JANUARY 21 GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Moderators: Vanessa and John Waiblinger.
Stackers: Ryan and Julie.
Time Keeper:
Live Streamer: Meghan.
Minutes Taker: Dennis de la Vega.
INTRODUCTION
7:41 pm, John Waiblinger: Welcome everybody to Occupy LA's first queer themed General Assembly; And, just to make it festive and colorful Nestor's got bandanas for everyone. He's going to be handing them out... ...I'm John and I'm going to be Co-Facilitating with Vanessa... ...I'd like everybody to introduce themself, I'm John Waiblinger. I'm with the Queer Affinity Group [OLA], and I will be CoFacilitating tonight with, [FEEDS MICROPH., VANESSA: Vanessa.] with Vanessa! And, we have a Facilitation Team that has worked hard on [JOHN: CAN YOU ALL HERE ME WITHOUT THE UH (?) (ASSEMBLY MEMBERS: Yes.)]. We have a Facilitation Team that has worked hard on putting an agenda together for this Assembly, and I'd like everybody to introduce themselves. [FACILITES MEMBERS: I'm Carolina, I'm John, I'm Lindsey, I'm Grey, I'm Anthony, I'm Julie, I'm Luscia, I'm Jade, I'm Sarah, I'm Ryan.]. [NESTOR: Hey.] Welcome everybody... [MEMBER YELLS: And that's Nestor!] and there's Nestor. He's handing out the bandanas, and the candy, and he's got a gas mask on just in case! [CAROLINA HECKLES] He had a lot of onions today. That's why he's wearing it. Alright. So, we want to have some fun tonight, and we also want to do some education tonight. So, we're going to get started with our 'order of the day'; And, we're going to start with Sarah who has chosen to call this assembly 'Queer', and exactly what that means.
7:44 pm, Sarah: This is going to be partially educational: So why the term 'queer'? For most of the twentieth century the term 'queer' was used as a derogatory word to describe so-called effeminate males, or males exhibiting uncharacteristic gender behavior. However this term has been liberated from the oppressive confines of its history. Like other offensive terms 'queer', was re-appropriated slash reclaimed by those who it sought to demonize. Over the past few decades 'queerness' and 'queer theory', has radically changed the discussions surrounding gender, identity, normativity, embodiment, and sexual expression. 'Queer' is more of a concept rather than a definitive term with a specific meaning. It encompasses many individuals who define, or don't define themselves in a multitude of ways. What ties this diverse crowd of queers together? [PAUSES FOR ANSWERS, NONE] Deviants! [SINGINGLY] Queers are social deviants. 'Deviants' can be defined in many ways. For the purposes of this discussion we will say that 'deviant' is any gesture, behavior, or mode of being that violates social norms in many ways; Or, so-called natural mandates. Queers violate many social norms concerning sexual behavior and gender expression; And, and this is most important: THEY WILLFULLY RESIST ASSIMILATION INTO THE DOMINANT SOCIAL NARRATIVE. So, with that being said the term 'queer' encompasses a wide array of individuals. It can also be thought of as a political concept. And, I wanted to suggest that what we did here at Occupy LA was 'Queering' the City Hall by existing outside of the normal bounds of political relationships and what is dictated to us as 'normative' modes of engagement in politics and in our social interactions, and I think that that is a really good way to think about 'queer'; and, familiarize yourself with that concept.
7:47 pm, Vanessa: ...but it is day 113! [CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]... ...we're going to start with Luscia Shappel...
7:48 pm, John Waiblinger: I gives me great pleasure to introduce... ...who's been an acivist in the LGBT for... ...let's just say, DECADES! She's going to give us some perspective on, know, like, where we come from.
7:49 pm, Luscia: I don't think I need it [REFERS TO MEGAPHONE] I'm pretty loud. I could not be happier that I 'came out' and I became a part of the LGBT Movement in the early 70's. It was a perfect, perfect time. It was just after 'Stonewall'. A whole new movement was being born; and yet, we were able to still reach backwards and know the pioneers that had come before us. Most of you don't know, there was a Gay/Lesbian Movement in the United States and in fact around the world before 'StoneWall'. There were organizations like the Daughters of Bilitis. There was the Mattachine Society. These people were laying the groundwork, coming out of the closet; when it was absolutely DEADLY to do so. It stayed deadly for some time to come. When this new movement started we did have organizations that had already been born. Metropolitan Community Church began nine months before 'StoneWall' It was a remarkable statement saying "God loves everybody." To this day the largest, let me tell you, thee largest LGBT organization IN-THE-WORLD, is Metropolitan Community Church. Quitting the 'lie' to people of faith, who say that we, cannot share in that same kind of spirituality; and yet, we have paid dearly for it. Over the years many MCC's were burned down! Right here in Los Angeles at 22nd and Union, the first property to be purchased by a gay organization in the United States was burned to the ground! In New Orleans in 1973, a place where our people were meeting for worship was firebobmbed. Thirty people were killed. In the middle of, while they were singing: United we stand, divided we fall; and, if our backs should ever be against the wall, we'll be together you and I. That year went on. The religious right movement that you're seeing today began as a reaction against US! Anita Bryant, Moral Majority, Orange Tuesday; these things laid the groundwork for the kind of Tea Party movements that we are seeing today! And it all got started because of the fear of us, the fear of our sexuality. Sex scares people! THIS-IS-WHY we are here today! So we began working through all the persecution. We built an incredible culture. We built an incredible movement. For one thing we have our own newspapers. We have our own Independent Media. We have radio programs even going back into the late 'Fifties' we were on the air speaking our truth when our truth could not be spoken. We began chipping away at all the different kinds of discrimination that we faced: From the 'Employment Discrimination' to the 'Sodomy Laws'. We had to change sex laws because it wasn't just about, whether or not, you were busted in your bedroom! You were certainly thrown out of your families, your independent relations. All ended because of who you were because these kind of Law were on the 'Books'! So we changed those. We were able to get in and change those when people said that we could not do so. Then, after so many successes, after the building of a movement: THEN CAME 'AIDS'. And, in many ways, though, a lot of us thought things were over. People were dying in the streets, and our Government, our Genocidal Government would not even speak the word 'AIDS'! Thousands of people died and WE BURIED. You want to know what it was like? I have a friend who was a clergy person at MCC, who went off the 'deep end' after doing fourteen funerals in two weeks. That's what it was like during the AIDS epidemic. That is what it is still like in most of the world. But we learned something. We learned how to take care of ourselves. We learned how to take care of each other. WE BEAGAN battling the Health Care System. WE BEGAN fighting the Insurance Companies. WE BEGAN dealing with the drug companies who are exploiting us. Who are taking our lives away from us, FOR MONEY! FOR PROFIT! We began those movements! We began movements at that time that were based on the politics of survival, the politics of daily living: That you might sneer and sometimes I will admit that I sometimes sneer, at the Marriage Equality Movement; because, as a feminist, you know, I sometimes have misgivings about marriage. But, what it was about was 'Daily Living'. The Marriage Equality Movement came about when people saw their lovers die, and saw their families come and take EVERYTHING they owned away, because they had no legal right; that's what Marriage Equality was about! Because people who loved someone from another country could not bring them here the way other people could; that's what Marriage Equality was about! It was about the politics of daily living. And, believe me, our movement, the leaders of our own movement told us "Don't bother with that", "Don't do Marriage Equality, you'll never win." But it was the people. It was the 99% who didn't realize that, who said "We're going to sue for Marriage Equality anyway." And, as that Movement began to build, and the mainstream part of the movement began to see that this could really build to success, they jumped on the bandwagon afterward. [All] because people needed help just to live their daily lives. It's all upon us now and I will end with this: Where I see a division in our movement because we still have a very strange kind of Niney-Nine AND One in our movement. It's not about money, it's about power. It's about the people who put on the business suits and go the suites, who put down the people who march in the streets. That dichotomy is still with us. It still tears our movement apart. It still has us in a place: Where we don't know what to do about proposition eight; where we don't know what to do about a lot of other kinds of issues that we have to face. Because the difference in how to go about facing them is so strong; Because the understanding of who is with the One Percent and who is with the Ninety-Nine Percent :Still continues to undermine our movement. Our future lies in understanding the class divisions, understanding the ethnic divisions, understanding the consciousness divisions in our community so that we can grow; so that we can become stronger; so that we can really turn this world upside down. "Upside down", that's an applause sign. [APPLAUSE, CHEERING].
7:57 pm, John: Luscia, thank you for that inspiring... ...just brief, brief explanation of our history and there's a lot more to learn... ...and really go witht eh slogan 'An oppression to one is an oppression to all of us'. We need to keep that in line.
7:58 pm, David, Queer Youth: ...It's pretty funny, if someone would had me about five years ago that I could walk through my own hallway and have a man as big as I am [who] plays basketball, football, baseball; who'll come and hug me first, come and acknowledge my existence; I think I'd tell you that you are a big damn liar. But it's funny because in my reality that's what happens to me every day. And, it's because of a GSA. Now what is GSA? It is Gay Straight Alliance, a place where gay.. ...how could you tell your friends; your mom, dad?... ...It's a problem. It's oppression... ...also, without a GSA... ...the stories that I've heard where they don't have that kind of community... ...Also, 'internal pain': I know that does not come up a lot... ...I could only imagine... ...GSA is predominant... ...GSA is a place where I can say I'm proud... ...the end result, I can wear a dress. I'm thinking about running for Prom Queen [LAUGHTER].
8:04 pm, John: as LGBGT... ...and spare people some of the pain... ...kids who are committing suicide for being bullied... ...the movement of creating GSAs is critical... ...in creating a better world for all of us.
8:06 pm, Vanessa: We're going to hear from some of our 'trans-genders'...
8:07 pm, Carolina: ...this is not fur... ...what about the trans-community in the United States... ...it's two to five percent... ...it translates into six-million-two-hundred-thirty-thousand... ...it's quite likely we're actually somewhere in the five percent... ...you may not see, maybe you might be surprised to see that there's fifteen million... ...we'd go to magazines at the sex shops... ...it took a while to just find other people. You took out one of these ads you see in the... ...we found clubs... ...we have gay remembrance... ...transgender people from all over the world.... ...you have one of the trans-genders, a woman was shot right here in Hollywood... ...it doesn't stop the 'hate crime'... ...that's how serious it was in the eighties... ...There was one transgender 'hate crime' every year... ...we're moving forward... ...we are part of the... ...that the Occupy Movement represents...
8:13 pm, Jake, Gay and Lesbian Center Hollywood: ...do most folks know the difference between... ...gender identity is about how you perceive yourself... ...but I do work with a lot of folks in my role in Social Services... ... a lot of the folks I work with are definitely a part of the... ...movement... ...about half the states in the nation you are protected... ...I work with a program where we help transgender women find jobs... ...It's really difficult for transgender women to find jobs... ...we're getting turned away from housing... ...gay men who have a high risk of HIV infection... ...so, we're very much tied with... ...just getting work... ...a lot of transgender women... ...for the most part the shelters for transgender women... ...these issues will persist... ...we also have another person here who's going to talk...
8:19 pm, Gray: I'm coming from not as much statistical but just personal observation... ...I'm constantly thinking about gender boundaries... ...In the LGBT movement 'T' often gets left behind... ...for us in the LGBT movement... ...to not forget that... ...it's a perfect opportunity to remember that... ...this is a good opportunity to identify... ...but the administrative system does not... ...that's why I want to call attention to the...
8:24 pm, John: One of the things that we all need to be mindful of at the General Assembly... ...that our space is kept more peaceful... ...I know that there are Queer and LGBT caucuses in all the Occupy movements...
8:29 pm, John, Queer/LGBTIQA2Z : ...Discrimination is legal in most states against LGBT people in: housing, credit, employment, marriage, health care, education, etc. There are no federal non-discrimination laws that include "sexual orientation and gender identity", Social biases and discrimination persist, affecting virtually every aspect of life and economic security. HOMELESSNESS: 20-40 % of homeless youth are LGBT, of that 73% were rejected by their own families, 20% of Transgender people have been homeless at some point, facing rejection(29%), harassment (55%), and sexual assault (22%) at shelters. [HE READS MORE ON TOPICS] MARRIAGE:... ...FAMILIES:... ...EMPLOYMENT:... ...EDUCATION:... ...SUICIDE: LGBT:... ...HEALTH:LGBT:... ...POLITICS:... ...
8:34 pm, Vanessa: We're going to be breaking out into groups... ...Johns going to give [the topic]...
8:35 pm, John Waiblinger: I gave a lot of thought about this and we're going to be talking about 'Privilege'... ...We read it out loud at every GA: “Recognizing individuals’ inherent privilege and the influence it has on all interactions” - But how often do we really think about it, or pay attention to what that statement means in our own interactions and lives? What exactly do we mean by this Privilege thing? I would say that Privilege basically boils down to the idea that some people are just better than others, that they deserve more, have the right to dominate, that their ideas and way of living are just better – they DESERVE IT because they are just inherently BETTER or that they HAVE EARNED IT – This concept, the concept of privilege or better-ness runs through all aspects of our culture. It is the ultimate idea that justifies the existence of the 1%. It is the concept that rationalizes oppression – and it often expresses itself in individualism – how often have you heard, “EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF” , “MAY THE BEST MAN WIN”, “HE’S A SELF MADE MAN” ETC and those are already inherently gender privileged statements in that they define humanity as male.
I would ask you to all think back to your childhoods where we are first indoctrinated into the world of privilege on the playground and in school, where we begin to learn the rules of competition and that some of us are winners and some of us are losers. I ask you to think back on high school – which one of us didn’t suffer pain and humiliation in the game of status, popularity and social stratification? It’s a brutal environment where the socialization of jockeying for position is learned and practiced – and there’s all sorts of institutionalized learning lessons – cliques, popularity, the prom (or whatever its called today), grades, dating, looks, sports, etc. etc. And we learn very early that we can be tarred by association – so you better watch who you’re hanging out with, who you’re seen with – you better make fun of the right people, lest you fall into the category of reject or outcast.
One of the key lessons we learn in the toolkit of establishing and maintaining our own status or position, is to ostracize and make fun of the lesser privileged – the fat kid, the ugly kid, the retard, the fag, the slut, the loser, the retard, (I don’t even know how it all plays out in today’s high school culture, but I know it continues to play out and it varies from community to community, but the rules are always the same – who’s better, who’s cool and who’s a reject) And we learn these lessons not only within our own local environment and set of peers, but in the larger social constructs of gender, race, class, gender appropriateness and sexual orientation, attractiveness, intelligence, “whose most likely to succeed … you name it, you get the idea. These are the lessons we walk into adulthood with and then pass on to the next generation.
Some of us succeed better than others, but we are all scarred by the struggle and the knowledge that one’s position can always fall – that the struggle to stay on top, to be better is always subject to change and often times beyond any individual control – although we are all told we are individually responsible for the course of our lives. We learn to not trust each other and to compete. We learn to be individuals, we forget how to function in community, and we wonder why we feel so lonely.
And we come into the movement with all this socialization and then we wonder by the idea of consensus, community and collective action seem so challenging to realize. So I believe we need to think about our own experiences and be aware of them and to recognize that no one has escaped the privilege game and that we all come to this with a mixed bag of real life experiences and that all of us have experienced being privileged in one arena or another, and that we’ve all experienced being marginalized. We’ve all been taught to value individualism above all else, to fight for our own status and position, to insist that we are right. We need to keep this in mind as we learn to function in community and collective action, and we need to each check our own inherent individualism and privilege. We need to put our solidarity statement into action!
We have an opportunity here to re-examine the rules of the game and try to create something different. Hard work for each and every single one of us, but I’m an optimist, and I believe that by recognizing privilege exists, being conscious of our own use of it and checking each other in honest and compassionate ways, if we can listen to each other, we can perhaps learn to relate to each other better and function in true community as opposed to individualized competition as to who is right and who is wrong. I think we need to have lots more conversations as an assembly, as a movement, about what privilege means and how it manifests in our interactions with each other.
Now before I turn it over to Sarah to talk a bit about Hetero-normativity as a privilege, I’d suggest that privilege manifests itself in many, many ways and that people are marginalized in many, many ways. So tonight, we are just focusing on one aspect, relevant to our Queer Themed GA – we will by no means do more than scrape the surface of the privilege investigation!
I’d like to introduce the idea that one way privilege manifests is in the concepts of what is NORMAL and what is ABNORMAL. Now that’s a big topic, but one that Queer People face on a daily basis because we are definitely pigeonholed into the category of that which is ABNORMAL, that which is aberrant, shameful, sinful, secretive, closeted, not for public display, not for around the children, not for polite society. We have, through great struggle and individual courage come out-of-the-closet and identified ourselves and demanded our right to exist as we are, but we continue to live in a world where Hetero-normativity is the NORM and in which our voices, our experiences, our desires and ways of expressing ourselves are somehow, at best, not legitimate or not as important as other struggles, are divisive or a distraction to the movement, or at worst are sinful, aberrant, destructive of ‘family values’ and need to be shut down.
Well, today we are speaking up. A number of us will share our own personal experiences with you. But before that, Sarah, will provide us some additional context on how Hetero-normative privilege marginalizes our voices.
Sarah: What John [wrote] was very beautiful. I'm going to give an example of what 'heteronormativity'... ...two people who are in their marriage... ...for example telling a person about a crush... ...about privilege
8:46 pm, Vanessa: We're going to have a few people share their experiences with heteronormativity... ...we're going to be hearing a voice that hasn't been heard today at the GA...
8:48 pm,
8:51 pm, David: My personal story about being marginalized... ...growing up I didn't know what to do because as a single child... ...for a long time that internal pain that I talked about before... ...that same year I tried killing myself... ...luckily when I went to the hospital they put me in a guy’s... ...they'd talk to me and say
8:55 pm, Nestor: Why am I wearing an orange vest and a gas mask... ...one, because it was surprise to rain, and one of my friends gave me a gas mask because they thought I was going to get gassed; and, three because I'm gay. That's why I am wearing orange... ...and I am Latino... ...in the Latino culture... ...we've always been active in or societies... ... I don't know if any of you know Cesar 8:58 pm, Chavez but... ... he... ...Spanish language television shows, they report on us... ...the failure... ...was on Proposition eight... ...It's all to the benefit of the One Percent...
9:01 pm, Luscia: I want to talk a little bit about privilege in the... ...How many of you know that Bayard Rustin was... ...the National Organization for Women PURGED the lesbians... ...somebody said my hire should not be counted... ...but because I was a lesbian... ...
9:03 pm, Carolina: Imagine if you had somebody your age that died and you want to go to the memorial and the people that were their family did not give you the right to go to the memorial... ...that's what happens when people who are... ...that's what happened year after year...
9:05 pm, John: I want everyone to repeat after me: [HE YELLS] FAG! [ASSEMBLY RESPONDS] FAGGOT! [ASSEMBLY RESPONDS] ...that describes me...
9:07 pm, Vanessa: ...the foundational question here is: How do you experience 'HeteroNormative' Privilege? [AND SEVERAL OTHER QUESTIONS]...
9:10 pm: [ASSEMBLY BREAKS OUT INTO GROUP DISCUSSIONS].
9:37 pm, Deva, 1st Group: ...I'd like to ask everyone, what is the opposite of normal? I keep hearing people say "normal" as in 'heterosexual'... ...I know I'm abnormal but it has nothing to do with my sexuality... ...I'm a mother and a grandmother. I have a daughter and when I go to her school I made sure I wasn't perceived as a lesbian, or butch, or queer... ...because I know that a person would be ostracized by her parents being different... ...until I was 29 when my daughter went to school and I said "Wow", and I didn't want my daughter to be teased... ...she was playing and separating the [GENDERS OF HER TOYS]... ...you know how children speak to themselves when they're playing? Well she said "Boys can be with boys and girls can be with girls."...
9:44 pm, Sheila, 2nd Group:
9:45 pm, Elise, 34e Group: heterosexual and... ...recognized... ...somebody had brought up earlier about a crush... ...like talking about this boy you like or girl you like... ...so many people have recognized that... ...our binary... ...in our political structure, and our social structure, and our gender structure... ...we talked about, in inviting people... ...in a triad... ...or when two people go out together... ...they're looked out as if they were naked... ...that when we are... ...queer enough to be sleeping in tents... ...relationship structures and those of us who are in a group in a heteronormative way... ...abnormal territory and... ...pain that could be associated with that...[ANNOUNCES POTLUCK, DECORATING BUSES].
9:50 pm, : about their individual experiences... ...Midwest... ...big city... ...really shifted their perspective of people... ...privilege and compassion. A lot of people that recognize the ways that they are privileged, they don't recognize the ways that they are privileged.
9:51 pm, : ...how they experienced here at Occupy... ...part of Occupy is understanding the conditions that we live in, who we really are, what society could look like and should look like. Every space is unsafe for some persons that don't fit the description of the 'normative'. We need to create spaces where all of us could go... ...harder for some people to access... ...they felt that when they were trying to 'step up', they felt that they were being 'bitchy'... ...they felt that they made it harder for women... ...the documentation... ...we should have a screening of... ...the documentation... ...that keeps women in 'their' place. We felt that it made it harder for women to... ...in positions of leadership... ...it was suggested that we explore other terms. On subject was 'siblings'... ...there was one exhibit... ...it was called 'The Death of the Daughter'. It transpose... ...of what those perceptions should be. ... ...When Occupy Oakland first began there were problems. It was not a safe space for everyone. They stepped up... ...providing medical support to the transgender community. An enormous effort was made... ...they created a specific space, the center of camp, and they were give their own role... ...safe space... ...connect to each other, evaluate their experiences so they could bring that back to their own group... ...caucus... ...the transgender was facilitating their own group... ...there was a... ...to Occupy Ellen, and I 'second' that. [LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE]... ...[ANNOUNCEMENTS ON THE NEW JALISCO'S AND TRANNY].
ANNOUNCEMENTS
10:02 pm, ,: ...me and Anthony and Shyma were participating at the UC Regents and the Police shot us! [HE SHOWS HIS WOUND FROM A LEAD BULLET]... ...we were moving around and the Police couldn't keep us in a place.
10:04 pm, Ruth: ...on the General Strike... ...the next few 'themed' GAs; we have General Strike, and we have Keep'n it Real.
10:05 pm, , : ...if you know any space... ...that you could rent out to us, send it out to... ...organize a training... ...so if you're interested in becoming an organizer as well... ...
10:06 pm, Julie: On Tuesday there's going to be a rally and we're going to speaking out on... ...meeting at 9:30 am, at 510 West Temple, on Tuesday.
10:08 pm, John Waiblinger: ...we've drafted up an awesome mission statement... ...come and see me...
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