You may have missed it in, you know, a fit of fascistic transgenderphobia, but November 15 was the National Transgender Day of Remembrance. And who did Integrity USA, the famous LGBTQ advocacy group, remember? Leslie Feinberg, of course.
Sam Peterson, Integrity's Development Director, writes about Feinberg's influence:
"Leslie Feinberg’s seminal memoir Stone Butch Blues changed the lives of many of my friends. They were excited to read a book about the experiences of someone whose gender was resolutely masculine, despite the seeming conflict of their body; it was their experience."
I'm sure it was. Sam gets all spiritual in the end, as you'd expect from a spokespirsin of a religious organization like Integrity USA.
"To be transgender can mean being loving, lively, creative, and connected. To be transgender in situations that diminish our worth is painful, depressing, and soul-destroying. All of us know this—as gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans*gender, as intersex and as queer people we’ve all experienced some flavor of the diminishment of who and what we are. On this day of gravitas and difficult reality, I’m going to remember those who came before me, who made my new life possible through their lives and work. I renew my commitment as a transgender spiritual human—a Transgender Warrior, in the language of Feinberg--to speak up and out, and to share the love that was so generously given to me. Our strength comes from that absolute understanding: we are a part of God, and therefore magnificent and holy beyond human reckoning."
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| Minnie |
But how did Transgender Warrior Feinberg die? According to hir obit:
"Leslie Feinberg, who identified as an anti-racist white, working-class, secular Jewish, transgender, lesbian, female, revolutionary communist, died on November 15. She succumbed to complications from multiple tick-borne co-infections, including Lyme disease, babeisiosis, and protomyxzoa rheumatica, after decades of illness."
Written by hir spouse, Minnie Bruce Pratt.
Of course. But what God do you think these people are a part of?
LSP
