Miranda Writes... by Miranda Stevens-Miller Long Winter's Thaw

It was just a few weeks ago, the end of the winter, the dirty gray snow still melting in parking lots where the mountains of the stuff had been piled, the sap starting to run in the birch trees, and even the iciest hearts beginning to thaw. The Human Rights Campaign elite voted to expand the organization's mission to include gender expression and identity!

There are those among you who will say "That Miranda, she never has a good thing to say about HRC!" Well, I am afraid that I am going to disappoint you. I do have a few good things to say about HRC. But first of all... welcome to the club, HRC! It must have been pretty lonely out there all by yourself as one of the last holdouts to add transgender to your mission. You can now feel at home among the other national organizations like PFLAG, NGLTF, GLAAD, GLSEN, and on and on, that have embraced the entire LGBT community and have been advocating on behalf of all of us for years.

Miranda... you bad girl! You said that you would speak nicely of HRC. OK. OK. Thank you, Elizabeth Birch. It was nice of you. And I for one intend to accept your olive branch in the same good faith with which it was offered. I intend to work just as hard for the LGBT community as I have done for years, at the state and local level. And with all the energy that is left over, I will work just as hard for the LGBT community at the national level. And I will be glad to work side-by-side with HRC in the struggle.

Over the years, a group of us trannies from Illinois have made an annual pilgrimage to the East, to Washington DC, to lobby our Congressmen and Senators for the Hate Crimes and Employment Nondiscrimination bills. We always lobbied for ENDA, even though we knew full well that "trash" like us were not covered by it. But we knew that as long as one is denied civil rights, none of us can be truly free. So we lobbied for all.

Oh, of course we talked to our congressmen about gender identity issues, and suggested that it would be nice, when one is constructing legislation, to cover the whole community and not arbitrarily exclude one segment. And they listened. As a matter of fact, almost a hundred members of Congress signed written statements that they will not discriminate on the basis of gender identity, or some such wording, in their own employment practices. (The lead sponsor of ENDA is not in that group although he has been asked on numerous occasions.)

We have built a firm foundation, HRC, and there is no reason why ENDA should not be changed at this point to include gender identity.

Inclusion of the entire LGBT community in nondiscrimination legislation seems to be a natural thing to do here in Illinois. Why, not even a week after HRC was announcing that us trannies are now included in their mission, a trans-inclusive gay rights bill actually passed in the Illinois House of Representatives. Yep, right here in the conservative Midwest. The Reps didn't even blink an eye when they saw that the bill included both sexual attraction and gender identity under the definition of sexual orientation. As I have said many times before, it was a non-issue.

So this is what I would like to say... HRC, take a look at Illinois to see how inclusion is really done. Years ago, when a group of us trannies first paid a visit to Rick Garcia, Director of Equality Illinois, the gay rights bill was strictly that... it did not include transgender. Rick said, "All these years I was the one lobbying the powers that be for my own rights. And now I was the one being lobbied by people who were even more disenfranchised than I was. By a group that felt even more disempowered than the gay and lesbian community." After one meeting, it was obvious that there was only one right thing to do.

Shortly afterward, when Larry McKeon first went to Springfield as a State Representative, he introduced a gay rights bill that was amended with a new definition of sexual orientation, one that included gender identity and self-image. The addition of transgendered people to the bill didn't make any difference to those who would vote for it. And those who would vote against the bill would vote against it anyway. And just a few weeks ago, that bill, trans-inclusion and all, passed in the Illinois House.

HRC, I am very pleased that you have added gender identity and expression to your mission statement. I am very anxious to get on with the task at hand... assuring civil rights for all Americans, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. I know that you are nervous about asking your lead sponsor to alter the wording of ENDA so that it is fair to the entire community. But, don't worry, we will hold your hand, and together we will see this through. It's the right thing to do. And if the big mean lead sponsor doesn't want to play with us, we'll just find another lead sponsor to play with. It won't be so bad.