September 10, 2017
Mazzoni Center’s Philadelphia Trans-Health Conference
Open Letter: Fed Up
Dear Mazzoni Center PTHC,
Your decision to hire Ashley Coleman a cisgender woman to organize the Philadelphia Trans-Health Conference (PTHC) this year further illustrates your disregard for transgender people and our experiences. As a transgender person, I find it grossly inappropriate for a cisgender person to be the face and voice of a community they are not apart of or identify with. It is critical for transgender people to be represented at events that are supposed to be designed to center the transgender population especially since trans people have been the target of immense discrimination and disenfranchisement nationally.
Since the Republican Party has taken over the White House, the Title IX guidance for transgender students has been rescinded, a ban on transgender people serving in the military has been enacted and many transgender people are fearful of losing their healthcare. Transgender people are living in a constant state of worry because all of the protections we acquired during the Obama administration are consistently being chipped away by the GOP piece by piece by piece, which is why transgender people should be able to seek refuge in spaces that are specifically for us and organized by us, for example the Mazzoni Center PTHC.
With all of the bigotry and discrimination going on throughout the nation with regard to transgender people, I would like to think the PTHC would make transgender people, and their experiences priority number one by having a transgender PTHC coordinator like they have in the past but unfortunately this year that was not the case.
As a black trans woman who is an activist in Philadelphia, I find it grossly inappropriate for a cisgender person to center themselves in an event for trans people. I find it supremely antithetical to the entire purpose of the PTHC to have a non trans person representing and speaking for transgender people. For you to hire a cisgender person and for her to use her cisgender privilege to take away an opportunity from a transgender person is deeply disturbing and shows how inauthentic your organization is to trans people. Particularly because we as trans people do not have any federal protections in employment, housing and public accommodations and your organization is furthering the disenfranchisement and erasure of trans people in society, even in spaces designated specifically for transgender individuals.
In 2014, I believe, the PTHC announced that Jacen McCellan, a trans man would be the PTHC coordinator. Then in 2015 when Samantha Jo Dato, a black trans woman became the voice and face of the PTHC, I was elated with joy. Finally, I thought, we have someone who represents us as trans women and our unique needs and experiences, this is the change at Mazzoni (PTHC) I wanted to see but as with many transgender people especially transgender women of color, that representation of the most marginalized and vulnerable would not last because of the rampant trans misogyny, passive aggression towards black trans women and the never ending micro aggressions coupled with the horizontal hostility black trans women face when working with the Mazzoni Center (PTHC) which is why, I think Ashley Coleman was hired to organize and be the face and voice of the transgender community’s Mazzoni Center’s Philadelphia Trans-Health Conference.
This happens all too often to transgender people. We are overlooked, dismissed, ignored, under represented, excluded and silenced. Just like Stonewall, the PTHC was conceptualized by black trans women like Charlene J. Arcilla and Dionne Stallworth because they understood the need for proper representation and a space for transgender people to share their experiences, learn, network and connect with each other; educate and inform members of the transgender community on overall health and well being, and it has been hijacked by cisgender people using their privilege to the extent that I, a black transgender female who has dedicated my purpose in life to inspiring, empowering and advocating for the rights of the trans community was intentionally shut out when I was invited to be a speaker by the Mazzoni Center PTHC coordinator, Ashley Coleman.
This incident is reflective of what is happening and has been consistently happening to trans people, especially black trans women all across the country for decades. Our contributions to the movement toward equality is always taken for granted, undervalued, undercompensated, erased, and/or appropriated and I am fed up with the blatant disrespect of my community. I am fed up with being nice to those who are seek to silence and oppress black trans women. I am fed up with pretending that it is possible to work with people who have a history of anti blackness. I am fed up with the lack of black trans representation at the Mazzoni Center especially the PTHC. I am fed up.
On Friday afternoon, reluctantly, I went to the PTHC with a good friend of mine. We were both awed at the lack of trans people of color. I also spoke with several of the black trans women I met up with and we all shared the same concerns, “where are the girls?” The conference looked and felt very whitewashed. After connecting with some of my sisters from around the country, it was time for me to go home. On Saturday morning, I took my concerns to social media informing the community that the Mazzoni PTHC hired a cisgender woman to organize and represent trans people and she had no business speaking for trans people because she was not transgender at which time the Mazzoni Center PTHC Coordinator reported my post and my main Facebook account was banned for holding her accountable for disenfranchising trans people. How are we as transgender people supposed to believe the Mazzoni Center PTHC has our best interest at heart when your employee who is supposed to serve the transgender community commits acts of censorship which is violence against a black trans woman? Your organization has a history of trying to silence the voices black trans women and your organization is not above reproach or accountability. This open letter is a call to accountability to the community you are “suppose” to serve.
- We Demand Black Trans Women be represented in all levels of the Mazzoni Center organization.
- We Demand more transparency on how the PTHC Coordinator is selected.
- We Demand a Transgender PTHC 2018 Coordinator.
Sincerely,
An Angelic Troublemaker
Sharron L. Cooks
Activist, Philadelphia, PA