1/17/13

Lost Girl Producers Apologize for Unintentionally Perpetuating The TransPanic Meme


An outraged trans community made our concerns be heard and Lost Girl producers listened.

Yesterday I published guest blogger Diana O'Brien's article Thought SyFy Channel’s Lost Girl [Caged Fae] Was LGBT Friendly? Think Again!. Diana was incensed a show that portrays lesbians in a positive light would base it's season opener plot around what boils down to be transpanic.

Essentially it's about a female warden in a women's prison who turns out to be a man who is using his position to rape woman and sell the babies into slavery. Nice huh? Well its all cloaked in science fiction and sexualized lesbian domination fantasy so the producers reasoned is it wasn't overtly offensive.

 It wasn't offensive in that context if a person isn't a transgender/transsexual and isn't deathly afraid of dating for fear of someone murdering you after sex to massage their ego/silence you/is a gang member who doesn't want his homies to find out. As happens nearly every other day.

I couldn't find Prodigy's apology on their Facebook page or their twitter timeline. The only place I saw it was on Glaad's blog. So for the record here it is:
"We want to let you know that the Lost Girl writers base all episodic characters off of researched folklore, and that the character of The Warden in the premiere of Season 3 is a character based off the mythological shapeshifter known as the Liderc. The Warden was only intended to represent this mythic being. We did not intend this character to be seen as a transgender person, we apologize if the character was seen as such. We do hope that you accept that no comparison or discrimination toward the transgender community was intended by the depiction of this mythological character.

Lost Girl prides itself on being open and accepting to everyone, and are enthusiastic supporters of the GLBT community. We want to encourage a society in which everyone can feel comfortable to express and be who they are without judgment. Equality and a world without labels is important to all of us at the series. We strive to create three dimensional characters, who empower all viewers regardless of sexuality or gender."

Sincerely,
The Producers of LOST GIRL

A nice apology and explanation but it would have been a lot better if it had appeared somewhere else in addition to the Glaad Blog.

Now here's where we get real messy.

There is a disturbing amount of push back from this advocacy from some gay and lesbian cis people in the GLAAD article's comments. They are really upset we have criticized a show that portrays LGBT Bisexual and lesbians in a favorable light.

Not just upset, they are incensed that we are 'making a mountain out of a molehill"

Got a memo for them. We are trans. We have a voice and we are here. Respect us.





1/16/13

Atlanta Queer Bashing Victim Luke O'Donovan To Be Released on $35K Bail Jan 17

19 year old Luke O'Donovan was the sole person arrested after 5 men attacked him for dancing and kissing another man at a news year party. Luke has been held without bail since January 1st.

The mainstream media jumped at the chance to portray Luke as the aggressor when in truth he was the victim of an attemped queer bashing. Luke choose to fight back.

Video of 'friends gathered in support of Luke' has no start screen due to my disabling of the annoying 'autostart' function.

Read more at The GA Voice and East Atlanta Patch.
If you are able please help with Lukes defense fund. As of this post $3,700 has been raised. Donate at Luke O'Donovan Support Fund.

Thought SyFy Channel’s Lost Girl [Caged Fae] Was LGBT Friendly? Think Again!

Guest blogger Diana O'Brien is a transgender advocate, writer and licensed esthetician & electrologist in Wilton Manors, FL. She current writes a guest column for the South Florida Gay News.

The third season premiere of Lost Girl just demonstrated the well-worn path for advancing gay/lesbian/bisexual themes in the media. That path continues to be walking over the crushed public image of transgender people.

Lost Girl has received a lot of attention for its sexually charged plot lines and positive portrayal of lesbian and bisexual female characters. Even GLAAD has taken notice of the show, promoting it in The GLAAD Wrap and What to Watch.

Season 3 Episode 1 titled Caged Fae brings transphobia and trans panic back into the mix It depicts this week’s villain as a man impersonating a female prison warden so he can impregnate the all-female inmate population and sell their babies. After “outing” the corset-clad warden with a telling kiss, the show’s heroine Bo leaves justice in the hands (and riot sticks) of the female prison guards. The men-hating prison guards do a hands-on package check, and haul the warden away for some off-screen punishment. This whole scenario sets up the moment when Bo and her female love interest decide to make their lesbian relationship status official.

So here we have it – the whole reason our opponents say trans people (specifically trans women) should not have rights.

We are just a bunch of men that want into women-only facilities so we can “trap” them and violate them. We deserve whatever severe punishment our discoverers decide to meet out. We are the villains. Again.


It is particularly offensive that SyFy Channel takes a page out of the defense playbook of Angia Zapata’s murderer. Trans panic was the supposed justification for beating Angie to death in 2008, after her boyfriend “found out” she was trans. A jury saw through this defense and found her murderer guilt of first degree murder and a bias-based hate crime. This episode shamefully exploits trans panic violence as justified.


This kind of defamation has to stop. The media needs to take responsibility for its continued promotion of transphobic stereotypes and justification of trans panic violence. NBC Universal and the SyFy Channel need to be held accountable and take corrective action. We need GLAAD to take direct action on this now, and stop promoting Lost Girl until its content is friendly towards the whole LGBT community!





1/15/13

Guardian apologizes and Deletes Julie Burchill's Screed 'Transsexuals should cut it out'

 
The highly toxic Observer article 'Transsexuals should cut it out' was deleted but there was no mention Burchill's employment status or even an apology from her.

The following statement is from John Mulholland, editor of the Observer:
We have decided to withdraw from publication the Julie Burchill comment piece 'Transsexuals should cut it out'. The piece was an attempt to explore contentious issues within what had become a highly-charged debate. The Observer is a paper which prides itself on ventilating difficult debates and airing challenging views. On this occasion we got it wrong and in light of the hurt and offence caused I apologise and have made the decision to withdraw the piece. The Observer Readers' Editor will report on these issues at greater length.
The comments posted beneath the article have also been removed in line with our deletion process and as a result these comments will no longer appear in individual users' profiles.


Being a relative novice to British media treatment of transgender people I observed earlier that the brouhaha over 'Seeing Red: the power of female anger' was little more than a Tempest in a teapot. But then I started to learn about the atrocious treatment UK trans people receive by the mainstream media the angst over Moore's article began to make sense.

According to Gay Star News Moore returned to Tweeter and offered an apology for her comment about Brazilian transsexuals:
'I did not set out to offend and the murder of all women trans or not is clearly something I DO care about,' Moore said, adding that there had been 'much bridge building' between her and 'several trans people who I deeply respect' and she is meeting with more trans people.'
(Note I could not verify that she returned to tweeter or said this)


Even though some within the UK community would perceive this as just another episode of transphobia I would like to remind you of this.

We stand with you, planet wide. We are one, planetransgender and our collective voices can't be denied. Even though there has been no word of Burchill's employment status I venture you won't see her hateful writing being framed as an 'exploration of a contentious' subject again, in the Observer anyways.

So I think we can see this as a victory none the less.





1/14/13

Vicco: Smallest City In America To Pass LGBT Protections

Usually its the big cities that make big news when they institute LGBT protections but this time the big news is how small the city is and how big their hearts are.

Vico Kentucky is located in the southern tip of Perry County, 12 miles from the county seat of Hazard in rural Appalachia has 318 residents covering only .08 square miles.

Source Fairness Campaign: Vicco, KY) Today the Fairness Coalition joined the Appalachian town of Vicco, Kentucky as they approved the state's first lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) anti-discrimination Fairness ordinance in a decade. The measure, which prohibits discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations based upon a person's actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity, received support from three of the city's four-member commission and mayor.

Vicco becomes the smallest municipality in America with such anti-discrimination protections and joins three other cities in the commonwealth with Fairness laws--Covington, which passed an ordinance in 2003, Lexington, and Louisville, which both approved laws in 1999.

"Vicco is a community that believes all folks should be treated fairly," shared Vicco City Attorney Eric Ashley. "We believe everyone deserves the opportunity for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Fairness is a Kentucky value, a Vicco value, and one of our most American values."




1/13/13

"Seeing Red" A tempest in a teapot. Now Sack Julie Burchill

A lot of trans people were upset by a Suzanne Moore piece in the New Statesman tittled 'Seeing Red: the power of female anger'. In all honesty I didn't find it offensive.

But then the piece didn't have the paragraph that angered so many people stereotyping Brazilian transsexuals when I read it. For the record Moore wrote:
" [Women] are angry with ourselves for not being happier, not being loved properly and not having the ideal body shape – that of a Brazilian transsexual.”
All and all not that offensive but that's just me. I have watched in utter amazement  trans Brazilian pageant contestants. So in a way its a complement as they have raised the bar so frustratingly high that many, both cis and trans people might see as unattainable. 

But reading into the comments I do find reasons the UK trans community would be offended since between 126 and 200 trans murders were reported in Brazil at the 2012 TDOR especially since the ink hasn't even dried and yet another Brazilian trans woman has been reported  brutally murdered today.

In that context Moore's comment is an offensive stereotyping of  a particular ethnicity of the trans community. The 126 who were murdered probably weren't drop dead gorgeous and didn't have wide hips or big breasts. They were most likely like me in appearance.  It then becomes obvious the Moore used that comparison as backhanded slap at trans peoples as she refused to become educated about that indiscretion.

Moore's true colors came out as she responded to trans people's indignation by tweeting
" “People can just fuck off really. Cut their dicks off and be more feminist than me. Good for them.”
So good riddance to Moore but that was nothing in comparison to what followed ber departure.

Columnist Militant Feminist Julie Burchill responded to Moore's leaving twitter on the Guardian with "Transsexuals should cut it out" saying it's a shame she' should be driven from her chosen mode of time-wasting by a bunch of dicks in chicks' clothing.

Burchill didn't limit her disrespect to trans people she obviously abhors other minorities as well.
"The reaction of the trans lobby reminded me very much of those wretched inner-city kids who shoot another inner-city kid dead in a fast-food shop for not showing them enough "respect"

That shouldn't be too surprising since in 2002 she narrowly escaped prosecution for incitement to racial hatred, "following a Guardian column where she described Ireland as being synonymous with child molestation, Nazi-sympathising, and the oppression of women. Source: Wikipedia

Burchill was just getting warmed up and refocused her hated on trans people cavalierly using the reviled word 'trannies' and threatening "these bed-wetters in bad wigs are "lucky I'm not calling them shemales. Or shims."

As you can guess the trans community is up in arms about this outrage. Many have already emailed complaints about Bruchill's article to Stephen Pritchard president of the Organization of News Ombudsmen  but don't let that stop you. Email him at reader@observer.co.uk


The Independent is running a poll to get a idea of how society in general feels about Julie Burchill's article.

This poll was shared 500+ times and of those shares I assume most responded to the poll to. Click Here to take the poll.


Personally, I don't want the article removed from the Guardian. I want Burchill fired. I want a full retraction and apology from the Guardian addressing each instance of Burchill's hate.