Back in August, I wrote about exchanging e-mails with Zach Ford. He seems to be the key person writing about LGBT issues for Think Progress, a progressive website. Zach's posts are here. You can go directly to articles tagged as transgender here, and the general LGBT page is here.
The reason I wrote Zach is because I looked through the LGBT page and found virtually no T content. That didn't bother me. I understand that, for a number of reasons, there will be more LGB content than T content. Maybe that will change. Maybe Chaz Bono will tip the scale a bit.
My problem was raised expectations. Either pull the T or put the fact that there's T content up front. I hate to read an article about, say, "LGBT people are happier when they're out" and discover it's all about sexual orientation only. Gender identity and sexual orientation are both lumped together, when they shouldn't be. But we can use each other, in a good way ~ a symbiotic relationship.
I like to think I made a difference. I'll take credit anyway.
I've been checking out the LGBT page pretty much daily and I'm quite pleased with what I've been seeing lately. There are headlines that clearly mention Transgender, or clearly involve sexual orientation and gender identity.
Please go to Think Progress. Check out the LGBT page, or the Transgender articles, or Zach's well-written articles. If I was a smart girl, I'd quietly borrow ideas and articles and repost them here. But Zach and Think Progress deserve the attention and readership.
Drop by and tell them what you think. It was hard to find Zach's e-mail address so I'm not going to repost it here.
Thank you Think Progress, for thinking about us.
Showing posts with label Think Progress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Think Progress. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Friday, August 5, 2011
Help Me Out
Unless you disagree with me completely.
(First, please take the poll. An explanation of my questionnaire is in Wednesday's post.)
I exchanged a couple of letters with Zack Ford, who works at ThinkProgress, one of the few websites I try to follow for political points of view. I've been pretty disgusted with politics at all levels for the past year or so, so I'm not as involved as I might have been. In the past nine months, I've told off my congressman, my state senator, and my state representative. They all know me by name and sight, so I'm not a voice yelling at a town hall. (My state senator has met Meg, although he assumed it was just a costume).
Anyway.... I was steered toward an LGBT article by Mr Ford, and was although the title was promising, I was dismayed to see Yet Another Article about LGB, with hardly a T in sight.
Here's the note I wrote:
I was excited when I saw today's Tipping Point on LGBT Equality post. I was less so after I read it.
Every point (save one) was T-free. I'm still not sure why T was added to LGB. Gender identity has little to do with sexual orientation, as you know. Tacking on the T just helps increase the numbers of this minority. It always reminds me of the way republicans court social conservatives so they can increase their numbers without inconveniencing themselves.
You know that T-rights are way behing gay rights. Tacking on a letter does nothing to help us in our fight to be accepted.
I also looked at your first page of posts. Two out of twenty have t-content. It doesn't help. It really doesn't.
Either drop the T or mean it.
I was concerned my demeanour was a bit harsh, but I didn't know how to make it more pleading than insisting. Nonetheless, he wrote back and said he agreed that there was not a lot of T content, but he reports on other happenings and if there's no T news, there's nothing for him to write about. He asked if I had any ideas. I paraphrase his note; it's not mine to post.
Well, I'm at a loss. I don't think my goal is to get more T news out there, although I think the more people read, the better we'll be understood and accepted. I'd like to get the T off of the LGB articles that have no gender content. I haven't convinced myself that's the best solution.
I'm looking for ideas. The e-mail ball is in my court. Although there are other LGBT authors on the site, you can find Zack's posts here.
Meantime, check out Jillian Page. She writes a column called Reflections of a Transitional Journey. Her description:
I have been sharing my personal experiences during my transition from male gender status to female gender status for almost three years here. I am now legally a female after having sexual reassignment surgery in October 2009. I also talk a little about trans issues, though am no expert.
I think every newspaper needs one of these and I salute the Montreal Gazette!
(First, please take the poll. An explanation of my questionnaire is in Wednesday's post.)
I exchanged a couple of letters with Zack Ford, who works at ThinkProgress, one of the few websites I try to follow for political points of view. I've been pretty disgusted with politics at all levels for the past year or so, so I'm not as involved as I might have been. In the past nine months, I've told off my congressman, my state senator, and my state representative. They all know me by name and sight, so I'm not a voice yelling at a town hall. (My state senator has met Meg, although he assumed it was just a costume).
Anyway.... I was steered toward an LGBT article by Mr Ford, and was although the title was promising, I was dismayed to see Yet Another Article about LGB, with hardly a T in sight.
Here's the note I wrote:
I was excited when I saw today's Tipping Point on LGBT Equality post. I was less so after I read it.
Every point (save one) was T-free. I'm still not sure why T was added to LGB. Gender identity has little to do with sexual orientation, as you know. Tacking on the T just helps increase the numbers of this minority. It always reminds me of the way republicans court social conservatives so they can increase their numbers without inconveniencing themselves.
You know that T-rights are way behing gay rights. Tacking on a letter does nothing to help us in our fight to be accepted.
I also looked at your first page of posts. Two out of twenty have t-content. It doesn't help. It really doesn't.
Either drop the T or mean it.
I was concerned my demeanour was a bit harsh, but I didn't know how to make it more pleading than insisting. Nonetheless, he wrote back and said he agreed that there was not a lot of T content, but he reports on other happenings and if there's no T news, there's nothing for him to write about. He asked if I had any ideas. I paraphrase his note; it's not mine to post.
Well, I'm at a loss. I don't think my goal is to get more T news out there, although I think the more people read, the better we'll be understood and accepted. I'd like to get the T off of the LGB articles that have no gender content. I haven't convinced myself that's the best solution.
I'm looking for ideas. The e-mail ball is in my court. Although there are other LGBT authors on the site, you can find Zack's posts here.
Meantime, check out Jillian Page. She writes a column called Reflections of a Transitional Journey. Her description:
I have been sharing my personal experiences during my transition from male gender status to female gender status for almost three years here. I am now legally a female after having sexual reassignment surgery in October 2009. I also talk a little about trans issues, though am no expert.
I think every newspaper needs one of these and I salute the Montreal Gazette!
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