pring 95 issue # 4 $ 6 2 & (US/Can) issu e # 4 Cf€«de'itx editor Mirha-Soleil Ross production dir. Xanthra Phillippa contributors Marie Alexandra Christine Tayleur Lofofora Contreras CaiRa Sandra Laframboise/Debarah Brady Xanthra Phillippa Mirha-Soleil Ross Selena Anne Shephard Michelle 3 * d e tte n & 3 3 7 t« 7<*« *7ervtonid4it- front cover CaiRa Janou, Montreal 1991. Photographer 37 T^Ouctontf o£ u n k |io w n . 41 Puiticutco*u & 'Heuxitett&uy layout & design Mirha-Soleil Ross & 45 “Pen&oHat& Xanthra Phillippa 46 Jle 3a6rflevut published by iji^fcrprest B^Qfc.62, 5 *311'$&■ PtoH ect: j4 @OH M If you are one fm Wh\ fm yead&ifocuA. — ^ ^ # 4 please contact us at: (416) 929- — • • - — lishments to carry Contact Xanthra Phillippa at the same number foT We're always lookingder boutiques for new bookstores/ gen other TS/TG-positive estab advertisingrates and deadlines. 23 5°- of those or know of a place that might sell yencten&iOAA,, cartoon by Marie Alexandra Marie by cartoon Submissions: We encourage transsexual (both ftm’s and mtf* s), transgendered and intersexed people to send us photos, drawings, poetry, essays, cartoons, etc. Gender-positive genetics are also encouraged to submit You can submit a written piece on a 3.5" floppy disk (ASCII text file - PC HD/DD format). Submissions may also be typed or I handwritten but should be double spaced & must be legible. Include your name, address, and phone number. Put your * 8 name and the title of your piece on every page. Mention if your piece has been published somewhere else. Please, for Christina’s sake, include a brief bio so that we & our readers can know a bit more about you & the colour of your underwear. Also, include a picture if possible (please mention who took it) or any other kind of artwork to accompany Urpori Oil (lie Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviour ofTransgendered People in Cainnjjl your piece. Anonymity can be preserved; Just tell us the pseudonym you wish to use. Submission does not necessarily \ guarantee publication. Submissions are all subject to editing for length and clarity so don't freak out too much abnoi W w m l m Emm grammar and spelling. We’ll repair it the best we can. Don’t forget a SA.S.E. if you want your materia* to dc returned tSf' tSf' i ■§ efforts in creating a voice & a forum where we & our friends can speak about our selves, our selves. Sincerely yours, Dale Anderson Dear Xanthra: Thank you for the latest issue of You do a remarkable job with it. Thanks for the but Dear Mirha-Soleil & Xanthra: reflection of society’s jaundiced tons; they arrived just in time for I wanted to write to tell you how eye towards us as actual breath me to wear the “I’d Rather Be impressed I was by issue #3 of ing, feeling persons and not Dead than Genetic” one last The format & articles merely as walking genital ques weekend at the conference in were certainly challenging & tion marks. North ridge. thought provoking. I also want to The survey regarding Women’s What I liked most about qouU*- take this opportunity to thank you Shelters’ accessibility to TS wim- is how radical you are. for the support you have given us min was also rather sobering. It Issue #3 seemed a bit less angry as an organization through your gives one pause to reflect for a than nos. 1 & 2 (loved the elec patience & teaching. moment, or two or three, on just tric epileptic transsexual poem). You and your magazine have how easily we can slip through Please don't lose your edge. made a difference to us in the the holes in the social safety Sincerely way we think, and the manner in net... Dallas Denny which we offer service. Your con That said, however, I must say tribution has also had a positive how much the initial two issues’ Dear Xanthra: impact on at least one individual generous soupgons of irreverent Two and a half years ago, when I who has made use of our Centre. wit & self-righteous anger served was media relations co-ordinator We want you to know that your to help empower my thinking not for Buddies in Bad Times caring & constructive influence only towards myself but to fellow Theatre, someone suggested I has not gone unappreciated. travellers as well. call you to ask if you would be Truly this individual would not I showed the Genetic Jerk Quiz interested in speaking with a have made the gains she has to someone who I thought pretty journalist from The Toronto Star without your support. much knew the score, at the who was researching a piece I imagine the struggle in which time, and he said, “Wow, they about transsexualism, drag cul you are involved can be tiring & sound really angry...” he himself ture and cross-dressing. You often frustrating. As you move sounding somewhat baffled by answered a resounding NO and forward, please know that your the thought of a TS having any said that your experience with efforts have & will continue to thing to be angry about. “They?” I the non-TG press had left you create change. asked. It was cathartic... eventu mistrustful of their ability and Irwin Elman ally. interest in sensitively addressing Supervisor/Facilitator That spark helped bring me to and furthering transgender liber Pape Adolescent Resource now: unencumbered (stripped & ation issues. I don't know if Centre (PARC) deprived I would have said at dertfuuH was in the works back that time) by a (mis) understand then (Issue #3 is my first), but Dear ing lover-boy; alone-but-not too may it stay and stay! It's a Yours is the magazine I was lonely, looking towards a future & tremendous read that has elabo imagining creating after becom present of my own, rather than rated my understanding of your ing hep to the ‘zine scene sever serving as a footnote to anoth objections and my admiration for al years ago and sensing, well, a er’s. the courage of transgendered gap, a space, an unfilled open To know that I’m not the only one people who live and write out ing. Congratulations on your first, who finds this a bit confusing, their experiences with pride. second and third issues welcome sometimes arbitrary & mind-bog I wish you and Ms. Ross the best & long overdue arrivals. gling road to tread, to be able to of enterprising luck and will I‘ve noted a certain maturing in laugh at the absurdities & speak watch the stands for Issue #4. tone in issue #3 as befits the out against mindless & thought Fanfully yours, subject matter of the Michigan less indignities has helped imbue Robin Williamson Womyn's Music Festival’s TS me with a sense of strength & inclusion/exclusion issue vs pride of self & I thank you both, allowing TS’s to self-define, as a Mirha-Soleil & Xanthra, for your AEGIS suggests Electrolysis to The Rainbow Book The Ontario Directory of Avoid Problem of Hair in Community Services for Lesbians, Gay Men, Bisexuals, Transsexuals, Transgenderists N eo va g in a and Transvestites published by: the Coalition for Lesbian & Gay Rights in The Problern: Ontario, 519 Church Street Community Centre, Lesbian Vaginoplasty using the penile and penoscrotal inversion meth Gay Bi Youthline, and Project ods, with or without skin grafts or skin flaps, can result in a neo Affirmation. vagina which is lined with hair-bearing skin. As the hair grows, the vagina can become choked with hair. Not surprisingly, many The best thing about transsexual women fmd this extremely embarrassing. this book is its subtitle "the Some sex reassignment (SRS) surgeons do not appreciate the Ontario Directory of Community Services for extent of this embarrassment. During a presentation given at the Lesbians, Gay Men, Bisexuals, October, 1993 meeting of the Harry Benjamin International Transsexuals, Transgenderists and Transvestites" (emphasis Gender Dysphoria Association, one prominent surgeon added) because first we’re there and secondly we’re not dumped remarked that although his procedure sometimes results in hair into a poorly-fitting category like "others." Transgendered people bearing vagina, his patients do not seem to mind. Reports we come in all shapes, forms, and from very different have had from transsexual women indicate, however, that they backgrounds/gender persuasions. Therefore the more names DO care. genetics use to describe/include us, the better represented/includ- ed we are. Our Recom m end• Unfortunately, there are not a lot of listings of support groups for the transgendered in Ontario (quelle surprise!). This is not the fault of the writers/researchers, but reflects the ability of We recommend that surgeons doing male-to-female SRS transgendered people to provide support groups or create politi become aware that hair-bearing vagina is extremely embarrass cal organizations in the same numbers and specificity as do les ing for their transsexual patients, and to provide them with bians and gays (ie. "Lesbians and Gays Who Prefer Pepsi to Coke materials educating them about the problem and indicating With Their French Fries"). where they should consider having electrolysis to avoid hair- Some of the organizations listed are not specifically for bearing vagina. members of the communities targeted by the Rainbow Book We recommend that electrologists be aware that transsexual (including but not limited to rape crisis centres, shelters, women who are seeking SRS have legitimate reasons for seek HIV/AIDS, youth groups, health services). However, we assume ing electrolysis in the perineal area. them to be positive towards those communities, since they are We recommend that persons seeking male-to-female SRS who listed there. This constitutes a problem because not all have excessive hair in the pelvic region consult with the surgeon groups/resources that are lesbian/gay-positive are necessarily trans-positive. There should be a section in the Listing Entry they have selected in order to determine which skin will eventu Form where groups or service providers are explicitly asked ally be inside the vagina so that they can decide whether elec whether they are open to or knowledgeable about TS/TG/TV's. trolysis is desirable and so they can schedule electrolysis and And what about those social service agencies that may surgery accordingly. come in contact with TG/TS/TV people and try to help? Will this All parties should keep in mind that electrolysis is a gradual book give them any valuable information? The answer is a quali process, and that it can take a year or more to completely clear fied yes - if they rarely deal with transgendered people, the an area Rainbow book will provide them with a handy little guide. - from the American Educational Gender Information Service Otherwise no, because the few groups listed are sure to be well- known to them. ______— reviewed by Xanthra Phillippa /iteA&nfavy creative and critical contributions to current debates women’s community, theorY and subcultures 'sncfuckrv^ poetrY theorY art Interviews ! A F E MINIS T QUARTERLY ISSUE #46 FIREWEED "Keeping the Power: OF WRITING, POLITICS, ART & CULTURE A d d ictio n s <£ Cesbians of Available at progressive, alternative & feminist bookstores OR directly from FIREWEED, P.0. Box 2 7 9 , Station B, Toronto O.N. M5T 2W2, (416) 504 -1339 — yauUnCttuA # 4 — oing this interview with Dancing To Ottawa, raised in Ottawa until the age of 12, lived Eagle Spirit was a bit odd because my life on the streets of Montreal as a hooker from we are both Francophone, yet we did 12 until the age of 29. I prostituted myself in the interview in English in order to Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver which avoid exhausting hours of translation. was mostly transitional. SheD and I usually spend more time on the phone M-S: How old are you now? laughing like thunder and telling each other about DTES: I'm 35. I'm old. our last spicy sex-adventures than eloquently dis M-S: You had worked in the sex trade since you cussing some nebulous points of transsexual poli were 12? tics. DTES: I started as a male and prostituted myself as Nevertheless, I was very glad to interview her for a boy. My first customer was for 5 bucks and I qetuleHtruuA,, for I believe she is amongst those pio quickly changed over within the first years. I prosti neers who, realizing the extent to which their own tuted myself as a male for about 3 years and I started people have been neglected, take matters into their crossdressing around the age of 15 and working on own hands and, by the same stroke, empower all of the market where females were hanging out. us. M-S: At that time were you working openly as a transsexual? DTES: No, as a female. I wouldn't tell the clients. I Mirha-Soleil: First of all, why don't you tell us who never told the clients. I just gave them blow jobs, car you are and where you're from? dates. If the guy wanted to lay, I would ask for extra Dancing To Eagle Spirit: My given name is Sandra money, would tell him to wait a second, and I would Laframboise, but my native name is Dancing To turn myself on my tummy. I would grab my penis, Eagle Spirit. That's the name my elders acknowl lay on my front and let him lay me in the butt. So I edge in Sweatlodge and that's the name they will acknowledge in the Pipe ceremony next week. never told them. Sometimes the guy would know My family is originally from Maniwaki reserve in and say: "I know what you are, so just don't worry about it." But most of the time they never knew. I Quebec. I'm Metis, Algonquin Cree. I was bom in always had that risk, that fear of being discovered — (pend**trcviA — and being beaten. say: "ok, what you did to me when I was young was M-S: When did you move to Vancouver? cruel, but my alcoholism is my problem not yours." DTES: I moved to Vancouver in 1987. I never So I take away their guilt and their shame by saying worked the streets in Vancouver; I worked the that. They always blamed me for being the black papers. I advertised in the national and local papers. sheep 'cause I drank and I was on the street. They M-S: When did you stop working as a prostitute? kept saying: "well, we were good parents; we never DTES: I stopped working the 18th of June, 1989. I did anything wrong." Well, excuse me but I'm a went to detox on that date, and I cleaned up. I was transsexual. I'm an ex-IV drug user, ex-prostitute; doing drugs, cocaine. I was a freebase addicted per my brother and my sister are both alcoholics. It's son as well as a prostitute. I went to a treatment cen like... tre, had a spiritual experience and never went back M-S: Do you feel that being a transsexual has some to prostitution, drugs or alcohol after that. thing to do with the way you were treated by your M-S: Do you mind talking about this spiritual expe parents when you were young? rience? DTES: Not the fact that I'm a transsexual but my DTES: Oh no. I can talk about my spiritual experi alcoholism yes. It has something to do with it. The ence. First of all, my recovering treatment was run through the Salvation Army. They have a Christian- based philosophy in which Jesus Christ basically died for your sins. For a long long time, I had felt that there was a God up there; I had felt a connec tion. Being clean, sober and being in an environment where I was accepted for who I was (NOT knowing I was transgendered of course) led me to believe in the experience of the Holy Spirit. I felt that the cre ator was inside of me, guiding me. At that time, I believed it was the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ, and I truly practised those philosophies. But there was always something missing. Being Metis, Algonquin, Cree and white, there was always that side of me, the native side of me that I wanted to start searching for. Being a transsexual, I always wondered, "what if they knew?" In the Bible, they talk against homo sexuals but what if they knew about me being a TRANSSEXUAL? So I started coming out, really out and being open about who I am. Eventually the pastor used that in the Salvation Army against me. transsexuality itself is something totally out but At that moment, I knew I was getting abused by the they've used that against me; they've used that to church, not by God but by the church. I felt reli shame me, to ostracize me, to segregate me, and to giously abused and left the church shortly after that. hurt me 'cause they themselves don't understand it. This was from '89 to '91. I had lived with the SA for So I take their shame away from them. I can't forget two years when I quit them in '91. I had already what happened, but I have to look at them as spiritu sturted school and had gotten some funding for al human beings; that's my responsibility in my school. I rented a place, found a part-time job on the recovery. weekends as a health care giver and started to learn M-S: What happened in 1991 when you broke witli how to live with myself. I started to deal with my theSA? issues from the past with the drugs, the alcohol, and DTES: I went totally gay. I hung out with a totally my background which is quite dysfunctional - I gay crowd. So I went from one extreme to the other mean my father raped me, beat me, emotionally until I found a balance. lucked me up; my mother abandoned us to his M-S: You were living as a woman then? mercy and had multiple lovers in front of us... So I DTES: Oh yeah. I've been operated for 15 years stinted dealing with those issues. I've been a complete sex-change for 15 years now M -S: How is your relationship with your parents M-S: You talked a lot about your spiritual expci i now? ence with the SA. Since you left them how did your DTES: Well, they're comfortable with me because I spirituality evolve? — # 4 — DTES: Well, I was on a spiritual search. I was that we were of indian descent. Never talked about brought up Roman Catholic and knew that there was it. something wrong with me, because I was persecuted M-S: How did get involved with the High Risk for being an indian. So I started to study different Project? philosophies. I went Muslim in 1991. I wore the DTES: It started about a year ago. Hadjeb, the veil to hide my face.That lasted for 9 M-S: You really went back to your roots during the months and it was great. I was madly, passionately last year and a half. You reclaimed both your native involved with a Muslim man who was mujahideen. and transsexual backgrounds at the same time? It was great. I DTES: Yes was just living Both. And it feels my experience to I had a bit of trouble with absolutely won the fullest. This derful! I started was what I felt; to feel comfort this was what I being a transsexual but in able with myself was looking for. and confident. I Let's go learn our culture we’re called wanted to have a about it. Let's go primary relation live it. And what Two-Spirited and everybody ship with myself ever happened. and learn about I'm grateful, myself. So that because it's a les has a place in the circle was the hard part. son I've learned. When I graduated After the Muslim period, I went a little bit Zen a year ago, as a registered psychiatric nurse from Buddhist and read about that a little bit, started Douglas College, I wanted to do something for my learning how to meditate and started getting in touch community. When I cleaned up, I realized that there with my centre, learning about the chakras, the crys was nothing, that I was fortunate enough to be tals which are part of our culture as well. And that female legally, to have had my sex-change and to took all together about another 3 years which look like a female. I had seen the transgendered in brought me to the "Redroad" as I call it, which is my treatment, and it's not always very nice. I saw how native culture. And when I got there, that felt good, they were treated - the discrimination - so I wanted that felt right, that felt balanced. It incorporated all to do something for my community. my knowledge 'cause it incorporates everything. It M-S: So you feel you're sort of privileged because teaches respect of the environment and of yourself. you pass well as a non-transsexual and therefore It teaches that introspection is respect and that you don't get as bothered on the street or wherever as can't have respect if you don't have introspection. It other people? teaches all that and that's what created a balance for DTES: That's right. me. I had a bit of trouble with being a transsexual M-S: And you wanted to do something for your but in our culture, we're called Two-Spirited and own? everybody has a place in the circle 'cause we believe DTES: Yes. And that's how I got involved with the in the circle. Everything is circular, and what you Zenith Foundation. They had started a support group put out comes around, so we have to respect each on Wednesday nights called High Risk. With other at the community level. Our sexuality is ours; Barbara Hannon and April Valley. They had started it's private within us, but at the community level, doing that with First United Church. By that time, I we're all human beings, and we're all entitled to had graduated. I joined High Risk because I wanted respect, 'cause we all have our place in the circle. to do something for street people. I said: "This is M-S: When you were growing up, were you aware who I am, and I am now a para-professional, and I of your native background? want to incorporate both." So I got involved. They DTES: I was being made aware of it, but I wasn't had a dispute with First United Church, so I started really taught about it. talking to agencies in the downtown east side. I had M-S: So your parents were not talking about it? been working for a whole year in the downtown east DTES: Never. side with some of the agencies so they knew me. It M-S: And they were raising you as Catholic? was easy for me to help that transition, and that's DTES: Yeah, my mom is white; my dad is Red. And how we got the Thursday night group at DEYAS we were raised as Catholic. All that was said was (Downtown East side Youth Association Services) - — # 4 — the needle exchange there. They said, "we'll support M-S: As opposed to the ones who came out after you, come along." They gave us a space in the back, getting their houses, their wives, and their kids and and we started High Risk from there - Barbara, April who then put us down for not having taken advan and I. Then April dropped out and it was Barb and I. tage of hetero male priviledges. The bottom line is I So High Risk went on for January, February, and couldn't even pretend half a day to be a straight guy. March 1994, at which point the need came to estab It was physically, emotionally, and sexually impossi lish something else, bigger. The girls said, "what ble. about a coffee drop-in?" So I started talking to peo DTES: And it's not our fault. ple. We went to Vancouver Native Health Society M-S: No. and they said," Here's a space in our basement. Use DTES: But the problem is that we all suffer from- it. Do what you want." That's when we started hav low self-esteem. We all suffer from discrimination. ing a Coffee Drop-In on Mondays. It just grew from We all suffer from segregation and from being ostra there. Barbara dropped out, so I got hung and I cized by the community. We're always looking to stayed with them. validate ourselves as human beings. So we're all at M-S: And you tried to get volunteers around you? high risk because we're all transsexuals and there DTES: Not right away. What happened is that I was fore part of a minority. You go in a bar, have a drink, left alone with the group. There was the support and someone in front of you validates you by say group in DEYAS and this drop-in thing that was ing, "Oh honey you're beautiful ah-naa-naa-naa." catching on like wild fire. I was stuck. I had nobody. You go, "oh yeah," and you get all flattered, flabber So Deborah who was with Zenith came on board to gasted. You bring the person home, be it male or help. She's a good schmoozer. She busts everything female, whatever, you have a couple of drinks and for me which is good. the person says, "Let's not use condoms." You've put M-S: At the beginning, High Risk was part of the yourself at risk for HIV transmission, but they don't Zenith Foundation. When did High Risk become see that. It's not a question about whether or not they independent? care about dying or getting HIV-infected; everybody DTES: It separated about... hmm... September last cares about it. It's that disbelief factor: "It won't hap year. By October it was announced that High Risk pen to me." Also there's the second part I emphasize was going to be incorporated on its own. It became which is the low self-esteem and the fact that you officially incor have someone in porated in front of you vali January this year. dating you. I M-S: You proba know this bly also find that We're all at high risk because I still there is a lot of once in a while discrimination because we're all have sex without against transsex a condom. And ual prostitutes in transsexuals and therefore as a psychiatric most transsexual nurse, I should support groups, know better than organizations, part of a minority anybody else. I etc? talk about it with DTES: Totally. the guy and say, The transsexuals , "if you don't want from the upper middle class, I call them the sec to have sex with condoms forget it." I bring the guy ondary transsexuals. They're the ones who have home, put the condoms out on the tabic but in the been fortunate to live long enough as men before to heat of the passion and kiss kiss kiss - forget it I say come out as women so that they didn't have to live this because I want to emphasize it. through the poverty, through the discrimination, M-S: Do you find that all transsexuals arc at high through the ostracization. They established them risk? selves as men and then they became women. DTES: All transsexuals arc at high risk All nunori M-S: I always found it interesting to see that most ty groups and all cultural groups. When you’ve been lumsscxuals who work the streets started living as discriminated against, when you’ve endured racist women at a very early age. slurs and racism all your life, you’re at high nsk DTES: Yeah, those are the primary transsexuals. ‘cause you suffer low self- esteem I tut liunss(-< — # 4 — are even more at risk, especially if they’re on the socio-economic to rich people. I don't understand it. streets. I say this because transsexuals are the lepers We have a lot of native transsexuals. The majority. of this world. This is a harsh way to say it, but look And 72% of our girls are HIV+. at transsexuals in North America. Look at the people M-S: I supposed there's nothing in terms of AIDS with low socio-economic means who are also on the prevention programs for transsexuals and transgen streets -the IV-drug users, the prostitutes, the male dered people in Vancouver either? and female prostitutes - look at all the service agen DTES: No. There is absolutely no HIV/AIDS edu cies out there for them. Not one specifically address cation for transsexuals. There is nothing, absolutely nothing. I'm publishing an article called: “Transsexuals: HIV and AIDS.” I’ve been publish ing more stuff like that because there's nothing, there's absolutely nothing. M-S: Do you feel that the seroprevalence amongst transsexuals is stable or on the rise? DTES: On the rise. M-S: It's already high. I'm wondering when it's going to stop. DTES: I've lost three girls last year and I'm so pissed off at the government because we have to schmooze them, and we have to write to them and lobby and lobby. But it's starting to change. Already after one year, we're seeing the changes. The agen cies are calling us to go down and do some sensitivi ty training. Agencies are calling to refer transsexuals to us. M-S: You think that behaviours have not changed es transgender issues. Not one of them. Transsexuals amongst street transsexuals, that they are still prac are still left out on the side. So we are on the streets ticing unsafe sex? at a higher risk than any other group, ‘cause not only DTES: Listen, listen. The trick is there and you are we IV-drug users, not only are we prostitutes, haven't eaten all day. You're coming off of a drug not only are we drinking, not only are we suffering trip and he offers you 5 extras to take that condom from all of that, but we’re also suffering because of off. What do you think you're going to do? You need our transsexuality, not fitting in anywhere. that 5 bucks for your fix. You're going to take that M-S: That should even be a stronger reason for the condom off, that's reality. I don't blame the girls; I broader transsexual community to support transsex blame the tricks. And then they go home to their ual prostitutes and street-active transsexuals. wives. DTES: It should. But have you ever seen a transsex M-S: One of the greatest things there, is that it's ual trying to help another transsexual? [hysterical going to be the first place run by transsexuals. It's laughter from both] not somebody else taking care of us. M-S: The first time I called a support group in DTES: It's transsexuals for transsexuals. It's totally Montreal, I asked if there was diversity in the group run by volunteers and they're all street-active or IV- in terms of sexual orientation, cultural background, drug users. It's very cool. On our board, we have a etc. The person answered something to the effect couple of people that are not transsexuals. But that there were prostitutes in the group and added they're not allowed in the drop-in. That's the rule. some derogatory comments about them. I was so The girls in the drop-in have gotten together and upset because I was already working as a prostitute made 10 safe house rules for themselves. boy, and I was very ashamed of it. Take this and add M-S: Which are? the insecurity of going to a transsexual support DTES: No smoking in the building. No drugs in the group for the first time and you can imagine how I building. You can be high, but if you come in and felt. you're obnoxious, you'll be asked to leave. No work DTES: It's unreal. ing in front of the door and different things like that. M-S: Who hangs out at the drop-in? But they've all agreed to that.They've all signed that. DTES: Street-active HIV+ transgendered. They So that's cool. They police themselves. come from various backgrounds, from very low M-S: What are the immediate and long-term goals — yendentMuA.# 4 — of the High Risk project? Transsexality: A Mental Handicap DTES: The immediate goal is to address the prima Or a Physical Disorder? ry needs of our girls. They're sleeping on the streets; A position statement they're sleeping in parking lots. They're HIV+, and by Sandra Laframboise and Deborah Brady they have malnutrition. They suffer all kinds of sec High Risk Project Society ondary diseases due to their HIV/AIDS status. To In the press and other media, there has been a lot of discussion regarding the issue of Gender address those needs right off the bat, we'd like to Dysphoria as a mental handicap. Transgendered build showers and install laundry facilities. The girls activists are uniting to fight for justice and recognition. who are sleeping on the streets could come in, have In the United States, the organization a shower, and wash their clothes. Those are part of Transgender Nation has been and is lobbying the American Psychiatric Association to remove transgen - the primary needs that will help build some self derism from the DSM III R's list of mental illnesses. esteem. If you're clean, then you feel clean. Another At High Risk we believe that transgendered thing is to build a kitchen and to have their nutri people are not mentally ill. Furthermore, we also tional needs met at least once a day. We could dis believe that as insured consumers within the medical health care system, as citizens and tax payers, we have pense vitamins and juice and do teaching about it. a right to medical services specifically related to our These are the immediate goals. gender needs. The long term needs are to establish an outreach Transsexuals are people who have the gender program and an advocacy program for transgen- identity (psyche, mind or feelings) of one sex and the body of the other. Transgenderism has been an ancient dered people. An advocacy program to tackle the and persistent part of diversified human cultures. legal issues, to advocate on their behalf at the gov Since the early 1800's there have been thousands of ernment level, and to affect government policy documented cases in medical Journals (such as "Die Kontaire Sexualamp" findings — German journals). It changes or to represent transgendered in certain sys is not surprising to us that Western European culture tems where they're being discriminated against. The labels us as pathological when we transgress the rigid outreach program. One night we were walking binary gender boundaries, since these boundaries through the neighbourhood, and we thought it attempt to enforce conformity to social norms. Before colonization, transgendered persons in North American would be nice to serve hot chocolate in styrofoam society were highly regarded and considered shamans. cups. So we started going out to give out hot choco How then, can we claim to need medical ser late on the street. We walked out on the streets every vices when we are not sick? In this country, an individ night for a week or so, bringing hot chocolate to the ual has the right to express their identity through non- coercive means and may alter their physical appear street transsexuals. And it was needed. We saw ance as desired. transsexuals that were not coming to our drop-in, Our society needs to embrace this kind of and we were able to reach them. And we pulled diversity rather than concentrating on repression and them into our drop-in too because of that. I'm sure conformity to a norm. Sex is wbat you are, sexuality is an action or preference, and gender is what you feel. It that we could do a lot more. So we need that kind of is essential that there be harmony between the body outreach. and gender identity for an individual to achieve happi M-S: You need funding too. ness. For most transsexuals, sex re-assignment surgery is like liberation from a prison. The whole issue of DTES: We need money so that Deborah and I can transsexuality has to do with gender identity, the core leave our "regular" jobs and dedicate our lives and feeling of who one is. Transsexualism is not a mental our energy to something that we want to do and that disorder. is needed. However, there are few or no positive laws that establish exactly what legal rights and obligations transsexuals have when involved with our social ser vices or medical services. This lack of recognition cre ates intense alienation and leaves the door open for dls crimination in regard to access to those services. For I lie High Risk Project operates its drop-in at: the transgendered individual, even simple daily activl I lie Vancouver Native Health Society, ties of life, such as going to the store and getting food, *149 Hastings Street (rear) can be very difficult because people see transsexuals as freaks of nature. Monday to Friday from 1:00pm—4:30pm. Coping with intense discrimination, unemploy for information: (604) 681-3202 ment, poverty, lack of housing, and lack of medical * High Risk Project Society is a registered care specific to our needs — these are the real Issues «linrity and donations are always welcome. we face. We, at High Risk Project, find it deplorable dial the transgendered m ust ask, "please may we have the right to exist?" We are now demanding our rights In conclusion, to say that we are handicapped is as much a crime as to say that a person of eolotii Is disabled. — yetde*fruzdi # 4 — met Diane about a year ago. I was visiting of someone who realizes the importance of net my parents in Montreal and went to hang working and who is dedicated to collaborating out at Cleo (a transsexual bar situated in with others, she accepted. The following is a tran the Red Light district, downtown) in order script of a conversation we had in April. to meet with former clients and co-workers. II was chatting with a man when I saw Diane comMirha-Soleil: I would like you to talk about your ing in with her backpack, distributing condoms background. At what age did you start working in and lubricant to the girls around. I was both sur the sex trade? prised and excited. Having a transsexual prosti Diane: I am 32 years old. I started working when tute finally being hired as an AIDS educator to I was 19.1 left for Vancouver, because I wanted to reach out to other transsexual prostitutes repre live there. I had friends there, and prostitution was sents a long awaited recognition of our specific better. We were not getting bothered as much by needs in terms o f AIDS prevention. I immediately the police and all that. So I worked for 3 years in asked Diane if she would be interested to be inter Vancouver, from 19 to 2 2 .1 was living with a man viewed for feKeten&uu/i. Showing the enthusiasm there, and he committed suicide. It gave me a big down, and I came back to Montreal in ‘86. Then I kept on working in the sex trade in Montreal while working in bars/clubs as a bar-maid. I also worked as a dancer in various clubs on the South and North Shores. M-S: Have you always worked as a woman? jD: Always as a woman. I never worked as a man. Never, never, never. So when I came back to Reaching Montreal, I had an addiction problem. It started around that time, when my friend died and I got this big down. I ended up very depressed. But instead of going to see a doctor, I went to live with a girlfriend who said she would pump my Out to the morale back up. She showed me how to do coke and all that. I froze my emotions for eight years and lived all that time through some pretty turbu lent and violent relationships with ex-inmates. 1 got stabbed four times once; I got shot twice in the back another time. I ended up in jail. I’ve been a prisoner’s wife. I did the “pilgrimage” across Unreachable: Quebec as a prisoner’s wife. I was the first non- operated transsexual to have access to the “trail ers” at the penitentiary. It had never been seen an interview with Diane before. Two “same-sex” partners who would call the Canadian Ministry of Justice would be refused Gobeil from CACTUS conjugal rights. We had to get civilly married and do papers proving we were common-law before Montreal It took a very, very, very, very long time to get our first trailers. It took a year. During that period, I exchanged needles with a man and became HIV+. I also spent quite a bit of time in jail, in men's jails, quite regularly. Interview and translation from French by Mirha-Soleil Ross M -S: So you did time in m en’s jail as a transsexu al? — # 4 — ]): Yes. I was exactly as I am today, as feminine percentage of non-transsexual women involved in with breasts, etc. I was treated well, because I the sex trade. Why do you think that is? made sure that I would get respected. I was not I): I can talk about my own personal experience. I doing prostitution inside. Because transsexuals in was 19 years old when I came out as a transsexu Itiil who go suck one and another are looked on al. With my papers that weren’t changed, with an badly. I had my little job at the laundry, pressing identity that wasn’t well defined, I didn’t have the clothes. I was very respected. courage to work in a straight environment, to get M-S: Were you in a special sec a job with male papers and look tion of the jail where all the half and half, androgynous. Now transsexuals are sent? I’m comfortable with who I am. I): At the beginning, yes. But I work for the Ministry of Health then I met an agent de c as an ex-drug addict transsexual mcnt and I got put with people prostitute. It’s all my past that of my age (20-30), with every got me that job and this job is body. based on my personality. I M-S: Did you have a boyfriend developed my personality and m jail? I’m proud of it, because I’m now I) Yes. I would get a boyfriend strong. I’m not ashamed of what whenever I would get in, and it I am. I’m proud to be a transsex would last the time of my sen ual. I wouldn’t want to be a tence. [big laughter from both] “real” girl; I wouldn’t want to be It would also keep me from a man either. I’m proud. If being harassed for sexual ser somebody asks me, “are you a vices by other inmates. When transsexual?” I say, “Yes of they would know that I was with course I’m a transsexual." I someone, those kinds of stories don’t have to be ashamed of would completely stop. what I am. I’m so comfortable with what I am. M-S: How long did you spend in jail? I’m so fine as I am. I can’t see myself otherwise. I D In 12 years of prostitution, I spent 2Vi years in live in a small village close to Montreal. There are pul and did maybe another 2 years of parole. All maybe 100 inhabitants here and I am respected. lor prostitution. I did 3 times 6 months. At a cer People have never asked me if I was a transsexu ium point, I did 6 months, got out and 2 days after al. And if they were to, I would tell them “yes.” got another 6 months for prostitution. So I did a M-S: When were you diagnosed with HIV? complete year. I got out on parole many times. I D: In ’87, but I was contaminated in ’86.1 had a was prohibited from certain areas, because I was a partner who became sick at the time and we had prostitute. They gave me a hard time during the exchanged needles. We also had unprotected sex last years to prevent me from going back on the because he said, “we won’t put a condom on; I’m Ntroet. not a client.” Et voila! That’s life. M-S: When did you finish your last sentence? M-S: How did you start working for CACTUS*? L> I got out the last time in February, ’92.1 kept D: I had been sick and went to live in a house for on working through ads in the papers, but I HIV+ women. I had met a nurse who was work •.lopped using in August, ’92. I joined AA, ing for CACTUS. She said, “Diane, you’re an ex Cocainomanes Anonymes and Narcotiques client, you stopped using, you’re in good health, \nonymes.I started a spiritual 12 step program it’s International AIDS Day; would you give a and since then I’ve abstained from all drugs, alco talk in Quebec for doctors?” So 1 arrived there hol. medications, etc. and introduced myself as HIV+, not as a transsex M S The percentage of transsexual women ual, but as HIV+ for 8 years. I said I wanted to involved in the sex trade is much higher than the give a new orientation to my life. After I gave my * Centre d'Action Communautaire aupnis dcH Toxiconmne* I d< Seringues — # 4 — talk, a doctor and a researcher came up to me and are related to that. So I’m in communication with said that I should fill out an application for a gov a doctor and a nurse to start a clinic at the CLSC ernment grant to work at CACTUS. And from Centre-ville. We would have our little transsexual there I sent in my application along with support clinic at CLSC Centre-ville. Wouldn’t that be ing letters from people writing that I was the kind interesting? of person they would like to see working at CAC M-S: I left Montreal 3 years ago, and it looks like TUS. My project is called “Approche Novatrice the world has turned upside down there. Things d’Education Aupres des Femmes Prostituees par have really changed, [both laugh] un pair” meaning by a person who lived in the D.: Well, when they let me in, they didn’t know same situation as what they were them. After a six doing. [both months waiting Why is it that nobody laugh again] period, I Anyways, when received the thought about doing a study I went to that response that my conference in proposal was about transsexuals and Toronto — accepted. Partaeeons l’en- M-S: I know that AIDS?* Nobody could care ereie. on home you work with lessness and prostitute women less, nobody knows about it. prostitution — in general, but I transsexual also know that women were not you give special It is easy to ignore a com represented at attention to all. I was going transsexual munity that you don't know. there to represent women. prostitute women D: Yes, definitely, because they’re my people. It’s from Montreal. Another transsexual (from my community. Working at CACTUS as a street Montreal also) and I ended up being the only outreach worker, I go in bars, restaurants, strip transsexuals there. So I went to complain to the joints; I go and meet people in their working envi organizers, stating: “You asked me to give a ronment. I do the exchange of needles. I distribute speech on the impact of marginalization, because condoms. I accompany them to the clinics, to the after all who’s more marginal than an HIV+ trans hospital. I take them wherever they need to go. I sexual prostitute drug addict. You want to put all open the doors of already existing services for those labels on me, but I end up being marginal them. They often don’t know about those services ized by you." There were no connections, no one or are too embarrassed to go by themselves. to take care of it. So they asked me to be on the Whether it’s because they’re transsexuals, or advisory committee of the next conference. The because they’re drug addicts, or because they’re first meeting is on the 29th of April at the prostitutes, they need special attention for their Canadian AIDS Society in Ottawa. Starting from cases. What I can do is bring them to people who there. I’m opening doors. What I want to do is are going to take them as they are and who will unblock some funds to go and do research on HIV treat them according to their needs. infection amongst the transsexual community Presently we are working on a project at the throughout Canada, probably starting with CLSC** Centre-ville to open a transsexual clinic Montreal. For me, it’s easy to get in communica for hormonal/psychological follow-up. There are tion with transsexuals. I asked people, "Why is it lots of transsexuals and transvestites in Montreal that nobody thought about doing a study about who take hormones and buy them from the under ground market. They have health problems that * * Centre Local de Services Communautaires transsexuals and AIDS?" Nobody could care less; - she’s very good the girl, but what the hell is she nobody knows about it. It is easy to ignore a com gonna do there? [both laugh] You know what I munity that you don’t know. But now that I’m at mean? She can come to listen to me and type. the Ministry and that they know me, it is up to me [both laugh again] That’s my goal, because I to talk about my community. It is up to me to go don’t want to be a street outreach worker my and do research for the members of my communi whole life. I just put a foot in the system, and my ty and offer them the services they have a right to, other one is coming. There’s more to come. There the help they need or maybe just to open new are other women who will become street outreach doors to something else for them. Can you imag workers, who will replace me, and I will move on ine what it means for other transsexuals down to something else. It’s a normal evolution. I'm 32 town to see me around; to see me on TV; to see years old, and I have the intention to live until I’m me in the newspapers; to see me as a representa 65. Minimum. tive of prostitutes, of transsexuals and of addicts? M-S: There are very few statistics related to the It gives them hope that they may not only be good spread of HIV in the transsexual community, but to freeze on the corner of the street, that maybe the few that exist show that the incidence of HIV they can do something with their lives. I swear in our community is enormously higher than in that transsexuals are really proud of me in any other community. What do you think Montreal. I open doors for them. Slowly, I find accounts for that? them jobs. If we have a transsexual clinic, maybe D.: Lack of prevention. It’s hard for existing ser it’ll give a job to one or two of them. vices to go and do prevention, communicate with M-S: Why do you think AIDS organizations and transsexuals. As I said earlier, it’s easier for them AIDS prevention groups have neglected the trans to ignore people they don’t know. I was talking sexual community to such an extreme extent? about that with my boss last week. She said: Mow come they “Diane it’s not never thought o easy for straight about us? I ’ve folks to go sit always had that with transsexuals question. and listen to them 1) Try to take a and try to help census of the them .” It’s AIDS cases in absolutely normal Canada that are and most of the lianssexual. It’s time they don’t hard because feel like doing it many transsexu because for them, als have male w e’re alm ost papers and are always sort of an i lassified as attraction. They male. want to under M-& Yeah, I stand why. But know. They clas- me, when I go to ilV us as male if we are pre-/non-operative and as meet a transsexual. I’m not there to understand women if we’re post-operative. And there’s no why she is a transsexual. I couldn’t cure less way to keep track because there’s no mention of ‘cause I know why she’s a transsexual - 1 am one inmssexuality. Right off the top, that eliminates 3/4 of the stupid I) That’s why it’s important to have people like questions, [both laugh] The Why?, Since when?. me doing the research. Not a little researcher Have you always known? and How did your i liming out of university with her BA in research family take it? — we’re sick of them and wo — pe#efotf>uu/i # 4 — don’t want to be asked those questions anymore. tions, whereas they imagine that for transsexuals, [both laugh again] getting the operation is not an emergency. M-S: People have been babbling the same ques M-S: That it’s an esthetic issue. tions for over 20 years. They should know the D.: Yes and I find this very stupid. I know some answers by heart now. Oh and what about: Are who constantly think about suicide because they you going to get the operation? can’t get the operation. For them, it’s a very D; Or Are you sure you 're going to be able have urgent matter. But not for me. orgasms like a real woman?[both laugh M-S: Was any other aspect of your transsexuality cally] affected? M -S: Or Promise me you 'll let me see it! or I D: Not really. Of course, I didn’t accept it during Society treats prostitution hypocritically. People who dare to affirm themselves as prostitutes get fingers pointed at them by the same persons who use prostitutes' services. If there weren't clients, there wouldn't be prostitutes. want to be the first one to lick it. [both are laugh the first years. I wanted to die. The only person I ing breathlessly] talked about it with was my mother. I thought my D: We are so tired of answering those stupid ques life was over. Ten years ago, it wasn’t like today. tions. They used to give us 2 years to live. Nowadays, M -S: [after a brief pause] How has your HIV sta it’s different. But I have seen many transsexuals tus affected your transsexuality? dying. I buried 2 last month. We were 4 living D: First of all, hospitals refused to operate on me. together when we were diagnosed with HIV the I had finished my psycho-therapy in Vancouver. I same year. We had shared needles together. was going to be operated but because I was They’re all dead except me. So for me, right off HIV+, they refused. Today I don’t care ‘cause I the top, it’s a heavy blow. I tell myself I may be don’t want to be operated. I no longer have the the next one. But I’ve been in good health for 10 intention to be operated. I accepted my situation years. I take care. I took myself in hand. I consult as it is, and I’m fine like this. ed. I met a doctor with whom I’m comfortable, M-S: What is the reason or argument the doctors which is something very important for transsexu gave you for refusing to perform an SRS on you? als, to feel comfortable with a doctor. To be able D.: They imagined that it wouldn’t heal, that the to say everything. Not to be scared to go and see immune system wouldn’t be able to fight infec your doctor. I refer all the HIV+ transsexuals I tion. know to my doctor, and he’s very comfortable M-S: What I find very interesting is that they with them, which is also very important. don’t refuse other types of major surgery for that M-S; Do you have hope that middle-class, non reason. prostitute transsexuals will one day change, get D: For them, other surgeries are emergency situa- ting rid of their own prejudices against transsexu- als who are prostitutes, IV-drug users and/or weeks ago, I was on a TV show and I made sure HIV+? to specify that drug addiction and prostitution D.: I would really like them to change, because may be related, but not always. I said it 2 or 3 there are a lot of transsexuals who are HIV+ and times on the show and had the hostess repeating it prostitutes who need help as much as others. too. It’s sort of an Oprah show in french. I was Personally, I have the intention to work in that there to talk about my work as a street outreach direction so that people have a broader attitude on worker for the homeless and the prostitutes. She that level. Society treats prostitution hypocritical asked me, "What brought you to do that job?" I ly. People who dare to affirm themselves as pros answered that I had been a street prostitute for 12 titutes get fingers pointed at them by the same years and that now I was there to make their lives people who use prostitutes’ services. If there easier and help them getting the services they weren’t clients, there wouldn’t be prostitutes. have a right to in order to live their lives and do M-S; That’s a very interesting point because I’ve their jobs in dignity. They already work hard met a lot of transsexuals who are very anti-prosti enough that they deserve to have adequate and tute but who at the same time admitted to me hav decent services. Let’s stop playing ostriches with ing used transsexual prostitutes’ services when our heads in the sand and let’s stop looking in the they were living as straight men. I couldn’t neighbour’s backyard. They are there, so lets believe it. work with them. Prostitutes are the best AIDS D.: Exactly. Exactly. We’re talking about people’s educators you can get. Not the clients. There are right to live their lives as they wish and to be still a lot of clients who don’t want to wear con prostitutes if they want to. As far as I’m con doms. I just came back from an international con cerned, it’s a life choice and I’m proud of it. ference. I was representing Canadian prostitutes M-S: It’s also a complete denial of reality to be in Paris. I did a TV show with other prostitutes against prostitution and to be uncomfortable with from Holland, Switzerland, Marseille, Lyon, it, because the fact is that it exists, and that there Paris, and Italy. We all face the same problems are people from all walks of life who are prosti around the world. Clients offer you more money tutes or who use prostitutes’ services. That’s the if you don’t use condoms. It’s the clients we need way it is and if you don’t like it, too bad. That’s to educate, not the prostitutes. Instead of panick reality so you better get over it or else move to ing in front of AIDS, we should teach people to another planet. take their responsibilities seriously. It is so simple D.: I was watching a TV show the other day and to use a piece of latex. they were talking about a survey they had done of Diane Gobeil can be reached c/o CACTUS Montrial, 1209 300 Quebecois-ses. The question was, "what is Saint-Dominique, Montrial, Qui. H2X2W4 Til: (514) 8869. the oldest profession?" Eighty percent answered, "prostitution." [both laugh] It’s considered a pro fession in people’s heads. But still society prefers to close its eyes and live in hypocrisy. About two # Mirha-Soleil Ross is a sexually exhausted who has turned enough tricks in her lifetime to be immune against crabs forever. Resides being gifted for giving celestial hugs and caresses, she is a vibrant soul, and a wholehearted vegan who recently welcomed IS mice from a local shelter into her already extended animal family. — <^atdentfuMA # 4 — ecently, a great deal of controversy and discussion has arisen over the topic of who should be included in the New Women's Conference, the Michigan Womyn's RMusic Festival, as well as a few other events. These events are exclusionary in nature, accessible only to a priviledged few with the time and money to attend. While certainly fun, these events do little to help the vast majority of the Transgender Community. Racism and Poverty in the Transgender Community by Christine Tayleur While a few people run off and spend a $1000 to neighbourhood. San Francisco's Tenderloin district lounge around in hot-tubs or to protest transsexual (TL) is a densely-populated, multi-ethnic neigh exclusion at the MWMF, the majority of our popu bourhood of some 24,000 souls, crammed into an lation is excluded from basic human rights. area of 25 blocks. According to police statistics, the Thousands are languishing in prisons because they TL accounts for approximately a quarter of all the ^ don't have the money for a good defense, whilecity's crime. many others are being assaulted and killed because The TL resembles a war-zone, with boarded-up of who they are. Many transgendered people are store front burnt-out shells of buildings, an eco fighting for the right just to keep a job. While peo nomic disaster area, with people hanging out on the ple are bickering over names, many are being streets, drinking, and selling drugs openly. Violence locked up in psychiatric institutions for being trans is common-place. At any time of day or night one gendered. Thousands of our sisters and brothers hears the sporadic, "Pop! Pop! Pop!" of gunfire. around the world are living in poverty; they are A woman is several times more likely to experi turned away from shelters and must sleep on the ence violence here than a man — a transgendered street. Others are dying from lack of drug treat woman is several times more likely than that to ment, psychological help, medical treatments, and experience violence. for lack of HIV treatment. Meanwhile, activists There are few employment opportunities in the dine on steak and wine. '"Loin." Transfolk have even fewer. If you are a What are we doing as a community to combat transgendered woman or man of colour, it's even racism, poverty, and other social ills in the com more difficult. Most of the city's less expensive munity? housing stock is located in the 1L, thus people on I have observed first-hand the effects of poverty fixed incomes are ghettoised into neighbourhoods and other social ills on our community. I have lived such as the Tenderloin. Public assistance, the low in the "skid-row" hotels, with cold and cold run est form of cash assistance, pays $350 a month. ning water, cracked plaster, and bare light-bulbs. Some are slightly better off with SSI payments Too many of our sisters and brothers are still living which average about $600. The average rent in in these places. these «Welfare Hiltons» is about $400 per month. If you are poor and transgendered in San Francisco, Hookers, both trans and non, walk the " 'ho'-stro' " you usually live in the Tenderloin or a similar (whore stroll) throughout which are scattered pom- shops and theatres. As in most poor communities, Transgendered women walking down the street there is a high percentage of people on welfare. with groceries get rousted by the cops, thrown in Women on welfare may hook because it isn't the back of the police car, beaten up, and raped. enough to live on. They call you "Faggot," "Nigger," or "Gook." If Prostitution is hazardous work. It is fraught with you are poor and transgendered, you are a target for many dangers from the "johns," the cops, and the the police and other predators, particularly if you people on the streets. More than a few transgen are non-white. If you report a crime, they act as if dered sex-workers are murdered on the streets you are the culprit, or as if it is your fault. Last every year, their bodies often left in dumpsters. The year, at the landmark 4% hour hearing by the police make little attempts to find the culprit. In Human Rights Commission, a Native American 1993, Angel Lopez was found stabbed to death. In transgendered woman gave testimony that the 1991, Lynn Tharrett was murdered 2'A blocks from SFPD [San Francisco Police Department] refused the Tenderloin Task Force Police Station. It took to pursue a man who had sexually assaulted her four 911 calls and thirty minutes for the police to and tried to rape her. respond. Neither of these murders have ever been These atrocities are experienced in every major solved and there have been many more since. urban area across the country by our sisters and Possibly 60% of the population of the Tenderloin brothers. An FtM client of mine had his seven year are people of colour. They are mostly Southeast old daughter taken away from him while he was in Asian, South Asian and Pacific Islanders. African- the hospital for tb. He had left her in the care of his Americans and people from Central America as lesbian pastor. Child Protective Service stepped in. well as Mexico also make up a significant percent While there were allegations, there were no formal age of the population. Caucasian people are by no charges laid against him for sexual abuse of his means monolithic and come from all over the coun child. Despite the report of their own psychologist try as well as some foreign countries. I estimate that this was unlikely, they chose to keep her. that transpeople comprise about 11% of this popu Does the energy devoted to the NWC/MWMF lation. There are no accurate statistics. controversies alleviate these injustices? Many transgendered immigrants, such as the The recent elections were frightening. In Khmer and Salvadorenos, have witnessed or expe California, as in many states, a homophobic gover rienced torture first-hand from death squads. nor was re-elected. In the previous election, he Transfolks have often been targets for this because courted the Lesbian/Gay community. This time, he they were/are not deemed "morally pure" enough to courted the Christian Right. He was also a major live. In Chiapas, Mexico, transpeople have been proponent of a "three strikes law" as well as the singled out for assassination by the military and anti-immigrant measure. Proposition 187 (this police. These people arrive here to escape torture racist proposition was supported by many members and repression. But they often have few job skills of the trans-community). Its ads depicted Latinos and speak very little English. running across the frontier en masse and was cou Life for people living in poverty is difficult enough pled with dire warnings about how immigrants are for anyone. For the transgendered woman or man it destroying the economy. Instead of dealing with the is vastly more difficult. The shelters make impossi real causes behind the failing economy, they target ble pre-conditions, such as staying in the men's sec ed a powerless group, catering to xenophobia tion for MtF's or getting a doctor's or a TG com A few years ago. Dee Farmer, a young transsexual munity worker's statement confirming that you are woman, was convicted of a minor crime She was transgendered (in other words, your identity is sub- sentenced to 20 years. In prison, she was raped and ject to someone else's "opinion"). The welfare denied adequate medical care for her transsexual workers treat everyone like dirt. They are full of ism. Hundreds like her are languishing in prisons self-importance and act as though one were trying throughout the country. Most of these people's to take the pittance, that the city gives, from out of major crime was poverty. Poverty, which is brought their own pockets. If you're a transgendered on by social bigotry, is what prevents them from woman, they call you "sir" or some other slur. getting jobs, etc. — # 4 — Where were the activists when she sued the jails and prisons. They must make connexions with prison system in the Supreme Court? every facet of our community, not just their friends We activists have a duty to assist our sisters and and neighbours. brothers who are incarcerated or otherwise Labour organizer Saul Alinsky explains that oppressed. Going to Michigan each year won't do activists have two equally important major func anything for our people in poverty. tions. One: that the people and organizers must This country is now moving more towards the right understand that organizing generates power to be than at any time since the '50s and '20s. An article, controlled and directed for the realization of a pro in the Autumn '93 edition of «DISSENT», gramme. The second: that only by organizing can a describes the shift of Germany to the right after programme be developed. reunification because it hasn't effectively dealt with When we organize, we set aside our personal dif the legacy of Nazism. As in the US, racism is on ferences and petty ego trips to focus on the task at the rise. Neo-Nazi groups and other fascist groups hand. We get to know and respect each other. We are gaining strength, just as in Germany in the discuss problems we thought only affected us as 1920s, during Hitler's rise to power. individuals. We learn to compromise and come to There may very well be a Republican in the White agreement. Out of all this comes the common agen House in 1997. How do we fight this? If we are da, the people's programme. The other function of going to build a movement that will gain us any the organization then comes forth: the use of measure of respect and human rights, we must power in order to fulfill the programme. work together and set aside our personal differ Although organizers can state general principles ences with each other. Divide and conquer is the during the initial stages, such as housing, medical traditional strategy of oppressors. The Nazis played care, jobs, educational opportunities; above all else, on the Poles' dislike of Jews, the Ukrainians' dislike it's the opportunity to create a programme of their of Stalin and so on. The right wing plays on eco own. I have seen this in grassroots organizations nomic uncertainty and xenophobia, as did Hitler. such as the Transsexual Menace, Transgender All one has to do is take a look at the ads promul Nation, Queer Nation, and other organizations, on a gated by the right. They show crime on the limited basis. What often happens is these groups increase, the economy in shambles, etc. wind up being controlled and dominated by a small A few dedicated souls like Margaret O'Hartigan of clique. One sees this in the larger organizations in Portland, Oregon and Kristine Holt of our community; they have become monolithic Pennsylvania are doing things that benefit many blocs of mostly white Anglo-Saxon men. others. O'Hartigan spent $110 of her own money on In 1989, at the IFGE Convention in San Francisco, a mass-mailing to help protect people's right to I was chastised by a middle.-aged TV, because I SRS under the state health plan in Minnesota. 10% didn't vote with the otherwise-unanimous majority of the cost to attend NWC or MWMF and well on some issue. I voted with my conscience, accord worth it. ing to what I thought was in the best interests of the Here in San Francisco, we managed to hold togeth people I was representing — the Transgender er a fragile coalition of diverse people to get far- Community of the Tenderloin. This was after a lot reaching landmark legislation that will benefit us of fine speeches about federalism and liberty, etc. all. But just like we cannot do it alone, they cannot These ideas meant nothing to people who were do it alone. worried about where they were going to sleep or There are numerous TG organizations around the eat that night. These power-brokers were staying in country whose express purpose is "educational." a deluxe hotel and eating prime rib. That's all well and good, but it's only one piece of Alinsky notes that it is hypocritical, paternalistic, the pie. If these organizations want to serve the and the worst kind of dictatorship for organizations community, they must do more than just educate. to become dominated by small cliques of people, They must reach out to people of colour, the poor no matter how benevolent their intentions may be. er members of the community, and our sisters and This then is our task if we are truly going to secure brothers incarcerated in psychiatric prisons, county our basic liberties as human beings: we must orga- — nize at all levels of the community. It was Martin Luther King, I think, who said, "None of us are Bashing free until all of us are free." The words of pastor Martin Niemoller of Germany are also instructive: Even "politically correct" "First, they came for the Jews, I said nothing; I was gay papers do it, vent not a Jew. Then they came for the Trade thinly veiled hatred, phrases Unionists,... I was not a Trade Unionist... then... the expected Catholics... When they came for me, what could I from the Bush-whacked Right say?" but not from fellow travellers The right is on the rise and nothing short of our on the road to personal freedom. very lives are on the line. If we are not helping the The voices that complain most oppressed members of our community, we are long and loud at utterances truly not helping anyone. of a Jesse Helms, are oddly silent, # Christine Tayleur is a gendered activist originally as the same phrases from Fontainebleau, of hate and exclusion France. She is one of come from the lips the original co founders of of a radical sister, Transgender Nation. making a mockery She has been a of political correctness, sellor/social worker pariahs of our brothers providing counselling and other services to and sisters. transsexuals and other Michelle/Vernon Maulsby transgendered people pri # Michelle/Vernon M aubby is just a princess trapped in marily in San Francisco's a bear's body, a person with an addiction to the printed Tenderloin district for over 11 years. photo of Christine Tayleur by Loren Cameron word. Despite her looks, a very shy and gentle soul. A VISION OF COMMUNITY NJ The first All-FTM Conference of the Americas O August 18, 19, 20,1995 San Francisco, California Join th e m em bers o f FTMInternational fo r th e ls t aii-F T M conference. 2 1/2 days o f workshops, panels, seminars, exhibitions, networking and socializing for FTMs,their partners and friends. AH are welcome! lopics include: Coming Out, Relationships, Family, Sexuality, Spirituality & Male Consciousness, Partners of FTMs, A< ademic Perspectives on FTMs, Racism & Transsexuality, MTF & FTM issue comparison, Queer & Straight issue ( omparison, No-Hormones & Non-Op Options, Living Long Term in Transsexual Bodies, Therapist Panel, M .D Panel I eatured Speakers/Presenters include: Larry Brinkin, San Francisco Human Rights Commission, Michael Brownstein, MD, Photographer Loren Cameron, Jason Cromwell, Steve Dain, John Garrigues, James Green, David Harrison, Donald I aub, MD, Shadow Morton, Sky Renfro, SFPD Sgt. Stephan Thorne, Jude Patton and many others. Registration Fee, per person: $50.00 if postmarked on or before June 30 $60.00 if postmarked between July 1 and July 31 $75.00 if postmarked on or after August 1, and at the door Registration Fee includes all sessions - Fri., Aug. 18-6 p.m. (reg. opens at 4 p.m .) through 2:30 p.m. Sun., Aug. 20. Snacks and beverages will be provided. You will need to take care of your own transportation, lodging and meals lor more information and registration write to: FTM Conference, 5337 College Ave., #142, Oakland, CA 946IH, or e-mail requests to [email protected]. aetutotiMud #4 — ‘Sffe Cutting^Eig& @ff feJ@umm£um "Trans Sisters getsmore interesting,more literate and more articulate with every issue. I can see it maturing before my and it's a wonderful feeling to know that such a publication is possible." Sandy Stone, author of "The EmpireStrikes Back: A Posttranssexual Manifesto " Some of the most hostile and damaging criticisms of transsexuaUsm...have come from the feminist community, and TransSisters confronts these issues head-on.Because Davina positions the magazine in the breech of the cannon, it has potential to cause great change. ...[is]... on the leading edge of the politics of transsexualism. ” — Dallas Denny, Chrysalis Quarterly Sample issue: $6.00 One year (four issues): $24.00 Back Issues: $8.00 each; any 5 for $35.00; 6 for $41.00; all 7 for $46.00 To order use order form on next page n®- 1 = 1 TransSisters T m ^Sisters ‘TransSisters TransSisters Tht Umrnsl M Tn iL J—■ m m m ?lS‘ 1 Mission to Michigan: THE RITES OF Transsexual Womyn at CYBELEAND ATTIS the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival - M C M W Wm Issue # 1 Issue # 2 Issue # 3 E w '7 7 ' TransSisters" FIRST ANNIVERSARY ISSUE ‘TransSisters TransSisters T- ivujexiuk f rmuium TransSisters 'The Journal of 'Transsexual feminism Joel's Tfu Ji rrwuJtTUM h Interview An with tht Interview Transsexual villi Kate Vampire: Bernstein ieviewt of Her Sandy Booh iwtlMV. H Mem. TramsscxuaI Womyn A t ike 1994 Stones Wemem aad Ike SkoiU Preepentiee Znusuxunl Weuem MickiqAN Womyn’s Music Fcstw aI Best #/ Ifiiii Her At® Fin. Wrm//f B een Be Jllmwed le A tend the Mew Wemau Bark fift AOsii A Row I* ■ Roar: (hr N o w ec lelu rr of S** aad OpqreaWoe flue: Leslie Fein berg an W kn Wm flfT7 w • I ribUn Separatist Identity ( rials • What Sai Are Yoo? • Cnlereueel: tni\ictiu$ Viewt I esMaas Who Date Transw suats • Blosaow of R owheads • She Plus: Transexuals at Stonewall 25 • She’s Baaa a ark1 • tlaa If Uhl. —I w Walks. She Taiu. She ( rawb oo Her BcUr Like a Reptile • The Janice Raymond's Tht Trmiuiexuml Empire rttaaatd • ■ MU*n.M.WrUMU f . Leahiaaa Expelled from Amtralixn Laahiaa ComHm • and ■ < -ramie AMame • ICTLEP vv HBK.DA • aad ao rr Transsextials Allowed to Enter MWMF • and more txjlPx a ThANsaxiiAi.khoesa Issue # S Issue # 6 Issue # 7 Current Issue □ Please send m e____ sample issue(s) of TransSisters @ $6.00 each (current issue only) □ Please send m e____one year subscription(s) (four issues) of TransSisters. @ $24.00 each. □ Please send m e____copies of back issue It 1 of TransSist@ $8.00 each. □ Please send m e____copies of back issue # 2 of TransSisters@ $8.00 each. Any fire back issues □ Please send m e____copies of back issue U 3 o f TransSist@ $8.00 each. for $35.00 □ Please send m e_____copies of back issue # 4 of TransSist@ $8.00 each. Any six for $41.00 □ Please send m e____copies of back issue # S a t TransSisters @ $8.00 each. 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B32 TS lives under TS control Now! 133 Theory Mutilates Surgery Liberates City_ B34 Only a Transsexual could love you Province /State. Employment Equity for Transsexuals B36 I have big feet - So what??? Postal Code/Zip_ u:t7 Woman-bom Transsexual ITS I'd rather be dead than genetic Send cash/money order/cheque (payable togenderpress) to:genderpress, b:w Transsexuals tar Animal Liberation Box 500-62, 552 Church Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4Y 2E3 "Mi Nobody knows I'm a Transsexual 4 Let our This sample is a black & white, 40% o f the actual size version o f some of our buttons ______See left hand page for ordering instructions. arrived at Pelican Bay Security Housing Unit (SHU) punishment to work in the factory, which due to their deaf in July ’91. This SHU opened in 1989 and is now a ness poses a health and safety hazard to them and those well-known Control Unit, sometimes called by the around them and is violation of certain safety codes. We prisoners “Dungeon Pelican Bay.” I informally call it also filed paperwork for light-flashing alarms on the yard, “Treblinka.” and a computer readout screen on a wall to alert us to I emergency situations in which the gunners gave everyone The finer details of life in this SHU are not well-known. It the order to “drop!”, and other emergency instructions. is my intent to reflect on them, but first I believe some This was a serious problem for us that could have easily background is necessary as to how I ended up here. turned lethal in the level-four Folsom setting, where there I’m a male-to-female transsexual lesbian. I’m serving a life are always five gun towers covering the yard and signs term out of Los Angeles and expect to die in prison, as everywhere give notice that “no warning shots will be fired opposed to begging the — the first round will be Board of Prison Terms for for effect.” Drop orders mercy. This is my first are often given and pris time in prison; I entered oners have been shot to the system when I was 27. death more than once. Since then, in 1980, I’ve And more than once the rotated through seven order was given without California prisons, includ my knowledge with the ing San Quentin and result that I ended up in Folsom (old and new). the gunners’ sights. I’m a trained paralegal Folsom officials did not and jailhouse lawyer and like the fact that we were am involved in extensive protesting such condi administrative appeals tions. and litigation against con In a disciplinary hearing ditions of confinement. at which a number of my I’m of American Indian due process rights were and Mexican Indian lin denied me I was found eage and have been deaf This article originally appeared in Prison News Service (PNS), issue U39 guilty of “battery with since age 15 from menin (Jan/Feb 93). I have wanted to reprint it in fetufa&uud since then, because I feel serious injury.” A Folsom gitis. My complaints and that although a great many people have read it, very few transsexuals or trans- gendered people are even aware of its existence I believe Lofofora's article to be committee, which I had in briefs highlight prison a very important testimony o f her experiences at Pelican Bay, (a state prison that court just weeks earlier, issues concerning Native is infamous for its abusive treatment o f inmates), one that will hopefully open the imposed a two-year disci American legal and reli eyes of the members of our communities to the realities of transsexual prisoners. plinary term to be served gious rights, the rights of The article is reprinted here with Lofof or a's permission. - editor at Pelican Bay despite my deaf prisoners, and medical treatment for transsexuals in claims of denial of due process, self-defense and the term prison. being above the max. On July 23 I was shipped to Pelican In May ‘95 I defended myself against a bashing at Folsom, Bay, shackled hand and foot and kept in a tiny cage at the an attack that prison officials encouraged and deliberately front of the bus for the eight hour ride from Sacramento to failed to prevent in retaliation for my administrative com the Oregon border. plaints and legal activism. At the time of the incident I had a lawsuit pending against Folsom and the California Department of Corrections for treatment of transsexualism and a number of citizen’s complaints against Folsom guards and administrative personnel for harassment and discrimination based on my gender orientation and exercis ing my legal rights to petition for a redress of grievances. Also, I and two other deaf prisoners (Louis Fresquez, a Mexican, and Thomas Brooks, a white, both of whom were most enthusiastic and steadfastly dedicated to the rights of deaf prisoners, whatever the consequences), had begun to assert our rights to equal treatment by requesting telecom munication devices for the deaf (TDD) to use the telephone with, and television decoders. Some deaf prisoners were also being forced against their will and on the threat of A sergeant began to scold me; that’s all I could gather. I with normal hearing but which cannot be heard by deaf couldn’t understand a word he was saying. I was barely ori persons. The result was that they all immediately recoiled ented and hadn’t the wildest imagination of what was going and covered their ears with their hands and looked to be on on. I cut in by telling him that I’m deaf and could not the verge of stampeding back out of the cell. After turning understand him and could he slow down his speech so that the aid off the guard tried to put it in place. He failed, and I might read his lips. They all wore protective vests. The just left it dangling from my ear. This appealed to their sor sergeant was small and his vest puffed up his size. did sense of humour. One of the biggest misconceptions about deaf people is that Eventually I was able to gather that I was expected to they can be taught lip reading like anyone can be taught to “show skin” for all counts, which include the 11 p.m., 1, 3, read and to write and thereafter can communicate with the and 5 a.m. counts. I told them I would do so. A rereading greatest of ease. No problem, just read a person’s lips as the next day of the SHU orientation package showed no one would read a book. This is a myth. Lip reading is rule mandating skin counts. guesswork and everyone has their own way o f speaking At all times I was forced to stand shackled totally naked and no two pairs o f lips are the same. A lip reader does not before them. My psychological process was strongly expect to understand every word but instead looks for key assaulted. I felt raped. To them I had no claim to dignity or words that cue them. Thus most times things must be defense. As a prisoner I was a non-person in their eyes and repeated because the person isn’t able to key in on the mes therefore had no rights, human or legal. I was inferior, I sage with the few words they think they understand. It con was debasement of debasement. Low. A judgement that tributes to the problem when the speaker makes no effort to gleamed in their eyes as they appraised me curiously in speak slowly or consciously form words and instead speaks their puffed-up vests, sweating like swine. I a wakan, a in a normal fashion as if the deaf person has normal hear holy image, a transsexual, was incomprehensible to these ing ability. Moustaches are also a hindrance. heathen. As a woman I was expected to be a physically and The sergeant made no effort to effectively communicate mentally shackled slave. Nothing more, perhaps less. Less with me and I indicated my hearing aid on the desk. It is a than a non-person. Low. My scream is loud and long. compact aid that fits behind the ear and serves to amplify The next day the guards took an amusement in refusing to sound. Hearing aids give rise to another myth — many let me shave. This was a deliberate ploy to cause mental people seem to think they “cure” deafness. Hearing aids do suffering to someone with a female psychological composi not restore normal hearing; they merely amplify sound. It is tion having to bear a 3-4 day stubble, since tweezers are up to the individual to interpret the sound to the best of not allowed here. I was allowed to shave after filing an (heir ability with whatever remnants of hearing that remain administrative appeal. Razors are issued during showers in the damaged nerve, if it is a nerve deafness that they suf only and showers are three times a week for ten minutes. fer from, as I do. I was struck with cerebral meningitis My hair falls below my shoulders. To shampoo, shave and while in the youth authority, which caused as inflammation wash my entire body in ten minutes? Luckily sometimes a of the membrane surrounding my brain, damaging my ear shower will run 15-20 minutes, or even longer if the guards nerves, and put me in a coma. I am medically diagnosed as are occupied. Sometimes I must compromise a shampoo to profoundly nerve deaf without the faculties to hear ade shave my legs or vice versa. Or I shampoo in my cell or quately even with a hearing aid. Thus I must use a combi take a birdbath, and so on. nation of lip reading and sound and even then it can be very difficult when a person is impatient and uncooperative Not all prisoners are receptive to or even neutral towards in making an effective effort to communicate with me. transsexuals. For the most extreme of this sort we seem to pose a threat to their sense of machismo and to their sexu I asked to be uncuffed so that I could put on my hearing ality. And there are those who think that we must succumb aid. They would not uncuff me. Instead one of them began to their whims. Bitch this, bitch that. This display is out to play with my hearing aid. He was obviously unfamiliar right bullshit and is usually a case of male supremacy. And with it and was not handling it with care. It is a sensitive there's the omnipresent spectre of uneducated “peer pres instrument. He immediately tried to place it on me and I sure” for someone not to have anything to do with a trans had to tell him to insert the battery first. I didn’t know why sexual or gay boy, not even convo. And in all cases these I he MTA’s, so-called “Medical Technical Assistants,” did are the ones who don't want to struggle against thcii not take the medical responsibility o f doing this them oppressor, who are from this crowd or that crowd and “wc selves. The guard made a clumsy attempt to insert the bat don't file appeals.” Or don’t want to educate themselves or tery, putting it in backwards. They got a kick out of it see the light and that they are being the tools and the fools whenever I told them they were doing something wrong. I of their oppressor, who want to bury them just as deep as told him how to set the battery in and before I could tell the rest of us. him not to close the battery case he closed it. When this type of aid is “on” while not in the ear it emits a very loud, Soon the guards told me I had to have a cellmate I asked high-pitched piercing whistle that is offensive to persons for a transsexual cellmate, if any, or a gay boy - someone ■ # 4 ---- visual contact we have with the outside world. “Dungeon” is an appropriate term. A typical strip search is required before going to the yard and coming back in. Requiring us to spread our buttocks and squat three times is psychologically debilitating, which is its real purpose, not “security.” Along with the other var ious blatant or subtle psychological techniques that Pelican Bay is all about, it has the effect of further depersonalizing prisoners and emphasizing the big me/little you guard com plex. It’s also meant to discourage us from going to the yard, which means less work for the guard and more time for them to shoot the shit and read our newspapers. An assortment of weapons are used by the extraction teams. Not long after arrived in SHU a cell fight occurred upstairs. It broke our while the guard was up there, which is how they sometimes happen when solely done for a cell move. These two prisoners were heavyset and I could feel the vibrations of their rumbling. It was a fierce confronta tion. The guard came running down the stairs, signalling the gunner to call the crew, and a short while later an extraction team entered the pod in full force. The lead guard carried a weapon that resembled a single-barrel 12- gauge sawed-off shotgun. Known as “Big Bertha” it scat ters wooden shot. Close behind him another guard leaped up the stairs two at a time, carrying an Uzi that fires rubber bullets. A lieutenant with a taser ran by and a sergeant and other goons rushed up the stairs with a 5-foot plastic shield and a stretcher, wearing visors and carrying mechanical restraints and batons. Fortunately they did not use their weapons on the prisoners, but one was taken out on the stretcher. It is especially difficult for me to communicate with the guard from my cell. The tiny perforated holes in the thick metal of the door (there are no bars) compound the prob lem. The doors are painted white inside and brick red out side. This combination of light/dark paint and tiny holes permits limited outward vision and maximum inward vision. Another little something. A guard at my door once expressed his annoyance at the resultant communication impasse. As it was later told to me, prisoners in other cells called to him and logically asked that due to my deafness why doesn't he simply write his comments on paper for me. At this point the gunner, a female, yelled into the pod, “You guys shut up and mind your own business!” Right, as if they were a bunch of heartless cowards. At which time they immediately cussed her out. The guard did eventually write his comments for me. Nowhere in any SHU or CDC rule book does it say that prisoners in SHU must show skin for count. This arbitrary policy is a typical abuse o f power, to wake prisoners in the middle of the night as a form o f psychological harassment and to punish us. At times my intense bright light has been locked on all night by guards, and once for as long as three consecutive days, because I cannot hear them calling me. They will bang on the door with their batons at three in the — (pendent # 4 — morning knowing very well I can’t hear it, just to annoy women of whatever strain. everyone in the hopes to get them mad at me. They’ll yell, kick the door, slam my tray slot door open and closed, turn In the midst of all this madness, and lots more which has yet to be spoken, I had appealed the disciplinary guilt find on all the pod lights. The second time I was extracted while sleeping the prisoners told them I can’t hear them, that I am ing on due process grounds and a rehearing was ordered in October ‘91. It took until January ‘92 to have the hearing in medically deaf. Some of them commented to each other. Isn’t [she] deaf? I heard [she] can’t hear.” But their leader SHU. I was again denied due process in the hearing prepa ration phase. I made a big issue out of this to the hearing ignored this. “Be sure to wear gloves. Continue to pre pare.” After the extraction, in which I was hogtied and lieutenant. To my surprise he agreed and entered a finding of not guilty. I was subsequently ordered released from taken out on the gurney, my sheets and blankets were taken away and light locked on all night. They pride themselves SHU. on this place being so high-tech, yet it is run by cavemen. Instead of being released I was issued an indeterminate The jailhouse lawyers in SHU are very united. This is what SHU term on the ludicrous pretext that there is no room for uplifts me the most. Legal books and materials are shared. me elsewhere. Since being at SHU I had become one of the Case law is discussed through the air vents. Postage, paper, eight named plaintiffs in a class action suit against condi monthly canteen and even yearly 30 lb. packages are tions at the prison and had filed a high rate of administra shared. The guards have attempted to break up such soli tive complaints, citizen’s complaints against SHU guards darity by arbitrarily and periodically moving prisoners and ranking administrative personnel, and a civil rights around en masse or singly. They are especially concerned action against Folsom. My illegal retention in SHU is retal about the fact that other prisoners express protests over my iation for exercising my legal rights. Imagine being treatment and I have been moved around many times. It is absolved of an unjust allegation and then issued an indeter fair to say that I’m well known by prisoners in the SHU’s minate SHU for absolutely nothing other than exercising as one who will stand up for my rights and the rights of my conscience. others and will not hesitate to oppose the system with my mind in the fashion that many of them have taught me in There is a lot of work to be done and legal tools to be man ufactured with which to kick these heathen in the seat of ways that I never knew existed. In all my years of impris onment I have never seen anything like the solidarity that their pants as hard as one can and obtain what little more can exist in this SHU. It has affected me profoundly. At movement one is allowed under the “laws” of this corrupt certain times I’m not in a hurry to leave. I know that when system that is rent with contradictions and rotten to the core. I finally do leave my beloved friends here I will not forget Ihcm for one moment and I will miss them. We will contin ue to struggle together — that is certain! # Lofofora Contreras, alias Amazon Ice Queen, remains incarcerated in the California Department “Oh Amazon... Tall baby doll...” The heathens have taunted of Corrections. me here. It would be a pleasure to oppose them on equal terms and lay to rest any myths they may have about Pelican Bay Update changes for psychiatric care for all prisoners), has a long history of delaying and/or not implementing In 1990, prisoners at Pelican Bay initiated a civil court orders that are in favour o f prisoners. rights suit against the prison with 300 individual actions. After deliberating for one year, Judge Thus, this victory may be only a moral one with few ihelton Henderson, (in Madrid v. Gomez), ordered or no non-trivial changes to the treatment oj an end to "the pattern of needless and officially inmates. However, it is still an important step in the sanctioned brutality" at Pelican Bay; appointing a campaign to close down Pelican Bay. Special Master who will negotiate with the For further information or to offer support, please California Department o f Corrections (CDoC) and write: the prisoners to end the violations within 120 days. Pelican Bay Information Project, 2489 Mission However, some o f the gross practises, (such as long Street, SF, CA, USA 94110 term solitary confinement, racial discrimination in Prison Law Project, c/o National Lawyers the placement of prisoners, etc.), at Pelican Bay Guild, 588 Capp Street, SF, CA, USA 94110 were left untouched by the judge and will probably Prison News Service, Box 5052, Stn A, Toronto, continue. In addition, the CDoC, which is already in Ont., CanadaM5W1W4 contempt of another judge's rulings (regarding [source: PN S issue #49 - Jan/Feb '95 J — # 4 — Pnettu Pejisuasicm J BY SELENA ANNE SHEPHARD B e g i n n i n g "The sky will sp lit and the planets will shift Little sister, the sky is falling / don't mind, / don't mind" - Patti Smith I skate around the mall with a Walkman tuned into subversive sounds, I am in search of secret passageways, people of unusual genders, spaces of unabashed desire, the teenage girls w/nasty tongues never look at me, yet they tell me stories from afar, strange, exotic tales they could never have gotten from television, they dress in layers, in bizarre mosaic patterns indecipherable, I listen for simple truths yet hear only complex lies, which, of course, are much more trustworthy, I purchase working class lingerie (I mean, underwear) at Sears from a salesgirl who KNOWS but will never tell, I plead with her to scream it out, reveal the source of her despair, but she just laughs heartily and steals away into the hardware section, I call the security guards who arrest me for wearing plaid socks with a leather skirt, I manage to escape between the cracks, and return unscathed to the scene of the crime... M i d d l e "Jesus d ie d fo r som ebody's sins, b u t NOT m in e " - Patti Smith / light a cigarette though i don 't know how to smoke, it seems natural at the time, I cross my legs, right over left, then left over right, I refasten my garter, smooth my skirt, fluff up my titties, I'm anticipating something but I'm not quite sure what it is, a recurring moment, perhaps, a (parenthetical thought), maybe, the merger of parallel lines, that's it, the merger of parallel lines, I remember vividly the secret dance I used to perform when I was nine and yearning — so awkward, so strange, so utterly incomprehensible — yet it couldn't be denied, it had a raw beauty to it that exhilirated me, I check between my legs to see what gender I am today, I find nothing in particular except an old beat up baseball mitt and two dozen rose petals, 'I must be a guy,' I say to myself, though I can't be certain, I never am, but I never give that away, there are much better things to give away, imaginary kisses, telltale signs, sideways glances, I dream of climbing Mt. Everest in my Maidenform bra, I never reach the peak, I wake up in a cold sweat... Pretty Persuasion (continued) E n d "Pretty boy, can't you show me nothing but surrender' - Patti Smith We make love in a vacant lot, as it was meant to be, cold asphalt below, full moon above, crickets chirping madly in the background, he is my dada daddy, I am his exotic drag princess in heat, when we kiss, our fantasies collide, explode, immersing us in minute particles of lust and longing, he touches me as if I wasn't there, when I cry out for more, he gives me less, the pleasure is all too much so I revel in the pain, he draws his sword and I my water pistol, we duel for hours into days, he backs me into a corner, I dive between his legs and make a run for the abandoned space between provocation and allure, between outrage and surrender, between perception and scandal, he calls for me, he pleads for me, he paints his face by numbers and recites nursery rhymes for me, remembering my name for the first time in weeks I reach out and pull him deep within, and hope he hasn't forgotten how to swim. — ^endefUneui — THE REAL WORLD by Selena Anne Shephard the real world is a corset sucking in my gut and a leather hood claiming my face for its very own the real world is a $100 bill shoved between my phony tits and the drop of his pants to the ground the real world is 10 feet of chain dangling from my swelling balls the real world is a lacy petticoat & little girl sighs and savouring "Daddy's" sweet thing as if it was the last lollipop in the whole world the real world is a night drenched in skintight latex the real world is the sound of the whip coming down upon my girdled bottom the real world is a yellow raincoat beckoning me, enticing me, seducing me the real world is legs split wide & a midnight cock plunging up the middle the real world is a kiss deep and long y e s , / do like to kiss Selena Anne Shephard/Andy Plumb is a collagist/photographer/cartoonist/videographer who enjoys discovering new ways and places to play betwixt and between (or, perhaps, above and beyond) the eithers/ors o f gender and sexuality... — I V C OCC1I It all J p * f Rhonda’s Dream I’ve passed through e^erylest all wotfda & music & choreography © 1995 Cal-I Really Do Know Best-Ra. - unless otherwise noted. _ , ; ^ l am Ruler Empress Be-cause Symbols Guide i These symbols should make it easier to follow the Know , . action in Rhonda's Dream . -Jpprces of Good choreography note: Rhonda starts singing in Rhonda . her bedroom (all in whiief &MOves to the win Imperial Ministers dows (which gre French doors o f course) lead Those Troublesome Transsexuals Who Won't Go ing to a balcony in white and overlooking j) Along With the Forces of Good Homewood and a bit of Maitland. Rhonda « | Willow opens the doors and plunges out onto the bal EQ , The TransBackup Singers cony at ”I am" and gets there on "JjjjuMr There S^^^^The Audience is a biff orchestra dressed in white '& pow 9 [speaking] dered wigs down below at thejSSSM of £ X Willow {going from table to table] Maitland and Homewood, accompany ing her. p oth er Symbols South of the intersectiorj^ffffgjise^an audience Rhonda is "singing" in her bad. overblown, yet In a cheap and gaudy underground cafe not far distinctively operatic style (frankly sounding [away, probably below a gay bar on Church like something halfway between Maria Callas [Street (remember this is Rhonda’s dream not and Donald Duck): real-life) where the lighting is black and the T&jjgSL K place is filled with smoke and everyone is wear I Know Best ing platform boots out of the ’70’s, tight and wttm brightjelothing and makeup and every wig that 2 I s e e ^ B k i RuPqtfl has ever worn. It is quiet except for the Them dralrhere on the street f§fl hum of‘conversation and coffee cups on the With five inch heels [table, when Willow (wearing appropriate - for the Or knee-high boots upon their f e e t ) dream and place - clothing and boots and make Wearing clothes up) enters. There is immediate silence. Willow Made out of tasteless flash begins singing the following song (while every And lingerie one listens - at least initially); That belongs in the trash — # 4 — Auntie Rhonda’s Coming To Town (words © 1995 CaiRa, the music & melody should be pretty obvious*) TSe TSe Terrorism continues on nest — • 6 CQ : ^ur'ffvesi^ours l,^«^0fi^*his changes nothing And we’re doing onr best P®*®" I’ll be back _No more Codes of . I gjjl Sooner than you think gg^JLike what makeup looks best,„ And it won’t be pretty ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ syon’t be pretty at all. Right now toaS^fe^^^.^ Rhonda turns and climbs along the roofs in a Your grand plans are history southerly •direction towards Carlton, humming ^^^yjk^thats why we say the chorus from We Will Sm as to herself, while the sun sets in the west in the purple 25 ^Ks over ^ fsmbg-fllled haze of Toronto’s evening sky. it«Q replly over '**— _ wtej^^gau end of this ® ™We won’theseparated ^^^jyer again ' 1 Of course all the characters in TSe TSe H ^^^^^jpye’re all together ™ And tmSBjfcti^end^^^^ii S l S s j S &/JTerroriSm are created entirely from my I imagination and do not represent any people [irrunetJBj^ly followed by well / living ordead. Any similarity is absolutely and \instrumenfal break and dance] "*"* coincidental. Besever r W j m m i o using real peo •<0.038 Yeah there how tempting. When weiust werlt along •Pjj»oing whaTyofrtold us to ■ ■ _ I © Similarly all thesgyga^fpuiudin those days are gone / & choreography) - wtm one obvious exception - I are complete products of my imagination and We’re coht|^HtQ£ our own future 1 are notcopied from norjatlanybody else's I1?,, Right no^today I'. i f ^material. ^HBMuthiding an^BB ( | P ^ — CaiRa w arA O T that’s why we say*^'**^-'-: 1 I # CaiRa has been writing Terrorism B ^^B B jl^gare over I what seems almost an eternity now. She hates pSS^ytactures of herself, which is why there still isn't 5 ^Kjjftyou know tn?t &G38 it’s realtym^^^fc. £ Can’t you hear us? 0.CJ8 It’s over This dream is over The chorus continues with everyone singing and dancing. — qe*t(e>xtnaefi# 4 — 6802 Ogden Rd. S.E. Calgary, Ab., T2C 1B4 Phone (403) 236-7072 Greetings from Calgary and B&B Enterprises! 1 This is first and foremost a custom lingerie and streetwear shop. We help customers to figure out their clothing needs and for some customers, clothing for their fantasy's! We can create outfits from sketches, photos or imagination. We manufacture sequin ball gowns, shimmering evening dresses and casual clothes. Some of the fantasy clothes range from maids costumes to baby clothing to leather bondage outfits. Every idea can be custom fit and made here! As we are a custom shop we are only limited by your imagination....please CATALOGS Leather Catalogue ...... $10.00 Leather Custom Clothing & Sub/Dom Equipment Latex Catalogue ...... $2.00 Latex Fetish Wear... Assorted Items Sexy Lingerie Catalogue 70 page color intimate apparel ...... $20.00 30 page color larger apparel...... $10.00 Big Baby Catalogue ...... $6.00 Sweet Clothing for the little girl in you! NNYGS Illusions Magazine..for the TV/TS Lifestyle' WEKE. OF PAPAS. & Back Issues ... $5.00 Current Issues... $8.00 The Chatt ...... $10.00 SYNTHETIC 'WIGS Adult Fetish & Contact Magazine Make-Up and Beauty...... $15.00 Makeup will no longer be a mystery! Crossdresser ’ s Quarterly...... $12.00 CD Int. Shopping Guide’9 4 .... $12.00 - - - SHOES - These 4"heels are made especially lor the Crossdresser. They are available in Red Patent #4504, Black Patent #4503, Black Satin #4533 and a Dyeable White Satin #4530. Sizes range from 4-14, A A to EE. CompCete ‘four fantasy The following was compiled to give as large a listing of Canadian Symbols List resources as possible. Some of the groups/organizations listed are not specifically for TS/TG/TV persons but may still offer valuable ser N S non-TS/TQ/TV specific group vices since they are Known to be familiar with members of the TS/TG/TV communities. N P non-TS/TQ/TV specific group w ith a written The inclusion of any organization here does not necessarily stand as policy prohibiting a stamp of approval by We believe that it is each individ discrimination on the ual's responsibility to decide for her/himself what is or isn't in basis of gender her/his best interests. However, your comments about the quality, identity both positive 8c negative, of the services that you received from any 111 magazinc/ncwslettcr of the providing groups would be appreciated 8c will be kept on file. published by the If you want your group, or any group that you know of, to be includ group ed in that listing. of electrologists in Canada as well as public educa Alberta Edmonton who subscribe to their tion 8c awareness. Crossroads (NS) high level code of profes Provides advocacy for peo sional and ethical conduct ple on welfare. Registered Calgary 8 (403)474-7421 as well as standards of as a non-profit organiza contact: Maureen Reid hygiene and sterilization. tion. Illusions Social Club provides various services E3 Illusions Social Club, for sex workers in general £ 3 D estin y Box 2000, 6802 Ogden (AIDS education, safe Vancouver Centre for Sexuality, Rd. SE, Calgary, Alta, T2C house, pimp prevention, Cornbury Society Gender Identity and 1B4 legal help, etc.) They have a IS ] Cornbury Society, Box Reproductive Health big TS /TG clientele. 8 (403)236-7072 3745, Vancouver, BC, V6B (NS) 3Z1 fax: (403) 236-1304 0 Centre for Sexuality, Non-profit support group Gender Identity and contact: Barbie 8C Christine B.C. for heterosexual cross Illusions is a social club dressers 8c their families. Reproductive Health c/o for support, outreach 8c Vancouver General self-education. They also Hospital, 715 West 12th K im berley Foundation for the Ave, Vancouver, BC, V5Z run B 6c B Leatherworks 8c Advancement of Trans- Lingerie by Barbie (a store Canadian Organization 1M9 catering to alternative of Professional Gendered People's 8 (604)875-8282 lifestyles). Open to all gen Electrologists (COPE) Equality (FATE) ^ Full gender identity clinic der gifted peoples 8c sig (NS) ISI FATE, 1-1727 William St, with several groups/ meet nificant others. Meetings ings, including Explorers, E3 COPE, 410 Aspen Rd., Vancouver, BC, V5L 2R5 are 2nd Saturday 8c last FTM's,etc. Child psychia Kimberley, BC, V1A3B5 B (604)254-9591 Tuesday of every month, trist for TS parents. Drop- co n ta ct: Jamie Lee membership: $40/year 8 (800) 665-COPE in 8c other services avail Promotes the well-being of fax: (604) 427-2573 able. £3 Illusions transgendered individuals + COPE provides a registry Note: The clinic is moving — # 4 — to a new address (which 23, Group 4, RR#1, 8 (416)921-6112 we don't have) very soon. Dugald, Man ROE 0K0. Mississauga Please call them to get contact: Beverley Monarch Social X21ub Provides a safe atmo sphere for CD's 8c DQ's to their current address. + Club provides support, 0 Monarch Social Club, PO dress up 8c meet others Formerly known as social activities 8c educa Box 3 8 6 , Stn A, with similar Gender Dysphoria tion. Write for info. Mississauga, Ont., L5A interests/lifestyles. Clinic. 3Ai ■ DQ International Village Clinic (NS) Social, support 8c info, High Risk Project 0 Village Clinic, 6 6 8 group for TS/TG/TV^ peo 0 High Risk Project, 223 Corydon Ave., Winnipeg, ple. Social dinner -Mast Gender Identity Clinic Main Street, Vancouver, Manitoba, R3M 0X7 Saturday of each month. (NS) BC V6A 2S7 General health 8c STD clin Focus is on those who 0 Gender Identity Clinic, 8 (604)681-3202 ic. TS/TG's welcome. are/will remain closeted, c/o Clarke Institute of membership: $40/year contact: Sandy Laframboise or Psychiatry, 250 College Deborah Brady St, Tor, Ont. M5T 1R8 The High Risk Project Nova Ottawa B (416) 979-2221 ext 2221 serves street active Gender Mosaic + TS/TG/TV people. It oper Scotia To get an SRS reimbursed ates a drop-in out of the E Gender Mosaic, PO Box by OHIP, you must go Vancouver Native Health 7421, Vanier (Ottawa), through the Gender Centre (449 East Hastings Ont., K1L 8E4 Identity's two year pro Halifax gram 8c be approved by Street - rear) from 1- 8 (613) 770-1945 4:30pm (M-F) 8c provides Stepping Stone (NS) them for surgery. They Social, support 8c info, also have a Wed afternoon a free hot meal 8c support ^ Stepping Stone, 2 2 2 4 group for TS/TG/TV peo on Thurs night at DEYAS support group for people Maitland St„ Halifax, M.S., ple. in the program. starting at 6pm. Donations B3K 2Z9 are welcome 8c are tax m Notes from the deductible. 8 (902)420-0103 Underground Hassle Free Clinic (NS) Note: See article (page 5) User-directed street out IS! Hassle Free Clinic, 556 for more information on reach programme for sex Friendship 6c Church St, 2nd floor. Tor, High Risk. workers including trans- Assistance for Ont., M4Y 2E3 gendered youth. 8 (416) 922-0603 (M) Zenith Foundation Canadian Transsexuals 6c Transvestites (416) 922-0566 (W) 0 Zenith Foundation, Box (FACTT) 4 Hassle Free is a STD clinic, 46, 8415 Granville St, Ontario which provides anony Vancouver, BC V6P 4Z9 El FACTT, PO Box 7421, mous HIV/AIDS testing 8c Vanier, Ont.,KlL8El counselling (by appoint 8 (604)261-1695 Cambridge TS/TV discussion group ment only). TS' are wel Charitable non-profit foun come at either clinic. dation, whose objectives Society for the Second Women's Clinic - M,W,F (10- are to work toward Self (Tri-Ess Society) St Catharines 3), T 8c Th (4-8). improving the security 8c El Tri-Ess Society, PO Box Trans Equal STD drop-in (no appoint circumstances of people ment necessary) - T 8c Th 28002, Cambridge, Ont, E TransEqual, 165 Ontario with gender dysphoria. (4-6).Appointments N3H 5N4 St. #609, St. Catharines, Both FTM 8c MTF are wel required at all other times. unconfirmed at this time Ontario, L2R 5K4 come. Operates several Men's Clinic - M fic W (4-9), T 8c committees. First contact 8 (905) 688-0276 Th (10-3), F (4-7), by writing. Haliburton BBS (905) 358-5908 (N,8,l). S (10-2). No appointment Enter T ra n sE q u a l when necessary except for LU The Zenith Digest Intersex Society of asked for name. Select HIV/AIDS testing. North America Files from Main Menu, White R ock (KSNA) C anada then Area 3 and then files Human Sexuality Transsexual Support C hapter can be previewed or Program (NS) tagged for downloading, Group CE3 Human Sexuality 0 Intersex Society of con tact: Laura Masters Program , c/o Student M c/o Dr Angela Wensley, North America #ISNA) TransEqual "hopes to 14905 32nd Avenue, Canada Chapter, PO Box ensure that each transsex Support Services, Toronto White Rock, BC., V4P 1A4 1076, Haliburton, Ont., ual 8c transgen derist has Board of Education, 155 College St, Tor, Ont., M5T St (604)536-2053 K0M ISO appropriate legal recourse E-mail [email protected] available to them... when 1P6 -► Inclusive rather than Group provides peer sup their equal access to soci exclusive support group 8 (416) 397-3755 (ask for port, advocacy and coun ety is withheld". the Human Sexuality for transsexuals and their TransEqual is a TS/TG selling for intersexuals (ie Program) families. rights advocacy group. hermaphrodites,pseudo co n ta ct: Tony Gam bin I hermaphrodites), parents This Is primarily a coun of intersexed children, Toronto selling service for lesbian, Manitoba and those who have (or gay 8c bisexual students, have not) been medical- C anadian but they have Included ized and experiencing Crossdressers' Club transgender students In mutilating genital surg Winnipeg 0 Canadian Crossdressers' their mandate. They have eries (y). Prairie Rose PRGR Club, 161 Gerrard St. E, a support group for le* M Prairie Rose PRGR, Box Tor, Ont., M5A 2E4 (continued - ne xt pntjo) — qendex&uidi # 4 — (Directory continued.) Sexual Assault Care 8 (416) 597-8808 - this line 4 Xpressions is dedicated to serving the CD, TV, TS, C entre (NS) may be picked up by their bian, gay, bi & transgen TG and DQ communities answering service, espe der students (LQBST) who 0 Sexual Assault Care by organizing a wide range cially at nights are experiencing personal C entre, 76 Grenville St, of social activities for TDD: (416) 597-1214 difficulties, etc. Tor, Ont., M5S 1B2 members and their spous- business:(4 16) 597-1171 add (same as above - in es/significant others. fax: (416) 597-9648 Maggie's Prostitutes' Women's College Xpressions also aims to 4 Multicultural Women Hospital) help and support trans- Resource Centre 8 t Against Rape is a collec genderists, especially Safe Sex Project of 8 (416)323-6040 tive of non-transsexual those in the closet, to get -4 The Sexual Assault Care women, providing support Toronto (P) out and eryoy all that our Clinic provides services for victims of sexual E3 Maggie's, PO Box 1143, lifestyles have to offer, for the sexually assaulted. assault (including TS/TG Stn F, Tor, Ont., M4Y 2T8 membership: $35/year persons). They also run Cj Xpressions 2 (416)964-0150 S isterin g (NS) Take Back the Night 6c -4 A resource centre run by B Sistering, 525 College St. have no problems with 8: for sex trade workers, (admin). 220 Cowan St. TS', who identify as providing condoms, legal (outreach). women, attending. Quebec info, AIDS info, referrals, add (same as above) etc. Drop-in (M8cW, 12- Transition Support 8 (416) 926-9762 (admin) 6pm) at 298 Gerrard St E., El Transition Support, c/o Montreal 2nd floor. (416) 926-1946 (drop in) (416) 588-3939 (out 519 Community Centre, Association Des 519 Church St, Tor, Ont. Project Affirmation (P) reach) O p erees - e s en 4 Sistering provides sup M4Y 2C9 0 Project Affirmation, box Chirurgie Esthetique port for homeless women 8 (416) 392-6874 (mes- (ADOCE) (NS) 1143, Stn F, Tor, Ont., (including TS/TQ women). sages can be left only if M4Y 2T8 necessary) B ADOCE, CP 230, 5135 Jean-Talon est, Mtl, Que., B (416)593-9229 Street Outreach -4 Support group open to all H1S2Z2 1 (800) 663-5530 (Ont. Services (SOS) (NS) members of the transgen 8 (514)327-8148 only) BI SOS, 622 Yonge St, 2"“ der communities. fax: (416) 593-6697 floor. Tor., Ont., M4Y 1Z8 contact: Rachel Boutin contact: Ki Mamaste Voices of Positive cosmetic surgery info. & 8 (416) 926-0744 4 A research project investi W om en (NS) doc. centre. ADOCE pro gating lesbian, gay, bisex fax: (416) 926-9552 vides extensive info on all ual and transgendered contact: Wayne Travers 0 Voices of Positive types of cosmetic surgery. people's access to health -4 SOS is an agency that W omen, PO Box 471, They also provide info on and social services. assists youth, (16-24) Station C, Toronto, Ont. surgeons (both good 8: involved in prostitution, to M6J 3P5 bad) in Quebec, ReproMed Ltd. (NS) make informed choices in 8 (416) 324-8703 (10-5), membership — $35/year their lives, whatever their BI ReproMed Ltd.. 2333. answering machine at goals might be. They deal Suite 209, Tor, Ont. M6R other times Association with TS/TG youth on a reg 3A6 fax: (416) 324-8701 ular basis. Drop-in (M-F 10- Quebecoise des ■4 Community based non 8 (416)537-6895 6). Legal, medical, welfare Travailleuses - eurs du profit organization direct 8r AIDS counselling avail fax: (416) 537-4301 ed by and for women liv S e x e (AQTS) (NS) able. ReproMed Ltd. is a medi ing with HIV and AIDS in El AQTS, CP 5028, Succ. C, cally-oriented lab serving Ontario. Services available Mtl, Que., H2X 3M2 those who desire to have The 5 1 9 (P) to anyone with HIV/AIDS 8 (514)527-5320 some measure of assur E 519 Community Centre, who identifies as a con tact: Claire Thiboutot ance against possible loss 519 Church St, Tor, Ont. women. AQTS is a support group of their reproductive capa M4Y 2C9 bilities. They specialize in for sex workers as well as a the cryopreservation of 8 (416)392-6874 women's counselling political organization of human spermatazoa for + All purpose resource cen referral fir education sex workers & sex worker future clinical application tre for mostly lesbian/gay c e n tr e (WCREC) (NS) rights advocates dedicat and the providing of cry- groups. Has other ed to the decriminaliza E WCREC,525 Bloor St. W., opreserved donor semen resources like free legal tion 8e deregulation of Tor., Ont., M5S 1Y4 specimens to physicians clinic, queer bashing hot prostitution & other types (for artificial insemina line, etc which can be use 8 (416) 534-7501 of sex work. tion). ful. People who work there •4 WCREC has an extensive are somewhat aware of listing of feminist-oriented Centre d'Action Sex Workers Alliance problems that transgen therapists. They try to Communautaire of Toronto (SWAT) dered persons may face. match each client with au p res d e s (NS) the appropriate therapist. Toxicomanes Toronto Rape Crisis They also have a crisis line Utilisateurs de B I SWAT, PO Box 1143, Stn C entre, now known as and seem to be receptive P, Tor, Ont., M4Y 2T8 to TS women. S e r in g u e s (CACTUS) Multicultural Women (NS) 8 (416) 964-0150 Against Rape (NS) B CACTUS, 1209 Ste- "4 A political action group X p ressio n s 0 Multicultural Women Dominique, Mtl, Que., working for the rights of E] Xpressions, PO Box 233, H2X 2W4 all sex workers. Against Rape, PO Box Station A, Toronto, 6597, Stn A, Tor, Ont., Ontario, M5W 1B2 8 (514) 954-8869 M5W 1X4 — Projet dTntervention Quebec Gender Au pres des Mineures - Identity Clinic eurs Prostituees - es E Quebec Gender Identity (“PIMP") (NS) Clinic, 84 Boul. des M PIAMP, CP 5028, Succ. C, Allies, Quebec, Que., GIL — yendextsvcuA # 4 — Female-to-Male crossdresser and trans sexual (over 600 subscribers in 14 coun tries). The FTM Newsletter is the informal record of the thoughts and concerns of its subscribers. It strives to provide fac tual information for FTM TG/TS people so they may make informed decisions. It also provides a forum for expression/exchange of views and a medium through which FTMs may find support. Published quarterly (January, Boys Will Be Boys Subscription rates: $54(US)/1 year - US, April, July, October) since 1987 by FTM $96(US)/2 years - US. Non-US sub International. Subscribe! $15/4 issues. Boys Will Be Boys, a publication for scribers add $12(US)/year. $20 for international (to cover additional FTMs, can reached at: BWBB, PO Box Contains many articles, of interest to the postage), and $25 for professional sub 5393, West End Bris, Australia 4101. CD/TV/TG/TS communities. scriptions. All cheques or money orders ahould be in US funds, payable to: FTM B oy's Own C ross P ort or FTM Newsletter. Contact: FTM, 5337 The FTM Newsletter College Avenue #142, Oakland, CA USA Cross Port is a newsletter published 94618. Voicemail: (510) 287-2646. Fax: B oy's Own is published quarterly by the monthly by Cross Port, PO Box 54657, (510) 547-4785 (24 hours). E-Mail: FTM Network, BM Network, London, UK, Cincinnati, OH, USA 45254-0657. (513) [email protected]. WC1N 3XX. Write for subscription infor 474-9557 (Shelbi). Subscription rates: mation. $8(US)/year. Hermaphrodites with Attitude Provides a forum for FTM's to discuss issues of concern. The Crystal Chronicle Hermaphrodites with Attitude is a newsletter published by the Intersex Hie Channel The Crystal Chronicle is a newsletter Society of North America (ISNA), PO Box published monthly by the Crystal Club, 31791, San Francisco,CA ,USA, 94131. The Channel is a newsletter published PO Box 287, Reynoldsburg OH, USA, E-mail: [email protected]. Subscription rates: bimonthly, by ETVC, PO Box 426486, 43068-0287. (614) 224-1165. $12/year, $50/year (institutional). All San Francisco, CA, USA, 94142-6486. Subscription rates: $8(US)/year. cheques/money orders payable to ISNA. Hotline: (510) 549-2665. Voicemail: (415) 334-3439. Membership is D estin y Gender Quest $20(US)/year, which includes 1 year sub scription. Destiny is published quarterly by FATE, Gender Quest is a newsletter published Available only to members, helping pro 1-1727 William St, Vancouver, BC, V5L bi-monthly by Phoenix Transgender fessionals or through club exchanges. 2R5. Destiny is free, but donations & Support, Phoenix, PO Box 18332, postage are welcome. Asheville, NC, USA, 28814. (704) 259- Les Chemins de Trans 9428. Subscription rates: $7(US)/year. Devil Woman Les Chemins de Trans is a newsletter Girlfriend! published by Belgische Gender Stichting, Devil Woman is a newsletter published Pluimstraat 48, 85000 KORTIJK-B, by the Diablo Valley Girls, (DVG), PO Box Girlfriend! is available for $4(US)/issue. Belgium. Write for subscription informa 272885, Concord, CA, USA, 94527- Send money to Box 191781, San tion. 2885.Phone: (510) 849-4112. Francisco, CA, USA 94119. Membership fees are $10(US)/year, Girlfriend! is a drag zine. The Chrysalis Quarterly includes subscription. Girlfriend! calendar also available for Available only to members, helping pro $7 (US). Chrysalis Quarterly is published 4 fessionals 6: through club exchanges. times a year by the American Illu sio n s Educational Gender Information Service D ragazin e (AEGIS), PO Box 33724, Decatur, GA, Illu sio n s is a 40 page magazine pub USA 30033-0724. (404) 939-2128. Dragazine is published two times a year lished by the Illusions Social Club and is Subscription rates: $36(US)/year - within and can be reached at: Dragazine, PO included with membership. Otherwise it the US; $46(US)/year - outside the US. Box 461795, West Hollywood, CA, USA, is $8/issue for non-members. Please Publication dedicated to in-depth explo 90046. Single issues are $59S(US). send money or write to Illusions, Box ration of gender issues 6c designed for Orders are by cheques, made payable 2000-6802 Ogden Road SE., Calgary, both consumers 6c caregivers. to: Dragazine. Alta T2C 1B4. (see Resource Listings for Dragazine attempts to cover small and further information) City Lights big stories regarding the use of Crossdressing in Entertainment - Art, In Your Face! City Lights is a newsletter published by Politics, Music, Theatre, etc. The Journal of Record of the Metropolitan Gender Network, 561 Transexual 6c Transgender Hudson St., Box 45, New York City, NY, DQ International USA, 10014. (718) 461-9050. Write for A ctivism subscription information. DQ International is published quarterly by In Your Face's mission statement is to Canadian CDC. Canadian CDC, 161 cover all actions by transpeople and C ross-Talk Gerrard St. East, Toronto, Ont., Canada, friends around the country. It is pub The Transgender Community M5A 2E4. (416) 921-6112. lished 2or 3 times a year. Free. Contact: $20(Can)/issue includes tax 6f postage. News 6c Information Monthly IYF, c/o Riki Anne Wilchins, 274 W. 11 St. - #4R, NYC, NY, USA, 10014. E-Mail: Cross-Talk is published monthly. PO FTM Newsletter [email protected] (to reach Riki) or Box 944, Woodland Hills, CA, USA, [email protected] (to reach Nacny 91365. (818) 907-3053, (818) 347- FTM Newsletter is the world's most Nangeroni). 4190 (fax), e-mail: [email protected]. widely-circulated newsletter for the — # 4 — IXZ $30/year for non-members. $40(US)/year which includes 1 year sub scription. Contact TGIC at the above IXZ is a newsletter published monthly by Reflected Images address for further information. IXI(Iota Chi Sigma or Indiana Reflected Images is a newsletter pub TransSisters Crossdressers Society). IXZ, PO Box lished quarterly by Reflections, PO Box 20710, Indianapolis, IN, USA, 46220. 4002, East Dedham, MA, USA, 02026. The Journal of Transsexual Membership is $23(US)/year, which $4(US)/issue. (617) 323-6082. Fem inism Includes 1 year subscription. Back Issues are $2(US)/issue. Checks should TransSisters is published quarterly by be payable to "cash" or "bearer". Renaissance News 6c V iew s Skyclad Publishing Co., 4004 Troost Avenue, Kansas City, Missouri, USA, Renaissance News fit Views is the 64110. Phone 6c fax (call first by voice to Journal of Gender Studies monthly newsletter of the Renaissance set up the fax): (816) 753-7816. E-Mail: Education Association, Inc., the national The Journal of Gender Studies is pub [email protected]. Subscription open-membership support group for all lished twice a year by the Human rates: $24(US)/4 issues within US, transgendered people. Subscriptions are Outreach and Achievement Institute, Canada 6c Mexico; $26(US)/4 issues out $16/year. Contact Renaissance, 987 Old 405 Western Ave., Suite 345, South side those countries. Back issues avail Eagle School Road, Suite 719, Portland, ME, USA 04106. Subscription able for $8(US) within Canada, US 8c Wayne,PA, USA 19087. (610) 975-9119. rates: $16(US)/year. Mexico; $8.50(US) outside those coun This is the official publication of the tries. All checks payable to Davina Anne Institute. The Southern Belle Gabriel. The Southern Belle is a newsletter Provides a forum dealing with issues of L adylike published monthly by Sigma Epsilon, Tri- transsexuality from a feminist perspec tive 6c exists to promote dialogue, under Ladylike is published quarterly by Ess, PO Box 272, Roswell, GA, USA, standing, co-operation 6c reconciliation Creative Design Services. Subscriptions 30077. They don't sell their newsletter, between the feminist 6c transsexual are: 4 issues for $32 in the US/$35 in but are willing to trade it with other communities. Canada/$50 Overseas. All prices are in newsletters. US currency. Each issue is 48 pages (with 8 in colour) featuring real people Tennessee Vais The TV\TS Tapestry Journal from the transgender community, arti Tennessee Vais is a newsletter pub T apestry is published quarterly by the cles, humour, cartoons and lots more. lished monthly by Tennessee Vais, PO IFGE. Box 367, Wayland, MA, USA Contact CDS, PO Box 61263, King of Box 92335, Nashville, TN, USA, 37209. 01778. Phone: (617) 899-2212. Fax: Prussia, PA USA 19406. Phone: (610) (615) 664-6883 voice mail. Membership (617) 899-5703. Individual copies: 640-9449. E-mail: [email protected] $25(US)/year includes 1 year subscrip $12(US). Subscription rates: regular sub net.com tion. scriptions are $40(US)/1 year; 1st Class, Canadian 6c overseas surface subscrip Lipstick and Lace TNT tions are $55(US)/I year; overseas air subscriptions are $65(US)/1 year; Two Lipstick and Lace is a newsletter pub Transsexual - News - Telegraph year subscriptions (US bulk mail only) lished by Girl's Night Out. Write for sub The Magazine of Transsexual are $72(US)/2years. Subscribers receive scription information to GNO c/o Culture a personal listing free of charge for the Barbara Fortune, POB 350369, duration of their subscription and are Brooklyn, NY, USA, 11235-0007. (201) TNT, 41 Sutter Street, #1124, San considered voting members of IFGE. -P* 794-1665, ext 202. Francisco, CA USA, 94104-4903. (415) 703-7161. Subscription rates: 4 issues Primary publication of IFGE. ^ for $18(US) within the US 6f $23(US) New Men And Women of Xpressions Xplorer M innesota within Canada. TNT is a political publication that aims to Xpressions Xplorer is published New Men and Women of Minnesota is cover the many issues affecting TS/TG monthly by Xpressions, PO Box 223, a newsletter published quarterly by the persons (besides shopping and make Station A, Toronto, Ontario, M5W 1B2. New Men and Women of Minnesota, PO up), while promoting transsexual pride. Free with paid membership. Please con Box 6432, Minneapolis, MN, USA, tact Yolana or Laura (editors) for further 55406-0432. Membership fees are TOPS details. $25(US)/year which includes 1 year sub Newsletter for Transsexual Sex scription. Industry Workers The Zenith Digest Notes From the Underground TOPS is published quarterly by the The Zenith Digest is a newsletter pub Ongoing Network - Transsexual Outreach lished quarterly by the Zenith Notes From the Underground is pub Project (ON TOP). All correspondence Foundation, Box 46, 8415 Granville St., lished bi-monthly by Gender Mosaic. PO should be addressed to ON TOP, PO Box Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6P 4Z9 (604) Box 7421, Vanier, Ontario, K1L 8E4. 11-412 Manners St., Wellington, NZ, 261-1695. $3 (Cdn)/issue, payable to Phone/Fax: (613) 741-3007. E-Mail: phone 64-9-3666-106. Write for sub the Zenith Foundation. bz247@freenet. carelton.ca. scription rates. Subscription rates: $20 (Cdn)/year. Provides a forum for transsexual sex Contains various articles relevant to the trade workers to communicate with each gender communities. other about their various issues 8c con cerns. PPOC Girl Talk The Transgenderist PPOC Girl Talk is a newsletter pub # * lished monthly by the Powder Puffs of The Transgenderist is a newsletter California (PPOC), PO Box 1088, Yorba published monthly by the * Linda, CA, USA, 92686. (714) 779-9013 Transgen derist's Independence Club weekdays, 9 to 9 pm (pacific time) 8: (TGIC), PO Box 13604, Albany, NY, USA, leave message. Subscription rates: 12212-3604. Membership is — # 4 — Gee// I Used to Wish I were a Woman/ But I didn't Think It was Possible! And Then I Jo The good folks there gave me the help I needed! To join and receive Chrysalis, our magazine, AEGIS News, our newsletter, & other good stuff, send $56 to AEGIS, P.O. Box 33724, Decatur, GA 30033-0724 — Or Call our Help Line (404) 939-0244 / FAX (404) 939-1770 THE TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY MAGAZINE! 40 PAGES EVERY MONTH OF NEWS, INFORMATION, AND COMMENTARY FOR CROSSDRESSERS AND TRANSSEXUALS, For Men Who Enjoy Being Women WRITTEN AND PUBLISHED BY MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY! Send $ 8.00 for the current issue and subscription information: iC C usions P.O. BOX 944 A quality magazine devoted to the WOODLAND HILLS, CA 91365 USA TV/TS lifestyle For your convenience, if you cannot easily send U.S. funds, you may instead • Learning who you are send 16 International Reply Coupons, available at your post office. • Expressing femininity • Being beautiful • Meeting new friends Forty exciting pages, photos too! A subscription of six issues is only $40.00, American and overseas, please add $5.00. Single copy price is $8.00. Send check or money order to: Illusions Social Club, 6802 Ogden Road S.E., Calgary, Alberta, T2C 1B4 Canada TNT TRANSSEXUALNEWSTELEGRAPH The Magazine of Transsexual Culture The One That Will Never Contain Articles ______About Shopping or Makeup______ $5(US)/sample issue $18(US)/4 issues $35(US)/8 issues * Please make checks payable to: TNT, 41 Sutter Street, #1124, San Francisco, CA, USA 94104-4903 ' A Satisfied Personals User's Testimony PERSONALS “It was an intriguing <±f rngsteriousig erotic corre- sj>cndencey Leading Jrom sneets of parchment to s h e e t s o f SO/SO j^dg/cotton. JThanks gendertrask HOW TO PLACE AN AD j> e r s o n a L s " - CD Amazonian TS Woman Sexy Femme TS It's free!!! Just send us your ad with Strong & sincere Amazonian Transsexual woman Beautiful model-type transsexual, 25, tall, slim, your name, complete address & seeks a playful and aware baby bull, bambi or sexy, feminine figure, long curly brown hair, blue phone number. All of these will be Minotaur with whom to co-mingle- Toronto #220 eyes. Seeks cute young (18+) guy for friendship kept in our strictest confidence, plus ? - Toronto # 190 Bi-Curious babykins. And then all you have to Post-op TS woman, single, french speaking, social True Friendship do is wait by the mailbox for tons & ly active, good natured, early forties, curvaceous. I sincerely would like to meet someone with whom tons of letters requesting your per Recently found myself attracted to women. Would I can share and exchange ideas, thoughts, dreams, like to practise my english and explore my bisexu and experiences with. Someone who w ill and wish sonal (& we're talking very person ality with transsexual or genetic women. - Quebec to explore the essence of true friendship and wish al) attention. Gty # 170 to develop a meaningful relationship. - California mo French Man TO ANSWER AN AD: Straight, but open-minded French genetic man, late TS Anael 30's, attractive, business type, seeks good-look Young but mature MTF Angel. Very beautiful, ing & intelligent MTF TS for ongoing relationship. soft, sweet and sincere, but strong and assertive. Place your letter in a sealed & Discretion & respect a must. - Toronto # 230 Seeks unattached, intelligent, pro-feminist, non- smoker, vegetarian, attractive man for stable long unstamped envelope. Write in pencil Gender Oriented Genetic term relationship, based on affection not garter I am a gender-oriented genetic man who is drawn and in the top right corner of the belts... - Toronto # 130 envelope, the drawer number of the to TS's. Also am a bit of a crossdresser. I would like to find a cute, smart TS who seeks a TS Lesbian Wanted ad you are responding to. Next put lover/friend/or relationship. I have many cultural Non-transsexual lesbian, trans-airious, presently the envelope(s) plus $ 5* for one con interests from A to Z (abnormal psychology to art living in Montreal but planning to move to another tact or $10- for three contacts (in to avant garde novels). My favourite author is planet soon. Would like to correspond with and/or cash or cheque/money order payable Jack Kerouac, father of the beat generation and meet a soft-core feminist transsexual lesbian. son of French Canadians - pacifist, Zen seeker, Must be open-minded and love travelling. - to genderpress) in another envelope jazz disaple, etc. - Pennsylvania area # 100 Montreal# 110 & mail it to us at: Girlboygirl TS Man Wanted Gender dysphoric girlboygirl seeks butch of any Would like to meet a masculine, confident, pass "yetcdex&uiAJil personals" sex/gender/sexuality for torrid affair. - Montreal able, open-minded, caring, politically aware FTM box 500-62, #250 for friendship and/or more. I'm a very attractive TS woman in her late 20's. - Toronto # 140 552 Church St, Hazel Eyes Toronto, Ontario Romantic Pisces. 35, 6 ', 200 #, all musde. Hazel- TS Woman Wanted M4Y 2E3 eyes. German-lrish nationality. Professional chef. 40 years old TS woman would like another intelli Homeowner. Desires feminine post-operative for gent, mature, political, vegetarian, non-smoker, marriage. Pre-ops also write! Til provide home, non-drinking, quiet TS woman, 30-40, for friend Please remember: no money no security, all my love. Write soon! Thank you! - ship. Operative status unimportant. No makeup response. can't live Florencef Arizona #190 sessions nor lingerie parade, please. - Toronto # ISO only on good intentions. In Search of a FTM Genetic woman, french, 25, red-head, mature & Weltsdimerz Fin-de-Siede insightful, seeks sensitive, politically aware, intel Sassy, sincere, weltschmerz, fin-de-siede, MTF, The editor & publishers of q & td& v- ligent, sexy FTM with a sense of humour, who transgendered person of the feminine but not nec tru u A assume no responsibility or likes children, for friendship and more...- Montreal essarily passive persuasion seeks pen-pals, not #120 necessarily penis-pals - Toronto #260 liability for any meeting(s) resulting from these services. Party Girl French crazy smoking, drinking, wild partying genetic girl wants to meet TS/TG girls with a brain for friendship, watching TV, eating junk & nights out. - Toronto # 270 Lc 'habCLLa GIRLCULT/GIRLKULTURZINE. a zine "celebrating girls, grrrrls, women, dominatrixes, wymyn, drag queens, femmes, hutches, dykes, trannies, bi's," wants submissions (prose, poetry, cartoons or artwork). Artwork must be less than 8"x6" (20cm X 15cm). Send to: 48 Craig St., London, Ont., N6C 1E8 (include a S.A.S.E. if you want it returned). Accepted material gets free copies of magazine. PROTECT AFFIRMATION: Ki Namaste is doing research on Ontario transgendered people's access to health care and social services (including hormones, HIV/AIDS, relations with police, prisons, psychiatrists, welfare, FBA, etc.) and would like to interview transgendered people, especially FTMs and/or TS/TGs in prison. An honorarium is available. For further information, please call Ki Namaste c/o Project Affirmation, (416) 593-9229 or 1-800-663-5530 (Ontario only). Fax: (416) 593-6697. FTM CONFERENCE: A Vision of Community: The First All-FTM Conference of the Americas, will be held August 18-20, 1995 in San Francisco. Workshops, seminars, panels, exhi bitions, networking and socializing for FTMs, their partners and friends. Registration informa tion can be obtained from: FTM Conference, 5337 College Ave., #142, Oakland, CA, USA 94618. See the ad for the conference (page 32) BRANDON TEENA MEMORIAL FUND needs donations to help pay for a headstone for Brandon Teena (an FTM who was brutally beaten, raped and murdered in Lincoln, Nebraska last year - the trial of the accused murderer starts May 15). Send donations to: Teena Brandon Memorial Fund, 1204 WO Street, Lincoln, NB, USA 68528. MWMF: Plans are already underway for next year's protest against the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival. For information & greatly needed donations please contact Davina Anne Gabriel, 4004 Troost Ave., Kansas City, Missouri, USA 64110; phone: (816) 753-7816; e-mail: [email protected] (Internet) or DavinaAnne (America Online). ■ TRANSGENDER PRIDE PROTECT: Leslie Feinberg (author of Stone Butch Blues & Transgender Liberation) is soliciting tax-deductible donations to publish her historical & cross- cultural research on transgender, tentatively titled Transgender: A History of Resistance. Checks ahould be made payable to the Column Foundation, c/o William Sachs, Esq., Suite 830, 7 Penn Plaza, New York City, NY, USA 10001. Please clearly mention that this contribution is to be used for the Transgender Pride Project. • ICTLEP: The International Conference on Transgender Law & Employment Policy, Inc., is holding its 4th annual conference June 14-18, 1995 in Houston. They are also looking for dona tions. For further information, please contact them at 5707 Firenza St., Houston, TX, USA 77035-5515; phone: (713) 723-8368; fax: (713 723-1800. ■ 2nd INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON CROSSDRESSING. SEX AND GENDER ISSUES will be held in late Spring, 1997. For further information regarding costs and location, please contact JoAnn Roberts, Ph.D., c/o CDS, PO Box 61263, King of Prussia, PA, USA 19406; phone: (610) 640-9449; e-mail: [email protected]. - TH E TRIANGLE PROGRAM (aka “GAY H IG H ”), an alternative high school for lesbian, gay, bi and transgendered youth (grades 10 & up) is starting intake now. It will open in September, 1995 at the MCC on Simpson Avenue. For further information contact Tony Gambini c/o Human Sexuality Program, Student Support Services, Toronto Board of Education, 155 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5T 1P6. Phone: (416) 397-3755 (ask for the I Inman Sexuality Program). PERHAPS WE CAN HELP. Information is the key to taking control of your life. Since 1985, CDS has been serving the information needs of the transgender community with publication:; like Transsexual’s Survival Guide, Vol. 7($US15), Identity Management In Transsexualism ($US15) and our new monograph The Straight Dope On Hormones ($US4). CDS also has video publications like Speaking As A Woman and Cosmetic Surgery Options. All our video:; are now one low price of $US30, plus $3 shipping and handling. Write or call today for a free catalog Creative Design S ervices PO Box 61263, King of Prussia, PA 19406 610.640.9449 or e-mail: [email protected]
Pring 95 Issue
