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I'm a Cincinnati, Ohio native, radical queer activist and performer. I'm the director and founder of the GenderQueer Coalition (genderqueercoalition.org) and a co-manager and performer with the professional drag troupe The Black Mondays (theblackmondays.com). I currently work in Oberlin, Oh as the LGBTQ Community Coordinator at Oberlin College. I work with Advocates for Youth as member of the Ohio Advocates CAMI council for sex education policy reform. I heart Advocates for Youth and Amplify! Check out my personal blog at MidwestGenderQueer.com!
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Cincinnati Pride is approaching, and this year issues have gone beyond the usual problems with Pride. Pride is a clusterf*ck or issues, visibility, consumerism and corporatization, access, politics... but this I guess it was bored of the old problems and wanted something new. One issue vexing Cincinnati Pride this year is location. Pride has moved from its ‘gayborhood’ home to Cincinnati's downtown center, a change which has sparked some controversy. But there is another issue that is less obvious, and far more serious.
The project of Pride has been picked up by the Gay Chamber of Commerce, an organization focused on gay business success and representation in Cincinnati. “Doing pride fits right in our mission to promote the city and support our businesses." stated George Crawford, 45 year old local gay business owner, member of the Gay Chamber Commerce and the Chairman of Pride. Support our businesses? But what about our community? The queer community is not made up of businesses and their owners, its made up of everyday people. He confirmed that the Gay Chamber of Commerce was using a project called Equinox Cincinnati to run Pride. Equinox formed last year to host a party for the purpose of, in Crawford's words “to show the changing climate” of Cincinnati as a gay friendly city. (From where the rest of the community stood, it was a gay VIP rich folk only event.) I was surprised to learn Cincinnati had changed into an equality focused queer friendly city because as a visibly queer trans person working in the activist community, I figure I would have noticed if Cincinnati magically transformed into a mini-San Fran. When I asked about those who still did not feel safe, Crawford's thoughts were that it was the queer community’s fault that they didn’t feel safe in Cincinnati. "We have the chip on our shoulder and scars... we need our community to get on board..." Get on board for what? He made a decent point in saying "We can't continue to hide in a safe neighborhood like Northside [gayborhood]… we need to get out on the main streets.” I can’t help but agree with the on the streets part, but I'd like to know what I'm “getting on board” for, with who, and why. Crawford repeated words like “image,” “profit,” “income” and “reputation” - something very relevant to a business making money, but not very relevant to a community in need of resources.
Columbus Pride was this past weekend- one of the largest prides in the Midwest. To start out the weekend I semi-butched it up with the troupe at the Royal Renegades' annual pride drag show at Wall Street. The show was a fantastic time, but it reminded me how different Pride - and its spaces, scenes, and people are compared to every other time of year. Maybe folks think of Pride as a way to give a dose of gayness to the rest of the world, to remind them we are here. But out of sight, out of mind. Maybe its just me airing my activist baggage, but I can't help but get angry during Pride. I look around and see people so excited to be queer, having all this "pride" but try to get a thousand volunteers for something in October, or get people out for an event in February, good-fucking-luck. Its like Queer Pride is seasonal or as needed. What good is a parade to promote community visibility if afterward the majority of the community disappears again, back to their homes to hibernate until next year when its again time to wear rainbows and get drunk in public?
Pride is great because it is like we own the world for a day, all the communities that make up the mass that is greater queer community out and about. But it doesn't last. The next day and I went in search of brunch (naturally, queers love brunch), but I was afraid to go anywhere. Once again I was thrust back into being aware of my outcast standing. As things are now, pride is the one opportunity I have to be in my own state, my own local community, and not stick out like a nail waiting to get hit. I like pride for that reason, its an opportunity to relax and feel like I'm in a visible community that understands me... but I'm still not. Just like every year, I met several people who didn't know what I was and when I told them I was a transguy they didn't know what the hell I was talking about. Its hard to feel included when people still don't think I even exist. I don't bother explaining because I think that of all days, I should not have to be an educator at Pride. I just want to have fun too. When I express my impatience, I'm seen as hateful or irrational. I'm supposed to support organizations that are taking their time on trans education. I'm supposed to be proud of a queer community that still doesn't recognize me. I'm supposed to think its great that our parade is reduced to corporate shills and advertisements instead of education and action.
That's right, in her new book Laura talks about how she not only thinks that queer people have every right to get married, but that abortion is a viable need for society, both for medical and "other reasons."
Just imagine if she had been more outspoken during the actual presidency of G.W.Bush. What would that have looked like? I seems like she didn't speak up out of some sort of respect for her husband, but what did it cost the nation? Imagine all those anti-choice, homophobia Bush supporters being shown that a lady like Laura, the wife of their favorite president, supported the issues they hated. It would of been an amazing educational opportunity, and they couldn't just write her off like they can now. "She isn't 1st lady anymore, who cares if she's gone off the deep end of SATAN!"
Still, I think it is great that she came out with it. I'll admit, I'm a little obsessed with this right now, I mean can you imagine the implications? This is significant because of her visibility. She never was quite as insane or evil as Sarah Palin, but back in my baby radical days, Laura was a force to be reckoned with. I hope that people will pay attention and see her as a model of where you can be a conservative, religious old white lady, and still not be crazy oppressive. Now I wanna know more about her politics... maybe we can make her a poster girl for our issues and throw her at our opposition, she speaks their language, she can be our interpreter.... or maybe I'm getting a little carried away. Laura, you probably won't be doing much else for us, but maybe you will.... I will keep an eye out.
xposted - MidwestGenderQueer.com
STV Productions analyzes a recent anti-choice campaign where race is used as a method of "proving" that abortion is a conspiracy set out to kill babies. Just a thought, if they wanted to inform the public of the racist plot on killing black babies, maybe they should of created an ad campaign that wasn't racist. Last time I checked, all humans are the SAME species. Black people are Homo Sapiens too, folks. FYI. Plus its just plain f****d up to talk about a child as if they were a tiger or a panda. Not that I don't give props to tigers and pandas, but WTF? Its playing directly off of the historical exoticism of people of color as animalistic and "primitive," which in sad reality does make it more likely for white people to take an interest. Its like the SPCA billboards for adopting cute, wide-eyed baby animals, except this time its baby humans...
xposted: MidwestGenderQueer.com
Paul Scott, republican candidate for Michigan secretary of state released his platform last week and was kind enough to include transfolks in his agenda. Among his desired changes of immigration restrictions and traceable RFID chips inside state IDs he has included a statement for us trans folks too:
" I will make it a priority to ensure transgender individuals will not be allowed to change the sex on their driver’s license in any circumstance."
-Official Paul Scott Weblog
Now, the average person doesn't know a thing about trans-related issues in any scope, let alone specific ID policies. So how can such an issue be of public interest? As with all discriminatory smears it is surely a scapegoat to screen the state's real problems. But out of the potpourri of things that conservative right-wingers hate, why pick on the genderqueers? Honestly, I think that Scott wanted to pick something that would shock people in a "look what the dirty liberal government did behind your back" kind of way. By bringing trans elements to the forefront he is gaining attention via a conservative fear mongering crusade. And with abortion being way overused and therefore unexciting, he had to find something that would appall people more than dead unborn fetuses. Enter transSEXuals, cause they aren't just out to get fetuses, they're out to get everyone.
Mini-documentary about your favorite pink haired femme boy, JAC Stringer!
by Hunter Stuart at Stuart Productions
You can also access the video on YouTube. Please help us to SHARE this video by RATING it (the five little red and grey stars), COMMENTING, and SENDING to your friends and coworkers!
The Midwest is crawling with queers. Not because of any strong presence but in the more literal sense. Queers are crawling because we do not have the space to stand up. We do not have the resources that would enable us to live full, healthy lives. We, like so many others, are isolated in our homes, in our towns, controlled and confined by others, longing for life and being unable to live it.
I was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. When I came out as trans I didn’t know anyone who was like me and I had no way of finding them. The city‘s “gay“ scene was practically extinct and no trans or queer scene it had never existed in the first place. There was no space for me, so I decided to try and make one.
Apparently January is the 2nd annual National Drag History Month. A month-long event that “salutes the richness of drag culture and pays tribute to the courageous queens & kings who have fought for equality while inspiring, educating & entertaining us all.” Sounds cool right? But when you click the link you may feel the same disappointment I did in seeing that “drag history month” is nothing but a LOGO ploy for programming (also see excellent blog by Queerty). You may become depressed at the fact that the link itself has the word “franchise” in it. Or you may just be downright confused how there is not one mention of any female-bodied or gender transgressive/genderfuck performers. I guess National Drag History Month is for girls only… or is it for boys only because they are drag queens? Either way, WTF? Do drag kings have no history of doing anything? Not that LOGO would know either way because no actual history is ever talked about in the programming.
It is a common misconception that drag kings and genderf*ck performers don’t exist, but we actually do. It isn’t like we aren’t out and about. Now days its hard to hit up a lesbian bar without finding some trace of drag kings or go to a queer space without at least some knowledge somewhere of genderfuck performers. Female bodied gender performers have been gaining speed and spectrum, in the past ten years especially, but still we get thrown to the back of the bar. Why? I remember when I was first getting into drag and I told my sister about a drag king show. Her response, not knowing any better at the time, was “Drag king? But isn’t the point of drag being flashy with sequins and glitter? Boy clothes are boring.” I responded with a very humble, “Well… but… I wear sequins too…”
22 years ago the US government enacted a travel ban that prohibited any person who had HIV/AIDS from entering the US. In 1987, under direction of the Regan administration, the Public Health Service listed HIV as a "dangerous and contagious" disease, preventing anyone with it from entering the country, including refugees seeking asylum. The ban was codified into law in 1993 under Clinton. In 2008 Bush signed a five-year, 48 billion dollar bill to fight AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis around the world which was intended to also end the ban, but the ban was never actually lifted. Visit AIDS.org for a more detailed history.
Today the news hit that the ban has been lifted by the Obama administration, and, the first HIV positive passenger entered the US freely and safely. It has also been announced that the 2012 World Aids Conference would be held in Washington.
xposted midwestgenderqueer.com
So Maine didn't get marriage, yeah sucks to be Maine. As for me, I don't give a flying f*ck.
I understand that marriage is an important issue because of all the legal and civil benefits attached to it. Though my personal feelings are wholly disinterested, even disgusted, by the "LGBT" movement's preoccupation with marriage, I am not outside recognizing the benefits of legalizing queer marriage. What I want to know is, if this "marriage issue" is so important why are people more interested in fixing it for others but not themselves? Ohio has TWO DOMA amendments, TWO, because one wasn't enough. But no, yeah, you take care of Maine. They need more help than we do.
I agree that these rallies on behalf of California and Maine could be part of a bigger movement to promote visibility. But I don't know how folks in Ohio are going to prove anything by stating they won't stand for marriage inequality in Maine when they must not mind marriage inequality in Ohio. I think the main reason is this: Everyone else is doing it. People love to be part of something bigger, so why not get on board to support other states and have no idea what is going on in your own. Its not like you live there or anything. It's easier to complain about what's going on in someone else's yard than to take a long hard look at what your own place. Every day I see listserv and blog posts by people who live in Ohio or the Midwest but all they talk about is the east or west coast and what we can do to "help them." Forget that, they're blue states with high-income non-profits and god-damn celebrities. They can help themselves. Better yet, they can help me. I have a vet bill to pay and radical activism doesn't cut me any checks.
I've had people tell me that we need to focus on the easy parts first, keep in line so we don't scare folks off. Well, I'm not gonna get any less scary after you pass your legislation that doesn't have me in it and Ohio isn't gonna get any easier once your state is in it. I try not hate on folks who are good hearted and want to work for change, even if its not how I would do it. However, I can't help being opinionated about people who tell me I'm not a "team player" and they themselves do absolutely nothing.
NEWS FLASH: Posting a facebook event is not the end all be all of change. Shocking, I know.
Don't judge me and my work when all you have is a motherf*cking facebook account. If you want to complain, that is not my problem. Go update your status about it. Your HRC fan page friends will love it.
x-posted midwestgenderqueer.comIt has finally happened. Gender Identity Disorder (GID) has infiltrated Thailand. GID was previously only in countries whose mental health coding was determined either by the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) or the ICD (the International Classification of Diseases, whose GID diagnosis directly based off of the DSM's language). Now GID is now making moves East.
Countries like Thailand have been one of the last harbors for those seeking gender confirming surgeries without GID and without the high price. The Medical Council of Thailand has now moved to following similar requirements to those in the Harry Benjamin Standards of Care where psychiatric evaluation(s) and "one year life experience" are demanded to prove the legitimacy of a person's identity. Thailand also requires that foreigners looking to have gender confirmation surgery there must get approval from a psychiatrist in their home country AND one in Thailand before being approved. The Medical Council of Thailand representatives state that "at least two psychiatrists must give guarantees" in order for someone to be allowed access to services. What kind of guarantees are they looking for?
Like the person mentioned in the article, by the time a person is ready for a gender confirming surgery they have already been living as themselves, some for over 20 years. Some people don't have the luxury to live as themselves because it isn't safe where they live, and some people live in ways that doesn't match with what GID describes as "real life experience." And apparently the concern isn't for our well being alone. We also need to worry about the society we live in.
"Sex reassignment surgery would affect the physical body (of the person undergoing the operation), as well as people's mental health and society around them."
Well, Hella forbid I upset someone else with my identity. If I ever wanted to have surgery, not only am I sure that my life would not be considered "real" male experience, I am certain that I would not be considered a promoter of society's mental health. Does that mean I'm not trans? Who makes the decision? Apparently they do. Silly me for thinking I should know myself. Do I even need to continue my rant here? Or should I just write out a big FUCK YOU. In the wise words of Cartmen I say,"Whateva, I do what I want!"
I do want to point out that I don't think that greater regulation of these procedures isn't needed. Many people have experienced serious problems due to the lack of regulation of surgeries in ALL countries. My interpretation of that is that the lack of accessibility is forcing people to put themselves at risk. Spreading the malice of GID is not the answer to bettering out lives and our access to transitional medical care. What we need is accountable AND accessible care that doesn't force people to die of infections or bleed out on tables because they don't have the money or the means to access the system's care.
xposted midwestgenderqueer.com
This weekend I attended the Sex Education Youth Summit which the Ohio Advocates were helping Planned Parenthood organize. It was a great day and I met lots of inspirational youth. One in particular was a young activist from rural Ohio. They are twelve years old, came out as queer at eleven, and are working on queer activism in their school. How awesome is that? Sometimes you just get lucky and meet someone that sparks the suffocated, warm fuzzy hope that got you into activism in the first place. In that moment, you suddenly don't feel so jaded, and the hard work and bullshit is all worth it.
A groundbreaking bill was introduced, the Ohio Prevention First Act, a bill requiring comprehensive sex education in Ohio schools. Not only does the bill mandate age-appropriate medically and scientifically accurate sex education about abstinence and safe sex, it is also inclusive of gender, race, religion, disability status, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
Some key points of the bill:
*"Ensure that sexual assault victims have access to emergency contraception and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases in all hospital emergency rooms.
*Create a state teen pregnancy prevention task force that would recommend medically accurate and scientifically proven effective programs for reducing Ohio’s teen pregnancy rate.
*Require a pharmacy to dispense any prescribed drug, device or over-the-counter medication in stock without delay, consistent with the normal timeframe, and ensure that every licensed pharmacy does not intimidate, threaten or harass its customers in the delivery of services.
My fabulous friend Hunter Stuart filming in Wisconsin. View his full blog, and more about the story, here.
It’s official. The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles’ no longer requires a letter stating a person has had gender-confirmation surgery. It's an amazing victory! Now people are able to correct their licenses gender marker enabling them safer, more accurate identification. Unfortunately, I am not one of those people.
This past week I was sent the unofficial, pre-press printout of the new BMV form. I was thrilled, like a kid on Christmas. My head was swimming with the possibilities, not just for myself, but for so many others. I opened the PDF and started to read.
My heart sank. I could see the image of that laminated M disappear. I can’t get my marker changed because I don’t follow the standards of care.“To be qualified, the medical professional must attest that the transition is being conducted in accordance with World Professional Association for Transgendered Health (WPATH) Standards of Care. This change is only to be made as part of a permanent, full time gender transition.”
I have just found out that the radical, genderqueer activist organization I founded almost four years ago has reworded its description. What once described the group as "a radical queer group for all gender identities and sexualities, focusing on queer, trans, and genderqueer issues" now reads that it is a "queer social, support and activist group for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and allied students focusing on gender issues." In the year and a half I have been gone, GenderBloc has gone from being a genderqueer and trans focused, queer radical organization to a LGBTQ social activist group... and just like the rest of the movement gender has moved from the forefront to an afterthought.
I cried when I read it.
Today, with a vote of 56 to 39, the Ohio House of Representatives passed House Bill 176, the Equal Housing and Employment Act that includes sexual orientation and gender identity and expression. The Bill protects all queer folks, not just the A-gays, which is clearly a big deal. Its the 1st time a vote protecting queer folks has come to the Ohio General Assembly in the history of the state.
The bill is on its way to the Senate, and I'm anxious about the progress. When lobbying for the bill this past summer, I was unsure it would even get this far. Some reps I spoke with were optimistic about the bill, referencing their gay cousins and the fight for equality. Other reps couldn't understand why the bill was needed, or even what it was for...
All we can do is wait. I'll keep you posted.
x-posted MidwestGenderQueer.com
The open house was packed. I fought my anxious impulse to disappear, reminding myself that now it wasn't just my responsibility to be a visible, social-activist butterfly... it was my job. I wandered my way to the middle of the mass and into a conversation with two first-years: One from D.C. and one from Northern Kentucky, near my hometown of Cincinnati. The Kentucky student and I chatted briefly about the conservative environment and the contrast Oberlin had to offer.
"Really?" the D.C. student asked. "Cincinnati is conservative?"
I stopped, amazed at the concept of someone reading the 'Nati as a liberal space.
"Yeah, you wouldn't think it is..." said Kentucky, "Its a city, but its a more conservative city."
I was even surprised at this implication that all cities were automatically full of the enlightened. "Its a red city." I said, hoping to impart the severity I was feeling. "Blood red."
D.C.'s eyes widened brightly. "Whoa, so you've actually met a real republican?"
There has been a lot of exciting talk about the equality march in Washington D.C. this October. I’m always up for starting a required ruckus. My question is, is this required or redundant?
In anticipation of this magic march I started to ask what this “equality” event is about. Cleve Jones says he wants “full and equal protection” in “all matters” which is awesome, but from what I can find marriage is the only issue specifically mentioned anywhere. Last time I checked, marriage rights and equality are not the same thing. Well, not unless you’re the HRC.
How much of this event is for “equality” and how much is about egos? Everyone knows there is a certain amount of hip-ness to being the underdog. And while I’m glad people are getting involved, people aren’t much help when they’re all glory and no guts.
Cleve Jones is hoping the march will launch a “new chapter” in the queer rights movement. I agree with him in saying a grassroots method is better for stirring change than a fancy dinner could ever be, but I can’t help but be question this particular effort. I would love to see a population, stirred by a mass rally, returning home to work hard on local issues, but I’ll believe it when I see it. Queers, particularly younger ones, are drawn to the concept of gaining some sort of status by saying “I was there.” More than likely, people will attend the march, feel special (which is worth something, I’ll admit), yell a lot, and then return home to business as usual leaving us worker bees in the same spot we’ve been in for years.
The newest trans-media craze has hit. A semi-celebrity, who I am not naming, has come out as trans and announced his transition. Clearly the announcement was made to circumvent a mass-media fest. In his announcement he also specifically requested privacy. Of course he’s not getting it. Who’s surprised?
I realize the media sensationalizes the most minimal things for entertainment. That said, I have found particular attention is paid to queer and trans concerns. The media either crucifies the person or tries to highlight how amazingly normal the person is (in effort to be supportive to the poor, gay soul). Who would ever think a queer person could be well-adjusted? Holy heterosexist, Batman! In the case of this person coming out, some news articles have been surprisingly well written and mostly focused on actual trans issues. However, the majority are full of the expected trans-ignorant language like using the wrong pronoun and terms like “gender switching/swapping,” “Girl Boy,” “she/ he,” “it,” and my favorite-“wow.”
“…What do the young know or care about health insurance?”
Last week, two female presenting people, possibly transwomen or crossdressers, where attacked and robbed in Cincinnati. One was shot when the thief tried to take her purse. How did no one hear about this? (Myself included and I’m on the look out). Needless to say, it wasn’t headline news. But then again, maybe its better it wasn’t because the media did such a terrible job of covering the story. Wrong pronouns everywhere. “…Attacker shot one of the victims, who was dressed as a woman, while trying to steal HIS purse.”
If it is clear someone is presenting in one gender, why are people determined to get the pronoun wrong? People are determined to stick to their brain’s sex binary. To add insult to injury, the civic response to this is thing short of a sick-minded comedy hour.
This week I went to lobby in Columbus, Ohio’s capital, for the LGBT Equal Housing and Employment Protections Act. Equality Ohio collected almost 500 people for the event, most of whom were age 35 and up. Going in, I expected a degree of trans identity ignorance from some fellow lobbyists. What I didn’t expect was what I got...
I was one of the only experienced lobbyists in our group, but before I even reached the capital building I had been called both a kid and a child. I received a seemingly well intentioned yet authoritative lecture from an older activist on my generation’s apathetic nature, which was followed directly by being asked what grade I was in. I was never spoken to directly by the group leader or informed on the day’s agenda, nor where the other two younger people in the group. I was ushered from office to office like a kid on a grade school field trip. I had no opportunity to represent my district or my community. I might as well have not even been there.
Response: First of all, I am not a child. I’m 25 years old and the director a non-profit that I founded (without the help of anyone over 35, thank you very much). Second, if I had been the team leader I would not dominate the group so that my voice was the only one heard. I would not have missed appointments with representatives for no good reason. I would not have ignored members of my team because they looked young. And I would not have let lobbyers hand representatives blank “Thank You” cards (Wtf?). Lastly, my generation’s “apathetic nature?” Yes, I’ll admit my generation needs work, but what about the generations before mine? Maybe youth wouldn’t be so apathetic if YOUR generation hadn’t f**ked everything up. Maybe youth would be more involved if you treated us like people, not prospects. I keep hearing how youth are the future, but no one lets us make the future happen.
cross-posted on MidwestGenderQueer.com
I want this to be my bank.
I wish I had some way of knowing (or recording) reaction to this ad. If we as a civilization had any hard data on queers and genderqueers and our impact on commerce, the numbers would surely show the benefit of including us. The "pink" economy as Queer commerce has colorfully been coined, is getting bigger and bigger."DINKS" - (Double Income No Kids) an expression previously meant for hetero couples, commonly extends to queers now. Gay Tourism has hit such a boom, major cities all over the world are creating LGBT specific websites such as Gay-Friendly Philadelphia. The Simpsons even spoofed at jumping on the gay-pay wagon by having Springfield approve gay-marriage so the city could profit from the taxes and tourism.
I'm conflicted about this 'inclusion' into society. I suppose I should be thankful that queer people are gaining the opportunity to consume at the going rate of other communities. We should all follow the examples of big companies and understand that it doesn't matter what your identity is, just how much money you have.
How much does fear and sadness motivate? Does it motivate at all?
I mentor my old high-school’s Gay-Straight Alliance, and the last big project was Day of Silence. I listened as the students listed the hardships of being queer, what we aren’t allowed to do, how many of us have died… I didn’t feel inspired, I felt depressed. Is this what our youth have to look forward to?
“It’s good to educate about oppression.” I said to the students, “Maybe we can take it a step further and not only promote the voices of those who have been oppressed, but also the voices of those who have overcome. Show people what they are missing by not hearing us.”
The idea seemed to pump them up, but in the end it didn’t sell. I guess it’s more dramatic and “moving” to talk about dead people. And that is a big face of queer activism: death. Transgender Day of Remembrance (the only “trans day” there is) is about remembering dead people. Day of Silence is about loss of power and lack of recognition. Every queer storyline in mainstream media ends with us losing our loved ones or being raped and murdered. Organizations fund vigils and memorials but not drag shows and parties. There is no showing the joy of queer life, or offering information and knowledge, only the sadness and penalty is given.
The message being sent is: “Come out and join the movement! Your life is going to suck and then someone’s going to kill you.” Sounds like a great plan, and look how well its worked so far.
cross-posted on MidwestGenderQueer.com
An Update on the University of Cincinnati: For over three years we’ve been jumping through administrative hoops trying to get a campus queer center with a staff person. This week we had a rally in hopes of getting some recognition. It was a good turn out, considering it was snowing, and we did get some recognition from the university community. Well, we got our picture in the paper anyway…
