Fish Food For Thought

Trans in the Media: The New York Times’ Warped Portrait of Trans Women

Posted by: Janet Posted date: July 25, 2012 24 Comments
Categories: GirlsLikeUs, Trans in the Media

July 25, 2012

I was sitting at a coffee shop yesterday with my friend Darnell L. Moore discussing why we write and how revolutionary it is to call ourselves “writers.” He then mentioned the concept of living history, and the importance of disenfranchised communities (who are often not actively heard by the masses) to archive their lives and create their living history.

Darnell’s comments made me think about the blogs that I read daily and the Tweets and the essays and videos that actively are creating images and words about ourselves, our lives, our work and our struggles. I thought about how revolutionary it is that we’re creating our own reflections, a record of our lives right now.

It’s this agency of building this living history that enamors me about digital journalism and the way we live online and off, and I left our coffee date inspired to continue Tweeting, Tumbling and writing.

As I was preparing for bed, though, I read the New York Times‘ piece “For Money or Just to Strut, Living Out Loud on a Transgender Stage” by Sarah Maslin Nir on trans women who spend their evenings on New York’s fabled Christopher Street in the West Village. The piece, featuring trans women of color, was “the fifth in a series of articles exploring how people in the New York City area spend their summers after dark,” according to the Times.

When I initially read it, I smiled. I thought, it’s a slice of life fluff piece. They let the women express themselves, define their space and why this historic block was important to them. But then I read it again and I wondered about the journalist’s methods, I wondered about how these women were approached, and I wondered what they thought of the piece and how much of what they said was actually used.

Then I found myself angry, not because of anything the women said, but about how what they said was then rebutted by the observations of the writer, who commented on their actions, on their dress, on the way they related to one another, and on the comments of passersby. I get intrigue, I understand curiosity, but I’m pretty damn positive that these women see their lives on Christopher Street as more than just a “transgender runway” (Ok – WTF is a “transgender runway”?!) and a place to strut in “buttocks-revealing denim shorts.”

I found these words rising in my mind: We are not clowns. We are not punchlines. We are not buffoons.

Do you remember when your parents told you to stop staring? I do. I think we can all agree that curiosity is natural, but staring is rude, and this piece by the New York Times Metro Desk, headed by Carolyn Ryan, is an exhibition in staring taken as fact. Well it’s actually gawking at these women and at us and at #girlslikeus everywhere. It’s dehumanizing, and honestly this goes beyond a “choice of words” because the New York Times‘ limiting, lazy portraits of trans women of color in New York City has become habit as evidence in their piece on Lorena Escalera’s life and death in May, which I criticized alongside Feministing’s Jos Truitt, GLAAD, Wild Gender, Pamela’s House Blend’s Autumn Sandeen and xojane’s s.e. smith.

@janetmock @nytmetro No talk about why these girls are out there or how the city plans to address the lack of services for at risk youth smh

— Lourdes Hunter (@HunterLourdes) July 25, 2012

My problem with this piece is that trans women, specifically those of color in this gentrified environment of New York City, are under layers and layers of oppression – none of which are examined and or mentioned in this paper of record. As Lourdes Hunter wrote to me in a Tweet: “[There's] no talk about why these girls are out there or how the city plans to address the lack of services for at risk youth smh.” Then she continued, “The Vill is flooded nightly with youth with no where else to go; homeless,penniless without families or a city who gives a damn.”

And then I found myself even more upset because I knew I was not alone in my frustration over the lack of depth in this piece. Sure, it’s a slice-of-life, fluff piece about summer nights in New York City. But fluff pieces usually don’t show women tearing one another down with “screaming fight[s],” violence (the writer mentions a past incident at a Dunkin Donuts) and criminalized sex work. They show the women at odds with one another, attacking one another. They are not merely fighting each other, they’re fighting to survive on those streets.

And where are the women who spend their nights on Christopher Street doing outreach, making sure their sisters are protected and well equipped? Where’s the joy and fun of the women who are not there to make coins? And what about the kiki sessions that I’ve been privy to on Christopher?

Let me summarize the @nytimes: Beware gentrified West Villagers bc the scary trannies come out at night: nytimes.com/2012/07/25/nyr… #GirlsLikeUs

— Janet Mock (@janetmock) July 25, 2012

I’ve never Tweeted about trannies before, but it seemed to me that the Times chose to use this Summer Nights installment to warn rich home owners and renters in the West Village of the scary trannies that come out at night. And that is not okay. Try sitting down with these trans women and ask them about their lives and write about their lives, not just about the way they parade past you on the street.

With my recent media critiques of the New York Times, I’ll probably never reach my goal of getting Michiko to read my memoir. But our living history is so much bigger than the personal dreams I have for myself. I urge us to mine the anger and frustration and disappointment into creativity and expression. Don’t let the New York Times stand as the record of our lives: Trans women are so much more than the less-than-human portraits they continue paint of us.

Express why this piece bothers you by Tweeting @NYTMetro and its editor @carolynryan (a mobilization tactic of Trans Media Advocacy, which released a statement for which Cisnormativity’s Patience Newbury contributed). Then let the anger and frustration go becuase your energies are needed elsewhere. I urge you to continue creating our living history as trans women: Write about your struggles, write about what makes you click and what makes you uniquely you. The New York Times and other media outlets do not own our narrative; we do.

Don’t stop expressing yourself and never fail to fully express who we truly are. They do not own us and we are not puppets in their summer minstrel show.

About the author

Janet
Writer & the Girl behind #girlslikeus. My memoir on my journey to womanhood will be published by Atria in Feb. 2014. Tweet me @janetmock.

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24 Comments for Trans in the Media: The New York Times’ Warped Portrait of Trans Women

Lily

Amazing piece, Janet! I haven’t spent so much time in the Village after dark, but I’ve spent a little, and enough to know that there is so much more to this community space than NYT chose to portray. It’s pretty disappointing when they have the potential to bring about so much more accurate and better visibility than a bunch of gawking pettiness. Will be tweeting momentarily!

Janet

Thank you Lily for sharing and commenting. I also agree that NYT is a powerful platform and I would’ve loved that they had used it not so much to censor the reality of life on the streets, but to ask the question why are these women on the streets and why isn’t our city doing more.

Carolyn Collette Gray

If there is anything left of the New York Times’ newsroom culture of years ago (and I think there is) then your critiques should make them more willing to hear your voice, not less.

I can envision your byline on the Op-Ed page at some point, above an essay discussing WHY you are writing your memoir. Why your story, representative of countless others’ in many crucial ways, needs to be heard.

Journalists, by nature and by necessity, often are the keenest critics of journalism, both as a business and a craft. That’s as it should be, in my view, as long as the critiques are honest, thoughtful and aimed at raising the bar for all.

Your commentary strikes me as all of these things. And your perspective — as journalist and colleague, trans woman, advocate, thinker, writer, and leader (yes, don’t deny it!) — is one that is all too rare in what’s come to be termed mainstream media.

We are indeed creating our own reflections, as you note. Recording our own histories. These histories should also be reflected in “the newspaper of record,” if that quaint-sounding phrase is to have any currency at all much longer.

Janet

Thank you for your kind words. We must demand that the media and those with the microphone respect our lives, tell our stories fully, and that they truly create an inclusive, diverse newsroom that hopefully starts hiring and publishing the work of trans folks as well. In the meantime, we must not stop creating the images and words that speak to us most. It’s essential that we document our lives and struggles, from our perspective.

Lisa McDonald

I seem to remember you and Isis not two weeks ago trashing the word Transsexual because of falsely claimed add stygma. It was sad to see both of you act as if some how being called Transsexual was beneath you. I hope some reality is going to set in for transgenderist that you can not create an image of transgender purity. That you realize all the baggage you see associated with Transsexual becomes magnified with Transgender because of its wide all “including” umbrella. I don’t know about you Janet and at times I really wonder about you and where you are coming from. When I was little and knew that I was female identified I dreamed of growing up and becoming a woman then I learned it was possible. I never once thought of being labelled Transgender or being forced to associate with the LGBT no I simply wanted to be a woman even when being a woman is a disadvantage (Meghan Stabler, and all the other legally listed male “Transwomen”). I think to many of you have either forgotten that goal or never really identified as truly female to begin with. The APA is creating a new definition of Transsexual just for you one that includes people who want to transition to something other than male or female. I really hope there isn’t to many “Lassie” fans or addicted cat lovers because now it would seem they get to claim to be Transsexual. Those people were included by you and other Transgenderist the same ones that claim being Transseual was a bad thing. Sorry to inform you but Transsexual was never as stygmatized until the LGBT got its dirty hands on it and made up a lot of that stygma. Plus just by being associated with the LGBT adds stygma for the vast majority of us. But you’ll never learn that because you hide in what I hope your beginning to see as a false Transgender bubble. Bubbles burst and so will Transgender.
.

Abby

Lisa, the difference between you and those you label as “transgenderist” is that we don’t go “Ewww, ick” when we think of being associated with the broad spectrum of trans people or with the LGB community. Instead, we see proud and beautiful people who are simply struggling to survive in this world based on the hand they’ve been dealt, just like you and I. Not everyone acts the same way I would or identifies as I do, but they still deserve our love and respect.

Lisa McDonald

Abby I don’t go yuck when I see all these different kinds of people. What I go yuck over is the few of you who somehow think its your right to tell me or others how to think or who we have to associate with. In my book there is a name for that kind of person communist. I also think the single driving force behind the high suicide rates isn’t society but instead Transgender itself. You’ve helped to create a gender blender that creates confusion as to who is who and what that adds stygma instead of removing it. I support polygraphing us to help remove that confusion and to seperate those who have a legitimate cross sexed identity from those playing games with the socially constructed roles of men and women. If you don’t have a legitimate cross sexed identity and you are claiming to be something you are not at the expense of those who do you are committing fraud. I don’t want the LGBT interfering in my life or my medical needs, or discriminating against all of those who have successfully medically and legally transitioned from one sex to the other, by calling them Transgender, and failing to recognize their legal sex status. If we were any other group the LGBT would have been taken to task a long time ago for that. Its the exact same thing as forever rubbing the nose of a person born with a birth defect in that birth defect. It is sick and it is wrong and it is causing harm know matter how much you disagree with me.

Abby

And who gets to decide who has a “legitimate cross sexed identity” and who doesn’t? You? Psychiatrists who think we’re all deluded anyway? Some judge who’s more concerned about how she’ll look to the voters during the next election? Sorry, but I’m not willing to allow *anyone* to have the power to decide who I am or how I can live, and it seems clear that you don’t want that to happen either.

It seems that you think the current system for determining access to hormones and GRS and changes of legal gender or sex works fine, and should even be made more restrictive than it already is (polygraphs, really!? They’re so unreliable, they’re not even admissible in court!), but that’s only because you’ve already made it across to the “promised land” on the other side, and don’t think anyone else should gain the privileges you have achieved by convincing some medical professional that you’re “legitimate” without having to jump through the same hoops you did. Is that really how we work to build a more just society – by ensuring that everyone behind us has to suffer the same way we did, rather than benefit from the changes we have managed to bring out to make life easier and fairer for others? That’s not the kind of world I want to live in, and isn’t the one I’m seeking to build for *everyone* – transgender, transsexual, genderqueer, cross-dresser, dyke, butch, femme, bear, twink or however else they choose to identify, hell, even *straight*!

Lisa McDonald

Abby,
I care far more about all the affected groups than you can possibly ever glean from anything I’ve ever written or posted to the web. I have purposefully for years tried my best to avoid picking on Cd’s Tv’s and drag queens. But I will readily admit to taking some shots recently at what I see as the post-operative fetishistic transvestites that seem to control TG. While Janet has a boyfriend just exactly how many heterosexually identified married post-Transsexual women are on LGBT boards? We are the ones that are constantly being pointed out as prostitutes and the derelicts of society by both the LGBT and Transgender community regardless of our skin color. I am going to try and dig up a news report that I watched that is a great example of older white Transgender identified people pointing the finger at Transsexuals and saying we are the prostitutes. The news reporter then switches to a young African American male who states he was a Transsexual prostitute but decided he didn’t want to be Transsexual anymore. There are plenty of news stories showing the purposeful attacking of Transsexuals while claiming Transgender is so much more pure it is nothing more than propaganda meant to reinforce Transsexual =Bad Transgender=good.

I’ll readily admit that my polygraph idea is controversial but I will point out to you that polygraph testing is legal in court depending on what state you live in and the CIA uses them on their own employees so it is not a civil rights infraction to require an individual to take one. It also shouldn’t be considered a civil rights infraction upon someone seeking both medical and legal recognition of a change of sex. I support the we”ll recognize you medically if you take the test but if you don’t want to take it then no we won’t approach. It gives you a choice that allows you not to take it.

Polygraph testing contrary to your claim that it would make it harder to gain treatment in reality would make it easier and better. It would also help insurance companies from having to provide coverage for false transsexuals(identify positively as their original birth sex) and help to justify providing coverage for legitimate cross sexed identified transsexuals.It would benefit science until medical testing that can determine if someone has brain sex differention while still living is developed. It would also benefit all of us by better grouping us so that our medical and social needs are tailored best to whatever group we best fit into. Some people might be able to fake their polygraph but not enough to prevent baselines of different populations from being created. If some person that identifies as their original listed birth sex wants to go through SRS they should have to pay for it out of their own pocket and also get thoroughly psychology screened. They also should not have any say in the medical treatment, or legal treatment of someone with a legitimate cross sexed identity. I have a nagging suspicion that those who object to polygraph testing most will be those who are the first to fail it. I believe the majority of those who fail it will be those who are attracted to the opposite of their original listed birth sex. Notice I said majority so I’m not saying that all people attracted to the opposite of their original listed birth sex are faking it and I’m not saying that all people that are attracted to the those of their contested original listed birth sex have a legitimate cross sexed identity. I use cross sexed identity because for a person to have one they must also hold a belief that there is a biological basis to their cross sexed identity or a nagging suspicion something is wrong. Gender Identity is to weak to polygraph test since man and woman are viewed only as socially created roles. So if you view playing a role as the same as being a person associated with that role you might pass even though you don’t identify as that persons sex. Also I have a couple scientific based reasons for believing those attracted to the opposite of their original listed birth sex are least likely to have a legitimate cross sexed identity.

I personally plan on taking a polygraph test within the next few months to show that I have and have always maintained a cross sexed identity. That I have been harmed by forced association with Transgender and by forced association with the LGBT. That I do not have either internalized homophobia or transphobia nor do I have transphobia or homophobia.

Also I have never claimed to have made it to the “Promised Land” nor do I believe one has to have to have a legitimate cross sexed identity. I believe there are some that really need srs and that there are others who don’t but that they are two different categories with two different levels of cross sex brain differention. One is wired properly for their original contested listed birth sex genitals the other is not.Only proper research will find out the truth. I also believe there are many categories of people that seek out sex reasignment some are false transsexuals others are not.
I approach my cross sexed identity from a different angle than most. I don’t believe I should have been born a girl I believe I should have been born a healthy boy but something happened to prevent it. Therefore I see it as a birth defect and I take great offense to having my nose rubbed in it and also I take offense to being called a liar about it. So for me taking a polygraph is just another step for me in proving those who have called me a liar wrong and in giving myself some personal vindication. Like I said before it is also a step to ensure that I receive proper medical care and in raising the bar in a good way that will benefit all of us.

Juston Smith

Err…Lisa…she’s on *your* side…

Lisa McDonald

Err Justin no she is not and neither is Janet. I am really sad that there are many that can’t see the harm that Transgender has caused, regardless of the good they claim it has done. We aren’t moving forward we are being grabbed by our hair and pulled backwards by jerks with a sick and twisted agenda.

Racheal (Storm)

Sorry to say that while I love Janet for being out there, here I agree with Lisa. I am so sick of being labelled ‘elitest’ and ‘TS separatist’ by members of a community I believed I was once part of. It is the TG who have discriminated against me most in life and sort to isolate and push me out.

I still will support TG in what they do but here in NZ, TG have shown clearly they do not support TS. They try to speak for us, tell us what words we have to use and accept. The dont support calls re Gvt subsidised surgery for TS but scream about wanting to change their gender leagally and trying to get it made easier.

Non TS, TG far out weigh in numbers the supposed TG community. We supposedly all want equality and to end discrimination yet many TG are actually the biggest discriminators against Transsexuals.
We arent elitest or nasty separatists. Yes we may want to be cinsidered separate from the TG barrell where society dumps anyone who doesnt conform, but we have different and greater needs then most in the TG Community. But most TS ‘separatists’ I know and see will still say they will support the TG community. Will the TG community support those of us who want to identify as TS? Doesnt seem it to me these days. We are condemed, isolated, control, ignored and ridiculed. Thats DISCRIMINATION.

I will still support Janet and others but please take some time to consider others and how YOU are impacting on them.

Lisa McDonald

Racheal,
Like you I also like that Janet is out there even though I’ve been harsh in my criticism of her and don’t agree with her on many levels. I do agree with her though that same sex attracted, and sex and gender diverse people of color haven’t been represented nearly enough and have been negatively portrayed in the media and in society. But so have those of us who heterosexually identify regardless of our color while those who identify as transgender and same sex attracted are portrayed as saints.

Like you I feel that I have been most discriminated upon by the TG but I’m also going to include the LGB. I agree with you that they try to tell us what to say, what terms to use, and I think even try to tell us how to think. It is really quite insulting I see it as being treated like a two year old.

I am the rare independent woman born Transsexual (Don’t identify as or agree with most Ts seperatist) that doesn’t support either TG or the LGBT but I do support human rights and the rights of all same sex attracted, and sex and gender diverse people. As you stated most if not all TS seperatist support TG and wish to be included in the LGBT just seperately as Transsexual.

Janet

I did not and have never trashed the term transsexual, as I use both terms in my writing and speaking. I choose to say trans because it is more inclusive and leads me out of the murky waters of terminology debate. However, how I self-identify when telling my story is not up for public debate, and I know that by saying transgender, trans, transsexual leads not a person to commit suicide. I have no agenda but to tell my story, urge others to do so as well and if my words resonates with someone I just hope it gives them a sliver of hope.

Lisa McDonald

Janet I am going to send you a private message that shows you are wrong and infact Transgender and LGBT association is driving some people towards suicide. So is all the bullying by Transgender advocates against those who simply wish not to be included regardless of how politely they ask.

Monica Roberts

Lisa,
Interesting you TS separatists refuse to openly debate people like Cristan Williams or me because you know your specious exclusionary and racist claptrap won’t stand up to the cold hard reality of reason and logic.

The bottom line that you vanillacentric privileged TS separatists refuse to see is there is movement along the trans umbrella. Today’s person IDing as a crossdresser or a female illusionist may be tomorrow’s transsexual with a round trip ticket in hand to Bangkok to get SRS.

The problem I have with TS separatists is not only their desire to ignore and whitewash that reality, but your attempts to write an exclusionary genital-based definition of transsexual that if practiced would erase people of color and trans men. Elements of you aligning with trans-exclusionary radical feminists in your futile attempts to chase pseudo cisprivilege also doesn’t endear you to the rest of us trans people who have worked hard over the last two decades to obtain trans human rights for all members of the trans community.

Elizabeth

A reporters job in a situation like this is to report what he sees as unfiltered as possible and allow the reader to reach their own conclusions about the situation. A good reporter does not filter the content so as to slant the situation in favor of favorably portraying an individual or a group.

Where is your outrage at on so-called “trans” person describing themselves as gay and being able to be “gay”. Of course that might alienate one from the GLB part of GLBT. The truth is that some of the people “representing” on Christopher Street in the West Village are transsexual, some are “trans” and some are gay.

Do you honestly think the police put spotlights there for the gentry that now live there? They put them there to help control the crime and violence that occurs every evening in that area as described by the reporter who was just doing a job and describing what he witnessed first hand and voicing what he was told by those he interviewed.

I gather you are demanding that he whitewash the truth and whether you want to believe it or not it is the truth about what happens in that area this time of year. People behaving badly is people behaving badly regardless of who they are. Are your “trans” friend immune to this? Is society required to only post positive accounts of “trans” people such as you and Isis demeaning those of us born transsexual in order to further your standing in the “trans” community?

We are all imperfect humans and reporting the truth is never bad whether or not you or I like it. If the reporter was wrong point out the errors rather than using a broad brush to claim this report is in error. It is a dead on accurate portrayal of what happens there and the simple truth is you cannot handle it because in this case the people behaving badly are those you perceive as supporting your position.

It would be more insulting and injurious if the reporter glorified the crap that goes on there and angered the public by lying about it but then I guess your sanitized view of “trans” heaven never involves “trans” people behaving badly. You could have complained that this appeared to be “gay” people behaving badly but then that would not support your transgender agenda.

Cisnormativity

Oh, you.

Janet

I have no issues with reporting what one sees, and I have no issues with anything about what these women had to say about their lives and experiences. What I do take issue with is the fact that this piece comes off as if it’s objective, but no piece is objective. She’s judging, writing, reporting about these women through her lens, and what she observes. Observation though is about perception, which is at the hands of the reporter’s experience through which she has much privilege, prejudices that are viewed through her choice of words and what she chose to include in the piece and ignore. I merely call that the Times and its writers show some sense of balance and depth in their reporting of our lives.

Jai Dulani

Thank you Janet! We at FIERCE (a membership based organization in New York City that builds the leadership and power of LGBTQ youth of color) were outraged by this article. Our youth-led campaigns fight gentrification and policing in the West Village through youth-led campaigns – Hope more people can write letters to the editor – We have talking points for anyone who is moved to write:

Call to Action: Dignity for Transwomen of Color & LGBTQ Youth!
Dear Community,

Yesterday, on July 24th, the NY Times published an article: “For Money or Just to Strut, Living Out Loud on a Transgender Stage”

The article paints a picture of nightlife on Christopher St. that simultaneously relies on and feeds into stereotypes of trans-women of color as rowdy, hyper-sexualized, trouble-making sex-workers. This is a call to action to hold the NY Times accountable for such reporting and to highlight the reality of LGBTQ youth of color in the West Village with dignity.

Please join us in this effort by writing a letter to the editor.
It is difficult to get a letter to the editor published in the NY Times, which is why we need your help – the more of us who write, the more likely it will be that our voices will be heard.

If you read the article and feel outraged and disheartened, please express it and join us in this effort. Write what you are moved to and if you need support, here are some points to help with your letter:

** Yes, as the article pointed out, Christopher St. and the West Village neighborhood is a historical safe public space where LGBTQ youth of color and LGBTQ youth from all over have come together for generations when ostracized from their home communities. For more than four decades, LGBTQ youth have found a safe haven and affirming community among our peers on the Christopher Street Piers in the West Village.

However, it is imperative to acknowledge the root causes of why LGBTQ youth are disproportionately on the streets and finding it harder and harder to maintain access and ownership over this historical safe space.

** On any given day, there are almost 4,000 homeless youth in New York City. It is estimated that at least 40% of New York City’s homeless youth are LGBTQ, and an uncounted number “couch surf” or are marginally-housed. LGBTQ youth of color in New York City are often bullied and ostracized within their homes, schools, and communities for a desire to be true to who they are. The lack of domestic or familial stability in many LGBTQ young people’s lives contributes to high rates of school drop-outs, homelessness, unemployment and underemployment. In recent years, the New York State Legislature has cut funding to support homeless youth programs in general by about 70 percent. These circumstances lead folks to use a number of strategies to survive in the absence of shelter and affordable housing and living wage jobs and opportunities for LGBT youth.

** Due to rapid gentrification and increased police presence in the West Village, LGBTQ youth of color face increased racist, transphobic and homophobic violence. This means that in addition to homelessness, identity-based bullying, and a lack of services, LGBTQ youth who are low-income and of color, also contend with acute social isolation, harassment, violence, and poverty.

**LGBTQ youth have been organizing for their right to safe public space for over a decade. From testifying at public hearings about youth homelessness to organizing programming by and for LGBTQ youth on the piers, LGBTQ youth are leaders in creating and maintaining safe public space and holding the city accountable to addressing this epidemic of LGBTQ youth homelessness.

** LGBTQ youth who make use of the piers as a public space have reported sharp increases in police harassment, false arrest and racial and gender profiling – usually for just being in the neighborhood. Transgender women of color are disproportionally targeted for prostitution by the NYPD, which often results in illegal and invasive searches and unjust arrests. In addition, the 6th Precinct is cracking down on “Quality of Life” violations, which give police the authority to treat petty offenses such as panhandling, public urination, blocking a sidewalk, graffiti, and homelessness itself as worthy prosecution.

** The NYPD 6th Precinct in the West Village routinely uses excessive measures such as police sweeps, stop-and-frisk practices, checkpoints, subway monitoring, and street floodlights and security towers, to target and intimidate LGBTQ youth, particularly youth of color, trans women of color and homeless youth in the area. Of the nearly 3,000 stop and frisks that happened in the 6th precinct in 2011, over 76% of those stopped were African-American and Latino. Just 8% of the residents in the 6th precinct are African-American and Latino, indicating profiling of people of color, especially queer and trans youth who hang out there.

** Shame on you NY Times. The cost of such reporting is not only further dehumanization of LGBTQ youth of color but justification for the policing and criminalization of young queer people of color in the West Village.

Please Note: There is a 150 word limit for letters to the editor.

Thus, all talking points won’t fit, which is why the more letters the better! In order for this action to be effective, we’re strongly encouraging you to submit your letter by Friday, July 27th at 2pm! Please do as an individual and/or as an organization. Please spread the word, far and wide!

We would like to track how many letters are being sent, so if possible, please bcc dulani@fiercenyc.org.

Thank you SO much for your solidarity and support!

In Community,
FIERCE

http://fiercenyc.org/

Babs Siperstein

So what’s new? Janet writes a pointed and poignant article exposing how the elite establishment continues to trivialize and to a degree exploit transgender people. And what do transpeople do in reaction? Argue about trans terminology.? Labels?

And still in New York State it is legally OK to fire or not to hire a person because she or he is transgender! We are second class, no wonder the stigma is there!

Lisa Mcdonald

Babs.
I know you have fought hard through the years for what you believe in. But I think many of you who point to other issues and then point and say and your just worried about terminology. Your not getting that it is more than just terminology.Your not getting that it is also about forced politically created association, other civil rights violations, and sex discrimination and by that I’m talking just about the word “Transgender” not any other discrimination we face. I identify as heterosexual female period and there is a process through which I can attain legal recognition of that. Yet how many other legally recognized heterosexual women do you know that have to be a member of the LGBT? Or that have to be associated with drag queens? Or have to be associated with men who may or may not masturbate while wearing womens clothes?
You know what I think is the worst part of that discrimination? It is those who are claiming to want to help me and claiming that they know whats best for me that are doing it. Those people comprise the LGBT and Transgender leadership, not Focus on the Family, Not the Iowa Family Leader, or any other Conservative Christian group. It is the people claiming to be my best buddies that are shoving the knife in my back and let me tell you it hurts..

Eva Ovalle

Janet, I so look forward to hearing you speak at your next engagement in San Francisco — and, through all of this digital archiving, I hope we never forget that our most stalwart advocates were also womyn of color.

Derick

Janet,

I’ve lived on Christopher Street for six years. After 1:00 AM, when the pier closes, it becomes a dangerous, loud, and violent place. On nights like tonight, where it’s unseasonably warm, it’s a cacophony of screams, anger and hatred echoing down the corridors of the old village. I’m a supporter of LGBT, as are many of the establishments (probably all) on Christopher Street. I also know that most of those same establishments have endeavored for a long time to garner police attention to the wreckage that these crowds leave on the street most nights. There’s nothing charming or endearing about the Christopher Street I witness every night, and it’s really quite sad. The historic street has long been a haven for those unwelcome elsewhere (and should remain as such), but the crowds that surface night after night are simply caricatures of the hideous things people say about LGBT individuals. I’ve witnessed the gentrification process of the street in my time here, and it’s sad to see the color leaving as the older residents are dying off and rents continue to skyrocket. One thing I won’t be sad to see leave, which I assume it eventually will, is the post-1 AM crowd.

I don’t mean to counter your points or say anything that disagrees with you; I just hope to help present a full picture.

Keep up the good fight,
Derick