So What Else Is New?

When it comes to the history of the LGBT movement, there is the “gay” history and then there is history. Someone once wrote "History is written by the victors" but it is better said by "history is written by the one with the loudest voice."

In celebrating Philly LGBT history, the 'T' is silent — and that's not all
NewsWorks
By Cei Bell
July 15, 2015

A history of exclusion
Pride has become a business with corporate sponsorship, and "LGBT" is the trademark acronym, so it became easy for people to conflate the gay rights movement of 50 years ago with the so-called LGBT movement of today. For many transgender and gender non-conforming people, July 4 is an annual reminder of their exclusion. To participate in the Annual Reminders demonstrations of the '60s, women had to wear dresses, and men had to wear shirts, ties and pants. No expression of gender non-conformity was allowed. So to claim that this was the start of an LGBT movement is fraudulent. It is like saying conservative activist Phyllis Schafly is the mother of modern feminism.

Several months before the 1965 protest on Independence Mall, a multi-racial group of drag queens, gender non-conforming people and their friends held a five-day sit-in demonstration at the Dewey's at 17th and Chancellor to protest their not being served there. Why are the Annual Reminders, and not the Dewey's sit-in, being held up as the beginning of the LGBT movement? How does it make sense that a group that discriminated against transgender people is responsible for the transgender movement?
[…]
History repeating
That brings us to the "50th anniversary" of our big happy dysfunctional family. The banner on Equality Forum's website states "Advancing LGBT Rights." It also proclaims July 4, 2015, as the 50th anniversary of the LGBT Civil Rights Movement. Yet, there were no transgender presenters listed on the Equality Forum schedule and no transgender-specific programming.

Equally bad and very telling, there were not even any lesbians on the legal panel, which consisted of five white men and apparently one Latino man. No women at all. How can transgender and lesbian issues be represented when transgender and lesbian people are not represented? This points to lack of diversity that permeates the Equality Forum and the Constitution Center's exhibit.

When trans people question “The Gay Movement” many times gays say that the word “Gay” includes lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people but it is a lie. They are looking through pink colored glasses and can only see gays.

The article goes on to say,

It isn't that transgender people did not participate in the LGBT movement. We frequently worked for lesbian and gay rights. What we received in return was constant scrutiny, insults and questions about whether we should be aligned with lesbians and gays. For example, in 1973 Radical Queens, a group I co-founded (with Tommi Avicolli Mecca) held the first benefit for the Gay Community Center, now called the William Way LGBT Community Center. In the mid-'90s the Center had to decide whether transgender people were part of the community. They eventually decided that we were, but it stings that the question was even taken seriously. A William Way board member told me that, to his knowledge, there are no transgender members on the board. William Way Executive Director Chris Bartlett told me that there are no transgender employees at the LGBT community center.

I remember at a LGBT fundraiser in 2011 we had just passed the gender inclusive non-discrimination law, the MC was talking about all the accomplishments that happened, and there was no mention of the new law. Even today we are snubbed, at the Pride Rally that was being held an what turned out was the day of the Supreme Court decision our Birth Certificate legislation was an oh, by the way.