(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.

(Break)

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

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.

In 2001, I joined a Yahoo Group by the name of TSVets, which still exists to this day. This is a group that is opened to all transsexuals who have served our country in the military. The list has a variety of veterans from all branches of the service, all the modern wars, different ranks, different income levels and different levels of surgical status. Some are completely healthy, while others are disabled or have PTSD. In short, they are no different than the rest of America’s veterans.

As time went on, I realized that even though transgender veterans did all the same things in the military as their non-trans veterans counterparts did, the Veterans Administration medical facilities did not treat them equally as they did all the other veterans. We know today that the VA has a dismal record when it comes to how they treat all veterans. Transgender veterans would just like to be treated equally as crappy as everyone else.

I did not like what I heard on the TSVets list about the treatment some transgender veterans received at the VA and I discussed it with my friend Angela Brightfeather, an Army veteran and activist from North Carolina. At the time, we both served on the Activism Committee of the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC.) She saw this as an important issue to undertake, which later led to the creation of the VA Committee in NTAC. As we dug deeper into the issues, we realized that the problems were not something a committee could handle, so we formed the Transgender American Veterans Association (TAVA) in January, 2003, a national 501 (c) 3 organization.  

This article is not to go over the history and accomplishments of TAVA. This article is to show how the rest of the transgender community can benefit from its veteran members and to show that by fighting to help transgender veterans, we will help all of the transgender community.

There are hundreds of stories where transgender people have been treated badly when lobbying politicians, or by the staff members of politicians. But, many transgender veterans have seen a complete reversal of attitude when they announced that they were also veterans. This is something both Angela and I knew from the very beginning, when we first started working on this issue. They can give us all the grief they want for being a transgender person, but no politician wants to be known as disrespecting veterans, regardless of who they are. That’s a line none dare cross, because they don’t want that kind of bad PR.

Once in the politician’s office, playing the veteran card can get a lot accomplished, especially after the VA scandal of 2007. In regards to employment discrimination, I have said things like, “I spent eight years in the Navy, patrolling underwater in a submarine, protecting this country and the rights of the people in this country. I am now being told that I don’t get to have those same rights. Why?” I’ve put some politicians on the spot . . . at least those who have a heart. Yes, it’s rare, but some actually do have a heart.

There are a variety of issues facing transgender veterans in the VA medical facilities. An extensive survey is now underway by TAVA that is already revealing some startling facts. So far, we are seeing that nearly 6% of those who have taken the survey and have used the VA have been turned away from a VA facility for being transgender. The survey is also showing that 16% have been discriminated or disrespected by people at the VA, including doctors and nurses.

The VA has just two words in their policy that they used to justify their poor treatment of transgender veterans. They are, “Gender Alteration.” The VA will not treat anything they consider having to do with “Gender Alteration.” Since this is a rather vague term, then various facilities can interpret it to mean anything they want. This is why some transgender veterans get decent treatment, while others do not.

Those of us working for better treatment of transgender veterans in the VA see another benefit that can help the rest of the community. Getting the VA to officially adapt the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) policies and procedures could go a long way to help convince various companies to cover transgender health issues in their insurance. It makes it a lot easier to convince your company to cover transgender health issues if you can point to the VA and say, “See, the government feels this is important.” Part of the plan to convince the VA to drop the words “Gender Alteration” is to use companies who already cover transgender health well as examples.There are a few places in the country where the VA does a good job in helping the transgender veterans get the best coverage they can offer. These are examples that rest of the VA facilities should copy. We just hope that the VA doesn’t decide to use the worse facilities as models for treating transgender veterans. That’s a fear we have had since starting TAVA five years ago.The biggest issue we will have to face maybe one that the future TAVA board members will get to tackle. That is getting the VA to cover Sex/Gender Reassignment Surgery (SRS or GRS.) For Male-to-Females, that would entail genital surgery. For Female-to-Males, this could either be top surgery, a hysterectomy, or both. In this current political climate, it has been hard to get Congress to protect transgender people from employment discrimination or add them to hate crimes legislation. How hard do you think it would be to convince the government to pay for surgery?When it comes to having the VA cover SRS/GRS, there are differences of opinion within the transgender veteran community. Some want the VA to cover the cost of the surgery and want TAVA to advocate for that along with all of the other issues transgender veterans face. Others feel that we should work to resolve all the other issues first before taking on this one. This is a prime example where incrementalism is warranted. I have not seen very many transgender veterans who don’t want the VA to pay for surgery, but we tend to disagree on how to reach that goal.

Over the last few years, we have seen a major increase in how the transgender community honors its military veterans. We can be a useful tool in opening doors for the community, convince the need for health care coverage for transgender people and to show that we are a community who needs to be covered in all forms of federal and state legislation. After all, there have been transgender people in every war this country fought. It is about time this country finally recognizes us for our dedication in securing the freedoms we all hold so dearly. I hope I live to see that day.