Amnesty International’s report, Stonewalled: Police abuse and misconduct against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the U.S., is not good news at all.
The reports on the NYPD alone make me sad, and a little more scared. You shouldn’t have to feel like you’re relying on luck to be treated even moderately well by the police, but from what this report says, that is the case.
So what do we do about this? I’d be happy to conduct transgender-sensitivity training for the NYPD, if anyone knows anyone who could make that happen.
Five Questions With… Rosalyne Blumenstein
Rosalyne Blumenstein is the former
directer of the Gender Identity Project at the GLBT Center in Manhattan, and is the author of Branded T.
1. You emphasize the non-inclusion of bisexual and transpeople in your book Branded T by writing it “GLbt.” Do you think this still holds true – are bisexuals and Ts still left out of the majority of “gay activism”?
I currently live in LA. In June they have their Pride Weekend. It is called Gay Pride, need I say more? …Well I will anyway.
I think we have gone backwards just like the larger system. I believe there to be a parallel process going on with the way in which government is running things and the way in which our social movements are following. Here’s the deal and my swing on it. (Not that I know anything… opinions are like assholes – everyone has one, well mostly everyone has one).
Again this is only my opinion.
I believe everyone should be able to live they way they want, experience some semblance of freedom, love, be loved, feel fulfilled, dream, and be on a journey. However, within the gay agenda it is all about mimicking a Christian heterosexist mentality. Mind you, take this apart there is nothing wrong with Christian…having a certain belief system and having faith which is grand and extremely helpful in life…
And as far as Heterosexuality is concerned, there is nothing wrong with someone who identifies as male loving someone who identifies as female. I for one would love to be in another relationship with a man. Right now I would love to be in a relationship with someone breathing let alone what damn gender they identify as.
But from my understanding of a sexual minority movement it‘s about many different kinds of loves, not just the sanctity of marriage. It’s about not buying into just the white picket fence and the 2.3 kids.
So the Gay Agenda has become about wanting the same things everybody else wants which is not a bad thing but is not the voice of the whole queer movement. In fact most voices that are silenced within the movement are those
- that are either getting their ass kicked on the streets because they don’t blend
- or those with little power within the political system
- or those that care less about identity politics, they just want to be, live, have great sex, explore, be.
So the gay agenda doesn’t give voice to all concerned. Well maybe these groupings get some quality TV time during Pride since that is what media wants to show and that is what the larger gay movement does want to be viewed as. I think it is all about oppression and many times the oppressed (gay community) become the oppressors (the rest of us that don’t identify as gay).
So in answer to your question my dear I think B and T folk within the gay movement have the opportunity to participate within the movement but in the larger scheme of things and what is portrayed to the Universe is Gay= LGBT.
Continue reading “Five Questions With… Rosalyne Blumenstein”
Five Questions With… Damian McNicholl
Damian McNicholl is the author of the Lambda finalist A Son Called Gabriel, who I met at a Lammy reading here in NYC. He’s from Northern Ireland, and Gabriel is about a young man growing up in a Catholic community in Northern Ireland. McNicholl’s blog can be found at http://damianm.blogspot.com, and A Son Called Gabriel is in bookstores, and available, of course, through amazon.com.
1) Considering all the scandals here in the US considering priests and pedophilia, how have people responded to your novel?
First Helen, thank you for the opportunity to visit your site and answer your questions.
While the scene where Father Cornelius seduces Gabriel amounts to only one scene in A SON CALLED GABRIEL, nevertheless, its inclusion was something I wondered about because the scandal involving the church had broken and was gaining momentum. I wondered if it would cause anger among the American-Irish community, particularly among those who are fervent practitioners of their Catholic faith. But any reservations I had about including the scene did not last long because, within me, deep within, I knew I had to remain true to Gabriel, and his story, and the truth in this regard had to be presented. The truth is that in real life some priests have taken advantage of young girls and boys. It has happened in the United States. It has happened in Ireland. It has happened throughout the world. And, of course, I did have a counterbalance to reflect how things are in life because not all the priests are warped: Gabriel’s headmaster at the grammar school is strict but proper, and the parish curate is a very kindly man who’s very much in touch with the needs of his parishioners.
And I am very happy to report that my readers are sophisticated enough to realize these terrible crimes have been perpetrated by renegade, if not evil, priests, and those who have commented or asked about it have done so positively. Indeed, I’ve had more questions from readers about the issue of bullying that’s also covered in the novel, as well as the isolation a young person endures growing up gay in a very conservative community.
And, to be absolutely honest, I really didn’t care about what anyone conservative would say or think about my work after they’d read it. I didn’t, because I was pretty sure no conservative person would read the novel. I mean, let’s face it; conservative people are not interested in reading or learning about or dealing with truths like this because it simply does not conform to their views of the real world.
Continue reading “Five Questions With… Damian McNicholl”
Radical Right Christian?
NYC Pride Events
Here’s some of the cool & groovy stuff (most trans-related) you can do this weekend in NYC for Pride.
Friday night:
Go see Lisa Jackson & her band Girl Friday at the Zipper Theatre.
The Trans Community March for Social and Economic Justice
Saturday:
The Mermaid Parade in Coney Island
The Dyke March & Rally
On Sunday of course is the Pride Parade!
Happy Pride, everyone!
Warning Labels: This Person is Gay
The leader of the New York Christian Coalition has announced that gays should wear warning labels.
Why?
Because being gay is bad for your health, and by his logic, others’ health as well.
I wish I were kidding.
The story as reported by www.365gay.com.
The comments about the story by the MHB Boards.
Congratulations…
…to Mariette Pathy Allen for winning the Lambda Literary Award in the Transgender/genderqueer category, and to all the other winners tonight.
Thanks to all of you who hoped I would win (but I’m not going to say ‘I told you so’!)
Next up for me: Book Expo! As in, tomorrow. Must. Sleep.
Lammy Nominees' Reading
I’ve just found out that I’m going to be part of the “New York Voices” part of the Lambda Literary Awards readings here in NYC. On May 19th, time tba, nine of my fellow nominees and me will be reading from our nominated works at the GLBT Center in Manhattan.
Just what my dad wanted for his 77th birthday, no doubt!
Queer Stories for Boys
For years, my friend Doug McKeown has been running and directing a group called Queer Stories for Boys, which is a story-telling workshop for gay men. He gathers a group of gay men, and has them brainstorm on ideas of stories – the only caveat being that the story had to have happened in real life. After that, they whittle away at and sculpt the stories, so in the end they come up with fantastic monologues of real life experiences. Betty and I got to see a performance of “Queer Stories” a while back, and were thrilled (and wanted to try to convince Doug to do the same for transfolks, but no luck yet!)
A collection of these stories has just been published, called Queer Stories for Boys: True Tales from the Gay Men’s Storytelling Workshop, and I highly recommend it, especially for transfolks who are entering the GLBT world and don’t know much about their gay brothers.
Here’s the review I wrote for the book:
These stories are as honest as they are queer. Ranging the gamut from tragic to comic, they encapsulate what is often missing in descriptions of gay men: their humanity, their families, and their lovers. These men tell the stories of how they have managed to find themselves – and happiness – at a time when the public seems more interested in what they do than in who they are. Queer Stories for Boys reminds us of the people behind the political diatribes, and does so with elegance, wit, sadness and joy.
Health Care for GLBT people
A number of states have passed or are considering laws that appear to permit health care providers to deny services to LGBT people. For example: Michigan’s House recently passed HB 5006, which states: “A health care provider may assert as a matter of conscience an objection to providing or participating in a health care service that conflicts with his or her sincerely held religious or moral beliefs.” Similar legislation has been introduced in in Mississippi, Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia.
The gay and Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA) is being asked by the press whether these kinds of laws threaten the health of LGBT people, and specifically, whether we are aware of any real cases in which a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender person has been denied a necessary service from a medical professional (including pharmacists) based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
If you are aware of any such case send an email to Joel Ginsberg, GLMA’s Executive Director, at jginsberg@glma.org, or call him at 415-255-4547 x314. In your message, describe briefly what happened and give your name, title, organizational affiliation (if any) and contact numbers so they can follow up. Do not communicate any confidential information. Also indicate whether they have your permission to forward your name and contact information to a reporter. If not, they will give a quote that describes the substance of what happened without giving any identifying information.
Please forward this request to any whom you think may have useful information.
Thanks for your help.
For more information on the GLMA, check their website.