Leah Matz is (in no particular order) a queer, vegan, radical feminist, political resistant, Scorpio, poet, thinker, writer, dreamer, believer, and gangsta. But she doesn't like labels. She began her social justice career with the creation of her junior high school's first Gay-Straight Alliance in seventh grade. Since then, she has had had the privilege of organizing and facilitating with such organizations as the Family Equality Council, South Central Minnesota Pride, Family and Children's Services, among many others. She has recently begun her second year as an organizer with the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN), as well as her inaugural year as youth advisor for the Trevor Project, and peer educator with Advocates for Youth's LGBTQ initiatives program YouthResource. She also served as youth media leader and organizational advisor for the National Equality March this past year. Of the free time she has, Leah spends much of it writing and performing slam poetry, performing drag, cooking delicious vegan food, and pulling the pimentos out of olives.
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Turns out Paul Scott, Michigan State Representative who has just announced his candidacy for nomination for Secretary of State, is a little bit hung up on bathroom politics. My fellow queer activists might say "Aren't we all?" But, who'da thunk it, he's not on our side.
Scott stated in his top four policy priorities:
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.
When asked why this was such a priority for him, Scott said it was to "[prevent] people who are males genetically from dressing as a woman and going into female bathrooms."
With just this simple statement, Scott has taken power over the fear and emotions of women, and fed into stereotypes and negative imagery of the trans community. By presenting the trans community as predators, it perpetuates the myth of victimization of cisgendered people under the power of transgender individuals, as well as the mentality that the only thing keeping individuals with malicious intent from entering a particular bathroom is the sign on the door.
For more information about bathroom politics, check out the Transgender Law Center's toolkit "Peeing in Peace: A Resource Guide for Transgender Activists and Allies" here: http://www.transgenderlawcenter.org/pdf/PIP%20Resource%20Guide.pdf
Oh, and don't vote Paul Scott. Thanks.
Focus on the Family's Citizenlink blog says:
At issue this time is a GLSEN fundraiser featuring a theatrical play called Santa Claus is Coming Out!It's sad that GLSEN, which claims that it wants to protect kids, has chosen to use a fundraising tool that perverts the innocence of Christmas and sexualizes the longtime, child-revered icon of Santa Claus.
...Clearly homosexual activists like [the play's writer and performer, Jeffrey] Solomon have no qualms about using shock tactics to expose children to homosexuality. And it's sad that GLSEN promotes these tactics.
GLSEN's fundraiser invitation says the play depicts "Santa in his heartfelt struggle to reconcile his romantic relationship with Italian toy maker Giovanni Geppetto." Pictures on a Web site promoting the production depict Santa in not-so-subtle sexually suggestive situations. The play also mocks those who support traditional values.
pam's house blend is among my favorite queer blogs, and you should check out the phb perspective on the whole thing here:
http://pamshouseblend.com/diary/14356/fotfs-citizenlink-blog-glsen-is-sexualizing-santa
i do like what one persyn commented on the blog saying that indeed the queer-focused children's tales tend to focus less on sex than heteronormative fairy tales.
also... do they really think that children are going to be going to a fundraiser show? glsen receives millions of dollars from donors, and i know very few children with income disposable enough to give to queer rights non-profits. (although i do remember donating some money to outfront mn at my first kato pride when i was 12 or something, but i'm a badass.) it explicitly states that the show is not intended for children. santa is smoking a joint for crying out loud!
the only negative thing i really have to say about the phb take on fotf's article is the marginalization of christians, as the queer community stereotypically and generally does a good job of doing. the commenters on this blog do not say "most christians" or "some christians" when referring to the christian community, but rather just say "christians", and attempt to speak for every persyn who identifies as christian. even further, they create derogatory terms for christian-identified people. c'mon queers, that's not progression!
reflect and speak, please!
Today is Trans Day of Remembrance. Take a moment out of your day to remember those lost to oppression and hatred in the past. But don't forget to acknowledge and thank the transfolk, gender non-conformers, and/or gender radicals existing and working in your present.
Spend some time today reflecting on your own gender identity. Question yourself, question the system, question the cause for the deaths of the strong transfolk we've lost, question the discrimination we live to see every day. Consider the experiences of the identities you don't embrace as your own.
R.I.P.
Last week, a cross-dressing Houston senior was sent home because his wig violated the school's dress code rule that a boy's hair may not be "longer than the bottom of a regular shirt collar." In October, officials at a high school in Cobb County, Ga., sent home a boy who favored wigs, makeup and skinny jeans. In August, a Mississippi student's senior portrait was barred from her yearbook because she had posed in a tuxedo.Dress code conflicts often reflect a generational divide, with students coming of age in a culture that is more accepting of ambiguity and difference than that of the adults who make the rules.
Other schools are more accepting of unconventional gender expression. In September, a freshman girl at Rincon High School in Tucson who identifies as male was nominated for homecoming prince. Last May, a gay male student at a Los Angeles high school was crowned prom queen.
It is obviously ridiculous to compare the experiences of the trans community, as well as their need to present, with this week's new fad. Of course, I would present the administration with the age old argument "Do you really think these students would withstand the pain, abuse, and torture they receive in regards to their gender expression if it were just a fad?"
In addition, this school's dress code policies (which are incredibly rigid anyway) are so ridiculously gendered that just the wording is discriminatory. When you only allow male students to have hair to the bottom of their collar, with no limitations on female hair (whatever "male" and "female" means), you've created a privilege division between the students. Where is this line drawn? How do students who don't identify with one of these two options get put into a group for these restrictions? Simply based on their biology? Well, that's gender discrimination too, now isn't it?
But in reality, being trans does have quite a bit to do with fashion. (Don't turn red in the face just yet... let me finish.) Gender in all is about fashion. Whether we identify how we were assigned, outside of the binary, or whatever, our views and positions on gender are shown through our appearance. For example, I was assigned female, identify as female, and tend to dress in traditionally masculine ways. I continue to identify with my female identity because I believe that I can be a woman and be whatever I want to be. But when people see me, they understand my views on gender based on how I look. (It's a bit irrelevant to the actual issue, but it's something to chew on.)
To get straight to the point, censorship is a super pain. As we write letters to editors, articles to be posted, and even essays for class, we find ourselves editting ourselves not for grammar or structure or to strengthen or voice, but because the tone comes out in a way that we know will make the audience uncomfortable. I believe liberation is radical goal, and I believe it requires radical means. While professional, academic articles and essays certainly hold their place, there really is nothing better than the raw power of the 'zine scene.
For those of you who may be unfamiliar, 'zines (short of magazines, of course) are DIY collections of art, stories, poetry, rantings, etc. that reflect on a certain issues, or many issues all compiled into one place.
Here's an example of a 'zine I created with my best friend on alternative menstural product options:
The two year anniversary of the 2007 try at ENDA has just recently passed, which means that for two years everyone's hated the HRC. (Well, some of us hated the direction it was going to some time before that, too...)
By "everyone hates the HRC", I mean more specifically that most queer and/or trans advocates have been unhappy with the HRC's position on discluding gender identity in the 2007 draft of ENDA (a decision made by Barney Frank, and supported by HRC), and separating and dividing our community even wider than it already was.
HRC defended themselves as saying:
“Our community can work with the people who want to help us, or we can walk out on them. In a community facing such fierce opposition from the outside, it is disheartening to see blame and anger hurled at the people on our own side. It’s the policy of HRC that the organization will only support an inclusive ENDA. In 2007 House leadership informed us that there were insufficient votes to pass an inclusive bill, so they decided to vote on a sexual orientation only bill. We made a one time exception to our policy in 2007 because we strongly believed that supporting this vote would do more to advance inclusive legislation. We will not support such a strategy again. We look forward to Congress sending President Obama a fully inclusive ENDA for his signature."
What Joe Solmonese, and the rest of the HRC fail to understand is that one time is one time too many. But also that the exclusive ENDA is only a fraction of the queers and allied community's anger towards them.
For me, it's more about this...
Dear Editor,
I am writing in regards to your article in the November 2009 issue entitled “My Boyfriend Turned Out to Be a GIRL!”. Upon reading this article, I was appalled by the inaccurate portrayal of the trans community being presented. We are fortunate in this generation to have media outlets working directly to expose the issues affecting our youth. However, when these media outlets are marginalizing various communities within the youth demographic, they are not properly doing their job.
In this situation, we are presented with a mainstream magazine profiling an incident in such a way that the trans community at large is seen in a negative light. While the author of the article, as well as the ex-girlfriend and main subject of the article, did use proper pronouns when referring to the transperson in question, he was still presented as a terrible criminal (or rather this feels to be the intention with the picture with the blurred out face) and liar. While the latter may be true, it is the implication and assumption behind it causing a negative reaction from myself and my peers.
I have called myself significant other to an FTM transman for nearly a year. While unlike the relationship in this article I was already aware of my boyfriend’s identity when entering the relationship, I still maintain a first-hand experience of life with a transgender significant other. We certainly have our issues, and identity can frequently be a cause for argument. But our relationship is focused on our care for one another, not on the genders we identify with. Granted, keeping your identity a secret from your significant other is never a good idea. However, this doesn’t mean this is a frequent circumstance in a relationship with a trans person, as so suggested here.
Media coverage of trans issues is scarce. When trans issues are presented in the media, it is even more infrequent that it is done so in a positive manner. We are never told about transgender heroes and heroines, and we rarely hear about stories of transfolk overcoming their oppressions. When we hear these stories of deceit and lying in regards to trans people, readers get the wrong impression about the trans community at large. Seventeen Magazine, with the demographic it caters to, holds the responsibility to its readers to provide information that continues to promote the acceptance of all people.
My request to you is to write another article. While this one certainly has its place, I believe many people would feel much more at ease reading a story of a positive experience of a relationship with a trans-identified person. Not only would this be great in response to this month’s article, but as a statement for the entire trans community.
Best regards,
Leah Matz
It is reported that over fifteen people stood as bystanders to the raping of a 15-year-old high school junior outside her school's homecoming dance. As of Monday, 2 men were in police custody, but as many as 5 men are presumed to be guilty of raping, beating, robbing, and dehumanizing her for over 2 hours.
Richmond, VA police officer Lt. Mark Gagan was reported by MSNBC as saying "What makes it even more disturbing is the presence of others. People came by, saw what was happening and failed to report it."
I'm never a fan of the idea of sitting on the sidelines and watching things happen. If we are not a part of the solution, we are a part of the problem. This is as true in this circumstance as any. These witnesses should all be brought into custody and charged with accessory to rape, battery, and robbery. A persyn who is able to sit and watch this happen without notifying law enforcement or searching for help a dangerous member of society.
Thoughts?
This Saturday, the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA held their annual homecoming game against James Madison University. As halftime rolled around, the homecoming court took the field for this year's crowning ceremony. This included William and Mary junior Jessee Vasold, a genderqueer-identified persyn. Vasold was elected homecoming queen.
While it strikes me as a tad strange that a binary-centered competition was an activity of interest to a genderqueer-identified persyn, I would never want to judge someone for doing something they want to do. Doesn't that just perpetuate the cycle of gender control, gender normativity, and oppression? I think so.
So, congratulations, Jessee Vasold. Way to bring some revolution right on down in the mainstream.
This week, The Washington Post profiled the findings of a survey performed by D.C.’s Young Sexual Health Project, saying students were not satisfied with the sex education being received in D.C. schools. Of the students that were surveyed, it seemed most students (predominantly female) were reporting their discomfort communicating their questions or problems to school nurses and health educators in the building, and were not pleased with the brand of condoms being distributed.
(While this is certainly a brief summary of the story, there is much to be said.)
In my analysis of this subject, per usual, the paradoxes are overwhelming my thought process.
On one hand…
My initial reaction is something along the lines of: “Wow, what spoiled brats!” When there are still youth all over the country falling victim to abstinence-only education, with no opportunities or resources revolving around contraception and protection once they, inevitably, begin having sex, it feels just a little snobby to be so picky about who’s giving out the information, or what brand of condoms we are so lucky to have provided in the first place.
Until something is totally and equally accessible by all people, those who have access to whatever this may be are in a privileged demographic. While it’s true that this thing (in this situation, comprehensive sex education) should be a right that is had by all, this is still not the case in our country, and many countries throughout the world. It is also true that many privileged groups tend to ignore, or forget, or remain oblivious to their privilege and the work that was done in order for them to receive it. This may be an example of a group of privileged individuals remaining oblivious, and not realizing just how lucky they are to have that comprehensive sex education in the first place.
On the other hand…
While the students in a sex education classroom are youth, the people in charge of sex education are not. Sex education curriculums, policy, and even condom purchasing are all done by adults, and let’s face it, adults have a tendency to get a little behind on the times. Shouldn’t students have a say in what information and resources they receive in their classroom? Shouldn’t their opinions be heard about something that is ultimately going to be affecting them the most strongly?
Comments from the students surveyed said that the condoms their school was providing were “lame”, and didn’t prove to be as reliable as other brands. Students had experienced these condoms breaking and popping more often than other brands they had used. Well, if several students are reporting similar experiences with this brand, shouldn’t this be acknowledged?
