The DonnaBlog

I’ve had some pretty memorable 4th of Julys in recent years. Last year a friend and I drove from Eugene, OR to Glacier National Park for several days of camping, hiking, and photography. It was a long drive, and shortly after dusk we were driving along the western shore of Flathead Lake. We could see the various fireworks displays all along the lake - it was spectacular and a 4th of July I will never forget.

In 2006 my mom got tickets to a Philharmonic concert in Ft. Worth. It had rained for most of the day but cleared by late afternoon so the concert/fireworks went off as planned. I had to drive to Austin immediately afterwards and remember being able to see the various fireworks displays in small towns along the flat TX countryside along I35.

This year July 4 was the embodiment of unremarkable. It pales to what it could have been, given the fact that I had originally planned to be spending it in Hawaii with Meghan but finances and job search conspired to keep me home. Instead, I did some dusting and cleaning today, and I mopped the kitchen. I spent a little time on my iMac doing some iPhoto stuff. I grilled some steaks for my son and I this afternoon. I took the pups for their nightly run at the park. And, I went to the movies by myself (I went to see Iron Man - way cool).  All in all, a very full - if less than scintillating - day.

The weather all around here is looking pretty ominous tonight. We have summer evening monsoons that can be pretty spectacular rain and lightning shows. Last night parts of the Valley got over an inch of rain, and the north Valley was getting hit pretty hard earlier this evening. As far as I know, we haven’t seen a drop yet in my neighborhood. It’ll be a shame if local firework displays get disrupted.

Thomas Beatie gave birth to a daughter last week.  News of the birth came out yesterday - I don’t know how they were able to keep it secret for several days but they apparently did.  One of the by-products of the tug-of-war over his authenticity is that many of the headlines use the word pregnant or man in quotation marks (example: Pregnant “man” reportedly gives birth).  The key to these kinds of stories is to avoid reading the comments that people post (here’s the story from the Chicago Tribune - there are already a couple of dozen of them there).  It’ll make you crazy.

A 20-year old transgender woman was shot to death in Memphis earlier this week.   A report from WMCTV:

Friends say Whitaker worked as a transgendered prostitute. He was dressed as a woman when he was found shot to death Tuesday near Lamar and Old Getwell. Police believe Whitaker had been working in the area Monday night.
    
Local activists say they would not be at all surprised if Whitaker was targeted because he was transgendered.
 
“They’re often the people most likely to be fired from a job, kicked out of their homes, ostracized by their churches…so, it’s really hard for them,” said Will Matts of the Memphis Gay & Lesbian Community Center.
     
So far, there are no suspects in Whitaker’s murder.

No job.  No money.  No prospects.  And people wonder why we get so hot when it comes to being left out of Employment protections?   

Speaking of employment protections, Gwen Smith has an Op-Ed piece in the Washington Blade today titled “Trans momentum on Capitol Hill“.

Most transgender people have faced workplace difficulties. I lost a job due to my transgender status and have had to fight my way into the workplace since. A decade since my transition, I still face challenges related to workplace discrimination — and others have had it far worse than I.

Women, minorities, the disabled and others still face challenges in the workplace. Legal protections alone do not solve the problem and no law causes discrimination to not happen in the first place — it only allows for recourse in case it does occur.

But this meeting generated two things of great value. For one, it is a step toward protections, and those protections can and will help all transgender or gender- variant people. Even though there will likely be challenges, employment protections would be a great win for all of us.

Secondly, that we had such a meeting is a testament to the hard work of many who have come before. Our community has had to go from being somewhere out on the fringe of a fringe to a group that merits a Congressional hearing. This does not occur without a lot of blood, sweat, toil and tears from many people. The groundwork began decades ago, perhaps as far back as Jorgensen, but certainly as early as Stonewall.

Amen to that!

There are a number of videos on YouTube already from the Transgender March in San Francisco last week:

The march itself begins about 5 minutes into this one:

It was all crazy good.

One thing clearly evident everywhere in San Francisco for PRIDE this past weekend: In many ways, it is a world unto itself.  From the moment I landed at the airport (when someone greeted his boyfriend with a big hug and a deep kiss) to the moment I left (sitting next to two gals with PRIDE stickers all over themselves on the flight home) it was never more apparent to me than it was this past weekend.

Unlike many other parts of the country that remain uncomfortable even saying the word “queer” anywhere near city hall, queer politics there actually has a history.  It is a force.  It has a personality. 

Contrary to those who may have hoped otherwise, time has not dulled the memory of last fall’s ENDA debacle.  If anything, the passage of time (and, perhaps, the failure to do anything substantive to heal the wounds) has made things particularly acute in and around the Bay area.  The resentment, anger, frustration, and betrayal that many of us felt and continue to experience seems compounded there - not simply in the trans community but across the entire GLBT spectrum and allies. 

At the Board meeting early last October where we made the decision that prompted me to resign I had an opportunity to speak to the entire board.  Joe Solmonese had already explained that he felt a middle-ground strategy of neither supporting nor opposing the non-inclusive version of ENDA was the strategy that would most quickly lead to passage of a fully-inclusive version of the bill.  While I respected his opinion, I could not disagree more.  I explained that we had worked very hard over the past several years to build the organization into something that was relevant to GLBT lives in ways that far exceeded mere politics.  All of the Foundation programs (Workplace, Religion and Faith, Coming Out, Youth, etc.)  had transformed the organization into something more, and the decision that we were facing wasn’t simply about political strategy - it was to confirm whether we were in fact something more or whether we were simply a political organization with lots of showy extra clothes.  This wasn’t about “staying at the table” (Joe’s rhetoric) - it was about staying relevant in the hearts and minds of the GLBT community.

I explained to my fellow board members that the community had aligned solidly behind a message of solidarity indicating that we would not allow ourselves to be divided, and that if we considered ourselves leaders we absolutely needed to lead.  As a Human Rights organization we would be held to higher ideals, and to support anything less than full inclusion would inflict a wound in the community that WE caused and for which the entire organization would be held accountable.  Although there was considerable support on that board for taking the high ground, the ultimate decision was a disappointing one. 

In the final entry on my ENDABlog last November I wrote the following:

In a very short span of time, HRC has become drunk on its perception of it’s own power.  The problem with getting drunk is that there will eventually be a time to become sober again.  I think that time is right around the corner.  Hate Crimes is stalled and faces an uncertain future.  ENDA passed in the House but hasn’t even been submitted in the Senate and looks to go nowhere fast.  Don’t ask Don’t Tell could just as well be a slogan for the state of ending that sorry piece of legislation as it is for the government policy on Gays in the Military.  Marriage?  With a presidential election around the corner?  Are you kidding me?

So, very soon, all the promise of a year ago may very likely hit the wall of reality and turn to dust.  And where does that leave HRC?  No legislation.  No credibility.  Embattled staff.  No other GLBT organization wants to work with them.  Transgender community considers them a pariah, abandoning ship faster than you can say “Betrayal”.  Hopefully, there will be a financial cost to all of this as well.  That said, it gives me no joy to say that I hope they’re enjoying the sweet taste of “Victory” on ENDA.  It could turn out to be very bitter very quickly - there are often consequences for burning bridges.  Just wait until people who were cheering yesterday start turning tomorrow.  Success is fleeting like that…

The part I find saddest is that it didn’t have to happen this way.  But then again, maybe it did.  Maybe this is all part of some big plan somewhere and this is just how things were supposed to unfold.  I guess only time will tell.  Either way, I’m feeling as though I’m that watchman of the Titanic slowly floating away in a life raft.  The ship has hit the iceberg although most of the passengers don’t know it yet. They’re doomed; it’s only a matter of time before the massive hull slips below the icy water.  “The Titanic is Unsinkable,” they said.  If we don’t learn from history we’re doomed to repeat it.  All I can say is get ready.  Here comes the past all over again.

The political power in San Francisco certainly has reason to celebrate right now.  Marriage Equality is a reality in CA.  However, that political base and the considerable community spirit that it represents have now cast their gaze on the upcoming HRC gala dinner there, scheduled for July 26.  It represents an opportunity to truly send a loud, clear, very public message to HRC and to anyone who doubts that we are, in fact, one single community.  We will not allow ourselves to be divided.

The growing boycott/protest being planned for the HRC gala later this month was on people’s minds everywhere I went this PRIDE weekend.  People and organizations made an effort to specifically distance themselves from the organization (the sign at the left is from the PRIDE Parade). Several political leaders held a press conference last week to discuss it (read There’s No ENDA To The Cowardice).  The “Left Out Party” being planned for across the street will eventually grow to thousands of people - mark my words.  It’ll be larger than the event itself.

As you might imagine, the HRC/ENDA situation was featured prominently at the Transmarch on Friday.  An article in today’s Bay Area Reporter titled, Trans March Rallies around Inclusion explains:

On Friday, June 27, United ENDA California – a coalition organized around securing a federal non-discrimination act that includes protections based on gender identity – hosted a lunch at the San Francisco LGBT Community Center with transgender activist and former Human Rights Campaign board member Donna Rose.

Rose, who resigned from HRC after the organization supported a version of ENDA that did not include gender identity, mingled with activists and community members at the center before receiving a proclamation from Mayor Gavin Newsom’s office that expressed support for her work.

Alex Randolph, Newsom’s LGBTQ liaison, presented the proclamation, which recognized Rose “for her many years of educating and advocacy on transgender and transsexual issues” and for her “strong commitment to national corporate diversity efforts.”

At the Trans March later that day, Rose was one of many speakers to highlight the need for an inclusive ENDA. Last year, hundreds of LGBT groups nationwide refused to support ENDA once it was stripped of its gender identity protections, and the theme of this year’s march – “Marching for a Gender Inclusive ENDA” – celebrated this act of solidarity.

“When we offered a state law that was an inclusive ENDA, people said we couldn’t do it, but we got that signed into law,” said Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) from the Trans March stage. “And we won’t stop fighting until we get a federal ENDA that is inclusive.”

San Francisco Supervisor Bevan Dufty echoed this sentiment.

“When Congress meets under President Barack Obama, ENDA must be gender identity-inclusive,” said Dufty. The Trans March crowd cheered when he added that on Saturday, July 26 he would be hosting a dinner at his home for activists protesting the HRC dinner taking place that evening.

Comedian Margaret Cho also was on hand, calling the Trans March “the best part of the whole fucking weekend” and applauding the transgender community for being “the most important part of the LGBT community.”

There’s a petition going around of people and groups who are boycotting the event: See It here.  The petition of entries grew from 18 to 40 in the few hours between when I first saw it and last night.  It’s over 50 signatures now and growing.  I expect it will grow to monstrous lengths by the 26th.  There will be speakers, entertainment, and lots of people.  It’s going to be historic.

At this point, I don’t know what will make it better.  Part of me wants to watch it play out and see what happens, although there is certainly no satisfaction of “I told you so”.  I believe that a transgender speaker at the dinner could be an important gesture if it’s more than simply a symbolic move to quell the revolt - someone who could gain support from those outside to come in and articulate why all of our brothers and sisters are feeling “Left Out” and are outside instead of inside.  The question yet to be answered, however, is whether there will be anyone in the room to hear it.  What if they threw a fundraiser gala and nobody came?  

Feeble excuses and politalk don’t go over well in San Francisco.  Talk needs action and, finally, the organization is being publicy held accountable.  Thanks for whatever role the organization played in last week’s hearings can only go so far, but that doesn’t even begin to let the organization off the hook for what it has done.  One friend used the particularly brutal analogy that it was like pushing an elderly woman down a flight of stairs and then going down and trying to help her stand up.   As I say - lots of emotion here.

The HRC board meeting will be in Washington DC next week.  It’s the second face-to-face meeting since ENDA.  I sincerely hope all of this is a topic of discussion.  If not, there are bigger problems internally than any of us realize.  I’d even like to be part of that discussion, although my intvitation to these kinds of things expired last fall.

As with same-sex marriage, what happens in CA affects the rest of the country.  Watch how this plays out. 

It’s more than a shame that we have to spend time and energy fighting in our community.  Our real enemies have been busy over the past several days.  The American Family Association is not happy with the progress we’re making on a variety of fronts:

• American Family Association - Transgenderism–Purely Psychological?
  07.03.08 - The American Family Association condemns the American Medical Association for asking insurance companies to cover costs for transgender people: “The Bible does tell us very clearly that mutilation of the body is wrong.”
• American Family Association - Pro-Homosexuals Hijack Anti-Discrimination Forum
  07.03.08 - The American Family Association claims that participants in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe were “caught off guard” when discussions about discrimination against gay and transgender people arose.
• American Family Association - AFA Calls for McDonald’s Boycott
  07.03.08 - The American Family Association urges its supporters to boycott McDonald’s because the corporation joined the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. [Note: I am on the board of the NGLCC and couldn't be prouder of the way that they and McDonald's have handled this]

The way I look at things, if the American Family Association is against something then I can safely say it’s probably a good thing.

In case anyone forgot, Thomas Beattie is scheduled to have a baby this week.  There’s an article on much-respected Salon.com today titled, “What the Pregnant Man didn’t deliver” that provides an excellent overview.  Here’s a couple of snippets:

The transgender community has often been caught in the shadow of its gay and lesbian brethren, and Beatie’s story offered an opportunity for some much-needed attention. But with the spotlight hopelessly focused on such salacious details as Beatie’s genitalia, and the story becoming little more than a punch line, it has left many transgender activists wishing the Thomas Beatie media circus would simply go away.

Unfortunately, that’s unlikely to happen. Beatie is due to give birth Thursday, July 3, via Caesarean section, an event likely to ignite a new wave of media coverage and unfortunate puns, and once again raise some prickly questions: What does the media’s treatment of Thomas Beatie tell us about the way America thinks about the transgender community? Why do we even care about him? And what, if anything, can the pregnant man teach us about the changing nature of gender in America?

The pregnancy also points to the way that perspectives on gender are changing within the transgender community itself. An increasingly visible minority of transgendered people — primarily in large urban centers — are becoming comfortable living outside of either gender. ” I definitely think there’s been an increased visibility of that kind of fluidity,” says Green. Some are using hormones without surgery, or surgery without hormones to create the body in which they feel most comfortable, or going by gender-neutral pronouns like “ze” and “zir.”

For the vast majority of transgendered people, however, who are content to live their life “passing” in their new gender, there are far more pressing issues than a pregnant man — like keeping their jobs. Last year, a heated debate about the inclusion of “gender identity” in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (a bill prohibiting job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation) created widespread rancor between some transgender and gay and lesbian activists. The bill eventually passed the house without a gender identity clause, but the transgender rights movement has had other successes in past years, often in smaller jurisdictions. In New York, for example, it’s now legal for a transgendered person to change the gender on his or her birth certificate.

Mara Keisling, the executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, resents the way that the Thomas Beatie flap has overshadowed more important developments. “The media hasn’t gotten a message yet that they ought to get a life,” she snaps. Last week, Congress held its first-ever hearing on discrimination against transgender employees, and on June 17, the American Medical Association passed a resolution stating that it “supports public and private health insurance coverage for treatment of gender identity disorder,” but these items have received nowhere near Beatie’s media attention.

An additional area of visibility at the moment is the work at revising GID in the next version of the DSM.  Kelly Winters has written an excellent article titled, “Diagnosis vs. Treatment: The Horns of a False Dilemma“:

The transgender community has been divided by fear that we must chose between access to corrective hormonal and surgical procedures to support transition and the stigma of mental illness imposed by the current diagnosis of Gender Identity Disorder(GID)[1] This schism has allowed little dialogue and no progress on GID reform in nearly three decades. However, the GID diagnosis has failed our community on both points. Transsexual individuals are poorly served by a diagnosis that both stigmatizes us as mentally deficient and sexually deviant and at the same time undermines the legitimacy of social transition and medical procedures that are often dismissed as “elective,””cosmetic,” or as reinforcing mental disorder.

Gender Identity Disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders[2] has imposed stigma of mental illness and sexual deviance upon people who meet no scientific definition of mental disorder[3]. It does not acknowledge the existence of many healthy, well-adjusted transsexual and gender variant people or justify why we are labeled as mentally ill.

This is a critical discussion and is very well articulated here.

Lastly for this morning, Kate Bornstein wrote something earlier this week in response to furor over the news that transgender youth in the NY penal system can now be treated with some level of dignity.  Rather than explain what happened, simply read Kate’s article: Transgender Rights, Transgender Perks.  She says it all. 

Transgender people have been becoming more active in politics. That’s true at the local level, the state level, and at the national level. That’s a natural outgrowth of becoming more integrated in society in general, although actually getting ourselves elected (or appointed, for that matter) to any kind of an official position remains a glass ceiling for most of us.

Look at what happened to Susan Stanton. Her 17 year career lasted less than a week after publicly acknowledging that she was transgender.

Last fall, Riverdal GA city councilwoman Michelle Bruce endured hateful personal attacks for the seat that she won in 2003.  She became the target of a frivolous fraud lawsuit by an unsuccessful opponent who claims she “misled voters by running as a woman.”  The story made national news (see NY Times article here, hear NPR report here).  She lost her re-election bid.

The chilling effect that this kind of personal attack has doesn’t keep openly transgender candidates from seeking elected office.  I met Pam Bennet while in Denver last week - she’s running for the Aurora CO City Council.  She’s intelligent, articlate, knowledgeable on the issues - all the things you’d expect from a viable candidate.  Will that be enough?  Will she win?  I hope so.

Many of us have no desire to run for office.  That doesn’t mean that we can’t have a role in the political process.  Indeed - trans people are having more of a behind-the-scenes role than ever before.  One example: Those who watched or listened to the Congressional Hearing on Transgender Workplace Discrimination last week heard subcommittee chair Rep. Andrews specifically thank Babs Casbar.  Babs is the current president of the New Jersey Stonewall Democrats (as well as a number of other roles) and she has established relationships with her political representatives.  These relationships pay dividends.

This is an election year and to my knowledge eight openly transgender people will play an active role in various capacities at the Democratic National Convention in Denver next month.  That’s huge.   

The reason I bring all this up is that each of us can play a role in the political process in ways we’ve never had before.  One way is simply through our vote.  We need to make sure our family, friends, and neighbors are aware of the issues and how they affect us all - they need to vote, too. 

Another way is simply to get more involved.  How?  The most direct way is to donate some money.  Elections are expensive and next to your vote, money talks loudest.  It doesn’t have to be a lot of money, mind you.  This year, for the first time, there is a mechanism for us to demonstrate that we DO have a voice.

A letter was released on Monday explaining a way for trans people and their allies to donate to the Obama campaign.  I share it here:

Dear Fellow Transgender Advocate,

This year we have an opportunity to elect a President who will be the most transgender-supportive in history.

But electing a candidate isn’t enough just by itself. Unless we’re visibly and vocally involved with campaigns and giving our time, energy, money, and ideas we will miss out on an opportunity to create a relationship with a President who has already said he’s willing to stand with us. That is why we are asking you to join with us in supporting Barack Obama.

We’ve set up a specific page to track donations from the transgender community and our allies to Sen. Obama’s campaign. You can donate by clicking here:

http://www.actblue.com/page/trans

In both the United States and Illinois Senate, Barack Obama has a long commitment to supporting the LGBT community—and specifically the transgender community. Most recently, here is what he said when issuing his statement on Pride month:

“It’s time to live up to our founding promise of equality by treating all our citizens with dignity and respect. Let’s enact federal civil rights legislation to outlaw hate crimes and protect workers against discrimination based upon sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. . .

“We are ready to accomplish these goals because of the courage and persistence of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people who have been working every day to achieve equal rights. The gay couple who demand equal treatment in our family laws as they raise their children; the lesbian soldier who wants nothing more than to serve her country openly and honestly; the transgender workers who ask for the simple dignity of being judged by the quality of their work. Generations of LGBT Americans, at once ordinary and extraordinary, have made possible this moment in our history. With leadership and hard work, we can fulfill the promise of equality for all.”

–Sen. Barack Obama

June 6, 2008

Fully inclusive hate crime protections, fully inclusive employment non-discrimination, and a fully inclusive vision of the American family; these are the values we can have in our next President.

But he can’t win—and our community won’t advance—without your support.

We’re encouraging you to give today to Barack Obama for President at a special fundraising page that will track the impact of the transgender community and our allies on the election.

http://www.actblue.com/page/trans

This page, launched in conjunction with Stonewall Democrats, will track donations to the Obama campaign from the transgender community and our allies. The money raised on the page will go directly to Sen. Obama’s campaign.

We’ve set a very modest starting goal of 50 donors.  Can you be one of those 50?  Can you promote this page on your blog? Can you help spread the word and email your friends and family?

http://www.actblue.com/page/trans

This election is too important to sit on the sidelines.  Let’s elect a pro-equality Democrat and help build power for our community.

Sincerely,

Share the Blue Page link with people you know and encourage them to donate through it, as well.  It’s more than important.

Now that June PRIDE season is over the Obama campaign put together a Flickr page with some photos of various PRIDE events around the country.  See it here. 

Speaking of photos, I do have something to share that I find absolutely unacceptable.  Generally, I upload my photos to Webshots.  Why?  No good reason other than I’ve had them there for a long time and didn’t see a reason to change.  I do have an account on Flickr, as well, and have started using that for more stuff.

I uploaded all of my San Francisco PRIDE photos to Webshots on Monday.  It took well over an hour to upload them, add titles and descriptions, and arrange them.   When I tried to look at them yesterday morning, the entire album had mysteriously vanished.  Not to be deterred, I uploaded them to Flickr and am happy with the result.

This morning I received an email from Webshots.  It reads:

Dear Donna,

Thank you for your participation in the Webshots Community.

People of all ages and backgrounds share photos and videos on Webshots. It is sometimes necessary to remove material that is likely to offend certain people or that may be inappropriate for children. We remove pornography, sexually explicit content, and any violent material that appears in photos, cartoons, drawings, etc.

We also remove content showing full or partial nudity, including that of children (even your own children). We believe that we are acting in the best interests of the members of the community.

We also remove any material that violates copyright law and has been brought to our attention by the copyright owner.

In accordance with this policy, we have removed 155 of your photos and/or videos.

Thank you for your participation in the Webshots Community.

They provided a list of what they removed, and it included every single photo that I had uploaded.  There’s a photo of a puppy with an Obama sign.  There are photos of booths at PRIDE, of people’s faces, of colorful costumes, of architecture in the City Hall Building.  They removed every single one of them despite the fact that there are NO inappropriate images there except for, perhaps, one of the last shots showing two people kissing.  That’s it. (See my photos here)

The reason they removed them is because they’re from a PRIDE event, that’s why.  There can be no other reason.  That’s outrageous.

1pm Update:

I received a response from Webshots customer support to my complaint:

Thank you for contacting Webshots Customer Support.

I’ve reviewed the image(s) deleted from your account, and it looks like your image(s) were deleted accidentally during photo approval. Our image approvers manually filter through approximately 800,000 images per day and sometimes mistakes are made.  I’ve
restored your image(s).

As I sit and try to find words to explain what it was like to participate in the San Francisco Pride Parade on Sunday, I realize that I just can’t find them. If I had to choose a single word that word would probably be “amazing”, but that so under-explains what it was like that it seems feeble. For someone who never imagined even attending a SF Pride parade at all, much less to ride a float in one, this was so far over the top that I can’t even find the top any more.

A picture is certainly worth a thousand words.  I’ve uploaded my SF Pride photos (all 157 of them) to Flickr.  I’m actually pretty proud of some of them - my goal was to capture faces and colors to provide a more personal perspective to the larger-than-life feeling of it all.  See Donna’s SF Pride Photos.

San Francisco was primed for this event.  Hotels throughout the entire city have been sold out for weeks.  One news report described it as follows:

This year’s celebration has taken on extra meaning, following the California Supreme Court’s decision to legalize same sex marriage and the state ballot measure designed to strike it down this fall.

Organizers say this is the biggest parade ever, since close to one million people came. The attendance this year is up due to the number of same sex couples coming from all over the nation here to San Francisco to get legally married.

It affected everything in the Bay:

On Sunday, 224,500 rode BART, which was the busiest Sunday ever in the 36-year history of the Oakland-based transit district. The annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride parade in San Francisco, which attracts hundreds of thousands of spectators and participants, and a sellout crowd for the Oakland A’s game with the San Francisco at Oakland’s McAfee Coliseum were credited by BART officials for the passenger windfall.

I suppose the easiest thing for me to do is to explain some of the events of the weekend. I’ve already talked about the Transgender Pride March at Delores Park on Friday Night. That was amazing in and of itself. 

On Saturday Kate, Clair, and I attended an afternoon Margarita Party at the GLBT Center. It didn’t take long for the entire patio to get full, and I had a nice time chatting with people I’ve met before but never had an opportunity to talk with and to make new friends. One person there was Seth Kilborn, former Field Director for HRC from back when I first got involved. He’s now the Executive Director for an organization in the Bay area. We had a nice chat.

After a couple of very tasty (and potent!) Margaritas we walked over to the Civic Center to visit the Pride Pavillion there before the craziness of Sunday and all the people from the parade.  It was a coolish, gray, misty, typically Bay-Area day and I couldn’t have enjoyed it more.  It was quite the change from the furnace we endure here in the desert.

We considered going to the Dyke March on Saturday night but after an already very full day decided that we needed a little down time so the three of us (Kate, Clair, and I) went to the movies instead.

Sunday was all about the parade. We met at the staging area near Beale and Mission at 10:30 and had a couple of hours to kill before it was our turn. I met up with Jamison Green and his wife, Heidi, who had made some TransEducate.com shirts for us. They were way cool, and we’ll have to make more of them.

I can’t even describe what it was like in the staging area. I only had access to 2 streets - Beale and the next one down - and I started taking photos of all the color and the people there.  I only had my little Canon with me but I think it did a pretty good job.  There were photo ops everywhere you looked and I’m glad that I didn’t run out of battery power until near the end.

• As I mentioned above, I’ve already uploaded all my photos to Flickr - there are 157 of them.  I titled the set “The Faces and Color of Pride”. You can see them here. 
• Kate uploaded her photos already, as well.  You can see Kate’s photos here.
• There are already lots and lots of other photos online if you want to see more.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video clip must be worth a million.  I used my camera to capture a 40 second snippet from our float near the end of the Parade route.  It captures some of the sight and sound of it all - just crazy.  I’m not usually a dancer but all of us on the float turned into dancing machines (you’ll see it on the video) for the entire parade route. 

I’ve uploaded a QuickTime version (the quality significantly better) for those who’d like to see it.  I am also experimenting with a Wordpress plugin that enables QT movies embedded in the blog. Double-Click on the image to watch the movie (it may take several seconds to load, but it’s worth the wait):

SF Pride Parade - view from the float

If you’re having trouble with that or don’t even want to try, there’s a lower-res version of it on YouTube:

I mentioned in my post from Sunday morning that I was curious to see how the HRC contingent would be received by spectators along the parade route.  Emotion is running very high in the Bay area about ENDA as demonstrated by the growing boycott/picket of their dinner there later this month.  I talked with someone from the mayor’s office who indicated the mayor won’t be attending, either.  For an event that is donating proceeds to benefit the fight to protect Marriage Equality - for Mayor Newsome NOT to show up is a significant statement.

HRC had a large contingent from their national office in town for this.  Political Director David Smith was there - we said polite “hello’s” - as was Communications Director Brad Luna among others. 

Surprise of surprises: the HRC group didn’t march in the parade.  I don’t know if they decided to pull out or what transpired, but there was nobody in position 106 where they were supposed to be according to the staging map.  Their absence seems like another significant statement.

One Lesson Learned: There’s no way to “over-dress” for this event.  If I ever participate in it again I’ll do better next time.  I’ll find something fun and colorful and unique to wear.  I promise.

The trip home was relatively painless.  I sat next to a couple of women who had PRIDE stickers all over them so we talked for half of the flight, and slept for the other half.  

On to other news:

PFLAG released a publication today titled Bringing The Message Home. Here’s a description from their Press Release announcing it:

This summer, PFLAG members from around the country will be Bringing the Message Home to elected leaders about important issues facing our community.  With the help of PFLAG’s revised grassroots handbook on in-district meetings, our members will be asking their representatives to stand up for families and vote for equality. 
 
Our new Bringing the Message Home guide, available online here, includes background information and talking points on seven pieces of pending legislation:  The Employment Non-Discrimination Act; The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act; The Military Readiness Enhancement Act; The Safe Schools Improvement Act; The Real ID Act; The Uniting American Families Act; and The Responsible Education About Life (REAL) Act.  It also includes a comprehensive section on transgender issues, and highlights PFLAG’s commitment to only supporting legislation which is transgender-inclusive.  

The PDF version is available for download.

Since this entry seems to be a multimedia entry I’ll share an interview I did with Eden Lane and Colorado Outspoken last week prior to Denver Pride.

 There are more things to share, but I’ll save them for my next post.  This one is already full. 

I uploaded my photos from last Friday.  They include a couple o f photos from lunchtime, plus quite a few from the Transgender Pride March and Rally.  There are 50 in all.

You can see the photo album here.

Or, you can watch the slide show of them (which is fun, except that it crops off the photos so you often don’t get to see the entire thing):

San Francisco Transgender Pride March and Rally 2008
 

I’ll be uploading the many photos I took at San Francisco Pride over the next day or so and will provide some thoughts in my next entry.  In a word, though - it was amazing.

I also want to share a recent pic of Maggie.  She’s losing her baby teeth and is getting all grown up. Also, her eyes have changed from their baby blue to a pretty shade of green. I was holding a treat just out of reach to get her to concentrate here. (click on the photo for a larger version).

It’s 8:30 and we’re getting ready and packing up to head off for the San Francisco PRIDE parade. Kate, I, and little sister Clair will be on the San Francisco GLBT Center float. We’re in position 111 which is towards the end of the parade.

We’ll be a short ways behind the HRC contingent here, which is in position 106. I wouldn’t want to be in that group here today - there is quite a bit of emotion directed at them as evidenced by the effort to boycott and picket the HRC dinner here in late July.

While I was at the GLBT Center on Friday I met with one of the dinner co-chairs to talk about a few things. It just so happened that the center Director got a call from Channel 5 who wanted to come to talk with me. We all agreed it would be an interesting opportunity to provide both “sides”, although if they were looking for a catfight neither Tom nor I had any reason for animosity towards one another. I think we both appreciate and respect the views of the other, and that came across in our interview.

The reporter talked with us for 20 minutes and got some very good footage. In fact, I don’t think he realizes what good “stuff” he got. Unfortunately, it all got condensed into a bigger report on the HRC/ENDA fued so they only included a couple of brief statements.

Anyway, it broadcast on the CBS affilliate here on Friday. If you want to see it, watch it here.

They’re expecting well over a million people to line the parade route here. The CA marriage equality ruling makes things doubly or triply exciting. The high in San Francisco is supposed to be in the low 60’s - I need to appreciate this cool weather while I can.

With that, I need to finish packing and get going. I’ll take lots of pics. And, I’ve got lots of pride.

There was some quick scheduling on ABC last night and they broadcast a follow-up 20/20 episode to the segment that Barbara Walters did last year on Trans Youth.  It’s titled “Born In The Wrong  Body” and here’s part of the intro from the 20/20 website:

Last year Barbara Walters spoke with the families of three transgender children who agreed to share their story. Now, one year later, “20/20″ has reached out to the families again to learn what’s happened since the original “20/20″ episode aired. All three families said that the story helped change their world for the better. Advocacy groups also report a significant surge in young transgenders coming out.

I wish I had known about it in advance so I could have recorded it.  My DVR recorded the GLAAD Media Awards last night.

Last year’s award-winning 20/20 program on Trans Kids is available in several segments on YouTube:

• http://youtube.com/watch?v=Utpam0IGYac
• http://youtube.com/watch?v=j8F9CaPyQz8
• http://youtube.com/watch?v=1W17z6KeiNY
• http://youtube.com/watch?v=hSkQlWUX_eI
• http://youtube.com/watch?v=ib_yE5WILJc

Now, Post-Hearing Stuff…….

More post-Congressional Hearing thoughts are becoming available online:

• Anela Brightfeather’s thoughts
• Autumn Sandeen’s observations on Pam’s House Blend
• Joe Solmonese dedicated his Weekly Message to the hearing.
• NCTE has posted video clips online.  See them here.

There are others, but that’s a good place to start if you’re looking for more.

Monica Helms left a comment on my blog yesterday. 

I hate to be a bit of a stick-in-the-mud, but a lot of people are thanking you for helping put this hearing together. I’m confused. What DID you do to make this happen? I didn’t see your name come up in all of this. Can you let me know what I missed

I feel compelled to respond to it here.  I actually have two answers. 

First, what happened last week was due to a lot of hard work by a lot of people over many, many years.  I think each of us can take some level of pride in that we’ve helped move things along to the point that such an event was even possible.  Although many of us won’t have our names listed as being actively involved in the actual hearing itself, as far as I’m concerned that’s not a big deal.  This was a community event and I’m proud to have been involved in workplace efforts over the last several years that have helped us all get to this point.

My second response to her, which is much less gracious but much more to the point.  Monica, you ask what I’ve done to get us to this point?  I don’t know, and I’m not one to actually measure this stuff, but probably more than you.

It’s Saturday morning, and I’m getting ready to head out for some much needed coffe with my dear “Big Sister” Kate.  I wanted to take time to provide a few comments about yesterday while it’s all still fresh in my mind and before things get crazy again.

I had to get up yesterday at 3:45 in the morning to make my early morning flight and the entire day was a whirlwind. There was a reception for me at the San Francisco GLBT Center in the Castro and a representative from the Mayor’s Office was there to give me an unexpected and very much appreciated “Certificate of Honor”.

Whereas, on behalf of the City and County of San Francisco, I am pleased ot recognize and honor Donna Rose, the 2008 Trans March keynote speaker, for her many years of educating and advocacy on transgender and transsexual issues. I commend you active involvement in the leadership of several national GLBT Advocacy organizations, for writing your award-winning memoir, and your strong commitment to national corporate diversity efforts. Thank you for all you do for your community and best of luck in all of your future endeavors!”

It was signed by mayor Newsome. Too cool.

I did a couple of television interviews (one in particular was interesting and fun and bound to spark some discussion) before it was time to head over to Delores park for the rally and march.

Margaret Cho was there and I had the dubious honor of being the final speaker - right after her.  She was wonderful, and there was a VH1 crew there filming for something they’re doing with her.  It was windy, chilly, the mist was rolling it, but nobody in the huge crowd seemed to mind all that much. 

The communal feelings of Pride and unity last night are things that we uniquely feel, and deeply share.  I’m told that there were almost 400 SFPD officers along the march route to make sure things went well along the march route, and they did.  People were hanging out of windows to wave, on balconies, along the street, in cars.  There was even a newlywed couple of two men holding a baby on their front steps - we stopped to cheer them.  It was fantastic.

There’s already a YouTube video of some of it online so I’ll let that speak for itself:  It was amazing.

I have many photos from the day and several other things to share but I’ll get back to blogging later. 

I have extended my trip through Sunday and will be participating in the parade.  I can also share that I have canceled my trip to Hawaii that was supposed to happen all next week.  The most important thing in my world right now is my career search and I can’t afford to take that much time away from it right now.  It’ll have to wait for some other time.

As we were winding down from the day last night Kate and I marveled at how all this has happened.  Back when we transitioned neither of us could have imagined in our wildest dreams that our paths would lead us where we are.  It’s mind boggling.

It’s coffee time, and Lord knows I need some.  Have a great and prideful day!

I spent some time this afternoon working with the audio file that I made from the hearing.  I’ve split it up into Chapters - each devoted to the testimony of one or two witnesses.  This Podcasty-thing process is new for me but I think I’m getting the hang of it.  Even so,  I expect to be tinkering with it for a while….

• Part 1: Introduction, Testimony of Reps. Tammy Baldwin and Barney Frank
• Part 2: Witness Bios, Testimony from Diane Schroer, Diego Sanchez
• Part 3: Testimony of JC Miller, Partner at Thompson Hine
• Part 4: Testimony of Dr. Bill Hendricks, Dow Chemical Company
• Part 5: Testimony of Glen Lavy, Sr. Council for Alliance Defense Fund
• Part 6: Testimony of Sabrina Marcus Taraboletti, former Space Shuttle Engineer
• Part 7: Testimony of Shannon Price Minter, Legal Director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights
• Part 8: Q&A (the first few minutes)

If you weren’t able to catch today’s events online, it’s well worth taking the time to listen to these historic proceedings.

Other observations already online:

• Autumn Sandeen has already posted her initial thoughts as an on-site observer on Pam’s House Blend.  (Read them here)
• HRC posted their observations on the HRC Backstory Blog (Read it here).  There’s already a post-hearing video on YouTube with HRC Business Council members Diego Sanchez and Meghan Stabler.

There’s an article in today’s Huffington Post penned by HRC prez Joe Solmonese (read it here).  He doesn’t say anything people reading this probably don’t already know.  But when said in the context of today’s events it carries more weight.  At least it does with me.  Today is a day to celebrate community, not to squabble. 

My friends at Out and Equal Workplace Advocates were quick to release a statement about this morning’s events:

Out & Equal Workplace Advocates applauds historic congressional committee hearing on gender identity in the workplace

June 25, 2008 – SAN FRANCISCO, CA:  Out & Equal Workplace Advocates, the nation’s only nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to advancing LGBT workplace equality, applauds the House Committee on Education and Labor’s subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions first ever congressional hearing on gender identity in the workplace on Thursday, June 26 at 10:30 a.m. (EDT). Congressman Robert Andrews (D-NJ) will chair the hearing focusing on gender identity and discrimination against transgender employees.

Among those on the speaker list is Shannon Minter, the transgender man who is the legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights who recently argued on behalf of marriage equality in California, and Diane Schroer, a transgender veteran who was denied a job as a national security analyst when she transitioned.  Also speaking will be a transgender employee from a Massachusetts HIV/AIDS service organization, as well as a representative of a Fortune 500 company that protects its employees against gender identity discrimination.

“As a nation we embrace the ideals that it is unlawful to base employment decisions on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin,” said Selisse Berry, founding executive director of Out & Equal. “It’s time that the federal government takes a fair-minded stance by endorsing workplace equality for ALL American workers. Employees should be judged on their performance, skills and abilities, not their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

Studies show LGBT workplace discrimination is caused by a reaction to gender expression, not actual knowledge that someone is lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.  The current ‘sexual orientation’ only language does not cover a large portion of the discrimination LGBT employees face. In the absence of inclusive language, a glaring loop-hole has been created that needs to be closed to ensure equitable work environments for all.

I’ll be in San Francisco this weekend.  This press release came out this morning:

The Golden Gate Business Association, the SF LGBT Community Center, and United ENDA California host special Pride reception 12PM Friday @ the SF LGBT Center w/ national transgender leader Donna Rose

San Francisco, Calif. (June 26, 2008) – Kicking off Pride weekend in San Francisco, the GGBA, the SF LGBT Center, and United ENDA CA of will be hosting a special reception for Donna Rose, the former Human Rights Campaign (HRC) director who resigned last year over ENDA. Ms. Rose will be the keynote speaker for this year’s TransMarch, the first of three parades in San Francisco celebrating the LGBT community. 

The Fifth annual Trans March has taken on a civil rights theme this year and will be “Marching for a Gender Inclusive ENDA and Removal of Gender Identity Disorder as a Mental Illness”. This grass-roots event will take place on Friday June 27th 2008, in Dolores Park, with festivities starting at 3pm. Donna Rose is scheduled to speak at 6:30pm and the march will begin at 7pm.

What: Lunch with national transgender leader Donna Rose

When & Where: Friday 6/27 @ 12PM @ the SF LGBT Community Center 

If you’re in the area I’d love to see you there.  Don’t think for a minute that the events of today haven’t had an effect on what I expect to say tomorrow. 

I expect to update this entry with the rest of the audio from the Hearing later today.  And, I’ve got a new pic of the pups to share.