polerin

Open letter to Otep Shamaya

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:02:16 GMT

Otep, I respect you, your music has given me strength when I was weak and hated myself... but I need you to know what you just did.

You just made me a joke.

You just took my transition, spat on it, ground it into the dirt, and laughed at it.

I'm not your satire. I'm not your polemic device to attack those who think gay people are sick. I'm just as much the target as you... Most of the looks I get are for being a lesbian, not for being a trans woman.

And yet you take me, the daily fight that I go through, the taunts of being called a he/she, shemale, chick with a dick, tranny slut, monster, despised one, mutilator... you just erase me.

because it's just SO MUCH EASIER to be trans right?

Except not. The Transgender day of remembrance is coming up. Did you know that?

Did you know that this last year has been the worst year on record for the murder of transgender people? 95 just for being trans or being thought to be trans. That's 19 a month. Dead.

I risk that every day, and you use me as a rhetorical trick.

And just that. You know why? Because your trick isn't real. Because the ability to marry is based off of your birth certificate in most places, and your birth certificate is in the control of the state where you were born.
Texas? HAH!
Tennessee? Good fucking luck!
California? You'd better live there, because Schwarzenegger vetoed the cost-nothing bill that would have let you change your certificate there.

Beyond that, What of those people like me that got married before transition? Is my marriage still valid? I don't know, and neither does anyone else until it's challenged, and guess what? It'll mean I have to go to court in Tennessee, in Nashville likely, home of the Southern Baptist Association, and their cronies, a state where gay marriage is not recognized because of a constitutional Amendment.

Even then, guess what? You might still not be married.. And guess what? You'll be viewed as even more of a freak. You'll be subject to even more hassle, you'll have to fight your way through a medical establishment that thinks your psycotic, or in the case of trans men, that you just don't exist get away so I can keep drooling over these "Autogynophiliacs".

I support gay marriage as strongly as you, I'm fighting to defend my own as well as everyone else's.... Don't throw me to the wayside like so much trash. HRC already fucks me over, there was nobody there to defend me at the recent ENDA hearing, and yet I stand strong and fight back.

Don't you turn your back on me too... please don't. This post hurts, it reaches it's hand deep inside my chest and rips my heart out. Put it back, please...

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So, some of you know I want to do a webcomic...

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 03:20:07 GMT

Finished my first full image in a long while. Sorta proud of it too (except for the shitty cross hatching... beg forgive on that).

Thought I'd post it up :)

Comments and serious criticism always welcome.

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Gee, I wonder why I've never watched Nip Tuck?

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:33:27 GMT

Oh. Wait I know why
( Behind cut for NSFW and potential trigger. )

I don't care if there is some attempt at a redeeming message in the show. I don't care if it is criticizing the culture it is portraying. This image is wrong and hurtful, especially as it is presented not as a critique, but as a draw from the front page of youtube.

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Bob Corker Town hall (8/26)

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:52:57 GMT

I'll try to have a full writeup later tonight about it, but I went to the corker town hall in the 'boro today.. It was an interesting experience, and I'm glad I got to speak.

Quick highlights (from others):

"I want you to take back to dc that we don't want no O-Bam-ah style socialism here in Tennessee."

"Sometimes you just gotta make it Us and Them!"

This Cap and Trade is Slavery and economic suicide!"

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Tracy Chapman

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 01:33:54 GMT

Tangent from Renee's excellent post.

I can't stand when people badmouth Tracy's appearance or singing. She is literally THE guiding voice of my life, and I grew up wishing I could be as intelligent, thoughtful, caring, and beautiful as she is. I've found myself and no longer wish to be her, but my admiration has only increased.

When I fell asleep, I fell asleep singing "Behind the Wall", promising myself I'd never treat the person I loved like that.

When I dreamed of my future, I considered "Mountains O'Things" and knew that the pressure and the need that it spoke of was fundamental to our world.

When I helped my dad teach TKD to kids who wouldn't have a chance to learn otherwise, I remembered "Bang Bang Bang" and I feared that I'd learn one day that one of our students had been lost to violence.

When I first turned to politics Tracy asked, "Why?"

When I buried my face in my pillow so my parents wouldn't hear my crying, "She's Got Her Ticket" told me of a girl who went her own way.

When I tried to understand the self-enforced segregation of my school, I heard "Across the Lines" and looked inwards.

When I heard about Seattle, learned about globalization and started to put pieces of the puzzle together the words of "Talking about a revolution" brought me strength and focused me.

When I realized my parents didn't really like who I was going out with, "For my lover" was my theme song.

When I despaired because of America's reaction to September 11th, "New Beginning" gave me hope that we would get another chance together.

When we got married, Lissa came to meet me to "The Promise".

When Lissa came to me with tears running down her cheeks and told me she just couldn't take my transition, I cried with her, and with "Baby Can I Hold You".

When she came back to me with tears in her eyes again, told me she was going to stay I knew "Heaven's here on Earth".

When I read about Caylee Dymond I remembered "Across the Lines", and tried not to cry.

When I wake up in the morning, the spirit of her words walks beside me, guiding me towards hope, understanding, and love... asking me to realize the humanity and worth of each person I interact with in the day.

When you add the fact that many people make comments that are transphobic or heavily reliant on racist and sexist ideas of "what a woman should look like/sound/act"..... Lets just say I just don't read youtube comments about her.

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Aaron Fotheringham

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:00:05 GMT

This is awesome. I'm not exactly the best informed on issues of abilism, but it's awesome to see someone challenging the concept of wheelchairs as a constraint in such a dramatic way.

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