Monday, October 1, 2007

Abandoned

I began this blog to talk about transgenderism and spirituality, but now I need to include politics. Fresh from the glow of passage of the Matthew Shepard Act in the Senate, comes the news from Rep. Barney Frank and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) would be stripped of transgender inclusive language. It is their belief that with Gender Identity in the bill, it will not have enough support to pass the House. This is not the first time that the T has been thrown off the wagon to benefit the LGB. What is galling is that the Human Rights Campaign is supporting this maneuver.

I offer my Thanks to the many "LGB and T" organizations that have loudly decried this idea: PFLAG, The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Projects, National Stonewall Democrats, National Center for Lesbian Rights, Pride at Work (AFL-CIO) and others. These organizations understand that "victory" at the expense of others is wrong. And especially since the political reality - the same "reality" leading Frank/Pelosi/HRC to remove Gender Identity - is that it won't work anyway.

Reality: President Bush will veto ENDA whether it includes Gender Identity or not. While there may be enough votes to pass ENDA (No Trannies Allowed), there are not enough to override the veto. There is the same concern about the Matthew Shepard Act - which Bush will have a harder time vetoing since it is buried in a war-machine spending bill. If he does veto this bill, any takers on whether transgenders will be taken out of this bill, too?

So to Speaker Pelosi and to Representative Frank - you've lost me as a loyal Democrat. I'm gone. For ANY Democratic candidate anywhere. I cannot trust you.

To HRC - I will now not support any of the LGB issues that do not pertain to me.

Marriage? I can marry anyone I want! That great bastion of idiocy, the state of Kansas, has a court ruling that says I can only marry a woman. Most other states say I can only marry a man.

Adoption? I've already raised my children, adoption is something that doesn't concern me, so why should I care about you?

Don't Ask, Don't Tell? I'm well past my days of possible military service. Frankly, I do not advocate military service for anyone, why should I care if you want to serve or not?

How can I ever expect HRC's support for issues that are transgender specific??????

I never asked that the T be tied to the LGB. It actually helps foster the prevailing stereotypes and mythologies about who the Transgender are. And isn't it curious that the T is always, always, at the end of the acronym - which is sometimes LGBT and sometimes GLBT? Makes it easier to cut us loose, I imagine....

I have many friends who are lesbian, gay or bi - my commentary is not directed personally at you. I know your hearts, I appreciate your loyalty. But the final reality is that the transgender "community" is too negligible to make a political impact on it's own. That takes People, Power or Money, we are short on all three. Righteousness or Justice has never succeeded in American politics. We need allies from all quarters, so when the leading LGB political organization in the country casts me aside, I get the message.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Donna, I'm truly feeling the weight of your disappointment, frustration, anger, loss -- 'weight' because I so badly want to be able to do something that would 'fix' the situation (beyond my power), and weight because I want so badly to make it better for you (probably also beyond my power). But I care, I care, I care. Please keep your head high and your heart strong, dear friend.