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The shop that's fixing my car tells me that it'll be Friday before they even get the parts, so I guess that's the end of my idea of a trip to Philly, for this week at least. I guess it's really not such a bad thing, to have some real downtime imposed on me, whether I like it or not. I'm finally getting back into the swing of writing a lot, and that's of course a good thing. Of course, most of what I'm writing about at the moment is personal stuff, but that's ok I guess. It has to come out sooner or later. It keeps getting weirder and weirder...Writing, for me at least, contains a very strong grounding in terms of being considered productive, that is, in certain ways you can look at a page of print and see exactly how much you have accomplished, but success on other levels in writing can only be measured by absorbing the meaning of the words and judging their worth. An 800-word essay will always be 800 words, but the essay itself can be brilliant or it can be crap, and one measure has absolutely nothing to do with the other. And so, I write, not so much to fill the time as to document my thoughts, to say things I think are worth saying, or at least, worth thinking about. I try to do the same thing on my radio show. The way I figure it, if I'm lucky enough that at least a few people are regularly tuning in to hear what I have to say, then it's incumbent upon me to try to present the most thought-provoking and interesting show I can. To that end, I've been making a special point to invite not only guests who's positions I and probably most my listeners fully agree with, but also those who hold views in opposition or at least not directly in concert with popular community opinion. When I was finally able to get Hilary Rosen scheduled (and the Barney Frank interview hadn't been denied yet), I decided that it was a great opportunity to try add a bit of balance to the show. Dana Beyer, and even to an extent Donna Rose, both take less antagonistic stances toward HRC than most of us do, even though both have problems with their advocacy of ENDA and of transgender rights in general. They're far from the only transpeople who have done so publicly however, and there are some who take an even more conciliatory view. One such well-known transperson is Nancy Nangeroni. Nancy and I have gone toe-to-toe on HRC and ENDA both publicly and privately in the past, most recently in the comments section of one of my articles published at the Bilerico Project. She's someone I respect greatly for the many years of work she's given our community, as well as being a groundbreaker in transgender-relevant media, someone who in many ways blazed the path I walk today in terms of my media work, yet she's also someone I've had cause to disagree with on many occasions on issues like this. Simply put, Nancy and I have very different ideas of what is the right way to advocate our issues in the public arena, and I think we reflect the twin poles of thinking around this right now. I, of course, reflect the "Let's take it to them!" position: Let's get out there with our protest signs, letters and visits to Congress, media, etc. Let's show them exactly who we are and that we can no longer be ignored or pushed aside. I also advocate doing something about the Human Rights Campaign. We can't trust them to play fair, so they define themselves not as an ally but rather as an obstacle, and they must be dealt in that light. In other words, while our agendas may coincide from time to time, they are clearly not the same. There has to be an alternative, one that doesn't carry the kind of baggage in this community and in Congress HRC does. I also advocate being proactive in our media, calling out those who deserve it clearly and regularly, for good and for ill. That may not be too popular with the politicians, but if there's anything we've learned it's that staying silent doesn't help our cause at all, it only provides cover for others who seek to gain rights for those like themselves at our expense. I believe these issues need to be discussed in the media regularly because it's only by making sure people know what's going on that we can hope something will change for the better. Nancy takes a somewhat different, less aggressive view than my own. I'm not going to try to go into a detailed analysis of her position because she's really the only person qualified to do that. Suffice it to say that she apparently places more weight on the negative impact of some public writings (like my own) on the politicians than the positive impact they may have on our own community, and she seems to advocate a lighter touch in dealing with HRC and the politicians in general than I do. I've invited Nancy on the show to get into these issues with us, and I'm pleased to announce that she's accepted my offer. She'll be on the May 29th episode. This is another show I'll be looking forward to. Be sure not to miss it...I have feeling these next few weeks on the show are gonna be kinda interesting! Current Mood:  disappointed
Current Music: Stiff Little Fingers - Nobody's Hero - Stiff Little Fingers - All The Best (Disc 1)
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Not that it really matters or anything, but for the first time in a while, I'm using Semagic to compose my blog posts. I tried using Wordpress for a while but Semagic just seems easier for me. It also means that I have reorganize how I publish my blog posts. I haven't posted the last few on Bilerico because, frankly, they just didn't fit the format. I go through phases as a writer when I just seem to focus on personal stuff which is far better suited to my personal blogs then for an LGBT cultural and political blog. Anything political gets published everywhere, but at least some of the personal stuff just doesn't seem to qualify as posting at Bilerico. Self-censorship, when fairly and honestly applied, can be a wonderful thing. So, here I am, still looking at three fun-filled days off. No news on the car as yet, but if they can getting this thing driving like it should be I'll be so happy I'll hand-wash it. It'll the difference between a car that gets me to work and back and one I can take on a roadtrip without fear that it's just not going to make it. My hope: that they finish this thing in time for me to have at least one day to just get the hell out of town. At this point, I still have not the slightest idea where I might go on this fabled roadtrip, but I might as well take advantage while I can. It's not like I can't afford a couple of tanks of gas these days...and it's a hell of a lot cheaper than a real vacation. Maybe...Philadelphia? I am overdue for a visit...hmmm... Current Mood:  relaxed
Current Music: Joan Jett & The Blackhearts - Five
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...and the truth is that I didn't know how much I needed it until I had it.
This weekend, the front end of my car, specifically the air shocks and the frame supporting them, finally went. I missed work on Saturday, and then this morning I dropped my car off at the shop and had my mother drive me to work. I knew I'd be at least a few minutes late so I called the store to let them know.
My first clue something was wrong was a message in the voice of one of our store managers, instead of the normal, pleasant-sounding robo-answer call voice, saying the store was closed today and to contact our other local stores. As we passed the mall on the opposite side of the highway, I could see a fire truck parked in front of the store and I knew something was up.
We made the jughandle and drove up to the front of the store. Several of the supervisors were huddled in the vestibule of the store and I found out that there had been a fire in our store the night before. At that point, the place was a wreck and there was really nothing for me to do other just than go home.
Later on I was here, playing Second Life, when I got a call from my own supervisor, Lena. Seems we're all getting a week's paid vacation, followed by a meeting this Saturday at the main district office where we'll all get our new store assignments. Apparently, our own store isn't coming back so fast.
It's hard to really say whether this is good or bad in the long term. Sure, it's a great thing that I get the rest of the week off with pay. But it sucks that our store is gone, at least for a while. We had a good team there, good people. Who's to say it'll still be the same by the time it's back...for that matter, who's to say the store will even be in the same place place?
On the other hand this could also be a very good thing. There's really no way to know at this point. However, it might even prove to be another opportunity to move up.
Really, it just feels weird. I was finally starting to hit my stride with this job and this was totally unexpected. Of course, I'm mainly just going to relax and enjoy the time off, but I can't help feeling like I'm missing something, like I'm supposed to be somewhere that I'm not. It really is kind of bizarre when you think about it, considering how long I was unemployed and went day after day in an endless (though unpaid) vacation. This is very different in that I know I'll be making the same money as I normally would have for the week but now I can catch up on any number of things over the next few days.
So now, I've got four more paid days off from work, but no car for at least the next two. What the hell will I do with myself?
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Some of you will read this and will be wondering why you didn't see it on the Bilerico Project or even my Transadvocate.com blog site, as virtually everything I post is. The answer, as you'll see, is that this post is not for those sites, good though they are. This is especially directed toward those who read me on LJ and those who use LJ themselves, so I thought it would be most appropriate to publish it here on LJ, but not to any of the other sites where my postings appear.Five years is a long time. I just paid for yet another year of LJ membership and it inspired me to check and see how long ago I'd originally created my account. On July 3rd ,it will have been exactly five years. Five years since I became a blogger. How it happened was almost by accident really. Five years ago, I was a regular listener of Sirius OutQ's Derek and Romaine Show. One evening, show co-host Romaine Patterson was talking about a site she used for her personal blog, LiveJournal. I'd done some writing and and had heard of this blog thing, but I wasn't really sure what it was about until I went to the site's homepage. In those days, the only way to get free personal account was for an existing member to give you code that allowed you to create an account. So, this account I write you from today was created on July 3rd, 2003, and was the result of an account creation code given to me by Romaine Patterson. For the first few years, after one abortive attempt at my own email list just previously, LJ was the only place where you could read my musings, but then I started getting involved with Transadvocate.com, MySpace, and now of course the Bilerico Project, but LJ has been a constant throughout in two senses: It's the one blog site that I've been publishing to the longest and the most consistently since I've been blogging. If I can be said to actually have such a thing, it is my blog of record. It's the one and only blog site I've ever paid for the privilege of using. At first, like many, I was a free user, but I upgraded to paid status as soon as I could. Right from the start, LJ felt like a place where I fit in. I honestly can't tell you specifically why that is, but it is nevertheless true. All I can tell you about that is that LJ feels special, to me anyway. Take that for whatever it's worth. I also wasn't that great of a writer. LJ was the place where I honed that skill and became at least good enough that some people are willing pay to publish what I write in their publications. LJ was the place where I started putting all those thoughts and developing ideas about activism, politics, and the place of transwomen in modern America (among other things), and started figuring out exactly who the heck I am and where I'm going. With LJ, I picked things up just post email-list, while I was still doing my column for EXP. I wrote about politics, I wrote about radio, I wrote about everything. I wrote about whatever was on my mind that day, with no agendas other than my own, no editor, no deadlines, no word counts, nothing to get in the way of what I wanted to say or to shape the way it was said. It was the place where all the stuff that didn't fit into my column went. Over time, as I began to be published in more places, LJ was the one place I always kept something ongoing, even though there were periods when I didn't post for months on end. As I've started to review some of my LJ-published writings it occurs to me that some of this may prove useful in a book I've been trying to write but have been having a hard time pulling together. Who knows, some of what you've read here may turn up in an actual for-sale book (Goddess willing) sometime in the semi-near future. And so here we are, looking at the coming of my 5th anniversary of having a LiveJournal. This has to be the longest running commercial relationship I've ever had with any online company (even though they've changed hands a couple of times), and it's one I continue to be motivated to maintain. So, I paid my twenty bucks for another year. I may never fully use all the extra features I get as a paid member, but for me it really doesn't matter if I do or not. It's about supporting a company and an online community I care about, and making sure that not only will I continue to be a part of it, but that I do my part to see that this site continues to be around for many years come. There's things I'd like to see, such as having stats available to see just how many people are reading this page, but all in all, it's a pretty cool place to have an online home.
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Tonight it's open phones, taking your calls on a variety of important topics and issues in the LGB, and especially T, community. Rye Seronie, our Digital Diva, and Studio Producer Mike Scott are now roomies! Will the show ever be the same? Tune in and find out! Barney Balks, but Rosen Responds! Barney Frank's office turned down an interview request to appear on the show, one that was encouraged live on the air by one of Frank's top aides, Joe Racalto. The good news is that Hilary Rosen, former interim Executive Director of the Human Rights Campaign, and member of the Board of the Human Rights Campaign Fund will join us on the May 22nd show. I blogged about it, and I'll talk about tonight. Plus news, commentary, and more...plus your phone calls! Host
The Rebecca Juro Show
The LGBT Internet Radio Talk Show That Puts The "T" First!
Streaming Live Thursdays, 7-10pm Eastern, 4-7pm Pacific And Rebroadcast Throughout The Week
On QMO
http://www.queermusiconline.com
And Live Every Week
On WKJCE TLGB Radio
http://www.wkjce.org
Studio Call-In Line: (928)257-3171
Show Email: rjuroshow@gmail.com
Podcast Archive: Homepage: http://beckyjuro.podomatic.com RSS Feed:http://beckyjuro.podOmatic.com/rss2.xml Becky's Blog: http://transadvocate.com/beckygrrl
NEW! Show Website: http://rebeccajuro.com
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Never let it be said I didn't give it my best effort. During a surprise call-in during my March 6th show featuring Donna Rose, Joe Racalto, an aide in Congressman Barney Frank's office, suggested I contact him to set up an interview with Congressman Frank to discuss ENDA and the issue of transgender rights in general. Of course, I was interested. I contacted Joe soon afterward and began the process of requesting and setting up the interview. Unfortunately, it seems Joe overestimated the willingness of his boss to speak directly to the transgender community and and enter into the kind of dialog with us that he's advocated publicly for so long. Earlier today, I got my answer. Apparently, Congressman Frank, who always seems to find the time to talk Queer politics on the air on the Michelangelo Signorile Show, apparently can't seem to find even a few minutes to come on a show like mine which focuses on topics and issues of concern to transgender and gender-variant Americans. Personally, I was hoping to have the opportunity to ask Congressman Frank some long-unanswered questions about these issues instead of maybe a gender-relevant question or two in the midst of a round of the same tired open-ended softballs Signorile always seems lob Frank's way whenever he appears on his show. I guess it's really not all that surprising when you think about it. I'm not Michelangelo Signorile. Unlike I've heard Signorile do so often in the past, if Barney Frank tried to avoid answering my direct questions about these issues which are so important to so many in our community, I'd call him on it and push for answers, not let him just go on saying whatever he wanted to say for as long as he wanted without challenge. After all, if Congressman Frank's not going to respond to our questions fully and directly, what's the point in having him on in the first place? And hey, let's not forget we're not really his target audience. Apparently, he only really wants to speak to the monied gay elite, and that's what he gets when he goes on the Signorile show. Like so many politicians, Frank talks a great line when he's the one leading the discussion, but it seems he isn't so willing to respond to the questions and concerns of those American citizens who are most directly impacted by what he and his colleagues in Congress are doing in regards to ENDA and LGBT civil rights in general. Honestly, it's kind of funny when you think about it. Democrats go on the shows of the right-wingers and go toe-to-toe with these people all the time, but apparently Barney Frank is shying away from speaking with those who's interests he claims to be representing in Congress. Or, could it be me...lil' ol' me? Am I really scarier for Barney Frank than Bill O'Reilly or Sean Hannity...or even Michelangelo Signorile? Maybe I really am that scary, at least for someone like Barney Frank. Maybe it's that I'm just not willing to drink down a Big Gulp-size helping of Congressional Kool-Aid. Maybe it's that I'm not afraid to call 'em as I see 'em, even when doing so inconveniences activists and politicians who probably prefer I'd just shut the hell up. Maybe it's that he knows I'd ask questions he's not going to want to answer and I'm not going to be satisfied with a politically-neutered dodge as a response. Or, maybe he just doesn't think we're important enough to bother with. Fear not, however. Just because Barney Frank isn't willing to be questioned by me and my listeners about these critical issues, it doesn't mean everyone involved in mainstream and LGBT politics feels the need to run the other way. It took a while to finally get it together, but I'm pleased to announce that Hilary Rosen, Board member of the Human Rights Campaign Fund, and former interim director of the organization (in-between Cheryl Jacques and Joe Solmonese), will be my guest on the May 22nd edition of "The Rebecca Juro Show". I've been hoping to get some opposing, or at least not completely agreeing, guests to come on my show and take on some of these issues, but until now, it's only been Chris Crain, former Editor in Chief of the Washington Blade, and Dana Beyer, a transwoman, former and future political candidate in the State of Maryland, and a member of HRC's Board of Governors, who had been willing to take me up on the offer. Speaking to and with the choir can only take us just so far, so I've been trying to make it point to get people like Dana Beyer and Hilary Rosen on the show to offer listeners a different perspective. While I'm quite sure many of us will disagree with some or even all of what Ms. Rosen has to say, she has both my respect and my appreciation for being willing to step up and enter into a discussion of these issues, a discussion Barney Frank apparently really has no interest in having despite his many public statements to the contrary.
I'm looking forward to my discussion with Hilary Rosen. I think it'll be an interesting and informative show, and I think she'll be a terrific guest. I just think it's a pity that Barney Frank isn't willing follow her example and take even a few minutes to speak directly to the community most significantly impacted by his advocacy of ENDA in Congress. I guess it's a good thing, in a twisted sort of way. For all those gender-variant Americans who may have had their doubts as to whether or not Barney Frank was really committed to seeing them protected from discrimination under federal law, you've now got your answer from Congressman Frank in as unmistakable a manner as possible, spoken in a voice as loud and as clear as silence.
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Recently, there's been much discussion about how we go forward in dealing with the Human Rights Campaign as a community, where the popular opinion of the greater LGBT community, and probably of nearly all of those who identify as transgender or gender-variant in some way, is that this organization simply cannot be trusted to reflect and advocate in concert with the will of the majority. One of the most common assertions, one I believe has been repeatedly proven conclusively accurate over the last several months, is that HRC's leadership not only simply doesn't get it, but they really show little or no interest in getting it in the future. It's not quite as complex a problem as some would have you believe. Indeed, what they don't get is really quite simple. When you consider that in order to be a part of the organization's leadership, to have decision-making and agenda-setting power at HRC, one must raise or donate fifty thousand dollars a year, the answer is as simple as it is obvious: The problem is money. Think about how much personal wealth one must have in order to generate this level of donation to HRC. Can someone with that kind of cash in the bank possibly understand what it is to have to live on a budget, to have to make economically-dictated decisions between what one wants, what one needs, and what one can afford? Can someone who can simply write a donation check for more than twice as much as many of us make in a year really understand what is to have to pay the bills working a low-paying job at a local retailer or the impact that losing such a job because of bigotry has on those who depend on such relatively meager incomes to survive? The answer, of course, is yes. Not everyone with money is born into it, and many wealthy people proactively educate themselves and use their financial clout to help make things better for others not so fortunate. The real question, however, is not if it's possible that someone so wealthy can possibly understand the reality of the lives of the vast majority of Americans who don't enjoy that level of wealth, but rather if it's likely, and the answer to that question is clearly a resounding "No!". To put it in perspective, consider how many of us, probably most, view the issue of Darfur. It's commonly understood that the people there are suffering greatly, but how many of us actually do anything about it in a concrete way? How many of us actually donate money, speak out on the topic, or take some kind of action to help alleviate the suffering of that country's people? I'm willing to bet not very many. Most of us are just too involved with our own lives and issues to devote much time and attention to a problem and a people who seem so far away and far removed from our own lives. The problem we gender-variant folks face in dealing with HRC bears striking similarities to how the tragedy of Darfur is popularly perceived by the American public at large. No doubt there are many on the HRC Executive Board who would agree that the persecution and discrimination of gender-variant Americans is awful in principle, but how many of those folks really care enough about us to devote their time, effort, and resources to helping to solve it? If history is to be our guide, then clearly the answer must be not very many at all. I mean, how is it that after all these years of claiming to represent gender-variant Americans and our interests in Washington, this organization still needs to hold trainings to educate its own membership on transgender and gender-variant issues? How is it possible, or even rational, that such an organization, which is clearly incapable of even getting its own membership up to speed on these issues, could be relied upon to advocate these issues to the United States Congress? The obvious answer is that they can't, not by any reasonable stretch, and anyone who tries to claim otherwise is either lying or or clueless. Even more convincing evidence of HRC's lack of both credibility and competency in advocating on behalf of gender-variant Americans is the reality that since Donna Rose left the organization late last year, no effort has apparently been made to replace her on the Executive Board. Instead, HRC tries to convince transpeople that appointing two new trans members to their non-political Business Council somehow makes up for the complete void of transgender and even simply lower, middle, and working class voices in their actual leadership. HRC is, simply put, an organization run by rich gays for the benefit of rich gays. Period. End of story. It's an organization so arrogant and so completely out of touch with the pulse of what's really going on in the 99% of LGBT America that can't write fifty thousand dollar yearly checks to the organization just to have a voice in its administration, that they can't even get their own people to take the time to fully understand what they claim to be fighting for. Even worse, HRC's leadership thinks we're all morons. How else can you explain them trying to claim that they're fighting for and representing our interests in Con | | |
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