Connect with us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Great article! One slip-up, though, I think you meant Angela Douglas (not
Angela Davis)was the founder of TAO in 1970. Angela Davis was busy fighting
other forms of discrimination back then.
Best regards.
DOWNLOAD
SITE SEARCH
EMAIL UPDATES
Want to keep on top of what's going on in our community? It's easy! SIGN UP TODAY for the Dallas Voice's weekly Email update and have the latest news and information sent directly to you.
EMAIL ADDRESS
EMAIL ADDRESS
Last Updated: Aug 18, 2009 - 3:10:55 PM
Trans-cending time
By Renee Baker Contributing Writer
Jun 18, 2009 - 7:22:58 PM
Tracing the modern transgender rights movement from its beginnings in the dress code reform of the 1800s up through Stonewall to today, when Texas A&M has honored trans advocate Phyllis Frye
The transgender movement since the Stonewall Riots, especially in the last 30 years, has gained an almost surprising strength and a proud sense of validation. Its rich history is closely tied to both gay and feminist liberation movements, which seek various forms of gender freedom.
Those desired freedoms have come in many forms such as in regard to the right of equal opportunity employment and the right to control and change one’s own body.
Feminists in the U.S. started initially fighting for gender freedom and equality for women in the mid-1800s, when city populations began to accumulate and gatherings could take place. Dress code reform was an important part of this first wave of feminism, and Amelia Bloomer argued that the long skirts and heavy undergarments of the day were a hindrance and form of bondage.
This firestorm of dress rebellion set off an anti-feminist backlash leading to the passage of laws throughout the country prohibiting the wearing of clothing of the opposite sex. The clear goal of these laws — one of which was passed in Dallas in 1880 — was to maintain distinct categories of men and women. Cross-dressing would not be tolerated.
Transgender liberation and gay liberation are perhaps most intimately bonded today in their common struggle to validate domestic partnerships. FTM (female-to-male) and MTF (male-to-female) transgender marriages continue to frustrate state lawmakers who are inconsistent nationwide as to what constitutes a legitimate heterosexual marriage when one partner has changed their sex.
Gay advocacy organizations have other common interests with transgender organizations, such as employment nondiscrimination, HIV healthcare and hate crimes legislation. But they have not always agreed on how progress should be made. Gay and lesbian organizations have not always been welcoming or supportive of transgender individuals, but relationships have grown more solid since the AIDS epidemic of the early 1990s.
Feminists and transgender advocates have also split on any number of issues surrounding body/identity politics and the use of personal spaces such as bathrooms, prisons and women’s shelters.
What continues today to be of utmost importance to the transgender movement is the right to define one’s own gender identity regardless of body anatomy and to express that identity.
Another issue of importance includes the right to change one’s sex, which is still illegal in four states today.
Transgender history cannot be understood without recognizing that sexologists and other medical professionals of the past have tended to pathologize any gender-variant behavior. Even today, the entry “Gender Identity Disorder” in the American Psychiatric Association’s “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” remains intact and controversial. Dr. Kelley Winters, a GID reform advocate, calls for compassion, saying, “It is time for the medical professions to affirm that difference is not disease.”
The Stonewall rebellion has become an important historical event for transgenders, because transgender individuals fought back against corrupt police injustice. Transgender individuals have historically been a central target for anti-gay sentiment and actions because of gender-variant attributes.
But Stonewall, while considered the most important single event signifying the beginning of the gay movement, was not the first.
In the late 1950s and ‘60s, predating the Stonewall Riots, several smaller riots across the country had broken out in response to police discrimination against gender-variant and gay individuals. Key events, as documented by Susan Stryker, include the riot at Cooper’s Donuts in 1959 in Los Angeles, the Dewey’s Coffeehouse Riot in 1965 in Philadelphia and the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot in 1966 in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood.
These smaller events, alongside other movements of the day, including the anti-war movement and Black Power, were indicative that the time was ripe for a gay and transgender movement to begin, and clearly that movement would not step forward without transgender individuals.
1969
On Saturday, June 28, the Stonewall Inn, a Mafia-run gay bar in Greenwich Village, is raided by police officers arresting gender nonconforming patrons and workers, hauling them off in paddy wagons. Though reports vary, transgender individuals such as Sylvia Rivera have been cited as among the first to resist police harassment.
This same year, Stanley Biber performs his first sex change operation and his practice in Trinidad, Colo., later becomes known as the “Sex Change Capital of the World.”
1970
Angela Douglas leaves the Gay Liberation Front, established in response to Stonewall, on grounds of anti-transgender sentiment and forms TAO (Transsexual Activist Organization), the first international grassroots transgender organization.
1971
Transgender woman Paula Grossman, a music teacher at Cedar Hill Elementary School in Basking Ridge, N.J., is fired on the grounds she was “an impairment of the school system.” Grossman lost her case at the N.J. state and federal levels and was denied a U.S. Supreme Court appeal.
1972
Transgender woman and lesbian singer Beth Elliot is ousted from the Daughters of Bilitis, the first lesbian rights organization in the U.S., on the grounds she wasn’t “really a woman,” causing a schism in the organization. Elliot, though, is embraced by a two-thirds majority of lesbians at the 1973 Westcoast Lesbian Feminist Conference and allowed to musically perform.
1973
Love it or hate it, the world is introduced to Dr. Frank N. Furter, the self-identified “sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania,” in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” originally a British stage musical.
1974
British historian and transgender woman Jan Morris publishes her transitional memoir “Conundrum,” and is later named by The Times as one of Britain’s top 15 writers since The War.
1975
Fantasia Fair makes its debut in P-town and has today become the longest-running annual transgender event.
1976
Transgender man and science teacher Steve Dain is arrested for “disturbing the peace” in his Emeryville, Calif. high school classroom when an administrator overreacts to his transition.
Transgender woman Renee Richards is barred from the tennis U.S. Open.
1977
Mario Martino’s memoir “Emergence” becomes the first FTM transgender autobiography published.
Sandy Stone, an MTF transsexual woman and recording engineer, is targeted as invading women’s spaces at Olivia Records, and subsequently resigns.
1978
A Philadelphia art teacher is fired on the grounds of “incompetency and immorality,” and becomes another statistic of transgender firings.
1979
Janice Raymond, a doctoral student of Mary Daly, publishes her book, “The Transsexual Empire: The Making of the She-Male,” which becomes the most widely known anti-transgender publication even to today.
1980
The American Psychiatric Association adds “Gender Identity Disorder” to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, seven years after removing “Homosexuality,” prompting widespread debate and calls for reform lasting to this day.
1981
Pilot Karen Ulane sues Eastern Airlines for $4 million after being fired because of her sex reassignment operation. Though she originally won her case, it iss overturned on appeal and that decision is let stand by the U.S. Supreme Court on the grounds that transgender people are neither men nor women and hence not protected by laws prohibiting sex discrimination.
1982
The 1982 Academy Awards bring three gender-bending films into the light, including “Victor/Victoria,” “The World According to Garp” and “Tootsie.” The four nominated actors — Robert Preston, Julie Andrews, John Lithgow and Dustin Hoffman — all lose their bids.
1983
In France, doctors announce they have identified the virus causing AIDS. HIV remains a high risk factor for the transgender population today. The AIDS epidemic, through the formation of support organizations, has been noted as an impetus in bringing LGB and T individuals closer together.
1984
Anthropologist Gayle Rubin, in her influential article “Thinking Sex,” challenges feminism as being an appropriate framework to study sexuality. Her work leads to the founding of sexuality and queer studies programs, which see transgenderism as a serious topic of study rather than just a curiosity.
1985
William Hurt wins an Academy Award for his role as a cross-dressing effeminate gay character in “Kiss of the Spider Woman.”
1986
Harry Benjamin, a German endocrinologist known as the “Father of Transsexualism” for his pioneering clinical transsexual work, dies at the age of 101.
Lou Sullivan, a transgender man in San Francisco, forms the first female-to-male transgender support group which grows into FTM International, the largest FTM group in the world today.
1987
The nonprofit International Foundation for Gender Education (IFGE), publisher of the flagship magazine Transgender Tapestry, is founded in Boston to help overcome transgender intolerance.
1988
Twenty years before transgender man Thomas Beattie announces he is pregnant, molecular biologist Lee Silver addresses a New Jersey task force, stating future reproductive technologies will allow males to give birth.
1989
Jazz musician and band leader Billy Tipton dies at age 74, and it is revealed he had been breast-binding and genital packing to hide his transgender male status.
Christine Jorgensen, the first individual widely known to have undergone sex reassignment, dies of lung cancer at age 62.
1990
Philosopher Judith Butler publishes “Gender Trouble” and promotes the concept that the reality of gender for everyone is in the “doing of it” rather than an inherent essentialist quality of the body, which becomes a central tenet of transgender self-understanding.
1991
Holly Boswell writes her influential essay “The Transgender Alternative” in Chrysalis Quarterly, leading to a widespread gender-bending grassroots movement empowered by use of the unifying term “transgender.”
Southern Comfort, now the largest transgender conference, holds its seminal “family” gathering, giving many their first chance to feel accepted and normal.
Pioneering surgeon Douglas Ousterhout publishes his life-changing facial feminization (FFS) surgical technique for transgender women in “Aesthetic Contouring of the Craniofacial Skeleton.”
1992
Moviegoers who watch the film “Crying Game” are asked to “keep the secret!”
1993
Transgender man Brandon Teena and two friends, Lisa Lambert and Phillip DeVine, are murdered south of Humboldt, Neb., on New Year’s Eve by two men who had found out Teena had a vagina.
1994
Leslie Feinberg wins the Stonewall Book Award for her groundbreaking and influential book on gender, “Stone Butch Blues.”
Internet browsing explodes with the release of Netscape Navigator, bringing together isolated transgender individuals and providing transitional resources.
1995
Emergency medical technicians refuse medical treatment and ridicule transgender woman Tyra Hunter after she is injured in a car accident and discovered to have a penis; Hunter’s family is awarded $2.9 million in her wrongful death suit.
1996
Transgender man Robert Eads is refused medical treatment for ovarian cancer by more than two dozen doctors; his life and death are filmed in the movie “Southern Comfort.”
1997
Raped transgender woman Dee Farmer loses her U.S. Supreme Court case alleging prison officials knew of her pre-operative transgender status, but failed to take steps to protect her from sexual assault, from which she contracts HIV. She dies in 2005.
1998
The unsolved murder of transgender woman Rita Hester in Boston inspires Gwendolyn Smith and other activists to begin the “Remembering Our Dead” project, which leads to Transgender Day of Remembrance vigils being held nationwide each November.
1999
Feleshia Porter, a former Grand Marshal of the Alan Ross Texas Freedom Parade and a recipient of the Extra Mile Award, begins her now preeminent Dallas counseling practice supporting gender transitions.
In San Antonio, the 4th Court of Appeals rules the seven-year Kentucky marriage of Jonathan Littleton to Christine Littleton, a post-operative transsexual woman, to be invalid as Christine was “created and born male.”
Pfc. Barry Winchell is murdered by a fellow soldier for dating transgender actress Calpernia Addams, leading President Bill Clinton to order a review of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
2000
Truck driver Peter Oiler is fired by Winn-Dixie for cross-dressing outside of work and loses his case when a U.S. district judge rules Oiler’s claims did not fall under Title VII, the federal statute outlawing sex discrimination, or under Price Waterhouse v. Cooper, barring sex stereotyping in the workplace.
2001
San Francisco becomes the first city in the nation to pay for gender reassignment surgeries.
The terrorist attacks on 9/11 result in increased security measures, increased attention to travel documentation and more stringent requirements for state identification, thus complicating travel matters for many transgender individuals seeking international surgeries.
2002
Ethan St. Pierre forms the TransFM Internet broadcasting network giving a voice to all GLBTQI individuals.
2003
Transgender teenager Gwen Araujo is brutally murdered by a group of young men after they discover her male genitalia; the young men’s attorneys unsuccessfully argue Araujo was deceptive regarding her transgender identity, resulting in a justified “trans panic.”
The Vatican issues a ruling stating that the church will not recognize the new gender of Catholics undergoing sex reassignment.
The National Center for Transgender Equality is formed in Washington, D.C.
2004
Identical twin sisters Liana and Juanita Barbachano become brother and sister when Juanita undergoes hormone treatments and surgery to become Juan, giving researchers evidence that identical genes do not predict identical behaviors.
2005
Felicity Huffman receives an Academy Award nomination and a dozen other Best Actress awards for her role as a transsexual woman in “Trans America,” leading to increased nationwide transgender awareness.
2006
Resource Center Dallas begins its Gender Education, Advocacy and Resources (GEAR) program providing Transgender Health Night at the Nelson-Tebedo clinic and transgender services such as community networking.
2007
Transgender woman Donna Rose, a member of HRC’s Board of Directors, and transgender man Jamison Green, a member of the HRC Business Council, both resign in response to the organization’s position on the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA).
Stu Rasmussen becomes America’s first openly transgender mayor in Silverton, Ore.
2008
Memphis police are caught on tape beating transgender woman Duanna Johnson, who is murdered 10 months later before her lawsuit against the city is settled.
Special Forces veteran Diane Schroer wins a landmark sex discrimination lawsuit against the U.S. Library of Congress, affirming that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act states discrimination against someone for changing genders is sex discrimination.
2009
In College Station, Texas A&M names its Advocacy Award after Phyllis Frye, a transgender advocate and Houston attorney who changed the city’s law against cross-dressing.
For more information, see historian Susan Stryker’s recent book “Transgender History.”
Renee Baker is a licensed massage therapist and transgender diversity consultant. She can be reached on her Web site at www.renee-baker.com.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition June 19, 2009.
 |
| Dr. Kelley Winters |
Those desired freedoms have come in many forms such as in regard to the right of equal opportunity employment and the right to control and change one’s own body.
Feminists in the U.S. started initially fighting for gender freedom and equality for women in the mid-1800s, when city populations began to accumulate and gatherings could take place. Dress code reform was an important part of this first wave of feminism, and Amelia Bloomer argued that the long skirts and heavy undergarments of the day were a hindrance and form of bondage.
This firestorm of dress rebellion set off an anti-feminist backlash leading to the passage of laws throughout the country prohibiting the wearing of clothing of the opposite sex. The clear goal of these laws — one of which was passed in Dallas in 1880 — was to maintain distinct categories of men and women. Cross-dressing would not be tolerated.
Transgender liberation and gay liberation are perhaps most intimately bonded today in their common struggle to validate domestic partnerships. FTM (female-to-male) and MTF (male-to-female) transgender marriages continue to frustrate state lawmakers who are inconsistent nationwide as to what constitutes a legitimate heterosexual marriage when one partner has changed their sex.
Gay advocacy organizations have other common interests with transgender organizations, such as employment nondiscrimination, HIV healthcare and hate crimes legislation. But they have not always agreed on how progress should be made. Gay and lesbian organizations have not always been welcoming or supportive of transgender individuals, but relationships have grown more solid since the AIDS epidemic of the early 1990s.
Feminists and transgender advocates have also split on any number of issues surrounding body/identity politics and the use of personal spaces such as bathrooms, prisons and women’s shelters.
 |
| Feleshia Porter |
Another issue of importance includes the right to change one’s sex, which is still illegal in four states today.
Transgender history cannot be understood without recognizing that sexologists and other medical professionals of the past have tended to pathologize any gender-variant behavior. Even today, the entry “Gender Identity Disorder” in the American Psychiatric Association’s “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” remains intact and controversial. Dr. Kelley Winters, a GID reform advocate, calls for compassion, saying, “It is time for the medical professions to affirm that difference is not disease.”
The Stonewall rebellion has become an important historical event for transgenders, because transgender individuals fought back against corrupt police injustice. Transgender individuals have historically been a central target for anti-gay sentiment and actions because of gender-variant attributes.
But Stonewall, while considered the most important single event signifying the beginning of the gay movement, was not the first.
 |
| Trans activist Sylvia Rivera |
These smaller events, alongside other movements of the day, including the anti-war movement and Black Power, were indicative that the time was ripe for a gay and transgender movement to begin, and clearly that movement would not step forward without transgender individuals.
1969
On Saturday, June 28, the Stonewall Inn, a Mafia-run gay bar in Greenwich Village, is raided by police officers arresting gender nonconforming patrons and workers, hauling them off in paddy wagons. Though reports vary, transgender individuals such as Sylvia Rivera have been cited as among the first to resist police harassment.
This same year, Stanley Biber performs his first sex change operation and his practice in Trinidad, Colo., later becomes known as the “Sex Change Capital of the World.”
1970
Angela Douglas leaves the Gay Liberation Front, established in response to Stonewall, on grounds of anti-transgender sentiment and forms TAO (Transsexual Activist Organization), the first international grassroots transgender organization.
1971
Transgender woman Paula Grossman, a music teacher at Cedar Hill Elementary School in Basking Ridge, N.J., is fired on the grounds she was “an impairment of the school system.” Grossman lost her case at the N.J. state and federal levels and was denied a U.S. Supreme Court appeal.
1972
Transgender woman and lesbian singer Beth Elliot is ousted from the Daughters of Bilitis, the first lesbian rights organization in the U.S., on the grounds she wasn’t “really a woman,” causing a schism in the organization. Elliot, though, is embraced by a two-thirds majority of lesbians at the 1973 Westcoast Lesbian Feminist Conference and allowed to musically perform.
1973
Love it or hate it, the world is introduced to Dr. Frank N. Furter, the self-identified “sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania,” in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” originally a British stage musical.
1974
British historian and transgender woman Jan Morris publishes her transitional memoir “Conundrum,” and is later named by The Times as one of Britain’s top 15 writers since The War.
1975
Fantasia Fair makes its debut in P-town and has today become the longest-running annual transgender event.
1976
Transgender man and science teacher Steve Dain is arrested for “disturbing the peace” in his Emeryville, Calif. high school classroom when an administrator overreacts to his transition.
Transgender woman Renee Richards is barred from the tennis U.S. Open.
1977
Mario Martino’s memoir “Emergence” becomes the first FTM transgender autobiography published.
Sandy Stone, an MTF transsexual woman and recording engineer, is targeted as invading women’s spaces at Olivia Records, and subsequently resigns.
1978
A Philadelphia art teacher is fired on the grounds of “incompetency and immorality,” and becomes another statistic of transgender firings.
1979
Janice Raymond, a doctoral student of Mary Daly, publishes her book, “The Transsexual Empire: The Making of the She-Male,” which becomes the most widely known anti-transgender publication even to today.
1980
The American Psychiatric Association adds “Gender Identity Disorder” to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, seven years after removing “Homosexuality,” prompting widespread debate and calls for reform lasting to this day.
1981
Pilot Karen Ulane sues Eastern Airlines for $4 million after being fired because of her sex reassignment operation. Though she originally won her case, it iss overturned on appeal and that decision is let stand by the U.S. Supreme Court on the grounds that transgender people are neither men nor women and hence not protected by laws prohibiting sex discrimination.
1982
The 1982 Academy Awards bring three gender-bending films into the light, including “Victor/Victoria,” “The World According to Garp” and “Tootsie.” The four nominated actors — Robert Preston, Julie Andrews, John Lithgow and Dustin Hoffman — all lose their bids.
1983
In France, doctors announce they have identified the virus causing AIDS. HIV remains a high risk factor for the transgender population today. The AIDS epidemic, through the formation of support organizations, has been noted as an impetus in bringing LGB and T individuals closer together.
1984
Anthropologist Gayle Rubin, in her influential article “Thinking Sex,” challenges feminism as being an appropriate framework to study sexuality. Her work leads to the founding of sexuality and queer studies programs, which see transgenderism as a serious topic of study rather than just a curiosity.
1985
William Hurt wins an Academy Award for his role as a cross-dressing effeminate gay character in “Kiss of the Spider Woman.”
1986
Harry Benjamin, a German endocrinologist known as the “Father of Transsexualism” for his pioneering clinical transsexual work, dies at the age of 101.
Lou Sullivan, a transgender man in San Francisco, forms the first female-to-male transgender support group which grows into FTM International, the largest FTM group in the world today.
1987
The nonprofit International Foundation for Gender Education (IFGE), publisher of the flagship magazine Transgender Tapestry, is founded in Boston to help overcome transgender intolerance.
1988
Twenty years before transgender man Thomas Beattie announces he is pregnant, molecular biologist Lee Silver addresses a New Jersey task force, stating future reproductive technologies will allow males to give birth.
1989
Jazz musician and band leader Billy Tipton dies at age 74, and it is revealed he had been breast-binding and genital packing to hide his transgender male status.
Christine Jorgensen, the first individual widely known to have undergone sex reassignment, dies of lung cancer at age 62.
1990
Philosopher Judith Butler publishes “Gender Trouble” and promotes the concept that the reality of gender for everyone is in the “doing of it” rather than an inherent essentialist quality of the body, which becomes a central tenet of transgender self-understanding.
1991
Holly Boswell writes her influential essay “The Transgender Alternative” in Chrysalis Quarterly, leading to a widespread gender-bending grassroots movement empowered by use of the unifying term “transgender.”
Southern Comfort, now the largest transgender conference, holds its seminal “family” gathering, giving many their first chance to feel accepted and normal.
Pioneering surgeon Douglas Ousterhout publishes his life-changing facial feminization (FFS) surgical technique for transgender women in “Aesthetic Contouring of the Craniofacial Skeleton.”
1992
Moviegoers who watch the film “Crying Game” are asked to “keep the secret!”
1993
Transgender man Brandon Teena and two friends, Lisa Lambert and Phillip DeVine, are murdered south of Humboldt, Neb., on New Year’s Eve by two men who had found out Teena had a vagina.
1994
Leslie Feinberg wins the Stonewall Book Award for her groundbreaking and influential book on gender, “Stone Butch Blues.”
Internet browsing explodes with the release of Netscape Navigator, bringing together isolated transgender individuals and providing transitional resources.
1995
Emergency medical technicians refuse medical treatment and ridicule transgender woman Tyra Hunter after she is injured in a car accident and discovered to have a penis; Hunter’s family is awarded $2.9 million in her wrongful death suit.
1996
Transgender man Robert Eads is refused medical treatment for ovarian cancer by more than two dozen doctors; his life and death are filmed in the movie “Southern Comfort.”
1997
Raped transgender woman Dee Farmer loses her U.S. Supreme Court case alleging prison officials knew of her pre-operative transgender status, but failed to take steps to protect her from sexual assault, from which she contracts HIV. She dies in 2005.
1998
The unsolved murder of transgender woman Rita Hester in Boston inspires Gwendolyn Smith and other activists to begin the “Remembering Our Dead” project, which leads to Transgender Day of Remembrance vigils being held nationwide each November.
1999
Feleshia Porter, a former Grand Marshal of the Alan Ross Texas Freedom Parade and a recipient of the Extra Mile Award, begins her now preeminent Dallas counseling practice supporting gender transitions.
In San Antonio, the 4th Court of Appeals rules the seven-year Kentucky marriage of Jonathan Littleton to Christine Littleton, a post-operative transsexual woman, to be invalid as Christine was “created and born male.”
Pfc. Barry Winchell is murdered by a fellow soldier for dating transgender actress Calpernia Addams, leading President Bill Clinton to order a review of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
2000
Truck driver Peter Oiler is fired by Winn-Dixie for cross-dressing outside of work and loses his case when a U.S. district judge rules Oiler’s claims did not fall under Title VII, the federal statute outlawing sex discrimination, or under Price Waterhouse v. Cooper, barring sex stereotyping in the workplace.
2001
San Francisco becomes the first city in the nation to pay for gender reassignment surgeries.
The terrorist attacks on 9/11 result in increased security measures, increased attention to travel documentation and more stringent requirements for state identification, thus complicating travel matters for many transgender individuals seeking international surgeries.
2002
Ethan St. Pierre forms the TransFM Internet broadcasting network giving a voice to all GLBTQI individuals.
2003
Transgender teenager Gwen Araujo is brutally murdered by a group of young men after they discover her male genitalia; the young men’s attorneys unsuccessfully argue Araujo was deceptive regarding her transgender identity, resulting in a justified “trans panic.”
The Vatican issues a ruling stating that the church will not recognize the new gender of Catholics undergoing sex reassignment.
The National Center for Transgender Equality is formed in Washington, D.C.
2004
Identical twin sisters Liana and Juanita Barbachano become brother and sister when Juanita undergoes hormone treatments and surgery to become Juan, giving researchers evidence that identical genes do not predict identical behaviors.
2005
Felicity Huffman receives an Academy Award nomination and a dozen other Best Actress awards for her role as a transsexual woman in “Trans America,” leading to increased nationwide transgender awareness.
2006
Resource Center Dallas begins its Gender Education, Advocacy and Resources (GEAR) program providing Transgender Health Night at the Nelson-Tebedo clinic and transgender services such as community networking.
2007
Transgender woman Donna Rose, a member of HRC’s Board of Directors, and transgender man Jamison Green, a member of the HRC Business Council, both resign in response to the organization’s position on the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA).
Stu Rasmussen becomes America’s first openly transgender mayor in Silverton, Ore.
2008
Memphis police are caught on tape beating transgender woman Duanna Johnson, who is murdered 10 months later before her lawsuit against the city is settled.
Special Forces veteran Diane Schroer wins a landmark sex discrimination lawsuit against the U.S. Library of Congress, affirming that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act states discrimination against someone for changing genders is sex discrimination.
2009
In College Station, Texas A&M names its Advocacy Award after Phyllis Frye, a transgender advocate and Houston attorney who changed the city’s law against cross-dressing.
For more information, see historian Susan Stryker’s recent book “Transgender History.”
Renee Baker is a licensed massage therapist and transgender diversity consultant. She can be reached on her Web site at www.renee-baker.com.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition June 19, 2009.
© Copyright by DallasVoice.com
Top of Page
The following comments were posted by readers and were not edited by Dallas Voice. When you comment, stay on topic and treat others with respect. Posts deemed offensive will be removed.
Tom
Jun 19, 2009 at 13:21
Jun 19, 2009 at 13:21
Julie
Jun 19, 2009 at 13:59
Jun 19, 2009 at 13:59
As a SO of a MTF transgendered woman, I am ecstatic that there is so much
information out there for people. Maybe one day our world won't be filled
with so many biggots...
Renee Baker
Jun 19, 2009 at 14:20
Jun 19, 2009 at 14:20
Thank you Tom for bringing this up, you are correct. It should have been
"Angela Douglas" and not "Angela Davis". My bad...
Renee
Renee
Tammye Nash
Jun 19, 2009 at 15:48
Jun 19, 2009 at 15:48
Tom and Renee: I have corrected the Angela Davis/Douglas mistake online.
Thanks for noting it.
Thanks for noting it.
Jamison Green
Jun 19, 2009 at 17:58
Jun 19, 2009 at 17:58
Nice synopsis, Renee. Trans history, like the history of every
marginalized group, is very rich with struggle against hardship, failure,
and --yes-- resilience. Compassion and need are very big motivators that
give us the courage to strive for liberty and justice for all. Thanks for
your article.
Dita Bach
Jun 20, 2009 at 08:24
Jun 20, 2009 at 08:24
What a great informative article! Thanks!! Maybe there is hope for Texas
after all.
Katrina Rose
Jun 20, 2009 at 23:04
Jun 20, 2009 at 23:04
I do think you missed a big one re: 1976. Steve Dain's case should be
remembered, though it is largely forgotten; vice versa for Renee Richards.
However, 1976 was when a transsexual woman, still known only as 'M.T.' had
her marriage - and womanhood - validated by a New Jersey appellate court
(which was 30 years before the state's courts would mandate rights for
same-sex couples.) Even though courts and legislatures like to pretend that
it never happened, that court decision, M.T. v. J.T., is far more relevant
today than either the Dain or Richards case.
Dr Larry Myers
Jun 25, 2009 at 20:58
Jun 25, 2009 at 20:58
"Banquet at Compton's Cafeteria" a new play is on the way. San Francisco's
vibrational level takes me to astral planes. Trans dress is as old as
Shakespeare. There is a cross phenomenon to ant good acting. Who advocated
drag to me? Marlon Brando! I interviewed him Hollywood about 8 years ago
or more...
this is subject matter which needs to be addressed..investigation is healing..this exemplifies a liberation very aberrant & scarey to many..they will just have to get over it & attempt to empathize..we are all interconnected..People must address how we fit into the Grand Scheme--that means Nature...we are killing the planet..
people's therapy is insular not inclusive of the world & infinity..
get real!
this is subject matter which needs to be addressed..investigation is healing..this exemplifies a liberation very aberrant & scarey to many..they will just have to get over it & attempt to empathize..we are all interconnected..People must address how we fit into the Grand Scheme--that means Nature...we are killing the planet..
people's therapy is insular not inclusive of the world & infinity..
get real!
Daniel norvell
Jun 28, 2009 at 00:21
Jun 28, 2009 at 00:21
As a FTM who started transitioning about 5 years ago, we have certainly
come along way.With out all those courageous individuals,I would have not
been able to post this comment.
Thankyou!
Daniel Norvell
Delaware
Thankyou!
Daniel Norvell
Delaware
GEAR Heretic
Jul 06, 2009 at 10:40
Jul 06, 2009 at 10:40
Nice article, however I fail to see how 2 "activists" resigning
from HRC and a local therapist starting her own business practice
has any relevance to furthering trans rights or bears any
historical significance...... If anything, it sounds like it was
more about THEM and their bruised egos and quest for media fame
and not to mention lust for "entrepreneurial" success than
actually helping the transgender community........
Also, you fail to mention the inequality that occurs within the transgender community itself and those who are excluded and kicked to the curb if they challenge the trans activist "status quo" or who offend those trans "leaders" who are cronies with media journalists.......
I'd once like to see an article written that branches out and recognizes other less "popular" transgender folks and their contribution to trans rights and to the community rather than continuing to hear how these same old trans cronies of yours in the HRC/Bilerico Project blog clique and their upcoming "consultant" and "journalist" proteges in the trans political circle are tooting each other's horns.
Quite frankly, if they spent half as much time actually doing something for the transgender community as they do getting their pictures in the paper and blowing their own horns, trans folks might be a little further along with equal rights today.......
sorry I forgot, that might put a damper on the corporate "perk" and "sponsorship" system that is alive and well and is to be protected "at all cost"
Time for new leadership in the transgender community, because quite frankly, you all aren't doing the job !!!
Also, you fail to mention the inequality that occurs within the transgender community itself and those who are excluded and kicked to the curb if they challenge the trans activist "status quo" or who offend those trans "leaders" who are cronies with media journalists.......
I'd once like to see an article written that branches out and recognizes other less "popular" transgender folks and their contribution to trans rights and to the community rather than continuing to hear how these same old trans cronies of yours in the HRC/Bilerico Project blog clique and their upcoming "consultant" and "journalist" proteges in the trans political circle are tooting each other's horns.
Quite frankly, if they spent half as much time actually doing something for the transgender community as they do getting their pictures in the paper and blowing their own horns, trans folks might be a little further along with equal rights today.......
sorry I forgot, that might put a damper on the corporate "perk" and "sponsorship" system that is alive and well and is to be protected "at all cost"
Time for new leadership in the transgender community, because quite frankly, you all aren't doing the job !!!
Ace
Jul 09, 2009 at 11:05
Jul 09, 2009 at 11:05
GEAR Heretic, why diss the movement? We're just as human as anyone else.
And wow I SURE like that way I can now mingle with my Trans Friends and enjoy being comfortable with who I am -- I remember fighting my way thru kindergarten, grade school. middle school and putting up with cr*[ in high school (couldn't fight there -- Mom had put me in parochial school, after 10 years of attending NYCity public schools--Aaagh!)
I am VERY grateful for the True Spirit conferences, which brought me together with Guyz like me, and made some wonderful friends who feel like I've known them for all my life -- and Soul DOES speak to Soul, so maybe I'm correct when I have that feeling)
The trans movement has come a LONG way, and I'm proud to be part of it. I'm now so comfortable with myself that I get surprised when people have any kind of reaction to me (heh heh if they ask "Are you a Boy or a Girl?" I say "YES!!!") -- and I know that by being comfortable with myself, my relatives and some of their hoity toity friends have no choice but to (grin) be comfortable in my presence too. Even my DOCTOR (in an HMO, no less) has no problem with who I am.
There ARE still many questioning, persecuted Trans people out there who NEED a KIND word from any and all of us. I know those kind words meant the world to me. They mean the same thing to anyone else out there who in ANY way big or small, out or questioning, is part of the Trans community.
And wow I SURE like that way I can now mingle with my Trans Friends and enjoy being comfortable with who I am -- I remember fighting my way thru kindergarten, grade school. middle school and putting up with cr*[ in high school (couldn't fight there -- Mom had put me in parochial school, after 10 years of attending NYCity public schools--Aaagh!)
I am VERY grateful for the True Spirit conferences, which brought me together with Guyz like me, and made some wonderful friends who feel like I've known them for all my life -- and Soul DOES speak to Soul, so maybe I'm correct when I have that feeling)
The trans movement has come a LONG way, and I'm proud to be part of it. I'm now so comfortable with myself that I get surprised when people have any kind of reaction to me (heh heh if they ask "Are you a Boy or a Girl?" I say "YES!!!") -- and I know that by being comfortable with myself, my relatives and some of their hoity toity friends have no choice but to (grin) be comfortable in my presence too. Even my DOCTOR (in an HMO, no less) has no problem with who I am.
There ARE still many questioning, persecuted Trans people out there who NEED a KIND word from any and all of us. I know those kind words meant the world to me. They mean the same thing to anyone else out there who in ANY way big or small, out or questioning, is part of the Trans community.
GEAR Heretic
Jul 09, 2009 at 15:04
Jul 09, 2009 at 15:04
"There ARE still many questioning, persecuted Trans people out there who
NEED a KIND word from any and all of us. I know those kind words meant the
world to me. They mean the same thing to anyone else out there who in ANY
way big or small, out or questioning, is part of the Trans community."
Agreed, however the world is not a perfect or "true spirit" place and the transgender community is certainly no exception.....
There has been case after case of transgender men and women who report that they have been treated no worse than in their very own community. Yet this phenomenon tends to be conveniently and continually covered up by self-appointed trans "journalists", "consultants", "activists", and any other trans person who identifies as a "leader".......
When was the last time you were slandered by your very own trans leaders because you disagreed with the views of their "movement" ?? Or when was the last time you met someone on your job or encountered someone on the street who stereotyped you as ALL transgender people because they attended a lecture or a "trans 101 class" given by a self-appointed trans "consultant" who influenced them to believe that THEIR experience is representative of ALL transgender people in America and that they should utilize the "Best Practices" business model in how they relate to you ?? Experience getting burned a few times by your "movement" leaders and I guarantee you will start whistling a different tune.......
Also, where does it say anywhere that just because a person identifies as transgender, that the person automatically is obligated to join a political "mvement" sit on some political action committee or pick up a picket sign ??? Many transgender men and women would like to just live their lives in peace, blend in with society and hope that those successful, rich and powerful transgender corporate and political "leaders" would not forget where they came from and reach back to help those after them rather than basking in their promotions and media fame and glory while kicking everyone else to the curb !!!
Lastly, you had mentioned the "True Spirit" conference. Was this a conference for ALL transgender folks or was it exclusively for the trans "GUYZ" who seek breast removal surgery ???
And even so, its quite ironic that you defended the "movement" so and praised the conference when according to World Net Daily and other articles, HRC was a large sponsor of the conference, the very "political" organization that the many "activists" named in this article appear to hobnob with and defend their filthy political agendas "at all cost".....
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=26487
Oops, sorry, forgot to mention that these "activists" are also corporate "professionals","consultants","therapists" and other people of power and influence over others and so I suppose that makes them legit.
Remember Ace, these movement "leaders" all drink from the same corrupt political trough and that there is another dark side to this "movement"......
Thank you for your time.
Agreed, however the world is not a perfect or "true spirit" place and the transgender community is certainly no exception.....
There has been case after case of transgender men and women who report that they have been treated no worse than in their very own community. Yet this phenomenon tends to be conveniently and continually covered up by self-appointed trans "journalists", "consultants", "activists", and any other trans person who identifies as a "leader".......
When was the last time you were slandered by your very own trans leaders because you disagreed with the views of their "movement" ?? Or when was the last time you met someone on your job or encountered someone on the street who stereotyped you as ALL transgender people because they attended a lecture or a "trans 101 class" given by a self-appointed trans "consultant" who influenced them to believe that THEIR experience is representative of ALL transgender people in America and that they should utilize the "Best Practices" business model in how they relate to you ?? Experience getting burned a few times by your "movement" leaders and I guarantee you will start whistling a different tune.......
Also, where does it say anywhere that just because a person identifies as transgender, that the person automatically is obligated to join a political "mvement" sit on some political action committee or pick up a picket sign ??? Many transgender men and women would like to just live their lives in peace, blend in with society and hope that those successful, rich and powerful transgender corporate and political "leaders" would not forget where they came from and reach back to help those after them rather than basking in their promotions and media fame and glory while kicking everyone else to the curb !!!
Lastly, you had mentioned the "True Spirit" conference. Was this a conference for ALL transgender folks or was it exclusively for the trans "GUYZ" who seek breast removal surgery ???
And even so, its quite ironic that you defended the "movement" so and praised the conference when according to World Net Daily and other articles, HRC was a large sponsor of the conference, the very "political" organization that the many "activists" named in this article appear to hobnob with and defend their filthy political agendas "at all cost".....
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=26487
Oops, sorry, forgot to mention that these "activists" are also corporate "professionals","consultants","therapists" and other people of power and influence over others and so I suppose that makes them legit.
Remember Ace, these movement "leaders" all drink from the same corrupt political trough and that there is another dark side to this "movement"......
Thank you for your time.
Dr Larry Myers
Jul 09, 2009 at 15:11
Jul 09, 2009 at 15:11
God Allah The divine be with you all. The challenged the disenfranchised
the disoriented must galvanize. Victory will be at hand if truth be told. I
wil do what I can to serve human rights & grant dignity 7 recognition to
the overlooked the neglected & the "invisible." Theater can be a powerful
device.
Ted in Richmond, VA
Jul 09, 2009 at 22:44
Jul 09, 2009 at 22:44
GEAR Heretic,
As one of the so called activists that helped to organize the last two of the True Spirit conferences, I find it unfortunate that you choose to characterize me and the other folks who worked so hard to make that event happen, as exclusivist corporate hobnobbers. It's clear to me that you did not attend the event nor meet the people who made it happen. The news article cited, as well as the source of the article are highly suspect. The World Net Daily is clearly a hostile news source towards all LGBTQ-identified persons, and they were known to have infiltrated the conference for sensationalistic purposes. I can tell you that the attendees were quite diverse. The conference was absolutely intended to serve female-to-male identified persons, at a time when there were no other national conferences specifically serving that population. But the conference was far from exclusive.
As far as this particular history of the trans movement, I think it's well done, and the fact that it highlights some southern, southwestern, and/or Texan folks and events has more to do with the fact that it's written for a Texas audience than anything else. In fact this is valuable, because it highlights portions of the history that are often forgotten since so much of it is written by people in California and the Mid- and Northeast.
As one of the so called activists that helped to organize the last two of the True Spirit conferences, I find it unfortunate that you choose to characterize me and the other folks who worked so hard to make that event happen, as exclusivist corporate hobnobbers. It's clear to me that you did not attend the event nor meet the people who made it happen. The news article cited, as well as the source of the article are highly suspect. The World Net Daily is clearly a hostile news source towards all LGBTQ-identified persons, and they were known to have infiltrated the conference for sensationalistic purposes. I can tell you that the attendees were quite diverse. The conference was absolutely intended to serve female-to-male identified persons, at a time when there were no other national conferences specifically serving that population. But the conference was far from exclusive.
As far as this particular history of the trans movement, I think it's well done, and the fact that it highlights some southern, southwestern, and/or Texan folks and events has more to do with the fact that it's written for a Texas audience than anything else. In fact this is valuable, because it highlights portions of the history that are often forgotten since so much of it is written by people in California and the Mid- and Northeast.
Dr Larry Myers
Jul 09, 2009 at 23:24
Jul 09, 2009 at 23:24
any movement is better than stasis
be helpful
be aware
make others knowledgeable
be helpful
be aware
make others knowledgeable
GEAR Heretic
Jul 10, 2009 at 10:25
Jul 10, 2009 at 10:25
"I find it unfortunate that you choose to characterize me and the other
folks who worked so hard to make that event happen, as exclusivist
corporate hobnobbers."
Interesting assumption, however that's not what the paragraph said, did it ?? The paragraph stated and I quote:
"And even so, its quite ironic that you defended the "movement" so and praised the conference when according to World Net Daily and other articles, HRC was a large sponsor of the conference, the very "political" organization that the many "activists" named in this article appear to hobnob with and defend their filthy political agendas "at all cost"....."
Please READ what was actually said rather than what you want to hear out of it.
Concerning Texas/Southwestern trans history, there is a lot more to this branch of history than the public knows and you won't find it in any transgender article, blog or in any trans history book. Do your research. The findings may surprise you
Interesting assumption, however that's not what the paragraph said, did it ?? The paragraph stated and I quote:
"And even so, its quite ironic that you defended the "movement" so and praised the conference when according to World Net Daily and other articles, HRC was a large sponsor of the conference, the very "political" organization that the many "activists" named in this article appear to hobnob with and defend their filthy political agendas "at all cost"....."
Please READ what was actually said rather than what you want to hear out of it.
Concerning Texas/Southwestern trans history, there is a lot more to this branch of history than the public knows and you won't find it in any transgender article, blog or in any trans history book. Do your research. The findings may surprise you
Post a Comment:
