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. 

Attention "Anti-Bullying" Advocates: Gay Male Public Figures Misgendering Girls & Women Born With A Transsexual Medical Condition Is Also Bullying, So Please Stop!

Definition from www.BullyFree.com :


What Is Bullying?

Bullying is a form of aggressive behavior that is intentional, hurtful, (physical and psychological), and/or threatening and persistent (repeated). There is an imbalance of strength (power and dominance).

The above definition includes the following criteria that will help you determine if a student is being bullied:

• The mistreatment must be intentional.
• The mistreatment must be hurtful (physical or psychological).
• The mistreatment is threatening. The individual fears harms. Fear their safety.
• The mistreatment must occur more than once. However, some disagree with this. They say one very hurtful event is enough to label it bullying.
• There must be a power imbalance.

I'm glad they included that bullying can also be psychological. Bullying is not just tripping someone and taking their lunch money, or slamming their head against the locker. Bullying in the form of words can be more harmful than violence, especially words which dehumanize.

Bullying many times comes from those who were bullied themselves.

One interesting fact is that there are some high profile gay men, such as  columnist Dan Savage or drag personality RuPaul, who though they are both quoted as referring to themselves as "anti-bullying advocates", many would argue that both men use their media outlets to bully people who are different than themselves, particularly women, and even more so women born with transsexualism.

Hell, Dan Savage has even successfully promoted his brand to that of  the King of anti-bullying gurus. Yet despite Savage's widespread 'It Gets Better Campaign' he has been exposed more times than one, or one hundred really, of bullying transsexual and transgender people. He's done so by ridiculing and misgendering them, using offensive pejoratives and then ignoring or dismissing their grievances when they express how his transphobia negatively affects them. Further, his claims that bisexuality doesn't exist harms the bisexual community. Savage writing rape apologist sentiments in his column alienates female sexual assault survivors and belittles the epidemic of unjust court trials concerning assault. And so on.

On Monday RuPaul once again said some transsexual-phobic comments on his reality show, but this time he has gone too far. The targets of RuPaul's bullying, girls and women with a transsexual medical history, have organized a boycott meant to counter his misgendering. Learn more about MAGNET's boycott in our write up: http://themagnetsource.blogspot.com/2012/10/magnet-boycotts-rupauls-ongoing.html

I don't think Dan Savage or RuPaul are bad men, but they are men, and they have no right pretending to be experts on the young girls and women in our community, or to mock and make sexist and transsexual-phobic comments about us.  Whatever these grown men's unresolved personal issues are, they shouldn't use the women in our community as a punching bag to deal with those issues, they should seek professional help if that's what they need.

If they want enlightened people to take their "anti-bullying" initiatives seriously they would do well to stop behaving like bullies them damn selves.

The Creating Change Conference Reinstilled My Hope & Faith In The LGBTTI Coalition; There's Still Work To Be Done

sometimes you have to have uncomfortable & complicated conversations to provoke real change

in Creating Change's "Transsexual/Transgender Hospitality Suite"

The Creating Change conference could not have come at a better time for me in my life. It was such an inspiring experience. I learned so much, made new friends and regained the hope that events in the month of January had brutally ripped from me.

Last month was quite a whirlwind for me personally. My faith was put to the test in such a way that made me question where I wanted to go in life, if my dreams were achievable, if I should take a different path and who my real friends were. Sinister forces used a public platform as a bully pulpit to engage in libelous and transsexual-phobic smear campaigns against many transsexual and intersex activists. I too was attacked by politicians who felt I was not submitting enough to the status quo and speaking out too much about inequality and transsexual-misogyny.

Since I refused to be a mute model for Equality Incorporated, and actually wanted a vote, I was punched out. As I layed there dazed and confused, I asked myself if the frustration and disappointments were worth it. I got back up and said “No, I will not lie down for your anti-transsexual agenda. I am WOMAN, hear me roar!”

As a woman who is very empathetic and maternal, it hurt me deeply that such dishonest and violent energies could be directed at women and men of transsexual and/or intersex experience who simply, and innocently, wanted accurate and compassionate representation. Some transgender, cross dresser and gender queer [gender variant] people in positions of power have censored the transsexual and intersex communities plight from having a proper seat at the table, and I feel many in the gay and lesbian elite were all too willing to allow the gay appropriation of our medical conditions to be reserved to a gender deconstructionist agenda against our will.

At the exact time that the TS/TG/IS communities should have been rallying together to demand ENDA be “alive”, when Gay Inc and its TG employees were saying “ENDA's dead”, a Gay Inc blog decided to pit us against each other. Therefore, instead of using those precious few weeks to mobilize, organize and speak out against the desired assassination of ENDA, a gay blog succeeded in casting the TS/TG/IS communities into a civil war. I found this to be the most treacherous of strategies, and proof that the colonization of TS/TG/IS issues by gay community can have disastrous results.

A part of me wanted to retreat from the bullying, lies and abuse and exit the online world. I had planned to delete my Facebook account and just focus on internal education with those who were not so resistant against the discussion of diversity in the TS/TG/IS communities. I love life too much to be the punching bag for those who are maliciously transsexual-phobic, and I know too much insider information and the real history of our communities to preach fake PC narratives. As a feminist and womanist, there was, and is no way I can allow my “masters” to dictate to me to pretend that certain misogynistic Virginia Prince ideologies (that still exist in some politics today) don’t objectify, sexualize and marginalize women of transsexual and/or intersex experience. And as a realist, I won’t co-sign certain pseudo gender theories and TG/cross dresser mandates that misgender, “other” and insensitively bulldoze over TS/IS people’s truth with such astounding hostility and selfishness. Finally, just because I am a femme woman I will not be type casted as an “opinion-less cheerleader” to only say “go team”. When many TS/IS women demonstrate free thinking and transsexual-feminism they get gang banged by the establishment.

Femme phobia is alive and crackin’!

TS/IS people’s unique needs are not being met, and there are some internal LGBTTI coalition conflicts that must be resolved if we are to truly gain harmony so we can move forward in authenticity.

Due to the love and comfort from my friends, and the understanding from many in the transsexual and intersex communities, and allies, I decided not to delete my Facebook account, yet opted for a Terms Of Service for my page and blog, which included rules against cyber bullying and transsexual-phobic rants from commenters.

I was invited to go to Creating Change from a longtime friend, Rea Carey. I met her years ago when I lived In LA, around the same time I started doing activism. She is the executive director of the Task Force, which organized the conference. In 2007, when Barney Frank and HRC removed protections for transsexual and transgender people in ENDA, the Task Force took a stand against this exclusion and helped create “United ENDA”, which many organizations signed onto, including MAGNET. For me, it was heart wrenching for only months after becoming involved in the LGBTTI community movement to see the harsh reality that TS/TG/IS issues get thrown under the bus by some in the Gay Elite. It was reassuring when the Task Force said “No, HRC and Barney Frank, we won’t move anywhere without our TS/TG brothers and sisters!”

I chose to go to Creating Change because my intuition told me that many answers awaited me. I trusted that not all people in the LGBTTI coalition were reluctant to hearing the valid concerns TS/IS people had about their medical legitimacy being dismissed, and the misgendering, objectifying and self-alienating ideologies that some transgender and cross dresser politicians miseducate about *all* of us. What is true for someone may not be true for someone else, which is why we must not wipe out individuality for the sake of “what’s easy”.

I did a lot of soul searching and praying last month when others publicly misunderstood my pure intentions. And though I could have had every reason to follow those in the transsexual community who are fed up with the LGB and TG communities and want to succeed completely, my intuition told me there had to be some compassionate, rational and understanding allies in the LGB and TG communities who cared about the legitimate plea of many TS/IS Americans.

So I went to the conference. There was so much love, positive energy and family there. I was sad that it had to end. I wish I had started going to this conference years ago. And all the hope that was taken from me last month was reinstalled in me times three by all the amazing people I spent time with!

I worked 14 hours days the entire conference! It was exhausting and energizing at the same time, an unusual combo! I barely got any sleep! From workshops, sessions, panels and lectures all day, to events, parties, meeting and networking in the evening. It was such a productive time. The one on one discussions I had were the most rewarding to me, and the truth is, most people in the LGBTTI coalition that I personally know are not a part of the angry mob that is hell bent on dismissing, misrepresenting and vilifying the honest concerns that many TS/IS Americans have about their narrative and medical realities being devalued and misunderstood in the newer transgender sociopolitical expression. Transsexual and intersex people have a birth challenge and/or medical condition; whereas transgender/gender queer and cross dressing people have a gender identity issue. We all deserve civil rights, but to erase the TS/IS narrative in the name of “politics” is tyranny and oppression. I know there is a way we can be all be allies of each other without disrespecting each other’s truths. We are equal, but different.

In the week ahead I will write a few blogs on my experience at Creating Change. I feel so blessed to have been able to attend. If there was ever a doubt that the transsexual and intersex communities have no place in the LGB and transgender coalition, this experience inspired me to believe that change is arising, and many people do get the frustration many transsexual and intersex people are rightfully feeling in the coalition, and are wanting and willing to take action with us to ensure we too have a proper seat at the LGBTTI coalition table.

Apart from the educational blossoms that the conference unfolded, and seeing and spending time with old friends and associates, it really was a treat to make new friends and co-activist buddies. The best part of activism to me is the personal friendships I make. I don’t really have a nurturing and attentive family; I had to give up many of them when I decided to allow my natural birth condition to manifest its destiny. I love nothing more than spending time with my activist family. I love my LGBTTI family so much; they are pretty much my soul family, apart from my other long time friends. My heart is really in my activism, which is why it hurts so much when I feel the transsexual and intersex portion of the coalition is disrespected. I was in California during the Prop 8 drama, and fought with the gay and lesbian community for their rights, even though Prop 8 did not affect me and my boyfriend from having the right to marry. Yet I fought not just because I have many loved ones who are gay or lesbian, but because it was the right thing to do. TS/IS people would like the same regard from the LGB community. In some respects we are all we have; we have to look out for each other. Believe it or not, I don’t enjoy calling out some people in the coalition on their irresponsible and hurtful treatment and decisions in regards to the TS/IS community. But since my heart is in this, I can’t pretend everything is picture perfect just because people say “Ashley, we don’t like the “new radical you”, we miss the happy go lucky Ashley that smiles”. Well, I’m not a model; I just don’t smile all day. And just because I am assertive and an TS/TG/IS activist, does not mean I am not the same person from before. Or perhaps I am more aware...

It’s just things are very time sensitive now, and we have to wake up, and fast. TS/IS Americans also want a piece of the equality pie, and I would hope the LGB and TG communities would help us with our goals…and in an equal level to which their goals are pursued.

I can’t wait until Creating Change next year, but until then, I look forward to creating change every day, and trying to be more forgiving of entities that have not been as understanding or responsible to the TS/IS communities as they should have been. I also have made a commitment to be more sensitive to communities other than my own. I am so happy I got my hope back, and I feel there will be more sunshine in my future writings, though of course a few topics will still have to be addressed first. But I really do see that this coalition/family does have a chance to have true harmony. Big hugs to everyone who went to Creating Change, my Facebook friends and the ‘Trans Forming Media’ readers. Love, Ashley

Pain Brought By Joy: The Joy Behar Show’s Pattern of Transphobia & Ignorance Perpetuates Harm on Transsexual, Transgender & Intersex Americans.

Pain Brought By Joy: The Joy Behar Show’s Pattern of Transphobia & Ignorance Perpetuates Harm on Transsexual, Transgender & Intersex Americans.

by Ashley Love- Founder of MAGNET- Media Advocates Giving National Equality to Transsexual & Transgender

Some of the problems Americans with a transsexual medical condition or a gender non-conforming (transgender) identity face are the defamatory media stereotypes and inaccurate education about them or their issues. Although trans issues have become more visible in recent years, many journalists and television and radio hosts continue to exclude experts from the transsexual and transgender communities in their coverage. Instead, they often rely on non-trans people (in this case, gay male pundits who are not transsexual) with little knowledge or insight of their issues. These pundits misrepresent transsexual and transgender people and perpetuate intolerant views of gender and biological diversity.

Last month The Joy Behar Show had two highly problematic shows concerning transsexuality and gender identity. Previously, Joy Behar also expressed transphobic sentiments on The View.

The first incident aired in late 2006. The hosts of The View (one of my favorite talk shows) were having a conversation concerning terminology used in the transsexual and transgender communities in which Joy Behar offensively blurted out "ewww...that's weird.” :(

Then on The Joy Behar Show's November 10th, 2010 episode, the topic of discussion was the pejorative "tra**y" (an anti-transsexual woman slur). Shockingly, instead of inviting transsexual women on the show to express their feelings about this hate speech, invited instead were two unqualified and insensitive gay men (who are not trans). Radio host Michelangelo Signorile and author Greg Fitzsimmons discussed the misogynistic word with a condescending and non-affirming tone. For what reason would Behar’s producers have two gay men serve as “experts” about a slur associated with sexism and violence towards women, not men? Women can speak for themselves, thank you very much.

If the “N word” was used on TV to dehumanize a Black person, would Behar have Asian people on her show to discuss it? Or if someone in the media was using the pejorative “dyke” to dehumanize lesbian women, would Behar solely ask straight men their opinions? Trans leaders and the history of the LGB”T” movement testify that some in the gay and lesbian community are just as guilty of transphobia as non-trans straight people are, which is why it’s imperative that trans Americans be able to represent themselves.

This appropriation and lack of trans representation has stigmatizing results on the public’s perception of Americans with transsexualism. Transsexualism is a birth challenge and medical condition, and has absolutely nothing to do with sexual orientation. “Transgender” is a term used to describe a person's gender identity. Gender is a person's identity, the core essence of who that person is. Sexual orientation describes who a person is attracted to. They are totally different concepts.

When Behar asked if the “T word” was ever used as a "compliment", Signorile remarked "there's a club in San Francisco called 'Tra**y Shack’”. The Tra**y Shack is a sensationalist male drag queen show, with gay men performing a stage act. Comparing transsexualism to male drag queen camp is not only wrong, but it exists as stigmatizing propaganda that transsexual women are "extensions of gay men" and "female impersonators". This is called "trans face", where gay men imitate trans women in a mocking, over the top and degrading fashion. Signorile undermined trans women’s dignity in their affirmed gender realities.

In Behar’s defense, at least she disagreed with Signorile's shallow defense of the “T word”. She compared the use of the “T word” to racial slurs, arguing that it’s not for people who are not a part of the community a pejorative is aimed at to reclaim it. Well done Joy.

Days later, on the November 21 episode, Behar discussed Chaz Bono's transition as a transman in a segment called “Transgender In America.” He is the son of celebrities Sonny and Cher Bono. Although Chaz identifies and presents as male, Behar kept referring to him as “her” and “she.” This maligning language was extremely disrespectful to Chaz and to all transsexual and transgender people. Behar should, and does, know better.

This episode was compounded by yet another transphobic gay male pundit, Ken Corbett, who not only used improper pronouns, but expressed his unscientific opinion that Chaz is unauthentic in his gender. Behar should have had a medical doctor or affirming psychologist trained in the facts pertaining to the transsexual birth challenge or gender identity issues, not a self-loathing gay man who resents the trans community because they bring up his insecurity of diverse gender expression.

Some discriminated against people feel the need to mimic their oppressors by oppressing others who have less social acceptance then they do. That’s clearly the behavior that Corbett was displaying in his invalid comments about trans people.

There are apologists who believe criticizing Behar’s irresponsibility and offensive content is unwarranted. Certain people in marginalized minority groups are so accustomed to the abuse and belittlement cast on them by mainstream society that they begin to be grateful for insults candy coated in advocacy. Some gay people accused trans activists who expressed their disappointment with Behar’s behavior of “unfairly crucifying Behar”.

Isn’t that something? Trans people speak out against the dehumanizing media that is hurting them and in return they get attacked and called “crucifiers”. This is a projection tactic in which those being legitimately criticized decline to take responsibility for their actions and instead attack those justly seeking accountability.

No, we will not say thank you for crumbs or the backs of your hand!

One gay man I interviewed protested the trans community’s uproar, saying: “…but Behar is a great LGBT ally”. Wrong. Behar is a great “LGB” ally. Adding the “T” in the acronym in this instance is inaccurate. Just because someone supports gay and lesbian people authentically and consistently does not necessarily mean they are equally enthused about assisting the trans community. Trans people are more misunderstood, feared and oppressed in society than gay and lesbian people, which is why some gay advocates do not always choose to be trans advocates.

What is hypocritical is that Behar consistently discusses feminist issues, yet participates in alienating oppressed women born with a birth challenge. If feminism is for liberation and equality for all women, then by invalidating trans women’s gender, she is not authentically being a feminist. To frame it in an Orwellian “Animal Farm” context, some women should not be treated “more equal” than other women.

Behar used to be a teacher- yet an ethical, professional approach to presenting such misunderstood content is to conduct unbiased, balanced research. As a news presenter, one would assume she or her staffers would do basic Trans 101 research before presenting such misleading ideas on the air. Even the Associated Press Association opposes Behar’s improper use of pronouns. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, so I’m sure she has learned that the oppressed understand their oppressors far better than the other way around.

I don’t feel Joy Behar is an enemy to the trans community, but she obviously has some phobia issues concerning gender and biological diversity. Also, the producers of The Joy Behar show are just as guilty of irresponsibility because they should have had actual trans people on the November 11th episode to discuss the "T word” slur, not have their issues be colonized by the gay and lesbian community. There are numerous trans specific organizations the producers could have gone to for trans spokespeople, such as the Media Advocates Giving National Equality to Transsexual & Transgender People (MAGNET), Gender Identity Reform, Transgender Law Center, International Foundation for Gender Education (IFGE), , etc.

Universal joy in this world will occur when the human race ceases to fear diversity, and instead, celebrates it.

The many trans activists and allies speaking out against the transphobic and dehumanizing messages expressed on The Joy Behar Show last November are challenging a belief system stemmed from fear and ignorance, drawing a line in the sand, calling on others to join in the trans community’s outrage and letting the mainstream and gay and lesbian community know that the silent resignation of the trans community is over!