Gender Identity Center Journal

Online Edition

January/February 1998


Welcome to the online edition of the GIC Journal, the newsletter of the Gender Identity Center of Colorado. Here, you'll find a sample of articles and features from our print edition. For all the news, vendors, photos and more, subscribe, or better yet become a member, of the GIC.


Contents


Romer's Veto of Amendment 2 & Same-Sex Marriage Bill, a Journey Of the Heart

by Carolee Laughton

"The simple man from Holly, Colo., from a different generation," started his speech off plainly saying, "This group has become very important to me."

The "simple man" is the governor of Colorado, Roy Romer. The "group" is the GLBT community.

The two-term Democratic governor was honored at the reception "Ally for Justice" on Nov. 10th for vetoing Amendment 2 and for being the only governor to veto the bill outlawing same-sex marriage--twice.

This legislation, of course, is important to the TG community, as well. It could affect the marriages of M-t-F and F-t-M people who transitioned after they were legally married, and who still wish to maintain their marriages.

Among members of the G.I.C, members of the gay and lesbian community., Equality Colorado, who sponsored the event and gave the award were a host of legislators: Lt. Gov. Gail Schlotter, Rep. Penfield Tate, Rep. Dorothy Rupert (who introduced Robynne P. to the governor), Sen. Bob Hernandez, Sen. Ed Perlmutter and Mayor Wellington Web, who dropped into the meeting before the presentation.

Richard Evans, the lead plaintiff in Amendment 2, and Tea Schook, who helped write Amendment 2, it probably would be fair to say, began their relationship with the governor as adversaries. Schook even ran against Gov. Romer once. Both spoke about how they came to know, like and respect Gov. Romer.

They addressed their remarks directly to the governor. "I believe one of the reasons the President has been able to make this step"(speaking at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, a group that acknowledges the TG community) , "is because of people like you," Evans said.

"He needed to be able to understand why we couldn't use that special pronoun and not talk about our personal lives," Evans said.

Romer's journey to justice began when he was quite young. "When I was a youth, (this country) created the Japanese internment camps during World War II. I used to wonder why they were inside the fence and I was outside."

As a college student, Romer had a black roommate. "He was the greatest classmate. I loved him and we marched together from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. "I have been really not conscious, but subconscious about what justice was...."

While he was able to understand and wholeheartedly support Black civil rights, gay and lesbian civil rights, were, at first, quite another matter. "I discovered I had a deeply entrenched prejudice, but I had to deal with it."

"Amendment 2 pushed me to examine my values, and the legislation to prohibit same-sex marriage even more."

To better understand gayness and how families deal with it, Romer said began to go to meetings of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG).

He explained that when he examines a situation that he pulls it "right up close." He has seven children and 15 grandchildren. And he looked at the situation as "What kind of a life do you want for them?" And he began to deal with the question in that context.

Schook said, "It was said there was a change of heart culminated with a statement by executive order. There was no true change of heart. It came about by providing him the opportunity to look at himself and his actions."

She said after he'd done that, the governor had to speak out against Amendment 2. She said she cried then, in relief, after working 20 years on gay, lesbian issues. "(Romer) told us that he would not let them hurt us. And I cried then, too."

Schook expressed not only her own wish that night when she said, "May your successor have a backbone of a similar alloy."

Rep. Tate said about Romer, "What I wanted to share with you is there's a person who believes in the right of the individual to be who they are without public censure. It's not a poltical expediency, it's a deeply held personal conviction."

"It's a journey--You've done an awful lot for me," the governor said. You have forced me to live my values (to where) justice and life is celebrated."

He said as he sat waiting to be presented his award, he looked around and asked himself, "How did I get here?" He labeled the road to the podium that night as a "strange and unexpected thing."

"In a very interesting way, I have been introduced to your community. There has been tension, learning, but most of all you've kept me up at night thinking about what is fair, what is human," Romer said to a lot of appreciative laughter.

"You pushed me harder to my core values--that's the honor you've given me. Not that I'm a better human being, but a more honest human being."


Romer's "Journey of the Heart" Our Journey, Too

by Carolee Laughton

As I put together the lead story on page 1 about Gov. Romer, I wondered whether I would lose any readers to the "gay/lesbian" issue. It seems some TG people are homophobic. For the life of me, I can't figure out why. Our two groups are (possibly) the last of those fighting to achieve full civil rights. Why should we, then, who have so much in common in our fight for acceptance, turn around and tell the other group, "Well, I have my civil rights, but I don't want you to have yours."

After living my whole life "on the outs" with mainstream society, feeling that I must, indeed, have the wrong "rulebook" because a lot of what I valued and thought was important wasn't considered as such, I came to my own heartfelt conclusion: that gays, lesbians, TGs, women, the disabled, people of color, will not be held back by something as ludicrous as the color of our skin, or what we look like, to determine whether or not we can do a job or "should" have a place in society.

We all have talents, we all have value simply because we are here. The Creator, however you perceive Him, Her, or Them to be, made us in His, Her, Their own image. Therefore, any group claiming to have the way, or one way to look at life or how we "should" do things, excludes a whole plethora of people with ideas yet to be that would make our world a lot better a place in which to live.

It greatly saddens me that so much time and effort is spent trying to whip those of us "rounds" into "square" molds and criticizing or ostracizing those of us whose only crime is being different and trying to make our own way in this world. After struggling for so long and so hard, I want to make darn sure that I don't forget where I came from: I hope to make "Them" realize the differences can only make us stronger. "Them" become more like "Us," more tolerant open and free!

Those who use the fear of "not being like me" to hurt others, make our world the the kind of place where homelessness becomes accepted. Where violence against the elderly and young alike grows like a cancer. And wars are not only commonplace, but are prepared for, instead of using our brains to promote goodwill among all people all year long. Like Gov. Roy Romer did, it seems to me, we can use our prejudices to challenge ourselves and our belief systems. Like he did, we'd find that people just want to make a place in life for themselves and their families. People want to be appreciated for the people they are and be respected for their beliefs, opinions, ideas, and contributions. There's a place here for all of us: TG, gay, straight, whatever. Lay down your fears and take hold my hand, we have much to learn about the other.


GIC Petitions Mayor's Group for Membership

by Susan Conder

On Nov. 24, Roxann S., Jamie S., Jessie S., Dianna C. And I attended our first meeting at Mayor Wellington Webb's Gay & Lesbian Advisory Committee (MGLAC).

This is a committee formed by Webb to look at the issues facing Denver's gay and lesbian community. We were there to petition the committee for membership. After much discussion and controversy, the committee voted unanimously to recommend the G.I.C. for membership on the committee. All that is required now is Mayor Webb's approval. We have been told that he has never turned down a recommendation from MGLAC.

A sub-committee was formed after this meeting to take a look at Denver's anti-discrimination ordinance. This committee consists of Theresa Zoltanski from the Colorado Lesbian & Gay Law Association, Danny Cannain from the Colorado Legal Initiative Project (CLIP) and Dianna Cicotello from the G.I.C. One of the objectives of this committee will be to: (a) better define the term "gender," or (b) examine the feasibility of including the term "transgender."

As MGLAC requires one representative and one alternate from each organization, it was recommended to our Board of Directors at the December meeting that Dianna C. be our representative and that I be our alternate. Dianne has worked with several of the members of the committee in the past and has a better knowledge of how these committees work. I will be attending each meeting with Dianne to learn more.

Dec. 22 was the latest meeting of MGLAC, and while there is still no official word from Mayor Webb, we were given full participatory rights. Tina Scardina, staff liaison to the mayor again reassured me that while she has received no official word from Webb, this is due more to a full schedule than reluctance.

The committee decided that their priorities for 1998 are: youth, diversity and Denver's anti-discrimination ordinance. As I explained to the other members of the committee, our major objective as a member was to be sure that transgender issues are included. Even if that means starting with the education of the committee.

At the Dec. 22 meeting, MGLAC elected their new executive committee. The by-laws require gender parity and at least one person of color. In a change from previous years, the committee unanimously voted to adopt two co-chairs elects in a rotating two-year term. For this election only, the co-chairs will serve for one year and the co-chair elects will serve for two, with two new co-chair elects being voted on in Dec. 1998.

The new co-chairs are Rev. Laurene Lafontaine representing Equality Colorado and Danny Cannain, from CLIP. The co-chair elects are Lorenzo Taylor of Colorado's Black Lesbian and Gay Leadership Forum and Rachael Markel. Until December, Rachael was the alternate representative from the Denver Women's Chorus. She has resigned that position and is now an individual member.

I believe that this will provide a fantastic opportunity for us. Not only will be meeting new allies, but we're going to have a chance to possibly affect policy within the City and County of Denver for the better.


Transgender Rights Efforts Slipping in Fort Collins

By Kathy W.

Efforts to include transgender protection in a proposed Fort Collins Human Rights ordinance have been set back, as the city's leading civil rights organization has voted to withdraw support. The City Attorneys have submitted to the City Council two drafts of a proposed Human Rights Ordinance, which exclude transgender protections and specifically exclude TGs under medical care from the definition of disability discrimination.

BACKGROUND:

The Fort Collins Human Relations Commission first proposed changes to its human rights ordinance last year. In consultation with the city attorney and city human rights officer, the commission drafted a proposed ordinance that included both sexual orientation and transgender status as categories of illegal discrimination. Sexual discrimination in the old ordinance was replaced by gender discrimination. Transgender inclusion was worded as part of the definition of 'gender' as follows:

"Sexual harassment" in the proposed ordinance included the following definition: The City Council asked the City Manager to appoint a task force of community members to look into possible changes to the proposal. In October, the task force voted to delete transgender protection entirely. References to gender related clothing were also deleted from the definition of sexual harrassment.

The task force, divided on the issue of sexual orientation, drafted two versions of the proposed ordinance: one with gay protection and one without. Neither included reference to transgender status. On December 3, nearly 300 members of the GLB community attended a community forum to present the case for sexual orientation protection to the task force. No one spoke to the issue of civil rights for transgendered people. The task force held its final meeting on December 8 and sent its two ordinance proposals to the City Council Health and Safety Committee without transgender protection.

RECENT EVENTS:

On December 10, the Fort Collins Citizens for Human Rights Committee, the leading organization advocating reform of the city human rights ordinance, voted NOT to endorse the restoration of transgender rights to the proposed ordinance. According to an FCCHR spokesperson:

On December 15, Asst. City Atty. Greg Tempel presented to the Health and Safety Committee new drafts of the two ordinance proposals. ‘Gender’ was retained in favor of ‘sex,’ which had been recommended by the Citizen’s Task Force. Again, transgender protections were excluded: This is a very small step in the right direction. "Gender," to most people includes personal expression and societal context, where "sex" more narrowly refers to physical anatomy. However, this alone is insufficient to offer legal protection under case law.

Worse, the latest revisions were amended to add the exclusions contained in the Federal Americans with Disabilities Act, which list transsexualism, transvestism and “gender identity disorders not resulting from physical impairments along with pedophilia, exhibitionism, voyeurism, kleptomania, etc. This action associates transgendered people with very unfair and negative stereotypes of mental disorder. It specifically targets transitioning TS’s under medical care, who have recently won some protection under state and local disability legislation that did not reference the federal ADA.

Transgendered people under medical care were excluded from the Americans with Disibilities Act in 1989 by the Armstrong (Senate R., Indiana) Amendment, which speculated that the courts would be “swamped” with the “most egregious” lawsuits should transgendered people be included in the ADA. Armstrong offered no rationale for why a claim for gender dysphoria would be more ‘egregious’ than for schizophrenia or other covered classifications.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

  • January 7: the Fort Collins Citizens for Human Rights meets to prepare for upcoming city council sessions: 7-9 PM, Foothills Unitarian Church, W. Drake, near Shields, Fort Collins.
  • January 27: City Council "study session" to consider recommendation of Health and Safety Committee.
  • February 17: Regular meeting of City Council to deliberate the proposed human rights ordinance.
  • March 3: City Council meeting. The council may vote the proposal into law, defeat it, or defer it to the ballot next fall.

    FOR MORE INFORMATION:

    Fort Collins Citizens for Human Rights Committee:

    Equality Colorado: Fort Collins City Council:

    Survey: You Can Call Me.....?

    James Green and Dallas Denny are doing a paper about the use of descriptive terminology in the professional literature of gender identity issues. Basically, we are interested in reforming the literature so it speaks respectfully about transsexual and transgendered persons. To do that, we must determine what transsexual and transgendered people like, and what they don't like. We are asking community members to give us their opinions of certain terms which have been used in the literature, and some of the terms put forth by the community itself, so we can communicate the community's opinions to the readers of our paper.

    Responses to the following questionnaire can be e-mailed to TSTGMen@aol.com or aegis@gender.org, or sent via mail to AEGIS, P.O. Box 33724, Decatur, GA 30033.

    If you are interested in receiving a copy of the paper which will eventually come from this, be sure to indicate this on your form.

    Survey of Language Usage

  • 1. Do you want a copy of our final paper (if so, give your name and address or e-mail address. We consider this information personal and will use it only for distribution of the paper.
  • 2. What is your year of birth?
  • 3. What sex were you assigned at birth: Male __ Female __ Intersexed __
  • 4. What word or words would you preferentially like to use to describe yourself (e.g., male, female, transsexual, transgenderist, crossdresser, androgyne, intersexed, new woman, new man, etc.).
  • 5. Which of the following terms do you think best elaborates the description of you that you provided in 4 above? androgyne __ crossdresser__ intersexed __transgederist __ transsexed __ transsexual __ nontransgendered/nontranssexual__
  • 6. On a scale of 1 to 5, please rate these terms below which have been used in the psycho-medical literature (and/or in the community); 1 = I hate it; 2 = I dislike it; 3=I'm so-so about it; 4 = I like it; 5 = I'm enthusiastic about it (love it).
    NOTE: Some of these terms will of necessity not describe YOU. Please rate all terms 1-5.
  • 7.
  • 8. How do you regard the use of quotation marks in the following sentences? 1 = I hate it; 2 = I dislike it; 3=I'm so-so about it; 4 = I like it; 5 = I'm enthusiastic about it (love it).

    Thank you for participating in this study.


    Survey: Transsexual Questionaire

    (This survey was passed along to us by Phyllis Frye from the International Conference for Transgender Law & Employment Practices (ICTLEP). We are requesting a copy for our library of her findings. If you would like to, please complete and send in the answers by one of the ways suggested below. Editor)

    As part of my continuing research into transgender relationships and marriage law, I am trying to learn about transgender marriages which have not lead to a court case accessible by usual legal research techniques.

    Could you please both fill this out and return to me and also pass along the request to other transgender folk who you know? Your help is much appreciated.

    I have tried to use language that recognizes the way that transgendered people understand themselves to be of a particular sex, while gathering information about those factors that the legal or medical system consider important to sex identity. My apologies in advance if I have inadvertently used inappropriate language. (If my questions do not caputure your experiences of self-definition, please plain to me in your own words).

    Please answer the following questions and return the result to me by email (mcoombs@law.miami,edu) by fax (305-284-1588), or by snail mail (Prof. Mary Coombs, University of Miami School of Law, P.O. Box 248087, Coral Gables, FL 33124).

    Gender Identity Status and markers of transition.

    Thank you very, very much for your help. Even anonymous responses are very helpful. If you are willing to do so, I would also appreciate information that would allow me to contact you. If will not use any identifying information in any published materials except with your prior written permission.
  • Name:
  • Address:
  • email address:
    The Journal is the official publication of The Gender Identity Center of Colorado, Inc. , a non-profit education and support organization for transgendered people, families, friends and the community at large.

    Editor: Carolee Laughton

    To place an advertisement or obtain advertising information, call the editor at (303) 202-6466.

    Articles from contributors must be printed double-spaced or submitted on a 3 1/2" disc in ASCII text format. Submissions are due on the 15th of the month preceding publication:

    G.I.C. Journal
    1455 Ammons Street, Suite 100
    Lakewood, CO 80215-4993

    GICofColo@aol.com

    Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the policies of the G.I.C., its Officers, or the Journal.

    Copyright (c) 1998, Gender Identity Center of Colorado, Inc.