Jan 11, 2008  | COMMENTS     

IN 1852, HARRIET Beecher Stowe wrote her famous novel, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” which had a major effect on the attitudes toward slavery and African Americans. The main character was a dutiful servant by the name of Uncle Tom, who remained faithful to his masters, regardless of what they did to him. 

The name “Uncle Tom” has come to describe any African American whose actions are counterproductive to the welfare of the African-American community. It has become so descriptive that Native Americans use the name “Uncle Tomahawk,” and the Latino community use the Spanish name, “Tia Taco.” Tia is Spanish for uncle.

In the new “Dark Ages” for the transgender community, we are quickly discovering our own Uncle Toms, but in order to distinguish them from the African-American Uncle Toms, I have coined the name, “Aunt Trannies.”  The transgender community’s Aunt Trannies are those transgender people who are still working for “The Man,” in spite of the vicious manner in which we were stripped from the Employment Non-Discrimination Act in October of 2007. “The Man,” in this case, is HRC and Barney Frank.

The reason for going with the word “Aunt” instead of “Uncle” is that the majority of those working with HRC and Frank are male-to-female transsexuals. The most visible of these Aunt Trannies is Susan Stanton, the trans woman fired last year from her job as the city manager of Largo, Fla. 

IN AUGUST, HRC President Joe Solmonese asked John Edwards the one and only transgender question of the gay presidential forum and the camera focused on Stanton.  She didn’t seem to understand we were being thrown crumbs then, and doesn’t have enough experience to understand the history of how many times HRC has lied to the transgender community in the past. Maybe she is drunk with fame and has figured out how to extend her allotted 15 minutes. Nevertheless, she is an Aunt Trannie.

However, Stanton’s recent comments in an article by the St. Petersburg Times showed blatant internalized trans-phobia, homophobia and elitism. Frank and HRC may be better off using Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as their spokesperson.

Sadly, we are finding that there are several Aunt Trannies throughout the country, giving HRC and Frank an endless supply of dutiful servants for them to try and help smooth over their mistakes with the transgender community. 

HRC and Frank don’t want to talk with the real leaders of our community, so they hand pick puppet leaders to give the appearance that they are working with us. Sorry boys, but we can see right through your “trans”-parent games. I seem to recall that just before this country was born, the British installed loyalists in various high offices to try and squelch any revolutionary thoughts the people may have had. It didn’t work then. This is us learning from history. We decide who speaks for us, or doesn’t speak for us.


RECENTLY, HRC HAS been sending Stanton around the country to talk about how wonderful and sweet HRC is and that we need to trust them. She says they have our best interests at heart and promises to not stab us in the back any longer. Hearing this, I just cannot seem to get out of my head the images from the 1960 movie, “Time Machine,” where the Eloi are hypnotized by the sounds of the sirens and walk, like sheep, into the world of the Morlocks to become food for their captors. Ribs, anyone?

Transgender history has many examples of how some trans people believed various politicians or leaders of national organizations, only to learn that their trust had been violated. They learned the hard way, but they all seemed to stand up for their integrity when they finally see that they have been wronged. It just shows that Aunt Tranny-ism is a curable disease, but one where the cure can be a very painful one. The pain is so intense for some that they completely back away from ever trying to help the community again. We have lost too many good people because of that.

So, as this New Year begins, we see another chapter in transgender history beginning. New rules of engagement are being established. New players are taking the field. Old players are taking new stances, while others are screaming at the top of their lungs, “I told you so!” For those on the sidelines, I suggest you get a big supply of beer, peanuts and hot dogs. And, bring a soft cushion.  It’s going to be a very long season.