An open letter in support of protests

October 15, 2001
Strap-on.org

We, the undersigned, stand in support of the nonviolent protesters of 
the Butchies and other artists who have stated that they support the 
policy of excluding transsexual women from the Michigan Womyn's Music 
Festival (MWMF).

We support these actions because they are nonviolent, focused on 
education, outreach and visibility rather than intimidation and fear.

We support these actions not because we wish to defame these artists, 
but because we want to educate others about transphobia, and inform 
consumers of the positions of the political bands they support.

We support these actions because we dream of a world in which 
transphobia (along with all other forms of bigotry) is not acceptable 
-- and, as activists and allies, we are making that world happen.

We respect and appreciate the contributions that these artists have 
made to lesbian and feminist movements. By supporting bigotry against 
transsexual women, however -- even if they do not acknowledge that it 
is bigotry -- they leave very vulnerable women and lesbians out of 
their advocacy, and actually advocate against them.

We support women-only spaces, and recognize the importance of the 
Michigan Womyn's Music Festival. We know that each year, thousands of 
women are empowered and energized by that space. We also know that 
victimized transsexual women are routinely turned away from shelters 
and rape crisis centers, and that empowered women return home from 
MWMF to run those shelters. Changing MWMF is not the end of our 
effort, it is a beginning. We speak first to our sisters, because if 
our own family will not stand with us, we can never hope to win 
acceptance and respect for transsexual women from the rest of the 
world.

We recognize that the irresponsible actions of a few of those opposed 
to our work, like the recent assault of a nonviolent protester at a Le 
Tigre show, are not representative of the actions and ideals of all 
those who disagree with us. We hope that those who do not share our 
goals, and those to whom our work has been deliberately 
misrepresented, would have the same respect for us.

We ask Mr. Lady Records to stop portraying the radical, queer, 
feminist activists working on this issue as violent, homophobic, and 
misogynist. Such slanderous rhetoric does not end violence, but fuels 
it, and endangers nonviolent activists. As protesters and supporters 
of protesters, we assert that we have never been witness to, or 
participants in, threats or violence against any of the protested 
artists.

We notice that whenever transsexual women do activism on their own 
behalf, even by the most peaceful methods, their activism is called Ò
violence.Ó The same scrutiny is not applied to the methods of non-
transsexual women, even when their methods of protest are identical. 
The characterization of transsexual women as violent, loud, and pushy, 
in order to imply that they are similar to men, is a weapon of bigotry 
that has been used against transsexual women for decades.

We again ask the Butchies, Le Tigre, other women-centered and queer 
bands, and all those with the power to create change, to support all 
women and lesbians, and to stand with us in opposition to the 
exclusion of transsexual women from the Michigan Womyn's Music 
Festival.

Signed, 

1.	Sadie Crabtree, Washington DC (strap-on.org editor, queer 
activist, pro-choice activist, feminist, transsexual dyke)