I attended a local Hands Off Washington meeting last night, dressed for the first time there as Allison. I was the only transgendered person there. No one, including our department's assistant attorney general recognized me. They were nice to me; made a statement about being an all-inclusive organization; and announced that the next month's speaker will be Marsha Botzer, founder of Ingersoll Gender Center in Seattle. The chairman pointed out that this would give the group a chance to become acquainted with the problems of the transgendered people.
The chairman stressed that the group is "all inclusive", But she seemed uninformed about our interest in the fight against two oppressive initiatives which specify gay, lesbian, transvestites and transsexuals. And every remark from the audience referred to these initiatives only as threats to the gay and lesbian population.
Most of the people in this group don't know they have ever met a heterosexual crossdresser. And I think they have been totally oblivious to the fact that these oppressive initiatives are a problem for anyone but themselves.
I hope to work with this group through the campaign. I don't know why we should have more sympathy for their gender issues than they have for ours; except that we do know them, and they do not know us; we've kept a lower profile. But we are under attack by the same people who throw us all into the same basket. And the real fight is against oppression of minorities; they are a minority; we are a minority; Cambodians are a minority, and Jews are a minority. The fight to protect our own rights must also be a fight to protect rights of all minorities.
It seems to me that we, in the T-community do need to approach the problem a little differently from the gay population. For one thing, I perceive that there is a greater public stigma against crossdressing than against being gay at this time. (I think the gays are aware of this too.) Another is that the vast majority of crossdressers are family men and women in responsible careers; crossdressing is an important, but small part of their lives as a whole. Except for those who make their money within the community, coming out to the world is a life-wrenching upheaval and a jeopardy to all the rest of things we hold dear.
So when the Hands Off Washington group asked for volunteers to approach local merchants, many of whom I know in my male role, I did not volunteer. When they asked who would be willing to help with office work and letter writing, I did volunteer.
I was acutely aware that most of these people were ready to meet the public head on on their terms, ask questions, interview, demonstrate, etc., and that I was not. They probably would not see a difference in our positions. I hope they can overlook the fact that I'm not ready to toss over a lifetime of local community life to make public, local presentations and appearances while crossdressed.
Of course I can and will participate in some of these while not crossdressed. But that will be under another name, as another person. I attend this same group last year as the other person and never got invited to participate in a committe meeting; nor was I advised of meetings of a committee I for which I had volunteerd. As a male, I had said I was a transvestite, and they apparently didn't think they needed THAT much help. This time, I'm making sure that they know I'm visible and offering to help.
It is true that there is a lot of need for volunteers during this political struggle. We do need to volunteer to work with the gay and lesbian groups, and even to push a little to do so. Remember the gays and lesbians usually understand no more of our motives and needs than does the cross-section of the American public. We need to make them like us; do some outreach. Be sure they know that each of us is a part of the T-community, and that we want to improve their civil rights just as we want to improve our own.
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