Roseanne Barr @ at function for the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center (founded by former Gay Liberation Front, Peace & Freedom Party member, and Stonewall Democratic Club founder Morris Kight)
A controversy has broken out over Roseanne Barr’s discussion of issues involving transgendered people and it has turned into a game of “telephone” over the internet. Some of the people chiming in on the discussion don’t even understand the correct terminology, using concepts like “transwomen” or casting about to create words when they already exist in the movement (I used to attend meetings of the Transgender Round Table in Los Angeles, where I got educated about the issues facing the community; not to mention that I have personal MTF friends). The correct terms are the acronyms, MTF (Male To Female) and FTM (Female To Male).
Here is the issue that sparked the controversy: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/transgender-student-womens-locker-room-raises-uproar-221516308-abc-news-topstories.html The issue: is it appropriate for a pre-operation transsexual to be in a locker room where their male genitalia is visible to women who don’t want to see it?
The discussion has degenerated with a lot of misinformation being bandied about on the issue, so people should first of all look at what she is saying about the issue, because even people trying to explain or defend her position don’t seem to have looked at what she, herself, is saying:
http://www.roseanneworld.com/blog/2012/10/some-glbtq-activists-are-complaining-about-my-campaign/
I have more than average experience at combating discrimination on the basis of gender orientation, i.e., Transgender issues. As a private investigator, I have worked on:
- An insurance discrimination case involving bad-faith failure to pay a death claim on a transvestite who listed herself as female
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The gang rape of a transsexual (MTF) intentionally placed in a male-only cell by a Wackenhut security guard at a privatized San Diego County jail in violation of policy
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The harassment of and physical attack on an L.A. County Mental Health worker (MTF) by her co-workers after a fellow employee illegally accessed her medical file and out-ed her at work.
My work on these kinds of issues and cases has convinced me over and over again of the need to both criminalize intentional workplace discrimination, harassment and retaliation. We must also legislate the Model Policy on Workplace Harassment which I authored and which was nationally adopted as policy by the League of United Latin American Citizens and which is the policy of the Same Page/Misma Pagina Coalition that includes the California League of Latin American Citizens (of which I am state director). That policy was originated by SFV/NELA NOW and introduced by then-Assembly Member Cindy Montanez in the 2002-3 California legislative term as AB 1617.
The most basic problem with this discussion is that it is taking place amongst people that may know an MTF or FTM (by the way, when I used to hang out in the drag scene at places like the Queen Mary – in Studio City not Long Beach – while working cases and because I like the scene socially, about 20 – 30 years ago the correct slang term was a “change” for people in the process or after the process of a gender reassignment surgery) here or there but who’ve never actually done anything specifically for gender orientation equality and rights. I’m actually going to ask my MTF friends what they think about the issue before I spout off any more about it and before people mouth off about Roseanne, they ought to do so as well. As an “oh by the way,” Roseanne was The Advocate “Person of the Year” in 1994 because of all the great work she’s done for the LGBTI movement, so those of you who haven’t done as much as she has should think twice before they throw stones.
For more: http://janbtucker.com/blog/2012/09/26/roseanne-barr-for-president/
