Defending transgender rights and why you should care
On Tuesday, Dec. 2, I was honored to head down to Washington D.C. to attend the National Center for Transgender Equality’s 5th birthday party, where I enjoyed delicious desserts and hors d’oeurvres, spiked with witty, celebratory commentary by leading activists on the fine work of Mara Keisling and her gang of Capitol Hill lobbyists.
For those not in the know, The National Center for Transgender rights is the only advocacy group dedicated to educating and directly influencing policymakers through Lobby Days, letter mailing campaigns, and other strategies that encourage transpeople and their allies to come out of the woodwork and speak up about legislation that can impair their ability to move about the country as free and equal citizens.
The event was hosted by the incomparable Kate Bornstein, author, queer theorist and comedienne, who reviewed the many ups and downs of trans politics not only nationally but most importantly within LGBT and kinkster circles over the past 30 years or so. Along the way there were many instances where our communities turned in on themselves, picking off the weak ones and exiling the members who didn’t fit into their boxes — in many cases including Bornstein herself.
“But it was NCTE that became the only organization that I saw that was willing to be inclusive of all the fucked up, weird things I’ve become,” she half-joked. “And it was NCTE that included all of my people — reached out beyond race, reached out beyond class, reached out beyond age, beyond religion.”
(Continued below...)“It was NCTE that included all of my people — reached out beyond race, reached out beyond class, reached out beyond age, beyond religion.” — Kate Bornstein
She and speakers from many constituent organizations went on to discuss the organization’s fine work upholding and in many cases facilitating the passage of trans-inclusive anti-discrimination acts, not to mention their constant vigilance on any threats from the Real ID Act to the new Family and Medical Leave Act, bills that can create problems for someone whose gender presentation may not match up against the M or F printed on paper.
So, why should you care? A little history lesson: There was once a time, long ago in the 1960s, when a guy or gal could be arrested on the spot for wearing 3 or more articles of cross-gendered clothing. A pair of panties, a wig, and some fake lashes could get you a night in the slammer, locked up with other persecuted innocents and unsavory characters alike. If the police raids on the gay bars didn’t kill you, there was a good chance that a night in jail would. Then, in the summer of ’69 in a New York City bar, there was Stonewall. It took the meeting of a transvestite’s sharp stiletto heel with the head of a police officer to begin the gay civil rights movement. I say gay because everyone else was sort of left in the dust; with the in-group fighting, the finger-pointing, and the competing social and political movements, it’s amazing LGBTQQIetc. people have gotten anywhere… when it comes to the rights of a man to wear the lingerie in the relationship, the NCTE has done more to bring our disparate communities together and to focus the fight against trans discrimination. Maybe you’re not having surgeries or dressing femme ar parties or even wearing ladies’ undies to work under your three-piece suit. But thanks to NCTE and the efforts of the many who have come before them, you CAN. In many places you won’t get fired from your job, you won’t be denied healthcare, you won’t be seen as less than human. And in the places you might, they are working hard to stop it.
For every victory the NCTE has earned, they face many more challenges ahead — but everyday, they and people just like you and me are changing the hearts and minds of those who write the rules. As with any 501(c)3 organization, NCTE couldn’t function without an army of dedicated supporters. I urge you to visit their Web site, http://www.nctequality.org, see the work they do, and give within your means to keep the fire burning.
Image Credit: samirluther
Transgendered people shouldn’t have any rights. This society is was too permissive. Men should be men and women should be women. If you feel like you have too much feminity then clearly there is something wrong and you need to get it fixed. I’m telling you, this society is way too permissive not only concerning trans people but also with kids being allowed to say certain words like the word “sucks.” No kid should be allowed to say such a word especially to their parents. Kids no are allowed to say and do entirely too much and the parents think it’s ok. How did this happen? Gays have rights now. How did that happen? I mean I know the history of the gay movement but why was it allowed to go on? There are even kids coming out to their parents being gay or transgendered. There is something wrong wuth society!
Lori…I hope you are being sarcastic. I am a transsexual, and I have several times contemplated suicide because of fear that I would never be able to truly be myself. Just knowing that there are people fighting for my rights makes me feel better. It’s parents, family, and friends that aren’t accepting that cause the death of what some estimates say is up to 50% of transgender people. Then on top of that we must deal with the fear of being beaten or killed, just for being who we are.
Tell me in societies where women were the dominant sex, or allowed to be soldiers, or perhaps like the Native Americans, who had “new-halfs”; were these people just wrong because they didn’t follow some western idea of what a man and women should be? I feel sorry for anyone who grows up so narrow minded that they would think any of this is new.
Plus if you think that “sucks” is a curse word, you have never spent any time in or around the military.
Lori, what is wrong with society is people who refuse to believe that God can create someone who has both genders, and the one that is stronger may not be the one that some doctor said they were when they were born. Gay has nothing to do with it, homosexuality has nothing to do with it. It has everything to do with glands, hormones and what they make you mentally and physically. And until you and everyone like you learns that and realizes it, then you all have a problem! And may God have mercy on anyone’s soul who stands in judgement of someone else who they know nothing about and don’t even try to.
I was one of those people who trashed gay and cross dressers, now that I’ve started cross dressing , I had to change the way I address other people
I went back to wearing men’s clothing and now going I’m going back women’s clothing I believe anyone who wears opposite gender clothing is in need of a good doc may God help us all I think going to buy me a new dress ( i must be a girl inside)
I think that the person who posted that transgender people should have no rights at all is a total moronic idiot. I would very much like to know what is so terrible about a man wearing women’s attire where a woman can wear anything she damn well pleases, and society doesn’t bat an eye. These double standards , in my opinion, need to join the dinosaurs in extinction.
Lori – I am extremely offended by your post. My boyfriend is a crossdresser and wants to become a woman. He is the most amazing person I have ever met, and he deserves to feel complete and happy about himself. Just as everyone else does. I hope he does go through with everything so he can feel comfortable with himself, I will still love him the same, Ill always be there for him and I plan on marrying him and having kids wether or not he goes through with it because thats what love is. I think what is wrong with the world is people like you who cant control things so they bitch about what they think is wrong with the world when really its you. If you were in any of these men’s positions you would see how hard it is, you would want to feel comfortable with yourself wouldnt you? I think these men are so much stronger than you will ever be, and they will be happier as well.
I know for most of us the freedom to be able to express ourselves as we wish is really becoming a reality. But there are so many trans and c/d individuals within our military that don’t even have the rights afforded to gays and lesbians. These brave individuals have chosen to serve our great country knowing they cannot ever be truly open about who they are. I hope one day people can come to realize that being trans or a c/d is not a mental illness as it cannot be cured with medicine, and not all of us desire to change our birth gender. I think this should be the next important step in our fight for equality. For once these veteran heroes are able to serve as they wish to be (and as some foreign military services allow) then they will be able to join the rest of the trans and c/d community openly to fight for acceptance.