Opportunity to speak up

[serene]

I am a woman who lucked out and got the genitals and stuff to match that fact. That doesn't make me more of a woman than any of my dear friends, loves, family members, and acquaintances who got the wrong parts from the warehouse, and I tend to get *furious* when woman-only space excludes some women based on their genitalia.

I'm quoting charliegrrrl, and there's more under the cut, including an opportunity for you to make yourself heard on a matter of injustice. I plan to write, and I hope lots of you will, too

I'm sorry to bring negativity into your lives, but I've been having an
unfortunate exchange with Amy Larson, who organizes the Chasing Amy
Social Club. The CASC is a social organization for bisexual women. The
Club has been around for several years, but recently has become more
high-profile. It had its own float in Pride this year. And Amy has been
quoted in articles about the bisexual community. As other local bisexual
organizations appear to be waning somewhat, Amy seems to be stepping up
more as a spokesperson for the bi community.

That's why it's troubling that Amy and her group seem determined to cling
to bigoted and exclusionary policies. I wrote to Amy to ask about joining
her group. She replied that the club only lets in transgender women who
have had genital reconstruction surgery. She said the Club's policy is
based on Osento, the women-only spa in the Mission. But in fact, it's the
same policy the Michigan Wymyn's Music Festival has had since the late
1990s.

I wrote Amy a long email back, explaining why I felt this policy was a
mistake and sent the wrong message. In a nutshell:

- It's somewhat insulting to transgender folk (and everyone else!) to
define us entirely according to our genitals - A lot of people can't
afford GRS, or don't want to undergo surgery for medical or personal
reasons - What's between my legs is my own business, and doesn't really
influence my interactions with the rest of the world, except in a few
circumstances - Osento's policy has caused a lot of controversy, and
boycotts, in the women's community, and isn't really a "middle of the
road" approach.

I didn't hear back from Amy for a couple of weeks, so I finally blogged
about this issue. You can read my blog post here:

http://charliegrrrl.livejournal.com/157733.html

Pretty soon after that blog post went up, Amy wrote to me and asked if I
would have coffee with her. As soon as she asked me to coffee, I stopped
blogging or discussing the situation publicly. Amy and I went back and
forth a few times, but never quite managed to meet for coffee. I wrote to
her the other day to ask if she still wanted to have coffee, and she
responded with a long angry email accusing me of trying to "make an
example out of her" instead of having a dialogue. She was upset about my
blog post, even though I'm pretty sure she must have seen it before she
suggested coffee.

Anyway, she's no longer interested in having a dialogue with me about the
Chasing Amy Social Club's anti-trans policies. Which is unfortunate. I'm
really not interested in making an example of anyone. And I'm not
actually interested in joining her club at this point.

But I would like her to post, on the club's website, what its policies on
transgender people are. Ideally, I would like her to post something on
her site saying that "all self-identified women" are free to join her
club. Or words to that effect. If she does that, I'll never bother her
again. (Because she screens potential members by phone, she can actually
exclude whoever she wants. But she shouldn't be able to exclude people
according to their genitalia.)

What you can do to help:

- spread the word amongst your friends and comrades - write to Amy
[amy@...] and let her know what you think - blog about this issue and
post on email lists. The more public discussion, the better.

Honestly, I've been a bi activist for a long time -- much longer than
I've identified as transgender -- but things like this make me want to
ditch the bi community altogether. But if Amy agrees to change this
policy, it'll make me feel a lot more welcome in the community as a
whole. Thanks for reading this whole long email!

Best regards, Charlie Jane Anders

Comments

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

i... argh.

i agree that it's stupid to exclude women based on their genitalia, and that the casc policy is stupid just based on that.

however, charlie seems to be trying to insinuate that the casc policy is actually based on michigan's policy, for one thing. if amy says it's based on osento's policy (whether or not it's a middle of the road policy!), then i say we believe her. just like i believe charlie when she says she's a girl.

also, it seems totally plausible that amy did not see that blog post before asking charlie to coffee. i don't read all of my *friends* blog posts in a timely fashion, much less those of people i'm currently having politically based arguments with.

i feel here kind of like i'm being asked to email george bush and tell him that i disagree with his policies in iraq because he eats kittens. yes, bad policies that i disagree with. no, not seeing any evidence of kitten eating.

(yes, i've spent too much time on usenet. thanks. ;)

[abostick59.livejournal.com]

however, charlie seems to be trying to insinuate that the casc policy is actually based on michigan's policy, for one thing. if amy says it's based on osento's policy (whether or not it's a middle of the road policy!), then i say we believe her. just like i believe charlie when she says she's a girl.

I don't read that insinuation at all. It identifies the policy as being "the same as," not "derived from." (And the history of Osento's policy bears looking into.)

It's more like the distinction between eating kittens and buying gourmet freerange Feline Veal from a local organic meat vendor. The pedigree and reputation of the vendor does not change the essential nature of the product.

[ptigris.livejournal.com]

I love CG. Tell her thanks for speaking up!

[charliegrrrl.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[bafleyanne.livejournal.com]

Unless I'm wrong, I actually think the Michigan policy is even *more* exclusive than that. They say only "womyn born womyn who currently identify as womyn" can attend, which would seem to leave out both FtM and MtF transsexuals. However, unofficially I hear that FtM transfolk are tacitly allowed on the Land, even those who ask to be referred to with male pronouns, whereas MtF are not at all.

[charliegrrrl.livejournal.com]

Actually, in one of Michfest's attempts at meeting people half way, they changed the official policy in 1999 or 2000. They used to allow only "womyn born womyn," but starting seven years ago they said the new policy was "no penises on the land." In other words, anyone who didn't have a penis could come in. (Including transmen, I'm guessing.)