Upcoming
Group Meetings
Tennessee Vals
Newsletter FEBRUARY 2002
Upcoming
Group Meetings
In This Issue:
The Queens Throne by Marisa
Richmond
marisaval@aol.com
In late December, I drove up to Louisville for the 5th annual BGB Party. Some groups never make it to five years, much less have a high spirited affair in a downtown hotel, so I am pleased to see the leadership there overcome whatever problems they have had in the past. Anyway, despite the proximity to Nashville, I had always been too busy to visit them before, but I finally found the time to do so this year. A few days after I sent my reservation, I received an e-mail asking if I would be their keynote speaker. It was a pleasure for me to do so, but it was probably not one of my better efforts. I am just not used to having only 10 days to procrastinate before a speech. They gave me a very nice flower vase as a gift, and then I even won 2 tickets to a movie theater in the raffle. I gave those back to the group since they expired on New Year’s Eve and I was driving back home the next morning. The turnout was a bit small, but enthusiastic, and I feel confident that many similar events were taking place around the country as our leaders are quietly doing their part in dozens of cities.
Right after New Year’s, I flew to San Francisco for the annual meeting of the American Historical Association. This trip was special for me because it was the first time I ever flew as a woman. I had no problems with security leaving Nashville. After I arrived in town, I did the usual during my trip: Chinatown, the People’s Republic of Berkeley, North Beach, and Castro Street–where the neighborhood Walgreen’s had special window display promoting their hydrogen peroxide sale! That Friday night, I attended a reception hosted by the GLBT Historical Society of Northern California. I was practically greeted at the door as I walked in by Ms. Bob Davis, whom I first met in 1997, and eventually I caught up with Dr. Susan Stryker, the Executive Director of the facility and one of the first openly trans historians in the country. We were given a very informative tour of the archives by one of the board members, Gerard Koskovich. They have collected documents, artifacts, and photographs for many years, and they are professionally catalogued and stored in acid free boxes in a climate-controlled room.
The next day, Stryker delivered a fascinating paper titled “Anatomy of a Riot: The Role of the 1966 Compton’s Cafeteria Disturbance in the Politicization of San Francisco’s Transgender Community.” It was an analysis of a riot triggered by trans persons in a restaurant in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district in August 1966. She pointed out that drag queens and transsexuals tended to be concentrated in the Tenderloin, which was the city’s primary red light district. Compton’s Cafeteria, a late night eatery, was a safe place for them to congregate and socialize. Over time, they had faced constant police harassment, with which they were annoyed, as well as increasing social pressure from shifting demographics in the city as other groups began to push into the Tenderloin competing for space.
Stryker’s main point in discussing this resistance to police harassment is to ask why it is not talked about, while the 1969 Stonewall Riot has achieved almost mythic status in the GLBT communities. She maintains that the Compton’s Cafeteria rioters tended to be sex workers, and were generally, albeit not exclusively, non-white. This has placed them on the fringe of the GLBT community which has become increasingly white, middle-class, and suburban. Plus, as transgendered people, even many in the gay community who seek acceptance are uncomfortable embracing the trans community as part of their own.
Stryker specifically tried to avoid the East-West, “we were first,” rivalry, by mentioning an even earlier riot at Dewey’s Lunch Counter in Philadelphia in 1965. She believes that all of these incidents suggest a greater story about increasing resistance to oppression by authority that is probably mirrored by more such occurrences in other communities. She expressed her hope that further research around the country may lead to more information in this area.
When it was time for me to return home, I did have one funny experience. At the security checkpoint at SFO Airport, they pulled by purse aside to do a swab for chemicals. They also asked me to remove my shoes in order to check them for explosives as well. Since I was not wearing hose, I had to stand there in my bare feet–but at least my toenails were brightly painted! Then, the security guard removed all the contents of my purse, even opening up my wallet to make sure it wasn’t a bomb. My purse was sent back through x-ray a second time before determining I was not a terrorist.
A few days after I returned home, I was astounded to receive an e-mail from an old friend who now lives outside Denver. This woman, in many ways, reminds me of a shark–she can smell gossip. From another mutual friend in Maryland to whom I had come out several years ago, she managed to pry information out about my life. Her e-mail said that she had just found out about me and she wanted me to know that she supported me in any way. It took me nearly two days to clear my head to think of a response. Most of us who come out to friends often go through an excruciating emotional ringer. To receive such a note out of the blue, however, completely blew me away. It just goes to show that, not only can we all find acceptance from those important to us, but some people can surprise you when you least expect it.
Before my trips to Louisville and San Francisco, I found myself flipping through a recent issue of LadyLike. In it was a letter from a reader in Florida who was responding to an earlier editorial by JoAnn Roberts. Although I managed to miss the original editorial, JoAnn’s response to the reader’s letter definitely got my attention. She refers to the “political turf-wars of the 80's and 90's”, something which had definitely plagued our community. But then she concluded by saying, “...the community lack good leadership. I see a few up and coming new leaders who may make a difference, but the promise of the 80's and early 90's fell flat on its face in the 21st Century.”
I know JoAnn has a Heart of Gold, but on this I must, respectfully, disagree. I believe the TG community has a lot of good leaders. I have met many across this country who are doing some impressive work in their respective communities. Certainly, those turf-wars and personality battles did create a bad taste in the mouths of many, but it has not stopped progress. There are a lot of successful groups and events today. The True Spirit Conference this month and the emergence of the FTM community have resulted from the commitment and dedication of several talented individuals. We are a small community, but we are growing and achieving real successes where it counts the most–at the grass roots level. Sure, we stumbled, but I do not believe we have fallen flat on our faces. We have regrouped, changed our focus a bit, and in the long run, that may be for the best.
Now, of course, this month the Winter Olympics return to the U.S., where they will be hosted by Salt Lake City (motto: You can get a bribe–or a third wife–but you can’t get a beer!). In my speech in Louisville, one of the key points I stressed is respect for religious diversity, something that has been conspicuously lacking in this country since mid-September. Lots of religions do have their rules which I respect as long as they don’t try to force them on others. Still, you cannot help but wonder why Brigham Young needed 56 wives. Even Joseph Smith made do with only 33....
Have a happy Valentine’s Day.... perhaps with multiple partners!
A
Blonde, Brunette AND Redhead
byJulie
Phillips FabulBabe@aol.com
The Coliseum, The Sphinx, The pyramids of the Incas —all testaments to civilizations and peoples long since gone. Through the mists of time they have passed, carrying their memories of lives and loves, of trials and tribulations forever into the future. Long after we have all turned to dust, they will still remain, as reminders of what once was.
Much like the average T-girl’s Website: built years ago, never updated or modernized, yet still standing, waiting for another explorer to come along and look back at what once was.
Often is the time I’ve found myself engrossed in a T-girl’s personal Website, fascinated by the story of her life, just to realize, as I’m reading the final journal entry, that it was last updated in March 1998. Invariably, that final entry is the most interesting one—the cliffhanger, if you will. “Today is the day I tell my wife about Jessica!“ the journal will declare. But there are no additional entries to update us on her personal saga .
What was her wife‘s reaction? Was her announcement met with hysterics? Acceptance? Yelling and screaming? Dish throwing? Pie throwing? Pie eating? Steely resolve? Irregularity? Rickets and scabies? Or maybe……. Murder?!?! See what happens when I am forced to finish the story with my imagination.
It’s hard to believe that in these intervening years, she hasn’t made even one single entry or update to her site. That only makes me even more curious as to the outcome. My dear, inquiring minds want to know what happened next!
What causes one to abandon her personal Website, leaving it to wither away like a ghostown on the American prairie? Perhaps she eventually got bored with it and, over time, forget she had ever started one.
I’m betting that a lot of those abandoned Websites are the result of girls going through the “purge” and racing back into the closet. We’ve all be there at least once. But what‘s funny is that while she’s busy working on denial, her femme self is still alive and well, living on the Internet, yelling to the world, “Look here! I’m a big ole crossdresser! Who-hoo! Look at me!”
What I find most annoying about old, out-of-date personal Webpages is finding the word “NEW” plastered throughout. Check out my cutting-edge NEW photos! Check out my sexy NEW dress! Check out my NEW diary entry about my upcoming big trip! Invariably, all that NEW ends up being a black and white daguerreotype of her in an ankle-length hoop dress (with bustle), waiting in New Jersey to board the Hindenberg.
I’ve decided that once I’ve gone, I will live on through the Internet. (The idea of having my head frozen in liquid nitrogen just sounds a little to creepy for me.) While I haven’t formalized it in my will yet, I’m busy making plans to keep my site updated regularly long after I’ve gone to that DE-luxe apartment in the sky-eye-eye.
I will leave executor with instructions to do monthly updates, adding new pictures and resting older ones. With the huge backlog of photos I’ve taken, there should be no shortage of material. And with fashions running in roughly a twenty-year cycle, all of my clothes will someday be stylish again. Short dresses are never out of date, nor are evening gowns or jeans, so there will always be something contemporary to post.
If you have any kids or grandkids, tell them to look for my Website when they retire. I’ll still be there, modeling the latest in retro fashions.
In the meantime, try and recall if you’ve ever started and then abandoned a personal Website. There’s a chance that it’s floating around in the world’s computers somewhere, still turning up on web searches, promising readers NEW photos of you, NEW stories of your transgendered life, and NEW clothes and hairstyles.
If so, please add a new picture or two of yourself; add a final entry to your unfinished diary.
It would be nice to see how you turned out.
My Closet by Leslie Louise DuPaix lldupaix@hotmail.com
Acceptance
“Bubba,” I (Leslie Louise) said, “we need to get to work on the February column or Miss Julie will get upset.” “Lessie Lou,” Bubba (the nice guy I live in) replied, “if you want that column to come out at all, much less on time, you best do it yourself.” I was not surprised in the least ‘cause the boy right now is a total mess. I’ll not go into a lot of details but I will mention that since the last column he has tangled with a serious candidate for the position of Significant Other. If nothing else, he already has enough material for at least one CD of sad country songs and he won’t even have to mention trains, prison or booze. Between the two of them they have enough material for a whole series of romance novels. Now Bubba was not aware that Significant Other was actually an open position in his life, but apparently it was. After quite a few written communications and phone interviews, he scheduled a face-to-face interview and the boy just ain’t been the same since.
So at least this once, I (“Lesa” aka “Lessie Lou“) will be writing her column all by herself. If you love the over-writing and run along sentences with all the big words that is sort of normal for this column, I’m afraid you will be disappointed and will just have to wait till Bubba gets hisself together and shows me how to write my column. You may notice that the last column was a big improvement over how they usually come out, and that is because Miss SOC (Significant Other Candidate) helped us edit and clean up what we thought was the final draft. Is the girl a keeper? or what?
She knows of me, of course, (how else could Bubba explain the last column?) but I am trying very hard to not be a player in any of this. I am anyway, of course, but Bubba didn’t really choose me at all and he did choose her.
So I’ll stay out of the way as best I can and let this whole thing go in whatever direction it needs to go and be thankful for the acceptance I already enjoy. Which brings me to the thread in this column--acceptance.
Politicians are always saying something along the lines of “I don’t really care what they say about me on the news, as long as they say and spell my name right.” The point being that just being mentioned is acknowledgement that you exist and in the long run will lead to acceptance and maybe even support. I have noticed three examples of culture-wide acceptance that tells me that we T-folk are getting there.
The first example comes in a pretty lame country song by Alan Jackson, “Where I Come From.” Lame because the story is sort of stupid , cliche and predictable and the rhyming is really weak. But one of its redeeming parts is near the end where he talks of his truck throwing a U-joint near Ventura (CA) and a tall girl asks him out to dinner. (The lame rhyme in that particular verse is “Ventura,” “finger” and “dinner.” Actually, the whole song is full of lame rhymes.) So after the attempt by the tall girl to pick ol’ Alan up, he sings something to the effect that where he comes from they only date girls that sing soprano. So is that momentous or what? A CD getting a whole verse in a lame country song all to herself. By extension we are all there. Rejected, but famous.
The second example I found in a book review by Ann Helmuth (Orlando Sentinel) of Ken Follett’s recent novel “Jackdaws.” The novel deals with 6 women who parachute into Nazi occupied France before the D-day invasion with a mission to destroy a vital communications link. The six all speak perfect French and include a murderess, an aristocrat, a safecracker, an incorrigible flirt and (are you ready for this?) a female impersonator. So now we have a shero (she + hero, in case you missed it) of our own in a mainstream novel that you can read in public. Ms. Helmuth says that the book was written with a movie in mind, so we may have even more exposure beyond the printed page. Can a cross-dressing action figurine be too far off? I hope not. As Julie’s career move to replace Kathy Lee seems to have gone nowhere, maybe she can be model for the action figure. I suspect we have not heard the last of this possibility.
But, the final example of T-folks finding acceptance in culture-wide media can be found in pc’s everywhere that are using ms Windows95 or beyond (That is “ms” as in “Microsoft” not some feminist Miz Windows, by the way). Switch on your “assistant” and choose the Albert Einstein looking character. Note the way the sweater buttons. Either “The Genius”--Micro Soft’s name for the character--accidentally grabbed his wife’s sweater, or he is one of us in stealth drag. Only a small part of the world will ever hear Alan Jackson sing “Where I Come From.” Not much more are likely to read the Ken Follett novel, but the number of people that are going to get the subliminal message that cool, helpful, intelligent guys might choose to wear women’s sweaters is truly amazing. Now is that acceptance or what? (Hmmmm!!!! I wonder what Mr. Genius has on under the sweater.)
Left
of Center by Pamela DeGroff
Dressing for Success
Writers are a peculiar lot. We toil away at our keyboards for hours on end, working to come up with something entertaining, and/or informative. Inspiration can rear its ugly little head without warning at any time. Occasionally, we're inspired when it's not convenient, and then have to resort to low tech methods to preserve our ideas. My way of doing this from time to time usually results in a large pile of scrap paper and sticky notes.
Most writers, myself included, have enough of an ego to appreciate any kind of feedback we get from those of you who actually read our stuff. It's been my experience that I seemingly get feedback only after I've pissed someone off. So I was pleasantly surprised by a comment I received from one of my TGForum.com columns. I had made brief mention of what might be considered appropriate dress for political activities. It was suggested I expand this idea to include other activities where the proper attire might be of consideration. This is where the previously mentioned pile of scrap paper comes in. I've been making notes about just such a topic for some time, but didn't know how to use the ideas. So, for your dining and dancing pleasure, I'd like to offer my humble opinions on what could be called "Proper Attire For the Proper Occasion." (Or, "Dressing To Avoid Arrest")
I've written about dressing for political events before, but I'd like to make one further observation. Take into consideration what the words "conservative" and "liberal" mean, and what people THINK they mean. Conservative cross dressing conjures up images of 1890s Old Maid School Marm attire. (Although you have to admit that the high top ankle boots from that era go really well with a leather micro mimi and fishnet hose.) "Conservative" also makes me think of Barbara Bush. Ever notice she sometimes wore the same strand of pearls June Cleaver wore? Can't get much more conservative than that.
"Liberal", on the other hand, means...well, just that. Anything goes. Word of caution, though. Politically liberal cross dressing doesn't mean the nastier pages of Frederick's Of Hollywood, or the crew from the House Of Discipline. Think in terms of Janet Reno and Tipper Gore. Kind of takes the starch out of the ole liberal libido, doesn't it?
Have there ever been guidelines established for cross dressing during a job interview? I've never seen any, but they might exist somewhere, in the back of someone's old filing cabinet. The only people I've ever heard of who can pull something like this off are post-ops who really have their act together. I don't think it would be advisable to do an interview "en femme" unless that was the case. If you look like a foot ball player who lost a bet when you're dressed, you might not get the second call back for that six figure regional director's post. Use discretion, dear.
I know of one CD who got married
in the traditional white gown. Granted, it was the second wedding ceremony
for this couple. They had the first one to appease all the family and friends.
The second one was
for all the tranny friends. They held it in a drag
bar, so there was a somewhat interesting ambiance. The only wedding reception
I've been to where you could shoot pool and stare at a disco ball.
Have you ever considered cross dressing at your own funeral? By now, someone's probably done it, and with all us TG boomers getting up in years, I predict we might see a trend. Hey, why not? I've always thought it was one of the great ironies of the English language that the word "funeral" begins with the word "fun".
You're paying for the big final send off, so why not have some real "fun"? What a perfect chance to finally show off that French Maid outfit, Nurse's uniform, prom dress, or cheerleader's outfit (complete with pom poms, of course)...you know, the stuff you used to only "drag" out at Halloween.
Imagine the looks on everyone's face when they learned you provided you own makeup. This would be one sure fire way to out yourself and flip the bird to the rest of the world at the same time.
Speaking of cheerleaders.....(heavy sigh), they're the only reason I pay attention to any sporting event. Heck with the game or the final score. Just show me lovely young ladies in those cute little skirts. I've always wanted one of those skirts. And considering the usual "party till ya puke" behavior of many fans, I could probably get away with wearing one to a game in front of thousands of other deviants. One thing about that type of skirt, though: While they are loose fitting and made to move around, cross dressing in one of these, especially in public with other crazed loonies, would no doubt require an industrial strength tuck job. There's enough excitement (cheerleaders) during a pro game without allowing little Homer to go into full Defcon 5 alert.
One of the most controversial areas in which to explore cross dressing possibilities is the military. The mere mention of "cross dressing" and "military" in the same sentence conjures up visions of Max Klinger from M*A*S*H. It is amazing how he managed to acquire such an extensive wardrobe, especially on a Korean War era corporal's salary. Remember his Scarlet O'Hara outfit? His Carmen Miranda? Truly classic.
But, that's TV. The reality of cross dressing in the military usually carried with the stigma of faking being gay in order to get out. This still worked during the Vietnam War era. It worked very well for me. The leather mini skirt, high heels and read feather boa I wore to my physical didn't do the trick at first. They said I was the third guy that week to wear a boa and they weren't buying it anymore. I found something else that worked better, though. You know the guy who tells you to turn your head and cough? I kissed him right on the lips and told him I wanted to have his baby. I was promptly told the Army didn't need "my kind" and I would never be called up unless the Russians stopped for gas in Cleveland.
Times are changing, as the song says. Although "don't ask, don't tell" was a complete failure, it appears the military's attitude alternative life styles is slowly, very slowly, starting to shift. Sometime in the future, if the draft is ever reinstated, this scenario might come to pass:
"Hey, ya'll, this here's Bubba T. Muddphlapp, and I'd like to ya'll what done happened to me th' other day at the draft board. I got my notice to report fer a 'phiscal, so I went and borrowed this here little frock from my Uncle Willie. He done wore it to get out to Vietnam. Great Uncle Chester used it to stay away from Korea. Before that, grand pappy used it to stay out of the Navy durin' th' big 'un. We calls it our good luck dress.
"So what in hell happens to me when I show up in the durn thing? There's this little ole boy sittin' behind a desk, takes one look at me, whistles kind of low like and says, 'Sweetness, we have boots that would be DARLING with that!'
"It's a sad day in 'Merica when a growd man cain't get ridiculed fer cross dressin'. A mighty sad day indeed."
Hey, I wouldn't think so. Hopefully sometime in this century, the only "dress code" anyone would need to worry about would be...Formal?...or Informal...?
Would it be too much to ask for this to happen during my lifetime? I really want a cheerleaders outfit, even if I have to be buried in one.
Until next time, girlfriends. Look your best and don't hurt anyone.
Carlito
to Carla by Chrysis Monaco
A Mini-Novel Part 1 of 2
Gennarino Angelinni was the son of a wealthy entrepreneur from Napoli, Italy. He was born at a time when Americans were enjoying the carefree days of the roaring 20’s. Gennarino attended and graduated from the University of Roma. The Angelinni family immigrated to New York City to seek financial security and freedom and to capitalize on America’s support of the war effort. Shortly after arriving in America, Gennarino enrolled at Harvard Law School. After graduation, he went to work as an attorney in his father’s business. At a cocktail party in the fall of 1945, Gennarino met Mariangela Pazzini. Her stunning features favored Sophia Loren. The Pazzini family immigrated to New York from Venice when Mariangela was 18 years old. Her roots in the art capital of Italy inspired her to pursue a career in the arts. Mariangela was a graduate of the Art School of NYU.
A year after meeting, Gennarino and Mariangela were married in a traditional Italian Catholic ceremony at St. Patrick’s Cathedral near Central Park. The newlyweds bought a condominium in the exclusive Chelsea area of Manhattan. Gennarino’s career and family fortune provided Mariangela the freedom to pursue her passion for the arts. While her primary interest was philanthropy, Mariangela also worked as an assistant choreographer for ballet performances at the Metropolitan Opera. In the spring of 1948, Mariangela gave birth to a son. He was named Carlito Pazzini Angelinni. Mariangela had wished for a daughter, but she loved Carlito more than life itself. Gennarino and Mariangela moved to the East Hamptons on Long Island to raise their son in a suburban environment.
Gennarino’s career and the train commute to the City limited his time at home. Mariangela and Carlito became exceptionally close. Carlito attended the best private schools, and Mariangela taught him to appreciate the arts. He sang in the boy’s choir at their Parrish, studied painting, and took piano lessons. As a teenager, Carlito accompanied his mother to plays. The neon lights of Times Square and the glitz of the shows were exciting to the imagination. Carlito envied the showgirls that seemed to be having so much fun.
Carlito was shy about dating, so Mariangela encouraged him to ask a girl for a date to the Senior Prom. Carlito reluctantly invited Maria Leone. For reasons Carlito himself could not understand, he slipped a ring from his mother’s jewelry box to wear to the prom. The ring was a delicate silver band with etchings of flowers. Perhaps it was a meaningless thing to do, but yet wearing the ring seemed to fulfill some unexplainable desire. If Maria noticed the ring, she made no comment.
After high school, Carlito was off to Cambridge to attend college at his father’s alma mater - Harvard. Desiring to be a dutiful son, he immersed himself in the study of pre-law. Gennarino and Mariangela moved back to New York City and settled in a brownstone home on the Upper East Side. Carlito grew lonely and bored with his studies. He was uncertain as to whether he even wanted to be a lawyer. After just two years in Cambridge, Carlito returned to New York in the summer of 1968. He rented a loft apartment in Greenwich Village and enrolled in the Art School of NYU. Gennarino was upset with Carlito’s decision, but Mariangela was secretly glad to have her son close to home again. Carlito visited his parents often, yet avoided inviting them to his apartment. He knew his parents did not approve of the eclectic lifestyle of the Village. It was the 60’s – the generation of love, flowers, and beads. Carlito was enamored by the excitement and freedom of expression afforded in Greenwich Village.
Carlito decided to get a job. His debonair appearance and suave voice landed him a job as a dinner waiter at the sophisticated Grand Picino Restaurant in the West Village. It was an elegant restaurant with mahogany walls, white tablecloths, and candles. Owners of Italian restaurants in New York preferred for their employees to speak Italian. Mariangela taught Carlito to respect his heritage, and he was fluent in the Italian language. Carlito continued his classes at NYU, and Mariangela’s influence encouraged him to continually expand his education in the arts. On Saturdays, he took ballet lessons at a dance school just off 42nd Street.
For the first time in his life, Carlito developed a circle of close friends. His best friends, Antonio Posano and Santino Nattalia, worked at the Grand Picino. Antonio was a bartender. His father was a baker at an Italian restaurant in Brooklyn. Antonio’s divorced mother Gina was a cocktail waitress living in Queens. Antonio loved the theatre, and attended as many Broadway plays as he could afford.
Santino was a cook at the Grand Pacino. His parents owned a small pizzeria in the Little Italy neighborhood of New York where Santino worked as a teenager.
Antonio, Santino, and Carlito frequented the nightclubs and restaurants in Greenwich Village. The boys were classic visions of Italian young men…trim and handsome, jet black hair, sensual voices, and eyes to die for. Gennarino was disappointed that Carlito did not seek an executive career in the family business. However, with Mariangela’s urging, he came to accept and respect Carlito’s choices in life. Gennarino and Mariangela frequently dined at the Grand Picino and came to know and like Carlito’s friends.
On a wintry December night, Carlito’s life would be forever changed. When Carlito and his pals left the Grand Picino after their shift, a freezing wind blew the snowflakes that filled the air. Several inches of snow had already accumulated on the sidewalk and street. They had planned to walk the five blocks to Miletta’s Bar and Restaurant after work. Carlito hailed a taxi instead. Antonio had an idea: “Hey, I heard about a new Chinese restaurant. It’s a dinner theatre and they put on a drag show”! Carlito laughed and exclaimed, “I’m not so sure about a drag show, but Chinese food sounds good to me”! Santino chimed in, “You only live once! Let’s go check it out’!
At midnight on Christmas Eve of 1969, three Italian boys strolled through the door of Lucky Chiang’s in the SoHo district of lower Manhattan.
To be continued…Part 2’s conclusion next month!
news, media mentions, etc...
Enza Supermodel Anderson Drops out of Race
"The Legs" have gone home. Enza "Supermodel" Anderson today (1/31/02) pulled out of the race to lead the Canadian Alliance party.
At a news
conference at the 519 Community Centre this morning, Toronto's political-junkie
drag queen said she had failed to raise the $25,000 deposit needed to go
on the ballot.
Anderson called the campaign a success though. She said she was able to draw attention to the right-wing party's homophobia and racism.
Earlier this month, at an all-candidates debate in Chatham, Ontario, Anderson said she wanted to end that image of the party, the Official Opposition party in Parliament.
"At its worst, voters believed the Canadian Alliance was a political shelter for closet racists, bigots and homophobes," she said.
"I don't share those fears... I believe the Canadian Alliance is a party of the people, and I believe it is a party of all the people."
Today, she said she had no regrets. "I met a lot of fine people," she said. "And, I was able to get them to listen. Now it is up to the party to move forward."
Campaign Manager Ian Ross said the campaign had considered a legal challenge to the party's $25,000 deposit requirement.
"It would have cost at least a quarter million dollars to go to court and would take years to resolve." Ross said.
A cheque for $700 was presented to Toronto's GLBT Youth Phone Line today. It represented money raised at a January 23 fundraiser, put on by a group of Bay Street businessmen.
Ross would not say how much money the campaign actually raised. He said there are about $7,000 in outstanding bill. "After that is paid, the balance will also be given to the youth group."...
Left in the race are former leader Stockwell Day, a born again Christian who opposes gay rights; MP Grant Hill a doctor who says "homosexuality poses as great a health risk as smoking"; and MPs Diane Ablonczy and Stephen Harper.
The party chooses a new leader in March.
Source:
365gay.com 01/31/02
Her campaign website:
www.enza.ca ..
Don't Tell Jesse: It'll Ruin his Retirement
Equality North Carolina project announced, Dec.3, the results of a statewide poll that shows substantial public support for legislation banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in both public and private employment. While many North Carolina companies and institutions have voluntarily implemented inclusive non-discrimination policies, there are currently no laws against such discrimination at the state or federal level. The cities of Raleigh, high Point, Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Durham have non-discrimination policies on sexual orientation for municipal employees. The poll of 2,000 people, conducted Oct. 14-17 by the Lucas Organization, found that 61 percent of the state’s citizens believe it should not be legal to refuse public employment to someone on the basis of sexual orientation; only 26 percent believe it should be legal. Another 56 percent said such discrimination should not be legal in private employment either, with 31 percent believing it should be. A recent poll for the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 76 percent of people nationally support legislation banning such discrimination.
The Equality NC poll also showed a high level of support for legislation banning discrimination on the basis of gender identity: 68 percent of respondents favored such a law covering public employment, and 61 percent for private employment. Gender identity refers to exhibiting characteristics usually associated with the opposite gender. Much controversy has surrounded this category in non-discrimination laws. The transgender community has repeated fallen out the Human rights Campaign (HRC) over that groups’ refusal to include them in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act pending in Congress for several years. “Although some in our community believe that including gender identity is legislative suicide, our poll suggests that North Carolinians are very open to protecting citizens from discrimination based on gender expression,” an Equality press release stated. “Including gender identity is no only the right thing to do; we believe that, with on-going public education, including gender identity may in fact broaden our base of support.”
HRC called the survey result great and welcome news. “We fully support the efforts of Equality NC to pursue a broad legislative strategy,” said Seth Kilbourn, HRC’s national field director. “We believe that more information is needed on these issues nationwide, which is why we are committed to putting a research project into the field, perhaps as early as next summer.”
Source: Etcetera magazine 12/14/01
China's Bar Hostesses Outsmart the Police
Bar owners in China's capital are resorting to some unusual measures as they attempt to avoid a police clamp down on sleaze.
According to one state-run newspaper, some bars in the city have begun replacing young female hostesses with male transvestites.
China's capital has come a long way since the days of Maoist imposed puritanism.
So-called hostess bars are now getting almost as common in China's cities as they are in Tokyo or Bangkok.
The bars cater to a growing class of wealthy Chinese businessmen, playboys and, many would say, corrupt bureaucrats and government officials.
The bars employ scores of young women who, dressed in slinky outfits, sit and flirt with clients and ply them with over-priced drinks.
But such hostess bars are still far from legal in China. Police say many are thinly veiled fronts for prostitution.
As the Chinese lunar new year holiday approaches, police in Beijing have launched their annual campaign against sleaze - or "yellow" activities, as the sex industry is called in China.
But some of Beijing's bar owners appear to be one step ahead of the police.
A journalist from a Beijing newspaper found some bars in the city have begun replacing their young female hostesses with male transvestites who, dressed in equally slinky outfits, drink and flirt with the male customers.
According to the bar owners, few of the customers object. Some do not even notice the change of sex.
What is more, it is all legal and above board, Beijing police concur. They say there is currently no regulation prohibiting men from being employed to act as women.
When Mao Zedong's communists came to power in 1949 they vowed to eradicate China's vast sex industry. They largely succeeded.
But in the last 10 years it has roared back to life. Today China's sex industry is the biggest in the world.
By some estimates there are close to 10-million women working as prostitutes and bar girls across the country. …
source: Rupert Wingfield-Hayes for the BBC 01/08/02
More on Winn-Dixie vs The World
Southern grocery giant Winn-Dixie plainly concedes that its sole reason for firing an employee of two decades was that off-duty he sometimes cross-dressed as a woman, the American Civil Liberties Union told a federal judge today in papers seeking a ruling without a trial in its sex discrimination lawsuit against the company.
"We don't need a trial, because there's no disagreement over what happened. The only disagreement is whether it's legal to fire someone for this," said Ken Choe, the ACLU Lesbian and Gay Rights staff attorney handling the case.
Peter Oiler was fired on January 5, 2000, after his supervisors and company executives learned that he occasionally cross-dresses as a woman away from work... In October 2000, the ACLU filed a federal lawsuit on Oiler's behalf, claiming that Winn-Dixie engaged in sex stereotyping in violation of state and federal laws that bar sex discrimination.
Choe said that over the last few months the ACLU has deposed the men who fired Oiler and has determined that there is no dispute that would require a trial. "They are very clear that he wasn't fired for job performance -- in fact he received numerous raises and promotions," Choe said.
Today's Motion for Summary Judgment cites Winn-Dixie Louisiana President Michael Istre's sworn deposition saying that he made the decision to fire Oiler and that the sole reason was that Oiler didn't conform to the company's stereotyped notions of how a man should look, dress and act.
Source: ACLU press release 01/24/02
Southwest High School teacher Carla Cruzan complained that allowing transgendered library employee Debra Davis to use the women's bathroom violated Cruzan's religious freedom and created a hostile workplace based on sex. As a result, the school provided Cruzan with ready access to several other bathrooms, including single-person facilities and other women's restrooms.
"Carla Cruzan is the person who thinks there is a problem here, so the school was right to find some other alternative for her," said Tamara Lange, an ACLU Lesbian and Gay Rights Project staff attorney.
Unsatisfied with the school's accommodation for her, Cruzan asked a federal court to block Davis from using the women's restrooms at the school. She lost and is appealing to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, in St. Louis. A three-judge panel will hear the case later this year.
In a friend-of-the-court brief filed today, the ACLU said that Cruzan, not the school, was unreasonable when she demanded that the school allow her own personal beliefs to dictate Davis' use of school restrooms. The ACLU, filing on behalf of groups including the Minnesota chapter of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, also noted that students, teachers, staff and parents at Southwest High School roundly supported Davis and the school's handling of the situation.
"The Minneapolis Public Schools have shown a willingness to learn about and support the needs and concerns of LGBT students, parents and staff. From students who plastered the walls with signs supporting Debra to the Out4Good office in the Minneapolis district itself - this community is a model for every school in the country," said J.J. Kahle, Co-Chair of GLSEN-Minnesota.
"Debra was supported so she could continue doing her good work in the library. While it's too bad that Carla Cruzan is intolerant, her concerns were addressed by finding other restrooms she can use."
Minnesota is one of just two states that explicitly prohibits discrimination based on gender identity - but that civil rights law is not at issue because this case is about whether Cruzan was discriminated against by the school's accommodation of a transgendered employee.
Source: ACLU press release 01/17/02
Richard Chamberlain's
Femme Role on Drew Carey Show
Here’s the plot summary for
January 16th’s episode of The Drew Carey Show: Mr. Wick's notorious
mom, Maggie (Richard Chamberlain, in his first sitcom role), tries to use
her womanly charms to convince Drew to come back to work for her son, with
disastrous results. Richard Chamberlain discussed his sitcom debut with
Entertainment Tonight 12/18/01:
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT: Have you gotten into wardrobe yet? Describe what you are going to wear.
RICHARD CHAMBERLAIN: Well, I have a wild, semi-black wig, a lot of make-up, plus a very full body, if you know what I am referring to! The costume is also wild. It's black and white with a red flower.
ET: What are your feelings on this?
RICHARD: Well, the first day it felt really weird. It really shakes you up on a deep unconscious level, because there are a lot of no-nos. Men do not wear bras, for instance. But after the first day, it was all just another character.
ET: You are rather well-endowed, I understand.
RICHARD: Quite well-endowed when the costume department gets through with [me]!
ET: How does it feel to get in touch
with your feminine side?
RICHARD: Quite interesting. [My character] is very funny and very witty. She makes people laugh.
ET: Your character is not a cross-dresser or a transsexual, though.
RICHARD: No. She is a woman. She's Mr. Wick's mother.
ET: Why did you decide to play the character?
RICHARD: Because I like to laugh. There is almost nothing more wonderful for an actor to do than to make people laugh.
ET: Are you buddies with Drew?
RICHARD: No, we hadn't met. They wanted a man to play this part, and my agent found out about it. He knew I had this other project in mind for [a woman] character, and so he said, "What about Richard?" And Drew said, "OK!" So this is a kind of a debut for me. ...
ET: Are there any cross-dressing role models that you have in mind?
RICHARD: No. An awful lot of actors have done it, but a lot of actors do it differently. I am trying to find my own [take] on this character. I don't know quite how she is going to turn out...
ET: Any fashion tips or beauty tips that you want to pass on?
RICHARD: Don't wear your lipstick too red. Don't cover up all your fancy eyebrows and things with your bangs. And move with grace and animal élan.
Source:by Jim Drinkard USA Today 12/06/01
PFLAG puts the
"T" in GLBT
In 1972, a young gay man was beaten during a gay rights protest in New York while police stood by and did not interfere. Following this act of violence, a mother, Jeanne Manford, stood up and protested what had been done to her son. She later marched with him in New York's Pride Parade. Cheered by gay and lesbian youth in the crowd, she realized that one of the saddest parts of being 'queer' was not having the support of family members and friends. Soon thereafter, a local organization, Parents and Friends of Gays, was born. About 20 people attended the first formal meeting in a local church.
Today, the organization called Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, has over 80,000 members with close to 500 affiliate groups in the United States. PFLAG is not an organization of gay people, although some are members. Rather, it is an organization whose mission is to promote the health and well-being not only of those who are labeled 'queer' but, also, of their families and friends.
Courtney Sharp is a transsexual. She is also an engineer who was terminated by her employer following her refusal to resign due to her transition. As a result, she became a transgender activist. She has worked to promote understanding of transgender people and issues in New Orleans and the Gulf Region. She has gained national attention in such causes as seeking redress for the firing of a Winn-Dixie employee for crossdressing on his own time.
What do Courtney Sharp, transgendered activist, and PFLAG have in common? Ms. Sharp was appointed to the national board of directors of PFLAG in October 2001 following years of work in advocating the inclusion of transgendered people under the PFLAG umbrella. She is the first transgendered person to serve on this national body, although there are many others who serve in local and regional positions. Another member of the national board, Mary Boenke, is the mother of a transsexual. Ms. Boenke was also instrumental in raising the awareness of PFLAG to the need to provide transgendered people and their families and friends the same measure of support as for the gay community. Mary is Chairman of PFLAG's Transgender Network.
Although PFLAG has not continued to add words to its name or letters to the acronym, its mission has been expanded in recent years to include parents, families and friends of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered persons. PFLAG outreach and education efforts are inclusive and explain that the transgender experience exposes people to the same issues, concerns, risks, and dangers as those to which members of the gay community are exposed.
Courtney Sharp has suffered losses from being true to her own identity. She lost her job and much of her family when she began her transition to female. Many, if not most, transsexuals suffer similar losses when they choose between continuing to live a lie and becoming who they really are. Other members of the transgender community, such as the more prevalent crossdressers, also face discrimination and disgrace should their secret be revealed. Outside of the military and certain youth and religious organizations, the gay community has begun to overcome such discrimination, but on the individual level all need the support and understanding of family and friends.
Some members of the sometimes-fractious transgender community feel that the gay/lesbian/bisexual communities do not take transgender issues to heart, that certain organizations are willing to sacrifice the transgendered in order to further their own agendas. Not so with PFLAG. Although not all of the letters are spelled out in the name, PFLAG is truly an organization working to support the entire GLBT community. The PFLAG vision makes this clear: We, the parents, families and friends of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered persons, celebrate diversity and envision a society that embraces everyone, including those of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. Only with respect, dignity and equality for all will we reach our full potential as human beings, individually and collectively.
Courtney Sharp's experience as a member, secretary, vice-chairman, and chairman of the New Orleans Mayor's Advisory Committee on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Issues will be valuable to PFLAG at the national level, as will her continuing experience as a member of the her local PFLAG chapter and the Gulf Gender Alliance and board member of the Louisiana Lesbian and Gay Political Action Caucus.
Courtney considers that there is much work yet to be done within PFLAG. "The transgender work is not separate from the other work PFLAG is doing," she says. "Providing resources and support to chapters is important. Ensuring that the needs of gender-variant and transgender students are addressed in the Safe Schools Programs is extremely important. Outreach into diverse communities, and providing support for GLBT families in these communities is important. Reaching out to Communities of Faith is important."
As this energetic leader and activist works to build understanding within the greater GLBT community, she looks forward to a time when, "no gay and lesbian political organization will misuse its power to oppress any other minority under the guise that its actions are somehow unobjectionable or justified. When they fall into this trap, they too impose their own moral code upon others. If we only allow others to live their lives in ways which all others find unobjectionable, there would be no such thing as liberty, much less justice, for all.”
PFLAG has not fallen into that trap and is to be congratulated for its efforts to make the world a better place for all who do not meet the expectations of narrow minded elements of our society.
source: by Robin Walters, press release for NTAC 01/01/02
Equality Tennessee
Update
Equality Tennessee, at it's first
meeting of 2002, announced ongoing plans to continue documenting instances
of hate crimes, violence, and discrimination against GLBT persons throughout
the state.
The organization has also formalized guidelines for proper and accurate media coverage of GLBT concerns that will be distributed to various news outlets within the state.
Of particular interest to the various Transgender organizations throughout the state are two projects Equality Tennessee is currently working on. The first project is a book concerning the history of the GLBT community within the state of Tennessee. The working title of the project is "Pride And Progress: A Tennessee History". It will be an anthology of varied content-personal histories, organizational beginnings, and the documentation of the struggle for equality within our state. Publication is set for later in the year, and is being coordinated by Dr. Joyce Arnold of the Rainbow Community Center; Mikhail Brown of GoColors.com; and Paul Clere of Write Together Publishing.
Submissions are being sought for the this project now, so if you would like to be involved, contact any of the various parties listed below for further details.
The second project of note to trans people is the discrimination registry being developed by Equality Tennessee. Discrimination is a sad fact of life for many transgender persons, but by cataloging individual cases, Equality Tennessee feels that this information will be a powerful tool to help initiate change.
If you, or someone you know who is transgender, has ever faced discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, and/or educational institutions, Equality Tennessee would like to hear from you. For further details, please feel free to contact the organization directly.
Equality TN documents hate crimes, violence, and discrimination against LGBT Tennesseans, in addition to publishing an annual report on hate crimes, violence, and discrimination for distribution to state and local elected officials.
If you’re interested in more information, you can visit their webpage at http://www.equalitytn.org. If you’d like to join their statewide news/announcement only email list to keep up with what is happening across the state to advance gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality, visit their Yahoo! Groups site and sign up. That address is: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/equalitytn/join
source: from Equality Tennessee email announcements
TG Advertising in Transition
In a commercial recalling the 1980s TV show Bosom Buddies, two men don their drag apparel in a ladies room to spy on a Shaw's Supermarket. The poorly cross-dressed guys horrify a woman who tries to enter the restroom and others in the store as they walk around "incognito."
An effort for Visa has a man shopping for women's clothes with many stares, and he then puts on a pig's snout and joins his buddies in drag as one of the "Hogettes," an inexplicable team of cross-dressing, piggy football fans.
These are two of at least 24 transgender-themed television and print ads counted worldwide this year, an all-time high, up from 11 such ads found for 2000 and 1999. But very few come off positively for the transgendered.
In the ladies room ad for New England-based Shaw's,
from ad agency Greenberg Seronick and Partners, Boston, one spy has a miniature
camera hidden in a long blonde wig. As they walk through the store, the other
in a brunette wig instructs the blonde, "Film everything -- and look normal!"
Bent over while inspecting the meat refrigerator, the blonde says with
double-entendre, "They got more meat than we do!" It is one of six ads about
the cross-dressed interlopers in the campaign, including another at a deli.
"Having men in the ladies room is the most horrific issue a woman can face," notes an outraged Rose Mary Chaulk, a transgender woman from West Groton, Mass., who protested the Shaw's ad campaign. "These ads are devastating. I know of at least one person who has contemplated suicide because of that ad alone."
Chaulk tried to get an apology from Shaw's but was rebuffed. So, realizing the ad presented violation of a Massachusetts statute banning members of the wrong gender in restrooms, she publicized that Shaw's "endorses illegal activities" -- even though that law stings pre-operative transgendered people like herself.
"I felt really guilty about it, there were people in the community who said, 'This will make it harder on us!' she says. "But sometimes the only way to defend yourself is with a weapon used against you."
Shaw's spokesman Bernie Rogan says the ads were "not meant to demean anyone" and followed an earlier effort in which spies from a rival store wore other types of disguises.
Of course, there have been numerous similar ads over the years. Among the best known are for Dunkin' Donuts, when Fred the baker also donned a dress to spy on the competition in 1984, and the group of office guys who put on wigs for cheap beer in the "Ladies Night" Bud Light ads from 1993-96. (Women almost never cross-dress in advertising.)
Samuel Adams Ad Brings Positive Twist, But Some Stations Object
Just as awareness of transgender issues may seem hopelessly unchanging, a more positive commercial arrives from Boston Beer Company for Samuel Adams. A gorgeous woman laying in bed with a stud says, "Wait! Before this goes any further, there's something I have to tell you." She hands him a beer and announces, "I'm a transsexual," as her hand mocks a scissors cut.
The man laughs in disbelief and she says "serious," as she
points at her Adam's apple. His smile falls as he says, "I gotta go." But
then he takes a swig of his beer and exclaims, "Wow! That tastes great!"
It makes him forget everything and he asks, "What was I saying?" She replies,
"You were about to nibble on my lip." He smiles and dives back into bed.
"It's meant to be irreverent, by making fun of the macho guy and his homophobia," explains C.J. Waldman, who directed the commercial for ad agency Big Chair, New York.
The ad runs during late night programming in Phoenix, Austin, Atlanta, Minneapolis and Richmond, VA, and is expected to air nationally in January. But not all has gone smoothly, as stations in Atlanta and Minneapolis refused to carry it.
Although some would be happier if there was no negative reaction at all in the ad, it is an improvement over Holiday Inn's 1997 Super Bowl commercial, where a sexy, post-op transsexual at her high school reunion is recognized with staggering shock by an obnoxious alum. While there is still a long way to go, awareness is starting to grow incrementally.
Even though the Shaw's ads got "kudos from customers for creativity," says Rogan, they were withdrawn early "due to sensitivity, and because we'd reached the level of effectiveness we wanted." As it turns out, Chaulk was the only one Rogan heard from against the campaign -- proof that sometimes even one person can make a difference.
Source: Michael Wilke of The Commercial Closet 12/24/01
Michael Wilke's work has appeared in The New York Times, Advertising Age, Brandweek, The Advocate and elsewhere. His column and over 700 GLBT-themed ads worldwide, spanning 30 years, can be found at the http://www.CommercialCloset.org web site.