ENDA

Try swallowing instead of spitting. Or listerine.

Oh wait...sorry.

*

Yes, Mr. Joe.

Is three-quarters of a step forward a step in the best direction? I dunno either.

Maybe the only good thing is that it points up by ommission how much further the society as a whole has to go to be both intellectually and emotionally honest with itself, its citizens and with the whole rest of the universe not just the world.

Liberty and Justice for all, was, I thought, supposed to be the ideal. Oh, wait, were not talking ideal here. Especially if you have to enact actual laws to protect a huge proportion of the population from the majority, and from every kind of institution you can think up.

The only quality that makes the law 'historic' is that there has not been anything like it before -it is not historic in that LGB individuals have been accepted by society unconditionally as people who have identities and personal habits other than the way they spend money.

Still, a positive legislative dialogue and some kind of actual action is a bit remarkable. Just don't expect state law makers to show up at Rapture any time soon, let alone find them inviting gender vairant folks to dinner.

The version of ENDA that passed is far from perfect but c'mon guys, it's a pretty big deal. This measure has been kicked around for the better part of 30 years. Any time the civil rights of anybody are boosted, it's a good thing, whether it's the rights of one person or a million people. I hear what everyone is saying ... being from the club world and knowing far more Ts and variants than the average queen or dyke will ever know, those of us on these Boards are more sensitve to their situation than most. It's irritating to mention "incrementalism" but when one looks at the history of civil rights in this country, one sees the undeniable pattern that change came through incremental steps, and each rung achieved paves the way for more progress. Will the removal of the T component set the cause of T protection back or help it happen faster? Honestly I don't know. But when faced with the choice of losing the entire bill, it becomes a much tougher proposition to tangle with.

At my job I'm the communications director for an internal volunteer networking group for LGBT colleagues. All the big U.S. companies have groups like this now ... "diversity & inclusion" has become something corporations compete to be known for, believe it or not. And lots of these same companies, including mine, have publicly signed letters of support for passing the original version of ENDA. Anyway, every year my company sends those of us who run the networking group to the Out & Equal Summit, a big conference put on by this San Fran non-profit advocacy group that fights for equality in the workplace. This year the summit was in DC, and news of ENDA's alteration by Barney Frank (stripping the gender identity portion from the bill) broke while we were at the conference. Naturally there was a lot of outrage from the Ts there, and a good number of fags and dykes too. Ts are in actuality the portion of the LGBT community that is the most vulnerable and in need of such protections ... and Joe you raise a point I often make to Abercrombie queens prancing down Eighth Avenue: the trannies are the ones who shit-kicked a podium for all of us onto the stage to begin with. But when I got home and the dust had settled, I realized that perhaps Barney Frank and his co-sponsors were seeing Capitol Hill realities I wasn't. And full disclosure I've always scratched my head at LGBT activists that take up "all or nothing" positions, like those in Connecticut that nearly derailed the recently-signed civil union bill when they couldn't get full marriage in one fell swoop. They were actually prepared to walk away from significant legal protections delivered to hundreds of thousands of people in a matter of weeks for an ideal that probably won't happen for years. It just didn't seem logical to me. I always think of Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra telling Ceaser "Accept whatever crumb the Roman Senate throws you! Keep taking and taking, a little more and still a little more, until finally you have it all."

Besides, ENDA still faces a lot of obstacles. It may never clear the Senate, and of course President "War Under False Pretenses" Bush will veto it. We may have to wait until a new leadership is in place anyway. ENDA's congressional victory may end up being just symbolic.

My ex-girlfriend is at Lambda Legal and told me all about disputes over various measures that would extend civil rights protections for LGB, but NOT for LGBTQQ.

Sometimes ideology would lead Lambda to a position--the more fair, more inclusive--that would be more sure to go down in flames. (There was (is?) a joke around Lambda that just being associated with the joint turned you into a gay white male chauvinist. It's not really like that.)

(There. Now somebody ask me about my shows coming up Wed. and Thurs.)

I'm not terribly well-informed about ENDA, but on many levels transgendered people are winning their rights. E.g. a friend of mine who works for a major TV network was able to get part of her surge paid for through her insurance company. AND the rest she was able to write off on her taxes as necessary surgery not covered by insurance.

After her operation her co-workers gave her party, took up a colection and gave her presents. There was also a booklet that went the rounds on how to deal with the transition. I thought it was all very properly done.

Of course the bigger the corporation, the bigger the potential lawsuit. But no-one made the co-workers throw a party.

Honestly I think Candis popping up on 'Good Morning America' and 'The View' is having and will have a huge impact on the transgender front. Of course there is still much work to be done in terms of mass understanding of the topic, even among gays and lesbians. But it takes honestly I think it takes someone like Candis to get middle America to get it. Funny ... some older t-women I know sometimes wax nostalgic about the 70s ... they say it was easier for them to "pass" back then, because people were less sophisticated then about such things. Yet even they acknowledge the progress that's been made and how uninhibited today's youth is and less constrained by traditional notions of gender and identity.

Re: ENDA ... I just can't get away from the idea that if you've improved the civil rights of even ONE person, that's a good thing. And for those who've been left out of that victory, it just means the activists have to keep fighting, that's all. In that sense nothing has really changed ... the fight is still here and we have to keep going.