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Thursday, 21 November 2019

Bubble, Blether, Blither, Abusive Pariahs



                                                                 


BUBBLE, BLETHER, BLITHER, ABUSIVE PARIAHS

by Thomas Hoskyns Leonard


Bubble away Prince Andrew

At the younger berries and elderberries

Blether Bad Boris Blether

Blither Sir Aristocranky David Attenbatterem blither

Who about nature and starving the African masses burbles

Begone abusive pariahs!

And with Eugenics how about thought

And Compassion

Keep whispering, devious psychopath,

Triangulating owl in your ghostly lair


This poem was composed by Tom Leonard, in the Botanic Cottage in the Royal Botanical Gardens Edinburgh on 21st November 2019. This was during an Open Book writing session led by Pauline Moore during Book Week Scotland. The theme of the session  was 'Blether'.



Tuesday, 12 November 2019

TRANSPHOBIA IN THE QUAKERS AND SCOTTISH LABOUR PARTY

Note added 21 st November 2019 I have now stopped attending the Quakers because they are completely bananas on these issues. Last night I attended an evocative Candlelight Vigil for Transgender People outside the Scottish Parliament, and that sealed my decision



                                    TRANSGENDER 'DEBATE'  IN SCOTTISH LABOUR


                        QUAKER TERF Dr Heather Brunskell-Evans SPEAKING IN SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT ON 20th NOVEMBER





WE SHOULD LIVE HOW SYLVIA  RIVERA LIVED, AND SWEAR HOW SYLVIA RIVERA SWORE, WHATEVER THE TWISTED DO-GOODERS THINK



                                                            


                                                                       


This blog post is my response to apparent Quaker transphobia when I was bullied as an LGBT person while representing part of the Edinburgh trans gender community in Marie Delices Cafe in Morningside Edinburgh on 8th November 2019. I walked out of the meeting when I was effectively prevented from posing a question to Daniel Johnson MSP regarding the Gender Recognition Act. (More indication of what happened during this lunchtime meeting with three leading Quakers is added at end of this blog post, beneath a (forthcoming) picture of my transgender ex-partner.)


While the Quakers are mainly pro-trans there are still a number of active Trans Exclusionary Feminists in the Quakers, and we have some of these well-documented


I referred to the incident in Marie Delices during my ministry to South Edinburgh Quakers on 10th November 2019. In particular I held Sylvia Rivera in the light,



                                                                       


    

                                HISTORY IS A WEAPON SPEECH (2001)



"OUR ARMIES ARE RISING AND WE ARE GETTING STRONGER."
SYLVIA RIVERA'S JUNE 2001 TALK AT THE LESBIAN AND GAY COMMUNITY SERVICES CENTER, NEW YORK CITY

Latino Gay Men of New York (LGMNY), a social group established in 1991, invited the Bronx-born, Venezuelan/Puerto Rican Stonewall veteran, transgender activist, and Young Lords member Sylvia Rivera (1951-2002) to be a guest speaker at its monthly "First Friday of the Month" meeting in June 2001. This meeting was organized as a celebration of LGBT Pride month, in commemoration of the Stonewall riots of 1969, a landmark event in the history of gay liberation. The meeting was held at the temporary building that the Lesbian and Gay Community Center was occupying near Gansevoort Street while its main building on 13th Street was being renovated. Since Sylvia was banned from entering the Center (see transcription), we had to secure a special permit in order for her to gain admittance. She came with her life partner Julia Murray. The meeting began with small group discussions of the legacy of Stonewall, followed by Sylvia's talk. The gathering concluded with a surprise rendition of "Happy Birthday" and the eating of cake and strawberries, an advance celebration of Sylvia's 50th birthday, which was to occur in July. Sylvia passed away from liver cancer several months later, in February 2002. The recording of Sylvia's talk unfortunately does not include the very beginning of her presentation. Particularly interesting, in addition to Rivera's recollection of the Stonewall riots, of early 1970s activism, and of the 1973 schism regarding the inclusion of drag queens in the broader movement, is her discussion of current trans politics in New York and of her participation in World Pride (Italy, 2000), her critique of gay normalization and gay marriage, and her comments on the activism generated by the murders of Matthew Shepard (1976-1998) and Amanda Milan (1975?-2000).                                                      







                                                   SYLVIA RIVERA (Wikipedia) 


     

Gender identity[edit]

Rivera's gender identity was complex and varied throughout her life.[1][3] In 1971, she spoke of herself as a "half sister".[29] In her essay "Transvestites: Your Half Sisters and Half Brothers of the Revolution", she specifically claims her use of transvestite as applying to only the gay community: "Transvestites are homosexual men and women who dress in clothes of the opposite sex."[29]
In interviews and writings in her later years, notably her 1995 interview with Randy Wicker and her 2002 essay, "Queens In Exile, The Forgotten Ones," she expressed a fluid take on gender, referring to herself alternately as a gay man,[5] a gay girl,[3] a drag queen/street queen,[1][7][8] and again as a gay man,[1] embodying all of these experiences and seeing none of these identities as excluding the others.[1] Rivera writes of having considered gender reassignment surgery much earlier in life, but of ultimately choosing to reject it, taking hormones only near the end of her life.[1]


                                                       BIOGRAPHY.COM


                                  Sylvia Rivera






“You all tell me, go and hide my tail between my legs.
I will no longer put up with this shit.
I have been beaten.
I have had my nose broken.
I have been thrown in jail.
I have lost my job.
I have lost my apartment.
For gay liberation, and you all treat me this way?
What the f**k’s wrong with you all?
Think about that!”                                                      
PICTURE OF MY EX-PARTNER MAY APPEAR HERE WHEN I HAVE HER PERMISSION

My trans ex-partner says that she tries to be invisible because she lives in fear of her life, At lunchtime on Friday I'd explained to three leading Quakers that transgender women were vulnerable people who, when repressed into feeling that they might not be real women,would frequently become depressed and sometimes take their own lives. Despite mind-bogglingly fierce resistance, from a subset of those present, which seemed contrary to pre-existing consensual Quaker policy, this message was nevertheless transmitted within an hour or so to Daniel Johnson MSP in a meeting, in my angry absence, in his nearby office. Daniel took it very much to heart, and said that he would study it carefully in relation to the ongoing debate regarding the Gender Recognition Act. 

    13 th November I have since corresponded with Daniel and sent him an earlier version of this blogpost (In Memorium Sylvia Rivera). He has sent me a couple of helpful replies, and is keen to meet with me


 My favourite quotes by Catherine of Siena:
 "If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world on fire!"
 "Proclaim the truth and do not be silent through fear."
 "Every step of the way to heaven is heaven."

Saturday, 9 November 2019

IN MEMORIUM SYLVIA RIVERA



                                    TRANSGENDER DEBATE  IN SCOTTISH LABOUR

WE SHOULD LIVE HOW SYLVIA  RIVERA LIVED, AND SWEAR HOW SYLVIA RIVERA SWORE, WHATEVER THE TWISTED DO-GOODERS THINK



                                                            


                                                                       


This blog post is my response to apparent Quaker transphobia when I was bullied as an LGBT person while representing part of the Edinburgh trans gender community in Marie Delices Cafe in Morningside Edinburgh on 8th November 2019. I walked out of the meeting when I was effectively prevented from posing a question to Daniel Johnson MSP regarding the Gender Recognition Act. (More indication of what happened during this lunchtime meeting with three leading Quakers is added below, beneath a picture of my transgender ex-partner Nicola.)



                                                                       


    

                                HISTORY IS A WEAPON SPEECH (2001)



"OUR ARMIES ARE RISING AND WE ARE GETTING STRONGER."
SYLVIA RIVERA'S JUNE 2001 TALK AT THE LESBIAN AND GAY COMMUNITY SERVICES CENTER, NEW YORK CITY

Latino Gay Men of New York (LGMNY), a social group established in 1991, invited the Bronx-born, Venezuelan/Puerto Rican Stonewall veteran, transgender activist, and Young Lords member Sylvia Rivera (1951-2002) to be a guest speaker at its monthly "First Friday of the Month" meeting in June 2001. This meeting was organized as a celebration of LGBT Pride month, in commemoration of the Stonewall riots of 1969, a landmark event in the history of gay liberation. The meeting was held at the temporary building that the Lesbian and Gay Community Center was occupying near Gansevoort Street while its main building on 13th Street was being renovated. Since Sylvia was banned from entering the Center (see transcription), we had to secure a special permit in order for her to gain admittance. She came with her life partner Julia Murray. The meeting began with small group discussions of the legacy of Stonewall, followed by Sylvia's talk. The gathering concluded with a surprise rendition of "Happy Birthday" and the eating of cake and strawberries, an advance celebration of Sylvia's 50th birthday, which was to occur in July. Sylvia passed away from liver cancer several months later, in February 2002. The recording of Sylvia's talk unfortunately does not include the very beginning of her presentation. Particularly interesting, in addition to Rivera's recollection of the Stonewall riots, of early 1970s activism, and of the 1973 schism regarding the inclusion of drag queens in the broader movement, is her discussion of current trans politics in New York and of her participation in World Pride (Italy, 2000), her critique of gay normalization and gay marriage, and her comments on the activism generated by the murders of Matthew Shepard (1976-1998) and Amanda Milan (1975?-2000).                                                      







                                                   SYLVIA RIVERA (Wikipedia) 


       

Gender identity[edit]

Rivera's gender identity was complex and varied throughout her life.[1][3] In 1971, she spoke of herself as a "half sister".[29] In her essay "Transvestites: Your Half Sisters and Half Brothers of the Revolution", she specifically claims her use of transvestite as applying to only the gay community: "Transvestites are homosexual men and women who dress in clothes of the opposite sex."[29]
In interviews and writings in her later years, notably her 1995 interview with Randy Wicker and her 2002 essay, "Queens In Exile, The Forgotten Ones," she expressed a fluid take on gender, referring to herself alternately as a gay man,[5] a gay girl,[3] a drag queen/street queen,[1][7][8] and again as a gay man,[1] embodying all of these experiences and seeing none of these identities as excluding the others.[1] Rivera writes of having considered gender reassignment surgery much earlier in life, but of ultimately choosing to reject it, taking hormones only near the end of her life.[1]


                                                       BIOGRAPHY.COM


                                  Sylvia Rivera






“You all tell me, go and hide my tail between my legs.
I will no longer put up with this shit.
I have been beaten.
I have had my nose broken.
I have been thrown in jail.
I have lost my job.
I have lost my apartment.
For gay liberation, and you all treat me this way?
What the f**k’s wrong with you all?
Think about that!”


                                            TOM'S EX-PARTNER NICOLA


                                                                        



                                                               



My (Tom's) ex-partner, Today (10th November) I explained on Facebook that I now realise that she was really a real woman when I loved her as a handsome man. In her reply she explained to the effect that unlike Sylvia Rivera, she always tries to be invisible because she lives in fear of her life, At lunchtime on Friday I'd explained to three leading Quakers that transgender women were vulnerable people who, when repressed into feeling that they might not be real women,would frequently become depressed and sometimes take their own lives. Despite mind-bogglingly fierce resistance, from a subset of those present, which seemed contrary to pre-existing consensual Quaker policy, this message was nevertheless transmitted within an hour or so to Daniel Johnson MSP in a meeting, in my angry absence, in his nearby office. Daniel took it very much to heart, and said that he would study it carefully in relation to the ongoing debate regarding the Gender Recognition Act.


 My favourite quotes by Catherine of Siena:
 "If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world on fire!"
 "Proclaim the truth and do not be silent through fear."
 "Every step of the way to heaven is heaven."

Wednesday, 6 November 2019

HERNIATED LIVER, A poem by Tom Leonard about his non-existent herniated liver






                                                                         


    I heard about my "herniated liver" from my former GP on 6th October 2019, following a variety of apparently contradictory bits of information from the NHS. I won't know for several days how serious it is and whether I will need surgery, While googling HERNIATED liver, I came across a variety of strange looking diagrams which completely bemused me, Hence my poem

                           HERNIATED LIVER
                               by Tom Leonard


                           My herniated life,

                           Mentally detached

                           Struggling to grasp

                           Ideas in the hatch

                           Emotions on the latch

                           Pain in the neck, the girls called me

                           Pain in the chest, God punished me

                           It's muscular skeletal, cried slick Dr. Orynx in A and E

                           Then pain in the gut 

                           It's reflux, just reflux, opined the third GP on the phone

                          And the CT scan stayed long undeciphered

                          As I whirled neurodiverse on the spectrum

                          Until the angel doctor jingled and jangled

                          Your liver has herniated into your chest

                          Leaving your organs slightly awry

                          And, whoops I've just discovered,

                         Dr. Annie Amplify has been asked to amplify 

                         And she'll contact you from the Royal Inf,

                         Or not,

                         Meanwhile they'll do an ultrasound to check the cysts in your neck,

                         I've got a herniated liver! I declared

                         You certainly are, replied Scott, studying the quantum book.