Tag: heroes

Tomorrow Our President

Posted by helenboyd – January 19, 2009

I don’t think I can watch footage of Obama talking to young volunteeers without getting weepy. The teenaged girls especially crack me up, though, and I have to say I suspect I’d be just as goofy if I got to meet the man in person, too. The awe you can see in people’s eyes is so exciting.

Tomorrow I’m just going to cry through the inaugural, I just know it. We all expect it to kick ass, & I have no doubt it will. He’s walking around today like a man who’s got a good piece written.

It really is true that us Gen Xers finally understand the Kennedy thing the Boomers have been going on about our entire lives. We never had this kind of president before, someone who is really an inspiration, and young and strong and sexy, with a beautiful wife to boot.

1st Trans Officer of State Dems

Posted by helenboyd – January 15, 2009

From National Stonewall Democrats:

Washington, DC – Today, the Stonewall Democrats congratulated Laura Calvo upon her election as Treasurer of the Democratic Party of Oregon. Calvo, a seasoned Democratic operative, becomes the first openly-transgender officer of a state Democratic party. A member of the Board of Directors for National Stonewall Democrats, Calvo also serves as Chair of the Oregon Stonewall Democrats and as Treasurer of the Multnomah County Democrats. Multnomah County, which includes the city of Portland, is the largest county in the state of Oregon.

More→

10 Days In

Posted by helenboyd – January 11, 2009

After a nearly balmy 10 days in Appleton – it’s been aboug 20 degrees everyday – on Tuesday it’s meant to plunge to 2 degrees, and by Thursday, to 0.

I am amazed by how much I don’t mind the cold. I’m a little amazed by the consistency of both the cold and the snow, but since I don’t have to shovel my own walk or dig out a car, I just have to bundle up to walk to class or to get groceries and the like, which isn’t too bad.

I’m teaching three courses this term – Freshman Studies, Gender Studies 100, and Trans Lives – so I’m happily busy and feeling optimistic about 2009. Obama may have a first 100 days to make changes (and only 10 days until he takes office!!), but so far we’ve all had 10 – how have yours been?

Letters to Obama

Posted by helenboyd – December 11, 2008

The Advocate had a bunch of LGBT activists, writers, & bloggers pen a letter to the incoming president, including Mara Keisling, Donna Rose, Pam Spaulding, and Tammy Baldwin.

Worth checking out.

Blogger Initiative

Posted by helenboyd – December 9, 2008

As many of you know, I was at the LGBT Bloggers’ Initiative this past weekend, feeling simultaneously like the new kid on the block and the old whore. Many of my fellow bloggers – I realized during a presentation on media access by Cathy Renna – are bloggers, only. It never occurred to me that being a blogger who was a published book author first was weird, but there I was.

Nevermind that for now. I met a smattering of lovely people who are active in the LGBT blogosphere, some of whom I knew before and some who I didn’t: Dana of Mombian, a whole bunch of the folks at Bilerico, including Bil, Serena, Irene, and Alex; some of the Pam’s House Blend crew, including Pam herself and Autumn Sandeen. Among other I ran into were Allyson Robinson at the HRC cocktail party on Friday night, Mara Keisling of NCTE on Saturday afternoon (at the infamous Mayflower Hotel), as well as Tahlib Disney-Britton of Freedom to Marry, James from gayagenda.com,  and Tobias Packer of Equality Florida.

More→

Sit-in Stand-up Guy

Posted by helenboyd – December 8, 2008

Is this beautiful or what?

At a news conference Sunday, President-elect Barack Obama said the company should follow through on its commitments to its workers, The Associated Press reported.

The NYT article is here, about a sit-in by factory workers at an auto industry-related factory in Chicago, but do you really need to know more? WE HAVE A PRO LABOR PRESIDENT!

(h/t to Betty)

Day 3

Posted by helenboyd – December 7, 2008

I’m still at the Blogger Initiative in DC & having a pretty cool time of it; yesterday I had lunch with the Victory Fund at the Mayflower Hotel & heard Barney Frank speak (more on that later) & ran into Mara Keisling, Maggie Stump and Dana Beyer. I’ve noticed I always feel at home amongst the tall ladies, and that moment was a refreshing break from being a kind of confusing non-trans blogger from the trans community (more on that later too). I moderated a panel on diversity yesterday, which went really well thanks to my excellent panelists.A working shop with Cathy Renna about media access & savvy just ended, and it’s time to go eat lunch with my fellow bloggers, none of whom are in pajamas.

Mostly right now I’m missing Betty, who got home from CO last night and who is in our apartment with the kittoi, and whom I can’t wait to be with, too.

Giving Thanks

Posted by helenboyd – November 27, 2008

A guy who couldn’t read & write, and whose teachers made him “feel small,” carves tiny sculptures that can fit in the eye of a needle.

There is something so lovely about that.

I’m giving thanks this year for people like him, whose creativity and persistent humanity remind me that there are so many interesting ways to respond to bad shit, & they can be life-affirming acts of beauty.

& I’m giving thanks for Barack Obama, like so many others, because I am continually reminded of his decency, his pragmatism, & his big big brain every time he speaks or grants an interview.

Happy Thanksgiving, my fellow Americans.

Some Cool Stuff

Posted by helenboyd – November 17, 2008

Here are some cool things I’ve unearthed in recent weeks that I’ve been meaning to blog about at length but find myself to busy to do!

I am writing and reading a lot this fall, and most of the writing is not for publication, sadly – like my personal statement for my Ph.D. application, amongst other things. So keep sending me cool stuff, or I may start posting descriptions of classes I want to teach, and other odd things.

Employment Non-Discrimination

Posted by helenboyd – November 8, 2008

On Twitter, Gunner Scott of GenderCrash directed me to the new Obama-Biden administration’s employment policy, which says:

The Obama-Biden Transition Project does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or any other basis of discrimination prohibited by law.

Note the bold print.

Feministing points out that the CT Employment Law Blog has stated that this “signals a dramatic shift in the hiring practices of the executive branch because current law does not prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of gender identity.”

So not only is this a proposed change or ideological shift, but an actual policy change has already happened with the Obama-Biden administration.

I told y’all they were hip to gender!

Safe House

Posted by helenboyd – November 5, 2008

Barbara Carrellas told me that tonight, this night that Obama won, her next door neighbor put a candle on their doorstep & a white handkerchief on the doorknob: the sign of a safe house during the time of the Underground Railroad.

For years I have had my key in our front door and made a point of not turning my head over my right shoulder so that I would not see the big gaping lack in the sky where the towers stood.

I’ve felt for the past 8 years like that crazy chracter Whoopi Goldberg played on Star Trek, in that one episode where she knew the ship wasn’t supposed to be at war, and that children were supposed to be on board, but weren’t. She kept telling everyone they were in the wrong reality.

We’ve been in the wrong reality for 8 years at least. There is a part of me that wants to go back to that time of outpouring of sympathy from the world we received and just apologize already for having shit on their sympathy with aggression & “the Bush doctrine” of Orwellian, preventative war. I want still for the US to say to the rest of the world that we’re sorry for our bad manners; we were traumatized and stupid and scared and that we’re very, very sorry for not having taken their shows of empathy with grace and thanks.

& Then I think of that candle on Barbara’s stoop and that white handkerchief on her doorknob and I think of how far we have gone back, what deep wounds we might heal now, and I am awed at the idea of it.

To the rest of the world: the difficult but lovable child full of promise that the US used to be is back. We’re still a big precocious brat in some ways, but full of love and honor and bravery in others: a 19 year old to your more mature years, still a little impetuous and wet behind the ears but hopeful and not entirely stupid. I feel like we’ve finally gotten to that moment full of tears and anger where we admit how much we were hurt and how much hurting we did and try, still a little clumsily, to try a little harder.

(this post is dedicated to Anne Wendy, whose British liberalism has been a bright, bright beacon.)

Wow.

Posted by helenboyd – November 5, 2008

Good News:

Barack Obama is going to be the next president of these United States.

Bad News:

  • AZ will ban same sex marriage
  • AR will ban same sex couples from adopting children
  • FL will ban gay marriage
  • (& Prop 8 in CA is still undecided, & probably will be for a day or so at least)

Keeping Me Sane

Posted by helenboyd – November 4, 2008

Okay, here’s some cool stuff that we’ve been finding online:

BBC photos of the election

Is Obama president yet? website

The comments on DailyKos from when Obama won the Senate seat in 04

The US electoral system as described by The Times of India

We Are the World?

Posted by helenboyd – November 4, 2008

If the world could vote is a site that’s logging votes from all over the world and not just in the US. Kind of staggering, really, though I do wish US citizens would consider the fact that we are the major world power, and maybe, just maybe, the world has something to say about this that we should listen to.

Oh, and maybe this crap is why.

But then, after that makes you feel like crap, read this stunning essay about why this guy didn’t vote for Obama.

& Then another, also about the past & the future, but from a decidedly NYC perspective.

First Results

Posted by helenboyd – November 4, 2008

Dixville Notch, NH just voted: Obama for 15, McCain 6. It’s the first time they’ve voted for the Democratic nominee for president since 1968.

Hart’s Location, NH, voted too: 17 for Obama, 10 for McCain, and 2 write-in votes for Ron Paul.

& So it begins, with Obama getting 2x the votes McCain is getting. Let’s hope that trend keeps on for the rest of us.

I am nearly in physical pain this year about this election.

Trans for Obama: Reason #1

Posted by helenboyd – November 4, 2008

Your #1, and last reason to vote for Obama: because polls aren’t always right, and a lot of races are tighter than they look like they are, and because there is no worse feeling than wondering if you could have done something, just one more thing, to make sure your candidate wins. All you’ve got left to do is vote. Just vote. It’s not hard. Stand in line. Bring your book, bring your iPod, but most importantly, bring friends & neighbors to keep you company. Some of the best times I’ve ever had have been standing in line and/or electioneering near polling areas. If you’ve already voted, bring people standing on line hot chocolate, or gum, or candy bars, or folding chairs, or even blankets to put on the ground.

For trans voters: From 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. EST, the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund will have lawyers staffing their hotline to respond to callers who experience discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression at the polls. If you experience discrimination at your polling place, call their hotline at (646) 862-9396. Exercise your right to vote on November 4th. They’ll be there to make sure your vote counts.

& Tomorrow we’ll wake up & the trans community will have a fighting chance with President Elect Barack Obama.

Trans for Obama: Reason #2

Posted by helenboyd – November 3, 2008

Reason #2 to vote for Obama is because when it came to extending non-discrimination coverage for Federal employees and contractors, Obama wanted to make sure that gender identity was an included category for non-discrimination (which is, imho, an excellent predictor of his backing a gender identity inclusive ENDA).

For trans voters: From 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. EST, the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund will have lawyers staffing their hotline to respond to callers who experience discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression at the polls.

If you experience discrimination at your polling place, call their hotline at (646) 862-9396. Exercise your right to vote on November 4th. They’ll be there to make sure your vote counts.

Trans for Obama: Reason #3

Posted by helenboyd – November 2, 2008

Reason #3 to vote for Obama is because on-the-ground discrimination issues – bathrooms, healthcare, veterans’ services, & social services – are exactly the kinds of issues Obama has worked on and felt strongly about for his entire career. A President Obama will give us a chance to bring these issues to light nationally, to do the research on where discrimination is happening, and how, and to whom, and to have the data to fix the problem.

Bathrooms, baby! Maybe someday we can stop talking about them!

& Here’s Charles, born in 1922, talking about volunteering for the Obama campaign in Boulder, CO. (Have a tissue ready.)

Trans for Obama: Reason #4

Posted by helenboyd – November 1, 2008

Reason #4 to vote for Obama is because an activist who lives in Virginia is pleased to be in a battleground state, for once! – and has even seen Obama signs in neighborhoods that are decidedly and unapologetically Republican.

& Here’s Andrew Sullivan’s Top Ten Reasons Conservatives Should Vote for Obama.

Patience

Posted by helenboyd – October 31, 2008

& Really, I will get back to gender & trans stuff. There’s a lot of stuff bubbling, but right now I’m still just worried about Obama winning. Thank you for your patience.