So a friend of mine is going to Mich Fest...

[MugwortPsychonaut]

This hurts. I don't know how she can justify it. She's very much a trans-positive person, and I adore the hell out of her. When I asked her why on earth she would go, she told me something like, "Well, it's the last one, and I really want to, and..."

Knowing how awful that organization is to trans women, it just boggles my mind that she can try to justify such a thing. And she, too, thinks their trans policy is horrible and ass-backwards. And she really does! I just... it feels like getting stabbed in the back.

Et tu, Brute?

[iKate]

So there are no more michfests after this one?

[stephaniec]

The battle was won, I wouldn't worry about it

[marsh monster]

Considering the significance of it being the last one and how she feels about the trans-exclusion, I'd cut her a little slack if I were you. Let her enjoy it without being to made feel guilty for it by you or anyone else. Going to it doesn't mean she can't disagree with some of its policies and other people's actions in excluding trans women, it just means she wants to experience the positive aspects of it for herself.

[Tysilio]

I also have a friend who's going. Fortunately, she's not an especially close friend, nor someone I count on for support. She's actually one of only a couple of people in my social circle who still seem to be uncomfortable with my transition... I think there may be a connection there.

So... it's just another reason why I don't much care to become better friends with her; it's her choice, I don't like it, but I don't take it personally.  That said, if we were close, I'd be angry, and I think I would feel a sense of betrayal.

I can imagine your pain, MP. It must hurt a lot, but I think marsh monster is right: it's an event which has meant a lot to many women, and if it's important for her to be there at the end, well, yeah, cut her some slack. Good for you, though, for letting her know how you feel about it -- that's how good friends stay that way.

[suzifrommd]

I had a similar moment - someone from my church thought nothing of saying that she could see both sides of the issue. I feel like I missed a teachable moment. I could have pointed out that MWMF is our "lunch counter" like the whites-only places from the Jim Crow south. This was the place where bigotry and narrow-mindedness shut us out.