05/30/00
|
ALERT:
New York Times promotes
sexual reasigment (sic)
as a solution to gender varinace (sic)
The following note, by Jim Fouratt, has finally begun
to be forwarded to concerned individuals in the LGBT and queer communities. It is
always sad to see someone as well known as Jim denigrating how others express their
identities and singling them out for abuse. It is equally sad to see him utilizing
such a dated, frightening and divisive rhetoric such as the one that had been proposed
by other transphobes, including janice raymond, over 20 years ago. In fact his attack
sounds surprisingly similar to that currently utilized by anti-choice, anti-feminist
and anti-gay groups against women and the LGBT/queer communities. His e-mail address
is JimFour@aol.com, so please write Jim and let him know how you feel about his bigotry
and blatant misrepresentation of the facts. Also please feel free to forward this
note to others for their comments.
ps: The wonderful NYTimes Magazine cover article that bothers Jim so much,
follows his comments at the close of this e-mail, below.
ALERT:
New York Times promotes
sexual reasigment (sic)
as a solution to gender varinace (sic)
NY
Times article: An Inconvenient Woman
Date: Saturday, May 27, 2000 2:58:21 PM
by Jim Fouratt
I am shocked to hear a member of the Imperial Court endorsing this blatantly
homophobic article written by a gagman. Yes, this is a tragic story. Murdered because
he was perceived to be gay, Barry Winchell deserves all our grief and anger. As do
his loved ones including a gender variant gayman self named Calpernia Sarah Addams,
a professional gender illusionist.
All around us we see these attacks on gaymen who do not conform to somekind
of Tom of Finland or Andrew Sullivan image, What is new is we now see gay academics
and pop journalists embracing this new push to make gaymen and lesbians straight
by leading them to endure painful physical body manipulation and dangerous hormonal
injects to take on the topography of the conventional definition of what is male
and what is female. Modern medicine is once again trying to cure us of our desire
for same sex love. Our gender variant gay and lesbian population is under intense
pressure to deny their homosexuality and to take all physical, hormonal and emotional
steps in order to be accepted into heterosexual society.
First we had Boys Don't Cry which told the horrific story of a 19 year
old baby butch lesbian who was first raped and than murdered because she hadthe audacity
to role play and act on her desire to love and have sex with women.
In death Brandon Teen became the poster girl of the reparative therapy
movement (aka transgendered) for adult gender variant gaymen and women and in this
guise was deemed acceptable frirst to Hollywood and than to a larger straight audience.
We are familuar with the smarmy tabloid journalism of gaywriter David
France. Who could forget his bizarre book on Andrew Crispo? But does the New York
Times need to sink to the level of the National Inquirer doing a Talk-ish sex/celebrity/death
feature? I would hope not.
The Barry Winchell story needs to be told. How homophobia both external
and more importantly internally puts at risk most homosexuals and lesbains and all
gender variant individuals, How the rush to gender reassign through the wonders of
modern medicine has ultimately failed ... where in the sensational picture of a professional
skin strutter was there any reference to the 30 year John Hopkins study of sexual
reassignment and how ultimately it did not improve the self image or well being of
the subjects in their program. The results of this study caused John Hopkins to cease
sexual reassignment as a solution to gender dysfunction. Or where is the information
on how most transsexuals who are not closeted have very few job options other than
in the adult entertainment and/or sex industry... Wendy Carlos and Dr. Renee Richard's
are the exceptions.
The Imperial Court can be a powerful voice in confronting the solutions
that are now being promoted by mainstream publications like the New Times and by
the toxic, anti-gay/lesbian "queer" academics. Neither group is a friend
of the Cherry Grove and/or Court community,
Why can't Calpernia Sarah Addams dress, act and be himself as a gagmen,
The Court sets a powerful role model of how to be who ever you want to be and to
be true to your gay male identity. After all, this construction of 'women" is
totally informed by gaymale sensibility and has little in reality to do with the
essence of being female.
Speak up. Help those gender variant gaymen and women who are under siege
to save their pennies to mutilate their bodies to gain acceptance into the heterosexual
society.
Would be most interesting in hearing each of your response to this increasingly
serious attack on who we are and how we live.
Jim Fouratt
|