'No person is your friend who demands your silence or denies your right to grow.'
That Alice Walker quote is at the heart of this post. I was stunned to learn from a friend of mine that somebody e-mailed him my little Christmas rewrite of Dr. Seuss. The Grinch that Stole Civil Rights for transpeople is allegedly not happy about it, and supposedly retorted that I was insulting the best friend we had in Congress.
Friend? I'm an intelligent girl, Mr. Chairman. I know the difference. You are NOT a friend, Barney.
We transpeople have numerous enemies gay and straight. You played right into their hands by failing to move forward on a transgender inclusive House version of ENDA. You played politics with mine and other transpeople's lives, caused a split in the GLBT community over a bill that Bush probably isn't going to sign and for what?
Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Anthony Weiner (D-NY), Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) are our friends, Chairman Frank. Unlike you, who berated the transgender community from the House floor and in the press, they have used that same floor speech time and their press opportunities to stand up for us on the Hill.
You have proven yourself by your recent actions in strong arming a non-transgender inclusive ENDA through the House NOT to be. As of now you are part of the cadre of people in this country that want to not only silence transpeople, but deny our right to grow.
I'll probably be on the Hill in the near future to lobby. I'm going to make it a point to stop by your office. I don't want to talk to aides, I want to talk to you. Chairman Frank, I want you to personally tell me, an African-American transperson, WITHOUT inside the Beltway spin, how cutting us out of ENDA speeds up the granting of rights for transgender people. Better yet, why don't you come down to one or both of our community's major conferences, either IFGE in Tucson, AZ in April 2008 or Atlanta's Southern Comfort in September 2008 and explain yourself?
As we tried to tell you, symbolism matters. And the symbolic message you sent to us, the country and the world is that the United States ISN'T a leader on civil rights legislation any more, much less isn't a democratic country. A democratic country is judged on how it protects the least of its citizens, not the most powerful or the privileged. You sent the message courtesy of the House that it's okay to disrespect and cut transpeople out of legislation when the going gets tough.
And unfortunately it didn't take long for that message to resonate with lawmakers around the country. Here in Jefferson County, KY and other jurisdictions in the state we have not had a problem passing laws or policies with BOTH sexual orientation and gender identity until now.
The opponents of a GLBT inclusive bill in Scottsdale, AZ cited your ENDA stunt as justification to strip us out of the bill. Fortunately the council members there had more cojones than you showed on the Hill and rebuffed them. Even the peeps in Montgomery County, MD showed more courage than you did in the ENDA debate and unanimously passed their inclusive rights bill despite shrill opposition. Maybe you should take a ride up I-270, have a chat with Duchy Trachtenberg and find out how it's done.You made an impassioned plea to your House colleagues to consider gay and lesbian kids during the ENDA debate. Too bad you didn't exhibit the same level of compassion when it comes to transgender kids.
Chairman Frank, if you're the friend of the transgender community you claim that you are, prove it to me, transgender people and the world. In addition to showing up at one of our signature conferences, ask your fellow Bay stater Sen. Ted Kennedy to introduce a Senate ENDA in 2008 that includes transgender people. If by some miracle it passes the Senate, amend yours in the House-Senate conference committee to include us.
But I won't hold my breath. That has as much chance of happening as the Miami Dolphins winning the Super Bowl this year.
