A coalition of about 25 activists demonstrate outside Stonewall Inn where HRC members held a monthly social. Photo: Kaitlyn Tikkun.
Plus: Staten Island stabbing, a GOP anti-bullying bill and Stonewall Dems’ Endorsement Flap
Additional financial woes arrive as city trims $5.5 million in HIV/AIDS funds and the CDC announces a 40 percent spike in estimated HIV infections.
advertisement
advertisement
|
By By Trenton Straube
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
At 6 p.m. Tuesday, dance music played at a respectable volume inside Stonewall Inn. Local members of the Human Rights Campaign gathered at the bar for cocktails while others played pool. It marked the activists’ monthly, low-key socializing event, not unlike a typical after-work happy hour—except for one thing: Protesters gathered outside to flip them the bird.
A coalition of about 25 activists under the moniker Joe Must Go rallied on the sidewalk of the historic Village nightspot, angry that HRC and its president, Joe Solmonese, failed to ensure passage of a transgender-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).
The U.S. House of Representatives earlier this month passed a version of ENDA that does not include gender identity protections (it includes sexual orientation only).
“HRC has been trying to spin this as a disagreement over strategy,” said local community activist and protest organizer Jon Winkleman, referring to the argument that civil rights are won in incremental legislative gains. This tactic maintains that securing rights for gays and lesbians first will then help win protections for gender identity later, as opposed to holding out for one, all-inclusive bill.
Winkleman is clear that the protest is not about strategy. “This is about HRC lying,” he said. “From step one onward, Joe Solmonese and HRC claimed they were fighting only for an inclusive ENDA. Joe spoke to group of trans activist reaffirming their 2002 agreement that they’d support only an inclusive ENDA. On Oct 1, HRC’s board reaffirmed that 2002 statement. Meanwhile, we found out that this whole time they were quietly lobbying Congress for a lesbian and gay only ENDA.”
Not true, said HRC’s director of media relations Brad Luna. “That’s just not the reality of what was happening in the days leading up to the vote,” he said. “We were guided by the principal of getting the most inclusive bill for our entire community. The simple fact is that in no way did we throw in the towel before we were faced with reality.” That reality hit them, he said, when the bill was going to the House floor and they realized they didn’t have the votes for an inclusive bill.
In 31 states, it is legal to fire employees based on sexual orientation. In 39 states, it is legal to do so based on gender identity. Given these figures and Congress’ hostile environment toward LGBT issues the past 12 years, ENDA supporters maintain that any passage is a positive sign.
Regardless, the ENDA controversy put HRC and Solmonese in the hot seat. One area of discord involves HRC’s legislative scorecard, which rates how lawmakers vote on LGBT issues. Seven pro-gay lawmakers voted against ENDA on the grounds that it was not trans-inclusive, and they will be scored for a negative vote. Five Representatives are from New York: Jerrald Nadler, Anthony Weiner, Yvette Clarke, Edolphus Town and Nydia Velazquez.
“HRC should not penalize these brave souls,” said Melissa Sklarz, director of New York Trans Rights Organizations (NYTRO).
HRC’s Luna said ENDA vote would have little affect on these specific legislators because “these people are going to have high A+ scores anyway.”
Sklarz had further criticism for HRC, the country’s largest LGBT advocacy group. “HRC’s strategy on ENDA was incomplete—all it did was alienate people and split us apart,” said Sklarz, who also lobbies New York lawmakers for the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA).
Her observations in Albany don’t bode well for a trans-inclusive ENDA in Washington, D.C. “My experience in New York State is that standalone trans legislation is very difficult to mobilize people around.” She points out a statistic from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force: An average of 14.5 years pass between the time sexual orientation is added to anti-discrimination laws and when gender identity expression is added.
Transgender activist and nightlife personality Clover Honey said it is important to support a
trans-inclusive bill. “Sexual identity and gender identity can’t be separated,” she said outside Stonewall Inn. “As a gay man, I’ve been discriminated against because of my femininity, not who I sleep with.” A bill that doesn’t include gender identity, she said, will not protect gays and lesbians who don’t conform to stereotypical gender norms. “I’m very disappointed with HRC and the leadership,” she said.
Caprice Bellefleur, a member of the New York State GENDA Coalition, believes that the outlook for GENDA remains bleak for the foreseeable future, even if the Democrats take the state Senate in 2008. “There’s a feeling that there’s only room for one LGBT bill a year, and 2009 may be the year of marriage equality. And 2010 is an election year so [Senators] don’t want to worry about GENDA in marginal districts.”
In 2002, New York State passed the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act. It offers protections based on sexual orientation not only in the workplace but also in areas such as housing, medical care and use of public accommodations such as rest rooms. ENDA is specifically a workplace anti-discrimination bill.
Gabriel DeFazio, who identifies as queer, said he attended the HRC protest to support trans people. “It’s important to me that the movement show signs of solidarity for all LGBT people. HRC has been consistently disappointing in these issues and it should be held accountable.”
Transgender TV personality Diana Montford said that HRC betrayed her. “HRC demands money from the entire community and then only helps a portion of it,” she said. “I resent that and feel that HRC is taking money under false pretense.”
Outside Stonewall Inn, Montford and others handed out ENDA and anti-HRC fliers to passers-by. It was an appropriate action for Nov. 20, they noted, because the date also marked the national Transgender Day of Remembrance.
Inside Stonewall Bar, the local HRC members socialized, as they had planned. The monthly night out, in fact, was simply an opportunity for the group to increase its volunteer base, specifically among women. A few members spoke with protesters on the sidewalk.
John Morrison, a volunteer on the board of governors of New York for HRC, acknowledged that ENDA has been a main topic of discussion among local HRC members. “There has been a lot of questions about strategy going forward to get an inclusive bill.” He said HRC is finalizing details for an upcoming Dec. 5 community forum about ENDA that will be held at the LGBT Center. “Everyone supports trans inclusion,” Morrison said, “in ENDA and in any other legislation.”
|
