HRC apologized for MAKING promises, but not for BREAKING them
Current mood: betrayed


I dont know how many of you are aware, but Joe S did make an apology to a few Transfolk behind closed doors. The point is that he apologized for "MIS-SPEAKING" at SCC in 2007. The apology was NOT for the betrayal of that promise.

Joe was apologizing for giving the Transgender people a verbal contract, not for breeching it. HRC has not ceased support of the 2007 decision in support of a non-inclusive ENDA. Where is the promise of EQUALITY? Isnt EQUALITY HRC's VERY LOGO? Where is the EQUALITY IN EXCLUSION??????

To quote one very astute Trans person: "HRC seems to be using the Transfolk as something to scare society with.... "Give us what we want or we will include the Trannys!"

HRC was a nominee for the dubious PINK BRICK AWARD. This award is given typically to organizations and people who oppose and oppress LGBT people. HRC also had the dishonor of being the FIRST LGBT organization ever nominated for the LGBT Raspberry. http://ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=2753 Other nominees are Bill O'Rielly, Jesse Helms, George Bush (twice), Arnold Schwartznegger, etc. This is who we equate HRC with: the worst of the lot.

I am appalled by Maddy Goss and Diego Sanchez's apparent willingness to offer an olive branch to the very organization that broke a solemn commitment to the Transgender community. Have we so quickly forgotten that HRC took our volunteer time and money only to throw us off the ENDA bus? Transfolk were discarded like second rate citizens despite the verbal commitment that we were included as EQUALS. Where was the equality when the rubber met the road?

How many times must we be blatantly lied to before we stop trusting the liar?

What do we need HRC for?

Aren't there enough LGBT and TG organizations already who stood by us at ENDA?

Isn't every dollar that we give to HRC one less for the Task Force? One less For PFLAG, NCLR, Transgender Law Center? One less for NCTE, and for the World Gender Coalition?

Why support the ONLY organization that was willing to throw us away when EVERY other LGBT organization stayed with us?

If you are Trans or Pro-Trans, why would you support the ONLY LGBT organization to betray Transpeople?

PLEASE support the rest of the LGBT organizations. ANY of them.

Now that we have found a wolf in sheep's clothing, some of the sheep want to go play with it? I hope that the rest of the sheep are paying attention!

Transpeople CANNOT count on HRC. I cant believe that this even needs to be mentioned. Do NOT believe the "sheep-ish wolves" that have betrayed you with promises. You do NOT need to befriend this known traitor, when there are over 300 LGBT organizations that have proven their friendship.

We heard the same promises a year ago when it was time to raise money and to volunteer. If HRC had made a retraction of their support for a non-inclusive ENDA this would be a different story. BUT HRC STILL STANDS BY THE NON-INCLUSIVE ENDA. WAKE UP!!!

HRC STANDS BY NON-INCLUSIVE ENDA. Is this clear enough?

Transgender is NOT equal, NOT first priority at HRC. STOP BEING USED as a scare tactic!

You deserve better than the crumbs off of the Trickle Down table. Havent we seen enough Republican Trickle down theory to know that Trickle down DOES NOT WORK?????

You are either equal or you are not.

Are civil unions equal to marriage? NO. Is Inclusion equal to NON-inclusion:? NO.

Somebody PLEASE get through to Diego Sanchez and Maddy Goss? Get the smelling salts, use a defibrilator, smack them if you must. But WAKE UP!

HRC is about LGB and T as needed. THEY PROVED THAT ALREADY!!!! HELLO???? PLEASE SUPPORT ANY OTHER LGBT organization. EVERYONE EXCEPT HRC stayed with us in ENDA. EVERYONE EXCEPT HRC. Repeat this until you get it. Please make sure that everyone understands this?

Veronica,
You are exactly right and spelled it out so well. HRC's only interest is our wallets. As long as they are supported they will believe we support them. What will it take for the TG community to see that? Do we need Washington supporting TG inclusion and HRC fighting against it for people to open their eyes?
Hugs,
Marsha

I have read the delusional ideas that Maddy Goss is currently spewing. She obviously swallowed the propaganda press release from HRC claiming credit for the recent congressional subcommittee hearing.

That hearing was the result of hard work by Mara Kiesling of NCTE. HRC had nothing to do with it, nor with the introduction of the trans specific H.R. 3686 employment non discrimination bill, yet they are quick to slap their brand on it and parade their new batch of token trannies about like organ grinder monkeys, dancing on a leash soliciting coins for their master's little tin cup.

After the recent boycott of the HRC Gala in San Francisco by prominent California politicians, and most notably, keynote speaker L.A. Mayor Villagairosa, and the appearance of some 300 protesters on the picket line out in front of the Gala event, HRC is examining not their policies, but their bottom line.

These Gala events nationwide directly provide a large portion of HRC's operating budget, and the propaganda and photo opportunities these events create go a long way toward soliciting donations by other means. HRC can't afford for these fundraising opportunities to become a platform for those of us who would let the truth be known about their disdain for the trans community, in whose behalf they would presume to speak.

I would certainly encourage any of our members, if HRC is coming to your town, to participate in any protest action planned by your local trans advocacy group, or to organize such an action yourselves. Continued efforts to chip away at their funding will never have the effect of changing HRC's views concerning the trans community. Their history of repeated betrayal clearly indicates that no matter what policy statements arise from HRC in reaction to the outcry against them, stating their "unwavering support" for transgender inclusion, they are simply not to be trusted.

Whenever I walk past HRC headquarters on Rhode Island Ave., I look at the description inscribed in the granite facade on the building, and I think about renting a sandblaster for a midnight raid to remove the word "transgender."

Veronica and I have been friends for some time, and we generally find ourselves in agreement in these matters. Our views have not necessarily been popular among the trans activist community, but most people are coming round to our way of thinking. Fact is, we haven't really had to do much convincing. HRC does something every day that supports our allegations. The call to action is out there now. The time for us to take charge of our own struggle is now. Let's repossess our voice from these liars. Let it be known that HRC does NOT have our best interest at heart, and that they do NOT speak for us.

**WARNING: Mina's being b*tchy!**

Golly gee...I'm so surprised.

**shakes head**

I'm glad somebody else has finally picked up on the fact that HRC treats us like redheaded bitch stepchildren. (Don't believe me? Think I'm just joining this bandwagon? Read this article...from 2004. http://www.sakuramina.com/id210.htm.

The HRC could care less until they need to swell their ranks or are hard pressed for funds. Then we are courted, wined, dined...

...and then screwed all over again.

I, for one, am tired of this. You should be too! Don't support the HRC; support truly trans-friendly groups, such as PFLAG, NCTE, NCLR, etc. Put your hard earned money where it'll do us the most good. We need simple, basic rights, the rights that ENDA should have provided us. Since HRC is standing by their non-trans inclusive ENDA, I think we should "enda" our support for them.

Dr. Minako Sakura

Thursday August 21, 2008

Hello. This is Victoria S. in Durham, N.C. I am transgendered (mtf), and I actively oppose HRC for what they did to the transgendered,

http://victoriasjourney.com/docs/Summary%20Page%20of%20HRC-Related%20Material.htm

A quick review of the links on that page will tell you that I am a vocal critic of HRC viz-a-viz the transgendered.

While searching for non-related information, I've recently come across Maddy Goss' name in critical discussions, e.g. here

http://gendersociety.com/perl/community/cforums.cgi?forumid=9790124245322&threadid=9990295432894&action=thread

and here

http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-9aXiJVk1cqF3Ze7vBl64tG1mrMXC?p=62

http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-9aXiJVk1cqF3Ze7vBl64tG1mrMXC

With only a few exceptions, I would have "gone after" any transgendered person person who advocates under the HRC banner, as I did regarding Susan Stanton, in an attempt to stem the havoc that she was causing,

http://victoriasjourney.com/Susan_Stanton.html

However, I've known Maddy for nearly two years now - well before the HRC / ENDA debacle unfolded, and she was, and remains, a good friend - my friend. Quite simply, "to know Maddy is to love Maddy." Maddy was actively involved with HRC prior to November 2007, and - despite our attempts to sway her - remains committed to "working from within" that organization to advocate for the transgendered. She is principled, and willing to suffer for those principles, good-naturedly. You've got to respect that sincerity and determination, whether or not you personally agree with it. It's been hard on both of us, but the fact that we can remain friends and work together on transgender-related issues speaks volumes about our mutual respect, I believe.

All the while, Maddy has remained connected and active in the transgender community at the grassroots level, including several local support groups. So, who knows, perhaps some some good will come of all of this, eventually. The following post (yesterday) indicates that despite nearly 10 months having elapsed since passage of the trasgender-excluding HR-3685 ENDA bill,

http://victoriasjourney.com/docs/ENDA.htm

including the numerous protests against HRC (online and at their Gala Dinners / fund-raisers), that many within the GLBT community still "do not get it" or are otherwise ignorant of the maelstrom blowing around them:

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[ Begin quoted text: ]

From: "Terri" (msterrits@...)
To: Trans-Carolina@...
Subject: [Trans-Carolina] Voodoo Politics
Date: Wednesday August 20, 2008

Now I tend to wonder just what kind politics the upper class of HRC is trying to pull ,because while out and about this past weekend. Wendy and I had the opportunity to talk with two of the local members of HRC board members and both sides learned a few things. They were two were gay men, who were attempting to represent both the gay community and the local members of HRC. It was also obvious that they truly were interested in bridging the communication gap between the TG community and the gay community.

[However] they were totally unaware of the stunt pulled at SCC by Joe and his promises made about not leaving anyone behind, and also the events in California where the keynote speaker refused to cross the picket line. Even pior to learning these events they stated openly that we had been wronged, but did not truly understand the depth of the betrayal that we feel. Both of these individuals stated that it was their opinion that due to the actions of HRC that the transgendered community is reacting and uniting and becoming, in their words, the new Stonewall in this era.

Ladies, our voices are being heard. We are being recognized as a community and a force to be dealt with. There are many who are seeing that we cannot or will not be ignored.

We have to put aside our personal differences and continue to unite and stand together. Only this way will we be able to acheive our goals as equal human beings. But we also must put forth every effort to bridge the gap between the transgendered and the LGB communities.

Kisses, Terri

[ End of quoted text ]
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Thank you for allowing me the opportunity share this information.

With hugs to all,

Sincerely,

Victoria S.,
Durham, N.C.

http://victoriasjourney.com
[email protected]

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P.S. Here is my most recent commentary regarding HRC:

Commentary - Victoria S. - August 11, 2008:
[In a post to the Charlotte Gender Alliance, a North Carolina transgender support group of which I am a member]

[Excerpted:]

Good evening all - That phrase, "transgender civil war," was mine - I really hadn't intended to offend anyone with those words, so I apologize for that. Also, I'm sensitive to the fact that most people are tired of discussing HRC and ENDA, and I also wish that we could move beyond those discussions.

Nevertheless, nationally and locally, this is an issue that does concern all of us, whether we like it or not. How much energy has been devoted on this issue, nationally, since the transgender-excluding ENDA was passed last November?

The simple fact is that the single largest source of this division, from that time to the present, arises due to refusal of the HRC executive to address this issue head-on, resolve it's differences with our community, and support UnitedENDA. How difficult could it be for HRC to do this?

Instead, 9 months after the vote on the transgender-excluding ENDA bill in the House of Representatives [click here for a summary], we have the situation that occurred at HRC's Annual Dinner a few weeks ago in San Francisco [refer above], with politicians (rightly) refusing to cross a unionized picket line, plus other protests by the transgendered community, as a group and on an individual basis.

Despite this and other protests - that surely must be affecting them - HRC can't see the light, and stubbornly sticks to it's guns. This was my frame-of-reference when I used my "transgender civil war" phrase - referring to HRC versus the transgendered community.

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I would like to start by pointing out that Veronica lives where she is already protected by state laws regarding gender discrimination. Clearly she sees that none of us are free unless all of us are free. I did not give up much of my first twenty years of life as a military dependent to be forced to choose a single state to live in. I earned the right to live anywhere in America by not having a hometown when I grew up.

Joe Solomonese has not been removed from his leadership in the HRC, so no matter what the other leaders purport to be the truth, the HRC cannot be trusted because Joe cannot be trusted.

It's no longer a question of whether we are "in the closet" but whether we are being locked in the closet and whether our "friends" are throwing away our key. I personally believe that the majority of GLBT people ethically feel we must fight for the civil rights of all, not just our sub-group. I believe this because I lived in Silverlake, CA for six years with thousands of very out GLBT persons and I listened and saw who they were EVERY SINGLE DAY. The truth is that one day they WILL come for you if you keep silent about abuse of your neighbors.

Brad Sherman, Representative of the 27th Congressional District of CA, member of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus, , co-sponsor of the MILITARY READINESS ENHANCEMENT ACT (H.R. 1246) which retroactively repeals "Don't ask, don't tell" retroactively and a cosponsor of the inclusive H.R 2015 ENDA bill. He has also voted agains US Constitutional Gay Marriage Ban amendments. Despite his good intentions, however, HRC is manipulating him and he has chosen to see H.R. 3685 non-inclusive ENDA. He does not see that this seriously impairs TG persons ability to gain similar rights and singles them out as a group that it is OK to discriminate against. He needs to be told by more people that HRC does not represent the welfare of TG persons in the US and we have withdrawn out support of the HRC and that his support of non-inclusive ENDA will harm all TG persons by leaving us the forgotten, perverted, "Palestinians" of the GLBT community in the eyes of non-GLBT America. He also needs to be clear that most GLB persons backed the inclusive ENDA and not the non-inclusive ENDA. His duties do extend to US matters outside of the state of CA with membership in such Committees as the COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY and the LGBT EQUALITY CAUCUS
.
Email: Sherman,[email protected]

http://BradSherman.house.gov