http://transadvocate.com/hrcs-project-win-back

"HRC's Project Win Back

Marty Rouse"

#1

Comments/Edits: 1 of 3.
Suggested Action Steps:

1. A professional survey to teach us just what the American people understand about trans and what they don't. By region, by demographics, by religion, etc. Let's do the state of the art survey so we know what we're starting with. Questions like "what does transgender conjure up in your mind"? "What is the difference between gay and trans"? "Do you know that just as many females transition to male as vice versa"? Let's get down to the core issues.

2. Then we research the 110+ jurisdictions with protections and characterize what was done right and what was done wrong. We need to work with other groups that have been doing this. I also don't think it would hurt for Joe to sit down with them, apologize and begin the rebuilding. Trust is essential but will be hard to come by, and it would be a terrible waste of energy to try and go this alone. UnitedENDA should be a resource.

3. Use the above info to assist those states that have s.o. only laws such as MA, NY, MD and WI as a first step, or those states with active lobbying efforts."

Is that a HRC proposal, or just a test balooon. Its pretty unclear.
There's still ton of spin. The language is good but the self-congratualory and
condescenssion is still there.

Its like HRC are responsible for every progress on any rights state or federal, anywhere!!
Diid they invent slice bread too.

In the end, I read that HRC is afraid that indeed other organisation will be born
and sap their forces. If all those Small org band together under a common voice
and go looking for funds, they indeed in time could vye for the spotlight especially
since T's are undoubtably inspire more media attentiion than gays these days.

The rebuilding of trust is broached at the end and all I hear is plenty of bla bla.

Trust can be crushed in a day, but takes lot more time to be rebuilt.

Why didn't you try to understand T's before, was it too hard... What about you own
gay members with non normative expressives, are they too gay even for this organisation.

Anyway, if this is not just bla bla bla and its followed through its a start; I feel a lot of
damage control in this doc. Call me a cynic for that.

Quote from: Keira on January 05, 2008, 04:33:48 PM

Is that a HRC proposal, or just a test balooon. Its pretty unclear.
There's still ton of spin. The language is good but the self-congratualory and
condescenssion is still there.

I'm not 100% sure, I believe it was leaked from HRC. I agree Keira, I don't trust them at all, never have. I'd much rather have someone else lobbying on our behalf.

y2g

Sorry, but to me this is all bullsh*t!

I was at the Chicago CGS meeting where the HRC spin doctors tried very hard to make us understand that it was in all our best interests (read LGB&t) to pursue an orientation only bill first.

Oddly enough, exactly no one was swayed or convinced.  And when the floor was open for questions they did not have the courtesy to answer my question.

I asked how a gay or lesbian would be protected by this worthless bill if they could still be fired not for being too gay, but for being too fem or butch.

They wrote down everyone's question, then took a break and returned to answer the questions.  Oddly mine was not answered.

They also said that they were actively soliciting our opinions and would be making them available to the national council.

They thanked us all for coming.  As if they were doing us a favor coming to see us.

Ladies (and gentlemen) I have lead such a white bread existence.  Now that I have actually seen the face of discrimination by the ones who I really thought were my compatriots I am royally pissed.

HRC has destroyed the trust of the trans community in one fell swoop, and I know that they don't care.  I have heard it in their voices and I have seen it in their faces.

I wonder who they will sacrifice next when they need to push one of their next political agendas.  Perhaps the BI community.  After all they aren't truly gay or lesbian.  They just sit on the orientation fence and in some cases could actually be considered heterosexual (perish the thought!).  Then of course there are all those lesbians out there.  After all they have the National Organization of Women to turn to and the poor gay fellows don't have a similar organization to represent them...

Yeah, I'm pissed.  They would have to have been deaf, dumb and blind NOT to know that the trans community would be alienated if they followed Barney the dinosaurs political agenda.  That's the problem with being smart.  When you try to act dumb, nobody believes you!  I've been ripped off and lied to.  And I don't wish to have it happen again.

-Sandy (fool me once...)

A quick edit here.  After my keyboard stopped smoking, I realized that I may have inadvertently offended gay men.  Let me be completely  clear on this I have no ill feelings toward any segment of the community, Gay, Lesbian, Bi or Trans.  I am specifically pissed at HRC, not the gay community.

I won't go all cliche and say some of my best friends... But I will say that the deepest feelings of acceptance and love have come from my gay friends.  I treasure that friendship and love.  I would be sadly lessened without it.

If I have offended anyone (besides Joe Salmonella that is) please accept my humblest of apologies and I would be happy to make a public apology to anyone thus offended (except Joe, of course).

-Sandy (This bitch has an attitude...)

Great post, Kassandra! I love to see 'white-bread' toast? LOL Such a nice golden brown!!! LOL

From the way the paper read I would say that who's next is the 'rowdier' elements of the gay-pride parades and halloween parties!! "We must manage to keep OUR dignity!"

Politics is like sausage. Better not seeing it made.

Nichole

That's something I did find offensive, comparing people on springer to people in the gay pride parade and of all thing, the HALLOWEEN parade!! Hello, most of the weird (but oh so funny) people in those parades ARE GAY!!!!! Man, are you shooting your own people now for being too T!!

Are they going to pay for FFS for everybody who wants it so we don't embarass them by being so... Whatever.

Just incredible. Yeah, part of the doc are OK, but like I said, mucho paternalistic and condescedant attitude.

Like I said, gays would still be hiding in caves in those weird T and those gays they now want to hide, who had nothing to lose by being out and where out by their very existence, had not decided to make their voice heard. And now, its back to the closet you came out of 50 years ago; let the READ MEN do the job now...

If the consequence of outing ourselves where not so bad (for reasons like that the current enda bill cannot cover), more stealth TS could come out and kick those high fallutin gay gods/goofballs who are a disservice to GLBT's everywhere.

I would think it becomes, after awhile, exactly what always happens in these situations. The alpha gay-males resent that they are not granted the same privileges of the alpha het-males. And the reasons are always the 'rowdy elements,' 'trannies, 'lesbians and other people 'in the community' who make alpha gay-males look effeminate, crazy and undignified, unworthy of being valued in the same fashion as their 'not-so-very-different' het brothers.

ENDA was 'Their' coronation into the royalty. Lesbians can be tossed in, but only because we are the 'subordinate' side of the gay males. As other women are the subordinate side of het men. 

Don't underestimate the power of 'respectability' for these HRC/Log Cabin republican types. The pivot isn't liberal & conservative or moderate. The pivot is, as usual, types of misogyny in which they have been deprived of their birth-right by all us 'lesser, loose-cannon-type folk.'

There's a very good reason that the gay males choose the Trans-leaders. I imagine they would like to choose the trans-population! They need respectability. Who better grants them that than the Mara Kiesling and Susan Stanton-types. After all, those women have lived most of their lives on the other side, already in-touch with the power throttles at some level. They will totally understand and agree that 'the sensible thing to do' will be to further ongoing status-quo power relationships.

These battles are forever about who 'the guy in-charge' is gonna be. A non-enclusive ENDA opens the gates for 'respectable gay-males' to be included as players among the other battlers. "No women need apply. You are unelectable." It's ineluctable!!

Nichole

Quote from: Nichole W. on January 05, 2008, 09:33:02 PM
It's ineluctable!!

Nichole

i like that word, ineluctable. smarty-pants.

Plus, it made a nice twist for unelectable, ell!! hahahaha

Thank you.

The name of the project says it all.  This is a plan to try and "win back" the support and money of the trans community. that is something which can not, must not be allowed to happen. They willingly drove a stake in the heart of the GLBT community by thowing the transgender community to the right wing wolves. It's gonna take more than the HRC thowing us a bone to raise it back out from the dead.

What we need to do is work on forming our own rights organizations and make sure the HRC dies the slow death it has so rightly earned. Lets put our money, our efforts, and our hopes towards getting our community, it's own societal recognition, and not as the red headed step child of the gay community, sorry David...

Quote from: Nichole W. on January 06, 2008, 08:10:28 AM
Plus, it made a nice twist for unelectable

*in a whiny voice*  Mm Hmm.

HRC will have to do a lot to win me back.  I came out to myself and my wife on Sept 5.  Within a few days I found out about ENDA and HRC's pledge to back equal rights for *me* and others like me.  This gave me hope and even had me considering getting involved.  After all, I could surely do something, thought I in my just-come-out exuberance.  Then, after less than three weeks as a self-admitted transexual, I saw HRC cave like a cheap tent.  My first notice of them was a promise to support me, followed almost immediately by their "political expedience". 

Fool me once, shame on you...

Val

I lived in the DC 'burbs and I know HRC first-hand as first-class liars.  Yes, I said liars.

I have challenged them to send someone to a TS support group to which I belonged and they never did.  Gave me lots of excuses but never send anyone.  I have picketed their headquarters because they left us out of their efforts after promising to keep our best interests in their plans.

The guy who did my eyebrows was a drag queen and he had no love for the HRC, as did many professional people I met who happened to be gay.

I don't want to be won back.  I want that HRC be exposed for the liars they are.  I want that we should form an organization that will represent us on the Hill and the state capitals.  And I will contribute to any bona fide effort.

Wing Walker