Support Network

[metromadness.livejournal.com]

Hi I have a new project and it needs your help. (Apologies if you've already seen this in another community.)

Inspired by a Strap-on.org discussion (read all about it here), metromadness.com is gonna host a "trans-support network". In short, a place where trannies and allies can volunteer themselves as escorts to accompany transpeople to unsafe or intimidating spaces, since going alone to doctor's appointments, clothing stores, government offices, etc. can be really scary for transpeople. As a transperson using the tool, you could search for volunteers in your area, then initiate contact and move forward on your own.

In addition to the volunteer database, we'll have a recommendations area, where you can submit trans-friendly businesses, services, even the locations of unisex bathrooms in your area.

Ultimately, this could be a really strong resource for the trans community.

But it's also an ambitious project and will need a lot of input and support. Anyone who would like to contribute to the planning process should email transnetwork@metromadness.com with your comments, suggestions, and questions. It would be particularly helpful to know what all you would like to see in the recommendations area, what information you'd like to see in a volunteer's profile as well as what information you'd feel comfortable providing to a public web site.

While drafting the specifications (how the tool will be set-up and utilized), I'll come back with questions and updates. I can then post a draft of the spec, which everyone will be invited to review and make suggestions upon. Hopefully I can post the spec within the next two weeks. After which, the web producer for metromadness will give an ETA on when the site might launch.

Updates will appear here and on s-o. You can also go to metromadness.com and sign-up for the mailing list-- there's a email submit box in the right-hand column on the frontdoor, which will include the updates in addition to the usual link to new content on the site.
Okay, that's all for now. Thanks for your time.

Boycott Levi-Strauss

[ex-whitelion584.livejournal.com]

I want to encourage everyone on this board to boycott Levi-Strauss. I was watching TV yesterday, and an old ad campaign that I thought had ended came up. It was for Dockers khakis, and had a woman looking at people through X-ray glasses. When she saw that a guy had women's underwear on under his suit, she says "He's got issues." This is blatant anti-trans sentiment, and pisses me off to no end. I've just written Levi-Strauss to inform them that I'm boycotting all Levi-Strauss products (they're the corporation behind Dockers) until this ad is pulled and a national apology issued, and I urge all of you to do the same. We need to band together and tell the nation that stuff like this is NOT OKAY. We should be treated with the same respect as racial, religious, etc. minorities. To lodge your complaint, go here:

http://www.levistrauss.com/help/askus.asp

Here's a copy of my letter to them, if you want a model, or even just something to cut-and-paste:

I am writing you to issue a complain regarding one of your ad campaigns. Your ad for Dockers khakis has a woman looking at people through X-ray glasses, and when she discovers that a businessman is wearing women's underwear underneath his suit, she states very plainly, "He's got issues."

As a transgendered person, I am EXTREMELY offended by this ad. Transgendered people (including transvestites, transsexuals, genderqueers, and various other groups who all have a different connection to the gender other than their biological sex) do not "have issues." We are entirely normal. Many of us are born so that our mental gender does not exactly match our biological sex. It is bigoted media imaging such as yours that creates a society where people dressed in the "wrong sex's" clothing are harassed, beaten up, barred from public arenas, fired from their jobs, and discriminated against daily. The "He's got issues" statement is no better than a racial or religious slur inside your ads.

I am also writing to inform you that, due to this ad, I am boycotting all Levi-Strauss products, and encouraging all the transgendered peoples and allies I can contact to do the same. This boycott will end when this ad campaign is pulled and Levi-Strauss issues a formal, public and national apology to transgendered peoples in all nations where this ad has been shown, stating that Levi-Strauss apologizes for not only insulting transgendered peoples for who they are, but also contributing to an environment where gender-expression-based hate crimes and harassment occur on a daily basis. I used to be a faithful Levi-Strauss customer, but until this ad is pulled and an apology issued, I will no longer buy any Levi-Strauss product, and I am in the process on contacting other transgendered peoples both locally and nationally to do the same.

Respectfully,

(name)


PLEASE go there and back me up on this. I'm EXTREMELY offended by this ad and I really think we shouldn't just take it lying down. It may seem like such a small thing, but it helps create a society where we're repressed and harassed, and I'm tired of just taking it without fighting back.

Thanks.

Ben