Nicaragua’s Total Ban on Abortion Spurs Critics
November 28, 2006 at 5:54 pm | In Domestic Violence, Feminism, Law, Politics, birth | Leave a Commentsigh…I don’t know if she really is the “first victim” but I do know there will be many many ruined lives and broken hearts before it’s over…
Managua, Nicaragua – Jazmina Bojorge arrived at Managua’s Fernando Vélez Paiz Hospital on a Tuesday evening, nearly five months pregnant and racked with fever and abdominal pain. By the following Thursday morning, both the pretty 18-year-old and the female fetus in her womb were dead.
The mystery of what happened during the intervening 36 hours might not ordinarily have catapulted Bojorge into the headlines of a nation with one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the Western Hemisphere.
But a week before her death on Nov. 2, Nicaragua’s legislature had voted to ban all abortions, eliminating long-standing exceptions for rape, malformation of the fetus and risk to the life or health of the mother. Now, outraged opponents of the legislation have declared Bojorge its first victim.
Prescription Drug Battle Looms for Next Congress
November 25, 2006 at 3:35 pm | In Feminism, Law, Politics | Leave a Comment
Drug Industry Is on Defensive as Power Shifts
By Robert Pear
The New York TimesFriday 24 November 2006
Hoping to prevent Congress from letting the government negotiate lower drug prices for millions of older Americans on Medicare…
Many drug company lobbyists concede that the House is likely to pass a bill intended to drive down drug prices, but they are determined to block such legislation in the Senate. If that strategy fails, they are counting on President Bush to veto any bill that passes. With 49 Republicans in the Senate next year, the industry is confident that it can round up the 34 votes normally needed to uphold a veto.
While that showdown is a long way off, the drug companies are not wasting time. They began developing strategy last week at a meeting of the board of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
Billy Tauzin, president of that group, a lobbying organization for brand-name drug companies…
The 2003 Medicare law prohibits the federal government from negotiating drug prices or establishing a list of preferred drugs.
…
A Medicare expert who works for House Democrats said he recently received three job offers in one day from the drug industry, by telephone and in person.
…
”We have new political realities to attend to,” Mr. Tauzin said in an interview after the board meeting. “We and our allies will do everything we can to defend the Medicare drug benefit, to get out the message that it is working.”
Yeah, lie to us some more, asshole. Why not? By now that is what we expect from our government and the puppeteers who bought it.
To reinforce that message, drug companies plan to mobilize beneficiaries and urge them to contact Congress.
“Beneficiaries” ? Indeed! But *which* beneficiaries? That’s what I’d like to know. Okay, you aging baby boomers, time to get off your asses and quit letting the drug companies write the policy!
”I’m putting my trust in beneficiaries,” said Mr. Tauzin, who represented Louisiana in the House for more than two decades, first as a Democrat and then as a Republican. Several recent surveys suggest that at least three-fourths of the people with Medicare drug coverage are satisfied.
And just fuck the other fourth who can’t afford the prescriptions they need! They should have invested in stocks!
But Representative Frank Pallone Jr., Democrat of New Jersey, who hopes to head the health subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee, said price negotiations for Medicare were his priority.
”The 2003 Medicare law was essentially written by the drug industry,” Mr. Pallone said in an interview. “That’s why you don’t have negotiated prices. Republican policies have served special interests like the pharmaceutical industry, and the American taxpayer is paying the price.”
I’m sick of my tax dollars being distributed based on greed!
Drug lobbyists believe that the Senate will be receptive to their argument that price negotiations lead inevitably to price controls, and to restrictions on access to drugs, likely to be unpopular with beneficiaries.
Restrictions on access? As if being unable to afford the shit is not a restriction?
Michael O. Leavitt, the secretary of health and human services, said the White House opposed federal price negotiations because they would unravel the whole structure of the Medicare drug benefit, which relies on competing private plans.
And he himself was bought by those very competing plans.
Among leaders who attended the board meeting last week were Kevin Sharer, chairman of Amgen; Jeffrey B. Kindler, chief executive of Pfizer; Sidney Taurel, chairman of Eli Lilly; and Richard T. Clark, chief executive of Merck.
Drug lobbyists say they want to work with the new Democratic majority, but that will not be easy. In its campaign contributions, the pharmaceutical industry has overwhelmingly favored Republicans over Democrats. Drug companies infuriated many Democrats in 2003, when they worked closely with Republicans to create the Medicare drug benefit, in a process from which Democrats were largely excluded.
On other issues, Democrats are pushing for stricter regulation of drug safety and for legislation to encourage development of low-cost generic versions of expensive biotechnology drugs. They are determined to allow imports of drugs from Canada, where brand-name products are often cheaper.
They want to investigate drug pricing and profits, drug advertising aimed at consumers and the marketing of drugs to doctors for purposes not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Democrats may try to repeal some of the liability protections that have been given to vaccine manufacturers.
Outspoken critics of the pharmaceutical industry will gain power as a result of Senate committee assignments made last week. Senators Debbie Stabenow, Democrat of Michigan, and Maria Cantwell, Democrat of Washington, are joining the Finance Committee, which has sweeping authority over Medicare and Medicaid. Three liberal senators – Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Barack Obama of Illinois and Bernard Sanders of Vermont – are joining the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, which oversees drug regulation and biomedical research.
The pharmaceutical industry lost one of its most effective defenders when Senator Rick Santorum, Republican of Pennsylvania, was not re-elected. The new Senate Republican whip, Trent Lott of Mississippi, is no friend of the brand- name drug industry. He supports bills to allow imports from Canada and to increase access to generic drugs.
Top pharmaceutical executives are hurriedly planning a response to the Democratic agenda.
”It’s all hands on deck,” said Ken Johnson, a senior vice president at Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. “It’s like a hurricane warning flag. You don’t know where it will hit. You don’t know who will be affected. But everybody has to be prepared.”
Drug companies may be open to some changes in the Medicare drug benefit, but they say they cannot accept any form of price negotiation.
”The new Medicare program is clearly benefiting seniors and people with disabilities and has exceeded initial expectations,” Mr. Tauzin said. “But we are open to new ideas that could make it even better. We will propose at the same time we are opposing.”
Specifically, Mr. Tauzin said, drug companies would like permission to fill a gap in coverage that has angered many Medicare beneficiaries.
Many drug companies have programs to provide free drugs to people with limited incomes. When such programs are used to fill the gap in the Medicare drug benefit, they may run afoul of federal law – the anti-kickback statute – because they steer patients to products made by one particular company.
The drug industry is anxiously waiting to see details of the Democratic proposal. Lawmakers are weighing several options. At a minimum, Congress could simply repeal the ban on price negotiations, without requiring Medicare officials to do anything. Many House Democrats want to go further. They would direct Medicare officials to negotiate prices for a government-run prescription drug plan, which would compete with dozens of existing private plans.
The government could negotiate prices for all drugs or just for brand-name drugs that have no competition. Alternatively, Congress could require manufacturers to provide a specified discount, so Medicare would get the “best price” available to any private buyer.
Such details, defining the federal role, are immensely important and could determine the outcome of any votes in Congress.
Alice Walker | All Praises to the Pause
November 25, 2006 at 3:34 pm | In Feminism, Politics, Spirit | Leave a Comment
All Praises to the Pause
By Alice Walker
In These TimesWednesday 22 November 2006
One of the many gifts I received from strangers after writing The Color Purple 24 years ago was a bright yellow volume of the I Ching. It opened to the 63rd hexagram: “After Completion.” This is a time when a major transition from confusion to order has been completed and everything is (at last!) in its proper place even in particulars. Interestingly, according to the I Ching, this is a time not of relaxation, but of caution.
The I Ching is a compass of great value. Uncanny in its ability to share its Wisdom at just the moment it is required. How many friends, even best and closest friends, can do that?
What it is referring to in this hexagram is something that I am going to call “the pause.” The moment when something major is accomplished and we are so relieved to finally be done with it that we are already rushing, at least mentally, into The Future. Wisdom, however, requests a pause. If we cannot give ourselves such a pause, the Universe will likely give it to us. In the form of illness, in the form of a massive Mercury in retrograde, in the form of our car breaking down, our roof starting to leak, our garden starting to dry up. Our government collapsing. And we find ourselves required to stop, to sit down, to reflect. This is the time of “the pause,” the universal place of stopping. The universal moment of reflection.
I encourage you not to fear it. And why is it important not to fear the pause? Because some of the most courageous people on earth are scared of it, as I have been myself. Why is this? It is because the pause has nothing in it; it feels empty. It feels like we have been jettisoned into wide open, empty space. We can not see an end to it. Not seeing an end to it, or for that matter, not even understanding a beginning or a need for it, we panic. We may decide to make war, for instance, in the moment the Universe has given us to reflect. By the time we recover from our hasty activity a thousand small children may be lying dead at our feet.
Sometimes there is a feeling of not being able to continue. That, in this pause, whichever one it is, there is no movement. No encouragement to move, at all.
As a culture we are not in the habit of respecting, honoring, or even acknowledging the pause. (Culturally the most common reference to the pause was given over to Coca-Cola, which promised “The pause that refreshes.” In other words, whenever there is a moment you are not busily doing something, Eat. Drink. And here’s what we want you to eat or drink.) Women know this very well. At menopause, a time of extremely high power and shapeshifting, we are told to behave as though nothing is happening. To continue the “game” of life as if we are still girls. We are not girls. And to continue to act as though we are robs the world and the coming generations of our insights – insights readily available to us during this particular time, which is a highly significant universal moment of reflection.
I am convinced that in earlier times women during menopause drifted naturally to the edge of the village, constructed for themselves a very small hut, and with perhaps one animal for company – and one that didn’t talk! – gave themselves over to a time without form, without boundaries. They were fishing in deep waters, reflecting on a lifetime of activity and calling up, without consciously attempting to do so, knowledge that would mean survival and progression of the tribe.
During the pause is the ideal time to listen to stories. But only after you have inhabited Silence for long enough to find it comfortable. Even blissful. There are stories coming to us now from every part of the earth; and they are capable of teaching us things we all used to know. For instance, I listened to a CD called “Shamanic Navigation” by John Perkins. In it he talks about the Swa people of the Amazon. These are indigenous people who’ve lived in the Amazon rain forest for thousands of years. They tell us that in their society men and women are considered equal but very different. Man, they say, has a destructive nature: it is his job therefore to cut down trees when firewood or canoes are needed. His job also to hunt down and kill animals when there is need for more protein. His job to make war, when that becomes a necessity. The woman’s nature is thought to be nurturing and conserving. Therefore her role is to care for the home and garden, the domesticated animals and the children. She inspires the men. But perhaps her most important duty is to tell the men when to stop.
It is the woman who says: Stop. We have enough firewood and canoes, don’t cut down any more trees. Stop. We have enough meat; don’t kill any more animals. Stop. This war is stupid and using up too many of our resources. Stop. Perkins says that when the Swa are brought to this culture they observe that it is almost completely masculine. That the men have cut down so many trees and built so many excessively tall buildings that the forest itself is dying; they have built roads without end and killed animals without number. When, ask the Swa, are the women going to say Stop?
Indeed. When are the women, and the Feminine within women and men, going to say Stop?
I used to be suicidal. I grew up in the white supremacist, fascist South, where the life of a person of color was in danger every minute. For many years I thought of suicide on an almost daily basis. Other than this, and severe depression caused by the inevitable childhood traumas and initiations, I am not a person innately given to despair. However, it has been despairing to see the ease with which women, after over thirty intense years of Feminism, have chosen to erase their gender in language by calling each other, and themselves, “guys.” This is the kind of thing one can reflect on during a pause. Are we saying we’re content to be something most of us don’t respect? Conjure up an image of a guy. What attributes does it have? Is that really you? Is this a label you gave yourself?
What does being called “guys” do to young women? To little girls?
Isn’t the media responsible for making it “cute” to be a guy, as if that’s all the Women’s Movement was about, turning us into neutered men, into guys? For guys don’t have cojones, you know. They are men, but neutered, somehow. So if you’ve turned in your breasts and ovaries for guyness, you’ve really lost out.
And does this make you remember that when we were trying to get the ERA, the Equal Rights Amendment, passed, which would have assured equal rights to women, suddenly the market and our television screens were flooded with a new dishwashing liquid called, you remember, Era. A not-so-subtle message that equal rights for women was still associated mainly with the kitchen and a sink full of dirty dishes. And it must have been in the ’60s, when women were claiming their freedom to have a good time, that the dishwashing liquid magnates came up with a concoction called Joy.
The intuitive part of us, the deep feminine, whether in male or female, knows when we are being ridiculed, laughed at, told to forget about being women, or having a Feminine, being wild, or being free; led to sleep if not to the slaughter. In those small areas where we do have some control, the words coming out of our mouths, for instance:
When are we going to say STOP?
16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence
November 24, 2006 at 7:59 am | In Domestic Violence, Feminism, Law, Politics | Leave a Comment
The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence is an international campaign originating from the first Women’s Global Leadership Institute sponsored by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership in 1991. Participants chose the dates, November 25, International Day Against Violence Against Women and December 10, International Human Rights Day, in order to symbolically link violence against women and human rights and to emphasize that such violence is a violation of human rights. This 16-day period also highlights other significant dates including November 29, International Women Human Rights Defenders Day, December 1, World AIDS Day, and December 6, which marks the Anniversary of the Montreal Massacre.
Source: About the 16 Days
Trans Respect/Etiquette/Support 101
November 19, 2006 at 11:14 am | In Feminism, Politics, Reference and tools, Spirit | Leave a Comment© Micah Bazant, 2006
by Micah Bazant (updated from from TimTum: A Trans Jew Zine)
Please use widely Add and subtract from this document as needed
Please acknowledge this source
Please send suggestions, feedback, etc to: info@….
I am using the word “trans” in the broadest sense, to include labels
like genderqueer, transgender and transsexual. This was originally
written from my own experience as a white transperson/ftm who is
perceived as both female and male. Of course, every trans person is
different, and would write this list differently. Also, some things,
which are totally inappropriate with strangers or acquaintances, may
be fine or welcomed in the context of a trusting relationship. I’m
sad to say that I’ve done most of the things on this list at some
point in my life, and had most of them done to me even by other
trans people. As with other forms of oppression, they are socialized
into us from birth. We are all taught to be transphobic, and
unlearning it is a process and a responsibility.
Pronouns & Self-Identification
Respect everyone’s self-identification. Call everyone by their
preferred name/s and pronoun/s. Use language and behavior that is
appropriate to their gender self-identification. Do this for
everyone, all the time, no matter how much you think they deviate
from what a “real man” or “real woman” should be.
What we truly know ourselves to be should be the only determinant of
our gender in society. Set aside your doubts, start educating
yourself and respect that we are who we say we are. By doing this
you are saying: “I see you, I support you, I respect you.” By not
doing this, you let trans people know: “I don’t understand you and
I’m not trying to. What you tell me about yourself is not important,
all that’s important is how I think of you. I am not your ally. You
are not safe with me.” Being referred to or treated as the wrong
gender feels painful and disrespectful to us.
It’s hard and dangerous to change your name and pronoun. Know that it
has taken a lot of courage for this person to let you know who they
really are; they are sharing something very precious. It may seem
hard or silly to you at first, but it can be a matter of life and
death for us.
If you don’t know what pronouns or gender-labels someone prefers (and
there’s no mutual friend around to clue you in), just ask them.
Politely. And respectfully. For example: “What pronoun do you
prefer?” or “How do you like to be referred to, in terms of gender?”
Usually when people can’t immediately determine someone’s gender,
they become afraid and hostile. If you misrecognize someone’s
gender, it’s okay, don’t freak out. Apologize once and get it right
the next time. Misidentifying or being unable to classify someone’s
gender does not have to be an awkward or shameful experience. By
asking someone in the right way, you can indirectly communicate: “I
want to be respectful of you and I don’t want to make any
assumptions. I see your gender ambiguity and/or fluid gender
expression as a positive, fabulous, creative and honest (need I
go on?) thing.”
Some transpeople are bravely making more space for gender diversity
by using language creatively. Respect these efforts and don’t
dismiss them as silly, funny, weird or too difficult. (Remember
Mahatma Ghandi’s words: “First they ignored us, then they laughed at
us, then they tried to fight us, then we won.”)
For example, some people prefer to be referred to as “they”, or as
both “he” and “she” interchangeably.
Some people prefer to be referred to only by their name. Some people
use non-binary pronouns like “ze” and “hir”.
Invasive Questions
Medical Information
You do NOT have the right to know any medical or anatomical
information about anyone else’s body, unless they decide to share it
with you. This means: don’t ask about their genitals, their
surgeries, the effects of their hormones, etc. This is private!
The first question usually asked to transpeople is, “Do you
have a penis?” or “Do you have a vagina?” Would you ask a non-trans
person about their genitals? To do so is incredibly invasive and
disrespectful. It reduces us to one body part, as if all the rest of
our minds, hearts, bodies, contributions and personalities are not
important. Our bodies are not a community forum, or a tool to
educate you!
Also, don’t ask us about our surgeries, medications, etc. If we want
you to know about something, we’ll bring it up. For example, just
because your friend-of-a-friend-of-a-transperson told you that
someone is having surgery, doesn’t mean you have a right to come up
and ask them about it (especially in front of other people).
Don’t ask us if we’ve had a sex change operation. Gender transition
doesn’t happen through one magic operation. And the operation you’re
thinking of probably involves transforming our genitals, which,
again, is reductive and disrespectful. Some of us never want to
have any surgeries. Some of us desperately want surgery and can’t
afford it or don’t have access to it. For a lot of female-to-male
transpeople the surgeries they would want don’t exist. Even if
you’re curious, don’t interrogate us. It’s not our job to educate
you and we may not feel like answering your incredibly personal
questions right now. Unless we bring it up, don’t ask us how our
gender is affecting our personal relationships. For example, if you
just met me, don’t ask me how my family is taking it.
If you want to find out more about trans bodies or our families,
educate yourself through books, websites, films, etc.
“Outing”
Trans people have a huge range of ways that we navigate the world,
based on preference and necessity. Transphobia functions very
differently than homophobia; being “out” is not necessarily
desirable or possible for us. Being a trans ally means supporting
people in being more safe and healthy – which may mean anything
between letting everyone they meet know they are trans,
to keeping their gender history entirely confidential. Its crucial
to support people in being as “out”, or not, as they need to be.
There are many situations in which being “out” could have serious
negative repercussions; transpeople are killed every year just
because other people find out they are trans. Revealing someone’s
trans status could cost them a job, a relationship, or their
physical safety.
Many transpeople are perceived 100% of the time as their preferred
gender, and no one would ever suspect they had been through a gender
transition at some point. Some of these folks prefer never to be
“out” as trans and, in fact, may not even consider
themselves “trans.” This is a completely valid choice among the
huge spectrum of gender diversity. If you know someone whose
trans experience is completely private, respect them by honoring
that privacy.
Some of us are most comfortable being “out” as trans all the time,
some of us may never reveal our trans status to anyone.
Do not assume that just because you know us in one way, that we are
able to, or choose to, live that way in every other part of our
lives. Some of us express our gender in different ways in different
parts of our lives. For example, we may not be able to find work as
the gender we truly are. Or we may only find peace by living some of
the time in a more masculine gender and some of the time as more
feminine.
For myself, even though I hate being called “she”, if someone refers
to me that way, I might or might not correct them depending on many
variables: whether I’m going to have to see them again, how confident
I feel, who I’m with, how much backup I have, etc. Think about when
and why you “out” someone as trans. Are you talking about
your “trans friend” just to prove how open and hip you are? Is it
necessary to out this person, or are you doing it for your own
personal reasons?
Names
Names are very powerful things. For a lot of trans people, the names
given to us by our parents represent a gender identity which was
wrong, humiliating and forced. Changing our names carries a lot more
weight than it does for non-trans people. Don’t ask someone what
their old name was. And don’t ask if our current names are
our “given names”, or worse yet, “real names.” If someone wants you
to know, they will tell you. If you know someone’s old name, don’t
share it with other people. Some transpeople go by multiple names,
because they are in transition, or because they prefer it that
way. Again, don’t trip about it. Just ask them what they prefer to be
called and then call them that, every time. It may seem strange to
you, but it’s completely normal for us.
Also, don’t make comments about the gender associations of trans
people’s names. This is especially annoying in a cross-cultural
context. A name that means (or sounds like) “Badass warrior king” in
one language, might mean (or sound like) “Nellie flower picker” in
another.
Don’t assume that you know what meanings or gender implications our
names have.
Transition
Don’t assume that our gender transitions are linear, one-way, or
start or end at a fixed point. For example, some intersex people
(who aren’t “born male” or “born female”) have trans experiences,
and may also identify as trans. Some transpeople, for example, may
express themselves as masculine, feminine and then back to
masculine. In an ideal world this would be no different than having
long hair, then short hair, then long again.
There are infinite ways to transition. Things like binding, packing,
tucking, electrolysis, hormones, surgery, or changing our name,
legal “sex” and pronoun, are some of the possible steps of a gender
transition.
Trans people have the right to make all, some or none of these
changes, and in any order.
Do not ask us if we are sure, or remind us that our transition is
irreversible and that we may regret our changes. Do not tell us we
are coming out as trans just to be “trendy”. We have usually been
thinking about and dealing with our gender issues for a long time,
although we may not have shared our years of internal torment with
you. We are aware of, and probably very excited about, the
consequences of our decisions.
Do not tell us how you liked us (or certain things about us) better
before we transitioned. There is a normal and healthy grieving
process that people go through around any major change, including
gender changes by people in our lives. It’s important to acknowledge
and deal with your feelings, but not with us. We are going through
enough stress, and we really just need your support.
Do not tell us how hard this is for you or how uncomfortable we make
you. However challenging it may feel to you, it’s much harder to
live as a transperson. Many many people become amazing trans allies
and effortlessly call all their trans friends by the right names and
pronouns. You can too, it’s really not that hard – it’s just a
different way of thinking about gender. If you are uncomfortable
with someone’s gender, find ways to work on it yourself or with
other, knowledgeable non-trans friends.
Passing and being passed
Don’t judge our ability to be seen as male or female. For example,
don’t say: “Maybe if you did______, or didn’t do _______, you’d pass
better, and we would be able to accept your gender better.” Also, it
is not always appropriate to compliment people on how well they
pass. Whether or not we are passed as the gender we prefer is often
a matter of money and genetics, not desire or determination. We are
not all seeking to pass in the same ways, for the same reasons, or
at all!
These comments are divisive to trans communities. They reinforce
straight, binary gender standards by labeling certain traits (and
people) as “good” and “real”.
(In this context, “passing” refers to trans people being perceived
as non-trans members of their correct gender category. While this is
a goal for most trans people, I think its important to stay aware of
the systemic power imbalance that is implicit in this term. I prefer
the term “being passed,” because it emphasizes the fact that trans
people do not have total control over how we are perceived, and that
the power in the equation of passing lies completely with the non-
trans person who “passes” us. It is something done to us, not
something we are able to control.)
Fetishization/Tokenization
Yes, it’s true, trans people are all incredibly sexy in our own
unique individual ways, but don’t fetishize and tokenize us. Don’t
tell us how you love FtMs [female to male] because we were
socialized female and therefore we aren’t like “real men.” While
this may be true for some individuals, FtMs are just as diverse as
any other group. Many transmen identify as “real men” who are just
as (or more) masculine than people assigned “male” at birth. Don’t
tell us how MtFs [male to female] are the ideal sex partners because
they are “chicks with dicks.”
Don’t expect any one of us to speak for all trans people. Don’t
assume that you know about trans issues because you once knew a
trans person. If we are offended by something you do, listen,
apologize and reflect – don’t excuse your bad behavior by saying
that your other trans friend didn’t mind. Don’t showcase us as
tokens of diversity in your social circle or annual report, without
being a real friend or truly integrating transpeople into your
organization.
Transphobia + sexism + racism + classism = a big slimy mess
It is a stereotype that all trans people are sexist: that all MtFs
are still “really men” and still have male privilege, and that all
FtMs are becoming men because of their internalized sexism. Trans
people can be sexist towards ourselves and others, but we are not
any more or less sexist than non-trans people. It is not inherently
sexist to be trans. Similarly and unfortunately, trans communities
are just as racist, classist, etc. as the rest of the world, but
not more so. And these dynamics play out in particular ways among
transpeople. Just like some people will tell you all gay people are
white, some people believe that all trans people are white, and that
being trans is just a privilege of white people. Of course it is
easier to be trans (or anything actually) if you are white and have
money, but most gender-variant and trans people are working-class
and poor people of color, because most people in the world are poor
and working-class people of color. Being trans is not
inherently racist or classist.
Age
Don’t be surprised if you or others radically misread a trans
person’s age. It may be amazing to you, but we are used to it, and
probably over it.
A lot of trans people on the FtM spectrum look much younger than they
are, especially if they are not on hormones, are on a low dose of
hormones, or are just starting hormones. Because of this, we may
experience some of the lovely effects of adultism, such as not being
taken seriously, getting carded all the time, and being condescended
to. A lot of people on the MtF spectrum look older than they are, and
experience the delightful effects of sexism, like being treated as
less important because they aren’t seen as young and pretty.
Fascinating trans films/ politics/TV shows/etc
It is really important for people to educate themselves about
different experiences of oppression, however, someone who has had to
deal with that oppression all the time may not want to hear about it,
or process how hard it was for you, as someone not directly affected
by it. For example, when the movie “Boys Don’t Cry” came out, many
many people every day took it upon themselves to try and discuss it
with me, ask me if I’ve seen it, explain how tragic it was and how
hard it was for them to watch as a nontrans person. We have to deal
with transphobia all the time and so we don’t always want to talk
about it.
Check yourself before you bring up the ten latest, most horrifying
transphobic things you heard yesterday – your trans friend may
actually not want to re-experience them with you. If you want to
discuss a movie, book, current event or experience that relates to
trans issues, bring it up with another non-trans person. If a trans
person wants to discuss it with you, they’ll bring it up.
“Extra letter” Syndrome
Gay and lesbian organizations all over the country have added a token
“T” to their names, without doing anything to include trans people
or issues in their organizations. Although queer issues and trans
struggles are interlinked (don’t forget who rioted at Stonewall),
they are very different. For example, access to transition-related
medical care (such as hormones and surgery), and issues of legal
identification (such as changing our names and “sex”) are huge
struggles faced by transpeople, but are non-issues for gay and
lesbian people. As mentioned above, being “out”, which is desirable
in many GLQ spaces (especially white, middle-class ones), is not a
goal of many transpeople. The world of issues around sexual
orientation is fundamentally different than the world of gender, so
don’t assume you are serving us at all by just adding a “T” on the
end of your acronym.
Recognize your own gender uniqueness and how transphobia affects you,
but don’t speak for trans people. Also recognize that within trans
communities, not only is each individual’s experience different,
but each group of individuals’ experience is different from other
groups. Just as you probably wouldn’t (or shouldn’t) ask a gay man
to explain lesbian issues, you shouldn’t lump all trans people
together, because we all have unique experiences and perspectives.
For example, African-American transsexual issues are different from
disabled genderqueer issues, which are different from drag king
issues, and so on. Also, most indigenous cultures have non-binary
gender systems, and many of us identify with our ethnically-specific
gender identities (such as two-spirit, hijra, timtum, fa’afafine,
etc.) that may overlap with, but are distinct from being “trans.”
GOOD THINGS!
There are so many positive things you can do to be ally to trans
people, even if you do not have that much experience with trans
communities.
Start with being honest about how much you know, or don’t know. It is
refreshingly wonderful to hear someone say: “Actually, I don’t know
anything about trans people. I want to support you and respect
you, so please forgive my ignorance. I’m going to start educating
myself.” Almost all of us started out ignorant of trans issues -
even trans people! The important thing is to pro-actively learn more
once you become aware.
Educate yourself and take action!
¥ Look at books, websites, films.
¥ Talk to other non-trans people who know more than you do.
¥ Start an unlearning transphobia group with other non-trans friends.
¥ Help write a non-discrimination policy for your school or workplace
that protects gender identity and expression.
¥ Pay some trans folks to do an educational presentation for your
group or organization.
¥ Especially if you work in a school, faith-based organization,
governmental agency, or a social justice, social services or
healthcare organization, try to integrate trans-inclusive policies
and services.
¥ Work to create bathrooms that are accessible for all genders (for
example, single-stall gender-neutral bathrooms)
¥ Think critically about your own gender and your participation in
the binary gender system.
¥ Reflect on how you can be a better ally to trans people.
Once you have educated yourself, educate other non-trans people about
gender issues. This is so needed and appreciated!! There have been
so many times when people said offensive things to me when
I wished I had a non-trans ally to refer them to. Trans people
shouldn’t have to do all the work. Besides, even though there are
way more of us than you think, there aren’t enough of us to educate
all the hordes and hordes of non-trans people in the world. Also,
it’s a lot harder for us to do this work, because we are
more vulnerable. Helping someone unlearn transphobia usually involves
hearing and sorting through a lot of hurtful crud while people sort
out their feelings about gender.
Interrupt transphobic behavior. This is also usually easier for a
non-trans person to do, because they are not making themselves as
personally vulnerable or a target for retaliation.
For example, correcting other people when they refer to someone by
the wrong pronoun is very important. When introducing people, it is
good etiquette to clue them in beforehand about the language
preferred by any trans people who are present. By this I don’t
mean outing any trans people who would prefer not to be out, but
letting people know how to refer to anyone who might not “pass.”
Simply saying things like, “I’m a lady, he’s a guy,” or “that’s none
of your business,” or “actually, his voice/body/manner is just great
the way it is, and I don’t want to hear another comment about it,”
can save the day.
Above all, talk to your trans friends, listen and educate yourself.
If you are not sure how to best support someone, ask them. If you
are not ready to support someone in the way that they need, don’t
pretend that you are, just figure out what you need to do to get
there.
Starting to be an ally doesn’t require you to be an expert, just be
honest with yourself and take some risks.
Remember:
Gender is a universe and we are all stars.
Transphobia limits and oppresses all of us.
By becoming an ally, you’ll not only have the satisfaction of doing
the right thing, you’ll get to experience your true starry
brilliance.
For more information about intersex issues, visit
http://www.isna.org, the website of The Intersex Society of North
America.
Letters: Uncle Sam, keep out
November 19, 2006 at 10:52 am | In Feminism, Law, Politics, Spirit | Leave a CommentJim H. you are brilliant! Hey kids, make sure to go read the rest of his letter!
Anyhow, I think this is the key to defeating this craziness, eventually. Find churches that will bless gay marriage. Then appeal on the basis of religious freedom.
Advice for women
November 19, 2006 at 10:27 am | In Feminism, Law, Politics | Leave a CommentWhat advice do you have for young women?
There seems to be something in women’s makeup that makes them devalue themselves and their abilities. I am not sure what the culprit is: Is it hormonal? Is it learned socially? Is it the way our brains are made? But women don’t put their hands up in class at Harvard. They won’t go to the microphone during our biggest assemblies, when there are three or four men beside every microphone. And these are the smartest women in the world!
So my advice to women is to be excruciatingly conscious of that tendency — and to push past it. I know that may not be the way every single woman acts in comparison to every single man, but I think it is a majority. So know it doesn’t mean you’re a bad person if you have self-doubt — and that it isn’t only about you.
read the rest: The female zealot | Salon Life
Shining hills of liberty and equality
November 19, 2006 at 10:18 am | In Feminism, Law, Politics | Leave a Comment“shining hills of liberty and equality” yes, I want that ~~why is it so hard to understand, if your religion specifies men can only marry women, ok, goody for you, but as far as a legal contract the current religious model doesn’t work for half the people and should not be mandated by the state…
We are standing at a cross-roads. One direction leads US to the shining hills of liberty and equality whereas the other, with its dark and trecherous turns and pitfalls, leads only to confusion, despotism, and holocaust. It is sad to think that in today’s America one who is gay can imagine a day when his/her rights to the most fundamental things could be stripped away. It is not inconceivable to me that a Queer pogrom could happen. We must not allow the rights of our brethren to be winnowed away through passage of civil unions, or any other misnomer…these only are compensation prizes to keep us Separate but Equal.
I implore you, My Friends, write to your congressional reps. Ask them to remember the way they felt on their wedding day. Ask them why someone should be barred from feeling that same feeling. Pleade with them to understand that it is NOT a choice. The only choice that is made by a homosexual is whether or not, in the face of overwhelming opposition, he or She will stand up to be counted as a Man or Woman…should we silently slink into the darkness and live from the table scraps given us like dogs? Legislative leftovers cast out to the urchins at the door? Our will you, for only you can, create a place for everyone at the table so thoroughly stocked with freedoms and liberties, that we all may dine as brothers?
Do not waste the gift of liberty that has been given to us. It’s price is mired in the blood and sweat of countless men and women. Did their sacrifice happen in vain?
– Kelly B. Ridener
Ann Woolner | Past Sins Might Keep Rumsfeld From Roaming World
November 19, 2006 at 9:44 am | In Law, Politics | Leave a CommentIn the type of words they might understand: heads should roll. This isn’t over.
Sued in US Courts
In this case, it’s not as if human rights advocates have been sitting on their hands.
They have sued in US courts on behalf of Guantanamo detainees and won in the US Supreme Court, only to watch as the administration did everything it could to put off abiding by the rulings. Finally, in September, the administration persuaded Congress to deny detainees access to US courts and to immunize US personnel from prosecution for violating international anti- torture laws.
In the meantime, President George W. Bush has rewarded those now accused. He gave a Medal of Freedom to Tenant, who oversaw the rendition of certain detainees to secret locations for special interrogations. As for administration lawyers who advised Bush on how to get around anti-torture laws, he promoted then- White House Counsel Gonzales to attorney general and nominated two more lawyers to federal judgeships.
Source: Ann Woolner | Past Sins Might Keep Rumsfeld From Roaming World
Time For Hard Truths at The Indigestible
November 18, 2006 at 11:54 pm | In Politics | Leave a Comment
lets me offer some advice to the Dems that will be sure to make them loathed, at least initially, by a vocal and spoiled minority.
I’d suggest they ride out the criticism and do what’s necessary.
The list is very short, and it is consistent in that it adheres to Republicans’ anathema: Reality.
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