Pride

June is the traditional month to celebrate Pride in the LGBTQ community across the country. It is a time of celebration of being proud of who we are as people in a society that still reluctantly only somewhat tolerates our presence in it and to reflect back to the time when the infamous Stonewall riots took place in rebellion to the tactics and tyranny imposed by some on the LGBTQ community. I view Pride in this manner but also view it in even larger perspectives as well. Two years ago I proffered a blog entitled “The Pursuit of Happiness and the Puritans” involving an examination of the strife for rights and dignity in the LGBTQ community in the pursuit of our happiness against the backdrop of society and its very powerful puritanical influences which have shaped our society and which run many times contrary to the concepts of happiness, liberty, freedoms and enjoyment of life. These influences which have been around for hundreds of years in this country still impact our society even today. It is a particularly good read if you have not already done so and significantly important in light of the recent conclusion of Pride month and the upcoming Fourth of July holiday weekend.
President Obama began the month with a Pride proclamation which I guess was significant in that I do not recall any other President offering the same. However, it will take more than a proclamation to appease me for sure. He has promised to sign the Hate Crimes bill and ENDA legislation once these important pieces of law reach his desk …….but in the same breath- I do not see him pushing these bills through and lobbying for them as a leader who understands the need for dignity, freedom and opportunities as others in society have because he was denied them in his own life time and that of his ancestors. You can stimulate the economy all you want and I am not saying it is not important to do so and he did inherit a mess in Iraq created by the incompetency and blindness of his predecessor. However, at the same time, ensuring rights and dignity for all human beings and protecting those who have been left unprotected ought really to be the most important idea being worked on for who cares if more jobs appear or health care is expanded if you still can’t get a job because of discrimination and health care requires having that job to pay for it or you are still the subject of violence in your everyday life.
While the wheels of progress on the federal front move slowly, they are I guess moving forward far more than we have seen in recent years under George’s reign of terror. The state of Ohio which is now my home has been struggling as well to move forward HB176 which will end discrimination in housing, employment, lending and public accommodation based on sexual orientation and gender identity. It is not the first time the bill has been proposed and it is awaiting a stalled vote in the House where there is a good chance of it passing but a very hostile Senate controlled by the party opposite the House and Governor’s office is not going to jump up and down in support of this important piece of legislation. The bill faces stiff opposition by the religious extreme right (direct decentdants if I have ever seen it of those Puritans) The Governor has promised to sign the bill IF it gets to his desk but again I do not see him lobbying for this bill and sometimes it is easy to say you will support the legislation of you know that politically it will never reach the desk because of a hostile Senate. How many years will those of us in the LGBTQ community have to wait before this dignity and freedom is bestowed upon us in our pursuit of happiness?
Pride is also a time to examine one’s self and our pride in who we are and what others like us have accomplished. I am a transgendered woman and I look out there for leadership and accomplishments of others like me. It is not that I am unhappy with the gains of my brothers and sisters in the L, G or B communities or the accomplishments of many of my brothers in the transmen community and in fact I admire them deeply! However, I sometimes get the impression that transwomen are picking up the rear in such gains and accomplishments. For example, while I admire Mara in her leadership of NCTE, her remaining staff members are mostly transmen and the first two openly transgendered people to serve as Congressional aides on the Hill are transmen. Yet- I see so many of my sisters having trouble finding work and very few of us if any in organizations that work for transgendered rights and equality in general. I admire so much the work that Equality Ohio does in fighting for rights and dignity yet I do not believe a single staff person there is transgendered much less a transwomen. Let’s not even talk about the HRC which has no transgendered people on staff locally and nationally has no transgendered people on its board and I still remember two years ago when the group sold me and others in our community down the drain on ENDA! Where are the role models for me as a transwoman and where is the involvement of transgendered people in organizations that fight for our rights? Many talented people in the transgendered community do not have their talents recognized and again, as a transwomen, I still am looking for my leaders and role models.
The Columbus Pride festival was a huge success in 2009. More people came out for the festival and parade this year than any time in history with estimates hovering around 200,000 people. I enjoyed marching in the parade and demonstrating my pride in being who I am as a human being in society. I felt free to be who I am and always have been and lets others know I am proud to be a transwoman and member of the LGBTQ community (I actually claim a couple letters there). The weather was pretty good and everyone attending had a wonderful time and the large turnout was a sign of slowly changing times for our communities. However, I will be honest in saying more progress is needed in many different directions in our state, our nation and society if we are all to be free of hatred and discrimination and able to pursue our happiness in life. To the extent I am so able I willing to continue the fight for such rights and dignity and to build that happiness in my life and the lives of others here with me and in the future generations to come. For that is what Pride is all about in the struggle of the LGBTQ community! Happy Pride and Happy Fourth of July!

Melissa and Paula Go to Washington

I know that a few of you old timers and fans of Jimmy Stewart remember the old film “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”. Well, this week Paula and I traveled from Columbus Ohio for NCTE’s Lobby Days in DC which involved briefings, meetings and training as well visits to our US Congress members and members of the US Senate seeking what none of us really should have to beg for – rights, dignity and freedoms that every American citizen should have in our society. Specifically we asked them and offered many reasons why they should support the “Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HB 1913) which is established to amend existing laws so as to deter acts of violence and hatred against those in the transgendered community as well as the other equally important categories such as sexual orientation, women (gender) and those with disabilities. The religious right wing Nazis have been hard at work in opposition to this bill on the grounds that their “preachers” will be somehow subject to liability under the Act for condemning us to hell and back! The members of Congress are confused by the laws because they believe this blatant lies.
I can tell you the strategy is one of the old adages….if you tell the lie many times and convince many people of the lies then it somehow becomes true. What bullshit this is…say the lie six million times and it does not make it true. The truth of the matter is that “preachers” will be able to spew their doctrine all they wasn’t because it is protected by the First Amendment freedoms of freedom of religion And expression. However, if some low life moron in the “preachers” congregation decides that because we are all going to hell that it’s ok to attack me and try to harm me or kill me to speed up this process, that person is subject to criminal liability under the provisions NOT the “preacher”. The amendments under the bill increase funding to local agencies and increased resources from FBI to local agencies to aid in the investigation and prosecution of these crimes. Finally the bill expands when the terms apply and does not limit it to just voting and other such actions. Local law enforcement officials, prosecuting attorneys and Sheriffs Association all support the bill. So do many religious organizations that believe in the principles that actions must be taken to discourage hatred and violence against the marginalized communities. The bill has passed the House as of Wednesday April 29th and now heads to the Senate for possible passage. I hope and pray that it does and that those who have worked so hard against its passage from the religious right burn in hell for their support of violence against the LGBT communities! Hate is not any religious value to be promoting and I also believe that lying as they are doing in this smear campaign against this important piece of legislation is also against the principles of the Ten Commandments.
The other issues we lobbied for included ENDA (Employment Non Discrimination Act) as well as the upcoming issues involving health care and insurance for those in the LGBT communities. ENDA is a huge and important piece of legislation for those in the LGBT community because it ends employment non discrimination against the last two unprotected groups in the US (currently the protected classes include gender, race, age national origin, physical handicap, religion etc). The last bastions of discrimination in this country include discrimination based on one’s sexual orientation and gender identity. Of course the objections of extending protection to these groups stems not on legal grounds but on religious grounds. (You know once God condemns us in obscure text sections of the old testament written by men and copulated from many sources and translated so many times one’s head nearly spins that’s it folks – no rights and dignity for you by a government built on the principles of separation of church and state. Never mind there is NOT one single mention of lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered people or any condemnation thereof based on the new testament which, by the way, is the basis of how Christianity got started in the first place. I swear that these religious right wing zealots believe that the world will come to an end if these pieces of legislation are enacted
Health care issues will also be on the horizon as well. These include prohibiting discrimination against those in the LGBT communities by health care providers and insurance carriers. We will also seek to include transitional health care costs in the legislation. We spent a good part of Sunday evening socializing and meeting others who had come to lobby. This year’s NCTE Lobby days were the largest on record with just over 200 transgendered people and allies involved in the process. Paula and I met so many new and wonderful friends which only served to remind us how beautiful and talented and caring the people of our community are and how many of us are prejudged by so many so wrongly in our society. Hugs felt so good and I so wish that others in society could see the warmth and talent that exists in our community. Monday was a day filled with briefings and training sessions to learn more about the legislation and issues involved as well as practice on lobbying. Finally at the end of the day each state delegation met plan our strategies for meeting our representatives and senators. For Paula and I that met meeting two Republican Congressman and one Republican US Senator (Voinovich) on the capitol for lobbying. The Congressmen both voted against the Hate Crimes bill despite our best efforts but one of them was so paranoid about meeting us he actually stood behind the door and listened to us but would not greet us while we met his aide for fear I guess that we might be contagious. Senator Voinovich is a different story. He has pledged his support for the Hate Crimes Bill and remains undecided on ENDA. More work is needed to educate and seek his support on this crucial piece of legislation. Senator Brown will support us on these bills as well. At the end of a very long day on Tuesday we took our group photo on the capitol steps and had a nice reception on the patio of a local establishment.
We know we have much work to do but I know we will continue to write, call and visit these people and push them on these important issues! If necessary Paula and I will go back to DC! I know we plan to return for lobby days again next year too and I encourage anyone who has not done so to come if you can. If you can’t come to Lobby Days then write and call and meet your representatives and senators in their local offices. I do sense a change in Washington and in this country but we cannot let up one bit my sisters and brothers- as the right wing will only take its setback in the House on the Hate Crimes Bill as a need to step up their attacks and lies against the LGBT communities. It will get vicious before it is all done- believe me. However, I know the talent and passion that exists in our community and if we all work hard on these issues and in our efforts we can be successful in bringing about changes so long needed in society! Maybe someday when hate and prejudices and discrimination will have little role in our society and everyone can see the world will not come to end because all people have rights and dignity and opportunities in this country built on the premise of equality and life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness!

Pictured above is Paula and I with Erica from Minn and Debbie from Virginia at the NCTE Reception

The Empires Against the LGBT Struggle

Now I know I have written in the past about religion and religious issues and their enormous impact on transgendered rights and issues but I honestly feel I skirted around the where the real meat of this important issue lies. Furthermore, it is not my intention to attack individual members of the religions I am about to discuss here and there are many good, open- minded and accepting members of these groups on an individual basis! However, if anyone tasks offense to this blog I do apologize for the fact upfront and it clearly NOT an attack on individual members. My discussion of what may be one of the most significant stumbling blocks in the drive of my sisters and brothers of our transgendered community for the rights and dignity that all humans deserve is solely focused on the organizational entities themselves and not specifically on the individual members beyond their leadership. And with that preface …..I begin…..
The single most significant factor in the struggle for our rights as transgendered people in the enactment of The Hate Crimes Bill, ENDA and legislation ending discrimination in health care programs and coverage benefits of our community is the enormous opposition to these important pieces of legislation for the LGBT community. This opposition is, has been and will be launched by organized religion and in particular the “big three bullies” as I refer to them …… the Mormons , the Southern Baptists and the biggest offender of them of all- the Roman Catholic Empire!
The Mormons have shown their propensity to throw large sums of money to support Prop 8 in California and similar legislation elsewhere. Yes, according to the church that not only bans alcohol but coffee, tea and soft drinks containing caffeine and who brought us their cult like philosophy of polygamy where it is ok for MEN to have to have many wives, we simply cannot have two people of the same gender who care about each other marrying each other for God’s sake! How awful is this …people who love each other cannot marry each other because it is two men or two woman or even a transgendered person but Mormons thought it was OK for MEN to marry multitudes of women …what a bunch of horse shit hypocrisy!
Southern Baptists are the leftover decedents of the Puritans I wrote about a few years ago in a blog entitled The Pursuit of Happiness and the Puritans. The Puritans were so repressive and rigid in their control and thinking of their members especially when it came to pleasure and in particular and again..God forbid sexual pleasure! The Southern Baptists are the group that reminds me of Adam Ant’s 1980’s big hit Goody Two Shoes (don’t drink don’t smoke what do you do? ). The fire and brimstone bible thumpers forbid drinking, gambling, dancing, premarital sex, and just about any form of fun beyond getting screamed at by some angry and fiery preacher condemning those who do slip into fun and even more so condemning those of us in the LGBT community as sinners who are condemned to an afterlife of hell and God’s wrath! These Southern Baptists are the same bunch who hold woman to subservient positions (hmmm seems to be a theme going here similar to that of the Mormons) and have had their Convention enact resolutions that announce that woman are subservient to their men who happen to be their owners..errr..excuse me …husbands. These same people will however be loaded for bear as they say to oppose every piece of legislation put forth by the LGBT community including the Hate Crimes Bill because what is a good old fashioned revival without some bashing ( errrrr.. “preaching”) of the so called abominations of the LGBT community. Look for the scare tactics to be thrown at us by this group when it comes time for discussion of the important pieces of legislation such as ENDA. (I can almost hear the southern drawl now ….. “Enactment of this bill will let them deviant sinners into our schools to molest our children in the bathrooms”)
Despite how bad these other two groups are as forces to be dealt with on our struggle for dignity and rights they lack the money, size, power, influence and history of the Great Roman Catholic Empire!!! This organization has been around quite a while and claims to be the direct lineal leader of Christianity as established by Jesus Christ himself. They have amassed a fortune in resources and Rome has done everything in its power to conceal secrets of the early days of “the church” allegedly created by the founder of Christianity. Catholics don’t have all the hang-ups about gambling and drinking that other groups mentioned above seem to have and that is fine. However, bring up sex or sexuality issues with the Catholic Empire and they react like you have just mentioned the Holy Grail! Catholics are nervous Nellie’s when the subject of sexuality, homosexuality, divorce and transgendered people is brought up around them.

Why is this and what holds their faith together – the answer is simple…. GUILT! Riddled by the guilt and teachings of the leaders of their group they have more hang-ups on these issues than a transitioning TG has hormones! The Roman Catholic Empire (RCE) is lead by men for men and works its damnedest to see, and has done so for many years, that woman have little if any role in their organization. Women cannot become priests and if a woman begins to have some influence in the group like Mary Magdalene and all of the sudden she is vilified to shreds so she has no respect in the faith. Women are treated as second class citizens in this all male society of the RCE. Priests are forbidden to marry for some crazy theory that has never been properly explained although in the early history of the Church the priests were married and some of the disciples of Christ were also married. Single men running a group which subsequently begins attracting those so pent up with frustrations they begin a long history of sexual abuse of children for which the Church has paid out millions but tried to cover up because it again it something it cannot talk about openly. The RCE is currently led by a pope who is a former Hitler Nazi youth which of course explains his dogmatic approach to turning the clock back on the miniscule progress made over the years. He recently condemned the LGBT community by asserting we were the destruction of civilization, blurring the lines of gender distinction and threatening the fundamental institution of marriage (which was created during a time when woman were mere chattel!) He concluded that we were as much threat to civilization as the destruction of the rain forest was to the world! I can almost hear the goose –stepping brown shirts now marching around at his command to round up these “threats” to civilization. Catholic groups have recentl yprotested transgendered groups having transgendered awareness days on campuses.
Yes my brothers and sisters in the LGBT community -these organizations are the vast and powerful enemies that the LGBT community will face head on lead by their force of history, tradition, money and hatred in an all out battle to defeat each and every piece of legislation we bring forth to seek dignity and rights that all of us and all humans deserve! The Mormons, southern Baptists and it’s fundamental hard core spin-offs like Free Methodists as well the RCE will use every resource and scare and fear tactic known to people on their pulpits to preach that we are this threat and that any legislation that protects us or grants us rights others in society have must be defeated as the work of “Satan”. With these groups preaching the dogma and spreading lies and hate and backed by powerful amounts of money how can we stand a chance to win this battle for dignity we ALL deserve? Furthermore, and I am curious to ask, “why would someone who is part of our community want to stay a member of such groups knowing how these very groups feel about them? I admire you for trying to stay I do. I surely didn’t as I bolted the RCE when I was 13 years old sick of their tired old dogma and treatment of woman. I knew also that I was different and that the difference would not be tolerated by them. I only go where I am fully welcomed, loved and accepted for who I am when it comes to joining any religious groups.
The battle for dignity and rights for the LGBT community will be fought for sure. The gain would mean so much for many of us and for humanity as a whole! But make no mistake about it folks- the enemies who oppose us will be a daunting challenge. They will be richer, filled with more tradition and history and prominence in society and oh by the way…they have God on their side ….don’t believe me – just ask them! The empires of the Mormon , Baptist and Catholic religions and their allies like the Muslins who treat woman like third class property will be a fierce force to take on to win the rights and dignity we all should have enjoyed in this world as humans. They will work diligently, with God by their side, to keep it OK for society to hate us, perfectly acceptable for it to deny us medical treatment and the healthcare coverage to pay for it and equally acceptable to withhold housing and employment to us simply because who we sleep with at the end of the day or the physical shell we were born with even though it did not fit our soul and essence. Such an accomplishment from a large group of organizations which were supposedly founded on love and helping others. My, my …...won’t God be impressed by their efforts??