Home » AEGIS » AEGIS Internet News, May 1997

AEGIS Internet News, May 1997

Posted on May 30, 2013 in AEGIS, AEGIS Online News, Editing & Layout, Gender

In May, 1995 when I was Executive Director of the nonprofit American Educational Gender Information Service, I compiled and transmitted what I believe was the first transgender-specific online news feed. It was called AEGIS Online News. The News initially went out to several hundred AEGIS members and other subscribers as a plain text file over the fledgling internet.

In those days there wasn’t much news to repost. Consequently, the News was initially distributed every other month; it took that long to compile enough material to create a newsletter. Within two years, however, there was almost too much news to handle.

I posted material as I came across it, both from primary sources and from other newsfeeds. Rex Wocker’s LGBT newslist was a valuable resource. Soon, subscribers were sending me material.

In November I moved the News to a majordomo automated list which kept track of subscribers; before that I handled subscriptions, unsubscriptions, and address changes manually and sent out the news via blind carbon copy. The name was changed to AEGIS Internet News and the introductory material about AEGIS was removed because it was available to readers on demand from the server. The list, initially hosted by my ISP (Mindspring) was eventually moved to a server hosted by Kymberleigh Richards, the publisher of the magazine Cross-Talk. This enabled me to send e-mails to the server as I came across news items, yet distribute them as a digest once per day– sometimes twice or three times daily if there was a lot of news. This was easier on both me and the readers, who had been receiving up to eight e-mails a day.

I stopped publishing AEGIS Internet News in mid-1998.

On January 1, 2000 AEGIS was repurposed as Gender Education & Advocacy. Under the supervision of the late Penni Ashe Matz, news went out as Gender Advocacy Internet News.

Many posts have been lost, but we have preserved several hundred. Here are issues of AEGIS Internet News from May, 1997:

1997, 1 May

Posted about 1 May, 1997

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AEGIS-NEWS DIGEST

A service of the American Educational Gender Information Service, Inc.

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>From listserv@xconn.com Thu 1 May 1997 04:01:00 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E08CL; Thu 1 May 1997 04:01:00 From: OnQGwen@aol.com Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: Charges Against Janet Aiello Thrown Out! Date: Thu, 1 May 1997 04:01:00 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.03 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9705010401.E08CL@xconn.com>

A set of 45 departmental charges against transsexual Hoboken police leutenant Janet Aiello have been thrown out by a Superior Court judge.

During in an escalating disagreement over the date and conditions of her return to work in 1995, and after Janet took eight months off and legally changed her gender, she was suspended for six days for ignoring orders from the chief and for neglect of duty.

Superior Court Judge Maurice J. Gallipoli, however, ruled that what the city called “orders” were more like “requests,” and that in any case Lieutenant Aiello’s failure to answer these requests was reasonable considering the circumstances surrounding her return.

David Corrigan, a Hoboken city attorney, has indicated that Hoboken plans to appeal the ruling.

Lieutenant Aiello, a 24-year veteran, did come back to work in 1995, but has been on sick leave since October. Her plight was nationally broadcast on ABC’s 20/20 and within numerous tabloids.

**As posted in the Transgender Community Forum **On America Online (Keyword: TCF) **TCF Info: http://members.aol.com/onqgwen

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>From listserv@xconn.com Thu 1 May 1997 07:50:39 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E66fc; Thu 1 May 1997 07:50:39 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: Knutsford, England Date: Thu, 1 May 1997 07:50:39 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.03 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9705010750.E66fc@xconn.com>

Forwarded message: From: AOLNewsProfiles@aol.net Date: 97-04-29 11:48:45 EDT

<HTML><PRE><I>.c The Associated Press</I></PRE></HTML>

By MAUREEN JOHNSON KNUTSFORD, England (AP) – In this 13th-century market town, campaigning for Thursday’s national elections is nearing a climax, with a ruling party legislator accused of corruption battling a former war correspondent for the local parliamentary seat. But with a cast of spoof candidates that includes a transvestite registered as Miss Moneypenny’s Glamorous One Party, there’s only one experienced politician left in the race. Instead, the issue of corruption is dominating the fight, which pits Neil Hamilton, a Conservative Party legislator under investigation, against Martin Bell, a veteran BBC reporter running on an anti-sleaze platform. At stake is Tatton, a rich and beautiful district centered around Knutsford, 200 miles northwest of London, and one of the most staunchly Conservative districts in Britain. After local Conservative activists voted to keep Hamilton as the candidate, the two other major political parties, Labor and the Liberal Democrats, withdrew to give Bell a better chance at victory. No one really knows who’s ahead or whether Tatton will be among the Conservative losses which, opinion polls indicate, will put a Labor government in power. Bell, known nationally for his dispatches under fire from Bosnia, is being helped by an enthusiastic bunch of supporters, including his 23-year-old daughter, Melissa, and his cameraman from a dozen hot spots. They are steering clear of politics. Notes for Bell’s staff on handling questions are free of statistics. “What does Martin Bell know about politics?” is the first question. Answer: “Martin … has met with many world leaders, ministers, church leaders and ordinary people.” “We’ve got people all fired up here. For the first time thousands of people are going to vote anti-Conservative,” said Bell, 58, before setting out Monday for a morning of campaigning. Hamilton, for his part, says a parliamentary inquiry will clear him of the most serious charge, that he took money in return for raising issues in Parliament. His critics say he took several thousand dollars stuffed into brown envelopes from Mohamed Al Fayed, owner of Harrods department store. Hamilton supported Al Fayed in Parliament during a furor about ownership of the famed retail house in the 1980s. Hamilton, 48, acknowledges accepting free stays at Al Fayed’s Ritz Hotel in Paris, among other favors, and also not declaring that he’d received a fee from a lobbyist. He says, however, that he is innocent of corruption. “That was an innocent misunderstanding of the rules,” Hamilton, a Cambridge-educated tax consultant, told doubters in Knutsford’s Lord Eldon pub. John Finn, a plumber, looked unconvinced. “But you must have done something,” Finn said. A pause, and Finn added, “Well, I suppose all jobs have perks.” In Wilmslow, a few miles away, Bell and his burly cameraman, Nigel Bateson, arrived with a four-car convoy. A megaphone blared: “Trust, honesty and integrity. Vote Bell.” Things seemed to go well. People crossed the road to shake Bell’s hand, a young woman asked for Bell posters. In her newspaper and candy shop, Joy Austin, a lifelong Conservative, pledged support. “Mr. Hamilton should have stood down. You just don’t do this sort of thing,” she said. But Bell faces a powerful opponent. Hamilton took 55 percent of the vote in 1992 national elections, winning by nearly 16,000 votes. Hamilton, one of 10 Conservative legislators under investigation, sounds confident of victory, but acknowledges he probably won’t get as many votes this year. Could Tatton, a Tory jewel, be decided by a few hundred votes? Hamilton laughed. “Only if all the transvestites who would normally vote for me vote for Miss Moneypenny.” AP-NY-04-29-97 0315EDT

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1997, 2 May

Posted about 2 May, 1997

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AEGIS-NEWS DIGEST

A service of the American Educational Gender Information Service, Inc.

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>From listserv@xconn.com Thu 1 May 1997 00:28:14 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E30fu; Thu 1 May 1997 00:28:14 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: NY Assemblyman Dick Gottfried Addresses TG Conference Date: Thu, 1 May 1997 00:28:13 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.03 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9705010028.E30fu@xconn.com>

Assemblyman Dick Gottfried 822 Legislative Office Bldg. Albany, NY 12248 518-455-4941

For Immediate Release Friday, April 25, 1997

Contact: Wendi Paster 212-312-1492

GOTTFRIED ADDRESSES TRANSGENDER CONFERENCE

Assembly Health Committee Chair Richard Gottfried (D-Manhattan) was the opening speaker at the Third Annual Health Care Forum this morning. The two-day event is being held at the Lesbian and Gay Community Service Center, 208 West 13th Street, Manhattan.

Rosalyne Blumenstein, Director of the Center’s Gender Identity Project, which sponsors the event, introduced Mr. Gottfried, saying he was the first elected official to address a formal event of the transgender community.

Mr. Gottfried discussed what he cited as “dangerous trends” in health care, including cutbacks and corporatization of health care, as well as positive developments including growing diversity and sensitivity among health care practitioners. He also discussed the problem of health insurance refusing to cover procedures important to many in the transgender community, including sex change surgery and hormone therapy.

Mr. Gottfried said it was important for the transgender community to strengthen itself and raise the conscioiusness of its members, as well as working with the community, media and public officials to change social attitudes and achieve “the respect that you, like all people, ought to have.”

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MEDIA ADVISORY – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Riki Anne Wilchins (212) 645-1753, Riki@Pipeline.COM InYourFace! April GenderNews Roundup ===================

. Results of 1st National Survey on TransViolence Published – 48% of Respondents Report Assault . Judge Dismisses Charges Against Transexual Police Officer . Human Rights Court Rules Against TransParent . Oregon Transexuals’ Rights Threatened . Saturday Night Live Savages Transexual Again . ENDA Resolution Passed by GenderPAC Board . On the Lighter Side: Ellen Degeneres Fails to Come Out as Transgendered

CONTACT: Emilia Lombardi National Research Coordinator Cherred@en.com

RESULTS OF FIRST NATIONAL SURVEY OF TRANSVIOLENCE ANNOUNCED ================================

48% of Respondents Report Assault ———————————-

[New York, NY: 29 Apr 97) RESULTS OF THE 1st National Survey on TransViolence have been published. GenderPAC — with support from the Gay & Lesbian Anti-Violence Project of NYC — announced that 48% of respondents reported having been victims of some kind of assault (including assault with weapon, assault without a weapon, sexual assault, and rape).

In addition, the survey reports that 60% reported being a victim of harassment or violence, with 95% of the worst incidents involving at least 2-3 perpetrators.

The study took a year to distribute and compile. It is believed to be the only one of its kind, and it’s population of 402 respondents is one of the largest trans- identified samples on record.

The survey presents a sobering picture of the abuse transpeople face. In part, the results show:

Verbal Harassment 78% Sexual Harassment 23% Assault (all kinds) 48% Assault w/o weapon 19% Sexual Assault/Rape 18% Assault w/weapon 11% Attempted Assault 9%

As activists gather in Washington, DC for the 2nd National Gender Lobby Day on May 5, scores of the study are being hurriedly printed for wide distribution to Congressional offices. Transviolence is expected to be a priority for many lobbyists as they make their rounds on Capitol Hill.

To receive a complete copy of the survey results (@55 pg.), enclose $5 for shipping and handling to GenderPAC, Att: Wilchins, 274 West 11th St.#30 NY, NY 10014

### JUDGE DISMISSES CHARGES AGAINST TRANSEXUAL POLICE OFFICER ================================

[Hoboken, NJ: 27 Apr 97] THE NY TIMES reports that a Superior Court Judge has thrown out 45 departmental charges against transexual Hoboken Police Lieutenant Janet Aiello. Lt. Aiello, a decorated veteran who had been on the captaincy promotion list, had been suspended for 6 days for ignoring orders from the chief and for neglect of duty in an escalating disagreement over the date and conditions of her return to work in 1995 after she took 8 months off and legally changed her gender.

Judge Maurice Gallipoli ruled that what the city called orders were more like requests, and that in any case Lt. Aiello’s failure to answer them was not unreasonable considering the difficult circumstances surrounding her return.

Lt. Aiello’s case drew national attention after a New York tabloid put her picture on it’s front-page. She went on to become a founding member of TOPS (Transgender Officers Protect & Serve), a national support group for transgender peace officers. Lt. Aiello has allegedly been the target of an escalating campaign of harassment and provocation by Police Department brass who are seeking to force her resignation, retirement, or removal.

According to City Attorney David Corrigan, Hoboken plans to appeal the ruling.

### HUMAN RIGHTS COURT RULES AGAINST TRANS-PARENT ============================================

[New York, NY: 23 Apr 97] THE EUROPEAN Court of Human Rights ruled against FTM Stephen Whittle’s and his partner’s application to have Stephen legally recognized in the UK as the father of their donor inseminated children. The decision affirms the UK’s refusal to register Stephen as the father on official birth certificates thus denying him any parental rights. Stephen, registered as a female at birth, underwent SRS in the 70’s and has lived as a man since 1975.

Press coverage of the case has largely been supportive of the couple. They said in a joint statement, “We may not have won the battle, but we have certainly won the battle for hearts and minds. If our publicity has made life better for one other transexual, it will have been worth it.”

The court did hold that there was family life between the applicants who have been a couple for 18 years, but that, as there is no consensus in Europe yet as to whether non- biological fathers should be allowed parental rights, nation states must be afforded a wide margin in setting rules in this area.

###

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE SAVAGES TRANSEXUAL ONCE AGAIN ===========================

[New York, NY: 30 Apr 97] ONLY MONTHS after his infamous “everyone in this story deserved to die” comment on the Brandon Teena murder trial verdicts, Saturday Night Live’s Norm MacDonald, commenting in a recent program’s news update segment on transexual Sharon Boyd’s child custody case, said, “Hmmm…I wonder who’s going to win this one, the mother of the 2 children, or the guy who had his penis twisted into a fake vagina.”

GenderPAC responded with a letter to NBC’s Standards and Practices office calling SNL and Mr. MacDonald to task for the tasteless and transphobic comments, as they did with Mr. MacDonald’s Brandon Teena comment. After the previous incident, NBC made assurances that Mr. MacDonald and SNL had been sensitized concerning Mr. MacDonald’s hate speech.

The GenderPAC letter, dated April 30 and co- signed by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD-SF), states in part “As we pointed out in our first round over Brandon Teena, there have been no less than 5 transgender murders in the last 2 years. Comments which continue to stigmatize, diminish, and trivialize us only add to the perception that transpeople are disposable freaks. SNL’s comments fuel this perception, and Mr. MacDonald seems to have fixated on us as a minority to ridicule, humiliate, and discard. But once his bad `jokes’ are gone, we have to deal with the aftermath as we struggle to keep our families and our civil rights.”

In an ironic note, Mr. MacDonald’s comment was believed to be based on a story on Ms. Boyd placed by GenderPAC Public Relations. The piece originally ran in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, but was quickly picked up by the AP wire service and went out across the country.

Those wishing to express their concern over the comments can call Mr. Andrew Brewer, NBC Standards & Practices, (212) 664-4458, or Mr. Dan Ferguson, SNL Public Relations (212) 664-3733.

### CONTACT: Candice Helen Brown CedarStar@aol.com

OREGON TRANSEXUALS’ RIGHTS THREATENED =====================================

[Salem, OR: 26 Apr 97] MEMBERS OF Oregon’s transexual community spoke at a State Senate Committee hearing against a proposed bill in the Oregon Legislature (SB 44-1) that would exclude transexualism from protection as a medically recognized condition or one perceived to be a disability. Oregon law is presently based on the Federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 which includes transexualism as a protected disability.

Another proposed bill (SB482) threatens employment protections for transexuals that were won last year for the first time under the state’s disability protection laws. Wording for the proposed legislation lumps transexualism together with pedophilia, voyeurism, kleptomania, and pyromania as conditions excluded from disabilities that are protected.

Said activist Candice Hellen Brown, “This bill must be killed. We need as many people sympathetic to the plight of transexual persons to voice their concerns to the Senate Committee considering this bill.”

### CONTACT: Nancy Nangeroni NRN@GenderTalk.com

MENACE DEMONSTRATOR ENCOUNTERS KILLER =====================================

[Boston, MA: 29 Apr 97] AS THE Transexual Menace held a mermorial vigil at the Middlesex County Courthouse murder trial of Chanelle Picket, activist Nancy Nangeroni suddenly found herself face-to-face with admitted killer William Palmer, reading one of their fliers. The flier branded Mr. Palmer a liar, and went on to call for an end to gender-based hate crimes.

As she approached and asked what he thought of the flier, Ms. Nangeroni — who was clearly wearing a Transexual Menace t-shirt — and Mr. Palmer exchanged stares. “Who are you?” he demanded. She introduced herself, after which he stalked back into the courtroom.

Mr. Palmer has already admitted to killing Ms. Pickett, but claims that his distress upon discovering her transgender status was to blame. The prosecution responded by presenting witnesses who testified that Mr. Palmer was a frequent customer at Boston-area transgender bars, and had a history of seeking out and dating pre-operative transexual women.

At press time, the jury had just gone out for deliberations, and a verdict was expected momentarily.

### CONTACT: Riki Anne Wilchins (212) 645-1753, Riki@Pipeline.COM

ENDA RESOLUTION PASSED BY GENDERPAC BOARD =========================================

[New York, NY: 29 Apr 97] THE GENDERPAC Board passed a resolution which continues support for employment protection based on gender, but one which stops well short of encouraging activists to create opposition to the current ENDA bill. In the last session of Congress, for the first time EDNA garnered 49 Senators’ votes, just one shy of Senatorial passage.

The resolution read, “GenderPAC continues to view employment protection for gender-variant people as a critical goal. We continue to support trans-inclusion in the context of ENDA, whether in the bill itself or through an amendment strategy. To achieve this, a sustained and vigorous effort of education and visibility is necessary. While we work to gain Congressional support, at the same time, we believe it would be improper to try to damage the chances for passage of the existing ENDA bill, either by asking sponsors to vote against it or to withhold their support.”

###

ELLEN DEGENERES DOES NOT COME OUT AS TRANSGENDER ================================================

[New York, NY: 30 Apr 97] IN A bitter disappointment, Ellen Degeneres came out as lesbian this evening on national television, but failed to come out as transgendered as well. Scores of copies of STONE BUTCH BLUES and boxloads Transexual Menace t-shirts delivered the studio door prior just to air-time seemed to have no effect whatsoever on the popular star or her writers.

At press time, IYF editors were still sobbing hysterically and unable to write anything more than this. Still waiting in the wings: the Dennis Rodman Show. Online Editor: Clare Howell clareq@idt.net

(c) 1996 InYourFace An online, news-only service for gender activism. When re-posting, please credit InYourFace. ———————————————————————— NOTE: The AEGISNWS list is a one-way newsfeed. You may not post to it. Your comments and news items should be sent to <aegis@gender.org>. For assistance with subscribing and unsubscribing, send the message HELP to <listserv@xconn.com>. ———————————————————————— You are invited to visit CROSS CONNECTION, host of the AEGISNWS list. Use your modem to call (818) 994-8887 (all lines 14.4 capable) for a free account, and please consider a paid upgrade for enhanced access. Your support helps Cross Connection provide services to the transgender community such as the AEGISNWS list.

1997, 6 May

Posted about 6 May, 1997

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AEGIS-NEWS DIGEST

A service of the American Educational Gender Information Service, Inc.

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>From listserv@xconn.com Tue 6 May 1997 17:44:51 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E26LN; Tue 6 May 1997 17:44:51 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: ACTIVISTS ON CAPITOL HILL FOR 2nd NATIONAL GENDER LOBBY DAY Date: Tue, 6 May 1997 17:44:51 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.03 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9705061744.E26LN@xconn.com>

In a message dated 5/1/97 1:29:31 PM, Riki Wilchens wrote:

MEDIA ADVISORY – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACTS: Riki Wilchins (212) 645-1753 (GENDERPAC) Betsy Gressler (202) 332-6438 (NGLTF) Stephanie Berger (510) 601-1806 (BiNet USA) Shannon Minter (415)392-6257 (NCLR) Jean Marie Stine (617) 894-8340 (IFGE) Cheryl Chase (415) 552-6448 (ISNA) Susan Right (718) 383-3318 (NCSF)

ACTIVISTS ON CAPITOL HILL FOR 2nd NATIONAL GENDER LOBBY DAY ==============================

Endorsed by Broad Coalition of Transgender, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transexual, & Sexual Rights Groups —————————————————–

[Washington, DC – May 5th, 1997]

THE SECOND National Gender Lobby Day has been called for May 5th in Washington, DC, as scores of transgender, bisexual, gay, intersex, lesbian, and sexual rights activists from across the US converge for 2 days of Congressional advocacy and education.

Sponsored by the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition or GenderPAC, the event has been endorsed by a broad spectrum of national groups, including the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), BiNet USA, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), the Intersex Society of North America (ISNA), the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF), and the International Foundation for Gender Education (IFGE).

GenderPAC’s first National Gender Lobbying Day in October, 1995 drew over 100 activists to Capitol Hill for advocacy on a range of issues connected to discrimination based on sexual identity, orientation, or desire.

A Murder Trial and Hate Crimes —————————— With a verdict expected soon in the Chelsea, MA jury trial for murdered transgender woman Chanell Pickett — one of many trans-murders in the past 2 years — lobbyists are expected to focus heavily on gender-based hate crimes, including gay-bashing and rape. Ms. Pickett was strangled to death on November 20, 1995, by Mr. William C. Palmer. Palmer admitted to the killing, but claimed his distress associated with discovering Ms. Pickett’s transgender status was to blame. Included among transgender murders in recent years have been Debbie Forte (MA), Christian Paige (IL), and Brandon Teena (NB)

With help from the Gay & Lesbian Anti-Violence Project, GenderPAC has just completed its first National Study on TransViolence, and is expected to distribute it widely to Congressional offices. Also high on activists’ agenda are: the need for employment protection for gender expression as well as sexual orientation; the continued cutting of intersex infants’ genitals in US hospitals for cosmetic and social reasons (Intersex Genital Mutilation or IGM); and improved access to health care for those who are differently-gender, HIV+, or gay.

Press Conference information: —————————–

WHERE: SouthEast side of the Capitol Building

WHEN : Monday, May 5th, 9:00 am

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1997, 12 May

Posted about 12 May, 1997

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AEGIS-NEWS DIGEST

A service of the American Educational Gender Information Service, Inc.

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>From listserv@xconn.com Mon 12 May 1997 20:01:50 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E98wz; Mon 12 May 1997 20:01:50 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: Not Guilty in MA Tranny Death Date: Mon, 12 May 1997 20:01:49 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.03 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9705122001.E98wz@xconn.com>

In a message dated 5/6/97 7:26:29 AM, Emily wrote:

Monday May 5th 9:49 AM PDT

Not Guilty in MA Tranny Death

By NewsPlanet Staff

SUMMARY: Tranny activists are outraged at the lesser charge conviction of a Massachusetts man tried in the death of Chanelle Pickett, despite evidence that she had been strangled for 8 minutes.

After two days of deliberation, a Cambridge, Massachusetts jury ruled May 2 that William Palmer was guilty only of assault and battery and not guilty of voluntary manslaughter, second degree murder or first degree murder in the November 1995 death of male-to-female pre-operative transsexual Roman “Chanelle” Pickett. Palmer will be sentenced on May 15 to not more than 2-1/2 years in prison. The medical examiner had testified that Pickett had been strangled for at least eight minutes before dying in Palmer’s home.

Local tranny activists were outraged. Nancy Nangeroni of Transsexual Menace told the media, “In this case, it looks very much like money and homophobia bought the verdict. I mean, what does it take? Chanelle died by strangulation in the room of this guy, but because he had a fancy lawyer, he got off. It speaks to the fact that being transsexual means being less of a person. Rich white boy kills poor black transsexual girl, and the white boy gets a slap on the wrist.”

Chanelle’s twin Gabriel “Gabrielle” Pickett, also a pre-operative male-to-female transsexual, said, “I have lost all faith in the system and I think the judge and jury ought to be ashamed of themselves. This sends a message to anyone who dates a transsexual that they can beat the person up and it’s OK. You can say you didn’t know, you can say drugs were involved, you can make up any excuse and get away with it.”

Palmer’s defense had indeed included ignorance of Chanelle’s intact male genitalia, had blamed her death on a cocaine reaction rather than such violence as Palmer admitted against her, and had claimed that he was acting in self-defense against a sudden bout of cocaine psychosis on Chanelle’s part. Gabrielle, who may have been the last person other than Palmer to see Chanelle alive, was one of several witnesses to testify that Palmer frequently associated with trannys and had even remarked that Chanelle was “the best” he’d ever seen. The medical examiner testified that only a low level of cocaine was found in Chanelle’s body, far from enough to kill her. While Palmer testified that he had given Chanelle “a quick jab” to the jaw to stop her biting his finger, and then sat on her for 10 minutes until she calmed down, Gabrielle said of having viewed the body that, “her face was so badly beaten, it looked like she had been beaten by more than one person.”

GenderPAC, the U.S. national coalition of tranny organizations, is aware of 5 murders of transgendered people over the last 2 years, and today is holding a national lobby day in Washington, DC with trans-phobic violence a leading issue.

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>From listserv@xconn.com Mon 12 May 1997 20:01:50 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E96vI; Mon 12 May 1997 20:01:50 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: WOCKNER/INT’L NEWS #156 Date: Mon, 12 May 1997 20:01:50 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.03 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9705122001.E96vI@xconn.com>

============================================= = INTERNATIONAL NEWS #156 – Apr 23, 1997 = = (c) Rex Wockner = =============================================

–> DRAG QUEENS FLOOD THAI TV

Thai television is drowning in drag queens, reported the Bangkok Post.

“Tune into any daytime television channel these days, and before long you may well see a character who is male, but whose behavior is a wild parody of female mannerisms: exaggerated ladylike daintiness, drag-queen hijinx, campy verbal acrobatics — they’re all in the repertoire,” the Post said.

“No woman could hope to compete with their version of over-the- top super-femininity. And evidently audiences love it. Male cross-dressers are now familiar figures, guaranteed to bring an instant laugh in TV comedies, dramas, talk and game shows, commercials, and even films.”

The article, which filled an entire page of the newspaper, went on to say: “The performers who play ‘katoey’ roles frequently present themselves as drag queens who rant non-stop, firing off sarcastic abuse in all directions. Some scream and yell their tirades, others eye their male prey in a raunchy manner that leaves little to the imagination.”

The Post sees that as problematic.

“With homosexuals being portrayed as shrieking, mincing creatures night after night on the TV screen, who can blame the public for seeing them as weird misfits who have no place in a serious society?” the authors commented.

–> TRANSVESTITE IMPREGNATES FELLOW PRISONER

A female prisoner in western Turkey was discovered to be a man after he got a fellow inmate pregnant, Agence France Presse reported last week.

Ugur Kilic, sentenced to 15 years for murder, was having sex regularly with five fellow inmates, officials discovered.

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>From listserv@xconn.com Mon 12 May 1997 20:01:50 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E25Ox; Mon 12 May 1997 20:01:50 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: WOCKNER/INT’L NEWS #155 Date: Mon, 12 May 1997 20:01:50 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.03 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9705122001.E25Ox@xconn.com>

Reposted with permission.

— Dallas

============================================= = INTERNATIONAL NEWS #155 – Apr 16, 1997 = = (c) Rex Wockner = =============================================

>> BRAZIL: DRAG QUEENS ARE OK, GAYS AREN’T {acute accent on second A in ATOBA}

It’s OK to be a drag queen in Brazil but not a masculine gay man, the Chicago Tribune reported April 4.

“Brazil is a very tolerant country but also a very hypocritical one,” said Veriano Terto Jr., project coordinator for the Brazilian Interdisciplinary AIDS Association. “Homosexuality here is something exotic, and it’s tolerated if it remains that. It’s when an average-looking guy who pays taxes falls in love with another average guy that there’s a problem.”

“It’s a paradox,” said Paulo Fernandes, president of the Rio de Janeiro gay group ATOBA. “The same people who clap during Carnival for the [flamboyant] gays on the floats, throw rocks the rest of the year.”

Homophobic bisexuals are a big part of the problem, ATOBA said. The group estimates that over half of Brazilian men have had sex with other men.

“Married bisexuals don’t see themselves as gay,” said ATOBA Vice President Raimundo Pereira. “They’ll harass gay guys, even guys they’ve had sex with, just so they aren’t identified. A lot of the killers are people who have slept with their victims.”

Brazil is believed to have one of the highest anti-gay murder rates in the world. A minimum of 126 gays, lesbians and transvestites were murdered in 1996 because of their sexuality, according to data collected by Grupo Gay da Bahia — a 12 percent increase over 1995.

At the same time, Brazil is the most pro-gay country in Latin America politically. Seventy-four cities ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and a wide-ranging gay-partnership measure recently passed a Congressional committee and moved to the full Senate and Chamber of Deputies.

The bill grants gay couples spousal rights in the areas of property, inheritance, pensions, welfare, health benefits, loans, taxation and immigration. Adoption rights are withheld.

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>From listserv@xconn.com Mon 12 May 1997 20:01:50 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E11yo; Mon 12 May 1997 20:01:50 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: TS Visibility at the White House Date: Mon, 12 May 1997 20:01:50 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.03 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9705122001.E11yo@xconn.com>

>From The Advocate, 13 May, 1997

Gender is not an issue

Chalk one up for transsexual visibility at the White House. When Jewelia Margueritta Cameroon learned in March that she was part of a 49-member team at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to receive a Hammer award from Vice President Al Gore’s National Performance Review Board for improving government efficiency, she composed an unusual thank-you letter to the vice president. “Your prestigious award is particularly important to me because it affirms that I, a transgendered (transsexual) women, am regarded by you as a valuable person,” wrote Cameroon, who was known as Richard Green while earning honors at OSHA. Although Cameroon wanted to meet Gore personally, White House staff begged off, reasoning that her gender activism was irrelevant to her job performance. But the OSHA staffer is still thrilled. “It is important,” she wrote, “for others to see we are capable persons who can make valuable contributions.”

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>From listserv@xconn.com Mon 12 May 1997 20:01:51 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E58cP; Mon 12 May 1997 20:01:51 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: CONGRESSMEMBERS SPEAK OUT AT GENDER LOBBYING DAY Date: Mon, 12 May 1997 20:01:50 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.03 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9705122001.E58cP@xconn.com>

MEDIA ADVISORY – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Riki Anne Wilchins (212) 645-1753, Riki@Pipeline.COM

. CONGRESSMEMBERS SPEAK OUT ON TRANSVIOLENCE AT NATIONAL GENDER LOBBY DAY

. HERMAPHRODITES WITH ATTITUDE AND TRANSEXUAL MENACE PROTEST INTERSEX GENITAL MUTILATION

. INTERSEX SOCIETY OF NORTH AMERICA LOBBIES US CONGRESS

. On the lighter side… EDDIE MURPHY PASSES GO, GETS INTERVIEW. TRANS-PROSTITUTE GOES DIRECTLY TO JAIL

CONGRESSMEMBERS SPEAK OUT ON TRANSVIOLENCE AT NATIONAL GENDER LOBBY DAY ========================================

[Washington, D.C.: 6 May 97] FOR THE first time, members of Congress have gone on record about transviolence as 60 members of the transgender, intersex, lesbian, gay, and bisexual communities converged on Capitol Hill today for GenderPAC’s 2nd National Gender Lobby Day. At present, 3 members of Congress have spoken out about violence against transpeople with the possibility of half a dozen more making statements in the next week.

Said GenderPAC Exec. Dir. Riki Anne Wilchins, “This marks the first time we’ve actually been able to get any congressmember to speak publically on a trans-related issue. But now that we’re `on the map,’ all kinds of things become possible. We owe a real debt to the Human Rights Campaign and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force for supporting our efforts to gain this breakthrough.”

GenderPAC plans to release a complete list of signatories, once all signers have okayed a public statement.

Unlike the 1st Lobby Day, this year activists concentrated their efforts on gender-violence. The event coincided with a number of happenings that highlight the urgency of speaking out on violence against gender-variant people:

. The jury verdict in the strangulation of transgender woman Chanelle Pickett, in which admitted assailant William Palmer was found innocent of murder and convicted only on assault and battery.

. The publication of GenderPAC’s first National Study on Transviolence, the largest study of its kind, which found that over 60% of respondents had survived assault of some kind (with a weapon, without a weapon, or sexual assualt).

. The prestigious Leadership Council on Civil Rights (LCCR)’s annual report, which, for the first time, specifically mentioned transviolence: “…Trans-gendered people have been assaulted, raped, or murdered; these crimes should be included in the Hate Crimes Statistics Act.”

. The bombing of the Otherside bar in Atlanta, which, in addition to gays and lesbians, was known for its popularity with a large bisexual and transgender clientele.

GenderPAC has also requested a meeting with the Department of Justice to discuss the need for federal monitoring of hate crimes against the transgender community.

###

CONTACT: Cheryl Chase (707) 775-3121, cchase@isna.org

HERMAPHRODITES WITH ATTITUDE AND TRANSEXUAL MENACE PROTEST INTERSEX GENITAL MUTILATION ========================================

[New York, NY: 2 May 97] FIVE MEMBERS OF Hermaphrodites With Attitude (HWA) and 7 members of Transexual Menace demonstrated outside Columbia Presbyterian Hospital today, protesting its continued practice of performing Intersex Genital Mutilation (IGM), the cutting of intersex children’s genitals to make them clearly male or female for strictly cosmetic, as opposed to functional, reasons.

The demonstration drew news media crews from Newsweek, ABC’s Prime Time Live, the Canadian Broadcasting Company, and Rolling Stone, among others.

Said HWA’s spokesherm, Cheryl Chase, “Africans remove children’s genitals for their own cultural reasons, and we accuse them of acting not only irrationally, but barbarically. We remove children’s genitals for our own cultural reasons, and because the surgeons are licensed and use sterile techniques, we call their actions scientific. It’s always easier to criticize someone else’s culture rather than your own. It’s time to lift the veil on the operating theater down the street from where you live.”

The American Academy of Pediatrician’s public statement on IGM recommends the procedure to prevent emotional, cognitive, and body image problems, and that the cutting is best carried out when the child is from 6 weeks to 15 months old.

Coverage on intersex issues is expected in the upcoming Monday, May 15th issue of Newsweek. as well as in the Tuesday, May 15th Science section of the New York Times.

###

CONTACT: Cheryl Chase (707) 775-3121, cchase@isna.org

INTERSEX SOCIETY OF NORTH AMERICA LOBBIES US CONGRESS =================================

[Washington, D.C.: 6 May 97] LED BY EX. Dir. Cheryl Chase, 5 members of the Intersex Society of North America (ISNA) conducted a groundbreaking lobbying effort on Capitol Hill today to educate Congressmembers about the toll of Intersex Genital Mutilation (IGM) on their community. They were there as part of GenderPAC’s 2nd National Gender Lobby Day.

Said Ms. Chase, “Transgendered people are the targets of violence because their gender expression is considered `abnormal.’ Cutting the genitals of intersex infants is simply another form of the same hatred. It’s great to see the synergy in these groups working together.”

Noted researcher Dr. Anne Fausto- Sterling, Professor of Medical Science at Brown University, estimates that about 1 in every 2,000 births is intersexual. Most of these children will be subjected to IGM at anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 years of age, and some as late as 13.

ISNA and GenderPAC are currently investigating an amendment to the recent Congressional bill which outlaws Female Genital Mutilation in the US. The bill, passed as part of the broad appropriations bill, Public Law 104-208, contains a specific exemption for surgical procedures for “the health” of the patient. The amended wording would allow such procedures only for “physical health” and not for cosmetic or pscyho-social reasons

###

On the lighter side…

EDDIE MURPHY PASSES GO, GETS INTERVIEW. TRANS-PROSTITUTE GOES DIRECTLY TO JAIL ======================================

[Los Angeles, CA: 3 May 97] Comedian Eddie Murphy, who has often drawn fire for making “jokes” about woman, gays, and people with AIDS, was stopped by police last night with a transexual working girl in his car, proving conclusively that there is a god.

This being America, Mr. Murphy was released while his companion was sent to jail on an outstanding warrant.

Murphy, who obviously has invested a great deal of money in PR flacks deeply into recreational drugs, then went on national TV to admit that he had been caught in the act of… good Samaritanism. He elaborated by explaining that he frequently gives rides and cash to errant women at 3 am, simply out of the goodness of his heart. Asked if the check was in the mail or would he mind if his sister married one, Murphy allegedly replied, “Sure it is, and of course I wouldn’t.”

A third question relating to oral hygiene was considered unprintable by IYF staffers.

###

Online Editor: Clare Howell clareq@idt.net

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>From listserv@xconn.com Mon 12 May 1997 20:01:51 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E13hn; Mon 12 May 1997 20:01:51 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: Dancing Deviant. Date: Mon, 12 May 1997 20:01:51 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.03 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9705122001.E13hn@xconn.com>

From: Marc Talusan <talusan@husc.harvard.edu> (by way of Kit of Pink Gables) To: LBG.News:;, QMoon List <qmoon@MIT.EDU> Subject: Last Weekend of _Dancing Deviant_ Date: Wed, 7 May 1997 09:58:42 -0500 Message-ID: <v03007801af9648d65650@[131.142.9.217]>

This is the last weekend of _Dancing Deviant_, the last event of this year’s fabulously successful Queer Harvard Month. Tickets are going fast so reserve now!

_Dancing Deviant_, a new piece exploring the margins of sexuality, gender, and the body through performance art, written and performed by Marc Talusan, produced by Dana Gotlieb, plays at the Kronauer Space in Adams House, 26 Plympton Street in Harvard Square, on May 2,3,4,8,9,10 at 8

p.m. and May 3, 9, and 10 at 10 p.m. <see full description below>

Banned from Harvard-Radcliffe’s ARTS FIRST celebration, the piece is sponsored by the Adams House Drama Society, with grants from the Undergraduate Council and Open Gate.

Tickets are $3 general and $2 students, and can be purchased at the Holyoke Center Box Office or at the door. For reservations and information, call 493-2009 or e-mail talusan@fas.harvard.edu.

—————————–

_Dancing Deviant_ is an original performance piece that advances the notion that for discussion about sexuality to occur, the body and sex must be freed from their status as “private” or “taboo,” and be allowed to exist as political and cultural sites not only through words, but also through images, bodily presence, and other sensory experiences.

The piece is thus a telling of the performer’s own story of gender and sexuality through his body: “Every body has a story tell. This is mine. I hope that one day, all of you can feel free to tell yours.” As one who complicates various categories of gender and sexuality, man and woman, gay and straight, the performer demonstrates the fluidity of such categories and the way in which his body, along with culture and technology, reinforces such fluidity. It is in this ambiguity that the performer rejects the primacy of reproductive heterosexuality, and celebrates the diversity and equality of sexual expression.

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>From listserv@xconn.com Mon 12 May 1997 20:01:51 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E73UR; Mon 12 May 1997 20:01:51 From: OnQGwen@aol.com Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: An Interesting Poll… Date: Mon, 12 May 1997 20:01:51 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.03 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9705122001.E73UR@xconn.com>

A study taken by Carvel about what people wish for when they blow out the birthday candles found that 61% of all boys younger than age 10 who want to be superheroes want to be catwoman.

As presented in “Personals” by Leah Garchik Printed in the San Francisco Chronicle, Thursday, May 8th, 1997

**As posted in the Transgender Community Forum **On America Online (Keyword: TCF) **TCF Info: http://members.aol.com/onqgwen

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>From listserv@xconn.com Mon 12 May 1997 20:01:51 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E75qn; Mon 12 May 1997 20:01:51 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: FTM International Awards Date: Mon, 12 May 1997 20:01:51 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.03 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9705122001.E75qn@xconn.com>

In a message dated 5/2/97 10:03:23 AM, James G. <jamisong@aol.com> wrote:

I know Loren Cameron recently sent off a thank-you to the community at large and an acknowledgement of his receipt of the first FTM International Pride Award. I’d just like to explain that FTM International gave two awards at the recent IFGE/California Dreamin’ Convention in Long Beach. The first was the FTM International Pride Award, given to Loren Cameron in special recognition of his book “Body Alchemy” which has done so much to inspire and reinforce FTM pride.

The second award was the FTM International Community Service/Outreach Award, given to Dr. Jason Cromwell, who has been working for many years to provide education and information for and about FTM people through Seattle’s Ingersoll Gender Center, IFGE (International Foundation for Gender Education), and in his own academic career as an anthropologist.

We at FTM International, Inc. are proud and honored to recognize these fine men as outstanding contributors to our community.

James Green

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>From listserv@xconn.com Mon 12 May 1997 20:01:51 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E07GM; Mon 12 May 1997 20:01:51 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: HERMAPHRODITES WITH ATTITUDE TO PICKET TOP HOSPITAL Date: Mon, 12 May 1997 20:01:51 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.03 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9705122001.E07GM@xconn.com>

MEDIA ADVISORY – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Riki Anne Wilchins (MENACE) (212)645-1753 Riki@Pipeline.COM

Kira Triea (HWA) (410) 235-5146 Triea@qis.net

HERMAPHRODITES WITH ATTITUDE TO PICKET TOP NYC HOSPITAL OVER INTERSEX GENITAL MUTILATION (IGM) =============================================

[NEW YORK, NY – May 2, 1997] A JOINT demonstration outside the world-renowned Columbia Presbyterian medical complex has been called by Hermaphrodites With Attitude (HWA) and the Transexual Menace, to protest the institution’s continuing involvement in Intersex Genital Mutilation (IGM). The picketing, called for Friday, May 2nd, is expected to be largely an orderly affair due to the proximity of the hospital and the needs of patients going in and out.

Response to “The Boy With No Penis” Story ——————————————

Intersex concerns have recently come to public attention in a series of articles in national publications about the so-called “boy with no penis.” Said Cheryl Chase, Executive Director of the Intersex Society of North America (ISNA), a national intersex advocacy organization, “Many hermaphrodites — including me and several of us who will be at the demonstration — were genitally cut and clitorectomized as infants at Columbia.

“In addition to suffering intense psychological trauma, many of us also lost much of our genital sensation.” Continued Ms. Chase, “Articles like those in the New York Times, Time Magazine, and Newsweek are supposedly about finding a child’s ‘right’ gender and then cutting their genitals to fit.

To us, such articles are about the barbarity of cutting any child’s genitals simply to conform to cosmetic norms. Despite Congress’ passage in 1996 of Public Law 104-208 forbidding clitoridectomy or genital mutilation in this country, both practices are still alive and well in US hospitals as IGM.”

Five Infants a Day in US Hospitals ———————————-

In spite of last fall’s Congressional legislation outlawing Female Genital Mutiliation — a practice commonly associated with some African cultures — IGM continues to be widely practiced in US hospitals, including Columbia-Presbyterian and Johns Hopkins. Nearly every major city in the US has a hospital which is designated as a “center of specialty” to perform such surgeries.

Data collected by Dr. Anne Fausto-Sterling, Professor of Medical Science at Brown University, indicate that up to 5 intersex infants a day undergo IGM in US hospitals. The Columbia action follows HWA’s first protest over IGM on October 26th, 1996, outside the American Academy of Pediatricians’ annual convention in Boston, MA. At that time, the Academy issued a statement acknowledging that intersex genital surgeries are performed for cosmetic reasons.

WHERE: 168th& Broadway, NYC

WHEN: Friday May 2, 2:30-3:30 pm

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>From listserv@xconn.com Mon 12 May 1997 23:31:40 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E18qF; Mon 12 May 1997 23:31:40 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Message-Id: <9705122331.E18qF@xconn.com> Date: Mon, 12 May 1997 23:31:40

Date: Mon, 12 May 1997 23:31:40 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.03 for DOS To: <receipent!address!incerted!here>

In a cover interview with Time Magazine, Ellen DeGeneres stated: “I didn’t [come out now] to make a political statement. I did it selfishly for myself and because I thought it was a great thing for the show, which desperately needed a point of view. If other people come out, that’s fine. I mean, it would be great if for no other reason than just to show the diversity, so it’s not just the extremes. Because unfortunately those are the people who get the most attention on the news. You know, when you see the parades and you see dykes on bikes or these men dressed as women. I don’t want to judge them. I don’t want to come off like I’m attacking them–the whole point of what I’m doing is acceptance of everybody’s differences. It’s just that I don’t want them representing the entire gay community, and I’m sure they don’t want me representing them. We’re individuals. It’s like seeing scary heterosexuals on talk shows–it’s like saying Joey Buttafuoco represents the heterosexual population.”

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Phyllabuster here:

Below is Something you may wish to paraphrase and submit to your local queer media or queer organization. If you did not know it before, the New Orleans area transgender folks are doing some fantastic inclusion networking in= their area.

Keep up the good work.

############################ In a message dated 97-05-09 18:51:38 EDT, you write:

<< Subj: HRC letter Date: 97-05-09 18:51:38 EDT From: EQCastle To: PRFrye CC: ICTLEP, StressGone =20 Phyllis: =20 The following letter was published in the New Orleans Ambush Magazine, May= 2 – 15, 1997 issue. Please feel to use it as you see fit. Thank you for your nice words. Elaine =20 ################################## =20 April 14, 1997 =20 An Open Letter to the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered= Communities: =20 On May 17, 1997, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) will host an awards= dinner to honor local members of the gay and lesbian community for efforts in the pursuit of gay and lesbian equality. This is fitting and proper as we are blessed with some dynamic, hard working individuals who make great personal sacrifices to stand up and defend human rights–the rights of all human beings. I applaud and commend all the recipients. Well Done!=20 =20 Many of the recipients, and others who will not be recognized at the= dinner, have been instrumental in the recognition and inclusion of bisexuals and transgenders in various activities, events, and organizations. To these individuals and organizations I extend my heartfelt appreciation for your efforts on behalf of all human beings and your true commitment to equal= human rights for all.=20 =20 For many years, I was an active supporter of HRC and, frequently, assisted in letter writing campaigns and telephone calling to my congressional representatives. I was very glad to assist because, until recently, I= thought that the Human Rights Campaign Fund, more recently renamed The Human Rights Campaign, was truly devoted to the cause of equal human rights. In 1995,= upon learning of HRC’s opposition to the rights of transgendered persons, I was dismayed that HRC would be opposed to the rights of fellow Americans and I withdrew my financial support and wrote to HRC to inform them about reasons for withdrawing support. =20 During the past two and a half years, the transgender leaders of several national organizations have met with HRC on two separate occasions to determine ways for HRC to become more inclusive of transgenders. On both occasions HRC national leaders have indicated that they cannot support transgenders for a variety of reasons. Several reasons are that major contributors will no longer support HRC if they include transgenders in ENDA and that ENDA supporters will not support an inclusive ENDA bill. HRC has also indicated that their mission includes only gays and lesbians and therefore, they can not be true to their mission and support transgenders. Instead of being supportive and inclusive, HRC has stated they will be “helpful” to transgenders.=20 =20 The transgender population has learned that ENDA is not about fair employment practices for all Americans, as HRC promotes in public discussions. I quote directly from a fact sheet on ENDA published by HRC. ” Employment discrimination strikes at a fundamental American value–the right of each individual to do his or her job and contribute to society–without facing unfair discrimination=85ENDA does not create any “special rights “= for lesbians and gay men. It simply affords to all Americans basic employment protection from discrimination based on irrational prejudice.” By excluding transgenders HRC clearly demonstrates that ENDA is a “gay rights” bill, contrary to their own literature defending ENDA as a bill for all Americans.. The emphasis is clearly on gay rights and not on fair employment opportunities for all Americans. I am sad that I was mistaken and am sad to see HRC continue to mislead the public. =20 Another item which led to my confusion is directly attributed to the name= of the organization. I was mistaken in my belief that an organization which was named the Human Rights Campaign would be devoted to equal rights for all Americans. The mistake was an honest error on my part. HRC has clearly= stated to transgenders that their mission is limited to promoting “equal rights”= for gays and lesbians and, therefore, cannot openly support bisexuals or transgenders. I suggest that this point of confusion can be cleared up with another name change. The Homosexual Rights Campaign would be a more appropriate name and will clear up further confusion. It would allow HRC to be true to their mission and will eliminate other persons from approaching HRC to support their efforts to obtain equal human rights. Additionally, it would enable the public to readily understand that they have a very narrow mission…one which does not truly encompass human rights. =20 =20 I suggest that prejudice, fear, and political expediency are among the= chief reasons for HRC’s exclusion of transgenders from ENDA and from their literature. Prejudice, fear , and political expediency are not exactly qualities which guide most human rights organizations. In order to save face, HRC offered transgenders the opportunity to introduce a separate ENDA bill and suggested they look to the courts for protections under existing Title VII legislation. Even novices to the ways of Washington can see= through this tactic. These are hollow gestures; however, HRC’s gesture of “helpfulness” allows them to demonstrate to transgenders that they no longer directly oppose them. The bottom line, though , is that HRC excludes transgenders and opposes their inclusion in the ENDA legislation. =20 =20 Sadly, these tactics reveal that HRC’s is shortsighted, and is even willing to sacrifice employment protections for gays and lesbians in an effort to pass ENDA. With ENDA in its current form, employment discrimination against gays and lesbians will continue to be legal and permissible. The only= change employers will make is in the wording of their reasons for discrimination.= =20 =20 The “back door” to continued discrimination against gays and lesbians is open. HRC intentionally left it open! Just as the courts will rule that= ENDA offers no protection for gender identity or gender expression for transgenders; the courts will rule that ENDA also does not offer protections for gender identity or gender expression for any Americans; heterosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. Precedent court rulings already exist, so it will not require much effort to affirm that employment discrimination against gays and lesbians is still permissible and legal as long as they are discriminated not because of their “sexual orientation” but because of their non-conformity to “traditionally accepted” gender expressions, behaviors, dress. or traits. Lesbians with “masculine” gender expressions and gay males with “feminine” expressions need to be concerned. Expressions of “masculinity” and “femininity” are in the domain of “gender identity and expression”, not “sexual orientation.” When one crosses over the barrier for permissible amounts of “masculinity” in females and “femininity” in males, one quickly finds themselves on common ground with transgenders. Indeed, they are in the territory of “gender identity” and may be subject to the same type and forms of discrimination which is used to oppress transgendered persons. HRC has totally failed to acknowledge that some discrimination directed towards gays and lesbians is due to a failure= or inability to conform to traditional codes of gender behaviors or conduct. HRC’s biggest problem is that the federal courts have not failed to acknowledge this fact! =20 =20 If you do not believe that employers will continue to discriminate against gays and lesbians, just watch to determine how long it takes for Cracker Barrel Restaurants and Old Country Stores to determine how to legally continue to discriminate against gays and lesbians.=20 =20 HRC National has to realize that their actions have a detrimental and divisive affect on the New Orleans gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered community. It causes great pain to members of the community who have supported the community for so many years, to watch local dollars being raised to, in the end, further discrimination against bisexuals and transgenders. Because I refuse to support discrimination against transgenders and bisexuals, I cannot and will not send money to HRC= National. It is very sad indeed to think that local transgendered entertainers who have raised many dollars to support the local gay and lesbian community are being targeted by HRC as unworthy of equal rights. I cannot support, much less understand, a human rights organization that relegates my transgendered sisters, brothers, and me to second-class citizenship. =20 =20 It is not my intent to criticize or condemn the New Orleans gay and lesbian community. As transgenders, we have found support, acceptance, and friendship with many of our gay and lesbian colleagues. This letter is an attempt to enlighten local gay and lesbian supporters of HRC of the true nature of the so-called human rights organization. Also, I hope to= encourage gays and lesbians who have an interest in ENDA to investigate this matter further. =20 =20 I look forward to the day when I can, in good conscience, again financially support HRC. However, the choice belongs to HRC. All they have to do is rededicate themselves to human rights and end their discriminatory policies and practices. This may be too much ask of the “largest national= organization dedicated to obtaining civil rights for gays and lesbians,” but it is not= too much to ask of a true “human rights” organization.. =20 =20 Sincerely, =20 =20 Elaine Quinn, Transgender >> ———————————————————————— NOTE: The AEGISNWS list is a one-way newsfeed. You may not post to it. Your comments and news items should be sent to <aegis@gender.org>. For assistance with subscribing and unsubscribing, send the message HELP to <listserv@xconn.com>. ———————————————————————— You are invited to visit CROSS CONNECTION, host of the AEGISNWS list. Use your modem to call (818) 994-8887 (all lines 14.4 capable) for a free account, and please consider a paid upgrade for enhanced access. Your support helps Cross Connection provide services to the transgender community such as the AEGISNWS list.

1997, 15 May

Posted about 15 May, 1997

=============================================================================

AEGIS-NEWS DIGEST

A service of the American Educational Gender Information Service, Inc.

=============================================================================

>From listserv@xconn.com Wed 14 May 1997 21:03:23 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E82YY; Wed 14 May 1997 21:03:23 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: ISNA on All Things Considered Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 21:03:23 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.03 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9705142103.E82YY@xconn.com>

Return-Path: <cchase@isna.org> X-Sender: isna@holonet.net (Unverified) Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 14:25:08 -0800 To: “ISNA News” <cchase@isna.org> From: Cheryl Chase <cchase@isna.org> Subject: All Things Considered looks at intersex

It’s looking very likely that NPR’s All Things Considered will air a short radio documentary by independent radio journalist Robin White about intersex and ISNA on Friday’s All Things Considered.

That’s all the info I have; please call your local NPR affiliate for air time of All Things Considered, and note that last minute changes are possible.

cheryl

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1997, 16 May

Subj: AEGIS-NEWS Digest Date: 97-05-16 08:20:53 EDT From: aegisnws@xconn.com (List Server) Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com To: thexgrrrl@aol.com ============================================================================= AEGIS-NEWS DIGEST

A service of the American Educational Gender Information Service, Inc.

=============================================================================

>From listserv@xconn.com Thu 15 May 1997 23:48:45 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E32TQ; Thu 15 May 1997 23:48:45 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: Man Dressed as Woman Shot, Beaten in Park Date: Thu, 15 May 1997 23:48:45 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.03 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9705152348.E32TQ@xconn.com>

Return-Path: <FTMOLInfo@aol.com> From: FTMOLInfo@aol.com Date: Thu, 15 May 1997 11:11:48 -0400 (EDT) Subject: MAN DRESSED AS WOMAN SHOT, BEATEN AT PARK

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

MAN DRESSED AS WOMAN SHOT, BEATEN AT PARK

A Louisville man was in intensive care at University of Louisville Hospital

after being shot and beaten at Shawnee Park yesterday morning. Louisville police spokesman Eric Johnson said officers patrolling the park at about 6:30

a.m were flagged down by someone screaming for help. Police found Jackie Willmer, 19, with a gunshot wound in each arm and in the lower back. Willmer,

who was found dressed as a woman, had also been beaten. Johnson said police are unsure of the circumstances behind the attack. Police have only a sketchy

description of the assailant.

This was in the Saturday, May 10, 1997 Metro section of the Louisville Courier Journal, p B4.

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>From listserv@xconn.com Thu 15 May 1997 23:48:45 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E69sV; Thu 15 May 1997 23:48:45 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: FTM Biker Contingent at SF Pride Date: Thu, 15 May 1997 23:48:45 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.03 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9705152348.E69sV@xconn.com>

Return-Path: <FTMOLInfo@aol.com> From: FTMOLInfo@aol.com Date: Thu, 15 May 1997 13:07:17 -0400 (EDT) Subject: FTM Motorcycle Contingent/SF Gay Pride Parade

In a message dated 5/14/97 11:38:08 PM, Loren & James wrote wrote:

Please shout far and wide:

In the San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Parade on Sunday, June 29, there will be a new motorcycle contingent for Transsexual Men! Also open to FTM transgendered people, the Trans Men’s Motorcycle Club

will preceed the FTM marching (walking!) contingent, and the men and women of

ETVC (mostly cross dressers and MTFs, but not entirely!). You can ride, too!

Rob Whitelaw and Loren Cameron are coordinating the motorcycle contingent, and will be leading the pack that day. You don’t have to own a motorcycle —

you can rent one. But you do need to sign up with Rob as soon as possible. Please contact him at:

ROB81154@aol.com

for more info or to sign up. Come on, be proud. Let’s ride!

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>From listserv@xconn.com Thu 15 May 1997 23:48:45 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E57DB; Thu 15 May 1997 23:48:45 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: ICTLEP Date: Thu, 15 May 1997 23:48:45 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.03 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9705152348.E57DB@xconn.com>

Return-Path: <terrihall@juno.com> To: aegisnws@gender.org Subject: Re: AEGIS-NEWS Digest References: <9705150333.E88lB@xconn.com> X-Juno-Line-Breaks: 0-1,3-4,6-7,9-20,22-23 From: terrihall@juno.com (Terri L Hall) Date: Thu, 15 May 1997 10:10:51 EDT

Just a reminder and to point out two key items;

ICTLEP is holding it’s 6th (and likely last) Annual Convention on transgender law and employment policy July 11th and 12th 1997 in Houston.

Of particular interest is the speaker on Friday evening (a free hors d’oeuvres and cash bar event) Reginald E. Jones of the EEOC.

The speaker for the Saturday Luncheon will be Ms. Kerry Lobel, the new Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

Please repost and inform your friends and acquaintances.

For further information contact ICTLEP at;

PO Drawer 35477 Houston TX 77235-5515 or call; 713.777.8452 713.777.0909 fax

come join us and listen to these speakers. Terrihall@juno.com =============================================================== Please visit our website at : www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/4766/ (caps required where shown)

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>From listserv@xconn.com Thu 15 May 1997 23:48:45 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E83tC; Thu 15 May 1997 23:48:45 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: Egyptian Tranny “Son” Inherits Date: Thu, 15 May 1997 23:48:45 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.03 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9705152348.E83tC@xconn.com>

Return-Path: <FTMOLInfo@aol.com> From: FTMOLInfo@aol.com Date: Thu, 15 May 1997 13:06:56 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Egyptian Tranny “Son” Inherits

In a message dated 5/13/97 5:50:28 AM, Emily forwards:

Monday May 12th 12:19 PM PDT

Egyptian Tranny “Son” Inherits

SUMMARY: An Egyptian court has ruled in favor of a transsexual whose brother

claimed she should now inherit like a daughter.

The Egyptian government-run “Al Akhbar” daily newspaper reported a court ruling on a question of transsexual inheritance. The deceased in the case was

a millionaire with two sons, who would normally split the inheritance in half

under Islamic law. But when one son underwent gender reassignment surgery after the father’s death, the other went to court claiming that the tranny should receive only the 1/3 of the estate normally granted to a daughter. A court in Alexandria dismissed the case, leaving the tranny to inherit as a son, because she was still a male when the father died.

Although the court case was said to be unprecedented, it was in line with a

June 1996 religious decree by the head of the Sunni Moslem Al-Azhar.

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>From listserv@xconn.com Thu 15 May 1997 00:28:02 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E18Tb; Thu 15 May 1997 00:28:02 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: SF Study Date: Thu, 15 May 1997 00:28:02 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.03 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9705150028.E18Tb@xconn.com>

Return-Path: <FTMOLInfo@aol.com> From: FTMOLInfo@aol.com Date: Thu, 15 May 1997 11:20:33 -0400 (EDT) Subject: SF Transgender Community Health Project

In a message dated 5/14/97 9:20:08 AM, Matt wrote:

Hey! This is Matt Rice. I’m now working for the San Francisco Department of Public Health on the new and fabulous Transgender Community Health Project. I’m really excited about this, and I hope all of us in the SF urban

sprawl can participate.

We are looking to recruit 200 Female to Male transgendered persons (of any kind) to participate in a study of HIV/STD risk behaviors. You have to be 18

or older and live, work or hang out in San Francisco. There is a test for HIV

but it is the oral one. We’re also testing for Hepatitis B orally. (the first 100 Hep B tests will be confirmed by a blood draw so if you’re squeamish, we’ll schedule you after those are done)

The way it works is, you call our 800 number (800-992-9120) and set up an appointment to come in for the interview section. The interiew takes an hour

or or maybe a little longer depending on how chatty we get. You get paid $40

for the interview. You get the HIV and Hep B tests, and in two weeks you can

come back to get your results. If you come back for the follow up appointment, you get an additional $10 whether or not you want to get your test results. (You don’t have to get them if you don’t want them) We also give you 5 recruitment cards, each worth $5 dollars to you if the person you

give it to is eligible and participates in the study.

Add it up — that’s $40 to $75 bucks just for being a tranny of one flavor or another! Who would have ever thought?

We are also recruiting 200 Male to Female people.

We are doing the interviews in English, Spanish, Vietnamese andTagalog.

I hope to hear from you. If you have any questions, feel free to call me at

(415) 554- 9013. You can send me e-mail to Matt_Rice@dph.sf.ca.us (work) or

to MattBlakk@aol.com (home)

Please, please, please help us with this study, it’s soooooooooooo important!!

Matt

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>From listserv@xconn.com Thu 15 May 1997 00:28:02 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E03ve; Thu 15 May 1997 00:28:02 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: TS Sentenced to Death in NJ Date: Thu, 15 May 1997 00:28:02 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.03 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9705150028.E03ve@xconn.com>

Return-Path: <FTMOLInfo@aol.com> From: FTMOLInfo@aol.com Date: Thu, 15 May 1997 11:11:04 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Death Sentence for Cop Shooting

In a message dated 5/13/97 11:44:11 PM, AP wrote:

.c The Associated Press

By MELANIE BURNEY

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) – A transsexual was sentenced to death Tuesday for killing a police officer who had responded to the shooting of two other law enforcement officers in the defendant’s house in 1995.

The jury said Leslie Ann Nelson deserved to die for fatally shooting Haddon Heights Patrolman John Norcross when he responded to the shootings in

April 1995.

The sentence makes Nelson the only woman on New Jersey’s death row.

The jury spared Nelson from a second death sentence in the killing of prosecutor’s investigator John McLaughlin, who had gone to her home with a warrant to search for weapons. In that death, Nelson faces life in prison with parole eligibility after 30 years.

A third officer, Detective Richard Norcross, the slain patrolman’s older brother, was wounded five times in the attack.

“We’re so thankful … we did get a death verdict,” said McLaughlin’s wife, Kim, their two daughters at her side.

Nelson, 39, was not in court when the verdict was announced but she pleaded for her life in court on Monday, saying she was prepared to spend her

life in prison.

Defense lawyer James H. Klein said he would appeal. “Naturally we’re very disappointed by the verdict,” he said.

The defense contended Nelson was mentally and emotionally disturbed at

the time of the shootings and suffered from a sexual identity crisis.

Klein said his client – formerly Glenn Nelson – was depressed and suicidal after undergoing a sex change in 1992, and was upset about her failed career as a go-go dancer.

The prosecution argued that she was aware of her actions and intended to kill the officers.

After the shootings, Nelson remained barricaded inside with a cache of

weapons for 14 hours as police pumped tear gas into the house. She emerged wearing a bulletproof vest and gas mask.

There are currently 12 men under death sentence in New Jersey.

AP-NY-05-14-97 0016EDT

AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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———————————————————————— NOTE: The AEGISNWS list is a one-way newsfeed. You may not post to it. Your comments and news items should be sent to <aegis@gender.org>. For assistance with subscribing and unsubscribing, send the message HELP to <listserv@xconn.com>. ———————————————————————— You are invited to visit CROSS CONNECTION, host of the AEGISNWS list. Use your modem to call (818) 994-8887 (all lines 14.4 capable) for a free account, and please consider a paid upgrade for enhanced access. Your support helps Cross Connection provide services to the transgender community such as the AEGISNWS list. ———————– Headers ——————————– From listserv@xconn.com Fri May 16 08:20:14 1997 Return-Path: <listserv@xconn.com> Received: from netcomsv.netcom.com (uucp13.netcom.com [163.179.3.13]) by emin18.mail.aol.com (8.8.5/8.8.5/AOL-1.0.1) with SMTP id IAA22748 for <thexgrrrl@aol.com>; Fri, 16 May 1997 08:20:12 -0400 (EDT) Received: by netcomsv.netcom.com with UUCP (8.6.12/SMI-4.1) id FAA09573; Fri, 16 May 1997 05:10:32 -0700 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E92Kf; Fri 16 May 1997 04:26:38 From: aegisnws@xconn.com (List Server) Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: AEGIS-NEWS Digest Date: Fri, 16 May 1997 04:26:36 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.03 for DOS To: thexgrrrl@aol.com Message-Id: <9705160426.E92Kf@xconn.com>

1997, 17 May

Posted about 17 May, 1997

=============================================================================

AEGIS-NEWS DIGEST

A service of the American Educational Gender Information Service, Inc.

=============================================================================

>From listserv@xconn.com Sat 17 May 1997 16:26:43 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E11mx; Sat 17 May 1997 16:26:43 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: C’mon Eddie– Admit It! Date: Sat, 17 May 1997 16:26:43 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.03 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9705171626.E11mx@xconn.com>

For Immediate Release 5/15/97

The episode of Geraldo aired Thursday, 15 May, puts an end to Eddie Murphy’s “just helping a lady in distress, I didn’t know she was trans, honest” explanation about picking up a transgendered prostitute in West Hollywood on May 2nd, 1997. A number of transfolk described their relationships with Murphy. Holly Woodlawn (the author of “A Low Life in High Heels” who was immortalized in Lou Reed’s song “A Walk on the Wild Side,” said she had slept several times with Murphy. From the stories of the other ladies, it seems that the relationships generally stopped short of sexual relationships. “Transsexual adult movie star Summer St. Cerely said Murphy hired her several times in 1982, apparently only to talk and stare at her feet.” (Quote from Etcetera Magazine, 16 May).

Murphy says “I love my wife, and I’m not gay.”

But Eddie, c’mon now, admit it– you do like the girls.

Dallas Denny, M.A., Executive Director

American Educational Gender Information Service, Inc. A 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Corporation P.O. Box 33724, Decatur, GA 30033-0724 (770) 939-2128 Business (770) 939-0244 Information & Referrals (770) 939-1770 FAX aegis@gender.org E-Mail

Our website is http://www.ren.org/aegis.html Visit the AEGIS FTP Site: ftp://ftp.mindspring.com/users/aegis/ User ID: anonymous Password: (your email address)

We have several electronic mailing lists: AEGIS NEWS: Trans-related news, press releases, and items of interest GENDER HELP: Discussion of issues related to transition and personal growth (Send e-mail to listserv@xconn.com; on separate lines in the message, include the following: subscribe aegisnws subscribe gendhelp

If you’re on AOL, try the keyword AEGIS

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>From listserv@xconn.com Sat 17 May 1997 16:26:43 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E34YF; Sat 17 May 1997 16:26:43 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: “Distressed” Murphy Files Lawsuits Date: Sat, 17 May 1997 16:26:43 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.03 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9705171626.E34YF@xconn.com>

Reprinted from Atlanta Journal/Constitution, 16 May, 1997

“Distressed” Murphy Sues Over Hooker Stories

Actor-comedian Eddie Murphy sued two supermarket tabloids for $3 million each, claiming false stories about his encounter with a transsexual prostitute that made him ill. The suits, filed Wednesday, claim that the articles in the May 20 editions of the Globe and National Enquirer damaged his reputation and that he suffered “severe emotional and physical distress, requiring medical attention.” A third lawsuit seeks $1 million from an individual identified as Ioane Seiuli for comments attributed to him in the New York Post. Murphy, the star of “The Nutty Professor,” and “Beverly Hills Copy,” has said he was just trying to be nice when he picked up Antisone Seiuli in West Hollywood on May 2. Murphy, 36, was pulled over minutes after the prostitute got into his car, but police said he had broken no law. The relationship between Ioane Seiuli and Atisone Seiuli was unclear. The Enquirer’s Headline? “Eddie Murphy’s Secret Sex Life– His Transvestite Hooker Tells All.” The Globe’s? “Eddie Murphy’s Sick Obsession With Drag Queens!”

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>From listserv@xconn.com Sat 17 May 1997 16:26:43 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E16yN; Sat 17 May 1997 16:26:43 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: Sri Lanka Date: Sat, 17 May 1997 16:26:43 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.03 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9705171626.E16yN@xconn.com>

>From the Advocate, 27 May, 1997, Issue 734.

Sri Lanka

A prominenet businesswoman in the capital city of Colombo was arrested because she’s really a he, Reuters reported April 12. Police plan to charge the man with impersonation, receiving $500,000 in loans with false documents, and cohabiting with another man in what appeared to be a marriage.

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>From listserv@xconn.com Sat 17 May 1997 16:26:43 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E40aa; Sat 17 May 1997 16:26:43 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: IYF Date: Sat, 17 May 1997 16:26:43 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.03 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9705171626.E40aa@xconn.com>

Return-Path: <owner-iyf-online@apocalypse.org> X-Authentication-Warning: asylum.apocalypse.org: majordom set sender to owner-iyf-online using -f X-Sender: riki@pop.pipeline.com Date: Fri, 16 May 1997 21:55:39 -0400 To: iyf-online@apocalypse.org, tsmenace@apocalypse.org From: Riki Anne Wilchins <riki@pipeline.com> Subject: D.O.J. PRESENTED WITH CONGRESSIONAL LETTERS ON TRANSVIOLENCE Sender: owner-iyf-online@apocalypse.org

MEDIA ADVISORY – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Riki Anne Wilchins (212) 645-1753, Riki@Pipeline.COM

. MORE CONGRESSMEMBERS SIGN ON AGAINST TRANS-VIOLENCE, LETTERS PRESENTED TO D.O.J. IN LANDMARK MEETING

. NEWSWEEK & NEW YORK TIMES COVER INTERSEX GENITAL MUTILATION (IGM)

. JUDGE IMPOSES MAXIMUM SENTENCE FOR ASSAULT IN CHANELLE PICKETT MURDER CASE

. KY MAN DRESSED AS WOMAN BEATEN, SHOT AT PARK

. EGYPTIAN TRANSEXUAL WINS INHERITANCE

. On the Lighter Side. MILITANT HOMOSEXUAL PLOT FOILED IN UTAH

. Text of Congressional Letter to Janet Reno

MORE CONGRESSMEMBERS SIGN ON AGAINST TRANS-VIOLENCE, LETTERS PRESENTED TO D.O.J. IN LANDMARK MEETING ===================================================

[WASHINGTON, DC : May 13, 1997] IN A groundbreaking meeting today, representatives of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community met with an Assistant Attorney General and members of the Office of Policy Development of the US Department of Justice to discuss violence and bias-related crimes against differently-gendered people.

The meeting had been requested by members of the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition (GenderPAC) in a letter sent to Janet Reno following the bombing of the Otherside bar in Atlanta. Although the bombing was considered a “gay and lesbian” hate crime, the Otherside was also well-known by local citizens for its bisexual and transgender clientele.

GenderPAC’s Dana Priesing, Tonye Barreto- Neto and Riki Anne Wilchins were joined by the Human Rights Campaign’s Kris Pratt, Bi-Net’s Lorraine Hutchins, and NGLTF’s Helen Gonzales. Declared Ms. Gonzales, “As far as we know, this is the first meeting of its kind, and a crucial step for all of us in helping those on the Hill — and in the administration — recognize the importance of crimes against the differently-gendered.”

Letters Presented to DOJ Staff ——————————- The meeting capped a week of extraordinary effort on the Hill beginning with National Gender Lobbying Day (May 5), during which gender activists from around the country gathered signatures from Congressmembers about violence against the differently-gendered. To date, three such letters are circulating the Hill. Signatories include Representatives Ed Towns (NY), Maurice Hinchey (NY), Ronald Dellums (CA), Caroline Maloney (NY), Mel Watt (NC), Bruce Vento (MN), William Clay (MO), Jerome Nadler (NY), and Barney Frank (MA). Those letters were presented to DOJ staffers today. [Letter text follows last.]

Said Alex Beckles, Legislative Assistant to Rep. Ed Towns, the first Congressmember to sign a statement on trans-violence, “Ed Towns feels strongly that no American — be they gay or straight, black or white, or transgendered — should be the target of violence or have to live with the fear of violence, and we were glad for the opportunity to sign on to such a letter.”

Meeting Ranges Broadly ———————- In her opening remarks, Dana Priesing noted, “DOJ finds itself in the position of having to create policy for identities which didn’t even exist 20 years ago. As people increasingly identify publicly as bisexual or transgendered, there are going to be more hate crimes based on these identities. One of the reasons we are here is to serve as a resource for DOJ, as it comes to grips with formulating policies dealing with hate crimes against these groups.”

Tonye Barreto-Neto, a Florida Deputy-Sheriff and Ex. Dir. of TOPS (Transgender Officers Protect and Serve) spoke at length on the problems of implementing hate-crimes legislation at the street level, saying “Even where the right statutes exist, officers on the street often lack sufficient training to recognize a trans or bi related hate crime when they see one. In fact, even when they recognize it and the proper authority exists — as with gay bashing — officers in the field are loath to write up such crimes because of all the greatly enhanced attention and work a hate crime brings with it.”

The meeting ranged broadly from the verdict in the recent Chanelle Pickett murder trial and enforcement of the Hate Crimes Statistics Act to GenderPAC’s recently published 1st National Survey on TransViolence. It concluded by focusing on the three-fold challenge ahead: First is the uphill struggle to cover trans-violence under existing Hate Crimes legislation; at present, DOJ lacks the statutory authority to deal directly with violence based on gender-difference. Second is developing the proper policies to deal with such violence. And third is pushing policy and information back down to the street level, so that officers on the beat recognize and prosecute transviolence just as they currently do with elder abuse or spousal assault.

Concluded HRC’s Kris Pratt, who had been instrumental in GenderPAC’s strategies on hate crimes, “We feel violence is an area where we can work constructively with all members of the larger queer community. The next step is to seriously work the Hill on this issue, and see how deep and wide the legislative resolve against gender-based violence really is. Amending hate crimes legislation to include gender expression or identity will probably be an uphill battle, but one in which we’re glad to participate.”

Said Ms. Wilchins, Ex. Dir. Of GenderPAC, “What’s surprising is who didn’t sign the letters… liberal Democrats who’ve been demonstrably gay-friendly. We need to approach every Congressmember — and especially ENDA sponsors — to learn what we need to do to gain their recognition and support.”

###

NEWSWEEK & NEW YORK TIMES COVER INTERSEX GENITAL MUTILATION (IGM) =================================

[NEW YORK, NY: 15 May 97] A WEEK following the unprecedented protest of IGM at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital by Hermaphrodites With Attitude (HWA) and Transexual Menace, and a first- ever lobbying effort on Capitol Hill by the Intersex Society of North American (ISNA) major news stories about IGM appeared in the New York Times and Newsweek magazine.

The Times article by Natalie Angier was entitled “New Debate Over Surgery on Genitals,” and appeared in the May 13th Science Section. In addition to covering the escalating conflict over IGM, it also detailed ISNA’s lobbying efforts in Washington as part of GenderPAC’s 2nd National Gender Lobby Day. The Newsweek story, titled “Gender Limbo,” appeared in the May 13th edition, and featured several intersex activists in their struggles to overcome the effects of IGM.

With this increasing national exposure, Intersex Genital Mutilation appears poised to become an issue that must be addressed by the medical community. Declared ISNA’s Ex. Dir., Cheryl Chase, in the New York Times article, “We’re not going to go away, and we have more passion that they do.”

Both articles stressed that although doctors performing IGM defend it as compassionate and effective surgery for the infant’s good, there is no data to support such claims, and no follow-up studies have ever been performed. Indeed, the only data available on long-term satisfaction or efficacy has been the testimony offered by groups like ISNA, whose members are often derided by IGM physicians as “fanatics.”

Typical of many doctors implicated in the practice of Intersex Genital Mutilation was the quote attributed to Dr. Antoine Khoury, chief of pediatric urology at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children, who went so far as to declare genital ambiguity a “hidden disease.” Responded GenderPAC’s Riki Wilchins, “If the disease is hidden, it’s only because it exists entirely within Dr. Khoury’s mind. This doctor is probably going to help someone cut into a baby’s genitals today, all because he can’t sleep nights from imagining a silent plague of large clitorises stalking the land.”

In fact, a mainstay of IGM physicians are otherwise normal infant girls who are not hormonally or chromosomally intersexual at all — but simply have clitorises judged to be “too large” by the pediatrician. In many such cases, the clitoris is removed or dramatically cut down in the mistaken, homophobic belief that doing so will help prevent the infant from developing into a lesbian as an adult. Yet in spite of this, gay and feminist groups have been slow to speak out against the practice.

Concluded Ms. Chase, “Every major city has at least one hospital doing IGM. It’s time to lift the veil on operating rooms in hospitals down the street from where you live.”

###

Contact: Nancy Nangeroni, NRN@World.Std.Com

JUDGE IMPOSES MAXIMUM SENTENCE FOR ASSAULT IN CHANELLE PICKETT MURDER ==================================

(CAMBRIDGE, MA, May 16): Judge Robert Barton today imposed the maximum sentence under the law on William Palmer, who was found non-guilty of murder and convicted only of assault and battery in the death of Chanelle Pickett on November 20, 1995. Mr. Palmer had admitted to taking Ms. Pickett home and assaulting her there.

The judge sentenced Palmer to 2 years incarceration (2 1/2 years with 6 months suspended) and 5 years probation. In delivering the sentence, Judge Barton commented to the defendant “Mr. Palmer should kiss the ground the defense counsel walks on.” Judge Barton also cited the gruesome pictures of the victim which, by his own ruling, the jury did not see, leading some observers to speculate that the judge had made an error in not allowing the jury to see the photographs.

Gabrielle Pickett, the victim’s twin sister and also a transsexual, gave moving testimony to the judge, saying “it’s hell being transsexual”, and “Chanelle wasn’t just a sister, she was my best friend. We grew up together, took hormones together, transitioned together…”

Outside the courthouse, Gabrielle declared to reporters, “This isn’t the end of it. I will continue to work to end violence against transgender people.” She later told reporters outside the courtroom “There was some satisfaction in the sentence, but it doesn’t make up for the fact that the verdict was only assault and battery.” Gender activist Nancy Nangeroni told the reporters gathered outside the courtroom, “The judge, by this sentence, has made an unmistakable statement about the injustice of the verdict.” William Palmer successfully avoided contact with the press.

Prior to the sentencing, about 45 demonstrators gathered outside the courthouse and handed out leaflets that read “Jury Upholds Death Penalty for Transexualism” and carrying signs with pictures of Chanelle and saying “Justice: A Rich White Man’s Game” and “End Violence Against Transgenders”. The judge requested a copy of the flyer by courier, and was accommodated by activists.

At a brief news conference, a letter from US Congressman Barney Frank to Attorney General Janet Reno decrying violence against the differently- gendered was read to reporters. The letter had been signed as part of GenderPAC’s efforts to rally support on Capitol Hill last week against gender-based violence. The letter calls for an investigation into such violence, stating that transgender people are “victims of very severe prejudice in much of our society.”

Alison Laing, Ex. Dir. of the International Foundation for Gender Education (IFGE), told reporters, “The verdict in this case was a blot of shame on the mantle of justice. Unless the maximum sentence is given, we will devalue the lives of people of difference everywhere.”

###

KY MAN DRESSED AS WOMAN BEATEN, SHOT AT PARK ============================================ [LOUISVILLE, KY: 10 May 97] THE Louisville Courier Journal reports that a man was shot and beaten at Shawnee Park yesterday morning. Police officers patrolling the park were flagged down at 6:30 am by someone screaming for help. Police found Jackie Willmer, 19, with a gunshot wound in each arm and in the lower back. Willmer, who was dressed as a woman, had also been beaten.

Police are unsure of the circumstances behind the attack and have only a sketchy description of the assailant.

###

EGYPTIAN TRANSEXUAL WINS INHERITANCE ====================================

[CHICAGO, IL: 13 May 97] THE CHICAGO Sun-Times reports that an Egyptian sued his brother, who is now his sister because of a sex-change operation, saying she should receive only a half-share of their father’s estate because, under Islamic law, a brother inherits twice the amount that a sister inherits. However, the judge ruled in the sister’s favor, saying the sister was still a brother when the father died. ###

Finally – on the Lighter Side…

MILITANT HOMOSEXUAL PLOT FOILED IN UTAH =======================================

[BRIGHAM CITY, UT: 10 May 97] THE Brigham City School Board has erupted in heated controversy after accused kindergarten teacher Renee Mott led children in a singing of “The Farmer in the Dell,” a game long known as a mainstay of homosexual indoctrination efforts. The song contains the words, “The farmer takes a wife…”

Explained an obviously distraught Ms. Mott, “The class is way over-balanced with girls. I mean, we have lots more girls than boys. Sometimes it just happens that way, it’s just chance. So when we play `Farmer in the Dell,’ sometimes I let a girl go first, so that everybody gets a turn… I just wanted all the children to have a turn.”

But savvy local citizens knew a transparent ploy of the militant homosexual agenda when they saw one. An emergency meeting of the School Board was called, and Ms. Mott was called on the carpet for teaching young children the depravities of same-sex marriage.

Declared local parent Jaren Day, “If you don’t stand up for family values, this country is going to go right down the toilet.” Agreed another parent, Lisa Perkins, “…it’s upsetting the natural order of things.” Concurred her husband, Wayne Perkins, “It’s an outrage that we can’t protect our children from that sort of filth.”

Defense of Cheese Act? ———————- Parents in Brigham City have formed an action committee on the matter, and have already drafted a state law which would ban all play-acting of same-sex marriage in public schools. Summarized Brigham City Mayor Tom Merrill, “The farmer has to be a boy. A boy gets picked first. That’s the way we played the game, and that’s the way it should be played.”

The game ends with “The Cheese stands alone/the Cheese stands alone/Hi ho the dairy- O/the Cheese stands alone.” In the interest of fairness, the deal cut by the School Board leaves the position of the Cheese open to either sex.

Unknown at press-time was how this accommodation would be extended to members of the local chapter of “Hermaphrodites With Attitude.”

[You just can’t make these up….]

[TEXT OF LETTER ON VIOLENCE AGAINST THE DIFFERENTLY-GENDERED Editor’s Note: This letter was signed by all Congressmembers mentioned in the release above, except Reps. Nadler and Frank, who submitted separate – but related – statements.]

May 6, 1997

The Honorable Janet Reno Attorney General of the United States US Department of Justice 10th Street & Constitution Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20350

Dear Attorney General Reno:

Following the unfortunate occurrence of two murders of transgendered persons (Deborah Forte and Chanelle Pickett) during recent years in the State of Massachusetts, representatives of the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition (“GenderPAC”), a national advocacy group, have made my office increasingly aware of the terrible toll violence takes on those who are differently-gendered. According to GenderPAC, the Forte and Pickett murders are only the most recent incidents in a long line of fatal attacks, and the organization’s recent survey on violence against the transgendered suggests that such murders are merely the most extreme manifestation of a much broader range of bias-based harassment and assaults.

GenderPAC’s representatives have demonstrated that despite common stereotypes, transgendered and transexual individuals are productive and valuable citizens who work, vote, pay taxes, and raise families. Yet these individuals – many of whom also identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual – face profound discrimination in virtually every aspect of their lives, from employment and housing, to health care and public accommodations. Of all the challenges they face, none is more fundamental than the loss of freedom to walk our streets free of the specter of physical harassment, assault or murder.

I encourage you to extend all reasonable resources of the Department of Justice in aiding this community to achieve the same degree of personal safety that all of us as Americans seek. Our society has no place for bigotry based on sexual orientation or sexual identity, and no person – whether heterosexual, gay or lesbian, bisexual or transgendered – should be forced to live in constant fear of violence, assault, or hate crimes.

Sincerely,

[Congressmember Signature]

###

Online Editor: Clare Howell, clareq@idt.net

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>From listserv@xconn.com Sat 17 May 1997 16:26:44 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E97Ha; Sat 17 May 1997 16:26:44 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: Buenos Aires Govt. Undersecretary meets with T* Orgs Date: Sat, 17 May 1997 16:26:44 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.03 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9705171626.E97Ha@xconn.com>

Return-Path: <apc@wamani.wamani.apc.org> To: lista-ales1@wamani.apc.org Subject: Historical: City Government Meets with Trans Activists From: ales@wamani.apc.org (Alejandra Sarda) Date: Thu, 15 May 97 22:29:08 ARG Organization: Red Wamani – APC Networks – Argentina

Escrita en el Cuerpo – Lesbian and Different Women’s Archives and Library Electronic News Service

MAKING HISTORY: BUENOS AIRES GOVERNMENT UNDERSECRETARY MEETS WITH TRANVESTITE (*) AND TRANSEXUAL ORGANIZATIONS.

Everything started with a TV program, Forum, where cases are debated and solved through mediation. Tranvestite activist Lohanna Berkins (ALIT) faced former Buenos Aires Statutory Convention member Ines Perez Suarez there, demanding to know why tranvestites were still being arres- ted even though the new city’s Constitution had repealed the Police Edicts (police’s “legal” weapon to justify arbitrary arrests). Perez Suarez had no chance but to agree with the tranvestites and made a public promise to take their complaints to the city government, which she did.

On last Tuesday, May 6, Lohanna, Paula Rodriguez (ALIT), Nadia Echazu – Marlene Guayas (OTTRA) and Maria Belen Correa (ATA) met with Guiller- mo Moreno Hueyo, Buenos Aires government undersecretary. Scorted by a crowd of journalists from every network in town and dressed in black to mourn the death of 64 tranvestites during the country’s 13 years of demo- cratic life (1984-1997), the activists made a strong impression in the au- thorities and advisors for the mindful and unrelented strenght with which their complaints were voiced.

Those complaints were well summed up by Nadia: “We want to be judged by a judge and not by the very same police who arrest us”. Unfortunately, Contraventional Courst will not be able to operate until citizens go to the polls, choose a new local Parliament in charge of drafting the new Contra- ventional Code and appointing judges to carry it through. Due to current tensions among national (Justicialista) and local (Radical) governments, polls have been delayed until October.

Meanwhile, a coalition of tranvestite, transexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual, sex workers, human right and youth organizations is drafting a Contraventional Code later to be submitted to the main political parties in order to negotiate common criteria to stop police represive actions against citizens.

Still making history, tranvestite activists will soon meet with Human Rights Undersecretary Alicia Pierini and Internal Affairs Ministry Carlos Corach (both national authorities). Even though no inmediate results are expected from any of those meetings, the message they convey to society is very clear: tranves- tites and transexuals are acknowledged as citizens. That public officers are forced to deliver such message is due to the work the activists have been doing for many years, with permanent support from their gay, lesbian, bi- sexual and straight allies.

Alejandra Sarda

(*) Tranvestite: in Buenos Aires it means someone who lives full time into her/his chosen gender modifying her/his body through hormones and sillicone injections but choosing not to undergo a sex reassignment operation (for the moment or forever).

Peru 1330 4to., Buenos Aires, Argentina – Wed., Fri. and Sat. 4-9 p.m. Phones: (54 1) 361 36 43 / 581 01 79 E.mail: ales@wamani.apc.org

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1997, 18 May

Subj: AEGIS-NEWS Digest Date: 97-05-18 08:11:31 EDT From: aegisnws@xconn.com (List Server) Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com To: thexgrrrl@aol.com

File: aegisnew.txt (30753 bytes) DL Time (14400 bps): < 1 minute

[Only the first 2K of this message is displayed, as it is too long to view through AOL. The entire message has been turned into a text attachment, which you can retrieve by selecting Download. Once downloaded, open it with a word processor or text editor for reading.] ============================================================================= AEGIS-NEWS DIGEST

A service of the American Educational Gender Information Service, Inc.

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For Immediate Release 5/15/97

Murphy says “I love my wife, and I’m not gay.”

But Eddie, c’mon now, admit it– you do like the girls.

Dallas Denny, M.A., Executive Director

Our website is http://www.ren.org/aegis.html Visit the AEGIS FTP Site: ftp://ftp.mindsprin

———————– Headers ——————————– From listserv@xconn.com Sun May 18 08:10:44 1997 Return-Path: <listserv@xconn.com> Received: from netcomsv.netcom.com (uucp13.netcom.com [163.179.3.13]) by mrin41.mail.aol.com (8.8.5/8.8.5/AOL-1.0.1) with SMTP id IAA25756 for <thexgrrrl@aol.com>; Sun, 18 May 1997 08:10:43 -0400 (EDT) Received: by netcomsv.netcom.com with UUCP (8.6.12/SMI-4.1) id FAA25349; Sun, 18 May 1997 05:06:59 -0700 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E57Hu; Sun 18 May 1997 04:04:35 From: aegisnws@xconn.com (List Server) Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: AEGIS-NEWS Digest Date: Sun, 18 May 1997 04:04:33 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.03 for DOS To: thexgrrrl@aol.com Message-Id: <9705180404.E57Hu@xconn.com>

1997, 19 May

Posted about 19 May, 1997

=============================================================================

AEGIS-NEWS DIGEST

A service of the American Educational Gender Information Service, Inc.

=============================================================================

>From listserv@xconn.com Mon 19 May 1997 16:20:58 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E82yP; Mon 19 May 1997 16:20:58 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: Argentina Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 16:20:58 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.03 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9705191620.E82yP@xconn.com>

Return-Path: <apc@wamani.wamani.apc.org> To: lista-ales1@wamani.apc.org Subject: Good News I (trans) From: ales@wamani.apc.org (Alejandra Sarda) Date: Sun, 18 May 97 17:55:13 ARG Organization: Red Wamani – APC Networks – Argentina

Escrita en el Cuerpo – Lesbian, Bisexual and Different Women’s Archives and Library

Electronic News Service

GOOD NEWS I (TRANS): TRANVESTITES 3, POLICE 0 by Marcelo Gustavo Feldman (*)

On October 26, 1995, Nadia Echazu, Monica and Ivana were some of the victims during a razzia orchestrated by Police Station Number 23 in Buenos Aires. The three were taken to the Station under the charge of having contravened Police Edict named “Scandal”, but they started asking for their rights (i.e. a phone call to their lawyer) inmediately.

Policemen answer their request by beating them. Trying to scape from the beatings, our friends broke a plant and a glass. Of course, as the guardians of public and private moral were more than 20, Nadia, Monica and Ivana were quickly reduced and prosecuted under the charges of “resistance to authorities, aggravated damage and in- juries”

Two years later, oral trial took place before Buenos Aires Court Num- ber 18. From policemen statements the three female judges as well as defending counsels Angela Vanni and myself, learnt that on the ear- ly morning of October 25 three “mad” tranvestites, without any moti- ves at all and in spite of the chief inspector’s “kind invitations” (sic) to go into their alloted jails, suddenly started running and breaking down the station’s equipments while police staff – scared and astonished- just watched them act.

Of course, such stupidity was not believed by anyone. Medical statements confirmed the three tranvestites had been severely beaten; police statements were contradictory when not ludicrous, like the one who claimed to have had his wrist broken and had seen a doctor only a week after the events!

The three female judges -who always adressed Nadia, Monica and Ivana as “miss” and with utmost respect- acquited all of them and ordered an investigation to be conduct in Police Station Number 23 and neighbor Number 25, based on our three friends statements during the trial. Justice was done.

(*) Marcelo is a gay lawyer working with Gay for Civil Rights and a staff member of La Hora -monthly bulletin of Buenos Aires LGTTB community. He has been defending tranvestites, lesbians, gays and bisexual people from police and other institutions’ attacks from several years. Currently he is part of the team working in two pro- jects: a domestic partneship act at local level (for Buenos Aires) and modifying national anti-discriminatory law in order to include sexual orientation/identity. Escrita en el Cuerpo thanks him for this cooperation.

Peru 1330 4to., Buenos Aires, Argentina Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 4 to 9 p.m. Phones: (54 1) 361 36 43 / 581 01 79 E.mail: ales@wamani.apc.org

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>From listserv@xconn.com Mon 19 May 1997 17:37:57 Received: from xconn by xconn.com with uucp id E38vi; Mon 19 May 1997 17:37:57 From: Dallas Denny <aegis@gender.org> Reply-to: aegisnws@xconn.com Subject: Mad TV, Trans Violence Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 17:37:57 X-Sender: UUPlus Listserver 2.03 for DOS To: anechoxc Message-Id: <9705191737.E38vi@xconn.com>

This is a post sent to us. The sender requests anonymity.

Dallas

Dallas, another (annonymous) media ovservation….

On the May 18th episode of Mad TV, a skit was featured in which two cross-dressed male actors and a female actor masqueraded as the musical group “En Vogue” in an attempt to receive a music award intended for the group. One of the cross-dressed actors was obviously male, with a very deep voice.

The ‘host’ of the music awards show saw through the (poor) ruse, and expressed hostility towards the trio. Particular hostility was expressed towards the obviously male cross-dresser.

The entire skit deteriorated when finally the ‘host’ physically attacked the obvious cross-dresser. He kicked and punched this person, and dragged him off the stage. The cross-dresser, while annoying, did nothing to invite violence. The message seemed to be that violence against transgendered people was inherently ok.

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