On October 20, 1994, the Navy lifted the ban on women serving on combat ships when the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) became the first US warship to deploy with women, departing Norfolk, Va. with 367 female sailors.  Six years later, in spring of 2000, Captain Kathleen McGrath became the first woman to command a combat vessel when she took over the frigate Jarrett, a 453-foot warship, with a 262-member crew.

On April 1, 1900, the US Navy commissioned their first submarine, the USS Holland (SS-1.)  In that short time, submarines have proven their worth to the fleet and our country.  In WWII, submarines sank 55% of all of the tonnage during the war, with just 1% of the Naval personnel.  However, they lost 52 submarines, 18% of all submarines which saw combat duty, and 3505 men, 13.3% of all of the WWII submarine personnel.  They know first hand that freedom is not free.

(Break)

During the Cold War, submarines protected our country from attack from the Soviet Union by patrolling the oceans with multi-warhead ballistic missiles.  I served on one of them.  During Operation Desert Storm, the USS Louisville (SSN-724,) became the first submarine since WWII to enter into combat, launching a Tomahawk missile on a target in Iraq, January 19, 1991.

When the Navy allowed women to serve on combat ships in 1994, submarines remained the only ones that women still could not serve on.  However, that may soon come to an end.  In an article in the Navy Times, SecNav, CNO: Women should serve on subs, posted September 25, 2009, and another one from Reuters on the same day called US military may lift ban on women in submarines, the Secretary of the Navy and the Chief of Naval Operations both agree that the time has come to finally allow women to serve on submarines.  I guarantee you submariners are spitting vile on this issue.

However, in spite of what the Navy might think, women have already served on submarines.  They serve today and have done so for the last 100 years.  Sure, they didn’t appear as women at the time, but they were women nevertheless.  Over the last 13 years, I have met – either in person or on line – at least 30 or more transsexual women who served on submarines.

It stands to reason that in order for the Navy to truly understand the intricacies of cis-women on submarines, they only need to ask trans women who have already served on them.  I felt the need to point this out to the CNO and NAVSEC, so I sent the following letter to each of them.

Dear . . . ,

I have read a few articles on the idea of integrating women on board submarines.  You may find this a bit out of the ordinary and possible hard to believe, but I served on two submarines from 1972 to 1978 . . . and . . . I am a woman.

How is that possible?  I wasn’t a woman when I was in the Navy, but I am today.  As a woman with a transsexual history, I approach the idea of women serving on submarines from a whole different and unique perspective then any other person will . . . except other transsexual women who have also served on submarines.  In the 12 years of living as a woman, I not only advocate women serving on submarines, I know how it can be done and where on the different subs in can be done.  I have also met over 30 other transsexual women who are former submariners.  One of them attended a recent reunion of the ship she was on.

This is an issue that is going to be hard for men to understand, especially submariners.  But, former submariners who are now living as women can not only speak the language of that most unique part of the Navy, but fully understand the issues women can also face in that environment.

Submariners are a very proud and traditional group of men that are proud of their service for their country.  The trans women who also have served on submarines are no less proud of what they have done for their country.  Some are now lawyers, engineers, doctors and a host of other professions.  I, myself, work in the telecommunication business, and have done so for the last 20 years.

I know of one trans woman who served on six submarines and reach the rank of Lt. Commander.  She was a Navigator on her last boat.  She remained in Active Reserves and transitioned to become a woman.  Being in Active Reserves, she was required to wear a woman’s Navy uniform and on it, she had her gold Dolphins.  Needless to say, that surprised a few people.

I am going to suggest that if you were to speak with a few of us “Lady Bubbleheads,” you maybe surprised to find that we could approach the concept of integrating women on board submarines in a way that would make the transition smooth for both the women and the men.

I know the news media would go bananas if they were to catch wind of you talking with transsexuals who are former submariners on how to integrate women on subs.  We’re not asking to be public about it.  That’s your decision.  I’m only offering the knowledge from our special perspective, one that could add a few more torpedoes to the Torpedo Room in you approach to the Armed Service Committee.  Submariners always understand on how to sneak up on someone without them knowing it.  We would like to see this happen and we are willing and ready to help you make it happen.  Thank you for your time.

Monica F. Helms

President, Transgender American Veterans Association

Okay, I’m not thinking that the underlings of these two men will allow their bosses to read the letters.  However, the possibility still does exist that they just may read those letters, but responding to them still seems a bit far-fetched.  Yet, it doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try.

As much as they would like to, the Navy cannot ignore the fact that trans people have served amongst their ranks on all ships and all parts of the Navy.  They may have kept cis-women off of submarines for 109 years, but we were there the whole time.  Maybe the Navy should take advantage of that.

The year 1969 has become an important year in history for many reasons. Some huge events affected the entire world, such as Neal Armstrong walking on the Moon, July 20, 1969. Others affect me in a more personal way, such as my graduation from high school. Hurricane Camille affected the lives of over a million Gulf Coast people on August 17, 1969. And one event, the Stonewall Riots in New York City, impacted my life many years into then future.

However, another event, the Woodstock Music Festival, defined my entire generation and in many ways, defined who I am and who I have become. It lasted from August 15 to August 18, 1969.

At age 18 and living in Phoenix, AZ, I didn’t hang out with the right crowd of people who would have known of Woodstock ahead of time, or would have driven the 2500 miles to get there. I saw bits and pieces on the evening news, but had no idea the scope of the event. My friends and I starting talking about it a month after because all of the print media on it. Information didn’t get out as quickly in 1969 as it does today. The World Wide Web was nothing more than a gleam in Al Gore’s eye at the time.

(Break)

Music has always been a connecting thread that as woven itself into every part of my life. It started with 45 and 33⅓ rpm vinyl records, then went to cassettes, CDs, mini discs, MP3 players, computers, iPods and even YouTube videos. As the technology changed, so did the music. I changed along with it.

But, the wonderful thing about music, like Jell-O, there’s always room for more. It builds upon the past. Just because I’ve gotten older doesn’t mean I have forgotten my music roots. I don’t push aside older music to make room for newer stuff. I embrace music of all ages. That is why Mozart is just a thrilling to me as Scott Joplin, Janis Joplin, The Doors, Alan Parsons Project, Men at Work, Billy Squire, Eiffel 65, Alicia Keys and many more. It just keeps growing.

The list of the 32 artists and bands who played at Woodstock looks like the Who’s Who of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH, including The Who. Woodstock became the springboard of several artists who played there, while other, more established groups reached “Rock Icon” status because of Woodstock. But sadly, some of those rock icons left us too soon. Jimi Hendrix died in September of 1970 and Janis Joplin three weeks later. Keith Moon of The Who died in 1978. Others who played at Woodstock are also no longer with us.

The list of groups and artists who turned down a chance to be at Woodstock for various reasons also have their names in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Groups like The Doors, Jethro Tull, Moody Blues, Led Zeppelin, The Byrds, Spirit, Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell either turned down the invitation, had other concerts booked or just didn’t show up. Some to this very day regret that decision.

The people in their twenties, thirties and forties today cannot understand why their parents and grandparents hold Woodstock in such high regards. The mystique of Woodstock cannot be expressed in words. If the music of the 60s doesn’t move a person, then Woodstock becomes nothing more than a stupid gathering of hippies dancing in the mud and rain.

For my generation, Woodstock is a defining moment in our music, a defining moment for the artists who played there, a defining moment for the 60s, as well as the 20^th Century, a defining moment for our generation, and a defining moment in my life. Sadly, defining moments for my sons and those in his generation and a bit older have become things like high gas prices, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, higher crime rates, swine flu, AIDS, the recession, home foreclosures and of course, 9/11. They have yet to have their “Woodstock” to bind them together in one amazing weekend..

On Facebook, I posted about a dozen YouTube videos of songs from Woodstock. Many of them bring back memories or put a smile on my face. Most all of them stand the test of time and bubble up the same emotions as they did 40 years ago. However, one piece of music not only stands the test of time, but makes time stand still for me. Jimi Hendrix’s version of “The Star Spangle Banner” can be called nothing short of a masterpiece. The man and guitar became one in that short moment. To me, it has become the quintessential definition of Woodstock.

Woodstock is as unique as the Hope Diamond or the Grand Canyon. Other music festivals tried to copy it, while others drew large crowds for a charitable cause. None reached the pinnacle that Woodstock still sits on. Today, a plaque commemorates the site, along with a totem pole that has Jimi Hendrix at the top, Janis Joplin in the middle and Jerry Garcia at the bottom. I may not have had the chance to attend Woodstock, but it has affected me like millions of others. I will be forever grateful for those who made Woodstock happen, those who attended and those artists who poured out their hearts and souls for the music they loved.

And, the music I still love today.

By Monica F. Helms

‘Tis the season, where new Senators and Representatives begin getting used to their new jobs, while the cherry blossoms bloom in the springtime. Capital Hill has become ripe for the pickin’, so we need prepare ourselves to talk with them on our needs. It won’t be easy, yet a lot of new activists beam with enthusiasm to descend on the Hill to add their voices to our causes. I welcome them all.

Since a lot of people want to get involved, then they should be absolutely prepared for this new adventure in exerting their rights as American citizens. I have been to the Hill several times since my first visit in 1999 and at each lobby day I learn something new, and each time I bring with me a new weapon in educating people on our issues. I am not the absolute expert in lobbying, because many who read this will have done it more often. A good example is Ethan St. Pierre and his piece on TransFM. I just feel a need to impart some of what I learned and in a complete presentation. But please, ask others who have done this often because each of them will add something new to your knowledge.

(Break)

It is true that most of the time, I’ve been to the Hill for trans issues, but I have also been there for Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. A lot of what I plan on covering falls into “generic lobbying hints,” so it doesn’t matter whether you go there for LGBT issues, or for other non-LGBT stuff. You will also be able to use a lot of this when lobbying local and state politicians, as well as when Congress members come home.

Getting Started:

This is easy, especially if the organization you want to lobby with has set aside a day or two to arrive at the Hill in a large group. They have picked the date and have all the documentation you need to take with you, sometimes they have tee-shirts, and will even set aside time to train you in lobbying. Attend the training. This is important. I cannot emphasize that enough. Being with a large group can be good, because it makes the experience more exciting and enjoyable, especially when sharing those experiences. But, if compelled, you can pick your own time for lobbying.

Setting Appointments:

Not all organizations will preset appointments with your Reps and Senators, so you’ll have to do it yourself. Each office has the same procedure which everyone needs to follow, because that is how they do it on Capital Hill. You need to know who the Congress person’s Scheduler happens to be, their first and last name, gender (for those with gender-neutral names,) direct phone number and fax number. For the most part, you make appointments via fax, unless you know the member personally, or the office deviates from this procedure.

If you plan on meeting several Congress people, make sure you schedule all of the House members first, then Senators later, or visa versa. The distance between the buildings that have the House members and the buildings that have the Senators’ offices can be very long, and you can’t get between them unless you have at least 30 minutes between appointments. An hour would be better.

Three buildings house each of the House members on one side of the Capital Building and three for the Senators on the other side. Also, if you can, schedule the House members who reside in the same building in chronological order, because getting around in those three buildings can be a long process as well. The Senators’ buildings seem to be a bit quicker. There are 435 House members in about the same office space as the 100 Senators.

You need to start making appointments no earlier than two months from the time you’ll be in DC, but three would be better. Fax a request to the Scheduler and wait a day. On your request, give them at least three possible start times so you can be assured to speak with someone there. The next day, call to confirm if the Scheduler got the fax and if any of those times will work for them. You may need to call several times, because they may not be in the office very often. Be persistent. This is why I suggest to start three months before the lobby day.

Don’t expect to get an appointment with the actual member unless they know you, or you provide the Scheduler with a compelling enough story for them to schedule a meeting directly with the member. I remember back in 1999, when I lived in Arizona, I scheduled an appointment with the very conservative J.D. Hayworth. In my previous life, I spent a little time as a cable puller and cameraman for the Diamond Vision screen at the Phoenix Suns games and J.D. Hayworth worked as a sportscaster. We talked several times back then and when it came time to set the appointment 12 years later, Hayworth had to meet with us just to see who he knew as a man was now living as a woman. The story worked in getting us to see him, but he still didn’t care about our issues.

Since you don’t want to overlap your appointments, you may need to set it with one Rep at a time, because you can give the next Scheduler the times remaining. Figure 15 min in each office, but block off 30 min. If the next office is near by, you can arrive within 15 min after the previous one. If not, then give yourself more time. Knowing the location of each office building can help. It becomes a juggling act that the Ringling Brothers would envy. Also, call each office a week before arriving in DC to reconfirm the appointments.

The Actual Lobbying:

You made it to DC, got your hotel room, figured out the Metro schedule, made it to training and the day has arrived. With organizations, they have a breakfast meeting before you storm the Hill and in there, they will give your final instructions. WEAR COMFORTABLE SHOES. Is that loud enough? If you don’t do a lot of walking normally, you will be wiped out. If you do walk a lot, this will still tax your stamina more than anything else, so the right shoes will be important. I have a pair of black tennis shoes that I can easily hide under long slacks.

Dress business-like, unless the organization supplies tee-shirts and they suggest dressing casually. Personally, I will not wear a tee-shirt or dress casually. That’s just me. Bring something to carry any papers, pens and other things, as well as bringing back things from the offices. All Georgia offices have little bags of peanuts that I stock up on for the plane ride home.

Don’t lobby with a backpack. Use either a briefcase, a large purse or satchel, but no backpack. A camera is good, but don’t be too obnoxious with it. Always ask permission to take someone’s picture. Also, if you represent an organization and have business cards as part of that organization, bring many of those cards for this trip. You’ll need them. And, be prepared when you walk into the building, because they have metal detectors and guards at every entrance.

Personalize Your Lobbying:

Get to know as much about the individual Congress member you have a meeting with, even if you get scheduled with a legislative aid. Know their personal history, marriage status, children, previous profession, hobbies, military history, and their voting record on your issues. If you meet with a new member, then check on their record while they served in local or state politics. You never know when some of those tidbits of information can come in handy when framing your presentation.

When you arrive at an office, take a moment to absorb as much as you can, taking notice of the various items in that office. Every office has pictures, plaques, awards, mementos, as well as models of ships, cars, planes and other items of interest to the member. Do they have a picture of a son or daughter in uniform? What sports teams do they support? What vacation or local scenery pictures do you see? Again, these can become highly useful in framing your presentation.

Finally, personalize your story having to do with the issue you came to discuss. If you are a hate crimes victim, use that. Lose your job for being gay? Use that. I have a perfect one when it comes to hate crimes. My oldest son spent four years in the Marines and did two tours in Iraq. On his first tour, he happened to call back to Arizona to speak with my mother. In the conversation, he said, “Grandma, I sometimes worry about the safety of my father.”

Think about what he said. He was a young Marine, patrolling the streets of Bagdad, where he could get killed at any second and he was worried about the safety of his transsexual father walking the streets of America. He made such a powerful statement from a war zone that when talking with legislative aids or Congress members on hate crimes legislation, their whole demeanor changed in an instant. I even brought a 5 by 7 photo of him in his Marine dress blues. You can easily see that they went from not understanding to understanding the importance of this legislation and how it affects others besides LGBT people. Friends of mine even used that story. You may also have a compelling story to tell, so don’t hesitate in using it.

Lobbying Etiquette:

This can be important in how well you deliver the message and how well you respect the people you speak with. I like lobbying in a two-person team, when the other person has also had a great deal of experience. I call that “Tag-Team Lobbying.” Organizations may want to send several of you in at a time, but don’t follow the crowd. Too many people dilute the message. A newbie can also be there, making it a three-person team. They can learn, listening carefully and stepping in when it becomes appropriate. Always be on time or a bit early. Each person on the team gets to talk, discussing the area that they know about the best. You don’t have a lot of time, so don’t steal that time from the other team members.

Speak concise, almost in a fashion that Toastmasters teaches, eliminating as many “ahs” and ums” as possible. That means, practice your presentation. Leave time for questions and listen to the feedback, speaking only when the Congress person or aid finishes. Don’t talk over them or your teammates because that shows unprofessionalism. If you have handouts, make them no more than two pages. The Congress member and their staff get inundated with work, so don’t overwhelm them with packets of information. The exception would be if they ask for it ahead of time. Also, dropping packets off at many offices without speaking with anyone has proven to be highly ineffective. The packet will get tossed. I call this “shotgun lobbying” and it has never worked in the past. And, never, ever protest in a member’s office or even in the three House or Senate buildings.

Don’t become a “rogue lobbyist.” That occurs when a person decides to lobby at the same time as an organization, but didn’t attend the training and didn’t set up any appointments. A rogue lobbyist goes from office to office without a plan and can show up before you arrive or worse, when you arrive.

A rogue lobbyist sometimes says they represent an organization, but they don’t, nor did they join the group’s training or preparations. They will not be informed on the specific talking points to the issue at that time and can confuse the members. If a rogue wants hook up with your team, discourage them because they can ruin the meeting and just take over the conversation. I say this from personal experience. I seen it happen to me and I heard of someone that said they had a rogue lobbyist saying she represented TAVA when she didn’t have all the issues correct, nor asked us what she should talk about. I don’t mind if someone wants to lobby for transgender veterans and I encourage it, as long as we are all on the same page. One person can easily ruin years of preparation for any organization.

Lobbying can be a fun and rewarding experience, especially if you change people’s minds or enhance their education. You can walk out of an office on cloud nine when everything clicks so beautifully. Keep records of your visits, who you spoke with, their reactions, even their body language, because it all can come in handy later. Make sure you send a “Thank You” E-mail, fax or both to the Scheduler and the person or persons you spoke with in the office. On your way home, you will experience a feeling of empowerment. I always do. Enjoy yourself.

Anyone want any peanuts?

Also read the same article at: Project Q Atlanta.

After reading “Gay Atlanta City Council candidate apologizes for anti-trans comments,” I have to say that Charlie Stadtlander’s apology on how he characterized transgender people back in 2005 and 2006 is weak at best. Consider what he wrote just little more than two years ago:

“It would be a simple task to banter with the liberal and often times irresponsible gay rights movement, as to why events such as drag shows greatly harm the gay and lesbian community and set our cause back immensely.”

In two years, how much can Stadtlander deviate from his past ramblings? It makes it difficult for a transgender person to accept his apology. Consider this outtake from his 2006 newspaper commentary:  (Read quote after the break.)

(Break)

“Transsexuality, including transgendered people and drag queens, represent a fringe part of society that has nothing to do with being gay or lesbian and is not representative of our community as a whole.

“By giving this radical and unrelated group a launching ground for freak behavior associated with gays and lesbians is detrimental. The gay community must recognize that either fair or unfair, we are the ones fighting for equal rights. In this role, we must always put forth an image of responsibility, diversity, and normalcy.”

By the way, Charlie, you do not put an “ed” at the end of the word “transgender.” It is an adjective, not a noun, such as “transgender people, transgender community” and my favorite, “Transgender Americans.” Are you going to start using “gayed” or “lesbianed” next?

There’s also this tidbit from his newspaper piece:

“Being gay and lesbian is not a choice.”

Excuse me? And, being transgender is? I guess trans people just up and decide to change their sex because it seems the right thing to do at the time. This, of course, is ignoring the fact that we can lose our families, our homes, our children, our jobs, our places of worship, our standing in the community and our lives.

You can hide your sexual orientation (to a point,) but you can’t hide your gender identity at all. If you’re trans, everyone finds out, even those you don’t like you. Yeah right. If being transgender is a choice, then so is being human.

He apologizes now for his statements in 2005 and 2006, but what he wrote makes it difficult to accept, especially when his most recent volunteer work is raising funds for the Human Rights Campaign and he doesn’t support trans inclusion in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Ask me if I’m surprised. HRC (and Log Cabin Republicans, which Stadtlander used to help lead in Missouri and Georgia) are the two largest LG(b) organizations that still won’t support a fully inclusive ENDA, even when the new President-elect does.

In the Project Q Atlanta article, Stadtlander says this:

“This is a gay and lesbian movement, a gay rights movement. I welcome transgender people into that movement, but I am not willing to say that if a piece of legislation that has been introduced that protects gay and lesbian, like ENDA at the federal level, I am not willing to say that I will sacrifice that entire piece of legislation. It is an incremental step and incremental movement.”

Apparently, Stadtlander, 28, has no idea about the history of the “gay movement.” He may do well to read the Wikipedia entry on the Stonewall Riots, which took place in June 1969. If it weren’t for drag queens, transgender people and butch lesbians, there wouldn’t be a “gay movement.” Transgender people decided to let straight-looking gays and lesbians in their movement because they were nice and they understood the concept of including everyone. It’s a lesson Stadtlander may do well to learn.

Now, he wants to run for the Atlanta City Council seat held by Anne Fauver for nearly eight years. I stated above how Stadtlander really thinks of the transgender population as a whole. To those transgender people and allies thinking on voting for Stadtlander, consider that Fauver has been highly supportive of the transgender community during her tenure in the Atlanta City Council.

She has shown her support in many ways, including issuing an Atlanta City Council proclamation on the Transgender Day of Remembrance. The transgender community has very few political friends in Georgia. Ask yourself, why would we trade away one for somebody who isn’t?

For the gay, lesbian, bisexual and straight people in District 6, ask yourself why would you trade away experience for a person who has none? Anne Fauver has done a good job. Let’s keep her there.

Read the article on The Bilerico Project, posted by Michael Crawford.  Send in your photo.

I put together this collage from pictures on line.  Many are have a copyright.  I honor those who took them.

“Steady boy. Just keep telling yourself you’re a girl.” – “I’m a girl…I’m a girl…I’m a girl.”

“Hormones are hormones. Yours and mine just happen to come in purple little pills.”

“I don’t want IT in my house.”

“When a straight man puts on a dress and goes on a sexual kick he is a transvestite. When a man is a woman trapped in a man’s body and has a little operation he is a transsexual. When a gay man has way too much fashion sense for one gender he is a drag queen.”

“I do wish we could chat longer, but I’m having an old friend for dinner.”

“Well, a boy’s best friend is his mother.”

“Attica! Attica!”

“You know, I used to feel that way too until I found out that Alexander the Great was a fag. Talk about gays in the military!”

“I’m not a fucking drag queen.”

“I was a better man with you, as a woman, than I ever was with a woman, as a man. Know what I mean? I just gotta learn to do it without the dress.”

(The Break)

Those were lines from various movies that all had one thing in common . . . they had a transgender element to each of them. With the 80th Annual Academy Awards show on Sunday, February 24, 2008, my mind began thinking about all the films where a transgender person played an important part. My friends and I tried to put together a list, but I found a web site that has hundreds of films listed, but most had just brief transgender moments in them. It’s called JK’s Transgender Movie Guide. If you look at the list of the American Film Institute’s Top 100 Films of All Time, you will find five transgender-related films on that list. They include “Psycho, Silence of the Lambs, Cabaret, Tootsie” and “Some Like it Hot.”

As to be expected with how society views transgender people in general, some of the characters appeared as either unbalanced or just plane evil, like in “Psycho, Silence of the Lambs” and “Freebee and the Bean.” Some movies played it for laughs, like “Some Like it Hot, White Chicks, The Birdcage” and “To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar.” While others showed the stark reality of life as a transgender person, like in “The Crying Game, Boys Don’t Cry, Paris is Burning, Soldier’s Girl” and “Southern Comfort.” And, in both versions of the movies “The Longest Yard” they featured transgender prisoners who played cheerleaders for the team.

Over the years, some rather famous male actors have spent time in front of the camera portraying women. The list includes Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in “Some Like it Hot,” Robin Williams in “Mrs. Doubtfire,” Dustin Hoffman in “Tootsie,” Wesley Snipes, Patrick Swayze and John Leguizamo in “To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar,” Nathan Lane and Gene Hackman in “The Birdcage,” John Lithgow in “The World According To Garp” and recently, Robert DeNiro in “Stardust.” Hell, Arnold Schwarzenegger donned a dress in “Total Recall” to escape the authorities and was pregnant in “Junior.” Hey, that’s switching gender roles, too.

Women actors have also played gender variant roles in the cinema. Hilary Swank played a convincing Brandon Teena in “Boys Don’t Cry,” Barbara Streisand played Anshel in “Yentl,” Felicity Huffman played Bree in “Transamerica,” Linda Hunt as Billy Kwan in “The Year of Living Dangerously” and Julie Andrews played the title role in “Victor Victoria.”

Why would anyone think that transgender-related films would be important to transgender people? The world gets a snapshot of any minority when they are depicted in films. Sidney Poitier played strong characters in “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” and “In the Heat of the Night,” showing white America an African American man they had never seen before. In the movie “Little Big Man,” director Arthur Penn showed us Native Americans in a more positive light, including a transgender character. And, everyone can easily understand the importance “Brokeback Mountain” was for the gay community. The transgender community has had our important films over the years as well.

In my opinion, the strongest films that have come out showing transgender people in a good light are films like “Different For Girls, Better Than Chocolate, Adventures of Sebastian Cole, Normal” and “Transamerica.” I’m sure there are others that also did a good job.

The most tragic transgender films I have seen were “Southern Comfort, Boys Don’t Cry” and “Soldier’s Girl.” I personally know some of the people in “Southern Comfort” and I am friends with Calpernia Addams, the person “Soldier’s Girl” was based on. These three films made me cry uncontrollably and if I see them today, I will still cry.

There is one category of transgender films that seems to be Hollywood’s primary reason to get famous stars to put on a dress. The plot for these movies is a situation where a man has to dress as a woman in order to escape danger, or to accomplish something they cannot otherwise do as a man. Films like “Some Like it Hot, Tootsie, Mrs. Doubtfire, Juwanna Man” and “White Chicks” fall into this category. “Yentl” has the same plot, but the roles are reverse.

One actor has the distinction of staring in five films that have a transgender element in them. He is Robin Williams. He actually dresses as a woman in “Mrs. Doubtfire,” but he is also in “Dead Again, To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar, The World According to Garp” and “The Birdcage.” So, the Best Actor Award goes to . . . Robin Williams!

I mentioned three films that we would rather forget about because of their negative depletion of transgender people, but “Psycho” and “Silence of the Lambs” are consider two of the best films ever made, as stated earlier. Others we would soon want to forget are movies like “Glen or Glenda?” and “Nuns on the Run.”

In several of the films, the primary transgender theme has to do with drag queens. Some of the better ones are “To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar, The Birdcage, Wigstock, La Cage aux Folles, Midnight In The Garden Of Good and Evil, Flawless” and “Victor Victoria.”

Science fiction films that have a transgender connection are “Pitch Black” and “Stargate,” as do two animated films, “Shrek 2” and “Mulan.” Musicals include both “Hairsprays, Cabaret, Moulin Rouge” and or course, the classic of all classics, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

As time goes on, we will see more and more films that have a positive transgender character, like Bree in “Transamerica.” What I would like to see one day is a major motion picture that not only has transgender people as the stars, but also is produced and directed by transgender people. I haven’t won the lottery, yet.

It seems lately that a lot of people who have a tendency to post a great deal on the Internet has a famous – or not so famous – quote after their name. I refuse to do that because there are so many good quotes out there that picking just one may not fit the mood I’m in at the time. To me, different situation in activism requires different quotes. I have used many of them in the past, and even made a few of my own.

I figured that it would be fun to gather up some of the best ones that I remember, and some of the new ones I found on line and put them together in one place for everyone to choose from if the feeling hits them. Some of these quotes I will make comments about, so to distinguish the quotes from my comments, I will put them in bold letters, along with the person who said them.

One of the most respected historical figures who the LGBT community looks upon with respect has to be Dr. Martin Luther King. Yes, the Civil Rights Movement is not the same as the LGBT Movement, but his words ring true for many people and are universal in their relevance. There were too many to choose from, so I picked my favorites that I feel pertain to our situation best.

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“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” This is a great quote and one where the people who are preventing all LGBT people from getting our rights need to keep in mind, especially those who focus on keeping transgender people from getting their rights.

This quote by King, “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools,” has a similar theme as one by Benjamin Franklin, which goes, “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.” Looking through a long list of quotes, I saw this a lot.

Some of the other famous quotes from King that have found their use in the LGBT community are:

“It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can stop him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty important.”

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

Since I already mentioned one of Franklin’s quotes, he has others that can be useful at times. Here they are: “A slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get over.” I think some trans people need to take heed of this one, including me.

“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” This one has been used a lot in the last seven years, as the Bush administration slowly eroded our liberties in the name of keeping us safe.

Another person who gets quoted often is Mahatma Gandhi. He said something that has been used against us by the so-called righteous evangelist Christians. He said, “Hate the sin, love the sinner.” I never knew he was the one to say that. I’m willing to bet the hard-core Christian fundamentalists would say it came from the Bible. We should challenge them on where the saying came from, to make them look bad. After you point out that this saying came from a non-Christian, you can give them another Gandhi sayings, “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”

He also said, “Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes,” and “You must be the change you want to see in the world.” That last one goes out to those armchair activists who complain about what others do, without getting off of their butts and helping.

Mark Twain has created some wonderful sayings over the course of his life, some of which we should uses when necessary. Here’s a couple that Joe Solmonese should pay attention to. “If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything,” and “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”

One of my most favorite quotes came from Mark Twain. It is such a perfect quote for those annoying people who have to comment on every single blog posting and sometime they say things just to get people mad. Twain said, “It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.” Hell, I know some people who remove all doubt years ago.

Some of the other good quotes from Twain are: “Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.”

“Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.”

Twain never liked Congress, and here is one of his best on that subject. “It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly American criminal class except Congress.” Congress hasn’t changed much in the last 100 years.

One of the most used quote in the transgender community, in regards to Remembering Our Dead, is the one by George Santayana. He said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” I love this quote so much that I even made my own version of his quote. I say, “Those who insist on not learning from the past will soon look foolish in the future.” I have seen people who live this daily.

George Bernard Shaw had another quote that fits into the same theme. He said, “If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of learning from experience.”

H.G. Wells had this one, “Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe.” He also has one we can use against the Religious Right, “Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo.”

I have always admired Theodore Roosevelt and he has some great quotes that we should keep in mind, even after we have a new president a year from now. He said, “Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the President.” He also said, “To announce that there must be no criticism of the President . . . is morally treasonable to the American public.” It was one used against those lemming people who would follow Bush off a cliff

Here’s another one from Roosevelt, “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” And, this one is for all of the LGBT veterans, “A man who is good enough to shed his blood for the country is good enough to be given a square deal afterwards.”

One that LGBT active duty service members can say came from Barry Goldwater: “You don’t have to be straight to shoot straight.”

Here’s one I like from Joseph Stalin. He said, “The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.” That was so true in the last two Presidential elections.

The most quoted person of all time has to be William Shakespeare. I use some of his quotes on a regular basis. My most favorite is one that could apply to Larry Craig and all of those other anti LGBT Republicans who spent a lot of energy vilifying LGBT people, before we found out about them. “The lady dost protest too much, methinks.” It came from “Hamlet” and it is meant to say that if a person “protests” greatly about a particular issue, they lose credibility. I see it as someone hiding something within themselves they don’t want the rest of the world to know about, thinking that by protesting a lot, it will protect them.

He has others that seem to fit well when confronting the bigots on the right. “The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool,” and “Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind,” and “Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.”

This one from “Romeo and Juliet” that’s perfect for the transgender community. “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” And, this one from “Hamlet” is always perfect for transgender people. “This above all: to thine own self be true; And it must follow, as the night the day; Thou canst not then be false to any man.”

He has others that can be used but LGBT people: “Assume a virtue, if you have it not.”

“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”

“Et tu, Brute!”

“A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!”

And this one is a great one to use against those Religious Right that like to quote the Bible. “The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.”

Here’s one I always like for us romantic lesbians. “But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, Who is already sick and pale with grief That thou, her maid, art far more fair than she.”

I hope that you may find a use for some of the quotes I have here. I leave you with two more from Monica Helms (me.) “Mother Nature can think beyond binaries. Human Nature cannot,” and “There is no shame in failure. There is in failure to try.”

Maybe you would like to add some good quotes to this list?

Monica Helms has been an activist in the transgender community since 1998, starting off in Phoenix, Arizona. She currently owns a home in Marietta, GA. She has been involved in several local, state and national organizations, serving on their boards or advisory boards. She was the Director of Operations of It’s Time Arizona from 1998 to 2000 and the Executive Director for Trans=Action in Georgia from 2000 to 2006.

In January 2003, Helms Co-Founded the Transgender American Veterans Association (TAVA) with Angela Brightfeather and serves as the President since then. TAVA’s web site is www.tavausa.org.