The
Interview

...with Riki Anne Wilchins

A series of talks with leaders in the Transgender Community

By Cindy Martin
Transgender Forum Publisher


Riki Anne Wilchins is a key person in Transexual Menace, an activist group that has recently been getting a great deal of attention inside and outside the community.

This is the first of a two part interview with Riki, who invites your Comments & Questions on the philosophies and issues that are raised here. When sending mail please mention that it is for Ms. Wilchins

This article may be freely distributed


Transgender Forum: How did the Transexual Menace come about?

Riki Anne Wilchins: It was formed, mostly as a joke, a name to organize under, when Denise Norris and Jessica Xavier hijacked me into helping contest Stonewall25's decision to make their event "les-bi-gay", leaving "trans" out (in the summer '93).

It was a direct rip-off of Rita Mae Brown's group, "The Lavendar Menace. That group sprung up following NOW's lesbian purges of the late 60's when 17 women, all wearing lavendar t-shirts reading "The Lavendar Menace," took over the '69 NOW National Conference stage and demanded to be taken seriously. I thought the name "The Transexual Menace," with the black tshirts and the red, blood-dripping Rocky Horror Show lettering, also struck just the right note of amused gender-paranoia.

In NYC, particularly, the gender community had been primarily concerned with self-help activities for the preceding 5 years. The community building and self-improvement evidently helped, because one day our community reached critical mass. A group of us looked at ourselves and said "it's time to move beyond services and begin to challenge systemic gender oppression."

TGF: Transexual Menace hasn't been around long, yet it acquired a reputation for "doing" and not just talking. Can you fill us in on some of it major accomplishments in the last year or so?

RW: Here's some of what we've done:

A. Stonewall25: The Menace showed up to contest leaving out the name "Transgendered" from the title. We lost that portion of the struggle, but were effective in educating in the queer community, gaining a speaker's position for Leslie Feinberg, a commitment for trans-inclusion in-service training for SW25 staff, and updating the SW25 literature to reflect the contributions of genderqueers at the Stonewall Riot itself and in the years since.

B. Gay Games: The Menace successfully contested and overturned GG'94s policy requiring transwomen to compete as males unless they provided extensive psychological and medical documentation required of no other participants. By building a wide coalition with groups like TransGender Rights! (TGR) and Metropolitan Gender Network (MGN), and the Community Center, we were able to get the GG'94 Board to reverse the policy in a national press release, hire the first transpeople for their staff, and institute sensitivity training.

C. Camp Trans: Since 1991 the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival has evicted trans-identified festival goers through its now-infamous policy of "womynborn womyn only." In 1994, the Menace helped stage "Camp Trans- the Educational Event Across the Road from the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival," (see info on Camp Trans here) bringing in speakers such as F-to-M leader James Green, author and activist Minnie Bruce Pratt, comedienne Mimi=Freed (sic), and Leslie Feinberg. Over 400 "festigoers" came out to attend the free workshops, and the coalition that became Camp Trans itself finally encompassed over 30 genderfolks from across the US.

D. The Brandon Teena Murder Trial Vigil: Brandon Teena was a transgendered man living in Falls City, Nebraska, who was viciously beaten and raped just before Christmas '93. When he complained to the local Sheriff, he was not only denied protection and an investigation, he was outed to the local newspaper. Shortly thereafter his attackers returned and murdered him. In May of this year, the Menace organized a Memorial Vigil outside the courthouse during the first day of the murder trial, as well as collecting donations for his lover, mother and gravestone. Dozens of people gave money, and over 40 individuals flew in from across the queer community to commemorate his death, speak to the Sheriff and townspeople, and be visible..

E. Camp Trans Fund-raiser: To raise money, the Camp Trans Fund-raiser: "U.N.I.T.Y. & Inclusion" was held at the Community Center on June 29, 1994. It was the first transgender community fund-raiser ever held here, perhaps anywhere and included speakers from a wide spectrum like Amber Hollibaugh (LAP), City Councilmember Tom Duane, Donald Suggs (GLAAD), performance artist Holly Hughes, Kate Bornstein, Leslie Feinberg, Cheryl Clark and many others. Over $800 was donated towards the first Camp Trans.

F. Needle Exchange Education: City agencies, when they think of needles and AIDS, think of drugs. But many impoverished transpeople, particularly those unemployed or engaged in sex work, share needles to shoot street hormones. Members of the Menace went scheduled face-to- face meetings with the NYC Health Department and educated them on addressing this population in the fight against the spread of HIV.

G. N.O.W.: N.O.W. and mainstream feminism have a history of ignoring the needs of transgendered women. In spring of '94, members of the Menace and local NJ gender groups lobbied and spoke at the NOW-NJ State Convention. We succeeded in introducing and passing a resolution recognizing the rights and needs of transgendered and transexual people. For the first time NOW-NJ members can work on trans-issues and be considered "within policy."

As a follow-up, at the NOW National Conference in July of 1995, after collecting over 300 petition signatures from the 700 attendees, we successfully introduced the same resolution; it currently is before the NOW national board for a vote. It is worth noting that one of the earliest signatories was NOW past-president, Ellie Smeal, and that NOW's National Membership Coordinator told us she thought the issue so important she requested an information packet on transgender rights/inclusion to be mailed by NOW to all of their 50 state chapters for discussion.

H. NYC Non-Discrimination Ordinance: The Menace has worked closely with City Councilmember Tom Duane, developing an amendment to NYC's nondiscrimination statute to prohibit discrimination in housing and employment based on gender expression.

I. In Your Face!: Members of the Menace, working with other gender groups and magazines around the country including Renaissance, International Foundation for Gender Education (IFGE), the TransGender Law Conference (ICTLEP), the national bisexual magazine "Anything That Moves," "CrossTalk," "GenderQuest," "The Tapestry," AEGIS Foundation, "GenderFlex," and "Chrysalis Quarterly," composed and distributed a free insert called: "In Your Face!", the journal of record about "political activism against gender oppression." Although it is devoted entirely to gender activism, IYF's initial distribution was over 10,000 copies, making it the largest gender publication in the US. (Sample attached.)

J. The First Annual Transexual & Transgender Health Empowerment Conference: Menace members originated the concept for the The Health Conference, and then worked with its main sponsor, the Gender Identity Project of NYC's Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center, to plan and execute it. The Conference was the first event of its kind, focusing as it did on critical issues of trans-health and achieving a truly national focus and drawing power. Held over April 21-23 in 1995, it attacted a combination of treatment professionals, gender activists and the transfolks from all over the country for seminars, presentations and discussion. The first day was devoted mainly to presentations by transpeople to treatment professionals, while the second concentrated mostly on transpeople dealing with community issues vital to their suvival and visibility. Topics included transgender sex and sexuality, sex reassignment surgery and alternatives, safe sex and HIV prevention, gender status and the law, beyond pathology and medical models, and methods for building community and empowerment

TGF: It is an impressive record for so young a group, but Transgender Menace has also acquired an "in your face'' reputation from some of its demonstrations and written materials. But are demonstrations really the way to get things done? After all, In San Francisco, Minnesota and Seattle, the anti-bias laws went into place as result of diplomacy, determination and lobbying, not street action. Are aggressive actions and words really the way to get things done?

RW: I don't know what reactions others may have to our demos and leafleting. I do know that every single action we've undertaken in the NYC chapter has as its goal winning hearts and minds. The motto of the Menace is "Confront with Love," which I take to mean hat we *do* stand up for ourselves, but we try to do so with love: to educate, to be visible, to help people to understand.

The NYC Menace has *never* done a hostile demo, never will. Even with HRCF, we've asked folks to concentrate on addressing issues of "ENDA inclusion" and our desperate need for employment protection, rather than trying to demonize HRCF, a project for which I have no enthusiasm and which I think is particularly wrongheaded (obviously others in our community disagree).

The fact is, the trans-community has concentrated for a long time on two basic projects: working within the les-bi-gay movement under their political umbrellas and meeting in conventions.

Both of them are admirable, and work within their spheres quite well. But from my perspective the missing was always direct action: how and when do we "take the show on the road," stop meeting indoors in air conditioned rooms, and take our case directly to the people? I have a great faith in the fundamental decency and humanity of most folks. But you can't find that out if you don't come out and do things publicly.

Our idea was to do *direct* political action: this meant demos, leafleting, showing up together, wearing the dumb t-shirts in public, contesting when someone loses their job, gets attacked, or even gets murdered. Yes, there are other important tasks in this fight, and others are doing them quite well. We're just trying to fill in a missing piece. It is the same as asking Queer Nation, ACT-UP or The Lesbian Avengers if their actions are all there is: of course not. It's just one small part of a very, very large pie, and there are *many* ways people make invaluable contributions to the cause of contesting gender-based oppression.

Obviously, if your primary goal is passing anti-bias legislation, then picketing or leafleting outside your City Hall in a black t-shirt is *not* going cut the mustard. On the other hand, if one of your City Councilmembers says that all transexuals are "just men in drag who are really confused homosexuals involved in perverse and disgusting acts of a sexual nature with various barnyard fowls," then just *perhaps* you might want to consider dusting off and ironing out that ole' t-shirt for Monday morning, stopping by your friendly Kinko's, and calling a few of your friends. ;-)

TGF: Several people I talked to about this interview all had the same basic comment: they do good work, but they need to lose the name. I have to admit that I also find name "Transexual Menace" off-putting as well as one which by definition seems to exclude a lot of people in this community. Any reaction?

RW: Yes. They're right. I mean, it started as a *joke*, you know... I didn't expect it to spread halfway across the country.

On the other hand, I kind of like the name: it was about as in-your- face as we could get and still retain a sense of humor about it (*always* important where the Menace is concerned) and for me, at least, the Menace doesn't stand for anything particularly transexual. I don't consider myself a "transexual," nor am I particularly interested in being one or occupying that speaking position, except where it's oppressed (which today, unfortunately, is just about everywhere). And no one has to be trans-identified to join the Menace, just interested in fighting gender oppression.

In connection with this, I might add that one of the few *good* things about the name is if you're interested in contesting gender-based oppression, there are *few* things you could put on a t-shirt that are *more* radical. Maybe Cheryl Chase's "Hermaphrodites with Attitude" might top it, I don't know. But anyway, if "homosexuality" was "the love that dare not speak it's name," then "transexuality" was "the identity that dare not speak its name." It was okay to be transexual, as long as you tried your damnedest not to look like one, be perceived as one, or to mention the fact in polite company.

TGF: Getting a bit more personal, who is Riki Wilchins? What is your background? Have you been active in community politics long? What got you interested?

RW: As far as how I got here: I got interested when I got thrown out of my women's incest support group a 6 years ago, a group which had voted on my presence 2 or 3 times, and which I ended up chairing for half a year. When it came my turn to tell my story, I invited a couple of dear friends to attend who were survivors as well. They were also obviously pretransition.

The following week, some members drafted a resolution about women only, specifically drawn to include post-op me. I stated that no one knew what was in my pants, it was no one's business and that as far as they were concerned, I was proudly pre-operative or non-operative. They finally voted and I had to leave. It was then that I realized that my dreams of assimilation were not going to be the unalloyed success I had hoped.

As far as the rest, although I'm generally not into passing, I'll pass on this. I'm much more interested in ideas and actions than personalities, and we already have enough personalities in this community to go around.

TGF: On another front, people like Jesse Helms are obvious enemies, but why get into a fight with the Human Rights Campaign Fund (HRCF) Isn't it counter-productive to have conflict with our best friends, i.e. the gay/lesbian community?

(Background: HRCF acted last year to exclude transgenders from the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). After a year long effort by transgender political organizations to produce a transgender inclusive bill, the HRCF succeeded in having transgenders removed from the legislation. The actions of the HRCF follow the same pattern seen a year earlier when Chai Feldblum, the drafter of ENDA, acknowledged that transgenders were purposely omitted because the HRCF felt inclusion might cost them twenty votes. Transgender groups retaliated by securing twenty votes from legislators who agreed not to vote for ENDA unless transgender s were included.)

RW: HRCF does important work in many quarters, not the least of which was fighting with Helms over the Ryan White (HIV research funding) Care Act this last week, successfully, I might add. I don't consider myself in a fight with HRCF. I consider myself and others to be fighting for the right to protection from discrimination in employment for the next generation or two of genderqueers. We are talking about millions, perhaps tens of millions of people, and their most fundamental right to earn a living, hold a job, and be judged by what they do, not what they *are*. I recall that the end of last year, 3 of my friends lost their jobs in each of 3 months, 1 every month, simply because they were transgendered or transexual. One of them, under-educated, pre- operative, and completely out of un-employment checks, is currently turning tricks to put food on her table: not to diss sex workers, but that is one occupation which trans-identified people are allowed, even encouraged by society to take up.

The struggle for ENDA inclusion is not a TM thing, or even a transexual thing.

Employment discrimination keeps millions of people in the closet, in fear, or unemployed who identify as cross-dressers, transvestites, leatherfolk, transgendered, drag, intersexed, nellie, or stone butch: in short, anyone who's expression of gender does not meet the norm, who are not "straight-looking," who does not park their "queerness" at the bedroom door. Is anyone really suggesting we accept that these people have no right to hold a job? That it is okay for them to be fired for the way they look, for being genderqueer? That we should docilely accept seeing one hard-working person after another deprived of their fundamental right to earn a living? Or ought we rather to be engaged in contesting this oppression, acknowledging that these are some of the most marginalized and un-empowered members of our society, and instead of debating vague and baseless charges of "horizontal hostility" in the face of this injustice, instead focus with conviction and authority on the best and surest means to ensure that *all of us* have the right to right to put a roof over our heads, food on the table, and take care of those we love.

In closing, I'd note that NYC has had a gay rights ordinance for years. It did not protect my butch friend, who came out at work as probably being a transgendered man, who started dressing appropriately, and who's job of 5 years evaporated the very next month. The ordinance protecting him from discrimination on account of his sexual or affectional preference did not protect him: he had no grounds whatsoever. He was not *fired* for being gay or lesbian. He was *fired* for the way in which he expressed his gender.

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