HRC

[bcholmes]

I've run into a few posts recently about Susan Stanton, a transwoman who is somehow involved with the Human Rights Campaign (the precise relationship isn't clear to me). As most trans folk know, the Human Rights Campaign is unpopular with a lot of transfolk for supporting a version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) that excludes trans protections.

Some of the criticisms of Susan Stanton are based on her relatively new-comer status to the trans community. TransAdvocate says:

One of the most obvious reasons that she should not represent the transgender community is experience. This time last year, Susan was still Steve. Susan was still closeted. She transitioned from Steve to Susan in May of last year. The words "newbie" and "neophyte" ring loudly through my ears when the name Susan Stanton is spoken. A recent story in the St. Petersburg Times shows just how unprepared Stanton is to lead this community.

In addition, some of the stuff she says is simply ill-informed:

"Susan has said all along that she’s not like other transgender people. She feels uncomfortable even looking at some, "like I’m seeing a bunch of men in dresses."

Eventually, she decided it was too early for transgender people to be federally protected. People need more time, more education, she says. "The transgender groups boo me, now, when I speak. Isn't that ironic?

"But I don't blame the human rights groups from separating the transgender people from the protected groups. Most Americans aren't ready for us yet," Susan says. Transgender people need to be able to prove they’re still viable workers — especially in the mainstream.

"The biggest issue against the federal legislation is that politicians think the ladies' rooms will be invaded by guys in drag," Susan says, "instead of someone like me."

I usually don't pay much attention to the HRC but they've been leaving an increasingly bad taste in my mouth for a while. And while I am clear that Susan Stanton has been treated horribly her former employers, I just can't understand why she's taking the stances she's taking. No, I can understand. She doesn't have enough experience in these matters, and she's trying to stay friends with the type of people who fired her. This is why trans people need protections like ENDA.

Comments

[kat-chan.livejournal.com]

"The biggest issue against the federal legislation is that politicians think the ladies' rooms will be invaded by guys in drag," Susan says, "instead of someone like me."

Yeah...and by avoiding the issue, by letting HRC use that dodge to avoid it, you're feeding the idea that such will occur if trans people are ever given rights. I don't get why people at HRC don't get that. Other than they don't want to get it because this all about assimilationism. About how gay people are "just like you", which is not ever going to work with the older generations in this country. And the younger people who see gay people that way also tend to see gender as a less strict construct.

I don't get along with most of the trans community anymore because I feel very disconnected from it, but that doesn't mean I'm going to throw them under the bus and tell them that they can't have rights because they look like "men in dresses". In part because that's not true for many. And for the ones that it is true for, why are they any less deserving of rights and protections? It's just sickening. And the reason that HRC takes this stance is that they're afraid that because many "mainstream" adults see trans people as "freaks", by advocating for trans rights people will see gays as being "freaks", too. And ultimately that's what they're afraid of; being told that they don't deserve rights because they're not "natural" and are a bunch of "freaks".