I recently came across this remarkable speech by Virginia Prince in a book of transcripts from the first IFGE Coming Together conference. It was delivered on March 7, 1987.
I Get Censored
posted by Dallas
A Never-Before-Told Tale of Intrigue, Enforced Secrecy, and Missing Transgender Archival Material.
How important transgender history is, and how easily it can be misplaced!
History Mystery
posted by Dallas
Photo by Jean Lewis. A missing transgender archive containing a considerable portion of the community’s historical documents has surfaced after having vanished for seven years.
At the recent meeting of The World Professional Association for Transgender Health held in Atlanta in September, sociologist Aaron Devor gave a presentation in which he announced the acquisition of the collection of the Rikki Swin Institute’s extensive holdings by the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada.
Dr. Devor said an official announcement of the new holdings will be made after the first of the year.
In 2000 the newly-formed U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit Rikki Swin Institute purchased personal papers of Virginia Prince, Betty Ann Lind, Ariadne Kane, and Merissa Sherrill Lynn. Virginia Prince (1913-2009) was an activist who started a number of organizations for crossdressers and published the landmark magazine Transvestia, which launched in 196o. Betty Ann Lind 1931-1998) was publisher of the magazine Our Sorority and director of Fantasia. Fair. Ariadne Kane (1944-) founded and was executive director of The Outreach Society and was director of Fantasia Fair for many years. Merissa Sherrill Lynn (ca 1936-) was a founder of Boston’s Tiffany Club, Founding Director of the International Foundation for Gender Education, and the first editor of Transgender Tapestry Journal. The Swin Institute also purchased the historical and archival material of IFGE.
Deceit and Betrayal at IFGE
posted by Dallas
Through mismanagement, and by deceit and betrayal, Denise Leclair has single-handedly dismantled the transgender community’s largest educational resource, turning a once large organization with a conference, a magazine, and a walk-in center into a desk in Washington D.C.
With the Winslow Street Fund bereft of trustees, with a gutted, secretly repurposed organization, and with a compliant board of directors, the Winslow monies are within Leclair’s easy grasp. My fear is she will plunder the fund, if she hasn’t already, using the monies to pay her salary and IFGE’s expenses. If that happens, I’m morally certain the money will never be recovered, for IFGE’s financial status is beyond bleak.
Open Letter to IFGE
posted by Dallas
Open Letter to The International Foundation for Gender Education, Inc.
I am grievously, and with good reason, concerned for the well-being of the Winslow Street Fund. I fear it is being plundered by what remains of the International Foundation for Gender Education.
Last fall at Fantasia Fair two trustees of the Winslow Street Fund came to me—separately—and told me they were concerned about the fund’s well-being. They had no idea how much money—if any—was left in the fund’s bank account. Worse, they had heard rumors IFGE was drawing down the fund.