Helpful Hints

Out of the Blue

By Stacy Clement
© 1999

Stacy Clement has an MA. in Clinical Psychology from U.S. International and is a Ph.D. Candidate in Humanistic Psychology at the Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center in San Francisco. She has lectured and presented before numers professional and community groups. Currently working on research with the adult children of transgender people

Sometimes when you least expect it, you can have an experience that will explode in front of you like a Roman candle. Just such an experience happened to me this week. I had already completed my topic of discussion for the month, but this will take precedence and Iíll save the other one for later.

Some of you know that I am now working fulltime for the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center. The offices are in Los Angeles, in a section of town known as Hollywood. I make this distinction not because I assume anything, but as a point of clarity. The city of West Hollywood, unlike Hollywood, is an incorporated and separate entity from LA and, as such, provides its own police services by contract with the Los Angeles County Sheriffís Department. This is not uncommon for many of the smaller incorporated areas of the county.

So What?

Well, the West Hollywood Division of the Sheriffís Department has taken on some challenges and come up with what can only be phrased as revolutionary and truly insightful programs. One such is the Gay and Lesbian Conference Committee (G&LCC) which has, over the years, tackled a myriad of issues specific to that community which makes up a large portion of West Hollywoodís residents and a clear majority of it's visitors. An off-shoot of the G&LCC is the Transgender Conference Committee which has now been a separate entity (from the G&LCC) for a little more than a month. I am blessed and pleased with the opportunity to sit on this committee and participate in its endeavors. Yesterday we launched a program of enlightenment with the first two of four roll-call presentations about the transgendered members of the community.

Many of the transgendered girls in the area have found a need or desire to prostitute themselves, and there are many transgendered individuals who party and club as well as live and work in the area in general. It is the presence of these two diverse segments of the community for which the TCC has been formed. In the roll-call session, two or more transgendered individuals, myself included, present ourselves as ëhuman beingsí and as resources for communications and information between the transgendered community and the deputies. The hope is to reduce (dare we say ìeliminateî) misconceptions, confusion and fear by both sides. The presentations went very, very well and I anticipate the remaining two to go likewise.

Imagine yourself and friends walking out of a restaurant after having a very special and well-deserved evening out. You are standing on the sidewalk chatting with your friends, perhaps also T-people, and an officer walks up to you. Yes, loitering is illegal most everywhere and perhaps it is closing time and the business has had previous issues with loitering or illegal activities of other types. The officer suggests, in a none-to-aware tone, that you peddle your wares elsewhere. You are offended and reply in reaction that you are not peddling anything and that you are chatting with friends while waiting for your partner to retrieve the car. The officer hears a shaky perhaps and somewhat masculine voice intone from the womanly figure before him/her and is confused. Confusion causes the officer to sense a loss of control of the situation and most police are trained that control should always be in their hands.

You can see how the incident could spiral out of reasonable control and further divide the law enforcers and the transgendered public. The conversations between our Transgender Conference Committee members and the sheriffís deputies in West Hollywood may deflate just such a happenstance.

The other benefit of this increased awareness and the interactions between the deputies and the transgendered is that we have the opportunity to do as I am doing now and report to the TG community about the needs and demands of the law enforcement officers in relation to us. So, for your benefit here is a brief synopsis of what they want and need in most cases, follows:

Again you may be asking ìso what?î

Well the so what, as it relates to my usual column and subject matter is a request, a plea really, for us to get out and do. In whatever manner you can, get out and contribute to weakening the walls between the communities. I am sorry, I wonít take the excuse anymore that you are too busy, too shy, too closeted, or too whatever else you can think of. I also wonít settle for passive activism. My friend Diane Giles said that when she goes out and is not confronted or read, itís passing and itís wonderful. When she goes out and is read or confronted and questioned, itís community outreach. Now I do not think that is enough and I also know that Diane is anything BUT passive!

It is time to hit the streets, the airwaves, and any other venue to get our word out. I heard a statement by a reliable gay community leader recently that the ìTransgender Movementî is now where the gay and lesbian movement was in the early seventies. I donít know about you, but I donít like being twenty years behind in anything!

Ahem, this is me, putting away my soap box. Thanks for listening and thanks in advance for getting out there and informing, educating, and enlightening!