by JoAnn Roberts - CyberQueen

"You can't hold a man down without staying down with him." -- Booker T. Washington

In case you didn't get the word, the TransAmerica Conference is cancelled. It was supposed to held in Charlotte, NC, later this month, but according to the event's producer, Divinity, they didn't get enough registrations to break even. It's too bad they had to cancel. I was looking forward to seeing Charlotte, NC, but more importantly, the community needs a new event in the spring and not just one of the older events warmed over on a new date. So, I guess that's it until the Be All next month in Cleveland.

I want to thank all those people who responded to my commentary last month. Many people thought I was hanging up my garter-belt. Not by a long-shot, girls. The best response came from Melissa who asked me: "Why do you think you want to have a more masculine appearances and expression after you have given so much of your time perfecting your feminine side?" Now, that's a great question! Part of the problem here is the perception that being transgendered is a complete identity. It's not, at least not for me. I have always said that my goal was an integration of masculine and feminine characteristics. After 12 years of intense exploration of my feminine side, I find I have neglected all the masculine things I used to enjoy. I'm just rebalancing that part of my life so that I can enjoy both sides equally. Also, consider that I have more outlets for my transgender needs in a week than some people have in a year. So, yes, I am much less driven because I know there will always be an outlet for JoAnn.

There's much controversy over the failure of the Free State Justice Campign, Maryland's gay and lesbian lobby, to fight for transgender inclusive language in Maryland's 1999 anti-discrimination and hate crimes bills. One group of transactivists caution "... Reflection, constructive criticism, suggestions for change, and honest evaluations..." are what's needed. Well, it would seem that Jesssica Xavier, Executive Director of It's Time America!, doesn't think so. In a lengthy statement addressing the previous cautions, Xavier says, "... We transactivists should keep in mind that this year marks the 30th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion. When all else fails, and everyone else fails us too, like our drag sisters we must summon the courage to stand up and say no more! Unless our putative allies come to respect us as equal partners, and not treat us like pawns, an LGBT movement that truly works for all sexual, racial and gender minorities is simply a fantasy. If we continue to quietly accept, year after year, the betrayals, broken promises, excuses of "more education is needed," all under the guise of "political pragmatism," we will become accomplices to the continuance of, not just our marginalization, but also our oppression. That's not my genderevolution." Ms. Xavier and I rarely, if ever, see eye-to-eye on an issue, but I have to agree with her on this one. It's what I've been preaching for sometime now. In fact, I am of the strong opinion that our community needs its own, transgender-only, lobbying organization. The failure of GenderPAC to represent the grass root transgender community is a crime. We need the equivalent of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force. We need a Transgender Rights Task Force that won't sit in the back of the GLB bus when it goes to Washington. Anyone interested in a TGTF, please contact me.

May is the month for transgender lobbying and this year will see the fourth (or fifth, depending on who you listen to) effort in Washington, D.C. Activists will gather on Monday, May 24th and Tuesday, May 25th to visit Congress and raise consciousness on transgender issues. Remember, it's before Memorial Day, so no white shoes please. We need to make a good impression on Congress.

Another lobbying organization has been added to the mix. Gender Freedom International (GFI), based in Ohio is "the first US-based organization dedicated to promoting international transgender human rights," according to a press release by Sara Fox, the organization's founder and president. Says Fox, "GFI's objective is to work cooperatively with other international human rights organizations to leverage governmental reforms abroad by influencing US foreign policy." Right, we can't get employment protection from our own government and Ms. Fox is taking on international tg rights issues. She also states, "By most accounts, transgendered people in the United States live terrible lives, enjoying basic human rights in only a few scattered regions. They are undoubtedly the most viciously and relentlessly persecuted minority in American society, living their lives in fear and dealing with hate crimes, denial of services, and employment discrimination on a regular and frequent basis." Whoa! Where the Hell did she get that information? I doubt that statement can be backed up with meaningful statistics. And I think there might be a few African-American, Hispanic, and Asian people who would strongly disagree as well.

Okay, I'm going out on a limb here, but I'm wearing my asbestos lingerie. Gwen Smith has created a website called "Remembering Our Dead". At the site are memorials for murdered transgendered people. Sounds like a good idea, right? Well, maybe not. Some of the people truly deserve to be remembered, like Tyra Hunter, whose death was not caused by any particular action on her part. Ms. Hunter was truly a victim of a system that doesn't care for differences. But, some of the people on the site were murdered while participating in high-risk behavior. For example, the most recent victim is Tracey Thompson (a.k.a. Billy Joe Turner, a.k.a. Tracey Turner) of Georgia who was repeatedly bashed in the head with a baseball bat. Now, no one deseves that kind of treatment, but Turner/Thompson was known to hitchhike the interstate to engage in sexual activities at truckstops. So, was this person a "helpless victim" of a hate-crime or was this person's conscious decision to engage in a high-risk activity a major factor in her own death? I think we have to be careful who we make martyrs and who gets honored for behaving badly. Better we should create a site that honors community members (both present and past) for the positive things they've done. Watch for just such a site debuting here at TGForum in the very near future.