I have a feeling that there aren’t a lot of transgender people who want to go back and live 2008 over again. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve had the feeling all year that most of those that I know in the transgender community have been going through a period of defeatism, apathy and angst throughout 2008.
At the end of 2007 the transgender community was blatently betrayed by the leadership in congress, Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank as well as the leadership of the Human Rights Campaign.
I was at the Southern Comfort Conference to attend the First Transgender Career Expo in September of 2007 when Joe Solmonese had the audacity to give the keynote address of the largest transgender conference in the world and proceed to tell blatent bold-faced lies to 900 transgender people.
I had volunteered at numerous fundraisers for the Human Rights Campaign in 2007. I worked in the rain for them. I worked in the cold for them. I promoted them at every chance. I wear a necklace to this day that I was given by the SHOWTIME channel when doing a fundraiser for HRC that is inscribed with the word ‘HOPE.’
“November 7: HR 3685 passed 235 to 184, 14 not voting. 35 Republicans vote for the bill, 7 Democrats voted against bill because Gender Identity was removed.” ENDA passes the house without transgender inclusion.
HRC and the House leadership conspired to remove transgender people from the ENDA legislation as HRC blackmailed politicians with their ’scorecard’ to give them a bad rating if they voted against the non-trans-inclusive legislation. Some legislators stood with us. Some did not.
I mention this because that betrayal, defeat and fragmentation of the TLBG community carried over into 2008. The transgender community in 2008 never fully recovered from the events of late 2007.
Effective leadership in the transgender community was non-existent in 2008.
Just like every year previous, transgender people continuted to die at the hands of violent murderers.
Many suffered from anti-gay violence in 2008
Michael Savage - Calls transgender murder victim a “psychopath” and a “freak”
Man charged in the beating death of transgender woman - Angie Zapata
“When Andrade confronted Zapata and discovered she was biologically male, he punched her with his fists then hit her with a fire extinguisher, according to the arrest affidavit.Andrade told police he thought he “killed it,” and covered Zapata with a blanket and started cleaning up the apartment. When Andrade heard a “gurgling” sound and the blanket rise he again hit Zapata in the head with the fire extinguisher, police said.”
There were a few incidents in 2008 for which victory can be claimed.
The lawsuit against the Library of Congress for transsexual discrimination against ex-Army Special Forces officer Diane Schroer was won on the basis of discrimination based on gender. (link)
“This is potentially very significant, partly because the case is against the federal government, which could impact federal employment policy and people all over the country,” said employment discrimination scholar Arthur Leonard of New York Law School. “It also is addressing an emerging issue as to whether people whose gender identity differs from the norm would be protected by the law’s provisions against sex discrimination.” (link)
I’m sure that there were other victories for the transgender community in 2008. In a small part, the launching of this site at the end of August was a small victory in it’s own small way.
BUT ALL OF THE VICTORIES OF 2008 COMBINED WILL NEVER OUTWEIGH THE LOSSES.
ANNOUNCEMENT:
In 2009, I’ve decided to expand the TJobBank site from a national employment site to a worldwide employment site for transgender people.
I’m also planning on enlisting the assistance of experts for assistance in building the site to be the premier resource for employment of transgender people in the world by the end of 2009. From it’s new base near Phoenix Arizona, TJobBank will also be adding local resources for each major city in the US and around the world for transgender employment.
It’s a tall order, but I think it’s going to take BIG victories to outweigh the betrayals of 2007 and the murders of 2008.
I want us to have BIG victories in 2009. We deserve it and we need it.