Lynnell Stephani Long

Another installment in my ongoing series of articles on transgender and non-transgender women who have qualities that I admire.

Lynnell Stephani Long is a trailblazer in her own right. I first became aware of her during the summer of 1999 when I was part of the activist team putting together NTAC. She was 'ejumacating' us on intersex issues. I traded e-mail with her for a while before we lost contact with each other.

She's a voice for a community that many African-Americans aren't aware exists, the intersex one.

According to ISNA, the Intersex Society of North America, about one in every 1500 children is born with genitalia ambiguous enough to call in a sex differentiation specialist.

Lynnell was one of those kids. She was born in Chicago on June 11, 1963 with ambiguous genitalia. After being surgically altered by doctors she was raised male most of her life. She went through major drama in her life until she saw ISNA's Cheryl Chase on TV in 1997 and discovered she was intersex. She eventually met Cheryl Chase at a 1999 GenderPac Lobby Day (how did I miss meeting both of them?) and began working with the organization by telling her story about growing up Black and intersex.

As any transperson can tell you, being outside the norms in the Black community can be a pain in the ass, and being an intersex child wasn't easy for her. As she wrote in a 2003 BLACKlines article,

"Growing up in an all-Black community and going to an all-Black high school was rough as hell. While a lot of the other boys walked around nude, proud of the size of their penis, I tried my best to hide. Hiding didn’t stop the questions though. Questions like, “Why is your penis so small? Why do you have breasts? What are you, a boy or a girl?”

She also states that African-Americans need to educate themselves on intersex issues. "There isn’t any one thing an organization like ISNA can do to help the Black community, except make sure information is available. I strongly believe people of color need to educate themselves."

"We need to step outside myths and stereotypes. If a child is born with a small penis, that child may be Intersex. If a girl is born with an enlarged clitoris, chances are she is Intersex. There is nothing to be ashamed about. There is no reason to hide the child or try to get that child fixed unless the child needs medical treatment."

She does her part to educate us by writing columns for various magazines, her website, appearing twice on the Montel Williams Show, doing performance art, and telling her story. She's a member of ISNA's Speakers Bureau and has spoken in the Chicago area and across the United States and Canada on ending intersex genital mutilation.

Lynnell's doing her part to let us know that intersex issues aren't just a 'white thang'.

A Slice of African-American Transgender History

An exhibit entitled Carryin' On concluded yesterday at the Warhol Musuem in Pittsburgh, PA that I wish I'd known about sooner.

I was perusing Frank Leon Roberts' blog (don't know as of yet if we're related) and it mentioned a photo exhibit of GLBT themed work from Warhol, African photographer Samuel Fosso and Charles 'Teenie' Harris.

Andy Warhol in 1975 created a series of paintings, prints and collage studies titled Ladies and Gentlemen utilizing a number of New York City drag queens. Warhol sent assistants to the Gilded Grape, a bar on West 45th Street often frequented by Black and Hispanic transpeople to recruit models for the series.

Charles 'Teenie' Harris (1909-1998) was a photographer for the highly influential Pittsburgh Courier, one of the largest African-American newspapers at the time. This particular series of Harris’ work showcased in the just concluded exhibit celebrates Black GLBT life in Pittsburgh’s Hill District from the 1930’s through 1950’s.

During Harris' 40-year career with the Pittsburgh Courier he produced an estimated collection of 80,000 images. He earned the nickname 'One Shot Harris' based on his legendary reputation he gained for his ability to snap the picture and leave, requiring just one take to capture the essence of his subject. This archive represents the largest single collection of photographic images of any Black community in the US. This series along with the entire Harris collection is part of the Carnegie Museum of Arts collection

Scholar Frank Leon Roberts is carrying on the tradition with his photos of the ballroom community that he posts on his blog. If you saw Paris Is Burning and wondered if the community still exists, the answer after perusing his blog is an emphatic yes.

I was aware that the ball houses have spread up and down the East coast, into the Midwest and LA has chapters, but I was shocked to discover after I moved here that Louisville has ball houses. I was dismayed to find out after I moved from my beloved hometown that an active ballroom community has sprung up there and in Dallas.

Chicago had their own legendary Finnie's Ball that started in 1935. It was an eagerly anticipated event on Chicago's South Side that took place until the 80's. The balls were even covered by the Chicago Defender, Jet and Ebony (until 1953) magazines.

The just concluded exhibit helps drive home two points that I've been making for several years now. The African-American GLBT community just didn't spring up out of thin air. We've always been part of the African-American family and we have a history. The ballroom community that Frank documents sprang from the elaborate drag balls that were conducted during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920's.

The other point is that we're here, we've always been part of the African-American family and aren't going away.

We're Going To Beijing!

Team USA won the FIBA Americas Tournament today by mauling Argentina in the gold medal game 118-81. As the champions of the FIBA Americas Zone they have qualified for the Olympics next year. The silver medallist Argentine team also qualified and for a team that was missing the San Antonio Spurs Manu Ginobili they exceeded expectations.

The only upset Team USA suffered was Argentina's (and future Houston Rocket) Luis Scola winning the Molten Tournament MVP trophy. The Puerto Ricans beat the Brazilians in a 111-107 thriller to take the bronze medal.

Team USA got off to a fast start and never looked back. They were up 35-14 after the first quarter and 59-37 at the half. Lebron James finshed with 31 points, Dwight Howard with 20, Carmelo Anthony with 16 and Tayshaun Prince contributed 13 off the bench.

Team USA went unbeaten in this tournament to take the gold medal. They served notice to the rest of the world that USA men's basketball is back. They looked like the number one ranked team in the FIBA world rankings.

The scary part for the rest of the world is that we didn't have ALL of our best players on the floor either. Dwyane Wade was watching from the stands. Kevin Garnett wasn't there. Shaq...you get the drift.

I hope the unselfish team ball, torrid shooting and suffocating defense Team USA displayed in Las Vegas doesn't stay there and we see a replay next summer in Beijing.