between granite and rainbow

I should be drafting a concept proposal for a film by a friend I’m going to help edit, but wanted to take the time to post this open call, which I recently received via the listserv for the Queer Asian Pacific-Islander Coalition of New England. East coast-based photographer Emmanuela de León is looking to increase documentation of the Asian and Pacific Islander community in their ongoing project, “Claiming Masculinity: Narratives from Bodies of Difference,” which has evolved from their work photographing “nontraditionally maculine individuals”: masculine-identified folks along the spectrum of “butch, stud, AG, boi, transperson, gender queer, gender freak, or other who identifies as primarily masculine.”

Projects like this are so vital, especially in light of the last weeks’ controversy over trans exclusion from ENDA (the Employment Non-Discrimination Act). As Donna Rose writes in a public statement announcing her resignation from the Human Rights Campaign for its stance on ENDA,

Transgender is not simply the ‘T’ in GLBT. It is people who, for one reason or another, may not express their gender in ways that conform to traditional gender norms or expectations. That covers everyone from transsexuals, to queer youth, to feminine acting men, to masculine appearing women. It is a broad label that cannot be confined to a specific silo of people. It is anyone who chooses to live authentically…In a very real way, the T is anyone who expresses themselves differently. To some it is about gender. To me, it is about freedom.

For some of us, following our instincts to express ourselves freely in a world where individuals and structures police a gender binary can be just that: freeing. But for many others of us, not passing can have severe consequences — especially if we’re of color, have disabilities, are queer, are poor or working-class — that begin from policing by peers and employers and lead to policing at the hands of the state.

I’m proud to have been part of a process over the last year and a half building with people here in the Bay Area and across the country towards the first-ever convening of the LGBTSTQ community to begin developing a national strategy to end the criminalization and imprisonment of transgender and gender non-conforming communities: Transforming Justice. We’re bringing together a range of people and organizations involved in the LGBTSTQ justice , anti-prison, prisoner rights, anti-violence movements. While the gathering is less than three days away (October 13-14), it’s still open to any LGBTSTQ person who’s experienced poverty, policing, and imprisonment. We’re also encouraging allies to participate by volunteering to support the weekend, and join us Saturday night to celebrate and raise funds for follow-up post-this weekend, from 8-11:30 pm at the Y. Flunder Community Center at 30 Harriet Street at Howard in SOMA.