The DonnaBlog

Today looks to be a busy day.  Those of us who live in the Valley of Perpetual Sun appreciate cloudy days like this.  I hope to see some big rain drops.

I do have a couple of things to clarify before getting things going.

First, I’m meeting with Joe this morning and I’m looking forward to that for several reasons.  If this meeting had happened a long time ago it might have eased a number of things.  But it didn’t so better late than never. 

Nobody knows what I’m planning to say, or what we’re planning to discuss.  Others are already making assumptions – that was ineveitable - but nobody knows.  I haven’t told anyone.  Nobody.  Not one person.  Because that’s how rumors start.  So – from the get go, the things I hope to discuss at this point are private to me and me alone.  What I choose to share here afterwards will be private, as well.  I don’t want to dampen our ability to talk freely, and that’s the most important part. 

Second – I saw a line in Vanessa’s blog this morning about the San Francisco dinner that is also incorrect:

….another trans person was working hard to be the trans keynote there: Donna Rose

I mentioned several weeks ago that I was talking to the San Francisco Dinner Co-chair, also a friend, in hopes of getting a local San Francisco speaker there.  The Bay area has a number of people who I felt would do a fantastic job of saying what needs to be said.  The dinner co-chair and I met in person the weekend of PRIDE and he told me he’d like me to do it.  The last time I spoke at HRC was  emotional for me and for many who heard it and he remembered that.  I felt, and continue to feel, that the right person for this job – if there is a right person – is someone from San Francisco.

It didn’t happen for a number of reasons, not least of which is that I’d refuse to cross the picket line of our brothers and sisters across the street.  That would not happen.  I sent a list of things I think need to be said by whoever speaks - it was not pretty and I doubt anything like that had ever been said at an HRC fundraiser before.  It all became inconsequential because others had other ideas as to who that speaker should be, and that’s that.

The reason I feel compelled to fix these incorrect assumptions is that I thought that several of us had developed a relationship in recent months where we could call to clarify, question, or otherwise ask questions before we posted things that were partly correct or just plain wrong.  I guess I’m the one who was just plain wrong on that.  It’s not the first time.

In any event, I’ll be meeting with several friends at HRC this morning, including Joe, and I don’t feel a need to explain or justify.  I’m not there to convince anyone of anything.  I have no personal agenda.  I don’t care for a second if others approve or disapprove, or that others have opinions on what I should say or do – if they want this kind of opportunity they can contact Joe to make an appointment and do it themselves.  And, that’s just the way it is.

After my fun at the HRC mother-ship this morning I’m off to Towson University for the Campus Pride event.  Here’s a blurb from their press release on it:

Campus Pride Honors Transgender Advocate Donna Rose
with National Voice & Action Award

Second Annual Summer Leadership Camp Comes to Close

(Charlotte, NC) – National transgender advocate and educator Donna Rose will be honored by Campus Pride (www.campuspride.org) with its first-ever Voice & Action Award. Ms. Rose will receive the honor as well as be a featured guest speaker at the Closing Dinner & Graduation Ceremony for the Campus Pride Summer Leadership Camp this evening Wednesday, July 23, 2008. The camp is hosted on the campus of Towson University.

“As a trans-identified young adult male, national leaders like Donna Rose remind me that we all have something to fight for. Her voice has been a catalyst for action and change for LGBT people for many years to come,” Courtney D’Allaird, camp participant and Pride Leader from the State University of New York – Albany said.

The Voice & Action Award will be given annually at the summer camp and recognizes a national leader in the LGBT and ally movement who has made exemplary contributions in the fight for equality and believes in the mission of Campus Pride — “to give voice and action in building future LGBT and ally student leaders.” As a pioneer, Ms. Rose has been in the forefront of the movement for transgender equality in the workplace and at schools across the United States. She has been featured on Entertainment Tonight, in USA Today, in Marie Claire Magazine, and in many local and national media efforts. She was identified as a “Gay Corporate Leader” by The Advocate magazine in March 2004.

“Donna Rose is well-deserving of this honor. She embodies inclusion and diversity… and has utilized her voice to build bridges, ignite change and create dialogue inside our movement, which will only serve to make us stronger,” said Shane Windmeyer, Executive Director of Campus Pride. “Donna ensures all voices are heard – including our young adult leaders – who often tokenized and forgotten.”

So – Day Two begins……