Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 15:14:05 EDT Subject: GPAC ACTION ALERT -- THE GAY DR. LAURA From: owner-action@gpac.org GenderPAC 332 Bleecker St., #K-86, NY, NY 10014 212-645-2686 gpac@gpac.org -- http://www.gpac.org Action@GPAC Special Online Edition -- June 20, 2000 ======================================= TAKE ACTION! TAKE ACTION! TAKE ACTION! ======================================= THE GAY DR. LAURA: HATE SPEECH BY ANY OTHER NAME Coming hot on the heels of three transgender murders in the last ten weeks, the June 20th issue of The Advocate features columnist Norah Vincent attacking transexuals for "mutilating their bodies." Adding insult to injury, Ms. Vincent goes on to claim that transexuals, "the most draconian arm of the PC language police," merely "reinforce oppressive stereotypes." She closes by recommending transpeople forgo sex-related medical services and instead simply "live androgynously," a notion all but indistinguishable from so-called reparative therapists' exhortations that gay people simply live as straight. GenderPAC has tracked almost one gender-based murder a month for the past year. Said Riki Wilchins, GenderPAC's Executive Director, "By holding up such people for ridicule, by deprecating them as nothing more than self-mutilating freaks, Ms. Vincent only justifies the hate and helps make the next murder that much more likely." "Americans who transcend narrow gender stereotypes face enormous discrimination -- on the job, on the street, from bashers and from the police," added Ms. Wilchins. "It is unconscionable that The Advocate -- while bitterly fighting Dr. Laura's characterization of some queers as 'biological errors' -- would now print a piece attacking other queers as only self-mutilating and oppressive gender stereotypes. "A bigoted assault like Ms. Vincent's on any other segment of our community -- lesbians, Jews, people with AIDS, blacks, overweight people, or Latinas -- would rightfully be deemed intolerable but apparently it's still Open Season on genderqueers." Write The Advocate and Ms. Vincent to educate them that all of us -- gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender -- deserve the right to express our gender orientation free from ridicule, bigotry, and violence. Email Address: Letters@Advocate.Com Street Address: The Advocate, PO 4371 Los Angeles CA 90078 Fax Number: (323) 467.6805 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Action@GPAC is GenderPAC's call to action. GenderPAC's action alerts are sent out to everyone on our e-mailing list on a monthly basis. Our action alerts will give brief summaries of gender news from around the country with an option to participate in a coordinated effort to take action. Gender Public Advocacy Coalition is the national organization working to guarantee every American's civil right to express their gender free from stereotypes, discrimination and violence. ------- To be removed from this list, send an e-mail to majordomo@gpac.org with the following text in the message body (without the quotes or brackets): "unsubscribe action [your@email.here]"