Letters

•• Dale Carpenter provokes a second Stonewall?

It appears my friend, Dale Carpenter, has been eating his Wheaties again. ["The Myth of a Transgender Stonewall," by Dale Carpenter, April OutSmart.] Full of pith and vinegar, and ready to take on the enemy: those transgender people who wish to gain entry in legislation that is the exclusive right of gays and lesbians.

Mr. Carpenter stated that in reality, the Stonewall Inn was not the haven for genderqueers, as inferred in the Village Voice article, but a hangout for "middle-class, non-transgendered, gay white males." And Mr. Carpenter is correct. Gender-folk in Stonewall were scarce.

[However,] nothing of note occurred [that night] until an unidentified drag/trans-girl become a bit too vocal and problematic. The police at the scene attempted an arrest, and the suspect ducked into the Stonewall in an attempt to escape. When the police followed inside, the crowd became more active and agitated. Then came the pocket change flung at police. Later a butch lesbian flung herself on a police cruiser, initiating another arrest, and a more activated crowd.

Clearly this crowd was not the arrested, middle-class bar patrons. This was the "disallowed" crowd–the assembled street folks, those who weren’t freely allowed entry into establishments such as the Stonewall Inn.

What Mr. Carpenter attempts in his article is to take a piece of a picture, manufacture a new set of logic based solely on that partial perspective, and create a wholly different neo-scenario than what actually occurred.

[Since then,] the very legislation that Sylvia Rivera and those in the transgender community could’ve assisted with, and desired involvement in, were off-limits. Genderqueers were collectively locked out of the process by the more opportunistic ones who managed to get there quickly, and then pull up the ladder behind them. Certainly, the bulk of these were those middle- and upper-class folks who would’ve populated bars such as Stonewall. Of course, who would need employment nondiscrimination protections more urgently than middle- and upper-class gays and lesbians?

Certainly the high unemployment rate among the genderqueer folks wouldn’t merit any need for employment nondiscrimination, right? If they were not employed anyway, why would they even need protection, right Dale?

In closing, this begs some questions: Why would someone want to take away what little history a disenfranchised community has, simply to satisfy one’s freedom from the burden of political correctness?

Houston

This particular piece reaffirms my belief that Dale Carpenter is in total denial of the importance of, the intelligence of, and the significance of transgender people and their place in history, and serves only to enhance the community’s stereotype of him as dismissive, bigoted, and ignorant with regard to the transgender community.

[The role of transgenders in Stonewall] is all very well documented. Because Carpenter doesn’t like it, or refuses to acknowledge the importance of the event, does this in some way mean that it did not happen?

You write, "The standard tale is error piled on error." It is in reality, denial piled on denial. DENIAL = Don’t Even (k)Now I Am Lying, which seems to fit here most appropriately. No one denies that there was gay activism long before Stonewall, but if Stonewall was not a truly significant catalyst in the GLBT movement, why has the gay community used Stonewall as the corner piece of its movement?

As soon as the "suits" such as you admit internally that we exist, that we are viable, that we are important, that we can and do make a difference, then and only then will it make a difference.

Brenda Thomas

Houston

•• Tell Me Why?

This letter is about your two articles on transgender individuals. ["Technicolor Transgender: Houston’s Own Amazing Transgender Community," April OutSmart.] All I have to say is, what next?

I have never met a transgender person or drag queen who I thought was legitimate in any way, shape, or form. Drag queens without attention are nothing but grown men wearing women's clothing. Transgender people are even worse–they swear that they are really women, yet they seem to live within the gay community even after their sex change is complete. Both also appear to solely identify their sexuality by the clothing they wear.

I grew up with mostly women which allowed me to understand the female sex a bit better. I also know that I have a strong female side, yet I love the hell out of being a male and having some deep understanding of women without screwing up my life and deciding to change my sex due to my strong female side. Once again, why?

Manuel Martinez (Casey)

Houston