Yet Another Reason That There Can Be NO Compromise on ENDA

[Shana A]

Yet Another Reason That There Can Be NO Compromise on ENDA

http://endablog.wordpress.com/2010/04/20/yet-another-reason-that-there-can-be-no-compromise-on-enda/

That reason: Frankenchusetts.

    Suppose I own a restaurant and I want to hire a maitre d'. I have a choice between a great looking woman and a guy with a beard who wears a dress because psychologically he feels himself to be a woman. So I'm supposed to flip a coin here? Give me a break.

    How many transgender people are out there anyway? Even the Globe admits it's de minimis.

You see, gays and lesbians (not all, of course; but those who the rest allowed to speak – and act – for them made the otherwise-innocent complicit by default) didn't simply begin shutting us out of our own movement 30+ years ago; they set in motion a discourse of demonization of all things transsexual (and most things transgender) and began enacting a web of gay-exalting, trans-excluding 'civil rights' laws that chiseled Ron Gold / Janice Raymond / Steve Endean view of who is and is not legitimate (dare I say, 'authentic'?) into the social and political fabric of America.

[Vicky]

"God be merciful to my enemies, and protect me from my allies!!"

[aerosolchild]

It seems to me that that view is slowly shifting. Sure, there are some people (mostly gay guys in my experience, but that could just be my area) who try to distance themselves from the "t" bit of lgbt, but when the advocate posted a poll asking if the gay community would accept an ENDA that excluded gender identity protection the response was an overwhelming NO. (around 95% voted no if I remember correctly, but it may have been higher)

Unfortunately, the major orgs like HRC frequently don't get the message, and most of the newest generation of activists are in our teens and early twenties just now. We don't yet have the political and financial clout to go up against the current paradigm, but we are yelling for all we're worth.

[brainiac]

 

I agree, but the rhetoric in that post's a little over-the-top.

[Vicky]

I agree, but the rhetoric in that post's a little over-the-top.

That was actually what I was thinking in my earlier comment.  My teens and 20's are several decades ago but I remember other "causes" from my time in that age zone and the passion that went into them too.  Thanks Aero for bringing that out.  I meant what I said, but others did it to my generation too.

[brainiac]

As somebody who a) lives in Massachusetts, b) is queer, c) is trans, and d) is 21, I can at least say that I personally am going to work on teaming up with people of my generation, educating people about this stuff and hopefully working on their assumptions. Oh, and I can vote.