Trans Universe

At the last minute, I didn’t know if I could attend the Atlanta HRC Dinner protest in front of the Hyatt Regency, May 3, 2008. Work had me signed up to do 2 hours of overtime right in the middle of when the protest was scheduled. Luckily, I was able to trade the hours to a co-worker.

On Saturday, I had to formulate a plan to talk with the most people I could at the dinner. But in order to do that, I needed to go inside the “Belly of the Beast.” Being a former submariner, I was familiar with submarine war tactics, which have helped me as an activist in the past. You sneak into an enemy’s port, lay a few torpedoes in the sides of their ships, then slip silently away. They never know what hit them.

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The following was an E-mail response from Pastor Paul Turner, the Senior Pastor for Gentle Spirit Church, Atlanta, GA to an invitation to the Atlanta HRC Dinner, May 3, 2008. Read after the break.

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I decided to post this because of a recent article my friend Monica Roberts posted about finding out that Gabrielle Pickett was murdered in 2003. She was the twin sister of Chanelle Pickett who was murdered in 1997. The loss upset her so much that she wrote an article for her blog called “I’m Pissed.”

In 2004, the Atlanta Pride Committee had a contest to write a true story about someone in the LGBT community and I was moved to write one about my friend Alice, who took her life after being unemployed for 15 months and was turned away from from homeless shelters for being a transgender woman.

I wrote this story at the initial length they asked for and they accepted it. However, they wanted me to trim it by a few hundred words, so I did. After that, they wanted me to trim it even more and completely remove the ending. That I wouldn’t do. The ending IS the story. I hope Joe Solmonese gets to read this.

(The following is a first person account of the last fifteen months of my friend, Alice Johnston’s life, as if she may have told it. The events in this actually happened. – MFH –)

ALICE
by Monica F. Helms

I stared at the television screen in disbelief as one of the World Trade Center buildings crumbled into dust, then the next one. The horror I witnessed would haunt me for the rest of my life and the news estimated that over 3000 people lost their lives that day. What they didn’t say – or know – was how many more lives would become impacted by that fatal day. I would soon find out that I, Alice Johnston, would be one of them. (more…)

Since this article will find its way to various non-trans-specific blogs, I should begin with describing what an Educational Initiative is and a little history behind them.  The EI was a creation of long-time activist, Angela Brightfeather when she was the Chair of the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition’s Activism Committee.  Her idea came about in 2001, when the transgender community was having difficulty convincing the Human Rights Campaign to support inclusion in ENDA.  Déjà vu all over again?

An EI is NOT a protest in spite of what many may think.  It is a true, educational opportunity to allow transgender people to speak directly with HRC’s supporters and put a face on an issue that many have no idea about.  The original purpose came out of anger and a hope to put a dent into HRC’s income at a place that they get their most money, at their local dinners. (more…)

Many non-trans people will look at this article as just another whining trans person, complaining about ENDA.  All the reasons we should have been covered in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and all the lying and back stabbing has been covered by enough blogs and articles that if combined, it would make War and Peace look like a pamphlet.

I’m not here to complain or point out how evil HRC and Barney Frank are.  This article will tell you about a few people I know who have been affected by employment discrimination.  Think HRC or Frank will read this?  Someone should send it to them.

My friend Darlene lives in Indiana.  She’s a 20-year Army veteran and served in Vietnam.  A healthy trans woman, she cannot find a job and is currently living in one of those efficiency motels, paying by the week.  Her only source of income is her once-a-month retirement check that barely keeps her alive.  Sometimes, the money runs out before the end of the month and she’s forced to live in her car until the next check arrives.  Congress should be ashamed of themselves for treating Darlene this way. (more…)