More on the Rift Between GLB and the T

I ran across an op-ed piece in the Washington Blade that deepened my concern regarding the rift between gay, lesbian, and bisexual activists and allies and transgender people and their (perhaps few) allies:


One thing that did raise an eyebrow for me was a poll done shortly before a trans-less ENDA went to a vote. The result — one that may well be questionable overall — was that 70 percent of the GLBT folks surveyed were perfectly fine with this turn of events.


With one quarter of “GLBT” being transgender, does this mean that 25 percent, coupled with 5 percent of gay, lesbian, and bisexual people, were the ones who were willing to take a more courageous stance, and push for equal rights for all over a bill aimed at a narrower group? If this poll is at all accurate, this seems to leave a large number of people more than willing to leave transgender people out to dry.


ON THIS THANKSGIVING I find myself wondering: Is this my family, my community, welcome at the table with the rest of my siblings or am I the red-headed stepchild of this movement? And if that’s the case, then why am I here?


I suspect there remains a lot of mistrust of trans people and a lot of misconceptions. Maybe it is assumed that we’re not worthy of a place at the table, that our credentials are too thin, or that our goals and needs are too far removed from those of the larger community. Perhaps it’s some sort of latent trans-phobia after years of the mass media foisting transgender characters on the public and calling them “gay.”


THE ISSUE WE need to think about now that a trans-less ENDA has passed the House of Representatives is this: Where do transgender people fit within this community, what do we bring to this movement, and, really, if we aren’t as welcome here as this betrayal shows, then where are we welcome?


None of these are easy questions, and each is that much harder when one considers that we do have our allies in the GLBT community. Other, wiser organizations were willing to stay by our side and focus on the needs of a unified community. Others have also kept a combined front in fights elsewhere, like hate crime bills and other needs. It’s not so simple as “they all hate us, so let’s take our ball and go home.”


But more and more, it seems like a large number would prefer just that.


The writer's assertion that 1/4 of GLBT people are transgender seems quite high to me, and I'd appreciate anyone with knowledge of any data regarding that to post their information in a comment here.


Regardless, I suspect this view is quite representative of how transgender people feel after being dropped out of the ENDA. While I have supported the political reality of doing so, I have learned more in recent weeks about how much damage this has done to relations between GLB (T?) advocacy groups and the transgender community.


The HRC has been the lightning rod for criticism here, having been the largest and most influential advocacy group to openly support the elimination of gender identity from the ENDA bill. It seems to me that they have seriously underestimated the ill will this would cause, or else Joe Solmonese has a great idea to rebuild the bridges that have been burned that we don't know about yet.


The success the HRC and Solmonese has in rebuilding relationships with transgender people could define that organization and their ability to effectively advocate for the GLBT community for some time to come. I'm pulling for them to be able to reach across this divide and (re?) establish unity, something that is in everyone's best interest.


When a group is already a small minority (no more than 10% of the population, possibly less), it can't afford to splinter into sub-groups. The GLBT community needs to become stronger and not fractured into smaller, less influential groups.


If the T people can't count on the GLB people, where do they go?

Not forward I'm afraid.