The world is made up of many different people with many different cultures and backgrounds and here in the good old US of A we have always referred to our heritage of bringing people together in our country in a “melting pot”.
We have watched groups struggle as they came here at first until another group came and took there place on the bottom of the chain. The Irish, the Italians, the Japanese, the Eastern Europeans African –Americans although clearly not by choice- they all came and after some struggles integrated into our society. Black people, particularly by virtue of the fact they were brought here by a vile institution known as human slavery, suffered through great hardship and struggles for human rights through the civil rights periods of protests, marches and legislation finally achieved many of the goals of equality. Recently, this country elected a black man as President – something most of the people of my father’s generation swore would never happen- but it did! The victory has given hope to many formally shut out or disadvantaged people that dreams can be achieved and success found despite the color of one’s skin or the makeup of his or her ancestors. Woman suffered as second class citizens based on a patriarchal society that rewarded men and held woman down. Woman fought for the right to vote and then hold office and more and more women enter careers everyday that were once held exclusively by men. Two women have been nominated for Vice- President of the country although the wage differential is still there, legislation such as Title VII and others have helped woman success and rightfully so! Legislation existing today protects someone based on sex, race, national origin, age, color, or disability. There remains only a few groups in this country that seem to be at a distinct disadvantage and one of them my friends is people like me – transgendered people. Now I am not looking for the “poor little me” response I am merely stating a fact.
Now is the time for our community, as small and “hidden” sometimes as it is, to forge ahead in our struggles for our rights and protections. I do not seek special help and I doubt most if any of my brothers and sisters in this community do either- just the right to be who we are and not be denied employment or housing or a continuation of either merely because we are transgendered people. We seek the same rights as others in society. We seek to find housing and services and to work a career we enjoy which also helps pay the bills and such and to do all of this without harassment or discrimination Now I have always said you cannot legislate prejudice for that is something learned but you can legislate against that prejudice being used as a basis for discrimination against transgendered people. We have much to accomplish but I believe our time is coming in the next five to six years and it will take all of our efforts to make this happen. I am excited to be a part of this change which can occur in the eventual enactment of the ENDA and Hate Crimes bill legislation which now has a greater chance of passing in the increasingly Democratic Congress and the election of Barak Obama. It will not come easy my friends and it will take the efforts of many of us to make this a reality and a forging of a relationship with others in the LGBT community. Herein lies our problem!
Most of our community is underground in one form or another and the numbers we have to work with and achieve our goals like others have in the past two hundred years of American society is quite small. The problem is we only have the “middle” and the other sides of that middle are many times either cloaked or in stealth mode. Those that are not out of the closet yet operate in a cloaked mode in which they are out limitedly if at all and so they are not willing to risk exposure to be involved in our efforts to achieve these important goals. Most of our community lies in this so called cloaked group. I remember I use to be there although after time it became more of protection for my children than for me. That all came to a screeching halt when I tore down the cloak of secrecy and came out to the entire world! It was a great feeling and it has brought me peace and happiness I did not know could exist! There is the group in the middle like me who are undergoing transition in which w are living life fulltime in our desired gender and undergoing all sorts of procedures like electrolysis, hormones, surgeries and the like. We generally take very active roles in the community. We are not afraid to be out and about and known as transgendered people. We have not reached that point where “stealth” is even under possible consideration. A substantial amount of activism in our community comes from this so called middle group. The third part of our community is those who are post transitional and who operate in a world of stealth. Having fully transitioned and looking the part and carrying all the right documentation they go about lives as woman and act like they never even had the organs or hormones of the other gender. They seek to seamlessly blend into the world of their true gender and let no one be the wiser. This works real well if you are able to move jobs and to another part of the country. However, stealth also means severing one’s self from the transgendered community and thus they are not likely to be an active supporter of our community and its needs and goals for equality. Although there are some fully transitional members of our community like my friends Debbie, Chloe and Barbie or of course our national leaders like Mara and others at the NCTE, I also know of some in the so called middle group who attempt to operate in stealth mode even before fully transitioning. This leaves us with only a handful of people to fight our struggle for dignity and equality. Why is stealth even a consideration for those in our community? As Donna Rose stated in her wonderful speech at SCC this year, can one truly ever reach “stealth”. As she so eloquently pointed out “the internet has changed one’s ability to go stealth as some simple searches can reveal most everyone’s past” so don’t fool yourself into thinking you can hide from anyone “who wants to take the time to find out your past- ever!” Therefore, true stealth is not really obtainable in our modern world. Accordingly, post transitional members of community should be in the forefront our leadership and activism for our rights and dignity as people. Now I am not advocating that post transitional people should not try to lead a normal life in the proper gender following transition. I will try to do so I know and I don’t advocate running around in t-shirts that say “Hi – I am a transgendered person” all the time and I know I will not be doing so. However, abandoning our community for me after full transition is NOT an option for me. I know that I am spiritually and emotionally a woman and that it is my true essence of who I am as a human being. I will live my life as a woman and enjoy the fact that my outward appearance and body will finally reflect who I truly and have always been in this world- a woman. However, I was born genetically a male and thus I am, by nature, a transgendered person and will always be such regardless of how much I spend on surgeries or how my hormone levels read. Nothing will ever change that and I am fine with that indeed! I am not ashamed to be a part of this community. I also believe that if others find out I am transgendered- so be it. I will use that as an opportunity to show others in society that I am just a human being and that transgendered people are just people too. Use these opportunities to educate people not excuses to run and hide! Never be ashamed of who you are as a person because you are transgendered. The community is my transgendered family and I feel compelled to be involved in it and be active in it and work with my sisters and brothers in achieving the goals we can achieve as our turn in history comes into fold in our fight for our dignity and rights as human beings -just as others have in other communities throughout our history.
There is much work to do such as lobbying members of Congress and writing letters and attending events and activities which serves to promote our community and its efforts to achieve our goals. Money can be contributed to the NCTE and your time can be volunteered to assist in these efforts. Now is the time for our community to get behind these efforts and work for the rights and dignity of all members of our community so that those who come behind us may find an easier path and one filled with more dignity and understanding. I can only hope that many who are cloaked will find courage to come out and those who do will chose a course of being involved and active in our community and when the time comes, that they remain active in our community and not chose to lead life in stealth but one with the courage and pride of being a wonderful human being who just happens to be transgendered. Remember some of the ten affirmations for LGBT spirituality:
1. We celebrate the unity we create in the midst of our diversity.
2. We affirm the inherent beauty, worth and dignity of every LGBT and straight person.
4. The choice is not whether to be LGBT or straight but whether or not to lead an authentic life.
5. Coming out is a courageous and spiritual act.
And most importantly………10. No one is free when others are oppressed!
We have watched groups struggle as they came here at first until another group came and took there place on the bottom of the chain. The Irish, the Italians, the Japanese, the Eastern Europeans African –Americans although clearly not by choice- they all came and after some struggles integrated into our society. Black people, particularly by virtue of the fact they were brought here by a vile institution known as human slavery, suffered through great hardship and struggles for human rights through the civil rights periods of protests, marches and legislation finally achieved many of the goals of equality. Recently, this country elected a black man as President – something most of the people of my father’s generation swore would never happen- but it did! The victory has given hope to many formally shut out or disadvantaged people that dreams can be achieved and success found despite the color of one’s skin or the makeup of his or her ancestors. Woman suffered as second class citizens based on a patriarchal society that rewarded men and held woman down. Woman fought for the right to vote and then hold office and more and more women enter careers everyday that were once held exclusively by men. Two women have been nominated for Vice- President of the country although the wage differential is still there, legislation such as Title VII and others have helped woman success and rightfully so! Legislation existing today protects someone based on sex, race, national origin, age, color, or disability. There remains only a few groups in this country that seem to be at a distinct disadvantage and one of them my friends is people like me – transgendered people. Now I am not looking for the “poor little me” response I am merely stating a fact.
Now is the time for our community, as small and “hidden” sometimes as it is, to forge ahead in our struggles for our rights and protections. I do not seek special help and I doubt most if any of my brothers and sisters in this community do either- just the right to be who we are and not be denied employment or housing or a continuation of either merely because we are transgendered people. We seek the same rights as others in society. We seek to find housing and services and to work a career we enjoy which also helps pay the bills and such and to do all of this without harassment or discrimination Now I have always said you cannot legislate prejudice for that is something learned but you can legislate against that prejudice being used as a basis for discrimination against transgendered people. We have much to accomplish but I believe our time is coming in the next five to six years and it will take all of our efforts to make this happen. I am excited to be a part of this change which can occur in the eventual enactment of the ENDA and Hate Crimes bill legislation which now has a greater chance of passing in the increasingly Democratic Congress and the election of Barak Obama. It will not come easy my friends and it will take the efforts of many of us to make this a reality and a forging of a relationship with others in the LGBT community. Herein lies our problem!
Most of our community is underground in one form or another and the numbers we have to work with and achieve our goals like others have in the past two hundred years of American society is quite small. The problem is we only have the “middle” and the other sides of that middle are many times either cloaked or in stealth mode. Those that are not out of the closet yet operate in a cloaked mode in which they are out limitedly if at all and so they are not willing to risk exposure to be involved in our efforts to achieve these important goals. Most of our community lies in this so called cloaked group. I remember I use to be there although after time it became more of protection for my children than for me. That all came to a screeching halt when I tore down the cloak of secrecy and came out to the entire world! It was a great feeling and it has brought me peace and happiness I did not know could exist! There is the group in the middle like me who are undergoing transition in which w are living life fulltime in our desired gender and undergoing all sorts of procedures like electrolysis, hormones, surgeries and the like. We generally take very active roles in the community. We are not afraid to be out and about and known as transgendered people. We have not reached that point where “stealth” is even under possible consideration. A substantial amount of activism in our community comes from this so called middle group. The third part of our community is those who are post transitional and who operate in a world of stealth. Having fully transitioned and looking the part and carrying all the right documentation they go about lives as woman and act like they never even had the organs or hormones of the other gender. They seek to seamlessly blend into the world of their true gender and let no one be the wiser. This works real well if you are able to move jobs and to another part of the country. However, stealth also means severing one’s self from the transgendered community and thus they are not likely to be an active supporter of our community and its needs and goals for equality. Although there are some fully transitional members of our community like my friends Debbie, Chloe and Barbie or of course our national leaders like Mara and others at the NCTE, I also know of some in the so called middle group who attempt to operate in stealth mode even before fully transitioning. This leaves us with only a handful of people to fight our struggle for dignity and equality. Why is stealth even a consideration for those in our community? As Donna Rose stated in her wonderful speech at SCC this year, can one truly ever reach “stealth”. As she so eloquently pointed out “the internet has changed one’s ability to go stealth as some simple searches can reveal most everyone’s past” so don’t fool yourself into thinking you can hide from anyone “who wants to take the time to find out your past- ever!” Therefore, true stealth is not really obtainable in our modern world. Accordingly, post transitional members of community should be in the forefront our leadership and activism for our rights and dignity as people. Now I am not advocating that post transitional people should not try to lead a normal life in the proper gender following transition. I will try to do so I know and I don’t advocate running around in t-shirts that say “Hi – I am a transgendered person” all the time and I know I will not be doing so. However, abandoning our community for me after full transition is NOT an option for me. I know that I am spiritually and emotionally a woman and that it is my true essence of who I am as a human being. I will live my life as a woman and enjoy the fact that my outward appearance and body will finally reflect who I truly and have always been in this world- a woman. However, I was born genetically a male and thus I am, by nature, a transgendered person and will always be such regardless of how much I spend on surgeries or how my hormone levels read. Nothing will ever change that and I am fine with that indeed! I am not ashamed to be a part of this community. I also believe that if others find out I am transgendered- so be it. I will use that as an opportunity to show others in society that I am just a human being and that transgendered people are just people too. Use these opportunities to educate people not excuses to run and hide! Never be ashamed of who you are as a person because you are transgendered. The community is my transgendered family and I feel compelled to be involved in it and be active in it and work with my sisters and brothers in achieving the goals we can achieve as our turn in history comes into fold in our fight for our dignity and rights as human beings -just as others have in other communities throughout our history.
There is much work to do such as lobbying members of Congress and writing letters and attending events and activities which serves to promote our community and its efforts to achieve our goals. Money can be contributed to the NCTE and your time can be volunteered to assist in these efforts. Now is the time for our community to get behind these efforts and work for the rights and dignity of all members of our community so that those who come behind us may find an easier path and one filled with more dignity and understanding. I can only hope that many who are cloaked will find courage to come out and those who do will chose a course of being involved and active in our community and when the time comes, that they remain active in our community and not chose to lead life in stealth but one with the courage and pride of being a wonderful human being who just happens to be transgendered. Remember some of the ten affirmations for LGBT spirituality:
1. We celebrate the unity we create in the midst of our diversity.
2. We affirm the inherent beauty, worth and dignity of every LGBT and straight person.
4. The choice is not whether to be LGBT or straight but whether or not to lead an authentic life.
5. Coming out is a courageous and spiritual act.
And most importantly………10. No one is free when others are oppressed!
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