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…And Good News From France
Today, the HRC posted a press release on the GIDreformNOW.com organized protest at the APA 2009 Annual Meeting. This is one of those endorsements that I know many of my trans activist peers are going to sneer at, because 1.) the HRC’s position on a non-inclusive ENDA in 2007/2008 (and that the HRC never apologized to the trans community for their flip-flopping positions), and 2.) it’s Joe Solmonese who the HRC chose to make the statement in this piece (Ibid: link).
I don’t believe the HRC “gets” exactly how hated a figure Joe Solmonese is in the transgender community. Most trans people I know remember Mr. Solmonese’s statements in 2007 at Southern Comfort regarding 2007′s/2008′s ENDA, and his follow-on flip-flopping over the next few months on ENDA. Not only have his statements not been forgotton by most trans activists I know, the statements have not been forgiven either.
If the HRC did feel this was a protest that they really needed to comment on to provide support, this probably would have been a really good time for the HRC to have Allison Robinson to send the message to trans people. 
This is because respect for Allison Robinson by many transgender activists actually is actually growing — I haven’t talked to many who have a bad thing to say about her, and those who do have a bad thing to say usually only mention her affiliation with the HRC as their issue with her.
From the HRC press release:
The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization, today issued a statement supporting the efforts of the transgender community and their allies who are calling for the reform of gender identity related diagnoses in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).Tonight at the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) annual meeting in San Francisco, GID Reform Now, a coalition of transgender and allied leaders, will lead a protest calling attention to grave concerns about the direction of the APA Work Group on Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders, the group responsible for recommending changes to the DSM.
Statement by Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese:“In 1973 the APA wisely voted to remove homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The result was a very real decrease in bias and prejudice faced by lesbian, gay, and bisexual people in our society. Today, America’s psychiatric professionals are considering changing the way diversity of gender identity and expression are classified in this important document. This work has far-reaching implications not only for the health and well-being of transgender people, but for the civil rights of the transgender community and of all people.
As GID reform advocate Dr. Kelley Winters states so poignantly, ‘Difference is not disease, nonconformity is not pathology, and uniqueness is not illness.’ Much of the distress that many transgender and other gender non-conforming people feel comes not from within, but from outside – from the prejudice that is directed against them by people who don’t understand them or don’t want to. The APA can help heal these social ills by carefully examining their policy and practice as the process of revising the DSM moves forward.
We join those transgender community leaders and their allies who gather at the APA meeting today in calling for (1) the expansion of the DSM V Work Group on Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders to include more diverse views from behavioral science, bioethics, and philosophy of science professionals on this important subject and (2) a published position statement from the APA affirming human gender diversity and denouncing the misuse of current diagnoses to deny civil rights to transgender and gender-variant people.”
By the way, Transsexualism will no longer be classified as a mental illness in France (translated from the France’s Le Provence by Curtis E. Hinkle, founder of Organisation Intersex International). Text below the fold.
Transsexualism will no longer be classified as a mental illness in FranceTranssexualism will no longer be classified in France as a mental illness, a government decision hailed Saturday as “historic” by the associations concerned, on the eve of the International Day Against Homophobia and transphobia.
The Minister of Health, Roselyne Bachelot, has appealed “in recent days” to the High Authority of Health in order to make a decree that transsexualism be removed from the category of psychiatric disorders, a spokesman for the department stated.
Until now, transsexuals benefited from a fee waiver for their medical care by being classified under ALD23 (affection de longue durée 23 – long term condition 23) for “recurring or persistent disorders”.
For the Department of Health, it is a “strong signal sent to the whole community”, since transsexuals felt that being included under the ALD23 was stigmatizing.
This classification, arising from that of the World Health Organization (WHO), was also linked to the fact that transsexualism appeared on the list of pathologies identified in the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) to which the medical profession refers, as was the case for homosexuality a few years ago.
In a forum published in Le Monde (newspaper) dated Sunday-Monday, numerous personalities including first secretary of the Socialist Party Martine Aubry, the communist Marie-George Buffet, Green (party member) Daniel Cohn-Bendit and even Nobel Prize winners such as Françoise Barré-Sinoussi (medicine) and Elfriede Jelinek (literature), asked the WHO “to no longer consider transsexuals as being affected by a mental disorder”.
It is because the WHO decided on the 17th of May 1990 to remove homosexuality from the list of mental illnesses, that this date has been retained for the International Day Against Homophobia and transphobia, celebrated Sunday, starting Saturday in many places.
It is therefore symbolic that France chose this time and date to be “the first country in the world” to “remove transgender identity from the list of mental diseases”, commented the IDAHO Committee. This “historic decision” is also “an explosion of hope for all trans persons around the world”, according to Joël Bedos, secretary-general of the IDAHO Committee.
The HES (Association for Homosexuality and Socialism) also “hailed” this announcement which is in response to “demands that the LGBT community have been making for a long time in France.” For HES, it is time, at present, to go beyond the symbolic and take concrete actions to fight against the violence and discrimination facing trans persons.
Because beyond “this measure for declassification, there is still much to be done before transsexuals (…) are recognized as full-fledged citizens”, insisted the coordinator of the group Inter-LGBT.
12 Comments
I’m confusedQuite frankly, I find this whole issue very confusing.
Does this mean French transsexuals will lose the fee waiver? Similarly, what effect would removal from the DSM in the US have on payment for services and discrimination protections? For instance, I believe TS people are interpretted to be a protected class in New Jersey because of their inclusion in the DSM. They are seen to have a “disability.” While that may be a blunt and insulting characterization, it provides certain legal protections not specifically written into the law. For instance, workplace protections.
In my case, I made sure I handed my GID diagnosis to my employer before the issue came up. I felt the psychiatric evaluation would make my employer think twice about sacking me.
To sum it up…the whole thing worries me. Few states have transgender protections and virtually all insurance policies exclude medical treatment for transsexuals. While no longer a personal issue for me (I paid everything out of my own pocket and was eventually sacked too), I worry about the rules being changed and the practical implications of these changes. Is Lambda Legal on board? I sure don’t trust HRC.
are you under the impressointhat Joe Solomnese is well liked by the rest of the LGBT community?
I for one am not impressed by him. He’s the one that’s keeping the White House’s “secret plan” for advancing equal rights for LGBTs a secret.
I can almost envision Joe going around saying:
nanny, nanny, nanny… I know something you don’t know….
Don’t remove the diagnosis, move it to where it belongs,next to the other congenital conditions that require medical intervention to relieve their harmful effects. If it’s removed from the DSM and not placed where it should be, people and organizations will definitely discriminate against us on that basis.
I don’t suffer from a mental disorder, transsexuality (GID) diagnosis notwithstanding, but I do need to get this stuff fixed! I hope the French, and any other governing body that follows their lead, do not drop trans people completely.
HRC bashing any way the message comes out.But if Allyson would have given it, would people have then written blog entries questioning whether the top brass at HRC supported the statement?
My letter……To info@alliancealert.org:
Dear Webmaster,
This is Autumn Sandeen (http://www.pamshouseblend.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=3489).
The article that you attributed to Pam Spaulding on Pam’s House Blend (http://www.alliancealert.org/2009/05/18/apa-lobbied-on-gender-identity-disorder-definition/) was actually written by me, the disabled Persian Gulf War veteran / U.S. Navy retiree (1980-2000) Autumn Sandeen. For the record, I’m a transgender Barista (front page contributor) on Pam’s House Blend — Pam doesn’t post everything that reaches her front page.
If you’re going to quote me/cite me in your alerts, please give me proper attribution — It’s all I ask.
Thank you for your assistance,
~~Autumn~~
~~~~~~~~~~
~~Autumn Sandeen~~
On The Web:
- Pam’s House Blend (http://pamshouseblend.com)
~~~~~
“[T]he job of the gay community is not to deal with extremists who would castigate us or put us on an island and drop an H-bomb on us. The fact of the matter is that there is a small percentage of people in America who understand the true nature of the homosexual community. There is another small percentage who will never understand us. Our job is not to get those people who dislike us to love us. Nor was our aim in the civil rights movement to get prejudiced white people to love us. Our aim was to try to create the kind of America, legislatively, morally, and psychologically, such that even though some whites continued to hate us, they could not openly manifest that hate. That’s our job today: to control the extent to which people can publicly manifest antigay sentiment.”
–Bayard Rustin, From Montgomery to Stonewall (1986)
Cutting to the chaseCan we return to the topic of this post?
HRC’s point man Joe Solmonese is hated and distrusted by transgender people.
Why did Solmonese make that position statement on a topic that is most vital to our VERY LIVES?
Where does Solmonese get off interfering in this absolutely life and death issue?
If Solmonese is sane man, why would he for a instant suppose that transgender people would not rightfully recoil in horror at the very thought of HRC injecting itself at the MOST Crucial of times into a place where if it again stabs us in the back it would be forever fatal?
A) He is a brilliant self promotional mega egocentric tactician who knows what attention he will receive from that statement.
B) He is counting on transgender people of faith, like myself, to associate Rev. Allyson Robinson with him and therefore with Christ and God.
C) He needs to use transgender people to raise money to support his millionaire life style.
D) He recognizes that his rank and file have become aware of his treachery regarding “Throwing Us Under The Bus” in 2007 and capitalized on the moment.
Can we trust Solmonese?
Look. Solmonese is a snake. If you lay with snakes you will get bitten. Its in their blood.
Has Solmonese led HRC in pro Transgender directions lately?
Yes. And it should be recognized that as of late HRC has not been our mortal enemy.
Hold Salomone’s feet to the fire. In my case I can not forgive. But what ever you do, DO not forget.
Amen, Kelli!I have a personal friend who was in the audience at SC when Uncle Joe made his infamous promise.
I refuse to help the HRC in any way, shape, or form until Joe is out and any other member of the board who’s anti-T.
I keep saying this and I will continue to do so until my dying breath — if it wasn’t for those you look down on (drag queens, butches, etc) Mr. Rich-Gay-Man-Who-Thinks-He’s-Arrived-But-Still-A-Fag, you wouldn’t have your $500+ suit, your expensive car, your condo in the city and overseas vacations, and your misguided belief that your privilege protects you!
I would like to know who is donating to HRC I can tell you it isn’t me or any friends I know. We gave that up in 2007. I write my representatives and senators to let them know the HRC doesn’t represent me or my views and their are other voices that represent the LGBT community. I ask my Rs and Ss to listen to the voices from NCLR which I believe to a much better job as a voice of the LGBT community as a whole. I think it would be wonderful if the leaders of NCLR had a bigger voice at the White House. I also believe that the people of PFLAG have a well educated voice regarding the LGBT community.
Not only do we have to help other leaders of the LGBT community with donations, we must inform our senators, representatives and the White House know who else to listen to when it comes to our issues.
. Pam,
I’d like to just add in some context here. I am on emails from Kelly Winters for GIDReform and IFGE. Once I saw the IFGE statement had been issued, I had contacted Allyson about getting HRC to issue a supportive statement. Allyson composed the draft text, I reviewed it with changes along with some HRC staffers and it was issued. Joe was quoted as the leader or HRC as Allyson is on the IFGE board and it would have been awkward for her to have issued it.
Allyson was involved in this all the way.
Meghan
Giving a pass to Solomese but got your name in the stew.Giving a pass to Solomese but got your name in the stew.
Thanks outback.
And it’s not awkward to have Joe issue it?Again, I don’t think you understand how much Joe Solmonese is hated by many transgender people — especially activists. He is the absolutely the wrong voice for any message the HRC wants to send regarding trans people and trans issues.
The HRC really needed to chose a different messenger than Joe Solmonese for this press release, at the very least. Joe is considered to be a non-credible person to speak on trans issues by every single transgender activist I’ve talked to who’s not directly affiliated with the HRC.
Megan, you’d be the first person I know to say Joe is the right voice for the HRC’s trans messaging, if that’s what you’re actually saying.
Solmonese Steals Words Right Out of Her MouthFunny that the quote attributed to Joe Solmonese by The Advocate were taken word for word from Danielle Askini, one of the organizers of this protest.
So now, not only does HRC ignore us except when they need our money, but they attempt to silence one of the leaders of our movement by taking her words as their own?
Typical. HRC can’t even speak for themselves, let alone the TLGB community.