The DonnaBlog

I’m in Baltimore this evening. I arrived earlier today to speak at Towson University as part of their Transgender Awareness Week events. The last time I was here was in August to accept an award from Campus Pride at their Summer Camp here. It looks a lot different with all the leaves gone, and with students everywhere.

The talk went well, and I can’t thank the organizers and students enough for their gracious hospitality. Several people did a roadtrip from Harrisburg, PA to be here tonight. I told them I’m happy to do a roadtrip to Harrisburg in return just as soon as the weather becomes more accommodating.

This is my last “official” event of the year. I’m sitting in a very nice large suite, with 2 bedrooms, a kitchen, an eating area, a living room, and a fancy bathroom.  I wish I could stay around for a while to enjoy it.  Unfortunately, I’ve got a 6am flight back home so the Shuttle has scheduled to be here at the hotel at 3am. That doesn’t leave much time for sleeping.  As much as I enjoy these kinds of trips somehow that kind of schedule craziness gets old fast.

During the Q&A tonight one student asked me to talk about ENDA and HRC. It’s a topic I know only too well so I explained it from my unique perspective. There were heads nodding in the audience as I spoke so I know my message of principle and credibility and community isn’t unique to just me.

In a related note, the Human Rights Campaign has produced a video commemorating the Transgender Day of Remembrance.

I originally planned to let the video speak for itself and to leave it alone, but I can’t.

I don’t mind sharing that although I appreciate these kinds of things in principle I’m having a hard time appreciating this. I blame this organization for actively supporting the single-most destructful thing to be forced upon the transgender community despite their commitments to the contrary. I blame this organization for continuing to treat us with disrespect and, over the past year, could have used their resources to create untold amounts of support and education – but has not. I blame this organization for actually penalizing legislators who demonstrated a higher standard and a greater commitment to full Equality than HRC held itself to.  I blame this organization for doing more to fracture the GLBT community than anyone from the outside would ever have been able to do.  I blame this organization for trying to become a voice for transgender people when, in fact, they have no right to speak on behalf of any of us: they need to talk with us before they can hope to talk for us.  All these things make these kinds of videos feel like a slap in the face more than something to appreciate. They don’t seem to learn that how you do something is just as important as what you do and they continue to do things wrong. 

The best way to get the message across that you really care isn’t to produce flashy videos that include only HRC staffers. It’s to treat us with respect, to be honest with us, to engage us, and to actively help find ways that we can work together. It’s to actively build tools to help educate, to help get transpeople jobs, to do the difficult work or rebuilding some level of trust that continues to lay in shambles for most of us.  If some of that had come before this video I might feel differently.  However, it hasn’t.  As a result, recent Press Releases and videos feel more like the same old tired HRC PR tactics than anything heartfelt or sincere to me. 

Those looking for a DOR 2008 video created by and with transpeople simply need look here:

 

 

We’re not alone in our frustration with the blue and gold.  Many in the broader community are starting to question as well.  There’s an important article on  Advocate.com today titled Setting The Agenda.  It talks about Change, and our prospects under the Obama administration.  It says, in part:

It remains to be seen what change under Barack Obama will really mean. But with a margin of victory for a presidential candidate not seen in decades and an expanded Democratic majority in Congress, we can bet that some measure of change is assured.

Prior to his election the gay rights agenda risked becoming nothing more than a wish list. While gains made on the state level are meaningful and serve to build momentum, they will ultimately be only tokens of equality without securing a majority on the Supreme Court to uphold the promise of the words written by Thomas Jefferson that “all men are created equal.” Obama’s election greatly increases the likelihood of that happening.

In the meantime, it’s come to the point where we must see action by Congress toward meeting the goals of our movement for equality. The Human Rights Campaign Fund began in 1980 with the purpose of lobbying Congress for this very reason. Since then, no major piece of legislation has been passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the president. On the contrary, we have seen a ban on gays in the military and the Defense of Marriage Act passed. Our only successful defensive maneuver was to prevent the passage of the Federal Marriage Amendment.

Given our record, a change in strategy is warranted. The “stay the course” crowd’s response to this is usually a “let’s wait our turn” attitude. Our time at the back of the bus must end. Now.

It seems as if the establishment of our movement missed the big idea of this election: Change has arrived. So it’s time we change the ask — both what we are asking for and how we ask.

From here, until we are granted all of the same rights and privileges that every other citizen of the United States enjoy, we will not ask politely. We will insist.

Rather than ask for a version of ENDA that is vastly watered down from the version originally introduced by representatives Bella Abzug and Ed Koch 30 years ago, we will honor their leadership and ourselves by insisting that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 be expanded to include sexual orientation and gender identity. This will grant sweeping protections enjoyed by other minorities in America, in employment, credit, and housing, among other fields.

Instead of settling for one piece of legislation at a time, we will insist that a larger agenda be addressed. It is an agenda that is in the greatest tradition of our nation: making people equal. We’ve done it for African-Americans and women. It’s time for this history to catch up to our movement.

That, my friends, is the kind of leadership we ALL need.  We need an organization hungry to move our community forward, not desperate to please funders by “staying at the table” in hopes of getting a few scraps.  I’m sure it makes HRC bristle to know that they don’t own the grassroots upheaval over Prop. 8.  They’re not going to own the transgender community or DOR, either.

Many are finally beginning to question whether HRC can lead change.  There’s a story in the San Francisco Bay Times, as well, titled “Wither the Gay Agenda“.  The author observes that the broader community is a “tipping point”:

The tipping point is not simply about a new era of activism, if indeed such an era is beginning. It is about the discouraging state of formal GLBT leadership, specifically the leadership of the Human Rights Campaign. If our community is indeed rising up, let us rise up not only for marriage rights, but for courage and competence at the helm of our largest civil rights organizations, and eloquence from our main voice in national politics.

For God’s sake, if we can bring courage, competence and eloquence to the Oval Office, we can find a way to bring it to the executive offices of a lobbying group.

This week, Andrew Sullivan had an excellent blog, questioning why a church group could raise $20 million (whatever) to fight against our rights when our main fundraisers at HRC couldn’t deliver $4 million. No, HRC wasn’t at the forefront of the Prop 8 campaign. But why not? What were they doing?

And here’s my personal tipping point. Because I don’t generally believe it is helpful to simply attack major gay rights organizations in a proverbial circular firing squad, I had to tip over in order to move from disappointment with HRC to all out fury. And what tipped me was a horrible tragedy. The murder of a gay man, 22-year-old Moses Teish Cannon, solely on account of his sexual orientation, by a fellow partygoer in Syracuse, 20-year-old Dwight R DeLee.

How do more and more of us spell HRC these days?  I-R-R-E-L-E-V-E-N-T.  The full cost of selling their timid soul over ENDA has not yet fully been realized.  But, it will.

In the meantime, the following update was released today about that weekend murder of Latiesha Green in Syracuse:

11/19/2008

 

To the Central New York LGBTQA Community:

 

You have no doubt heard about the murder of Latiesha Green (Moses Cannon), a 22-year old Syracuse transgender woman who was shot and murdered on Friday, November 14, 2008.   We wanted to reach out to the Central New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning and Ally Community, to let you know what we know about how the incident is being addressed and what implications it may have.

 

What we know at this time:  Latiesha was shot outside a party on Seymour Street on Friday, November 14 by a man who the family believes was motivated by bias based on Latiesha’s gender identity and/or her perceived sexual orientation.  Latiesha’s brother, who is openly gay, was also in the car and was grazed by the single bullet that killed Latiesha.   Her brother’s injuries were not serious and he was treated and released that evening.  A third person was in the car that evening but the police have not released that person’s name.  They were not physically injured.  Latiesha’s family fully accepted and supported her and wants to see this crime tried as a hate crime.  Mothers Against Gun Violence in Syracuse and members of the LGBTQA community came together for a vigil with the family on Monday night at Latiesha’s home, nearly 150 people attended to pay their respects. 

 

What we want you to know:  There are a number of local LGBTQA community groups who are working hard with anti-violence and other service organizations to make sure that everything that can be is being done.  This is a current list of organizations who are working together to respond to this crime.  Other organizations are encouraged to join and to take action in coordination with this coalition. 

 

-         Legal Services of CNY AIDS Law Project

-         Lesbian and Gay Family Building Project

-         LGBT Family Building Coalition

-         LGBT Resource Center at Syracuse University

-         LGBT Unit/Faces Program of Southwest Community Center

-         Mothers Against Gun Violence

-         National Center for Transgender Equality

-         New York City Anti-Violence Project

-         New York State Division of Human Rights

-         PFLAG Syracuse

-         Pride and Joy Families

-         Q Law

-         Q Center at ACR

-         Sage Upstate

-         Syracuse University Hendricks Chapel

-         Vera House

-         And growing….

 

 

What has been done thus far:

• Advocates from Vera House have offered the Cannon family direct support and assistance in navigating the legal system and support for crime victims.
• The LGBT unit/FACES program has also offered direct support to Latiesha’s family and friends.
• Various LGBTQA community organization leaders have communicated the issue to the local news outlets.
• Community leaders have advocated that this crime be fully investigated and are hopeful that the District Attorney will have sufficient evidence to treat this as a hate crime.
• The National Coalition of Anti-Violence programs sent out a press release on November 19 to local and national media about Latiesha’s murder and about the murders of two other transgender women, Duanna Johnson in Memphis, and Aimee Wilcoxson in Denver.
• Therapists have been made available to youth at the Q Center
• If you would like to talk about the crime and how it’s impacting you or a loved one, you can call Vera House’s 24-Hour Crisis and Support Line at 315-468-3260. Vera House offers support and victim advocacy to survivors of all violent crime, including hate crimes.
• Plans are in the works to provide educational resources to local media on LGBT issues
• Plans are in the works to build and strengthen a relationship between the LGBT community and the police 
• The Transgender Day of Remembrance Ceremony at Syracuse University will take place as scheduled on Thursday, November 20 at Noon at Hendricks Chapel.  The public is welcome to attend. 

What You Can Do: As an LGBTQA community, we must stand together and speak out against all forms of violence. Crimes motivated by bias based on a person’s race, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, or ability do not happen in a vacuum.  Hate crimes are inevitable in a society where people who fall outside the norm are routinely made to feel different for who they are. Many of us have faced violence and discrimination in our schools, in our neighborhoods, or at our workplaces in Central New York.  More education is needed on this issue for the CNY community.   

 

As organization leaders within the LGBTQA community, we have worked together for years and we have reached out and worked together in this crisis. The need for centralized services for LGBTQA people in Central New York and for a strong and vibrant central LGBTQA organization is clear.  We need your help in working together to make this a reality.  We must overcome any divisions that have separated us in the past and move forward to ensure a brighter future for our youth, our city and county.  We must call on local community leaders outside of the LGBTQA community to move beyond symbolic action to address the significant issues that face LGBTQA youth on a daily basis, to address the inequalities in our society that prevent LGBTQA people from providing protections for their families, to address the prejudice and discrimination that LGBTQA people face in nursing homes and work places across Central New York.  The time is now to act.  

 

 

We know that many of you are concerned and want to do something. We would like to collect your ideas and suggestions about what we can do together and as individuals in this crisis. As we move forward we will use these suggestions to chart a course of action.  We need your help.  If you have suggestions or have questions, please contact us. 

 Congratulations to Adrea at Syracuse University for pulling all this together and for her wonderful leadership in a crisis.