Part One: Ashley Love And Anti-Defamation
by: Autumn Sandeen
Fri Jan 07, 2011 at 17:00:00 PM EST
http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/18349/part-one-ashley-love-and-antidefamation (http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/18349/part-one-ashley-love-and-antidefamation)
I met Ashley Love a number of years back, having eaten meals with her at a couple of the California Transgender Leadership Summits in past years in Los Angeles and San Diego. She's young and very attractive, and had ambitious goals for herself and her community. I was impressed by her goals and her determination.
And Love is a visible member of community. Love has been on Logo; she writes for the Huffington Post, she's done modeling; she has a blog called Trans Forming Media; she's formed an anti-defamation group, and she was quoted in mainstream media as an activist who organized protests against the film Ticked Off Tra**ies With Knives. In other words, she has mainstream media, social media, and web presences that are significant -- Love has a significant public profile.
Part Two: Ashley Love And Anti-Defamation
by: Autumn Sandeen
Sat Jan 08, 2011 at 16:00:00 PM EST
http://pamshouseblend.com/diary/18357/part-two-ashley-love-and-antidefamation (http://pamshouseblend.com/diary/18357/part-two-ashley-love-and-antidefamation)
As an anti-defamation activist, Ashley Love has expressed noble thoughts regarding how trans people shouldn't be defamed as a class of people. Her Blogger biography states the following regarding her work:
[Ashley Love] is the Organizer of Media Advocates Giving National Equality to Transsexual & Transgender People (MAGNET). MAGNET is an anti-defamation organization dedicated to educating the media about transsexual and transgender issues, as well as pushing for more authentic and positive portrayals of trans people in the media.
So with that as a measure of how to look at the body of written work, it's rather sad to discover that as a writer, a blogger, and a Facebook participant, she's also engaged in using derogatory language against members of the transgender community -- couching her complaints against transgender identified community members in terms of derogatory, antitransgender terminology.
Part Three: Ashley Love And Anti-Defamation
by: Autumn Sandeen
Sun Jan 09, 2011 at 14:00:00 PM EST
http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/18391/part-three-ashley-love-and-antidefamation (http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/18391/part-three-ashley-love-and-antidefamation)
Homophobia and transphobia are the ugliest when they come from inside the community. "->-bleeped-<-" isn't a word I apply to myself, nor do I find it charming. But I won't tell other trans people what they can and can't call themselves. And denigrating them for being drag queens, genderqueer, non-op or anything other than "your" idea of what a True Trans Person is smacks of transphobia and homophobia. "You" don't own the word "trans" just because you went through some version of it.
...Ashley, what I'm hearing you and others express is an all-out condemnation and hateful, homophobic and transphobic jihad toward anyone who uses the word "->-bleeped-<-" for any reason. I don't hear any room for any other opinion, or acknowledgment of any other trans experience than your own. It's shrill, ugly, dismissive and typical of fundamentalism. Hopefully, your activism will mature with time. For now, you're a bit over the edge.
~Calpernia Addams in a Facebook comment thread (November 13, 2010)
If you've ever seen the movie Soldier's Girl, you may remember who Calpernia Addams is. If you know anything about the murder of Barry Winchell, you may remember who Calpernia Addams is. Calpernia Addams was a showgirl in 1999 -- she came to her trans identity through drag community. Addams made her comments above after Ashley Love, in a Facebook comment thread stated this on November 13, 2010:
I have to question the honesty and integrity of posting these entries on this board. IMHO they are little more than attempts of character assassination on a young woman who happens to hold very similar opinions to my own which are verboten for any discussion here by the TOS.
That strikes me as total hypocrisy unless you actually shut off commenting.
Part Four: Anti-Defamation And Ashley Love
by: Autumn Sandeen
Mon Jan 10, 2011 at 15:00:00 PM EST
http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/18409/part-four-antidefamation-and-ashley-love (http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/18409/part-four-antidefamation-and-ashley-love)
Over this past weekend, I've posted a number of essays on what Ashley Love has stated in the past year. I have enough documented material for two or three more PHB diaries on what she's said, but I'm not posting three or four more diaries. In fact, I picked the weekend to run the last two parts of the series because fewer people read Pam's House Blend on the weekends. Check with Pam if you don't believe me -- I said as much to her.
Behind the scenes, I've had some give me kudos for the series, as well as some serious criticism. Some tell me I'm doing a service for trans people; some tell me I'm being vindictive against Love because she's engaged in personal attacks against me. The last three commentaries have been cast as Love vs. Sandeen/Sandeen vs. Love. Some are even saying the word "racism" regarding what I've written.
And that all was to be expected.
Quote from: transheretic on January 10, 2011, 02:43:01 PM
I have to question the honesty and integrity of posting these entries on this board. IMHO they are little more than attempts of character assassination on a young woman who happens to hold very similar opinions to my own which are verboten for any discussion here by the TOS.
That strikes me as total hypocrisy unless you actually shut off commenting.
I often post Autumn's blogs (as well as others from Pam's or other sites) here, regardless of whether I agree with their content, if I think it might be of interest to the community here. Commenting is always on.
Z