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Chatsubo


The Chatsubo, or simply The Chat, is the bar made famous by William Gibson in his 1984 cyber-punk masterpiece NEUROMANCER. The Chat is where the cyberjocks, razorgirls and joeboys came to gather information and kick back. Please feel free to do the same here.

by JoAnn Roberts - CyberQueen

"If we are not striving for equality, in heaven's name for what are we living?"
-- John Hope

Equality. Now there's a term that seems so simple, so clear, and yet, legalistically, seems unobtainable. Why can't we have laws that require everyone be treated equally? Obviously, to the politicians, this is a naive notion. I had a recent conversation with one John Cloud, a writer for Time magazine doing a piece on transgender politics. When I opined that our community was displeased with the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and their position on transgender inclusion in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), he challenged me with the following: (a) ENDA has not yet passed. Including transgender people in ENDA would likely kill any prospect of ENDA passing in the near future; (b) the gay and lesbian community has worked for 20 years to get to this point with ENDA poised to pass in the very near future; (c) transgendered people would have to work and wait for 20 years to get their protections. Of course, I disagree, strongly. Politics be damned; no one should have to wait for equality. What's right is right. I don't believe that transgender inclusion in ENDA has been properly discussed and debated. And if HRC continues to stonewall our efforts, we'll just have to go around them. I personally do not believe that we should rely on the gay and lesbian community for political support. We need to build our own support and our own coalitions.

Last month's commentary on the HRC fund-raising boycott by the Gulf Gender Alliance (GGA) in Louisiana generated a lot of feedback, all of it positive in support of GGA. And for those who think a boycott doesn't work, according to Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is by Danica Nuccitelli published at Mousy ; "A nationwide survey done in 1991 found that boycotts [are] more effective than letter writing campaigns, lobbying..." Letter writing, lobbying and other activities don't attack donations, a major source of income for non-profits. According to the article, boycotts used to take between five and ten years to get results, but now take only about two because they're better organized and get more media attention. The thing I find so ironic is the criticism from within our own community; it's coming from people who advocated boycotting HRC fund-raisers just two short years ago.

Here's a another example of a good idea gone astray. GenderPAC, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and the HRC co-sponsored a Roundtable on Gender & the Law. The GPAC press release says: "Representatives from gay, women's, and gender groups gathered today..." Notice anything missing? There was no transgender representation at the meeting. You would have thought that perhaps the International Conference on Transgender Law & Employment Policy (ICTLEP) might have been invited. Nope. Nada. No. GPAC was specifically created to represent transgender issues. I know, I wrote the By Laws. But GPAC Executive Director, Riki Wilchins, has spread GPAC all over the gender spectrum. Our community really does not have effective representation at the federal level at all. What do you think about how GPAC is representing us? Send me feedback because this is extremely important.

I really don't know why we should tie our wagon to the gay and lesbian community. In some cases, they really don't want us as part of their community and it is causing serious problems. Here's an example from Vancouver, Wash. A flier was inserted into copies of the gay/lesbian newspaper Xtra! West. It said: "Like all males, transsexuals are: dangerous, abusive, intimidating, lazy and manipulative. Males masquerading as females (transsexuals) are polluting our communities worldwide with their lesbian-hating/womyn-hating poison. A male on hormones and/or in a dress is not a womyn." The flier was in response to an earlier Xtra! West editorial by a female staffer that stated: "[Lesbians who want to exclude the transgendered are] living a small and disempowered life filled with fear and a self-definition that puts the emphasis on victimization. It's about picking at festering sores and setting up hierarchies of oppression. 'I'm more oppressed than you are,' the reasoning goes. 'You don't pass the purity test.' The Nazis had their purity test, too. Wrong genes, wrong religion on your mother's side, wrong sexual orientation or born in a travelling caravan -- and it was off to the gas chambers. The opposition to the inclusion of the transgendered is certainly more subtle, but just as vicious in its underlying philosophy. In an era when we know that gender is complex and traditional gender definitions are false, there is no excuse for excluding the transgendered from full equality and protection everywhere, including in women's and lesbian groups and organizations."

Nancy Nangeroni, Executive Director of the International Foundation for Gender Education (IFGE), came up to me last month at Cal Dreamin' and said that I had set myself up as speaking for the community as I was criticizing IFGE and GPAC for doing the same. I thought about that and I think Ms. Nangeroni is mistaken. I clearly state that these are my opinions. However, I also get an extraordinary amount of feedback since this column is the most widely distributed in the community and the longest running. (I started this thread on the JSS BBS in 1985.) I don't claim to speak for the community but I think, more than anyone else, I have the pulse of the community. Of course, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong! On the other hand, maybe Nancy's not thinking too clearly these days. In late April she posted this on IFGE's web site: "The last few weeks have been pretty hectic for me, pushing me to the brink of burnout as I tried to hold up my end of keeping TG mag issue 83 on schedule..." If, after only four and a half months, Nancy is feeling burned out, perhaps IFGE needs an Executive Director with a more robust constitution.

Here's another example that puts a knot in my pantyhose. I received news about The Journal of Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Identity which is described as a... "progressive, international, interdisciplinary forum dedicated to the exchange of new knowledge and ideas about every major aspect of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender life." Well, if it's supposed to be a journal that includes transgender people why isn't the word "transgender" part of the journal title? Because we're not really a part of the journal at all and it's not really a journal but a book masquerading as a journal. A quick look at the Table of Contents reveals not one article on transgender issues. I see this a lot from businesses aimed primarily at gays and lesbians. They throw in the "B" and "T" words just to see if they can scoop up some additional cash.

Last month I also made some remarks about the uselessness of the transgender Usenet newsgroups. I must admit that I had not been monitoring all the groups of late because of the low signal to noise ratio. However, reader Sallyann Offner made the following comments that I want to share with everyone. "A few weeks ago, I would have heartily agreed with your assessment of the Usenet newsgroups. However, over the past month or so, this has begun changing, at least in alt.support.srs, the group aimed at the srs-bound transperson. Laura [Blake] may or may not choose to disrupt things there again, but we have had discourse there about: Early Post Op Care; Financial Sources for SRS; Oregon's dilemma with Medicaid Early transition; Several hormone threads; T.O.P.S. new website; Trans word usages; Texas' Bar issue; Reasons for later transition; Sources for clothing items; A proposal on suicide & depression; F/M surgery; Reasons for choosing surgeons; and Parental influence on GID and much more. Salted within all this were some trolls for Ms [Blake] and some spam. Six weeks ago, this was certainly not the case, but its level has risen in this newsgroup. Others may not be as high minded, or this could be a momentary period of light. But nontheless, there is a determination among some of those there to see that this newsgroup reaches its intended goal of providing "a supportive and informative environment for people who are undergoing or who have undergone sex reassignment surgery (SRS) and for their relatives and significant others." Please do not take this in any way as a criticism of your column. But I did wish to make you aware of an attempt by its members to become a bit more adult in their behavior." Hey, Sallyann, it's okay to criticize my column. In fact, I want to thank you for reminding me that a few newsgroups do not represent the whole pie.

Okay, okay! We'll get to some fashion news. The Hot Buzz about eyeshadow color for the rest of Spring and into Summer is green. The trick is to pick the right shade to match your complexion otherwise you'll look sick. Pick mint for pale skin... olive for medium skin tones, and green-gold for dark skin. Some great colors are Fern, Kiwi, Pistachio, and Cool Mint. Check 'em out.

One of the problems I noticed with the super-fast dry nail polishes was the lack of a red-red. Well, it looks like the wait is over. Maybelline Express Finish has at least two true reds, Red Caviar and Red Glamour, along with a new Fuschia. I'm going to give it them a try and I'll let you know how they perform.

The June issue of Glamour has a photo of female rapper Li'l Kim in what amounts to underwear with sequins. A photog caught her at the Grammys. The comment under the photo says, "Get this woman a skirt! Even transvestite hookers show up in public wearing more than this." Well! I never... Gosh, where is GPAC when you need them!

So, those are my opinions, but, hey, what do I know? Some people think they're just a little more equal than others. Comments? Write care of this publication or email them to CyberQueen@cdspub.com.

© 1998 by JoAnn Roberts

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