The Trans Women's Anti-Violence Project
**CONTENT WARNING**
As the title suggests, everything on this blog concerns violence against trans women.
The Trans Women's Anti-Violence Project is a trans feminist project addressing issues of systematic, institutional and interpersonal violence and oppression experienced by trans women (those who were coercively assigned male at birth and identify or are identified as women/female) across multiple identities (e.g., race, class, dis/ability, citizen-status, nationality, sexuality, age, HIV status, and form, status, or age of transition, etc.)
Ida Hammer is a writer and social justice communicator. She organizes the Trans Women's Anti-Violence Project. She presents workshops and trainings on cis privilege and being a trans ally. She's also involved in organizing against sexualized violence. She's a proud dyke-identified trans woman and an organizer of the New York City Dyke March.
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Trans Women Resume Hunger Strike: Amazon and Caterina LePre (Cat) had been hunger striking because of anti-trans discrimination that was preventing them from being able to share a cell even though male prisoners in the facility have been allowed to choose their cellmates. Both women report discriminatory treatment by a feminist case worker who lied to them and used manipulative tactics to delay the cell transfer, as well as the RN monitoring their vitals who allegedly is reporting false information about their health and in one case refusing to provide medical treatment. As a result Amazon and Kat have been keeping their own records of their health information. Amazon and Cat wrote a detailed account of their ordeal which you can find in the linked post, along with how to send supportive letters to them. Additionally, they are urging people to call the warden. (Tobi Hill-Meyer, Bilerico Project, Oct. 21, 2012)
Trial starts in attack on trans woman: [The victim is misidentified in the linked article as a cross-dressing man. Since the victim lives and presents as a woman that is why we are identifying her as such here.]The trial of Brian Jeremy White, accused of armed robbery and aggravated assault in a Sept. 11, 2010 attack on Hayes, began before 12 jurors and two alternates Tuesday. The grand jury report stated that Hayes’ “handbag/purse” was stolen by White and that White shot Hayes in the left leg during the crime. Following opening arguments, Hayes took the stand. An attorney in the audience described Hayes’ clothing, a black and white pattern blouse and black slacks, as being more a transgender style than cross-dressing. (Pete Skiba, Albany Herald, Oct. 23, 2012)
Judges hear gender reassignment appeal from incarcerated trans woman: Attorneys representing a trans woman prisoner Ophelia De’Lonta filed an appeal with a three-judge panel at the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, in an attempt to win her gender reassignment surgery. Bernadette Armand said that ”the treatment [Ms De’Lonta has received] has not been constitutionally adequate,” and went on to say that refusal to provide gender reassignment as a treatment for her gender dysphoria meant they were violating her Eighth Amendment rights. “The record reveals that Ms De’Lonta’s distaste for her own body is so severe that while in prison, she has mutilated her genitalia more than 20 times in attempts at self-castration.” (Joseph Patrick McCormick, Pink News, Oct. 24, 2012)
Trans activists honored in Clarion Alley mural: Tanya Wischerath inscribed on the wall, along with bios of each of the women portrayed:
The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot occurred in August 1966 in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco. This incident was one of the first recorded transgender riots in United States history, preceding the more famous 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City. Although San Francisco continues to lead in the struggle for equal rights for the LGBTQI community, trans women are often left behind and in the fight for visibility. This mural is a dedication to the work of just a few trans activists out of many who have tirelessly committed themselves to paving the way for a more just, accepting, and righteous San Francisco.
(Caitlin Donohue, San Francisco Bay Guardian, Oct. 24, 2012)
Valjean Royal, transgender person of color 40 years in the PIC: Valjean Royal has been incarcerated for 40 years for a murder many realize she did not commit. She has exhausted all of her appeals, but as a trans woman of color the cards seemed always stacked against her. (Transspirituality, Oct. 24, 2012)
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The documentary Crossing Over looks at the lives of 3 transgender Mexican women as they seek political asylum in the United States to escape transphobia in their homeland.
Francis Murillo, Brenda Gonzalez and Abigail Madariaga fled Mexico and are now living in Los Angeles to escape the stigma, discrimination and persecution associated with being transgender in the highly Catholic nation.
“There were various abuses,” Gonzalez says in the film. “They would tie me from my hands and feet to rape me, to abuse me.” (The video is embedded on this page. Visit our video library for more videos.)
The documentary is the first for director Isabel Castro, a Mexican immigrant who recently graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
“I have always been passionate about immigration issues and about highlighting the reasons for why immigration is often necessary,” Castro told On Top Magazine in an e-mail. “In exploring this issue, I learned more about the extent of transphobia in Mexico and in the United States and have now become focused on shedding light on the obstacles that the transgender community faces.”
She said she expects to finish the film in January and premiere it on next year’s festival circuit.
(On Top Magazine Staff)
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Transgender women explain complaint against Portland club
PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) -
A north Portland bar owner is under fire after a group of patrons say he kicked them out just because they are transgender.
The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries is launching an investigation into the claim against Chris Penner, the owner of the P-Club on North Lombard.
Cassandra Lynn filed the complaint last month.
She and other transgender women have gotten together at the P-Club on Friday nights for the past two years, and Lynn says they’ve never had a problem.
“In two years, we didn’t have a bathroom issue, a fight, an argument - no one in our group even raised their voice,” said Lynn.
That’s why when Lynn received a voicemail message from Penner, she was totally caught off guard.
Lynn and her friend Victoria Nolan met with FOX 12 Thursday.
Lynn played Penner’s message on her phone:
“Hello, my name is Chris. I’m the owner of the P-Club Bar and Grill. Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond my control, I’m going to have to ask for you, Cass and your group, not to come back on Friday nights.”
Nolan calls it blatant discrimination.
“It’s not like we had drawn attention to cause fights or we had any issues,” said Nolan. “We were asked not to return and we were asked not to return because we’re transgender.”
The Bureau of Labor and Industries has launched an investigation, but on Wednesday, Penner said it doesn’t make sense.
“We are a north Portland community bar that’s open to everybody who wants to come in and have a good time and has respect for my employees and has respect for the place,” said Penner.
But on Lynn’s voicemail, Penner claims her group was hurting business:
“People think that A.) we’re a tranny bar, or B.) that we’re a gay bar. We are neither. People are not coming in because they just don’t want to be here on a Friday night now.”
Lynn disputes that.
“I’ve been there since day one,” said Lynn. “And there were no more people in that bar on the first Friday we were there as the last Friday we were there.”
Lynn and Nolan don’t care about ever being invited back to the P-Club.
Now, they say this is all about civil rights.
“We just feel that if we go into a business, we shouldn’t be asked to leave just because we dress different.”
FOX 12 contacted Penner to set up a new interview Thursday regarding the voicemails.
But after speaking with his lawyer, he declined.
(FOX 12 Staff, KPTV) -
Video reblogged from mind the filth
Trans Women of Color - Stop the Violence PSA
featuring MsAzariyah Victoria iRockstar-Hilton
Buck Angel’s Public Service Announcement on the violence towards trans women of color. Trans people of color are at higher risk for unemployment, underemployment, discrimination, harassment and abuse in most settings.
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Quote reblogged from The Spirit Was...
We don’t dispute the ‘accusation’ of male privilege because we’re dumb, bad feminists, or incapable of interpreting our experience. We don’t have different opinions out of a lack of knowledge about oppression. We know our own lives, and have more options as feminists than to submit to non- trans woman authority and do its bidding.
Cis women’s and trans male spectrum people’s repeated and patronizing explanations of what our experience clearly must have been and is like bears a striking resemblance, both in form and effect, to patriarchial dominance
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Link reblogged from Active-RVA
The Flying Brick’s explanation on why they are not hosting Deep Green Resistance, an environmental group recently interviewed on Weekly Sedition.
TW: The explanation quotes a transphobic rant from Lierre Keith.
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How is this possible? An alleged rapist has been acquitted in Sweden when it turned out that his victim was a trans woman. In essence, the judge ruled that it’s not possible to rape trans women.
The original article is in Swedish, but you can read an English version here. We keep hoping that we’re simply missing something in the translation, but it sure doesn’t seem that way.
The facts are presented thusly: a 61-year-old man attacked a woman outside her ex-boyfriend’s apartment building. The woman and her ex fought the attacker off, and he was arrested.
But at trial, according to the slightly awkward translation, Judge Dan Sjöstedt stated: “We believe that he wanted to rape… this woman. But as she proved to be a man, his plan [would] never have been possible.”
Right, because rapists are known for being picky. An appeal is likely, so there’s that. Geez.
(Benji Douglas, Queerty)
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Photoset reblogged from ce petit cœur
You Can’t Smash Patriarchy With Transphobia
Trans-misogyny is a weapon of sexism that ultimately harms all women.
(Source: legalizetrans)
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Photo reblogged from Ciscentrism SUCKS!
![ciscentrismsucks:
rationalhub:
PS: Due credits to Autumn for the concept.
[“Oppression doesn’t require intent to thrive. In fact, the way oppression thrives best is by allowing people to marginalize people without intent, as that shows that the ideologies of sexism, racism, gender essentialism or cissexism are so ingrained in you that you don’t even notice it.”]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5ltjt8zou1rvzyvqo1_500.png)
PS: Due credits to Autumn for the concept.
[“Oppression doesn’t require intent to thrive. In fact, the way oppression thrives best is by allowing people to marginalize people without intent, as that shows that the ideologies of sexism, racism, gender essentialism or cissexism are so ingrained in you that you don’t even notice it.”]
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Link reblogged from Tobi Hill-Meyer
I have recently been hearing about multiple instances of trans men and occasionally others condemning certain women’s spaces — spaces that include and are co-organized by trans women — as transphobic and even campaigning against them because they don’t include trans men. What the fuck, guys?
It…
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Model/Drag Queen/Transgender Woman Carmen Carrera
TLC’s Cake Boss found a horrible way to boost ratings and prank an employee while insulting the transgender community by their behavior towards a transgender woman.
Model/Drag Queen, Carmen Carrera from RuPaul’s Drag Race, appeared on the show, Cake Boss, in a prank to lure one of the employees, Anthony, into flirting with her. She spoke with producers about the terminology she wanted to be used and how to use her appearance to further transgender awareness. This was all ignored according to her and she wrote on her Facebook page last night:
Carrera prepping
LET ME MAKE THIS VERY CLEAR! LISTEN UP PEOPLE! I signed on to do this episode of “Cake Boss” to promote EQUALITY. Transgender women are just as beautiful as biological woman and should be respected for that. The “reveal” was never meant to be a “Jerry Springer, ‘THATS A MAN’…” kind of thing. I was promised that it wasn’t going to be that way. I was lied to. I dont promote misleading someone or putting down the trans community. I am a beautiful transgendered woman and if a guy hits on me at a bar, ITS OK! That was the message. Hearing things like “You’ll never be a real woman” or “I hope you burn in hell for changing your gender” or “You will always be a man” is the EXACT TYPE OF IGNORANCE THAT THIS SHOW HELPED TO PROMOTE. This is why Im so upset. If men find me attractive and treat me as lady, why do some of you people think its wrong??? Why are some of you trying to take that away from me like I dont deserve to be treated with respect and admiration? Ignorance, thats why. STOP THE HATE AND PASS THIS ON.
Anthony Bellifemine from Cake Boss
For their part some of the sensitive, sensitive souls at Cake Boss then thought it would be funny to continue to shame Carmen after the episode aired. When someone mocked Anthony, for kissing a man, Anthony had this to say: “hahaha nah I didn’t. It give me a kiss on the cheek.”
“It” gave him a kiss on the cheek. What an amazing guy that Anthony must be.
Carmen’s fans (and fans of treating people like human beings) jumped into action last night, creating a Change.org petition demanding TLC and Cake Boss publicly apologize to the transgender community.
(J. Wolffe, Lez Get Real)
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Photo reblogged from Why are you wearing a suit, sir?
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This movement inadvertently participates in exclusionary politics because some of us fail to comprehend the anti-violence movement as an anti-oppression movement.Kimberlé Crenshaw, “Marginalization of Sexual Violence Against Black Women”
