Last week, local Arlington blog ARLnow.com published a short post—with accompanying photograph—of a shoplifting suspect detained outside the Pentagon City mall. Entitled "Cops Nab Cross-Dressing Shoplifting Suspect," the piece identified the suspect as a "six-foot tall man dressed as a woman" who had "allegedly stolen an item from a store in the Pentagon City mall." (TBD later aggregated the story under a similar headline).
The blog's commenters completed the story with: Austin Powers references ("it's a man, baby!"); Ross "cross" Dress for Less jokes; and critiques of the suspect's fashion choices.But the coverage gave one commenter pause. "How is this so noteworthy versus arresting any other person?" the commenter wrote. "Many might argue that ArlNow wanted to 'mock' this 'type' of person and this subset of society; nearly every discussion comment presented here has enthusiastically joined in the mockery."
In my three years of reporting on the trans community, I've come across countless stories—and juvenile blog comment threads—like this one, and they all seem to make the same missteps. I'm by no means the final expert on this—I'm not trans, for one—but I'm versed in how mainstream publications report on trans issues, and the weaknesses that pop up again and again. Here are five:
District trans activists urge Gray to consider them. (Photo: Associated Press)
The criminal justice system can be a dangerous place for trans people. When gender-nonconforming people face jail time, they also risk being housed in the wrong cells, sexually harassed or raped, and denied medical care based on their gender identity. Two years ago, advocates for D.C.'s trans community won a minor victory when the District passed progressive new standards for the treatment of trans people in the D.C. jail. Whether those standards are being fully enforced is an open question.
"Last year we submitted testimony before the Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary documenting [Department of Corrections] Director Devon Brown’s recalcitrance in working with us to ensure appropriate implementation of the transgender classification and housing policy, which is designed to appropriately house trans inmates,” Sadie-Ryanne Vashti, an organizer with the DC Tran Coalition, said in a statement released today. “While we were successful in developing a new housing policy for trans inmates, we have strong concerns with how it is actually being implemented."
Now that Brown has vacated his post, the DCTC is watching closely as Mayor Vince Gray searched for a new director to helm the department. Full DCTC press release—with a list of transgender issues at play with the appointment—after the jump:
Anne Hathaway and James Franco (Photo: Associated Press)
Last night's 2011 Academy Awards telecast was terrible as ever, a grinding, three-and-a-quarter hour display of awkward film industry promotion. Best Supporting Actress award winner Melissa Leo said it best: "It's about selling motion pictures! And respecting the work!" The annual exercise of polite clapping, at least, offered a few crumbles of gender weirdness with which to fill my blogging quotas. The five weirdest gender moments in the Oscar telecast, below:
6. JAMES FRANCO AS MARILYN MONROE. Following Anne Hathaway's tux-clad solo musical number, co-host James Franco emerged in a Marilyn Monroe-esque satin get-up, explaining: "You got to wear a tuxedo, so I wore this." But why was Anne Hathaway wearing a tuxedo, forcing this conspicuous cross-dressing moment? Oh, no reason.
WHAT'S WRONG with the women today? As Karl Davis and Harty Taylor's 1945 ditty demonstrates, pretty much the same things that were wrong with 'em 65 years ago. Namely, their drinking, dancing, and insufficient clothes-wearing. At least they're honest, right? Start your morning off with a depressingly modern take on the feminist movement:
AND AFTER THE JUMP: "Ex-gay" scare-quotes; women in Hollywood actual employees; do affairs with cis women—or only trans women—require a Congressional resignation?
Colleen Flynn is not entirely sure how many times she's seen The Vagina Monologues. Since college, Flynn, 25, estimates she's taken in "about seven or eight" iterations of Eve Ensler's seminal collection. She's also performed an impressive chunk of the monologues herself, including "The Little Coochi Snorcher That Could," "My Angry Vagina," "The Flood," and "They Beat the Girl Out of My Boy."
"Some people don't feel that the production evolves as quickly as they would like it to," admits Flynn, a media relations manager for a local anti-poverty initiative. But Flynn keeps coming back anyway. This weekend, she is heading up a new District production of the show, and checking another monologue off her list: "Because He Liked to Look at It," a piece about one man's love of vaginas.
The DC Walk for Choice has finally released logistical information on this weekend's planned demonstration in support of abortion rights in the United States. Tomorrow at noon, Walk for Choicers will convene at D.C.'s Upper Senate Park, located at 200 New Jersey Ave. NW. Then, they will . . . stay there. The event is no longer a "walk," per se. "Due to permit restrictions and the size of the event, we will peacefully demonstrate at the park and will not be walking," event organizer Lily Bolourian announced on the walk's Facebook page today. The event, which is organized under the banner "We have a choice, we have a voice," has secured a permit after all.
Meanwhile, anti-abortion activists have pledged to protest the walk. A group of them will convene tomorrow outside the downtown D.C. Planned Parenthood location in order to stand in "solidarity with unborn babies and their mothers." Their motto? "BABIES have no voice, BABIES have no choice!"
Last night, I spied a new ad series inside the Shaw-Howard University Metro station. In it, cute babies tell teenagers why they should not give birth to them. "I'm not a doll. I'm forever," one ad reads over a photograph of a sad infant. "Be a kid. Don't have one." According to the D.C. Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, the campaign is a "series of edgy and provocative print ads" that hopes to help cut the District's teen pregnancy rate in half by 2015. The ads are based around the concept "What if babies could talk?"
I guess babies would be pretty condescending? The "Be A Kid. Don't Have One" motto is pretty snappy, but the remainder of the tagline suggests that the District's inflated pregnancy rate can be attributed to teenagers perceiving human infants as disposable accessories. A complex constellation of factors contributes to teen pregnancies in D.C. Why further the idea that sheer ignorance is the culprit?
Maryland, where dancers are free to dance sans band-aid. (Photo: Associated Press)
ONE CONSEQUENCE of the recent court decision preventing the state of
Maryland from enforcing its strict adult entertainment laws: Ed Cloyd's nipples are safe. "Male exotic dancer Ed Cloyd, who goes by the stage name 'Total Package' at clubs in Prince George's and Washington, D.C., will not have to wear Band-Aids over his nipples when he dances close to customers." Here's what Cloyd had to say about the regulations: "That's like being at work and someone telling them you have to do this and do that . . . Who's going to put Band-Aids on their nipples? Who wants to keep a tank top on while they are dancing?"
WHO INDEED? And after the jump: A history of hate crimes in D.C.; the Catholic Church gets on the wrong side of the sex abuse debate, again; Black Gay History Month, celebrated.
Today, the Virginia state senate was faced with a decision on whether to effectively shut down 17 out of the state's 21 abortion providers. This afternoon, the state's senators reached a tie on the bill that would ramp up regulations on the state's abortion clinics, relegating the extremely common, low-risk procedure to costly hospital facilities. Lt. Governor Bill Bolling broke the tie in favor of the bill, and Gov. Bob McDonnell has said he would sign it. Before the vote, Virginia was one of 25 U.S. states that restricted some later abortions to highly-regulated hospital facilities. Soon, the state will be the first in the country to impose those restrictions on first-trimester abortions.
Geting advice so you don't have to. (Photo: Associated Press)
Truncating the week's advice columns:
Tell your gynecologist to examine your enlarged clitoris for possible medical complications; it could be ovarian cancer, or maybe the rest of your junk just shrunk with menopause. If your husband's penis is too small to work with your expanded vagina, see if you have any signs of uterine prolapse, then attempt to convince your health insurance provider to pay for the ad-hoc vaginal rejuvenation. Santorum is back. [Savage Love]
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (Photo: Associated Press)
Today, the Virginia state Senate will decide whether to severely restrict abortion access for women in the state. Over the past two decades, Virginia legislators have repeatedly failed to pass legislation that would tighten regulations on the state's abortion clinics. But this week, legislators appended a last-minute amendment to a Senate bill that would treat first-trimester abortion providers as "hospitals," subjecting them to a host of additional regulations that could put the majority of the state's abortion providers out of business. The bill, which originally intended to regulate only "infection prevention, disaster preparedness, and facility security" in hospitals and nursing homes," has a good chance of passing today. That's a problem for the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia.
VINCE GRAYhas formed a 27-member Commission on HIV/AIDS to be helmed by the Mayor and staffed by :"representatives from the medical community, the faith-based community, business communities and the District Government." The commission will work on "recommendations for the best ways to reduce barriers and promote HIV medical treatment, development of evidence-based HIV/AIDS policy recommendations for reducing HIV infection rates and recommendations regarding the collaboration among District agency programs and services."
AFTER THE JUMP: Women pay more for things in the grocery store; blame it on the Goose; Maryland senators shoot down wacky amendments to the state's same-sex marriage bill:
Yesterday, I wrote about the Walk for Choice's use of careful wording (don't call it a march!) in order to avoid getting dinged for lacking a permit on this Saturday's abortion rights stroll around the District (and dozens more locations around the world). Thanks to the help of District activists Legba Carrefour and Bob Summersgill, District walkers who get hassled by authorities for assembling on the abortion issue will have some legislation to point to. Carrefour and Summersgill pointed me to the D.C. Code's "Notice and plan approval process for First Amendment assemblies," which allows for "an immediate and spontaneous expression of views in response to a public event." From the code:
Revisiting a 1973 Washington rape case. (Photo: Associated Press)
In the Washington Post today, Dan Morse follows the victim of a 1973 rape—and her attacker, Bill Wallshleger—as each prepares for Wallshleger's sixth parole hearing. Thirty-seven years ago, Wallshleger was convicted of raping two local women—one 16, the other 19—within the span of three months. He picked each woman up near American University, held her at gunpoint, blindfolded her, tied her hands and legs, drove her to his Northern Virginia farm, and raped her.
Morse's constellation of accounts of these crimes—from Wallshleger and his twovictims—reveals how the aftermath of sexual trauma often incites experiences of shock, denial, and self-blame. Hit pieces like this one, by the Daily Caller's Caroline May, would have you believe that these reactions are sure signs that no rape actually occurred—and that promiscuous young women are simply confusing sexual violence with "seduction" and "regret." May writes:
D.C.'s hate crime unit, investigated. (Photo: Samuel Corum)
WHITHER GLLU: The New Gay's A.M. Bowen files the first in a four-part series on the state of the D.C. police's Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit. Bowen: "around the fall of 2009, the unit shrank its core number of officers, and the Sergeant in charge of the unit ceased reporting directly to the Chief of Police. There was once a highly visible, core group of officers solving hate crimes and going to events. Since these changes took place in 2009, that hasn’t been the case. MPD Chief of Police Cathy Lanier announced in 2007—and reiterated when the 2009 changes took place—a plan to train GLLU “affiliate” officers throughout the department in LGBT issues. While some saw this as a welcome step, it didn’t quell the bulk of activists’ frustration. These changes to the GLLU—which some have referred to as 'decentralization'—angered members of the LGBT community, many of whom asked that the GLLU be restored to its earlier form.“
AFTER THE JUMP: PFOX on GOProud; fun with prostitution-free zones; justifying your miscarriage; debating marriage:
A couple celebrates gay marriage in the District (Photo: Associated Press)
A note to all same-sex marriage opponents in the state of Maryland complaining about the remote possibility of being forced to participate in a gay wedding in some minor way: The Marriage Equality Wedding Expo has got you covered. The expo, hosted by same-sex marriage officiants Marry Me In DC, will assemble dozens of local florists, bakers, chauffeurs, photographers, and wedding dressmakers eager to provide their services to two brides or two grooms. These local businesses will take their gay wedding money so you don't have to!
Set for Sat., March 19 at D.C.'s Washington Court Hotel, the event will commemorate a year and change since D.C. began issuing marriage licenses to gay couples last March. The expo, organizers say, "serves as an ongoing effort to assist and encourage same-sex couples to exercise their right to legal marriage"—and make sure they don't get stuck with a disc jockey who has a religious objection to spinning your first dance.
This weekend, pro-choice activists will stage their answer to last month's "March for Life": The "Walk for Choice," an international stroll in support of abortion rights for women. The walk is inspired by recent U.S. legislation that would defund reproductive health provider Planned Parenthood, restrict health insurance coverage of abortion, and block the District of Columbia from using taxpayer funds to provide abortions to low-income women.
So far, over 500 participants have agreed to attend the District walk, where protesters will wave signs, don orange, and recruit "speakers" to further the message "we have a voice, we have a choice." What participants don't plan to do is "march." Though abortion rights supporters from Anchorage to Pakistan will assemble in dozens of locations around the world at noon this Saturday, organizers have been careful to make the demonstrations appear ad hoc:
Are gay students oppressing you with their 'heteronormativity' card? (Photo: Associated Press)
GAYS: THEY'RE JUST LIKE US: The Georgetown Hoya investigates the campus "LGBTQ dating & hook-up culture," finds it oddly similar to the hetero version: "Various members of Georgetown's gay community on campus sat down with The Guide recently, painting a picture of a dynamic dating and hookup culture not much different than that of their straight counterparts. . . . When it comes to gay and straight students' going-out norms, Beth Goldberg (SFS '12) says she doesn't notice much of a difference in the range of options. 'Gays at Georgetown run a spectrum from enjoying quiet movie nights and dinners with their friends to wild clubbing nights out,' Goldberg explains in an email from her study abroad program in Kenya. 'I think there's a wrong stereotype that all gays love flamboyant clubbing nights and cross-dressing, et cetera. The gay dating scene at Georgetown is just as diverse as the heterosexual dating scene.'" That out of the way, the story goes on to tackle more substantive issues, like stigma against trans students, the dangers of hitting on straight peers, and a lack of campus medical care for LGBT students.
AFTER THE JUMP: The "heteronormativity card," explained; sex toys, hawked; queer theory experts go down the college sex column rabbit hole:
Easy to buy, hard to pay for (Photo: Associated Press)
DAVID CATANIA's initiative to make birth control accessible over the counter wouldn't help with the cost of the medication, Washington City Paper's Alex Baca reports: "We’re not that far down the road yet,” Baca quotes Catania chief of staff Ben Young as saying. “Basically, what’s been introduced is a law mandating that the Board of Medicine and the Board of Pharmacy would come together and come up with some rules and protocols for a system that would allow women to go directly to the pharmacist . . . No one would have any idea on the pricing. The government isn’t even involved in the pricing. When the government suggests there’s an issue with pricing, they’re immediately under fire from the pharmaceutical lobby.”
After the jump: Tiger Mom hits D.C.; "certain simulated sex acts" OK in Maryland; Kathleen Parker's cartoon of a conservative woman:
Do you want to be on top? Are you not here to make friends, but rather to win? Do you have a relationship, parent, religious belief, eating disorder, or attachment to hairstyle that could potentially be exploited in a competitive group situation? Head out to theAmerica's Next Top Model casting call, which will hit the D.C. suburbs tonight and tomorrow in search of women 5'7" and taller who can staff the 17th cycle of Tyra Banks' modeling-themed lady circus.
According to the application for the show [PDF], producers are looking for women between the ages of 18 and 27 who will help the show hit that delicate balance between maximum drama and criminal liability. Below, the most pointed questions on this year's app:
