 



In 2001 Dallas Principles 2 and 3 were violated when trans people were cut out of a GLBT rights bill in Maryland and the James Byrd Hate Crimes Law in Texas.    

And it looks like they are about to violate Dallas Principles 1, 2, 3 and 7 in Maryland.again. 



Maryland Senate Majority Leader Rob Garagiola of Montgomery County introduced SB116 the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act ,   The legislation would permit same gender couples to marry but would not require churches to perform the unions.    The Maryland House version of that same gender marriage bill is scheduled to be introduced by Maryland House Majority Leader Kumar Barve of Montgomery County.

Equality Maryland, the majority leaders and other lawmakers and same-sex couples will promote the twin bills at a press conference in Annapolis.

No word yet on when the Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination Act is going to be filed in the Maryland legislature this session.   Seeing that the GL Community Noise Machine has been beating the communications drums lately for all marriage all the time,  I would strongly suggest that you trans peeps living in that state if you want to see trans rights become a reality there while you have a friendly legislature and a governor in place to make it happen to become agents of your own liberation.

Start leaning on Equality Maryland and your friendly neighborhood legislators to introduce and pass the law you transpeeps need to improve your lives there.

And yeah, when it comes to transpeople, it's past time for the GL community to start adhering to the Dallas Principles they demand that others to live up to.

Oscar Blackout

Mo'nique won the Oscar last year for Best Supporting Actress, but when the Oscars kick off next month the list of nominees will look like a Republican Party convention.

One year after an Oscars ceremony that saw Mo'nique's win for her role in Precious and other African-American such as Geoffrey Fletcher, Roger Ross Williams,  Morgan Freeman, Lee Daniels, Gabourey Sidibe and Broderick Johnson either win Oscars or were nominees,  there's an Oscars blackout this year.

Roger Ross Williams became the first African-American to win in the Best Documentary Short Subject category and Geoffrey Fletcher did the same with his win in the Best Writing (adapted screenplay) category.

There were a lot of folks that hated on For Colored Girls including movie critics, but I'm still surprised that Anika Noni Rose, Thandie Newton, or Kimberly Elise didn't even get a bone thrown at them for their performances in the movie.

So when Oscar night happens this year, the only African-Americans that will walking up to the podium this year will do so as presenters.
 

Anderson Cooper Smacks Michele Bachmann Slavery Comments

Michele Bachmann rewrites American history about slavery and CNN's Anderson Cooper calls her on it.

Enjoy.

Another Look At Transsexuals In Iran

I have an archived TransGriot post up with YouTube video from a documentary about transsexuals in Iran.    While searching for more interesting YouTube video to post stumbled across another video about Iranian transpeople that needs to be seen as well.





As I keep pointing out, transpeople are not only part of the diverse mosaic of human life, we're everywhere, including the Middle East.

What You Don't See Is As Important As What You Do See

Was having a conversation with some friends in the Houston TBLG community the other night when the subject turned into why the lack of transpeople of color in TBLG organizations in H-town, the state and nationally.

It's because people fail to understand that what you don't see is as important as what you do see.

An organization can say all day long that they are inclusive, they don't discriminate, and they wish to reflect the diversity of the community.   They can proclaim it in media interviews, codify it in written policies and their policy stances can reflect those values.   The actions the organization takes can even be geared toward helping everyone in the community. 

But if all you see when you observe their board meeting or see them interact in the community is a sea of white faces, it sends the unspoken message to people of color that 'we aren't wanted'.


That may not be the message you intend to send, but that's the message that gets sent and received by the members of the community of color.  

Actions speak louder than words.

I know it's frustrating for white peeps of good will, but it is just as frustrating for us persons of color to have to explain this concept repeatedly as well without you getting upset or defensive, feeling that we're calling you a 'bigot' or you incorrectly calling us 'racist' for simply pointing out the obvious.

Visual images matter, especially if you are trying to get non-white BTLG/SGL persons involved in a civil rights movement that among persons of color is perceived as 'whites only' especially in its leadership ranks.   It's why I stay on this community's ass constantly about any slight, erasure or missed opportunity to show the world that it isn't and this community values diversity not just in word but deed as well.

I'm not going to rest until I see the leadership ranks of this GLBT community reflect the diversity that is in our rainbow community.   Diversity in our leadership ranks not only is beneficial for the community, it allows us to create a better, stronger and more comprehensive TBLG political agenda that we can all get behind and feel we have a stake in because we all had input in compiling it.  

As long as persons of color are not on the boards of organizations in the BTLG community, don't see the people they consider leaders on them, feel they aren't being listened to, and see our leaders ignored, disrespected and marginalized, then the perception that the LGBT movement is a whites only one will persist.for another decade.   

What you don't see is just as important as what you do see.   It's past time for the TBLG community to not only think about putting a multicultural face to the world when it comes to the people we all point to as leaders on a local, state and national basis, but do a much better job in our little subset of society of putting it into practice more than our parent society does.