For those of you who couldn’t make last night’s book party at the Corner Bookstore, which was a smashing success, there is another party this Sunday night. It’s called Trans*Am – produced by Ethan Carter, and open to trannnies, genderqueers, and supporters.
What: Trans*Am
Where: Meow Mix, 269 East Houston @ Suffolk
When: Sunday, January 25th
Doors open at 9pm, with tunes by DJ HiFi Hillary, hosted by Carolyn, and featuring readings by Evie, Sydney, Carolyn, Tennessee, and yours truly!
There’ll be contests to give away a few free copies of MHB.
For more information
Entertainment Weekly
In the January 23/30 edition of Entertainment Weekly, right under the Best-Sellers list, you’ll find a box titled “Opening Acts.”
In that box appears an excerpt from My Husband Betty .
Our first national coverage!
MHB Book Party at Corner Bookstore
On January 21st, at 7pm, the Corner Bookstore will be throwing the debut party for my book My Husband Betty. It’ll be a party open to the public, with wine and cheese, and of course we’ll have copies of the book for sale!
We would love for you to attend.
What: My Husband Betty book party
Where: The Corner Bookstore, 1313 Madison Avenue, at the corner of 93rd street,
When: Wednesday, January 21st, 2004, at 7pm
I would love to thank the owners of Corner Bookstore for throwing the event by having people buy the book there, so if you haven’t yet bought a copy – do it then!
For CDs: there is a place to change in the basement. If you can email me to let me know you’re coming/will need to change there, I’ll be able to give the folks at the bookstore fair warning!
Feel free to spread the word; all are invited!
Men in Skirts: Art & Activism
It seems someone got the big idea that men who wear skirts should all show up en masse at the “Men in Skirts” exhibit currently showing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They’re asking you all to show up either Feb 7th or 8th, to raise visibility for men’s sartorial freedom. Below is the letter I received which includes more information and websites that are promoting the event. Seems like a cool idea to me!
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When tyranny rules freedom starts with taking the first step. Although the first step may seem insignificant and it may not meet all your requirements, it is necessary to achieve complete freedom We all wish we could have complete freedom of dress, however currently within our society, it is not possible for men in spite of the fact that women enjoy this freedom. I realize that we all want our freedom this very moment, however society thrives on conformity and to accomplish change from within it takes time. It took women several decades to achieve complete freedom of dress. At first they wore pants styled for women with zippers in the back and on the side. Eventually the zipper moved to the front and equality was achieved. In order for men to achieve freedom of dress we need to capitalize on their achievements and begin with the basics. On February 7 & 8, 2004 we are asking every man who desires freedom of dress to join us at the Metropolitan Museum to attend the special exhibit “Bravehearts: Men In Skirts”. During the weekend several activities are planned during which we can express our concerns and show a united front for freedom of dress for men.
We would like this event to have a first step appearance. What we mean by this is to have as many men as possible attend in skirts as men without expressing other qualities that are considered feminine by our society. In other words, before society will accept you dressed as women we have to overcome the stereotype associated with wearing a skirt. Although you may not agree with our mission statement our goal is the same, freedom of dress. Therefore it doesn’t matter if you are a crossdresser, transvestite, or post-op transsexual, our first step as well as our ultimate goal is the same, freedom.
The number of men who attend is proportional to the rate at which we achieve our individual goals. In other words if several thousand men attend society will accept this more quickly. However if only a few men attend it will take much longer to achieve our freedom. Once this initial freedom is achieved an individual can expand it to where they feel comfortable with it.
Please attend, we need your support.
Although there are several sites dedicated to this movement the following provide the most comprehensive coverage. These web sites also have links to other sites regarding these issues.
The Bravehearts’ Kilt Forum
Tom’s Cafe
Corner Bookstore Book Release Party
On January 21st, at 7pm, the Corner Bookstore will be throwing the debut party for my book My Husband Betty. It’ll be a party open to the public, with wine and cheese, and of course we’ll have copies of the book for sale!
We would love for you to attend.
What: My Husband Betty book party
Where: The Corner Bookstore, 1313 Madison Avenue, at the corner of 93rd street,
When: Wednesday, January 21st, 2004, at 7pm
I would love to thank the owners of Corner Bookstore for throwing the event by having people buy the book there, so if you haven’t yet bought a copy – do it then!
For CDs: there is a place to change in the basement. If you can email me to let me know you’re coming/will need to change there, I’ll be able to give the folks at the bookstore fair warning!
Feel free to spread the word; all are invited!
Amnesty International & GLBT Violence
I’ve long been a fan of Amnesty International, and yesterday I discovered that they are currently “spotlighting” a Human Rights activist who works in the TG community. Rodrigo Lopez Barrera has been threatened, shot at, and received an anonymous death threat. Why? He campaigns actively for the Transvestite Association of Chile.
Amnesty is asking that people send two letters – one to the Minister of the Interior of Chile, the second to the Governor of the Province (Los Andes) that Barrera lives in. The details of the case and the addresses of both officials can be found on AI’s press release about this case.
For you closet CDs, this is a perfect opporuntity to show a little support for your sisters, and to speak out without any chance of being outed. No-one but you & these officials in Chile will know you’re a crossdresser!
I also strongly suggest writing to Amnesty International at information@amnesty.org.uk and thanking them for choosing this case to highlight. AI is a well-respected international human rights group, & their choice, to spotlight a TG case, will have reverberations throughout the world.
If you want to really thank them, send a donation, too.
Southern Poverty Law Center Investigates Michael Bailey
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has just published a major expose of Bailey’s book, The Man Who Would Be Queen and the forces behind it. The article is in an issue of SPLC’s quarterly Intelligence Report that focuses on the realities and causes of the terrible wave of hate crimes against transgender and transsexual women now rampant in my U.S. cities. It is also on the web, along with the article on hate crimes.
You can find the one on Bailey here
and the one on hate crimes here
Lynn Conway, who has been one of the people helping dig up information on Bailey, adds: “SPLC confirmed our worst suspicions about the right-wing hatemonger group of elite academics, journalists, writers and media pundits that Bailey and Blanchard have been running with for at least the past 5 years. As Anjelica often says about the entire Bailey mess: ‘It’s unbelievable, yet undeniable…’.”
I don’t find it unbelievable – but all too believable. This is one of the reasons I think it’s important for the TG spectrum to come together, and to provide a united front with the GLBT community against attacks like this.
January 8th Femme Fever Party
On January 8th, I’ll be going to the Femme Fever Party in Long Island, NY. It’s the first of the book parties, and this one is run by Karen of Femme Fever.
We are very much looking forward to meeting all of you!
We will also be selling the book at a discount for anyone who comes.
You can find more information at the Femme Fever website.
^ us, with Karen.
10 Year Anniversary of Brandon Teena's Death
I found this article here
Brandon Teena 10 Years Later
(Falls City, Nebraska) While most of the world prepares to celebrate New Year’s Eve this week, transgendered Americans are pausing to remember Brandon Teena on the tenth anniversary of his murder.
The December 31, 1993 killing of the good-looking 21 year old galvanized Falls City, Brandon’s hometown, and for the first time put a national spotlight on the plight of the transgendered. It was the inspiration for the award-winning 1999 film, “Boy’s Don’t Cry” and led to the first civil rights laws for trans citizens.
Teena was a female to male pre-op transsexual and had been living as a male for several years. In December, 1993 he went to County Sheriff Charles Laux and reported he had been raped by two men, John Lotter and Marvin Nissen, after they discovered he had been born female and still had female organs. Teen had been dating a female friend of Lotter’s at the time.
Laux refused to investigate. A week later Teen was murdered by the pair who also killed two people who witnessed the killing.
Lotter and Nissen were eventually charged, tried, and sentenced, but not before the nation became gripped by the brutality of the case and the indifference of authorities.
An appeal by by Lotter was rejected by the Nebraska Court of Appeal earlier this year.
But, in his death, Teena gave birth to transgender militancy. Trans men and women across the country began to organize, forming lobby groups to not only educate the public but to press for civil rights.
Today, 65 municipalities and states have hate crime laws that specifically include transgendered people, according to the Transgender Law Policy Institute. California became the fourth state to adopt such a law earlier this year.
“How many times do you get to see a giant sea change like this in people’s perceptions? But you look at Congress, corporate America, and cities and states … and you see this enormous change in how people are looking at gender as a civil rights issue,” said Riki Wilchins, executive director of the Washington-based Gender Public Advocacy Coalition.
Yet, despite the advances, violence against the transgendered continues. Last year, 17 year old Gwen Araujo was murdered in California by three men who discovered she had been born male. A year ago, Nizah Morris a TG performer was murdered in Philadelphia. In the past 12 months, Remembering Our Dead, an online memorial that tracks bias killing of transgendered people around the world, recorded 17 deaths in the United States.
Buy a Signed Copy
I have finally figured out how to make signed copies available via this website. Right now I’m only set up to ship to the US, and to receive payments via PayPal, but it’s a start!
Buy a Signed Copy of My Husband Betty