Pentagon Recognizes Trans Veteran

In what may signal a change in policy, the Pentagon has recognized the gender change of a Navy veteran. Chris Geidner reports at Buzzfeed:

In a short letter dated May 2, a Navy official told Autumn Sandeen, a veteran and transgender activist: “Per your request the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) has been updated to show your gender as female effective April 12, 2013.” Sandeen’s military identification card now reflects the change, a move called “quite significant” by the head of OutServe-SLDN, a national organization for LGBT service members and veterans and their families.

“The fact that a process exists [to change the gender listed] indicates that there are people in the Department of Defense who are aware of the needs of transgender retirees and who are working to see those needs met. And, in that sense, the significance of this symbolic act for our broader work and for our goal of open service becomes I think a little bit more apparent,” OutServe-SLDN executive director Allyson Robinson told BuzzFeed.

Sandeen is a well-known activist and blogger and has been the target of repulsive statements by the enemies of LGBT equality.

Netroots Hosts First-Ever Trans Panel

Left to right: Autumn Sandeen, Jos Truitt, Monica Roberts, Jennifer Levi. Moderator: Dr. Jillian Weiss. Lots of allies in the audience are getting an education.

GetEQUAL Six To Be Arraigned Today

The six GetEQUAL activists who yesterday chained themselves to the White House fence will be arraigned today. Among those arrested was Lt. Dan Choi and transgender activist (and Pam's House Blend blogger) Autumn Sandeen, a retired 20 year veteran of the Navy. Below is CBS' raw video of the arrests.

(Via - Towleroad)

Radio Hosts Who Made Anti-Trans Remarks Apologize, Invite Trans Advocates On Air

Pam's House Blend contributor Autumn Sandeen and fellow trans-advocate Kim Pearson will appear on Sacramento's KRXQ radio station this Thursday after the station's hosts apologized for saying last week that they would beat transgender behavior out of their kids. The station suffered a massive pull-back in advertiser support after trans and gay bloggers took their outrage to the media. The offending show has been temporarily pulled off the air.

"KRXQ appears to be taking this matter very seriously following widespread response from community members and advertisers," said Rashad Robinson, spokesman for GLAAD. Co-host Rob Williams posted a letter on the team's Web site saying, "We have failed you. As a show, as people, as broadcasters, we have simply failed on almost every level." GLAAD first contacted KRXQ after a listener complained about remarks made by Williams and co-host Arnie States in a May 28 broadcast. One of the hosts said he would hit his child with his shoe if the boy wanted to wear high heels. Another said he would tell a boy he was "a little idiot" if he asked to wear a dress. "If my son, God forbid, if my son put on a pair of high heels, I would probably hit him with one of my shoes. I would throw a shoe at him," said Arnie States, co-host of the show, which usually airs mornings in Sacramento. Since then, major companies have pulled advertising from the station or announced plans to discontinue buying ads, according to GLAAD. Those companies include AT&T, Bank of America, Chipotle, Guitar Center, McDonalds, Nissan, Wells Fargo and Snapple.

Congratulations to Autumn, Kim, and GLAAD for this win.

"Tranny"

There's a mini-storm of controversy sweeping the gay blogosphere regarding the use of the word "tranny" to describe a broad range of gender nonconforming people - transsexuals, drag queens, cross-dressers, etc. The use of the word is being vigorously objected to by some trans folks and their supporters, but is also strongly defended by some trans people themselves.

GLAAD's media reference guide to defamatory language lists "tranny" as a term to be avoided. Last year GLAAD took Project Runway winner Christian Soriano to task for his catch-phrase "hot tranny mess", leading Soriano to issue an apology of sorts.

The National Gay & Lesbian Journalist Association says it depends on who is saying it.

Tranny: Often a pejorative term for a transgender person, it is now being reclaimed by some transgender people. Caution: still extremely offensive when used as an epithet and should be avoided except in quotes or as someone’s self-identified term.

RuPaul may have kick-started the current flap with this:

"Okay, Let me put on my Judge Judy robe,” RuPaul says. “People really need to get a life. And quit taking every opportunity to be offended by the world. Years ago, political correctness made it unbearable for anyone to have a laugh or be free. You can’t make the whole world ‘baby safe.’ That’s really the uneducated approach to dealing with issues. There are more things to do in this life than to try to correct people with how they should refer to you. That’s your problem. That’s not their problem.

“We are obsessed with trying find areas where we get offended,” RuPaul says. “And people who identify as being victims have a hard time accepting a new identity. They hold their ‘victim identity’ in place. And they continue to look for people or organizations where they can point their finger at and, in essence, confirm their victimhood.”

Pam's House Blend blogger Autumn Sandeen responds with a two-part series on this issue.

Most in the LGBT media understand that reclaiming the term queer doesn't make the terms LGBT and queer interchangeable, yet some LGBT media professionals have begun using tranny and transgender -- and even transsexual -- interchangeably, using the reclaiming justification for their use of the term tranny.

And, just as legacy and new LGBT media publications -- as well as individual new and legacy LGBT media reporters -- are for the most part nuanced in their use of the word queer, they need to be equally nuanced in their use of the word tranny. And, just as legacy and new LGBT media publications -- as well as individual new and legacy LGBT media reporters -- should be held to account for misusing the term queer, they should be held to the same account with they misuse of the term tranny.

I would prefer that LGBT media use alternatives to tranny (for example: transgender people, trans people or transpeople) when describing groups of trans people, but there are times when the term tranny may be the most appropriate term because of the self-identification of an individual or a particular group.

Trans activist Lena Dahlstrom disagrees with RuPaul:

I do agree with RuPaul that one does need to take intent into account. I've got gay friends who've thrown around "tranny" -- but when I've gently mentioned that it's a term that a lot of trans people find problematic when used by people who aren't trans (or friends and allies), guess what, they stopped using it. But no, you had to go pissily justify your right to use the term and accusing people who complain of "Nazi-like" rigidity. That's hardly "coming from a place of love and respect" now is it? The place that comes to mind is: asshat-ism. Because bottom line, if you have to have to ask yourself whether a term you're using is offensive, that's a pretty good clue that it's not a good idea to use it. Words may never hurt me, but they can piss me off -- and I think RuPaul might also have something to say about the folly of getting on the wrong side of an angry drag queen.

I actually agree with RuPaul AND Dalhstrom. I think we look for offense sometimes where none is intended AND I think it doesn't make sense to use a word knowing that somebody else doesn't like it. That said, it seems that "tranny" is inevitably destined to be as defanged as "queer" now is for most people.