eli strong

Moving to any new environment always means adjustment: Taking a new job, starting a new family, moving to a new city. With each of these shifts often comes a new culture and a new social circle. And while building that circle can be at least somewhat difficult for most people, it’s particularly more onerous if you belong to a community that is not widely accepted or even understood. Combine that with any other minority status and the intersectionality of those identities can compound those adjustments. And what if that new culture is one that tends to be significantly more conservative? Tonight we have two guests that have recently made moves from larger cities in the North and Midwest to the Deep South state of Georgia and we are going to talk to them about their experience of ‘Adjusting to Southern Intersections’.

Guests:
Melvin Whitehead
Morgan Rich

Resources:
America In Transition: http://americaintransition.org/

Welcome to another installment of The Strong Stance Stories. For those not familiar with The Strong Stance Stories, this is the this is the newest flavor of the podcast and it’s simply storytelling. These particular episodes will feature all types of stories from all types of trans and gender non-conforming people. The aim here is to showcase our community’s voices and lived experiences and to provide an outlet for art and expression. We are continually looking for stories and at the end of the show, I’ll give you more information about how to submit those stories.

I’m calling today’s episode ‘Family Matters’. Each of these segments will feature a story about events involving a family member or members. I have some amazing stories for you today, about pain, about joy, and hopefully you’ll laugh a bit along the way as well. So sit back, relax….and welcome...to The Strong Stance Stories.

Story Tellers:
Eli Strong (“Expectations”)
Julian (“Black and Blue) is a 30 something year old black trans man navigating life as a mental health professional in Washington, DC on a non-profit salary. When he’s not working, he enjoys learning about ways to be a better therapist, playing and listening to music and long walks on the beach. He can be reached at capitaljayh@gmail.com.
Ari Agha (“Aunt Miriam”) is a genderqueer advocate of feminism, anti-racism and trans rights. They live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and work as a public policy researcher. They are on the Board of Directors of Calgary Outlink Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity. Ari also sings with One Voice Chorus, Calgary’s mixed voice choir for LGBTQ singers, and with the BarberEllas, an a cappella barbershop ensemble for queer gals and pals. They can be reached at ari.agha.arc@gmail.com.

This show is a special one because this show marks the beginning of a new flavor of The Strong Stance: Storytelling. These particular episodes will feature all types of stories from all types of trans and gender non-conforming people. The aim is to showcase our community’s voices and lived experiences and to provide an outlet for art and expression. We are continually looking for stories and at the end of the show, I’ll give you more information about how to submit those stories. As a fan of storytelling and storytelling podcasts, this is something I have wanted to do for quite a while now, so I have high hopes for where this stream of The Strong Stance can go.

But let’s talk about today’s episode. I’m calling today’s show ‘About Face’. These stories showcase a few of the ways in which we present ourselves to the world around us and how those performances and presentations affect our lives moving forward. Is the face that we show to the world the same one we see in the mirror? How do we view society and how are we viewed in it? And will these experiences change the trajectory of our future and how we move through our daily lives? Welcome...to The Strong Stance Stories.

Episode 1 Story Tellers
Tracee McDaniel is a transgender advocate, author and the Founder and CEO of the Juxtaposed Center for Transformation in Atlanta. You can find Tracee on the web at www.thejct.org.
Melvin Whitehead engages with his community through leading a local support group for transgender and gender non-conforming people, serving as a core member of the Trans Oral History Project, and working to make his church an affirming place for LGBTQ people. He can be reached at whitehead.melvin@gmail.com

Prison Stats:
The United States has 5% of the world's population, but 25% of the world's prisoners. (2014 stat)
In 2010, the U.S. spent $80 billion on incarceration. (2014 stat)
In 2012, one in every 108 adults was in prison or jail and one in 28 American children has a parent behind bars. (2014 stat) (http://mic.com/articles/86519/19-actual-statistics-about-america-s-prison-system)
LGBT youth make up only 6 percent of the general population but represent 15 percent of people currently in juvenile detention. (http://www.advocate.com/commentary/2015/9/18/helping-queer-youth-affected-school-prison-pipeline)
40% of Transgender Prisoners Are Sexually Abused, which is 10 times the rate of prisoners in general. (https://transgenderequality.wordpress.com/2014/12/18/federal-survey-40-of-transgender-prisoners-are-sexually-abused-each-year/)
What does justice/injustice for transgender people in the prison system look like?
Solitary confinement for ‘protection’ vs punishment
Being housed in gender inappropriate prisons
Being denied hormones and other medications
Being denied gender appropriate clothing
others?
The For-Profit Prison Industry; Prison Industrial Complex (PIC) (http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2015/06/private-prisons-profit)
What is the PIC and is it larger than just private prisons?
$5 billion industry (mj)
More infractions handed out to prisoners, increased recidivism rates, more costly prisoners (mj)
Lock-up quotas and ‘low-crime taxes’ (http://www.njjn.org/uploads/digital-library/Criminal-Lockup-Quota,-In-the-Public-Interest,-9.13.pdf)
Prison Abolition movement
What is prison abolition and how does it differ from prison reform
Are other countries using these tactics and are they working?
What are the alternatives to prison to reduce crime and protect society?
How much has to change, besides simply removing prisons, for abolition to be effective? Do we have to first undo oppression and inequality, first remove the PIC or must these happen simultaneously?

For all the advancements that the transgender community has seen over the last couple years, there are still staggering statistics of discrimination and oppression that our community faces on a daily basis. We face employment and housing discrimination, the outright denial of adequate healthcare or the coverage thereof, bullying, suicide and murder at alarming rates.
At the time of this taping, there have been 20 identified trans women and gender non-conforming people murdered in the US in 2015.*** All but a few of whom were trans women of color. Here is the list of those individuals:

1. Papi Edwards, 20 years old, Louisville, KY
2. Lamia Beard, 30 years old, Norfolk, VA
3. Ty Underwood, 24 years old, Tyler, TX
4. Yazmin Payne, 33 years old, Los Angeles, CA
5. Taja deJesus, 36 years old, San Francisco, CA
6. Penny Proud, 22 years old, New Orleans, LA
7. Brian Golec, 22 years old, Akron, OH*
8. Kristina Gomez Reinwald, 46 years old, Miami-Dade, FL
9. Keyshia Blige, 33 years old, Aurora, IL
10. Mya Hall, 27 years old, Fort Meade, MD
11. London Chanel, 21 years old, Philadelphia, PA
12. Mercedes Williamson, 17 years old, George County, MS
13. Ashton O’Hara, 25 years old, Detroit, MI**
14. India Clarke, 25 years old, Tampa, FL
15. K.C. Haggard, 66 years old, Fresno, CA
16. Shade Shuler, 22 years old, Dallas, TX
17. Amber Monroe, 20 years old, Detroit, MI
18. Kandis Capri, 35 years old, Phoenix, AZ
19. Elisha Walker, 20 years old, Johnston County, NC
20. Tamara Dominguez, 36 years old, Kansas City, MO
    *Brian identified as a woman until one year before being stabbed by his father. He then identified as an androgynous pansexual man.
    **Ashton identified as transgender but used male pronouns.
    ***stats from http://fusion.net/story/185799/2015-transgender-women-murdered-underreported/

It’s Pride season again and while so many people are attending festivals, parties and parades to celebrate the equality gains that have been made in the LGBTQ community and rejoicing in the existence of any space that allows us to truly exist in the comfort of our own skins without the judgement and burdens that come with daily life in the non-queer world, I have to ask the question of where the trans community fits into this schema. It’s ironic that we have to have a conversation about where trans people belong in an annual affair that basically celebrates an event sparked by trans women...but here we are. So where do trans people fit into the traditional pride landscape? And is this an event within which we should fight for our rightful place, or should we focus our efforts on something more targeted to our specific issues? Like our previous conversation about the T’s place within the queer acronym, I am drawn back to questions of collaboration within the whole, or the splintering off of the most vulnerable of our population.

Tonight we are going to engage in a discussion with three guests about their personal experiences in pride, as well as their views on the necessity, or perhaps lack thereof, of the trans and gender non-conforming community within this celebration.

So many trans folks, especially early in transition, are obsessed with "passing": posting pics on social media, asking for others opinions, reading blogs on behavior, dress, and actions. Often this status is seen as important not only for safety but also so that the outside world sees you as who you truly are.
But how does "passing" negatively affect our community? Tonight join me and guest co-host Jaan Williams as we break down the definition of the word and the concept of "passing" and Passing Privilege.

As trans* and gender queer people we often become so focused on our social, mental and physical transitions that they grow to be larger than life. So much so that we forget that a transition is just another word for a shift. A shift in thinking, a shift in geography, a shift in expectations, a shift in marital status or family size. They all affect us as human beings and they are yet another layer to our complex lives as trans*, gender queer, and queer people. And when we forget, it makes it that much easier for people outside our community to see us as just the sum of our surgeries. Tonight's guest will be Nicholas Durand.  Nicholas is 27 years old, and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in early 2013.  A gay trans man living in Virginia, he is now the facilitator of DCATS and is an advocate for both LGBTQ+ and disability rights. This show is sponsored by Audible.com (http://audiblepodcast.com/back2us). Thist month's recommended book is The Book Thief.  Be sure to "LIKE" the Facebook Pages for Back2Us Radio and The Strong Stance so that you can stay up-to-date with new episodes of this show as soon as they are released.