I know many who read PHB don't know her, or of her, or what she's done.
Or why her passing, today, just a few hours ago, is something for me to write about.
But tonight I am sitting here, teary eyed, upset, that we here in Phoenix have lost her.
Trans folks don't get large writeups and glossy obituaries, you see. In our deaths, we are are all too often mistreated, from the moment the flesh is empty, by society once again; and we have to go to extra efforts that are frequently denied us even after all the effort to preserve our sense of self, once the self has left.
So I am going to tell you just a few things about her. Just a few. Because she deserves it.
You can google her, of course -- these days its easy, though so few avail themselves of it. When you do, you find that she took a moment in time and challenged power and modesty and prejudice and money.
And in doing so, she energized something that, ultimately, leads to something larger than herself.
On Saturday, November 25th, 2006, Michele and several other gals gathered at a local club they'd been going to for a long time.
All were partying sorts -- Michele herself was involved in many areas of the wider community, including the leather community.
The Bar was called "Anderson's 5th Estate" and it was a popular bar in Scottsdale, which is a suburb of Phoenix to which the moneyed elite ourney to play and party, and it was in an area where freedom was more the norm than not.
A patron of the bar complained, however, that a man was using the restroom next to her, and as a result, the transgals were ejected.
And told never come back.
I won't get into all the details, but it basically became something big. Michele filed a lawsuit. The local media had a field day with it (with the local "village voice" rag, the Phoenix New Times -- once a liberal rag that has become unabashedly anything but -- misgendering and insulting her on purpose, literally picking her as a target of derision and defaming.).
She spoke to the press, to the public, and, mostly, to those of us in the trans community.
At that time, there was really only one "big" group in the valley. It was TG Harmony. Founded several years before, meeting every two weeks or so, run by the same people, featurig the same stuff in cyclic habits, it was the sort of place that many transsexuals come to dislike, staid and stale and static and she tried to get them into standing up for themselves.
For a year the fight waged on. The Attorney General for the state picked up the case. He issued a preliminary finding that there was no law in Arizona regarding bathroom use.
Which we already knew.
I agreed about the fight, coming into the whole thing early on, but concerned that the presentation often given was join this fight or you aren’t worth a damn – the demand that one *had* to be out, and willing to risk things.
I came out to myself in October – only a couple days before the event, I had started hormone treatment. And, just as I do here, I stepped into a fray and reminded peed people about *others*.
A year later, through a series of private meetings, and public aggravation that was amplified through nasty reporting in the media, Tom Anderson, the owner of A5E, agreed to allow transfolk into the bar and we won.
There is a great feal of interpersonal politics surrounding that, but if you talk to Tom or Erica, who were there, you’ll fid that it was Michele herself who kept things fired up in that long year, and who never gave in and who won Tom over – not merely as willing to allow us to enter, but as a supporter of the community.
And not just the trans community.
He also became one of her close friends, and he even went to her hospital room last week, before she moved into the hospice. He was among the people personally notified.
She won him over not only with her will, but with her wits, and her knowledge of business – A couple months later, A5E closed, and a new bar opened in its place: Forbidden. An upscale LGBT bar, one of only 2 in all of Scottsdale.
During that year, there was a schism in the trans community in Phoenix. TG Harmony had a public ad often nasty split, as they did not wish to be publicly allied (nor privately involved) in this fight. IT led to a lot of hurt feelings, and from much of that, a new group was formed: Arizona TransAlliance.
Michele founded it with Erica K. It became the first political organization on behalf of transfolks in Phoenix, and even today we fight for recognition and an end to erasure in Phoenix. We organize rallies and protests and letter campaigns and we are not quiet, not silent and we are the product of Michele, who has passed today.
She served on the Scottsdale Human Rights Commission, and tried hard to get the Scottsdale city council to pass an accommodations ordinance – we lost that one, but it was the first big fight here.
She became ill. It sapped her strength physically, but not her spirit and drive, and she kept on pushing until finally she could not move forward any longer.
She served with me on the Board of This Is H.O.W., invited at my strong suggestion, and she became as tireless in supporting the involvement of communities of color as I am. She came to understand the importance of counseling not just for us, but for our families, and how substance abuse is both rampant and devastating in our LGBT community.
She supported a move to send our own representatives to Washington DC for fighting for hate crimes and ENDA, and even donated what she could, despite unemployment and difficulties.
Erica and I went. For three weeks, I stomped through those halls, first one building and then the other and I was fighting hard.
I fought then, and I still fight here, because Michele inspired me. She led me – and I take leadership poorly, lol.&, lol.
As her illness progressed, she asked me, twice, to step into her position at AZTA, and twice I turned it down. I am not Michele. She and I didn’t always agree, but each of us could argue passionately, and she had a charisma that is incredible.
I was asked again by Erica, and I accepted, but even then I wasn’t happy to do so. Michele wasn’t done, and somehow I knew it, and sure enough, she came back and organized the first meeting of major representatives in the Phoenix area and beyond dealing in trans issues.
Michele, almost singlehandedly, beat the Alliance Defense Fund. They aided Tom Anderson (although he didn’t exactly ask for their help, lol).
For those of you who don’t know what that means, she beat the lawyers who argue over and over again in courts you don’t deserve rights. The one’s backed by 40 million dollars a year given to them by all the opponents and hate groups allied against us.
And lest you think this is *just* about trans issues, She considered herself a lesbian for a while, before getting a little broader overall, lol.
She worked hard with east valley LGB causes, and encouraged us to become involved in LGB orgs and issues and to maintain visibility, such that these days, they are starting to see locally why we are important to the movement overall.
Arizona has bred a lot of trans leaders. Phoenix is a community that is easy to transition because no one really cares here. Yes, we have our violence and our idiots, but they aren’t the mainstream.
My run for office was supposed to be a tag team. Her and I, running at the same time. We were going to do what hasn’t been done yet, and win, as well.
Now its just me, and I feel alone, and even more determined.
Today, we lost a woman who started something huge. She stands on the shoulders of many others before, and, like all really good leaders has people who disliked her as much as people who liked her.
She never gave up. She was reduced to a point where she couldn’t speak, could barely move, and yet she cried in joy at the passage and signing of the Hate crimes bill.
Something that she *did* help to make happen – make no mistake. She helped to get people there in congress, to lobby for it, to fight for it.
She wasn’t killed by AIDS/HIV.
She wasn’t the victim of violence against her person.
She was killed by melanoma.
And in her passing, she leaves a legacy that will, I Promise you, change the way that Phoenix, and, ultimately, Arizona, treats all LGBT folks.
And so long as I live, I will make sure she is remembered for it.
Today Kate and I were driving down the main artery outside our subdivision and as we approached a large intersection we saw multiple fundies holding signs proselytizing against Halloween. Sorry to say, they weren't as entertaining as the gal in the pic at right.
The best pairing were two men holding hands (!) and praying as the other read from the bible, the other held a sign with something about Jesus. At one intersection they were on 3 of four corners. Couldn't figure out the purpose of one fundie reading the bible aloud (no megaphone), since all the cars on the road had their windows up.
Anyway, those folks reminded me of some of the really batsh*t fundie videos we've seen, and in the spirit of Halloween, it's time to pass judgment on which ones earn the horrific Blend seal of approval for tortuous 'logic'. The nominees:
1) "Star Trek: The Lost Episode": In this unbelievable low-rent production, "Star Trek: The Lost Episode", Kirk and Spock land on Planet Atheist, and, well, I just can't describe how bad this is -- writing, acting, makeup, FX, you name it. It looks like it was filmed in a hotel lobby. (via GodTube):
2. A fundie bearing hellfire on a pizza box at the 2008 NC Pride: I couldn't resist nominating this one, as it's a home field classic in proselytizing. A young woman who wanted to save me from eternal damnation as I marched, so naturally I had to go over and film her. It was hilarious - her schtick was that Obama wasn't going to save us from the hellfire.
3. Ex-Gay Richard Cohen explains his cuddling therapy on CNN. In a WTF professional self-destruction moment, "ex-gay" guru Richard Cohen uses tennis racquets, lap cuddling and blaming mommy as fee-worthy therapeutic methods to eliminate one's self of homosexuality.
4. Pastor Leroy Swailes testifies before the DC Board of Elections and Ethics on the man-beast sex.
"
A beast has four legs and one gender. If you put two men together, you have four legs and two penises...that's one gender -- that's a form of bestiality." (transcript here)
Feel free to nominate others in the comments, but cast your vote on the above four too in the poll...
It's an open thread! Pleeeeease feel free to chat, blogwhore, and link-share in the comment thread...
So below is what my cartoon sockpuppet Bookworm Bob & I have been looking at so far this week.
• The Door's Hell House IV:
Final Destination IV: The Haunted Mansionhas been set into motion. Save the dates: Oct. 29, 30, & 31.New Times Best of Phoenix - Beware: Final Destination, in its fourth incarnation at the Door Christian Center in Chandler, is not a traditional haunted house.
If you're looking for a fun and scary activity to work in between bouts of recreational drug use, promiscuous sex, and idol worship, this "haunted house-style attraction" run by evangelical Christians is not for you. Unless, that is, you're willing to watch a doctor hold down a screaming patient during a mock abortion before going back to your normal weekend routine of smoking up a hooker (using a Bible as rolling paper) while listening to Marilyn Manson. Final Destination is, however, very well put together, with great acting, impressive production values, and passionate workers who'll do their best to save your soul. If you're a remorseless heathen who's Hell-bound anyway, or if you're maybe interested in getting saved, Final Destination makes for a pretty ***** entertaining night.
Participate in our Final Destination event for 2009. More than 1400 persons attended last year with more than 300 decisions. Volunteers will be needed in all areas, acting, make-up, special effects, set construction, and security to mention a few. Be a part of impacting the East Valley for Jesus. Be sure to invite friends, family, co-workers, peers, and anyone that you meet. It'll be an event you don't want to miss!!
Well, Jeebus! Happy Halloween! Just don't eat any of the demonic candy, hee-hee!
• San Francisco Chronicle's Ex-cosmetics employee indicted in spending spree:
A former cosmetics company employee has been indicted by a federal grand jury in San Francisco on a mail-fraud charge for allegedly using a company card for personal expenses ranging from a down payment on a luxury car to purchases at stores.Nicole Buchan, 29, charged nearly $179,000 on an American Express corporate card that Benefit Cosmetics had obtained for her use, according to a grand jury indictment issued Thsued Thursday.
The personal expenses charged on the card included high-end electronics, designer clothes and accessories from stores such as Gucci, Coach, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale's, J. Crew, Nordstrom and Victoria's Secret, the indictment said...
This gives a whole new meaning to the term "beautiful people," doesn't it? 
• Judy Berman's Salon.com piece Is Seventeen teaching transphobia?:
What do you think your daughter is learning from Seventeen magazine? Self-esteem? Hopefully. Body hatred? Perhaps. How to buy a flattering winter coat or strike up a conversation with that hottie from homeroom? Most likely. I'll forgive you for not guessing "transphobia." But that may be exactly what teen and tween girls are getting out of a troubling Seventeen article called "My boyfriend turned out to be a girl!"The piece, posted as a PDF at Pam's House Blend, begins innocently enough. Narrator "Sheri" (who told her story to Senior Editor Jessica Press) recounts the beginnings of her relationship with "Derek" ...
...As Autumn Sandeen at Pam's House Blend points out, there are positive points to the story: Press does, for instance, use the pronoun "he" to refer to Derek throughout the body of the piece. But the headline is nothing short of heinous. To say "My boyfriend turned out to be a girl!" is to deny a transman's male identity and imply that to suggest otherwise is to lie. And a blurred-out photo of the couple, captioned with the scrawled words "He was actually a she!," is even more offensive. Sandeen writes:
The point is that the Seventeen editor for this story chose to portray female-to-male trans youth as really girls -- and by extension male-to-female trans youth are really boys. In the way the story was presented, it portrayed all trans people as being deceptive liars -- and "lie" is their word, not mine. Trans people, and many others in and out of LGBT community, know that genitalia and the gender markers on identification documents don't always tell the full gender story of an individual.She quotes the GLAAD Media Guide's Transgender Glossary, which warns journalists that "Gender identity is an integral part of a person's identity. Please do not characterize transgender people as 'deceptive,' as 'fooling' other people, or as 'pretending' to be, 'posing' or 'masquerading' as a man or a woman. Such descriptions are extremely insulting." ...
I'm pretty glad the Judy Berman "got it," and followed up on the Pam's House Blend piece. The issues aren't "Sheri" and "Derek," the former couple found in the article, or about the take "Sheri" had regarding the experience or what a cad "Derek" was described as being, but about the editorial decisions that were made in how Seventeen framed Sheri's story.
And too, it was the lack of context regarding the broader life experiences of trans youth, and that trans youth aren't all "deceptive" by really being the gender tied to the shape of their genitalia at birth.
• Entertainment Earth®'s Barbie: Palm Beach Sugar Daddy Ken Doll:
• Lookin' for a sugar daddy?
• Head to Palm Beach with Ken!
• Silkstone Barbie Doll body and part of the elite Gold Label Collection.
• Made with the adult collector in mind!
• Includes accessories and a certificate of authenticity.Join the cool sophistication in breezy Palm Beach! Sporting a dashing jacquard-patterned jacket with a light pink polo shirt and crisp white pants, this Ken Doll is ready for the Palm Beach social season, sunning by the pool, and a stroll with his furry little companion. Fashion designed exclusively for the Silkstone Barbie Doll body, he's made with the adult collector in mind. This item includes a Ken doll, jacket, pink polo shirt, white shoes, dog with leash, swim trunks, accessories, doll stand, and certificate of authenticity. Look no further for your sugar daddy!
Really? Sugar Daddy? Really? 
• Our Wiener Story Of The Day: The Troy Messenger's Turnout good at Peanut Butter Festival despite rain:
People from all across South Alabama showed up to Brundidge's Peanut Butter Festival today, despite early morning showers.Brundidge Mayor Jimmy Ramage said he thought the turnout was good considering the weather.
"It was flooding this morning," Ramage said. "And the weather people said all week it was going to rain all weekend."
The wiener part of this story:
The Pike County Cattlewomen were feeding the crowd, selling hamburgers and beef hot dogs.
Pike County Cattleman James O. Johnson said he and Wayne Davis and Mike Wilson had been cooking for the Cattlewomen all morning and that the organization donated the beef for the booth.
The proceeds from the hot dog and hamburger sales went to Relay for Life.
So anywho...It's an open thread! What are you thinking about today, or what books or articles have you been reading the past few days? Wanna share?
And again, please feel free to chat, blogwhore, and link-share in the comment thread because...it's an open thread! Woo-hoo! 
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