Friday Philosophy: Scanning the glbt news

In a life not dominated by the desire to change the world so that it would be a better place to live, moving would be a great excuse for taking a month away news and politics and trying to spread the word.

But my life is dominated by that mission.  

So I flipped a coin to see whether I should try to wrap some new words around an idea or two or post something old.  When one gets to be as old as I am, it gets more difficult to “write something new” since one may find that almost everything has already been addressed in the past couple of decades…or the 292 diaries posted here…or the 260 poems written.  As much as I would like for people to read my old diaries, in the spirit of learning about lives they cannot conceive, I know that the past gets forgotten very easily and reading someone’s old diaries is an unlikely occurrence.

Unfortunately for me, since it meant no nap this afternoon, on the last day before the moving begins, “something new” won.

Of course, then comes the problem of what to write about.  There could be the couple of people who have posted here about who is a “real transsexual” and who is not.  But I’m bored with that argument.  So two decades ago.  And I’ll never understand why any transperson would want to drag the inner-squabbles of the trans community outside of that community.  But people do sometimes seem overly-invested in “I’m better than you.”

So the last paragraph is more about that than I think it deserves.  But it’s enough about trans shit that it will really annoy the people who say I am a single-issue poster…the people who can’t see the universal in what I try to write…and for whom the “single issue” isn’t their issue.  And there is something to be said about seeking to annoy such people.

Fact is, when I write about other issues, like I mostly did last week, people stay away in droves.  And I try to listen to my audience.  And maybe remind people that if they want to know what I think about stuff, all they have to do is ask.  I’ve always worked better in a question and answer format in fact.

Content.  It’s time to include some content.

I’ll reject Beergate.  I’ve mostly avoided anything about that contretemps, even though I may be one of the few people here who was trained to be a (military) cop.  It’s not something I wear proudly…but neither do I want to see blanket condemnation of the police.

And the Birthers?  As if being transsexual doesn’t already disqualify me from being president, I’m sure the fact that my official birth certificate lists me as “baby Serven” would.  The “baby” is crossed out in pencil and a couple of male names were added…in pencil…nearly eight years after my birth.  How’s that for official?  And since the hospital I was born in was destroyed by a fire at some point long ago, I don’t think I can use the web to even prove that it existed.  And the fact that my former existence…before transition…is nearly invisible to Google also would make me suspect, I suppose.  Comes from transitioning before the creation of the Web.

So I took a look at the GLBT news, looking for a hook.  And I found one.  And it led to others.

Dateline Clayton, MO:  At the national meeting of the Equality Federation

Gay marriage and gays in the military may dominate the headlines, but activists in many states say their fight is much more fundamental: basic rights and protections against discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodation.

As someone who was formerly one of those state-level activists/advocates, it is sometimes heartening to note that the focus hasn’t changed.  On the other hand it is somewhat depressing to know that not much progress has been made in so many places in the past 15 years.  Protection in employment, housing, public accommodation and the freedom not to be assaulted every other Thursday have pretty much remained the short list of needs that are so basic that many of our adversaries on marriage and DADT and adoption think we already have those rights.  Yet we can’t attain them in too much of this country.

Other “local” news:

For those interested in changing the Mormon stance on gay rights, here you go:  A Plea for Reconciliation.

In St. Louis PROMO Hails St. Louis City Ordinance Requiring Inclusive Non-Discrimination Policies of City Contractors.

And there is this from Colorado:

Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) began his appointment on Friday to the U.S. Air Force Academy’s supervisory board. Polis is thought to be the first openly gay member serving on an oversight board at any service academy.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t quote Oklahoma State professor Laura Belmonte:

People ask me why I stay, but I say, ‘It doesn’t have to be this way.’  You can put your head in the oven and blow out the pilot light, or you can fight back.

That’s how I got into this business, Dr. Belmonte.  I hope your next two decades prove to be more fruitful than my last two.

Depressing stat of the week:

It found that about 31 percent of transgender respondents said they have considered attempting suicide in the past year, compared to just 2 percent for heterosexual residents, 4 percent for gay and lesbian residents and 7 percent for bisexual residents.

—Massachusetts Department of Public Health  (the data (pdf))

And for those fixated on the marriage thing :-), the British Quakers have once again come into conflict with government authority and the law by approving same-sex marriages.

Designs on a Better World Moving Moving to a new spot a new home if it can be means new neighbors new trials tribulations sometimes with always the thought that dangers can lurk that have been cast aside for the past nine years Fitting in is not always easy for those of alternate shape –Robyn Elaine Serven –July 31, 2009