At the beginning of July, I sent out a note to activists who had participated in some of the Equality Begins at Home activities back in March asking for their help in an ongoing educational project of It's Time, Illinois. Here's part of the note:

"Dear Friends and Activists:
I am asking for the endorsement of your organization in an awareness-building action at the Human Rights Campaign Dinner in Chicago on July 31. As you are know, the Employment Nondiscrimination Act was introduced in Congress last week, and once again, the bill excludes gender variant people. This omission was not an oversight, but a deliberate plan on the part of HRC to keep transgender people out of ENDA."

Here's a note that I got in response…

Dear Miranda…
…(First I want you to) know I'm for real, not some e-mail dork trying to pull your chain. There's something here I don't understand, maybe lots of people...

You know it's easy to start using specialized jargon and forget there are people out here who might not really understand what you're talking about. But they don't want to seem square so they just smile and nod (and walk away). I'm not afraid 2B [] - so it's oblong. Anyhow, please help me understand: What does "gender variant people" mean?

Well, my friend, I would never think that you were an e-mail dork for wanting to know what the heck I am talking about with the ENDA letter. ENDA by the way stands for the Employment Nondiscrimination Act. OK, OK so you knew that... sorry.

Anyway, the bill was written by HRC lawyers. It was then presented to several Senators and Congressmen to introduce. The Congress Critters may be listed as the bill's sponsor, but the wording is basically the same words that HRC gave them.

In the bill, discrimination based on sexual orientation is prohibited in certain employment situations. Sexual orientation is defined as being heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual, whether it is actually the case or perceived to be the case.

Years ago, transsexual people were also in the bill, but HRC took them out because they thought it would be too difficult to pass a bill with transsexuals in it. Too queer I guess.

Then we started looking at actual cases of discrimination against gays and lesbians in employment and found, lo and behold, that the roots of the discrimination were not who they were sleeping with (or having sex with) but their GENDER EXPRESSION. That was when we started making the connection between GENDER VARIANCE and discrimination. It is the common thread holding together the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. We are all perceived (by most of society) as being somewhere outside society's gender role norms, that is, gender variant. As such we can be fired, denied hiring, passed over for promotion, etc. etc.

By leaving out gender variance, about one third of the gays and lesbians, and all the transgender people, would not be covered by ENDA. We have documented this, but HRC refuses to listen to us. That is why we are handing out leaflets at their fundraiser.

The queer world is a queer place indeed. I hope we can keep it that way. But we certainly must recognize the diversity of our community, value all of our members, and make sure that none of us is ever left out in the cold again. Gay rights is about all of us.

Hope this answers some questions. Please let me know if I can help anymore. Remember, there are no stupid questions, just stupid answers. Cutting off one third of the LGBT community just so you can get a bill to pass is one of the stupidest answers I ever heard!

Miranda Stevens-Miller, Chair of It's Time Illinois welcomes your comments at MirandaSt1@aol.com