Dallas Voice Interview of Protesters at Ft Worth "Ticked Off Tra**ies with Knives"

First interview is Pamela Curry, health activist. Pamela is a loyal friend and advocate to all who find themselves discriminated against, but she doesn't call herself a "transgender advocate" and she will correct you if do do. I think whatever she calls herself she is one awesome person.

Next to speak is my pastor, Curtis Smith. I love this mans bravery and courage. After learning about this movie he brought me to speak in front of the "Would Jesus Discriminate" council comprised of our MCC Church's where it was decided unanimously to buy a FULL page in the Dallas Voice and express there love and support for there transgender parishioners. Curtis is truly one of the few, the brave and the blessed.

Next is a cisgender male, Gary Lidell, a female impersonator whom I have never met. Our experiences as transgender and and transsexual woman really have very little in common with impersonators baring perhaps our earliest days of going "full time", before our skills and personalities had not had a chance to grow and mature. I like Gary though, he has a air of sincerity about him and he is part of of our rainbow.

Lastly is a interview with myself. As you can tell we had been out in the 100 degree heat all day and that really served to get may juices going so I was pretty animated, maybe to much so I had thought immediately following the interview.

The last splice segmented me into a disjointed conversation stating "that's the reaction I get from gay men".

What you didn't hear.

The interviewer had just asked me "What do you find most offensive, the tittle or the content of TO#WK".

I answered him with a question, "What would you find more offensive about a movie called 'F@ggots chained, dragged to death behind cars'? The name, the content or that I could could fill theaters with homophobes, institute discussions normalizing the word f@ggot after screenings, or my me saying gay people should be proud of the word "f@ggot" get over it and claim it?"

And whats wrong with a little body dragging as long as we can have a discussion about it?

The interviewer lost his affable smile, his features clouding with anger and the small space between us became became charged with tension. That's when I said "That's the reaction I get from gay men" because in a instant I had demolished his detached sense of security, I had made us mutual owners equally responsible for the letter "T" in "them transgender" and made this interview as personal to him as it was to me.

I would ask the Dallas Voice, you are the only ones to blur the word tra**y with an "@" to this point. You have long used the word "tra##y" to bait us on you blog. You claim a right to do so because you beleive there is nothing wrong with the word, it is empowering and we should "own it".

You have admitted by your own actions by replacing the "a" with the symbol @ in Tra**y that you acknowledge that the transgender people find this word highly offensive yet you superciliously slap us in the face by inserting a symbol @ in the place of the letter a.

That is the same as me writing smugly about the movie 'F@ggots chained dragged to death behind cars' and feeling smugly justified in having blurred the letter a in faggot with @.

Gay Misogynists, I know you hate that I am an you face advocate for transgender dignity and respect, well thats tough. We did not ask for your hate. We could have lived longer and happier lives without you.

Israel Luna should know this. What you have done is an injustice that we will not forget or forgive. Wherever your movie goes there will be two or three transgender people out front, protesting and educating about it.

Where ever.

Dallas Voice : Transgender Conversation planned with Bishop Robinson

kelli Busey
Nov. 14, 2008
planetransgender

In this article by Ben Briscoe Staff Writer, Dallas Voice "Transgender Conversation planned with Bishop Robinson" Briscoe examines the transitional effect that Bishop Robinson has had on our advocacy and our lives since suggesting dialogue in place of anger. It is continuously challenging to live the exclusivity that we extol our contemporaries to embrace but in its effort lays the rewards. .