HRC Gender Id and Expression workshop

[CathyB59]

Hi ladies and germs!

Today I attended an HRC sponsored workshop specifically for Gender Identity and Expression. DFW area businesses were invited to send employees, many of them human resource types. It was hosted by a local company you may’ve heard about - Frito-Lay.
The campus is among the nicest I’ve seen.
Anyway, HRC sent reps from the HRC workplace project, and Donna Rose from the HRC business council spoke. She tells a pretty interesting and compelling story. Sometimes funny, often heartbreaking. Always sincere. She carefully stepped around ENDA. Maybe 100 people attended - Including speakers and attendees there were maybe a dozen T*women – far as I could tell. You all know how that goes. ;)
Let’s see the SR VP of North America’s HR dept told 2 tales of transition at Frito Lay -
1 success, 1 failure. I believe her stories generated the most interest from the crowd.
What I took from the examples given: People seem more open to the concept when they can personalize it - put a name and face to the issue.
To that end I’m slated to attend a company gathering in January representing T*.

Film at Eleven.

[joneyhits]

Hi Cathy:

Just in case you haven't been following HRC's treatment of gender variants, I will share this one email.


The following is a letter sent out to various LGBT pastors from Harry
Knox, HRC's head of their Religion and Faith Program. I personally
know Harry Knox because he was the head of Georgia Equality when I
moved here. He wasn't well liked. Following the letter is a response
from Pastor Paul Turner, my Minister. Some of you have met him at
Southern Comfort, and Ethan knows him. I would have to say that he is
one of the most knowledgeable gay man when it comes to transgender
issues. His letter response to Harry says it all.

Monica

****************************

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

Now that the vote on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) has
taken place in the House, I want to write to all of you to reconfirm
our commitment in the Religion and Faith program toward educating
people across the country about transgender people, the particular
struggles they face, and why a fully inclusive ENDA is essential for
all of us. In the days ahead we will be talking with many of you as
we make our plans; we'll also want to know how we can help you with
your work on transgender issues.

I am writing today, however, to speak to the hurt, anger, and feelings
of betrayal many of you have felt as a result of the recent struggle
in our community around this bill. The last four weeks or so have
been among the most painful of my career as I have heard transgender
sisters and brothers I love express their hurt over being left out yet
again. I have agonized with many of you, my colleagues, over
strategic decisions that seemed to put us over against each other,
even as we leaned heavily on personal regard for each other and
commitment to the long term success of our whole LGBT community to get
us through.

At this point you know that HRC made a political calculation over what
we thought was the best position we should take moving forward. The
bill passed by the House yesterday is not the bill any of us wanted.
After a deep and painful process we made the decision to stay at the
table with Congress and support the non-inclusive ENDA legislation, HR
3685 in the House.

Our president, Joe Solmonese, has consistently stated our ultimate and
unequivocal commitment to a fully inclusive ENDA. Supporting HR 3685
was, in his mind, the best way toward getting a truly inclusive bill
passed as quickly as possible. I believe his sincerity and trust his
political instincts. In addition, I personally believe that we never
win by standing still. To not move forward at this point would have
set back our work in significant ways - our choice was between moving
forward and falling backward.

I believe that if members of Congress have a positive experience
voting for employment protection for gays, lesbians, and bisexuals and
getting re-elected in the process, they will be more likely to support
a fully inclusive bill in a year or two. However, if the bill had
died in committee or had been voted down on the floor, the negative
experiences of members of Congress would ensure that we would have
little chance of getting any bill to the table in the foreseeable future.

I also know that many of you disagree. As your colleague and friend,
I honor your feelings and respect your wisdom. That we have disagreed
over this strategic decision is painful for me and I hold in my heart
the pain it has caused you.

My hope and prayer is that you will see in the actions of the HRC
Religion and Faith Program the commitment to building support for a
truly inclusive ENDA that I have felt and seen in my colleagues here
at HRC over the last few weeks. There are about 60 districts
represented by members of Congress who were ready yesterday to support
protections for LGB folks, but not yet ready to do so for transgender
people. Sharon, Kyla, and I plan to make our commitment to justice
for transgender people manifest in our hard work to educate the people
of those districts and ultimately, the men and women who represent
them in Congress.

I don't ask that you put your hurt and pain behind you; those
experiences have a great deal to teach us about how we can move
forward. What I do hope is that our pain will not prevent us from
taking the necessary next steps together. All of us are precious in
God's eyes and all of us are necessary for the hard work ahead.

Please pray for me and all your colleagues at the Human Rights Campaign.

God bless you all,
Harry Knox, Director
Religion and Faith Program
Human Rights Campaign Foundation
1640 Rhode Island Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20036
202.716.1612 (cell)
harry.knox@hrc.org (hrc.org)

***************

Dear Harry,

Nice try with this letter, but it does not wash.

The transgender are real flesh and blood people and are not HRC's
bargaining chip.

<<"At this point you know that HRC made a political calculation over
what we thought was the best position we should take moving forward.">>

There is no going forward if everyone is not with us.

This is not Animal farm where "All animals are equal, but some animals
are more equal then others"!

HRC has made a horrible and tragic miscalculation...a poll of 500
people does not speak for the entire LGBTQ community.

HRC sold it's sisters and brothers down the river for a bill they knew
was not going to pass or have a chance in hell of becoming law.

When a house is on fire you don't stand outside and decide whom you
are going to rescue, the attempt is made for all.

If the hypocrites in congress didn't want transgender people in the
bill, then they should have been forced to make an amendment to take
it out from the floor...not have HRC bargaining and agreeing that a
part of our community was expendable and could simply way for another day.

By removing Transgender people from the bill y'all sent a clear
message to everyone concerned that the transgender community is some
how not on equal footing with the rest of the community.

This was wrong and you my friend know it. Pastorally speaking you and
the rest of HRC chose to be the Esther who didn't bother to go before
the King. Shame on you. I wonder how many Transgender people will die
because even HRC thinks they are not worthy of protection? This was a
time for leadership, guts and courage.

Y'all said it couldn't get through with Trans as apart of it, that it
would have lost...well my friend you may have won the battle but HRC
may have cost themselves far more then they think.

I cannot express how sad and disappointed I am in you...as a pastor
you should know that God's people are not expendable at any price!

So your attempt to "explain" to "sooth", to "justify" this despicable
act on the part of HRC falls far short.

I am no longer a supporter of HRC, nor will I honor their name or pass
on their e-mail with their weekly calls for money. They will not again
receive one dime of my money or the church's and I will certainly
encourage folks to find other organizations to give to other then HRC.
I do believe there are organizations out there that still understand
the meaning of community and that without all the hard work of the
Trans community we would be nothing.

I know this doesn't mean a hell of lot to you, as I am not one of the
high profile pastor's that you run with these days, nor is our church
all that important to you or HRC, but you have lost my support and
more importantly my respect.

I am of a mind to call for a boycott of the HRC dinner in Atlanta as
well as any other HRC events in this city that seek our hard earned
money. I might be persuaded to change my mind providing HRC admits
their mistake and makes amends with the transgender community...but
hey you and I both know that is not going to happen.

It is truly a sad day.

Reverend Paul M. Turner
Sr. Pastor
http://www.gentlespirit.org

[CathyB59]

Hi Joney,
Thank you for sharing this letter and response.
I'm not endorsing HRC. I was surprised to see Donna Rose speaking.
Since the workshop focus was specifically gender and expression to me it looked like an attempt to mollify the gender variant contingent they just FiretrUCKED over.

[joneyhits]

Hi Cathy:

Donna Rose resigned from HRC. If she wa doing this recently for HRC, as in the past week or so, please let me know. I keep seeing double speak from all sides. I was not chastising you for attending, I was just letting you know what the situation was.

Joney

[CathyB59]

Joney,
Gotcha then. Donna was introduced as a member of the HRC business council and spoke November 14th. I had heard the same thing about resigning.

[joneyhits]

Interesting. Thanks Cathy.

[joneyhits]

Well here is the scoop. HRC is actually several organizations. Donna Rose and Jamison Green are both members of the Business Council. Pretty much separate from the HRC that handles politics.

Still, I have been told, they both plan to resign there if certain changes are not made. I'll keep you posted.

[joneyhits]

Transgender Leaders Donna Rose and Jamison Green Resign from HRC Business Council
The only transgender members of the Human Rights Campaign Business Council, Donna Rose and Jamison Green, announced their resignations on Tuesday November 27 in response to recent HRC policy decisions regarding ENDA. They released the following joint statement:

An Open Letter To:
Daryl Herrschaft, Director, HRC Workplace Project,
Staff of the HRC Workplace Project,
Members of the HRC Business Council,
Joe Solmonese, E.D., Human Rights Campaign (HRC),
Members of the HRC Board of Directors,
Members of the Transgender Community:

It has been an honor and a privilege for both of us to serve on the Human Rights Campaign Business Council. Since joining the Business Council in 2002 we have both played active roles in advancing workplace equality, providing education, guidance and leadership, and ensuring that workplaces in America are fair for ALL employees. Our collective work has been at the forefront of the successes that HRC has enjoyed in recent years, has affected the daily lives of GLBT employees throughout this country in profound and substantive ways, and is a continuing source of pride for us both.

Rather than rest on past achievements, the Business Council continues to develop critical new initiatives to support transgender employees. We are working to raise the bar on the Corporate Equality Index. We are planning to revise and re-publish the booklet Transgender In the Workplace: A Tool For Managers. We are planning a Female-to-Male educational DVD. We have been working on insurance issues affecting transgender employees. Never before have so many important efforts for transgender workers been underway and we are both heavily involved in all of them. That is why the decision we are announcing today is an extremely difficult one.

Recent HRC policy decisions - to actively support a version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) that excludes our transgender brothers and sisters as well as gender-variant lesbian, gay, and bisexual people - have placed us in an untenable position. On November 8, the day after the ENDA vote in the House of Representatives, we requested an opportunity to meet personally with HRC President Joe Solmonese to share our concerns and to discuss HRC's strategy for addressing recent legislative shortcomings before making a decision to stay or go. As the only transgender representatives on the Business Council our community expects us to have some influence, or at least to receive the courtesy of a consultation. Almost 3 weeks have passed since that request and we have heard nothing in response. This lack of response speaks volumes, so we feel compelled to take this stand today.

We are announcing our resignations from the HRC Business Council, effective immediately. Considering recent broken promises, the lack of credibility that HRC has with the transgender community at large, and HRC's apparent lack of commitment to healing the breach it has caused, we find it impossible to maintain an effective working relationship with the organization.

We have truly enjoyed working with the amazing group of corporate leaders who comprise the Business Council. We thank Daryl Herrschaft, Eric Bloem, Samir Luther, and the rest of the Workplace Project team for their steadfast support, their passion for full equality and inclusion, and their friendship. We are extremely disappointed that HRC legislative decisions have contradicted Business Council efforts to enact only fully-inclusive policies and that we must leave the important work we have been planning unfinished. But principles are not for compromise, so today we do what we feel we must.

The need for education on transgender issues in this country has never been greater or more apparent. In addition, a significant learning from recent events is that, while alliances are necessary, valuable, and often crucial, the transgender community cannot rely excessively on others for success and must assert greater control over its own destiny. Our resignation from the Business Council in no way diminishes our commitment either to the transgender community or to ensuring that workplaces have access to professional training, support and guidance on transgender issues. Rather, it provides new challenges and opportunities.

Since we cannot in good conscience continue these critical efforts in the name of HRC through its Business Council, we will be forming an organization whose sole purpose is to provide ongoing education on transgender issues for businesses, governmental agencies, NGOs, and educational institutions. Our Transgender Education Partnership - TransEducate.com - will be a platform from which we can engage community leaders, develop tools and publications, and establish partnerships with like-minded organizations to work for ALL gender-variant people everywhere.

Although it saddens us to say good-bye to our colleagues on the Business Council we are energized by our vision of the future. We look forward to being a pre-eminent voice in the ongoing effort to provide education about the transgender community. We look forward to the day when the LGBT community can address its issues with a unified voice, and without diminishing any of its constituents. And, we look forward to a day when gender-variance is appreciated as ordinary and non-threatening, and education on these topics will no longer be necessary.

In Solidarity for Equality,

Jamison Green and Donna Rose