As I get older, I am starting to understand the viewpoint of my parent’s generation and those who are older then them. I have to take drugs to combat high cholesterol and high blood pressure, and now I’m experiencing leg and joint problems. But, I take comfort in what my elders like to say, “At least you’re still alive.” I’m thankful for that.

In the recent passage of the anti gay marriage amendment in California, Proposition 8, I have seen literally hundreds of gay and lesbian people make statements to the effect of saying they feel a total loss of equality. In a state that has passed every single protection they can for LGBT people, including ones no other state has elsewhere, they see the passage of Prop 8 as a death nail to their total equality. Yet, they don’t seem to appreciate all they do have that makes them far more equal and protected then any other LGBT person in the country. They should be thankful for that.

Maybe it’s time to remind Californians what they do have, “straight” from the Equality California website. Since there were so many pieces of legislation, I only listed the bill number and the title. If you wish to read the details on each bill, please click on the link to the year.

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2003: EQCA sponsored legislation that passed: AB 17 – Equal Benefits in State Contracting, AB 196 – Gender Nondiscrimination, AB 205 - Domestic Partner Rights and Responsibilities Act of 2003

EQCA-Supported Legislation that passed: AB 76 – Discrimination by Non-Employees, AB 458 – Foster Youth Anti-Discrimination Act of 2003, AB 879– Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP), AB 1082 – CalPERS Recognition of Locally-Defined Domestic Partners, AB 1250 – Bias Prevention Training for Teachers, ACR 89 – Boy Scouts Resolution, SB 2 – Health Insurance Act of 2003, SB 71 - California Comprehensive Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS Prevention Education Act, SB 85 – County Employees Death Benefits, SB 578 – “Sweat-Free” Contractors, SB 719 – Revisions of 1985 School Safety Act, SB 774 – Syringe Sales, SCR 11– Shareholder Pressure for Pharmaceutical Provision of HIV/AIDS Meds.

2004: LGBT related legislation that passed: AB 2208 – California Insurance Equality Act, AB 2900 – Omnibus Labor and Employment Non-Discrimination Act, SB 1234 – Omnibus Hate Crimes Act, AJR 60 – Permanent Partners Immigration Act (PPIA) Resolution.

2005: LGBT related legislation that passed: AB 849 – Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act, AB 866 – Code of Fair Campaign Practices, AB 1400 – Civil Rights Act of 2005, AB 1586 - Insurance Gender Non-Discrimination Act, SB 973 – Domestic Partner Pension Death Benefit Legislation, 2005 EQCA Supported Legislation (13 bills)

2006: LGBT related legislation that passed: AB 606 – Safe Place to Learn Act, SB 1437 – Bias free Curriculum Act, SB 1827 - State Income Tax Equity Act of 2006, AB 2800 – Civil Rights Housing Act of 2006, AB 2920 – Older Californians Equality and Protection Act, SB 1441 – Nondiscrimination in State Program and Activities, AB 2051 – Equality in Prevention and Services for Domestic Abuse Act, AB 1160 – Gwen Araujo Justice for Victims Act, AB 1207 – Code of Fair Campaign Practices, 2006 Equality California-Supported Legislation (4 bills passed)

2007: LGBT related legislation that passed: SB 777 – Student Civil Rights Act, AB 394 – Safe Place to Learn Act, SB 518 – Juvenile Justice Safety and Protection Act, AB 14 – Civil Rights Act of 2007, SB 559 – Fair and Equal Taxation for Surviving Partners Act, AB 102 – Name Equality Act, SB 105 – Domestic Partners Joint Income Tax Filing Implementation Bill, 2007 Equality California-Supported Legislation (4 bills passed)

2008: LGBT related legislation that passed: AB 2654 – Civil Rights Act of 2008, SB 1729 – LGBT Senior Care Training, AB 3015 – Foster Youth School Safety Education.

This list contains 65 different LGBT-related bills that passed in the state of California since 2003. This doesn’t include any bills that passed before 2003. I dare say that no other state in the union can come close to all the bills California has passed, and in the large diversity of areas they cover. Does this sound like a state where an LGBT person has no equality?

I cried when Prop 8 passed, as I did for 102 in Arizona and 2 in Florida. Many of my friends have been affected directly by these. The passage of the anti gay adoption bill in Arkansas affected me greatly as well. LGBT people in Arkansas cannot adopt children, but they can if they live in California.

By checking the map on the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, we find that 29 states now have constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage or broader anti-gay amendments. Another ten states have statutes based on DOMA. It will be a very long time before same-sex marriage will be accepted across the country, in a year many of us will never live long enough to see. This subject has become one of the most volatile in our community.

In a recent piece on The Bilerico Project, the president of the Human Rights Campaign, Joe Solmonese stated:

“But make no mistake: I do not think we have to audition for equality. Rather, I believe that each and every one of us who has been hurt by this hateful ballot measure, and each and every one of us who is still fighting to be equal, has to confront the neighbors who hurt us. We have to say to the man with the Yes on 8 sign–you disrespected my humanity, and I am not giving you a pass. I am not giving you a pass for explaining that you tolerate me, while at the same time denying that my family has a right to exist. I do not give you permission to say you have me as a “gay friend” when you cast a vote against my family, and my rights.”

The question I would like to ask, “Why does marriage qualify as being the one defining issue that validates your self worth, or your humanity?” As a trans person, I have had to come to grips with my self worth, because society considers me less than human. I started my transition in Arizona and I moved to Georgia, both are not noted for their high degree of acceptance of LGBT people. Those states have given me many reasons to have a low opinion of my self worth.

Today, I have no problem with my self-worth. I don’t need laws that protect my employment or include me in hate crimes legislation to justify my humanity. My self worth and humanity is based on me and me only. My renewed belief in God has also been very helpful. Trans people all over the country have come to realize that they will not relinquish their humanity to anyone. No one decided our humanity or self worth but us.

Maybe our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters need to take a little lesson from the trans community when it comes to self worth. We have been put down and marginalized for such a long time and for so many reasons that we had to make peace with our humanity. We have been left out of legislation so many times that we had to build the strength within us to move on. We have seen so many trans-related bills fail that it has dampened our self worth. Yet, we keep moving forward.

What moves us forward are all the places where bills have passed that protect us. Yes, we fail at times, but we have also won, like the many times they have won in California. We got comfort from each time California passed another bill. Thousands of smiles go with each of those bills I mentioned above. Let’s not have anyone decide our humanity by their hate and the passing of Prop 8. You cannot loseWeight Exercise your sense of self worth unless you let someone take it from you. Fifty-two percent of California voters voted on a bill, but not your humanity. Stand up and let them know they haven’t taken that from you. Remember, there is always a new day to fight.

(Originally posted on Trans Political, July 23, 2008)

Vanessa Edwards Foster is the former President & Co-Founder, National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC) President, Texas Gender Advocacy & Information Network (TGAIN) Former President & Screening Committee Chair, Harris County Women’s Political Caucus National level Alt. Delegate 2004, National level Delegate 2008 to Dem. Convention Election Judge 1999-2005 Former President, Texas Assn. for Transsexual Support (TATS) Former President, Gulf Coast Transgender Community Former Treasurer & Screening Committee Co-Chair, Houston Gay & Lesbian Political Caucus Former Secretary, Montrose Counseling Center. Volunteer Coord, City Councilmember Annise Parker (1st Lesbian elected to Houston political office)

“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” — Chinese Proverb

The rumors have been flying for some time, and even recently Donna Rose noted on her blog about meeting with Joe Solmonese with HRC. One might think she’s going there to give them a piece of her mind (or another piece as she’s already made public her opinions post-ENDA).

As it turns out, that’s not the case. A friend of mine there locally reported of the upcoming San Francisco HRC Banquet and its accompanying protest from the bay area’s GLBT community in a show of strength. Of course, we recently received a press release of HRC holding up their current Business Council trans person, Diego Sanchez as speaker (fresh from testimony on Capitol Hill.) It wasn’t the press blurb over Diego that really got my attention, but the report that another trans person was working hard to be the trans keynote there: Donna Rose. Per the note, she was trying to be “the bridge between the two parties” by addressing the banquet.

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Needless to say, this is not what I expected from Donna after her departure last fall.

Noting the recent comments on her own blog about speaking with HRC’s JoeSo, I began wondering what this was about. Ethan St. Pierre apparently had similar concerns and asked her outright: to which she confirmed she was to meet with him. It doesn’t make sense to travel to DC to give JoeSo another piece of her mind in these days of high-dollar travel, so something else is afoot. Didn’t sound good.

So the news I received today, coupled with the blog where Donna indeed noted being in DC, and even attending an HRC hosted event, piqued the curiosity. According to my well-placed source (I can’t divulge, unfortunately), Donna is intending to meet with JoeSo to try to seek forging a new working relationship with them (what that is wasn’t elaborated). This development is troubling.

First off, it’s inconsistent. After all of the high profile quotes from Ms. Rose after her and James Green’s co-departures from HRC, and then rhetoric level, I’m at a loss on what she hopes to gain. Just recently Donna even published a blog post on July 20, 2008 quoting James Green’s own sentiments on HRC:

“As for HRC and Diego [Sanchez], I’m afraid that inside the Westin St. Francis Hotel it’s going to be a lot of everyone patting themselves on the back for all the fabulous things HRC has done to move forward in the “Race for Equality” – and they have done some good things, as well as bad. In the long run, it’s just a fundraiser, it’s all about money. I was appalled at their recent press release claiming that ENDA was introduced 13 years ago to achieve LGBT equality in the workplace. 13 years ago, ENDA was not any more trans-inclusive than it is today. They’re trying to reposition themselves as champions for us when they can’t even look us in the eye. I wish Diego luck, and I woudn’t want to be in his shoes. They’ll probably give him lots of love and support and hold him up as the model of a well-behaved transguy (not like those ingrates and rabblerousers outside who don’t have $300 and a tuxedo to attend the dinner and who obviously don’t understand politics!! – that was meant to be sarcastic, by the way.) I think HRC is also a tool, not the goal, not the saviour, not the answer. We don’t have a grip on this tool, so we can’t rely on it. I still believe HRC needs to own its mistake on ENDA and apologize publicly to the entire community, not just to a few of us behind closed doors. But I also think that we must not let HRC consume our energy or resources as we move forward to address our issues. They don’t own the world, not even the LGBT world; and we must play in a bigger arena than just the LGBT world.”

Strong sentiments from James, and (at least to me) pretty unequivocal – though maybe I’m not spotting any nuanced politic-speak. Since Green and Rose departed, the two began a well-publicized venture between them to do workplace education as a business (instead of non-profit) to help subsidize their income a bit. So if they’re in business, actually even competing against HRC’s business council (which they used to sit on) for some of the educational needs in the workplace, what would they want to be visiting with JoeSo for?

Secondly, there’s nothing to be gained from HRC. One thing I’ve noted with particular consistency over the years is that HRC is – in a word – vindictive. Once slighted, they will grind that axe down to the axhandle, and then some. It was something I thought Donna and James would’ve known. If not, I’m surprised. At best, HRC may allow them in under the guise of “letting bygones be bygones” and all that. But make no mistake, there will be no quarter given on their side after this – most especially if Donna is going to them! They will be getting all of the benefits they once got out of them and then some – meanwhile they will do so at a bargain rate. If she’s actually intending to beseech JoeSo for favor of some type, she’s about to get schooled by very seasoned and cunning pros – whether sublimely or whether in open bitch-slap fashion.

Lastly, this whole display just adds to the already existent image of the trans community: we are completely irresolute. If the going gets tough for us, HRC is fully aware we won’t all hang together. Someone will collapse like a cheap tent (always under the guise that they individually are the chosen trans-ones, and the only ones who can “reach” HRC and convince them to accept transgenders as equal.) To be sure, HRC will smile and give them the impression they truly buy that crap, bedazzling them afterwards with their newfound press visibility talking up their “heroic” work. Then once the signal is given, HRC will pull the rug out, declare that they don’t give a crap about any “bridges” to the trans community, can’t risk inclusive legislation, and will leave these latest “heroes” on the ground broken, betrayed and blue. It’s business, baby.

Most of us learn these things the first time. What gets me is how some actually go back for a second round to see it happens again. Why? Maybe they miss the old spotlight, have attention withdrawals, or feel if they had just “one more chance,” they could set the history they knew in their minds were destined just for them. Unfortunately HRC has other plans, and paramount is achieving their bottom line (and keeping us around for some indefinite future time is what they believe will help keep them in fundraising in keeping their jobs in the decades to come as they then need to work on trans rights for we hapless ones — or so they believe).

So Donna will go to DC to visit with JoeSo in his home stadium in hopes of a win. Instead, JoeSo is going to summarily hand her back her ass and figuratively ride her out of town. Maybe this lesson will stick.

What bothers me most is how naïve and ineffectual that paints the rest of us as in the Trans community. We really need to know better.

“You, you really should have known
Oh you, I think you really should’ve known ….” — Just Because, Jane’s Addiction

Rebecca “Becky” is probably one of the top trans bloggers in the country, with articles that appear in some of the most visible LGBTQ blogs on the Internet, including The Bilerico Project. She also hosts her own talk show, “The Rebecca Juro Show,” on QMORadio, Thursdays at 7 PM. Becky has been one of my inspirations in starting my own blog.

If there’s anything you can count on the city of San Francisco for when it comes to LGBT rights and community support, it’s that even when they’re not on the very leading edge of something, they’ll still do it bigger, better, and more fabulously than anywhere else. New York, Philadelphia, and several other major cities have had protests and demonstrations against the Human Rights Campaign at their local fundraising events, but what’s waiting for HRC in San Francisco on July 26th, when they hold their next fundraising dinner in that city, is likely to make the rest look like a warmup act.

Angela has been an activist for the transgender community is some form or another for the last 42 years. Some of our community’s activists weren’t even born then. She has been on the board of NTAC, It’s Time, North Carolina and the several other organizations too numberous to mention. Currently, she serves as the Vice President of the Transgender American Veterans Association (TAVA) and is one of its Co-Founders. Also, Angela is one of my closest friends.

It was my great privilege to attend the recent hearings held in Washington, DC this week on Transgender Unemployment, as the representative from the Transgender American Veterans Association, TAVA. My thoughts are fresh from the hearing and my sense of having to be there to witness an historic moment in our community was more than justified.

I pleasure myself sometimes in thinking that I am a person of vision. Only those who have been active in the Transgender Community for a few years may understand it. In my fondest visions of the past concerning our community, I would have to be the Transgender reincarnation of Nostradamus to have been able to predict our community giving testimony at a Congressional Hearing about Trans Unemployment problems. We all know that this is at the heart of so many of our long list of problems.

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Well, that would be a lie. There are many that made this hearing possible and some have passed on, like Christine Jorgenson, and many others, but many are still in this fight to the end. Many of those people had visions also for our community and still do. These hearings are confirmation of many of those visions that hard, hard time and sacrifices made possible. There are the heroic efforts of those who work in DC and take the flack from this community, but still manage to hang in there and do a great job. They are equal to or better than many organizations who have been around much longer and have done this by being among those people and working with those groups and with their assistance.

Groups like NGLTF, United ENDA, ACLU, the DNC, IFGE, AVER, SLDN and TAVA are changing our lives and from what I witnessed this Thursday. We need to support them in every way that we can. Sorry, I’m leaving out the fine work that HRC did in helping and advising on getting this hearing. But, Joe Solmonese’s apology for “misspeaking” to a small and closed gathering of Transgender people in Atlanta is not the same as apologizing to our community.

This hearing is remarkable to me, because it means that there are people in high places, in places that we never thought they would be, finally ready to listen to our Transgender children and their parents in PFLAG, our Transgender Veterans in TAVA. They are reading our emails and letters about ENDA. This hearing is not our coming out to them, but it is they who are coming out to us and asking us to show them where it hurts and why it does, to be a Transgender person in America. Certainly an event worthy of all Transgender people in America helps us sympathize with how Michelle Obama felt when she said “this is the first time in my adult life I have felt proud to be an American.” Yes, Ms. Obama, I understand.

As my friend Pamela in Charlotte might say, some of us survivors have to pinch ourselves from time to time so that we know that we are not just dreaming about events that have been occurring over the past five years. It is truly a testament to those survivors who have fought for so many years and to the many younger activists who have taken up the cause of Trans Equality and been doing such a professional and outstanding job.

We all step up on the shoulders of those before us and so many names come to mind. From the past to the present, I have nothing but respect and admiration for their sacrifices and hard work. From the hundreds of support groups that meet across the country in every city and town on every Saturday night, to those who lobby and work hard in DC, we are all working for that person we don’t yet know in the closet that has not been able to live and be who they are without fear.

Other perspectives about the hearing that you may read will, I think, be different than mine, but they revolve around the same theme of “community.” This is a word that has finally reached a maturity and recognition that even the Congress of the United States is willing to work with and understand.

My perspectives have been dragged through the hearts and souls of hundreds of support group meetings and thousands of Transgender friends I have known over many years. The reality of this hearing, in part, is the culmination of a long journey and the promise of a better future for our children, our families and us.

Now the trip.

After suffering for a few days earlier in the week with a case of food poisoning, the day before the hearing left me spent and dehydrated, but finally free of my own personal rest room issues and the determination that the four hour trip North from Raleigh to DC had to be made.

I usually stay at the Red Roof Inn in Alexandria when going to DC because I have to blanch at paying $250.00/night for a room inside the beltline. Wednesday evening I arrived without a problem and tried to sleep. It was one of those restless nights that I did not need. You just know that tomorrow is going to be special, like Christmas.

Waking and getting ready, I didn’t even stop for coffee in the lobby and headed straight for the Capital with my little map on the passenger seat to guide me. I drove into town and found a place to park within a few miles from the Rayburn Building where the hearing was to be held in room 2175. I have lobbied in the halls of this building many times before, but this time it was really a different feeling of anticipation.

After going through the scanning and security, I was stopped due to some of the jewelry I was wearing (a TAVA badge) and the officers, who were right on cue with the “stand here please mam” and their getting a female officer to pat me down acted like they were very thoroughly trained in Transgender 101 before I got there. I had to laugh a little inside, thinking about being patted down by a female officer in the Rayburn Building and all the times in years past when I was fearful of just such a thing happening, but in the neighborhood police station. Those sure were the good old days.

Approaching the hearing room, people were lined up outside in the hallway waiting for the doors to open. Standing against the wall at least 70 people had assembled and were all talking nervously and exchanging business cards. Then I noticed some familiar faces like Donna Cartwright, Mara Keisling, Shannon Minter, Sabrina Marcus, Lisa Mottet and others pop out of the crowd with warm smiles and excited hugs.

I was surprised to meet others there who had traveled from Phoenix, San Diego, New York, Kansas, Ohio, and many other places who also felt the need to be there to witness an important moment for our community. I also met supporters from HRC and NGLTF and other organizations like the ACLU who sensed this as a special moment in time and had to be present. They are had some part in the planning of this hearing.

After a short while, a very dictatorial young lady came out into the hall, announced that she would only allow 45 people inside the hearing room because that is all the room she had and that she was handing out passes so we all had to line up against the wall. Those who did not get a pass could go to the hearing room one floor above and watch the hearing from there on their closed circuit screens.

I felt very safe in my position and being able to get a ticket and had even prearranged with Mara to have a “seat sitter” in the hearing room save me a chair. Mara asked me that since I had a ticket, would I mind giving up the seat that was being held for me. Not a problem. But now there was a quiet reshuffling going on and I noticed a rather large contingent of HRC folks begin to move to the front of the line

Standing next to me was a gentleman who I had met from HRC who had worked with Donna Rose and Jamison Green when they had worked for HRC in their corporation and employment area and we had discussed his work. He is not a “policy person”. I turned to him and quietly told him that if he did not go and tell his co-workers to get back in line or give their tickets to Transgender people waiting in line, I would immediately start my own version of an anti HRC protest on the spot, right there, right now. Noting that if anyone deserved the right to sit in that hearing room it should be Transgender people.

He looked at me and smiled until someone next to me told him “Oh, she is serious and she will do it”. He went to talk to them and came back and told me that they would be watching the hearing from upstairs in the other room. I breathed a small sigh of relief, knowing that I would not have to make my point further, but also happy that they understood my concerns.

The doors opened and in we went. 30’ ceilings, oak everywhere, curtains over the windows and three rows of bleacher type oak desks side by side from one side of the room to the other, where Congress persons could look down at the table in the center of the room, casting their eyes down to the long table on the floor level where the witnesses sat.

After some milling around and shaking hands, the Congress people took their seats on both sides of the Committee Chairman, Congressman Rob Andrews, a proud graduate of the Cornell Law School, close to my old home town and a place that I went to at least once a year to give a class on us, convened the hearing. I immediately wondered and hoped that he was in one of those classes.

The rules of the hearing were laid down by the Congressman as to length of time for each witness to speak and testify and we were of to the races with a statement made by the Chair that could only be described as eloquent, relevant, persuasive, accurate, forceful and committed to a fair presentation, remembering that cause by law had to be proven, but that also the recent ENDA law and all the fuss and bother out there that the non-inclusive version generated from the GLBT community, helped to lay a groundwork for the need for this hearing. Well, in so many words at least.

Of the seven chairs at the table, only two were occupied. One seat was filled by Congressman Barney Frank and the other by Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin. The testimony began with Ms. Baldwin and my account and views of the testimony are as follows, I trust that you all will listen, or have listened to it yourself:

Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin of Minnesota was first to speak. When reading from a script, she was less effective but still meaningful. When telling the story about being an attorney and representing a Transperson who was fired from their job when announcing her gender to her employer, Tammy Baldwin speaks the best. When talking from her heart, she is the most effective and she needs no script to get the message across. If I had any complaint at all about her testimony, it was in her references to “being trapped in the wrong body”. This one statement advances us immediately into the areas of doubting if she doesn’t need some further training about the diversity of the Transgender Community.

Video clips from the Hearing here.

Audio of the entire Hearing here.

Part 2 Our older “buddy” statesman, Congressman Barney Frank.

]]> http://www.monicahelms.com/blog/tava/congress-comes-out-to-the-transgender-community-part-1.htm/feed 0 http://www.monicahelms.com/blog/tava/the-%e2%80%9cbelly-of-the-beast%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-the-atlanta-hrc-dinner.htm http://www.monicahelms.com/blog/tava/the-%e2%80%9cbelly-of-the-beast%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-the-atlanta-hrc-dinner.htm#comments Mon, 05 May 2008 23:59:27 +0000 Monica Helms http://www.monicahelms.com/blog/?p=123

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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For this dinner, I needed a disguise, in other words, a “duck blind.” When hunting ducks, the hunters have to blend into the environment, so they build a camouflage enclosure where they can see the ducks, but the ducks cannot see them. For this, I would wear my long evening gown that had no back. It’s also how spies blend into a fancy party. “My name is Bond. Jane Bond.” I was ready to do some shaking AND stirring. Of course, I probably blew my cover when I wore my “Trans and Proud” and “TAVA” buttons.

I knew that I would not get into the dinner without a ticket and I had no intention of buying one. However, they always had their Silent Auction before the dinner and you didn’t have to have a dinner ticket to go in there.

When I arrived at the Hyatt, two people were already handing out flyers and holding signs. Sir Jesse was outside and Anneliese was just inside the hotel door, handing out flyers as people came in. Others who arrived later were Jamie, Jae, Marisa, Dante, Betty and a friend of hers, Ghetto Gospel.

I heard earlier from Betty that on Thursday, May 1^st, Joe Solmonese had a meeting with a half dozen transgender people here in Georgia. I wasn’t invited, nor was a few other transgender people who have worked at the national level, such as Dana Owings, Kristin Reichman and Cole Thaler from Lambda Legal. I’m willing to bet it was not accidental.

I was told that Joe “. . . apologized for misspeaking at Southern Comfort . . .” and that “. . . had he known what was going to have happen, he wouldn’t have said what he had said.” To me that translates to “HRC has no integrity when it comes to speaking to transgender people and I have the backbone of a jelly fish.” George Orwell would be so proud.

Once inside, I strolled into the Silent Auction like I belonged there. In reality, if HRC was more supportive of transgender people and their needs, then I would have indeed belonged there. But, I was nothing more than an interloper in the game of intrigue. Okay, so I’m getting a bit melodramatic.

The first thing that I noticed was that in a city that has a large population of African Americans, the crowd looked distinctly white and distinctly male. There were some attendees who were People of Color and there were attendees who were female, but where I saw the most diversity was with the “hired help” and the volunteers. Interesting enough, one of the dinner’s co-chairs was an African American woman.

The theme for the evening was a Las Vegas casino, complete with the bright lights, Vegas showgirls and an Elvis impersonator. I mingled with the crowd, talking to various people there, some who openly admitted they were part of HRC’s organization. I spoke with one woman who touted HRC’s “wonderful” Corporate Equality Index, having no idea I would be the wrong person to try and convince their CEI was so “perfect.” I proceeded to point out that my 100% company screwed me over simply because I’m trans when I needed a medically necessary operation that others in the company can get.

I told the woman the bar for transgender medical issues was set so low that an ant could jump over it. HRC does that to falsely inflate the numbers on the 100% list and to placate the corporations by allowing them to medically mistreat their transgender employees, just as long as their gay and lesbian employees are treated fairly. Transgender people don’t need to be treated fairly, by HRC’s standards.

During my journey through “Never-Never Land,” I had a chance to speak to the Beast Master himself, Joe Solmonese. I was nice and I complimented him on how appropriate the casino theme for the dinner was. “This is such a perfect theme you have here, Joe. It’s all about gambling . . . and you’re gambling with people’s lives.” I suspect he didn’t appreciate that.

Of course, I wasn’t going to stop there. I informed him about the Transgender Veterans Survey, conducted by TAVA that had just ended and it had 827 responses to it. Besides the military and VA-related questions in the survey, we had a great deal of general questions. I said he needs to see how many of our transgender veterans were unemployed and under-employed, and how many have been discriminated on the job. It didn’t seem to faze him. Ask me if I’m surprised.

Interesting, the number of transgender veterans who took our survey far surpasses the number of responses on the questionable survey HRC conducted to see if transgender people should be in ENDA. Also, you have to factor in the small population our respondents came from to really get the impact.

Then I asked Solmonese why I didn’t get an E-mail inviting me to the meeting on Thursday. He said, “I don’t know who put that together.” Ah, really? Does he expect me to believe he’s that clueless on something as important as a meeting? He then asked me, “What did you hear of the meeting?” I responded by saying, “That it took place and I wasn’t invited.” Also, the media wasn’t invited. I guess he doesn’t want to take a chance of going on record with what he says to transgender people. I wonder why.

The one thing that really set me off was when I had a chance to speak with a person I thought was a friend. He is an effeminate gay man who is the partner of a lawyer who I know through SLDN and the American Veterans for Equal Rights. He proceeded to tell me about his four-hour session at the spa to get ready for the event. I told him I was there to educate people on the need for a fully inclusive ENDA.

He said, “Oh, I don’t support that at all. They said there aren’t enough votes with transgender people in the bill. Besides, we need a win.”

I was pissed. “So, you want a win on the backs of millions of transgender people?” He tried to say something, but I continued. “You are an effeminate gay man and without Gender Identity and Gender Expression in ENDA, you’re just as fucked as transgender people. You and butch lesbians will be screwed, just like me.” He didn’t respond to that. Besides, he had his sugar daddy, so to hell with everyone else. I walked away.

The best thing I found out was when I went back outside to join the protest. Betty, a member of the Atlanta Pride Committee, informed me that they just had a vote that day to turn down HRC’s offer to be a sponsor for this year’s Pride. In a year where the expenses have increased in putting on Atlanta Pride, they turned down $5000 from HRC because of their stance on ENDA. I always knew I loved the people on the Atlanta Pride Committee, but this made me love them even more. I hope others will take that stance with HRC at their pride events. Betty also informed me that a trans man will be the Grand Marshall for the Pride Parade.

So much for the Atlanta HRC Dinner. I may not have made an impact on many people, but a friend reminded me that every little bit helps. I want to express my appreciation to Jamie Roberts and Sir Jesse McNulty for putting this together. It’s people like them and the Atlanta Pride Committee who make me proud to live in Georgia.

(Break)

Subject: Atlanta Human Rights Campaign Dinner Invite

Sent to Pastor Paul Turner, Senior Pastor Gentle Spirit Church, Atlanta, GA, Monday, April 21, 2008, in regards to the HRC Atlanta Dinner, scheduled for May 3, 2008

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?

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

pastorpaul@gentlespirit.org
http://www.gentlespirit.org

*******************************************

From: EBONEE66@aol.com [mailto:EBONEE66@aol.com]
Sent: Monday, April 21, 2008 6:38 PM
To: pastorbrad@mindspring.com; EboneesWorld@aol.com
Subject: Human Rights Campaign Dinner Invite

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

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.

(Break)

A few weeks after September 11, 2001, the reality of a less secure world and a devastating disaster hit home for me. My boss told us all that he would have to close the doors and let us all go. Business had dropped to near zero and his small company couldn’t absorb the loss. My roommate also worked there with me.

This news scared both my roommate and me because we’re both pre-operative transsexuals. The prospect of finding a job for many people after 9/11 looked grim at best, but for two transsexuals in Georgia, prospects looked grim even in the best of times. Discrimination runs ramped and is even seen as acceptable by most politicians and employers in the state when it comes to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. They would rather have us on the welfare rolls putting a drain on the state’s treasury than to have us as employed, tax-paying citizens. Drawing unemployment was how my roommate and I had to survive over the next several weeks. I have learned over the years that out of the entire human race, transgender people seem to be considered the most disposable in society. And yet, we have a lot to offer if people would only give us a chance to prove it.

Both my roommate and I had marketable skills to offer potential employers. She has training in computer repair and has extensive experience in warehouse management and I am a computer technician and programmer, plus I have a degree in Library Science. On top of that, I’m a decorated Army veteran of two wars. Someone was bound to hire me, or so I thought.

Over the next several months, my roommate and I applied for hundreds of jobs, but as soon as they found out – or guessed – that we were transsexuals, all bets were off. No one would call us back for a second interview. Even when we got that sacred second interview, we would be told things like, “You’re over-qualified,” or, “We’ll call you,” or, “We have other applicants to interview.” What they really wanted to say was, “Get yer sorry faggot ass out of my office!” I would have accepted that much better than their lies and deceit.

The time came when my roommate and I had to move out of our apartment and put our things in storage. We still had some weeks left on our unemployment, so that would help a little. I planned on moving in with a friend and my roommate decided to see if Iowa would provide her better opportunities than Georgia. I love Georgia too much to want to move.

Packing my things was a terrible time for me. I enjoyed my video collection and my music, but I wouldn’t be able to take them to my friend’s house. When my roommate and I finished packing and moving everything into the storage unit, we shut the door and locked it. I had a strange feeling that I would never see my things again. Sadness came over me and I began to cry. People I helped in the past rejected helping me. The transgender community of Georgia turned their backs on me. I lost my job and had no prospects and I would have to rely on the kindness of a person I hadn’t known very long. My roommate and I hugged, then parted ways.

The woman I moved in with had a very interesting profession. She was a Madam at an established bordello in the Atlanta area. One wouldn’t think a bordello could survive in the heart of the Bible Belt. But, since hypocrisy abounds in police departments throughout the South, the concept becomes a bit more plausible. The Madam probably paid protection money to keep her business open.

At first, I survived by doing side computer work for several people and to help keep the bordello’s computer system running. I also helped them maintain their security system and elaborate camera setups. It felt satisfying for a while, but I wasn’t making enough money to get out on my own. Something else needed to be done.

I continued applying for jobs in the computer industry, but they were getting harder to find, even a year after 9/11. The odd jobs I did couldn’t keep me in money, so I began doing something I never thought I would ever do. I started working at the bordello as a hooker. At first, the customers found it intriguing to have sex with a real live transsexual. I didn’t enjoy it, but the money was better than nothing. However, the novelty of having sex with a transsexual soon wore off with the regulars and the men stopped asking for me.

My personal relationships with the Madam also began to deteriorate. I really liked her, but she stopped finding me interesting any longer. One day, after a heated argument, she threw me out of the house. Luckily, another friend took me in and he tried to help me find a job. That never went anywhere. I began feeling helpless and alone. Many of my friends had either stopped calling or turned their backs on me. I heard from my old roommate that she got training as a truck driver and found work with one of the large carriers. She tried to talk me into going into the same business, but I could never picture myself as a truck driver.

Not too long after moving in with my friend, he had to move and I couldn’t stay with him. In December 2002, I realized I would soon become homeless for the first time in my life. The prospect of being homeless frightened me. “Why is this happening to me?” I asked myself. “I didn’t ask to be a transsexual. If I didn’t have a choice then why are people treating me so badly?”

I felt truly alone. No place to go. No friends to turn to. No hope. Only despair. I can do many jobs, but no one will hire me because I’m a transsexual. Where can I turn to?

The last chance I had was to see if a homeless shelter would take me. I began calling around to all the women’s shelters in Atlanta, but I had to be up front with them. Each time I told them that I was a pre-op transsexual they would tell me I wouldn’t be accepted in their facility. I called a few men’s shelters to see what they could tell me and they said they would accept me only if I presented as a man. They wanted me to deny my identity and lie to them and myself before I would be accepted. Even then, I could easily become a victim of rape or violence once they found out I was a transsexual. My options had run out.

My friend gave me access to his computer one last time, so I put an automatic message on my Yahoo E-mail address. The message said, “I will soon become homeless and since homeless shelters won’t take in transsexuals, I’m a goner.”

Where is my family? They have all abandoned me. Where are all my friends? What friends? The transgender community here in Georgia never wanted to help me. I didn’t fit their narrow viewpoint of what a transsexual is supposed to “properly” do to transition. Others who still say they’re my friends are either gone or in a situation no better than mine. Is this what I have left after all the things I’ve been through? Nothing? I was safer in Iraq during Desert Storm. At least I was treated better there.

My car still worked, just barely. I have only one thing to do. Time for a road trip. After driving for 45 minutes I arrived at my destination, the Chattahoochee River. My jacket kept me from freezing. I could hear the water moving and the moonlight reflected off of the ripples. No one else would have dared to be out on a night like this. But, I had a plan.

As I unwrapped the towel, I revealed my one last true friend, my trusty .357 Smith and Wesson. I felt its cold steel and its well-balanced Lose Weight Exercise in my hands. Out of everything I gave up in the last fifteen months, I could never part with my .357. Now, it has become my last piece of pleasure in my lonely, miserable life.

“Why am I a transsexual?” I screamed. The trees dampened my voice. “Why am I a transsexual?” I whispered. I got no answers. Tears flowed from my eyes as I cocked the hammer. “All I wanted to do was to live my life as me.” My .357 seemed lighter somehow. “I didn’t ask for this life.” I lifted the gun. “I just wanted to live.” I felt the cold steel barrel pressing against my temple. “But, they wouldn’t let me.” My hand shook and I lowered the pistol. “This is what they wanted me to do.” I raised the .357 once more. “They’re getting their wish.” My finger tightened around the trigger. “They got what they wanted.” I pulled my finger back. “They got me . . .”

———-

On December 17, 2002, Alice was found along the Chattahoochee River, a .357 slug had shattered her skull. This happened two years after the City of Atlanta passed a non-discrimination law that covered transgender people and included public accommodations, such as homeless shelters. Not only did homeless shelters break the law and failed to help her, but so did the rest of society.

Alice was my friend and I failed her, too.

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.

(The Break)

EIs are no longer that.  They have evolved into a way to educate a large gathering of G&L people at one time and to gage the local support the transgender community has.  We no longer see affecting HRC’s income as a viable goal in achieving rights for the transgender community.  Revenge is not a tactic that a more mature transgender community will follow any longer.  Those who still focus on revenge only are becoming more and more relegated to the fringes of transgender activism.  It is a tough lesson for me to learn.

Some may think that it is not worth the effort to educate HRC, but we are not doing EIs to educate the organization.  It is focused on the people who support HRC and if they are better educated with the facts, then they can help to guide HRC to a position that will benefit all LGBT people together.

It’s almost like working with the laws of physics.  If we knew that an asteroid was going to hit Earth while it was billions of miles away, then a small bump to it that far out will cause it to miss Earth all together.  An EI is like making tiny bumps to HRC that will eventually change its course in the future to a more beneficial direction.

In 2002, the transgender community held Educational Initiatives in various cities and we were being heard by HRC.  In Atlanta that year, the HRC dinner happened to be on the same night that the Southern Comfort planning committee was in town for their regular pre-conference planning.  We rented a suite at the same hotel where HRC had its dinner and when people came out, we handed them a flyer asking them to gather in the suite to discuss transgender issues.

In the course of the evening, we had over 200 people in the suite, many of them had no idea about the things transgender people faced.  We opened their eyes that night, as others did in different cities across the country.  That evening in Atlanta, HRC’s Executive Director at the time, Elizabeth Birch, came up to the room and spoke with us for 3 hrs.  She spoke to the trans activists in other cities as well.  Interesting enough, two years later, HRC’s Board voted to support a fully inclusive ENDA.  We truly know that the EIs contributed to that, along with what others did back then.  Too bad it didn’t take the board long to change their minds.

Fast-forward to 2008 and the new HRC dinner season.  It is important to note that the protest at the HRC National Dinner this past October was not an Educational Initiative.  Some cities, such as Austin and Philadelphia, have had an EI already, but no one did anything at Phoenix dinner this year.

This past Saturday, February 16, 2008, HRC planed the biggest dinner in the Carolinas, the one at Charlotte, NC.  People all over the three-state area gathered at this dinner.  North Carolina just so happened to be the state Angela Brightfeather lives in, so she took it upon herself to plan the EI in Charlotte.  It should be noted that Angela had a heart attack in December and had her carotid artery opened up a couple of weeks ago to clear out some blockage.  In spite of this, she was still able to make it to work this event.

Saturday started with a panel discussion where Angela, myself and Pamela Jones from Charlotte spoke to about 25 young individuals from various universities in the Carolina area.  HRC had put together a special training session for the leaders of the LGBT groups in those schools, in exchange they would get a free admittance to the dinner.  The group wanted to get information on transgender issues and had invited us to speak some time back.  This was one of the highlights of the day for us.

Angela had about 1000 handouts ready to give to people as they came out of the dinner.  About six of us gathered at the appropriate time, ready to catch them as they came out of the doors.  It had been prearranged and pre-approved, but as we started to set up, we were told we couldn’t be there.  After speaking to the person who had given Angela permission to hand out flyers at the doors, we were told that we had to move to a different location.  The dinner was on the second floor of the Charlotte Civic Center, so we positioned ourselves at the escalators and stairs where the people would exit.

Later, we gathered back in the suite to talk with all the people who came up.  We noticed that unlike his predecessor, Elizabeth Birch, Joe Solmonese didn’t come up to talk with us, nor did he talk to the transgender activists in Austin and Philadelphia.  We keep hearing HRC wants to win back the transgender community, but Solmonese’s apparent attitude of not wanting to face transgender activists will not help matters.  Dialogue can only take place if both parties are willing to speak.  He needs to know that, in spite of what has happened, some of us are willing to speak with him.  Solmonese should learn from the actions of Birch.

Speaking of Solmonese, I had a chance to run into him at the lounge area of the hotel.  I had been talking to some of the people there then sat down for a moment when he walked by.  I went up to him and said, “Hello, Joe.  Nice to see you.”

He asked what I was doing and I informed him I had been educating people on the reason transgender people should be protected.  I then noticed he was holding an empty glass, so I asked, “Joe, could I buy you a drink?”

“No.  I’m done and I’m planning on going back upstairs.”

“Well, I was hoping to get you a glass of Southern Comfort . . . on the rocks.”

He chuckled and said, “That’s actually pretty good, Monica.”

We talked for a little more and I informed him I would see him again in Atlanta in May for their dinner.  As he was leaving, I said, “I’ll tell Donna you said ‘Hi’.”

“Donna Rose?”

“Yes.”

Overall, I would say it was a successful event.  There is one thing I would have done different.  I would have not given people a comprehensive sheet of paper with a lot of information on it.  It overwhelmed them and they didn’t read all of it to see the room number to come up and speak with us.  Instead, I would have given people a small piece of paper with an invitation to come up to the suite for refreshments and conversation.  The heavy duty information would have been given to the people who came to the room.

There are more dinners all over the country, giving other activists a change to educate the G&L people in their area.  The more little nudges we can give HRC, the closer they will move to changing their minds once again.