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by Toni Pizanie
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA

Support "Stand Our Ground"
and Mickey

Saturday, June 6 is the date selected to show our appreciation to Walt Disney World for the support and benefits afforded to GLBT community across the Nation. We need to show the mean spirited "Operation Rescue and American Family Association" that we will stand by those who stand up for us. These hateful organizations which wish to close Disney and push all GLBT individuals back into the closet are planning a protest for that date. Our responsibility is to visit a Disney shop and purchase what products we can afford-a gift for your sister's child, a cute little Mickey for that someone special in your life or even a donation for the children's ward of one of the local hospitals.

The National organizer of "Stand Our Ground" is Alana Hamill-phone 978.597.8968 or write PO Box 872, Town send, MA 01569 or E-mail Alana@net1plus.com. Remember the radical religious right is very wrong and very strong. Disney needs every queer one of us to show that they were correct in affording us rights.

Where can you find Disney: Lakeside Shopping Center, Oakwood Shopping Center, #1 Poydras and 1401 W. Esplanade Ave., Kenner. If confronted by a protester, walk away and notify a salesperson or manager. Don't forget to bring friends with you. We want to show force, not use it. For more, contact http://www.net1plus.com/users/notelrac/standground.dir/index.html

HRC Boycott a Success

What ya mean by dat? It won't be Black Tie Dinner time for another two weeks and I say with complete confidence that the boycott is a success. Hunh? HRC National after years of ignoring letters from the New Orleans community is finally sending a response to our many letters. All be it a misleading letter and you will find my answer below as well as Nancy Sharp's answer in the letter section.

The HRC Local has done an outstanding job of adding to their table captains list and bringing in notable "straights" to swell the committee and attendance. I find it heartening that like the NO/AIDS Task Force, HRC is gaining hetero involvement and money. Bravo!! to the dedicated committee for inclusive and smart thinking.

Yeah, yeah! good fer dem and whata bout tgs. Many Gay men realize that they do fit into the tg community because they fit the cross-dresser identification (even if it is just for special occasions). Many Lesbians realize that their butch style also fits the cross-dresser id. And all these self-aware individuals are not covered by the law-either in ENDA or the New Orleans and State of LA Hates Crime laws. Awareness and Inclusion were the goals of the boycott. The HRC mission statement may not change any time soon but awareness is high and organizations other than HRC are including Transgenders in their mission statements.

This is and will continue to be a win, win situation as long as we all stand up for what we know to be morally and ethically correct in our hearts and minds.

Now on to my response to Ms. Birch and Ms. RedWing's attempt to place a Band-Aid on a gaping wound.
Donna--

It was with disappointment that I read your letter. Your P.R. talents are brilliant yet misleading. I don't think anyone in New Orleans least of all me planned to attack HRC. When personal messages from HRC representatives began to contradict policy, many of us began to feel that HRC was driving a wedge in the GLBT community.

Do you remember your personal statements while in New Orleans for the seminar? I will leave HRC and so will others if the Tg issue is not addressed openly. I will encourage Elizabeth to address the issue and answer the letters of concern. I hung on every word because I wanted to believe that HRC was inclusive and that you were our powerful friend.

Have you read the articles that I have been writing since December about this issue or the editorials Rip has written in Ambush? I have given full credit to HRC for the steps that have been taken. It just isn't enough because it is logical to expect that if HRC's work with and for Tgs is substantial then they should be included in the Mission Statement.

Why do I say you are misleading the community? Your letter states that HRC is committed to an amendment to ENDA to protect Tgs. When? You neglected to say. Will it be after Gays are protected? And how long will that take? Certainly not until there is a Democratic House and that isn't a sure thing in two ways. 1. We probably won't have a Democratic House until we once again have a Republican President who will probably exercise the veto and 2. Will the Democratic Representatives go along with us? I just don't anticipate ENDA passing any time soon with or without the inclusion of Bis & Tgs.

Talk is cheap, girls. You can hold a hundred conferences, brown bag lunches, training sessions, etc. Until you act, you are an exclusive group fooling even the President of the United States of American who praised you for being inclusive.

As one Tg explained it, your letter was a screwing without a kiss. Crude, perhaps, and also, correct.

I am enclosing a picture of the HRC training crew with Chris Daigle. I thought you might enjoy having it. The seminar was a success in many ways and I look foreword to the day when I will feel good about attending another HRC event.
--ToniP

Postscript: This letter was dated and mailed April 8th. At publication date, there was no response from Donna Red Wing or Elizabeth Birch or the HRC public relations team. Ms. Red Wings's original letter which many of you received personally was published in Issue 8. Just another ethical business as usual policy that is Ambush practice.

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