Archive for August, 2006

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24
Aug

MWMF ends policy of discrimination against Trans wimmin

By vegankid 3 Comments
Categories: gender & sex

Woo hoo! Now it will be interesting to see if Camp Trans disappears or assimilates. Oh, the drama. Thanks to Jay Sennett Jaywalks for the heads up.

HART, MICHIGAN - The Michigan Women’s Music Festival began admitting openly trans (transgender/transsexual) women last week, bringing success to a longstanding struggle by trans activists both inside and outside the festival. “Seeing trans women inside the festival for the first time brought me to tears,” said Sue Ashman, who attends the festival every year. “It’s restored my faith in women’s communities.”

Ashman said “I have friends who have already committed to bringing themselves and others for the first time next year.”

Organizers of Camp Trans, the annual protest across the road from the festival, say that every year at least one trans woman at Camp Trans walks to the festival gate with a group of supporters, explains that she is trans, and tries to buy a ticket. In past years, the festival box office has produced a printed copy of the policy and refused.

“This time, the response was, ‘cash or credit?’” said Jessica Snodgrass, a Camp Trans organizer and festival attendee who spent the week reaching out to supporters inside the fest. “They said the festival has no policy barring any woman from attending.”

The woman purchased her ticket on Wednesday and joined supporters inside the festival. Another trans woman, Camp Trans organizer Emilia Lombardi, joined on Friday to facilitate a scheduled workshop discussion on the recently-retired policy.

“This kind of discussion has happened before inside the fest,” said Lombardi. “But for the first time in years, trans women were part of the conversation. Over 50 women shared their thoughts about what the inclusion of trans women means for the Festival and how we can move forward.”

“We didn’t expect to change anyone’s minds in the workshop - but in the end we didn’t need to. The support we found was overwhelming.”

Both trans women say they were moved by how friendly and supportive other festival attendees were.

“We spent all day inside the festival, talking with other women about how Michigan has grown to embrace the diversity of women’s experience,” Lombardi said. “The attitudes of festival goers have definitely shifted since the early 90’s.”

With their original mission accomplished, organizers say Camp Trans will continue to be a place for trans people and allies to build community, share ideas, and develop strategies for change. And they will keep working together with festival workers and attendees to make sure trans women who attend the fest next year have support and resources.

Camp Trans will partner with a group of supporters inside the fest next year to establish an anti-transphobia area within the festival. Representatives from Camp Trans and a group of festival workers and attendees, organizing under the name “The Yellow Armbands,” plan to educate people on trans issues and provide support to trans and differently gendered women. Festival attendees have worn yellow armbands for the past three years as a symbol of pro-trans inclusion solidarity.

Both Camp Trans and supporters at the fest say they are excited to be working together to welcome trans women and support a trans-inclusive, women-only space.

“This is not about winning,” said Snodgrass. “It’s about making our communities whole again. The policy divided people against each other who could be fighting on the same side. We want to be part of the healing process.”

Camp Trans (camp-trans.org) is an effort to end discrimination against trans women within women’s communities. For 14 years, Camp Trans has been a site for trans people and allies to protest the policy, build community, and develop strategies for change.

BACKGROUND

The festival’s policy against trans women was first enforced in 1991, when festival security ejected Nancy Burkholder from the grounds of the festival.

As the largest women-only festival of its kind, and as one of the few remaining women’s events to openly discriminate against trans women, the festival was well known for its policy, drawing criticism from trans activists and festival attendees. Two years ago, a group of attendees deployed a 25-foot banner opposing the policy during the headline act.

cross-posted at Taking Place

14
Aug

around the world #2

By vegankid 0 Comments
Categories: africa, asia, environment, latin america, middle east and war

Its that time to go for a little trip again. Being the patriot that i am, let’s start in the US again. Although we all know he’ll probably be serving his sentence in more of a resort than a prison, the WorldCom CEO’s appeal was dropped and he is still being forced to serve his 25-year sentence. Which i believe comes out to about 4 hours for every life that he ruined.

And once again we can all sit high in our Hummers as we shout “U.S.A.! #1!” Reports announce that a hacker at the 2006 Defcon Conference found a way to crack Britain’s biometric passport. Once again proving that the US breeds the best terrorists. In celebration of people that make Britain look bad, we’re gonna go for a visit in Ireland where Shell gave in to protestor demands to change the route of the pipeline in the western region.

Let’s start the trip off right and fly on over to Lebanon. Unfortunately our airport was bombed so we’re gonna have to land in Syria and take a raft. While in our raft, we realize that we’re paddling in oil because an oil plant that was bombed my Isreal has now damaged a third of Lebanon’s coast. Paddling past us in their fancy pants crew boats are some crazy Greeks, part of the international civil mission to Lebanon. And as one Isreali soldier sits in prison after refusing to fight, some folks are starting to ask, “hey wait a minute, who’s arming Isreal?” I’ll give you a hint, “U.S.A! #1!”

Ok, this place is so July 2006. Let’s go retro, cuz retro is cool. Let’s make a quick trip to Iraq! What!?! First the US drops the exclusive deal they have with Halliburton and now they are dropping Bechtel!?! This place really has gone crazy. Let’s get outta here! Next thing you know they’ll tell us these heathens aren’t building a new Starbucks every three weeks.

I changed my mind, retro is not cool. Let’s go to Iran, where its really going on. Looks like they’re busy. Iran seems to be in the middle of a card game with the US. Looks like they got nuclear research on the table. OH SHNAP! Iran just pulled the oil card! I’m getting outta here before the bullets start flying. At least the bullets seem to be fewer and further apart now at our quick pitstop in the DRC. Seems as though the nation’s first vote in 40 years is off to a good start.

As we fly over Sudan on our way to India, we see that Darfur has returned to chaos after the half-assed peace agreement is stepped upon. Good thing we skipped Sudan to land here in India. Now let’s get a Coke. What?!? No Coke? How about a Pepsi? No Pepsi!?! What? Kerala kicked out Coke and Pepsi because of the health hazards they pose? What the hell is wrong with the world? Can’t a traveler just get a nice chilled beverage/engine cleaner?

I know! We’ll go to China. Surely they would never do anything like kick out Coke or Pepsi. There we go, Walmart. We can even get a Pepsi slushie. Lookie there. Looks like China is doing for Walmart what Walmart refuses to do for the US. Walmart and China have agreed to a unionization deal. Screw this, the world has gone mad!

Unfortunately, we’re a little too late to mourn the 61st anniversary of the original Ground Zero here in Japan, but that doesn’t mean we can’t pause for a moment of contemplation.

I had planned a nice weekend getaway on the beaches of Puerto Vallarta, but we land in Mexico to find that hundreds of thousands of people once again rain on our parade with their incessant demands of “democracy” and “justice”. blah. Damn hippies need to get a job. But not in the US. If they try to get a job here we might have to shoot them. As if “democracy” and “justice” weren’t enough, now 2,000 of those silly high school students in Chile are in the streets fighting against police water cannons and batons so they can have - get this - better school equipment. What next? Free weed? Pinko commie liberal hippy terrorists have obviously brainwashed the youth.

Screw it. I’m going home to the land of the free and the home of the brave where i can down Pepsi slushies till my head hurts and i go so blind i crash my hummer into a 24-hour Taco Bell while talking on my cell phone and watching a DVD on my steering wheel.

13
Aug

letter writing sunday #15

By vegankid 1 Comment
Categories: environment and letters

This week i’m writing a letter that i don’t get to write very often - a thank you letter. As you may well be aware, on February 16, 2005 the Kyoto Protocol took effect in the 114 countries that ratified it. The US, as is well known, is not one of those countries. Many folks here in the US were pissed. After all, we have only 5% of the world’s population and yet we produce more than 25% of the world’s greenhouse gases.

One of the more notably pissed off citizens was Seattle’s Mayor Nickels. But rather than just hold a press conference to express his rage, he decided to organize. On March 30, 2005 Nickels and nine other mayors across the US, representing more than 3 million people, sent a letter to more than 400 US mayors asking them to take action to stop global climate change. On June 13, 2005 the Mayors Climate Protection Act was passed unanimously by the US Conference of Mayors. As of today, 279 mayors, representing 48.5 million people, have signed on to the agreement, including my own mayor, Mark Kruzan.

So today i’m taking the time to write a letter to the mayor thanking him for taking action to protect the planet that gives us life. If you would like to know if your mayor has signed the agreement, just enter your zipcode on stopglobalwarming.org. If your mayor has not signed the agreement, there is a button you can push that will send a pre-written email to them urging them to sign.

If you would like more information about global climate change, you can get started at OneWorld.net’s Climate Change 101. By the way, the most effective ways for you to take persynal action to stop global climate change are to drive less and bike more, eat locally grown foods, and go vegan. Stopglobalwarming.org has lots of other ways to help out (most are much easier, but not as effective). And if you want a very informative look at how your living choices effect the ecosystem, check out the Earth Day Footprint Quiz.

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