Date: Tue, 20 Jan 1998 10:16:54 -0500 From: Riki Anne Wilchins Subject: InYourFace: 3rd NATIONAL LOBBY DAY ANNOUNCED MEDIA ADVISORY - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Riki Anne Wilchins (212)645-1753, Riki@Pipeline.COM . 3rd NATIONAL LOBBY DAY ANNOUNCED . GLAAD, GENDERPAC RESPOND TO FOX TV SHOW . CROSSDRESSING SHOW DEBUTS ON FOX . GENDERPAC ANNUAL REPORT 3rd NATIONAL LOBBY DAY ANNOUNCED ================================ [WASHINGTON, DC - 15 Jan 98] GenderPAC today announced the 3rd National Lobbying Day, to be held in DC from Sunday, April 19 to Tuesday, April 21st. Said Executive Director Riki Wilchins, "This year in addition to the gender community, we are hoping to draw from across the community of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and other sexual minorities. Issues like employment discrimination, hate crimes, HIV funding and same-sex marriage affect us all. GenderPAC is a national advocacy group dedicated to pursuing "gender, affectional, and racial equality." The last two Lobby Days have both drawn over a hundred grassroots activists to Capitol Hill on a variety of issues. Groups or individuals wanting to sign up or receive information can email LobbyDay@Gpac.Org. The event is free, and starts with an in-service lobbying training on late Sunday afternoon, April 19th. Dana Priesing, GenderPAC's Washington, DC advocate, declared "We know from Congressional staff that it is the talk of Capitol Hill when we visit. We have their attention, and we should use it to educate them away from stereotypes. These Lobby Day visits are a very important tool, and we want all of our grassroots supporters and allies to attend if possible. Be there if you can." Contacts for National Lobby Day include: GenderPAC: Riki Wilchins (212)645-1753, National Gay & Lesbian Task Force: Betsy Gressler (202)332-6483 etx.3306, It's Time America: Jessica Xavier (301)949-3822, BiNet USA: Stephanie Berger (510)601-1806, Transgender Officers Protect & Serve (TOPS): Tony Barreto-Neto (813)752-9226, Int'l Foundation for Gender Education (IFGE): Nancy Nangeroni (781)899-2212, Intersex Society of North America: Cheryl Chase (415)575-3885, F-to-M Int'l: Jamison Green (510)658-0474, National Center for Lesbian Rights: Shannon Minter(415)392-6257, National Coalition for Sexual Freedom, Susan Wright (718)383-3318. ### GLAAD, GENDERPAC RESPOND TO FOX TV SHOW ======================================= [NEW YORK, NY : 11 Jan 98] Following a transphobic portrayal on Fox's new Ally McBeal show, GLAAD and GenderPAC have sent a joint letter to the station. The show in question drew on a portrayal of a transperson of color who works the streets. McBeal tries to "save" her, but she is drawn back to sex- work and her death. Said the letter in part: "Instead, it seemed that there was indeed something "sick" about this character who returns to the street and was killed when the john found out "she was a he." While this is the rationalization used by many who commit violence against transgendered people, it is little more than the "gay panic" defense, where a man having sex with another man justifies his violence against that man by claiming he didn't know the man was gay, and attacked him in self-defense against the gay come-on. "Most men who hire transgender sex workers do so because they specifically desire those transpeople. Unfortunately, none of this was explained .[in] the show's failure to address the larger issues of societal transphobia and reliance on the stereotypical media representation on transgender people as sad, desperate hookers." ### CROSSDRESSING SHOW DEBUTS ON FOX ================================ [NEW YORK, NY : 8 Jan 98] FOX TV has just added a crossdressing themed show called "Ask Harriet" to its Thursday night line-up. The show, developed in part by David Cassidy (David Cassidy?) of Partridge Family fame, features news-writer "Jack Cody" who's been fired from his job, but comes back to work en' femme as a wildly successful women's gossip columnist named "Sylvia Coco." As a Tootsie knock-off, naturally Jack hates wearing women's clothes and only tolerates them to get a paycheck. In spite of what might seem rich material, the January 8 opening segment was remarkable for building the entire plot around the now-familiar "joke" of a man wearing a dress. It broke no new ground, and in fact failed to deal directly with crossdressing, sex roles, or gender at all. ### *===========================================* | GenderPAC | | | | Executive Director's 1997 Annual Report | | | *===========================================* By any measurement, 1997 was an amazing year. We made important progress on nearly every front. Here are last year's highlights in review. Thanks to all who made it happen. Riki Wilchins Exective Director 1) Congressional Advocacy & the 2nd National Lobby Day ----------------------------- Lobby Day '97 again drew almost a 100 grassroots activists to Capitol Hill for 2 days of intensive lobbying. For the first time, congressmembers went on the record on gender-based violence, signing an open letter to Atty. General Janet Reno. Signatories included Representatives Jesse Jackson, Jr. (IL), Ed Towns (NY), Maurice Hinchey (NY), Ronald Dellums (CA), Caroline Maloney (NY), Mel Watt (NC), Bruce Vento (MN), William Clay (MO), Jerome Nadler (NY), and Barney Frank (MA). Both HRC and NGLTF were pivotal in this effort. 2) Hate Crimes ----------------------------- GenderPAC met with the Policy Development staff of the US Dept. of Justice for the first time, to discuss hate crimes against gender-variant people. That meeting has now generated ongoing discussions with the Atty. General Reno's staff, about ways to incorporate gender-based bias crimes into federal hate crimes statutes. HRC, NGLTF, BiNet, and TOPS all supported us in this effort. 3) Community-Based Research ----------------------------- 1997 saw the completion of our 1st National Survey on TransViolence. This report formed the centerpiece of our presentations to congressmembers and the Dep't of Justice. Almost 60% of our 400 respondents reported being the victim of a physical assault, either assault with or without a weapon, or sexual assault. Of the worst incidents reports, over two-thirds involved more than one attacker. These are terrible numbers we're working to change. 4) N.O.W. ----------------------------- Through the personal intervention of President Patricia Ireland, GenderPAC was invited to address the NOW National Board. After 3 years of patient lobbying, the following National Conference finally approved a resolution on trans-inclusion - unanimously. In addition, they broke ground on a totally new gender issue: Intersex Genital Mutilation (IGM). 5) Media Relations ----------------------------- GenderPAC succeeding in placing gender news stories with Newsweek (IGM), the AP Wire Service (parental custody), and the New York Times (IGM), as well as contributing to several stories on national news, including Dateline NBC, PrimeTime Live, Rolling Stone Magazine (IGM), and PBS's regular gay news magazine "In The Life" (transgender activism). 1997 Staff: Congrsnl Advocacy: Dana Priesing Jessica Xavier InYourFace: Clare Howell Nancy Nangeroni Nat'l Research: Emilia Lombardi Stephen Russell Web Site: Dana Friedman N.O.W. Terri McCorkel Fundraising: Colton Bell Lobby Day: Penni Ashe Legal Advocacy: Chris DeEduoardo Intern: Michael Calfee ###