City of Angels Say Words DO Matter: L.A. Center Renames to "LGBT", CSW Pride's First Ever "TLGB" Pride, Angelinos Strike Back Against Anti-Trans Slurs

 Had a good time at TLGB Pride in L.A. yesterday. Nice to hear many talented artists perform, get some sun, eat delicious food, enjoy summer cocktails, visit information booths and most importantly see old friends. An interesting summer in Los Angeles: The "GL" Center renames to Los Angeles LGBT Center, Pride organizers put T in front of "TLGB" Pride and many Angelinos are speaking out against transphobia in gay male spaces, which happens frequently in L.A. (where the controversial RuPaul's Drag Race show is filmed and many noted transphobes reside).
-
It's good to see L.A. trying, and although names and words are very important, so are the ideas and messages we send out into the world, and the undeniable consequences of certain actions. So when you are at The Abbey in West Hollywood and the waiter accidentally spills a drink on you don't yell out to the distressed waiter, - "You freakin' tra**y, look what you did, selfish jerk". - Instead you should 1) realize it was an accident and 2) maybe just not hurl around anti-transsexual slurs at all for they are poisoning our society with anti-trans sentiment, marginalization and all forms of violence.
-
In the spirit of Pride it does feel great to have CSW L.A. Pride and the L.A. Center make these positive gestures, especially at a time when the rift between the LGB and the T* communities is wide.
-
Hopefully we understand that attacking someone else's pride by promoting the misgendering and dehumanization of women with birth challenges is not "cool", "hip", "edgy" or a gosh dang freakin' "term of endearment". Authentic "endearment" is sincerely listening to our feelings and actually looking at the facts, not blindly or consciously encouraging transphobia via defamation and misinformation campaigns.
-
What L.A. non-profits did this summer was take a stand and say words DO matter, and they showed us that by editing their names. This is a real Pride month in L.A. Let's all be inspired from Los Angeles and make changes that affirm and reflect all transsexual and transgender Americans. Hope you have a great rest of your Pride month!

MTV / Logo's Stand Against RuPaul's Transphobic Rhetoric Triggers Even More Verbal Abuse from the Embattled Impersonator

Thank you to MTV / LogoTV and Viacom for publically distancing themselves from disgruntled employee RuPaul after his recent emotional melt-down where he lashed out in response to Logo rightfully siding with the trans community by banning trans hate speech on their platform.

Logo affirmed that trans people's safety, equality and basic human dignity are more of a priority to their network than appeasing certain gay male entertainer's unhealthy insistence on using (and capitalizing off of) misogynistic and transphobic slurs in front of millions of impressionable viewers. Logo's pro-trans-humanity resolution is cause for celebration and even healing between the often conflicted LGB and T* camps, yet somehow this step forward triggered RuPaul for he immediately lashed out in spite.

In a May 19th podcast interview he literally referred to all trans women who find his transphobic jokes and double standards unacceptable as "b*tches" and continuously used anti-trans slurs.

Not an olive branch and not a 'meet in the middle' - just this immature 'sore losers' tantrum. Very disappointing. The mother and healer in me is feeling his pain, but, unfortunately, he appears to be consciously unaware of how misguided his "victim artist" role is (especially when he recently criticized actress Amanda Bynes on Twitter for using the slur f*ggot, even though she pulled a RuPaul and said, "But I didn't mean it in a bad way". He still didn't buy her defense of her slur usage - and guess what big man, we don't buy your identical defense either.).

How can he not see that just like he and many other gay men don't like non-gay men saying the word f*ggot or other homophobic slurs, trans women and men also do not appreciate gay men appropriating anti-trans slurs as a means to appear edgy, funny and shocking, no matter the cost to the actual community who the slur is hurled at.

Logo quickly made it known that they disapproved with RuPaul’s podcats rant. Then on Twitter the 'reality star gone hate-slur advocate' desperately continued his push back against Logo for holding him accountable for his defamation against transsexual women - who he laughingly described as male clowns in dresses last year during an episode of RuPaul's Drag Race and publically mocked their medically necessary healthcare.

Strangely enough, RuPaul has unknowingly joined the ranks of far right and ultra-phobic group Focus on the Family who also misgender and refer to transsexual women as "tr*nnys, she-males and cross dressers" in political campaigns and literature aimed at dehumanizing and disempowering trans* Americans.

Wake up Ru, MTV / Logo / Viacom does not need you for "light bills" as your delusional tweet says, much like ESPN or the NBA does not need racist Clippers owner Donald Sterling to pay their "light bills".

Reality Check: It's 2014, not 1985, and numerous companies and media outlets finally deem transphobia just as offensive as racism, sexism and homophobia.

So when you judge Duck Dynasty and others for their homophobic comments honestly ask yourself why you feel entitled to then make equally offensive comments about others.

Your well documented hypocrisy has made clear that this so-called debate is not really a debate at all for your very own campaign against anti-gay slurs is no different than our fight against you using anti-trans slurs.

Your illogical spin vanishes under the light.

And yes, Logo actually has "distanced itself" from your transphobic jokes and abusive rants by making multiple public statements expressing that enough is enough! Their network will not abandon doing the right thing by transsexual and transgender Americans just because a handful of gay male entertainers feel their celebrity status and fan base gives them special allowances to foster an unhealthy workplace environment or create media content where the women in my community are made targets of propaganda that misgenders and dehumanizes us.

The choice could be yours to maturely move forward as a man who has consciously unconditioned himself of feeling entitled to dictate to women what is or isn't acceptable for us to be offended by and to instead evolve as an authentic ally who sincerely listens. We all make mistakes but the good news is we all have the chance to grow.

Grow up and gain some compassion.

 

Blind "Anti-bullying" Advocates Apologizing For Anti-Transsexual Slurs Is Such A Drag…A Brutal…Ongoing…Drag

 

Sick of blind "anti-bullying" advocates apologizing for Drag Race being such a drag... a brutal... ongoing drag!

History Repeats: The same way a disappointedly large percentage of the gay male community is responding to the women in my community expressing how hurling out anti-trans slurs and systematic misgendering effects them spiritually, emotionally and sometimes physically is amazingly similar to how men in America treated women suffragettes who lobbied to vote. Little boys need to stop these toddler tantrums, calm down, be gentle and listen to people's feelings. You're better than this so affirm your community's rainbow logo and genuinely celebrate and respect ALL the colors of the rainbow, not only a classist and sexist few.

The LGB media has committed non-journalism by not enforcing a balanced presentation of all sides, such as primarily only allowing gay male and drag queen opinions and writers to influence this story. Our voices become censored because LGBT media is really G media, once you take off the wig the truth remains.

Many token trans toms (selected by LGB media heads) who do find themselves all of a sudden joining the transsexual community's cause subtly or even blatantly apologize for their gay male benefactors slighting us and/or misrepresent the origins of this plight by censoring the feminist element out of the coverage almost entirely. Having our LGB handlers at GLAAD transparently select and produce trans* reality TV contestants into their mouth pieces may seem to serve us with one hand yet cleverly (mis)speaks for us with the other. They jump on the bandwagon, soften our grievance's urgent concerns and recite some GLAAD written sound bite that benefits the same establishment that encourages our 2nd class status in this LG"t" coalition. And it is a coalition at best, not one community, but independent and diverse communities, catch it

#RuPaulNewRaymond - Is RuPaul the New Janice Raymond?: The Numerous Similarities between the King of Pro-Slur Promoters and the Exterminator of Medicare Supported Healthcare for Women Born With Transsexualism Are Too Alarming To Ignore

 

(Originally written and posted on my Facebook page on May 30, 2014)

Is RuPaul the New Janice Raymond?

 #RuPaulNewRaymond

Today's Medicare victory affirms the women and men born with transsexualism who seek needed healthcare and alignment in their lives, and overrules the pro-misgendering and discriminatory campaign launched by openly lesbian Janice Raymond.

Raymond obsessively led the propaganda fueled misinformation war on girls and women born with transsexualism aimed at misgendering us, exterminating our medically necessary treatment and ultimately engineering sociocide against our already established community.

Now RuPaul and his primarily gay male followers have similarly pushed away compassion and support of my sisters to instead ride the sexist tidal wave of dispensing extremely anti-transsexual slurs and saying transphobic comments on platforms which influence millions of people to condone the 'othering' and stigmatizing of an already oppressed minority.

Raymond and RuPaul have little in common in terms of personality, background or fashion style, but they do have one dangerous thing in common: Both are openly gay individuals who tricked others into thinking they were credible authority figures to comment on issues that specifically effect females with transsexual history and then misused their position to wage harm on our lives.

Both publically have been documented in wide reaching media outlets as referring to our women as "men in dresses".

Both publically ridiculed and invalidated the need for the transsexual community's transition-related healthcare.

Both loved anti-trans slurs.

Both have been promoted on non-trans media outlets as "experts” instead of the uncompassionate and phobia-mongering brutes that they truly are.

Obviously Raymond's crimes cost lives, but it could also be measured that inciting phobia and dehumanizing an already oppressed minority group has grave consequences if done on a massive scale, such as media defamation.

So while we celebrate today's victory against the closure of Raymond's concentration camp, let's learn from the past and strategize on how to counteract the forces who want to normalize dehumanizing and misgendering defamation in the media.

#RuPaulNewRaymond

Ironically, the Lyrics and Heroine in 'Let It Go' (Oscar for 'Best Song') Speaks Directly To What So Many Transsexual Women & Girls Go Through. Many LGB and Cis-Gender Straight People May Fail To Understand The Backlash Against Hollywood 'Trans Face' and Jared Leto's Transphobic Comments, But Frozen's 'Princess Elsa' Very Much Does Understand.

Princess Elsa from Disney's 'Frozen'

Ironically, the character Princess Elsa in the song 'Let It Go’,  (which won the Oscar for Best Song) could have easily been a trans* woman. In Disney's film ‘Frozen’ the plot starts out when Elsa is a child and her parents advise her to hide her differences because they fear others will misunderstand and shun her. She is pretty much over sheltered and treated like a handicapped person. Her parents die unexpectedly and it is just her and her baby sister. She continues to live in the shadows thinking it would be better for everyone. When she comes of age she can no longer mask her birth challenge and when society finds out they become fearful and vilify her. She runs away from her family and kingdom and retreats to a new home which is marginalized on the outskirts of society. Though she misses her family at least she is allowed to live openly as who she is. Everyone seems to have an opinion on who she is but only those who love her really know. After sometime as a recluse she decides that she is strong enough to own her truth publicly and ventures back to pursue justice. She won’t let the close-minded society alienate and banish her any longer. Her love for her sister is more powerful then what other people think about her. In the end the people of the kingdom realize that although she is different (who doesn't have something different about them?) that she is not someone to be frightened of and in fact that she has a beautiful and big heart and has a lot to offer the community.

It is a heartwarming story. I confess I have listened to this song on repeat many times because it really inspires me. While many people fail to understand why so many transsexual and transgender woman are feeling slighted by the Hollywood ‘trans face’ epidemic, the ramifications of institutionalized misgendering, transphobia (in both LGB and straight circles), the mockery that is Jared Leto’s ‘Rayon’ character and why he shouldn't have won the Oscar - it’s comforting to know that the heroine Princess Elsa very much does understand and has actually lived what many of my sisters and I have and continue to go through.

My advice to the many gay, lesbian and cis-gender straight people going on and on about why transsexual and transgender women should relax, shut up and just accept the many problems raised by the Jared Leto/’Rayon’/Misgendering/Hollywood ‘trans face’ controversy is to maybe take step back and consider our feelings, our life experiences, our loss, our pain and our desire to be loved and appreciated for who we are in a world that continuously mocks, dehumanizes and vilifies us. It’s not easy being the punch line of every joke or the punching bag of every bigot. Please exercise some compassion and actually listen. Being a true ally means listening, not arrogantly and cluelessly TELLING us our feelings are invalid. Be gentle with us. The authentic heart of the protest against Jared Leto’s transphobic public comments and the constant Hollywood ‘trans face’ is thousands of girls and women simply wanting people to acknowledge our humanity and affirm who we are.

Here are the lyrics of the ‘Let It Go’ song which I and many of my trans* friends very much identify with:

A kingdom of isolation,
And it looks like I’m the Queen.

The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside
Couldn’t keep it in, heaven knows I tried

Don’t let them in, don’t let them see
Be the good girl you always have to be

Conceal, don’t feel, don’t let them know
Well, now they know

Let it go, let it go
Can’t hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn away and slam the door

I don’t care
What they’re going to say
Let the storm rage on,
The cold never bothered me anyway

It’s funny how some distance
Makes everything seem small
And the fears that once controlled me
Can’t get to me at all

It’s time to see what I can do
To test the limits and break through
No right, no wrong, no rules for me I’m free

Let it go, let it go
I am one with the wind and sky
Let it go, let it go
You’ll never see me cry

Here I stand
And here I'll stay
Let the storm rage on

My power flurries through the air into the ground
My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around
And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast
I’m never going back, The past is in the past

Let it go, let it go
And I'll rise like the break of dawn
Let it go, let it go
That perfect girl is gone

Here I stand In the light of day
Let the storm rage on,
The cold never bothered me anyway

The Same Angry Mob That Lynched The Dixie Chicks (w/ Misogynistic Comments & Boycott) For Exercising Their Freedom of Speech Are Those Rallying For Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson To Spit Racist & Homophobic Rants Without Consequences

There's nothing like a strong cup of other's Hypocrisy to get me all riled up to write a new blog post. Last night I was studying the statistics about the primary demographic of people who are losing their marbles over Duck Dynasty’s patriarch Phil Robertson getting suspended by A&E. It turns out they are the exact same mob who went off the deep end when the Dixie Chicks voiced their opposition against the war!

So let me get this straight: Women such as the Dixie Chicks, in particular lead singer Natalie Maines, cannot speak openly about the killing of innocent civilians and unjust wars overseas, but a man such as Phil Robertson with dated ideologies can not only spit the most racist and homophobic rants but he should be praised for those prejudiced beliefs, not reprimanded? ------ Now that’s one hundred flights over the cuckoo’s nest if I ever did see!

First of all, A&E suspending him has nothing to do with “freedom of speech”. This is about a network having the freedom to distance themselves from values in which they do not condone. It is also about advertisers actually being the ones who have the freedom to place their marketing dollars wherever they choose. Phil in fact has still retained his right to spit mumbo jumbo – he now just has to find a new platform to in which to do so.

There are real consequences to inciting hate and violence. One of them is losing friends.

I would very much like the people who rallied to boycott and vilify the Dixie Chicks to do some serious self-evaluation about the inconsistency of their supposed values. You can’t have it both ways. You don’t get to pick and choose.  The most vile and misogynist comments were said about the Dixie Chicks – ironically similar to the vulgar comments spewed by Robertson himself. It’s unbelievable that some people are incapable of putting a mirror up to themselves and becoming aware of their blatant and unapologetic double standards.

If I owned a company I too would kick racist and homophobic people to the curb. That negativity is soooo fifty years ago.

Dec. 1 - World AIDS Day - [from Black AIDS Institute] Ashley Love's '30 Under 30' Essay for BAI's '30 Years of AIDS' Commemoration Report

Two years ago I was invited to take part of Black AIDS Institute’s (BAI) 30th Anniversary project where 30 individuals ("young black leaders, celebrities and activists") were chosen to write essays about their advocacy work to combat AIDS. Today, Dec. 1, is World AIDS Day and I am sharing my essay with you. Much work remains, including eradicating the misgendering and misclassification n of transsexual women from the “MSM” category, providing more assessable and affordable care in Africa and ensuring more preventative measures.

“As part of its special "30 years of AIDS" commemoration report, the Black AIDS Institute is profiling 30 young black leaders, celebrities and activists who have worked to make a difference in the fight against black AIDS.” (Julian Breece, Editor of ‘30 under 30’ feature)

Link to BAI’s PDF issue: http://www.bcoa.org/pdfs/30%20Years%20Is%20Enuf.pdf

From Black AIDS Institute’s  June 2011 Issue and 30^th Anniversary Edition:

ASHLEY LOVE

 

[photo for Black AIDS Institute]

 

  Due to a lack of human rights protections from the government and understanding from families and society, many Americans born transsexual and/or intersex, or that have a transgender identity, find themselves in very vulnerable and dangerous situations.  Because of this alienation some people in these communities engage in unsafe behavior as a way to cope and survive, making them vulnerable to infection with HIV.

  I have lost two people close to me because of this disease.  One of them was a woman who was born with a transsexual medical condition.  She wanted love so much that she trusted the wrong man and, instead of protecting herself, took a risk that proved fatal.  

  A lot of work needs to be done to educate society about transsexual, transgender and intersex issues. The unhealthy stigma and dehumanization of these communities is what leads to situations where they contract the disease. Low self-esteem caused by people’s prejudice against human diversity is what causes many in these communities to fail to safeguard their health.

  If any of my sisters are reading this, know that your life is a beautiful gem.  Cherish yourself and your temple.  We all want love, but we have to love ourselves first and foremost if we are to receive authentic love from someone else.  Regardless of the misguided fear and toxic hate in the world directed at people who are born different, don’t believe the lies that say you are unworthy.

  You are a child of God just the way you are.  Treat yourself kindly, because you deserve it.

Ashley Love is the founder of Media Advocates Giving National Equality to Transsexual & Transgender People and a popular contributor to the Huffington Post.

Originally published in June 2011 by Black AIDS Institute