SF event

[Betsy]

From my in-box this morning:

Please join us on February 11th - 7-9pm, at the SF Pride office, Fox Plaza
Bldg, 1390 Market St @<hidden> Polk, Suite ? for a rap/discussion on Intersex. Pride is
particularly interested in how they can assist persons who are intersex.
(They have exposure to 1 million viewers through their published literature.)

Your participation would be awesome.

Betsy

[Betsy]

SF PRIDE 2004 – Intersex Community Rap Session

Should we include the “I” in “LGBT”? What can Pride do
for the intersex community? Would you like Intersex to
be represented in PRIDE? If so, how? Please come and
give your opinions and feedback to the SF LGBT Pride Celebration Committee.

When: Wednesday, February 11, 2004; 7-9pm
Where: SF Pride Office. Fox Plaza, 1390 Market Street,
9th Floor, Suite 903 (Market @<hidden> Polk; between Civic
Center and Van Ness MUNI)

[Peter]

If I can arrange it with work to get off early, I will try to attend the SF Pride 2004 - Intersex Community Rap Session.

They say that they are interested in how they can assist persons who are intersexed.

Any thoughs on what kinds of assistance we should be asking for?

Peter

[Betsy]

HI Peter, I think they are simply being cautious to not add an I simply to add it and want feedback from IS members of their bay community. The post was sent twice to me but different IS people who involved with it and live in the Bay area. Not only will your voice be heard, but you will also meet some of your IS neighbors I reckon.

Betsy

[Peter]

I did make it over to the city for the SF Pride 2004 IS Rap. It was a good meeting, and I got to meet others like me. There was a lively discussion of creative ways in which intersex can be part of Pride. There did seem to be a real sensitivity to not just adding an I to LGBT. A member, (and member to be) of the Pride Board were present for the discussion. It was extremely interesting to be part of a two hour long discussion of intersex. One of the items on the agenda was whether the intersex participants wanted I added to LGBT for the Pride organization. Although it was getting towards the end of the evening, and I was getting tired, the "recommendation" (?) that Pride include I in LGBT passed with every IS person present voting in favor of that postion. For details, it would probably be best to contact SF Pride.

Peter

[Betsy]

Peter, How wonderful it is that you went. In a couple of weeks, I am doing two presentations to the Northeast Regional Pride directors conference concerning the controversy surrounding adding an I.. It was supposed to be one, but they wrote and asked if I could repeat the workshop on both days of the conference since they consider it to be such an important issue. I'd be interested in hearing about some of the discussion that took place.

Betsy

[Peter]

Hi Betsy,

Thanks for your post. I can relate some more of my observations of the discussion from the meeting. I will not be using participants' real names out of respect for their privacy.

When I arrived at the Pride offices, there were already a couple of Pride members there. One woman was a senior Pride organizer and SF Pride Board member. Another woman was also working with SF pride. I listened to their conversation for a few minutes. First, they discussed having an intersexed speaker for this year's SF Pride parade. Betsy, your name came up as did some other intersex activists. They spoke highly of your speaking abilities. They will probably try to get the head of ISNA to speak as she is local. The second thing that was encouraging from the discussion, was that the second younger woman is herself intersex, and that it is very likely that she will soon become a SF Pride Board member. (I believe that I am using the term Board correctly, but it may actually be another governing body.)

Soon, several other people arrived, and the meeting started. At the beginning of the Agenda were issues of the intersex view of SF Pride and the Pride march. SF Pride wanted general feedback on how the intersex community saw SF Pride. We went around the room, and related our experiences with Pride and the parade. Since, I was not a regular participant in the parade, I explained that I am intersexed but not gay. It was slightly awkward, but I feel that they appreciated my honesty. I believe that all the other intersex activists were gay, and they related their experiences with the parade.

The agenda moved on to an initial discussion of the I and LGBT. (I learned that LGBT is generally "a west coast thing" and GLBT is generally "an east coast thing".) The Pride Board member related that she finds including I in LGBT is an issue dear to her heart. An IS man who is an ISNA Board member, had done some reseach for the meeting, and reported his findings. First, he had done an internet search on both the terms "LGBTI" and "GLBTI" and found a large number of matches. The movement to include the I is well under way, with many local groups using the expanded terms. Second, he read some portions of emails from intersex people that he knows. Not all supported the expanded formulation. I found that hearing one letter against the move very painful, as the email expressed very low self esteem, and the author seemed to be deeply hurt. This IS activist also brought printouts of a new "Nature" magazine article that points to genetics and the brain being prior to hormones in the development of intersex conditions (at least in animals.).

The topic of how Intersex could be supported was discussed. From what I gathered, the SF Pride is mostly active for a few days around the SF Pride march. An organizer of a "radical fairies" gathering said that he was open to including IS in the gathering. The intersex activists present stressed that just adding the I is not enough, and that there has to be serious education as to IS issues. There was some talk that SF Pride wanted to put serious energy into sending out a positive message about intersex if they add the I. To me, it sounded perhaps like something along the line of press releases and an press conference. Another idea was to have an IS question and answer forum surround the march events. Participants said that the problem with a forum is that there would probably be many people frustrated that they did not get to ask the questions that they wanted to ask from the floor. Another idea was to have an IS social, where people could mix and talk with IS people. That seemed to be the more popular idea.

There was a discussion of having an IS contingent or float marching in this year's parade. The idea did not seem too popular. First, we are not getting any younger, and there is the physical difficulty that some IS marchers would face in marching. Second, an IS activist had in the past marched in an Australian gay parade with several IS people and their friends, and the spectators who were generally expecting a gay time, apparently looked askance at the IS marchers. The question as to whether there will be an IS contingent in this year's pride march is still open. In my own mind, I would prefer a float to carry my middle aged legs (and a porta-potty). There are still several months before this years' parade, so IS people may be marching. I said that if SF Pride is going to make an IS push this year, it would look bad if there were no IS contingent at the parade.

As related in my previous post, near the end of the meeting an IS vote was taken on the recommendation that SF Pride include I in LGBT, and all IS participants present voted in favor of the recommendation. I know for myself, the meeting represented the largest IS gathering that I have ever been at. At one point in the meeting, I mentioned this in passing, and all the other IS people present just looked at me and smiled.

Peter