i went nuclear last year when there was a historic committee hearing on transgender issues and not one African-American transgender person was invited to participate.There was another historic gathering of importance to GLBT people that took place on Monday. It was in the wake of the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots that took place June 28, 1969.
This time the host was none other than the POTUS, and it took place in the building at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue that my ancestors helped construct with their unpaid labor.
So did the white transgender community learn its lesson from last year and make sure in the twelve transgender people that were selected to be there, there was some African-American representation?
Nope.
As usual, the white transgender community was well represented on the transman and transwoman side, and Latino Diego Sanchez was there in his new role as Rep. Barney Frank's chief legislative aide. The NCTE folks were present and we even had one former NTACer in Kathy Padilla there.
But if y'all think I'm not gonna light your asses for making the same dumb ass mistake you made 365 days ago, y'all don't know me very well do you?This was supposed to be a commemoration of Stonewall, and Miss Major, one of the few African-American transpeople left who are Stonewall veterans is still alive and well.
Why wasn't she there? Come to think of it, there were people in the trans community such as Vanessa Edwards Foster and Marti Abernathey who busted their derrieres in swing states like Ohio and Indiana to help get President Obama elected.
Washington DC itself is 61% African-American, which translates to Chocolate City having chocolate flavored transpeople. Where were they?
I also have to ask the question who put the list together this time or had input for it, knowing that you'll shunt the blame to the Obama White House for the 'oversight'?
And what pisses me and many African-American transpeople off even more about this dissing is the bitter irony that we weren't invited to an event that an African-American president we helped to elect called to celebrate an event and a movement we helped jump off.
You know, I and the African-American transgender community are beyond sick and tired of being sick and tired of the frequency of these 'oversights', the weak excuses that freely flow from white transpeople and their gay-lesbian allies trying to justify them, and the empty promises that flow from their lying lips that they'll do a better job next time to fix the problem.
It's obvious you don't want to fix the problem. You want to keep perpetuating the impression that this is a whites only movement.If that's not the case, prove me wrong. But it's hard to not overlook the fact that the two major historical media events involving transpeople in the capital that was built with slave labor have had a glaring lack of African American transgender representation.
The ossifying impression of a whites only trans movement are also not helped by these oversights and trans movement leadership ranks that are as lily white as the Republican Party.
And what infuriates me and many African-American transpeople off even more about this dissing is the bitter irony that we weren't invited to an event that an African-American president we helped elect called to celebrate a historic event and a movement we helped jump off 40 years ago.
I wonder what the African-American president and first lady's thoughts were as they perused a so-called diverse group of transgender people that didn't have anyone of their ethnic background represented?Once again, you vanilla flavored privileged peeps have demonstrated your utter lack of ignorance, respect and regard for your so called African descended transgender 'allies'.
It results once again in a situation in which another historic meeting takes place that has a melanin free transgender contingent.
Will you people ever learn? Obviously not, and neither does it seem you care to either.
Crossposted to The Bilerico Project
