One of the things I love to do and see as an important part of informing and educating our allies and others about transgender issues is transgender people speaking openly and honestly about our lives if you feel comfortable doing so.Over the course of my 15 year transition I've done numerous print, radio, blog and podcast interviews with GLBT and non GLBT media. I've even been shown on TV twice for non transgender reasons. The people who have conducted them have done so in a courteous, loving and intellectually curious manner that made it a joy to be a part of those situations.
As the leading (and so far only) transgender blogger who focuses on transgender, GLB and other issues from an African-American perspective I get interview requests that if I can work them into my schedule I'm happy to do, especially if it involves POC or African-American media.
But there are limits to that availability. If the publication is openly hostile to African-Americans or transgender people, or is seeking the interview more for sensationalist rather than serious educational reasons, I'm turning it down.Jerry Springer's people actually called me back in 1998 to ask me if I'd come on their show. He had long since slid into treating transgender issues as a joke or a sweeps month ratings boost, so I told them 'hell no and lose my number'.
In the wake of my 'Your Pink Sheets Are Showing' post that criticized the racism in the GLBT community, was posted on Queerty and led to me being viciously attacked by its readers with racist and transphobic comments, its editor Japhy Grant wanted me to do an interview on Queerty with him which I have repeatedly declined. One major reason is because I have not received an apology from him for the attacks from his readers when he posted the Pink Sheets article on his blog. Second, it is my right to do so, especially after Queerty has continued to live up to its perception based on its comment threads that it is a less than friendly place for transgender people. It devolves to hostile for transgender people of color and our allies who express opinions that run counter to the groupthink of the Log Cabin Republican/HRC gays that comprise some of its readership.
But Japhy seems to arrogantly think that he can bully me into doing an interview on his site. You can't bully a Taurus once their minds are made up into doing anything they don't want to do except pay taxes and die.I'm making it clear that I'm not doing a Queerty interview. I just posted a commentary which gives crystal clear evidence of the depth of the transphobia that's endemic with some of the commenters on Queerty.
So why would I subject myself to that again just because Japhy wants an interview and I'm not giving it to him? Calling me names isn't going to make me change that position any faster, and all it's doing is setting my original decision in concrete.
So yes, I love to do interviews-except on Queerty.
