Michelle Demishevich Becomes Turkey’s First Transsexual TV Reporter! Next Stop: She’s Running For Public Office In 2015

Michelle Demishevich

 

 

Congrats to Michelle Demishevich for becoming Turkey's first transsexual female TV reporter!

 But times have not always been easy for Michelle. In 2012 she was a victim of male violence and transphobia, when during her walk home she was brutally attacked and assaulted.

Since her attack 50 trans women have been murdered in Turkey.

Last month justice prevailed for Michelle’s case when her assailant was jailed, marking a milestone victory for all transsexual people.

Although legislation doesn’t officially discriminate against transsexual people, the community asserts that violence, forced sexual exploitation, employment discrimination, burial discrimination and hate crime murders still plague their community.  

Yet times are evolving.

This summer the world witnessed Turkey make a gigantic splash when their LGBT Pride celebration was the largest to date in the Muslim world, inspiring much hope and a promise for change.

And Michelle is only getting started...

 While her TV reporting work and public advocacy continue to make positive strides towards helping her community, she recently announced that next year she will being running in the legislative elections!

Three cheers for Michelle Demishevich! We are behind you 100%!  

Disgruntled Former 'Gay Liberation Front' Members Defame The Stonewall Inn Rebellion's Legacy In An Attempt To Seize Proposed Stonewall Plaque For The GLF Brotherhood. It's 2013, NOT 1970 - 1990: Trans-Erasure, Sexism, Classism & Whitewashing History is Unacceptable

 

Veteran journalist Andy Humm of Gay City News has recently reported that a few gay white men who refer to themselves as "Stonewall Veterans" (though they weren't actually inside the Inn when the riots erupted like Sylvia Rivera, Miss Major and other trans* people and POC were) are heavily campaigning against The Stonewall Inn receiving an honorary plaque - but for the notoriously transphobic, sexist and anti-lesbian group called 'Gay Liberation Front' (GLF) to receive the proposed plaque instead. Unbelievable!

A - GLF gutted protections for trans* people from a proposed 1971 New York LGBT rights anti-discrimination bill, saying it was "too extreme".

B - GLF kicked Sylvia Rivera and other trans people out of the group

C - "In the heyday of the Gay Liberation Front, in the early 70s, the majority of lesbians walked out in protest at the sexism of some of the gay men who took a pivotal role." - The Guardian

D - GLF member Jim Fouratt in 2000 referred to women born with transsexualism as "misguided gay men who'd undergone surgical mutilations" - (reported by Lynn Conway in 2006)

E - Recently these former GLF members have been quoted in Gay City News as hurling degrading adjectives at The Stonewall Inn such as “dirty, seedy” and “horrendous” (Um, sorry boys that many trans women of color in those days couldn’t afford to hang out in luxury piano bars such as most of the GLF gay sorority brothers could – but just because they were impoverished and found support and community in a small dive bar not to your liking doesn't mean these trans people were not extremely rich in spirit – a spirit so rich in fact that it launched a revolution! A revolution that many of these assimilationists profited from, and then discarded us when we no longer suited their self-serving, classist and transphobic agenda)

To many people the current bizarre behavior of these self-proclaimed “Stonewall veterans” (who are in my opinion just disgruntled former GLF members) who are now all of a sudden trying to defame the Stonewall Inn Riot’s legacy and block the plaque honoring our history and instead have GLF receive the recognition is a sinister (yet transparent to the third eye) attempt to disempower the transsexual and transgender communities and glorify the non-deserving Gay Liberation Front. It's about their egos. It's about whitewashing history. It's about trans-erasure. It's about not discussing why so many lesbians felt compelled to abandon GLF due to the sexism of its male leaders (and let's not forget the double standards and transphobia of many of those same lesbians who hypocritically called out GLF’s classism, yet who turned around and denigrated us even more so). It's about trying to do damage control concerning GLF's tarnished legacy. It's attempted history revisionism which speaks to an ongoing cycle of oppression that has lasted decades.

I wish Gay City News would publish more balanced articles on this Stonewall plaque issue. They only interview gay white men. What about women, whether they be transsexual or not? What about transgender people? What about cisgender lesbians? What about people of color?

What about diversity? Accuracy? Inclusion? Real feminism?

What is really going on here? We cannot allow this crafty campaign to cancel the proposed Stonewall plaque succeed. Get involved. Please join Stonewalling Accurate & Inclusive Depictions - S.A.I.D.. on our Facebook Page. We've lost too many of our sisters due the oppression which provoked those riots. Let's keep their memory alive and commemorate the Revolution of 1969. 

"We S.A.I.D. enough is enough!"

 

For more information of the proposed Stonewall plaque controversy go to S.A.I.D.'s website:

www.1969SAID.blogspot.com

 

 

From S.A.I.D.'s Website:

 

Sexual Orientation (gay) is not the same thing as a transgender gender identity or a transsexual medical condition. Words really do matter.

S.A.I.D. organizer Miss Major, currently the Executive Director of T.G.I Justice Project and a Stonewall veteran who was actually inside the Inn when the riots started, has deep concerns about the proposed plaque’s wording and the overall misrepresentation of Stonewall’s legacy.  She states,

“We started S.A.I.D.’s campaign to honor all those at the Stonewall Inn the night the riots erupted and, though you wouldn’t know it by viewing the inaccurate ‘Stonewall Uprising’ film or a string of other (mis)depictions, that most definitely and primarily included trans women and people of color.

The whitewashing of this history is an abuse of power which we will no longer tolerate.

The plaque should not use “gay” as an umbrella term as it marginalizes and erases the many trans people there. I’m not gay. Many transsexual and transgender people are also not gay.

 History revisionism and trans-erasure have no place in this memorial. Let’s truly honor all the people who stood up for their human rights and yours by writing language on the p laque that’s honest.”

S.A.I.D. organizer Ashley Love, a journalist and transsexual & intersex advocate who volunteers with the anti-defamation group Media Advocates Giving National Equality to Transsexual & Transgender People (MAGNET), finds the plaque’s inaccurate draft speaks to larger issues, writing;

“It’s well documented that Sylvia Rivera, a Puerto Rican woman of trans experience, “threw the first heel” that started the riot, with Marsha P. Johnson, Miss Major and many other trans* people and people of color also kicking things off. Then after the affluent white gay male political establishment was done using Rivera to fundraise she was quickly discarded. I’m sure the fact that she rightfully called out classism and transphobia also led to her being blacklisted.

If this commemoration is to have any integrity then the pattern of certain privileged communities within the LGBTTIQQ coalition making Stonewall's legacy all about them must be challenged. It’s not just about “gay” people as the proposed text repeatedly misrepresents, it’s also about transsexual and transgender people. Let’s pay a genuine homage to the people who sacrificed so much for all of us by using more affirming text on the plaque.”

Stonewalling Accurate & Inclusive Depictions, or S.A.I.D., is an educational project drawing attention to the ongoing pattern of trans-erasure, whitewashing, misgendering and problematic messaging spread in numerous media portrayals, political establishments and educational institutions regarding the history and multi-movement building surrounding The Stonewall Riots of 1969. This campaign aims to encourage filmmakers, historians, educators, students, journalists and activists to responsibly affirm the colorful diversity which ignited the global revolution which the Stonewall Rebellion inspired. 

'Out with the Old, In with the New, Out with the Mold, In with the True'

 

Out with the Old

In with the New

Out with the Mold

In with the True

Won’t do as we’re Told

We’ll do as *WE* Do

It’s time to Unfold

Progress Is Due

Our souls aren’t Sold

Lies should be Sued

You have been Told

We’re in with the New

Reject Club’ de Old

Heal butterfly Blues

Our wings Unfold

Release our Rue

We fly out Bold

Out with your Old

In with our New

Clean out their Mold

Stand for what’s True

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Today I come out as a free thinker and fact finder, not a follower of the mob or an apologist for those who misgender, misrepresent and mock my sisters and myself. Today we come out as pro-independence and self-determined advocates and no longer as property of those who deny my sister's and I's valid medical condition. Today we come out as speakers of truth and not as retained cheerleaders for hogwash. Today I am outing your disservice to our community and we vow to put transsexual and intersex needs on equal par with other movements instead on under the bus where Gay, Inc. and it's "Transgender Umbrella" Subsidiary have worked so hard to keep us. Today we say we are not a “sub-community”, but our own community. We come out as those who refuse to be systematically misgendered by your bogus media (mis)guides and othered by LGB and non-trans* straight people in the media and in miseducation pamphlets. Today we take OUT the trash and take IN authenticity and affirmation.

Out with the Old. In the New. Out with the Mold, In with the True

 

 

NAACP Excludes Transsexual & Transgender Panelists From 'First Ever LGB"T" Town Hall' Next Monday

The NAACP is having its first ever ‘LGB"T" Town Hall’ meeting next week at their conference, BUT it's a shame they have NO transsexual or transgender people on the panel. So why don't they just be honest and call it the "LG" Town Hall? How many times do transsexual or bisexual people get shut out of these events? There are numerous Black TS or TG advocates in LA, so there is really no excuse. I was all happy to go until I heard they SHUT US OUT, AGAIN. When the highest number of hate crime murders in the LGBT and transsexual communities are Black or Latina TS or TG women, one would think these groups would be more inclusive and on point, but I guess we are an embarrassment to some. Also, they could have had more lesbian women on the panel as well. Anyways, if you're gay, have fun at the LG Town Hall. Us "tra**ys" will be busy being INVISIBLE... as usual...sigh

Black LGBTI Americans & Allies Honoring President Obama's Advocacy Event!

President Barack Obama has done more for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, transgender and intersex Americans in the first year alone of his presidency than any other president. Many LGBTI African Americans and allies are disappointed by LGBT Inc’s personal attacks on a fierce advocate such as our president. Change has to be inspired, not forced. To show our solidarity and support of our first African American President, we need to come forward and be vocal about the real changes that have taken place.

This weekend has been a historic event with the first convergence of over 100 African-American LGBTI leaders from around the country at the Congressional Black Caucus with the National Black Justice Coalition's OUT on the Hill event! In that spirit, I am asking that we come and celebrate together at Busboy's & Poets, a venue located in a historical neighborhood where Black intellectuals, artists and activists have come together for over a century to take a stand for social justice and to combat racism.

Time: Sunday, September 19 · 5:30pm - 7:30pm
Location: Washington DC. "Busboys & Poets" Address: 14th & V. 2021 14th St, DC.


For more info contact Ashley Love: ashleylapr@yahoo.com

Trans Activist 'Sky' Exposes Autumn Sandeen's "LGB Appropriation" of Transsexual & Intersex Issues such as the Nikki Araguz Story in Texas

Noted trans activist, 'Sky', calls out Autumn Sandeen (transgender blogger employed by Gay Inc.) to stop appropriating trans issues to support the gay and lesbian establishment who are employing her to do so.

Today Sandeen wrote a blog entry on Pams House Blend concerning Nikki Araguz, the widow of a recently fallen firefighter in Texas. Nikki's in-laws are trying to steal her benefits, claiming Nikki was "born a man". Sandeen goes on a rant yet again that inaccuratly paints an intersex and transsexual issue in a way that makes it about "gay issues", just like when she used the word "homosexuality" in the title of a blog entry she did about trans women Tiwonge and her lover Steven.

Sky publicly exposes Sandeen's misreporting of transsexual and intersex issues as:

"Appropriation. There are a lot of GLB trans folk for whom same-sex marriage is an important issue, but I get a irritated when transgender issues get appropriated in order to support same-sex marriage. Nikki is a woman and should not have to enter a same-sex marriage as a man in order for her marriage to be recognized. Nikki should be fully recognized as a woman, and her marriage should be recognized as a valid opposite sex marriage. Period." - Sky wrote to Pam's House Blend's Autumn Sandeen

Thank you Sky! It has become common for many transsexual advocates, allies and writers to protest Sandeen's misrepresention (many of whom Sandeen banned from commenting on the Pam's House Blend site for thier truth telling) of many trans issues in a way that caters to Gay Inc, yet pigeonholes transsexual and intersex people who do not subscribe to Sandeen's and Gay Inc's transgender/3rd gender/crossdresser political strong arming of the medical condition transsexualism.

There is a difference,(equal, but different), between a woman with both intersex and transsexual birth challenges, and this social political term "transgender" that all of a sudden encompasses gender queer identified individuals, gay and lesbian gender non-conforming people, cross dressers, drag queens, etc. One noted transgender blogger employed by Gay Inc. was uncomfortble with the discussion of diversity in the transsexual, transgender umbrella and intersex communities, for reasons she knows. The high majority of intersex people are not even remotely transgender (intersex people are of a biological condition, not an "identity or expression"), and neither do a lot of transsexual people (many them with an intersex condition).

Apparently the marriages of transsexual, transgender & intersex (TTI) people aren’t a priority for the gay & lesbian organizations. The media continues to misreport the facts pertaining to Nikki Araguz's case. The TTI communities supported the gay and lesbian community’s fight for marriage rights. It’s a disappointing slap in the face tp see all the gay groups being silent about this potentially historical case in Texas. Don't heterosexual intersex and transsexual people also deserve advocacy from the LGBT leadership?

At least Sandeen was honest enough to write "alleged transgender" in the title of her propaganda filled blog entry about Nikki Araguz. That is more then most gay and lesbian media outlets have done, who sometimes co-opt the medical condition transsexualism either out of ignorance, or because it uplifts gay people over transsexual people.

The reason we feel compelled to discuss the often silenced topic of diversity in the sex and/or gender diverse communities is because the epidemic of women and men being denied their medical rights to treat their intersex and transsexual birth challenge is a crime. These attacks on their human rights could be remedied more so if the media would not aide in the miseducation that continues to marginalize many transsexual, transgender and intersex people.

MAGNET's Media Advisory:

MAGNET asks all media outlets, especially our own LGBT media outlets, to stop misgendering and declassifying Nikki Araguz's birth challenge status, and ask the gay and lesbian organizations to help the intersex, transsexual and transgender communities defend themselves from these media assaults.

Nikki Araguz was born with a variation of female and male biology. She was not born a "man", yet is being falsely reported so by numerous media outlets (even some LGB"T" ones). This inaccurate reporting causes fear and miseducation about intersex and transsexual human beings, which unethically and irresponsibly sways the future jury from seeing things clearly because of this sensational false media. This hype could cause propaganda which could strip Nikki of her constitutional rights and security. This woman deserves the right to grieve for her brave and loving companion who she has lost, without this humilating and public assault on her right to privacy. -----------------------------

This is a tragic love story made even more tragic by ignorance, hate and greed. It's shameful that the mother of the fallen firefighter would choose her desire for money over her respect for her son’s memory, and the love of his life, his wife, Nikki Araguz

Thoughts On Transsexual (not to be confused with CD/TV/GQ) Inequality In A Diverse "Transgender" Umbrella

WARNING: This is not a politically correct thought:

I noticed that the trans community is ranked at the bottom of the LGBT totem pole. I saw how parts of the movement are so bought out, and since the trans community doesn't have the money or resources that the rest do, their agenda is often ignored, or back burned. Also, the trans community is so diverse, and there are so many different steering wheels. I'm not one of those conservative "transsexual" women who is phobic of cross dressers and transvestites because of the theory that they are heterosexual or homosexual MEN who have a sexual fetish, want attention and invade "transsexual" space and slow "transsexual" progression (though many CD/TV men are like that). If a man gets satisfaction putting on a dress and using the woman's restroom, who am I to judge him? I may not feel safe if I was in that bathroom when he was in there, but whatever strokes one's boat, I think, or maybe he should use the man's bathroom, just to be respectful. So some of my trans feminist friends plead not to include the transvestites in our mission, but would we really want to start a war with transvestite men just because we have nothing in common with them? We are being persecuted by the same patriarchal system, so lets not condemn or fight each other. My trans feminist friends told me that many transvestites go as far as to claim they are transsexual, just to be more accepted. People can Verbally identify with whatever label they want, and I don't have to take anyone's fetish personally.. Humans have a instinct about them, a sixth sense, they internally register what someone's gender essence is when they meet them. I will not blame the slow advancement of transsexual women on the men who like to dress up for what ever reason (but will blame it partly on the refusal of some trans gatekeeper's refusal to initiate internal conversations about this controversial topic in our community that many TS women want to talk about!), and then say they are transsexual, which may confuse society's education of the entire trans community, which includes transvestites. They can express themselves however they want, and people should just let them do what ever pleases them. But I do believe in DIFFERENT, BUT EQUAL.

However, it disappointed me in the 90's when I saw some gay male gendered acquaintances of mine go on national television ( like Jerry Springer) and parade around and say they were transsexual. I know the money and free trip to Chicago and attention they received (and thier only chance to be on national TV) was beneficial to their desires, but was that morally right on their part? I happened to know a few of the actors/guests that were on the show, so I'm not reading people Ive never met. These were men who lived their lives as men, and only dressed up for "fun", "erotica", to perform in "drag" or to engage in homosexual sex (but with a wig on). They did not identify as women, so I was offended that they would mock and exploit the authenticity of my sisters and I's being, and our plight to be understood and accepted, for such selfish and deviant gain. It was hard for me to forgive a few of the men I knew that that went on those shows, I felt like they had hurt my ideals just for fun, and I felt uncomfortable around them, like they were predators, but that was me just being young and taking things so personal. Regardless, When I was 20, I moved back to Orange County to be by my family and friends, and also because I did not feel connected or nurtured by the trans community I had come to know in LA. Now I do have friends in the trans community, but I still think more attention needs to devoted to "transsexuals" who personally identify with the binary, and who feel that "transgender" and "transvestite" new politics are ignoring the wants of many "transsexuals". I know today's youth wont forget "transsexuals". Today's mainstream opinion of the transsexual community was definitely shaped by some questionable characters that participated on Jerry Springer/like media forms (the girls are always saying those were the dark years for our movement).

So, its absolutely no wonder to me at all why so many "transsexual" women selectively choose when to stay "in the closet", and live their lives as the women that they truly are, away from people who they may not mesh well with. And I don't think they should be called cowards or sell outs. So many times I go to these trans conventions or meetings, and hear people bash transsexual women that "pass" and who aren't activists, and that are "in the closet". Firstly, no one is entitled to automatically be a trans activist just because they were born with unusual bodies.

Next, a woman is not "in the closet" just because she does not walk around with a "Trans Pride" t shirt in the office, or on a romantic dinner. The quote "The Personal is Political" is used over and over again by people in the trans community who disagree with the group of trans people who just live their lives as the gender they are, with out using every chance they get to say how "different" they are. (I've also noticed that its only trans people who don't "blend" in that complain about those who do) A women does not have to submit herself to any labels that the system provides her to categorize under. If a woman walks through life with those around her internally acknowledging her female spirit, then good for her. She is under no obligation to say "Wait, although it's obvious to both of us I'm woman, I'm under contract to tell you what a doctor wrote on my original birth certificate"- maybe a more intimate relationship may deserve more disclosure, but even then, each circumstance is different, and who do judges think they are to tell others what is right in a relationship that is not even their own, a type of relationship that they may not be able to truly understand for that matter. Also, many partners of trans people are enlightened and authentic enough to listen to the words of the heart, the unspoken language. It's like trans people planting seeds to inspire the partner's "self" realization, and some of these people who just come into loving a "trans" person, would not always prefer to speak into the universe such words that have negative stigma, which are labels that love did not create. They just happen to accept their "trans" companion as the gender they are. Some partners of trans do not need a full blown conversation on such external world categories for the pair's love to be pure, honest and evolve. The Oscar winning film "Boys Don't Cry" portrayed what I have touched on so perfectly, that being when someone falls in love with someone who happens to be trans, and comes to the knowledge "independently", that the love may just continue, with out "the conversation"- the "confession". Spiritually, there is nothing to confess, and Chloe Sevingy's character's heart knew this, trusted it, and accepted her trans sweetheart played by Hilary Swank (who won the Oscar for Best Actress). Using words that were labels never were exchanged between the two, because they had more important things to do, like love and accept each other unconditionally. Lastly, this whole "passing" term is so destructive and degrading. Let's look up some of the definitions of pass in the dictionary. Pass: 1- to secure the approval of . 2- VOID 3-effort; try And the definition of Passable: Just good enough" tolerable

My thoughts on these definitions:

Pass definition 1: to secure the approval of: Relating this definition to transsexual women who aesthetically appear to be born as "genetic" woman, it implies that TS women are living their lives as women to be approved by the world, and are conforming. The truth would be that they are just living life as themselves, who they were meant to be, and to be putting God's will before that of the establishment, and not because of convention's strict and suffocating binary gender "rules". Because when she was an innocent girl untainted by the sheep of the world's sad and controlled vision, she knew who she was, and decided at that early age that who she was was pure, and that the church, government, society, media and school would have to try to trick someone else to conform, because she was guarded by a strong and loving angel who would protect her from the land of the lost, and she would be guided one day to those who saw the light.

Pass definition 2: VOID: This definition alone should cause the trans community to opt for a different label for trans people who physically "present" themselves as who they are on the inside. Void means false, empty, containing nothing, useless, ----these are the saddest and most dehumanizing words ever to describe a person! To use vocabulary such as "pass" suggests that a TS woman or man is not real because of their physical entities, and that's scary when the trans community themselves is using such community defeating adjectives.

Pass definition 3: effort; try: This definition draws the illusion that a TS is living as someone she or he is not. Can't she just BE? She is not "trying", she IS. There is no "effort", it's NATURAL. Suggesting that a "TS" is "trying" with "effort" to be, is the same thing as saying she is FAKE, which makes the word "pass" derogatory. If anything, she is "trying" to point out to people that vocabulary is of extreme importance, especially when we are trying to educate non LGBT people here. The words we choose and allow to stay in our movement, will play a large role in our presentation, and success.

Passable definition: Just good enough; tolerable: This definition I have the most problem with. When using the word "passable" to describe a trans person who conventionally looks like the gender she/he is, it's like saying she barely made it through graduation, so she's acceptable. Its saying that all the others who may not be "passable", are inadequate, and unworthy to be classified as the gender they are on the inside. To say that someone is more of a girl then the other just because of what she looks like defies the very message of the trans movement, which to me is: Gender is FLUID. Many "straight" people have this thing where "if it looks, acts, and walks like a duck, then it's a duck"- never mind if it's a duck where it counts- in the heart. So when we use the word passable, we are feeding into this shallow mainstream rule.

A friend of mine had a wart removed that she was born with, it was on her chin. She did not feel connected to the wart, its not that she hated the wart, its just that she wanted to continue the rest of her life's journey with out the wart-----that simple. So she had it removed. Her picture on MY space does not feature The Wart, nor does she tell everyone right when she meets them that she used to have a wart. And she does not do charity work for removal of wart survivors. But she is a wonderful, honest and giving person. Likewise, women (or "transsexual" women) should be entitled to live whatever life they want. I have many "transsexual" women friends who do not feel that their voices are heard in the trans movement, so that's why they are missing in action.

I went on this tangent to express that many "transsexual" people feel that they are being bullied in the "T" movement by self proclaimed or innate transvestite people and transgendered people, and that we should all remember to be more inclusive of women who identify as women, and men who identify as men. The woman who says she is FTF, not MTF, is an example. And also, that the term PASS, does NOT pass the test! And we should look for a new answer.



I want to try to clear some things up concerning the prior part of this article. Many people either called or emailed me responses with different opinions when I originally posted it. Since I did not have the time to write all my thoughts, many thoughts were left out, and people may have drew interpretations of what I said that was not my design or belief. The main concerns that were expressed to me were

1. That I seemed to be on the fence concerning "transsexual" inclusion/separatism from transvestites

2. That I appeared to be in total support of a relationship between a trans woman and a heterosexual man where her being "trans" is not verbalized.

3. That I had not pointed out why trans may not want to be classified as trans, or known by society to be trans

Response to concern 1. A few transsexual women friends of mine contacted me and wanted to know why I seemed to be so wishy washy on the whole transvestite inclusion/separatism from "transsexuals" issue. I do not think that transvestites should use the women's restroom just because they have decided to dress up in women's clothing. Transvestism is a lifestyle, an expression. Where transsexual is gender, and not sex or entertainment related. The media needs to be educated more on the differences in the trans community, because it is such a large umbrella. However, this is not to say one "label" is better then the other, regardless of the stereotypical hierarchy. And I think that we all should help each other, and march together.

Response to concern 2. In a perfect world people openly would say everything that comes to mind, and no judgments would be made. People would have no wounds, and no one would be a target for hate. Challenging enough though, this is not the case, and this external world has drifted far away from the innocent origins of our true home. What is not discussed enough in formal trans issues meetings, is the issues and challenges of trans PARTNERS. They are part of our community, some more then others. Some are nicknamed "tranny chasers" (I dont like the term "tranny") by the community, and these are the individuals who seek out trans partners specifically. And then there are some individuals who just happen to fall in love with a person who is trans, and this partner may identify as straight. I would like to talk more about the fears, insecurities, challenges, identity confusion, etc. that these partners deal with. And also, why these relationships can be very complicated because of the many outside of love factors that influence, or discourage, these unions. But this is a long series a conversations, which I look forward to talking about soon.

Response to concern 3- Many trans people may not want to be seen as trans because of the negative stigma attached to the trans community by the media. They may disassociate themselves altogether from the community, because they feel they will find more fulfilling lives as "normal" (but what is normal?). Instead of working to change the unfair stereotypes, they "disappear" into a society that does not understand the community at large. Again, no one has a specific moral "burden" or responsibility to bear because of their born uniqueness. And these people should not be bashed because they have chosen another lifestyle then the ones we have chosen. And who's to say that they have not found "mainstream" people who understand them, and who they have healthy relationships with. Personally, I want to spend some of my time influencing the world to be more of the home that I want to live in, and for the trans youth after me.

In a way, I am relatively new in my education of many different trans issues, and am changing more and more each day. I am like an open sponge just soaking it all up, and expanding to acknowledge and understand all the different ideas and opinions of the diverse trans community. The opinions I post on my blog represent how I currently feel or think, and are not at all a statement of an orgnanization. And my opinions are entitled to grow, change or let go as time goes on. Its healthy for me to write how I feel at the present moment, because keeping it all bottled inside because I did not want to offend anyone, or I feel I need to express myself "perfectly", or not at all, is overwhelming me with a standstill. Being politically correct is understandable, but this is a blog, a diary, and self expression---not a interview on a PC talk show. I would like to be able to freely voice my self on this blog, and not have to be edited by fear. How can I develop if I cant be honest and speak from the heart? And I want all my friends and readers to honestly comment on what they read here, because what you say has an effect on my perception immensely. We all here are all interested in the same thing: trans progression - so we need to be able to have healthy and raw dialogue. We may differ at times, we may agree, or we may even pull the blinders off each other's windows, windows that we never knew existed. So lets all get it out! Lets collectively and fully understand ourselves as a community, before we go and educate others about us. I am open to changing or adding to my views. I love unfolding anew, but that only comes when we decide to talk about things that some may be uncomfortable talking about. Thanks guys, Ashley Love email: magnet_right_now@yahoo.com

Rain or Shine, Marching on Martin Luther King Day!

I had the joy of attending the Martin Luther King Day parade this weekend. I wanted to go because this is such a special time for the African American community, as Obama is the first president, our country is helping Haiti and more and more people are demanding that Mother Africa be protected from all the outside attackers.

I chose to march with the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) contingent because many measures are being taken to deny that community (of which I am a part of), civil rights and dignity.

I had been partying until 5 in the morning after The Golden Globes, and after I came home, I was only able to get 1 hour of sleep before my alarm went off. I turned off the alarm and thought I was too tired to go to the parade, but then I thought of all my friends who I wanted to see, and why it was especially important this year to make our LGBT community visible, and I somehow found the energy (and coffee) to get up and get ready.

We all met at Lucy Florence in Liemert Park, which was the meeting place for our LGBT and allies contingent. Lucy Florence is an adorable building with a theatre, coffee shop, clothing store and has meeting rooms. It is owned by two gay black twin brothers, and they are very active in the community. They named their place after their mother, Lucy.

It was great to see activist friends of mine I had not seen in a while, since I moved to New York last year. And it was also cool to meet people who I had befriended on Facebook for the first time. I just love how Facebook brings people together! There was breakfast food for us on a table.

Someone (who was not an organizer of the LGBT contingent) was having everyone complete a very long survey. My upbeat mood was temporarily interrupted when I noticed the survey referred to our community as the gay and lesbian community (excluding the trans and bisexual people who are also part of the community!). The woman who was in charge of the survey said "gay and lesbian” community meant "LGBT community". I told her in fact it did not, for bisexual people identify as bisexual, and that gender identity is not the same thing as sexuality, so it was inaccurate to call trans people "gay and lesbian", because many trans people are heterosexual, such as myself. I have this ongoing cause of educating people the oppression noninclusive language inflicts on the oppressed. Julian Bond of the NAACP refuses to acknowledge the trans community when he speaks, even though the NGLTF has repeatedly briefed him to. When I ran into him in Washington DC at The National March For Equality last fall, I told him it was very heartbreaking that he didn’t acknowledge us during his speeches, and he said he wouldn’t use noinclusive language again. Lets hope he keeps his word!

The shuttle took us all to where we were supposed to march. Then the parade started. And it was a slow march, so we were all able to have some great conversations. My friends and I were not believers that it was the Black community that passed Prop 8, as the some dishonest people had snuck into the media after Prop 8 passed. It was the religious communities. Also, the powers that be like to pit oppressed groups against each other, so we don’t focus on the true enemy. The LGBT community and ethnic minority groups need to work together.

I remember when Prop 8 passed and gay and lesbian leaders (I left out bisexual and trans on purpose) stooped as low as our detractors and put blame on the Black community. That is hogwash! No one I knew even did one of these mysterious “exit polls”, and why do people really believe all these reports in the media? Don’t people know that people manipulate data to cater to their own agenda? Furthermore, if more resources and education went to lower income and ethnic communities in the LGBT community, then perhaps we would be more united. I also believe that boards of LGB”T” non-profits should not only have members who are rich enough to donate thousands of dollars. I believe a portion of those seats should go to people based on the quality of their grass roots activism, and more people of color, and women, and trans people should be on their seats as well- the leaders on these boards and committees should mirror the actual entire LGBTQI community.

Martin Luther King believed in equality for all, and would have fought for legislation that protected our community. I am shocked that I did not know up until two years ago that King’s right hand man was gay! Bayard Rustin was a lot of the brains behind King. Sadly, most people do not know this. This is why I believe us fighting for the right to have our history taught in school is more important then us having the right to fight in a war that many do not believe in, sorry, but if the children are taught that LGBT people have made important contributions to society since the beginning of time, they will grow up and take care of the rest.

Back to the march. Half way through it started sprinkling, and then it started to rain hard! At first it was kinda fun, but then the roads became puddled with water, and then many our shoes became buckets of water! But we kept on pushing on. My friend Imani said she felt like we were being “baptized”, which was beautiful. Our community had to deal with so many people’s ignorance, fear and hate this year, so perhaps the water was cleaning it all away. Towards the end, the uncomfortableness of water in my shoes and how drenched I was almost made me quit, but I couldn’t do that to my friends. And I felt so good after that I finished. I felt really rejuvenated by marching with my queer family. We all ended at Lucy Florence, where they had warm food and shelter waiting for us. Then we went into the theatre and all gave reflections, which was very inspirational. Then a elder named Queen led us in a spiritual prayer, and we were sent off blessed. I made a lot of new friends, and know this event will be a precious memory in my mind and heart forever.