25 March 2009
24 March 2009
HRC's anti-transgender activities
Just came across this blog post, via a Facebook group:
Transgriot
It details the development of the leading gay rights organization, Human Rights Campaign, and its background and makeup which is overwhelmingly white liberal, corporate, and elitist. It's not just transgenders who have no voice in the HRC organization, but also nonwhites and those who hail from the so-called "flyover country" (never mind that Southern California, one of the so-called "gay meccas," is, in reality, at least as theocratic and backward as most of the flyover country).
No wonder the gay rights movement is incapable of effective advocacy. When the pro-gay arguments are written exclusively in white liberal languages (partly because there are no nonwhites to write them in culturally compelling terms), the nonwhite communities, many of us hailing from the world's most homophobic societies, will gladly vote for homophobic legislations. When transgenders are excluded for political expediency (whatever it means), the gay-only nondiscrimination laws are toothless, protecting only those who "look" straight (whatever that means). And while the flyover country activists have a lot of wisdom to share (much of it due to having to deal with theocrats on a daily basis, and knowing them), that never makes it into the upper ranks of HRC, making HRC's game plan that less effective.
I am of the belief that the key advances in LGBT rights in the US have come about only because the large corporations (of which United Airlines, Sarah's employer, is a good example) have decided that the white, affluent, professional, straight-looking gay men have tons of disposable income, and therefore are customers to be courted. The goal is to make sure that those who don't fit the program (lesbians, transgenders, nonwhites, the not-so-affluent, etc.) can find a better society to work/live in, so that they have more money that can be spent on various products and services, and that these corporations will court the entire LGBT demographic even more. It makes sense for HRC to fight for everyone. But it won't.
In any case, I will not be fighting for LGBT rights unless there is an agenda that benefits all involved, not just the elitists. It will also need to be an underlying message of Sarah's story, as Sarah is a transwoman on a low flight attendant salary, and her wife Kirsten is half-nonwhite.
Transgriot
It details the development of the leading gay rights organization, Human Rights Campaign, and its background and makeup which is overwhelmingly white liberal, corporate, and elitist. It's not just transgenders who have no voice in the HRC organization, but also nonwhites and those who hail from the so-called "flyover country" (never mind that Southern California, one of the so-called "gay meccas," is, in reality, at least as theocratic and backward as most of the flyover country).
No wonder the gay rights movement is incapable of effective advocacy. When the pro-gay arguments are written exclusively in white liberal languages (partly because there are no nonwhites to write them in culturally compelling terms), the nonwhite communities, many of us hailing from the world's most homophobic societies, will gladly vote for homophobic legislations. When transgenders are excluded for political expediency (whatever it means), the gay-only nondiscrimination laws are toothless, protecting only those who "look" straight (whatever that means). And while the flyover country activists have a lot of wisdom to share (much of it due to having to deal with theocrats on a daily basis, and knowing them), that never makes it into the upper ranks of HRC, making HRC's game plan that less effective.
I am of the belief that the key advances in LGBT rights in the US have come about only because the large corporations (of which United Airlines, Sarah's employer, is a good example) have decided that the white, affluent, professional, straight-looking gay men have tons of disposable income, and therefore are customers to be courted. The goal is to make sure that those who don't fit the program (lesbians, transgenders, nonwhites, the not-so-affluent, etc.) can find a better society to work/live in, so that they have more money that can be spent on various products and services, and that these corporations will court the entire LGBT demographic even more. It makes sense for HRC to fight for everyone. But it won't.
In any case, I will not be fighting for LGBT rights unless there is an agenda that benefits all involved, not just the elitists. It will also need to be an underlying message of Sarah's story, as Sarah is a transwoman on a low flight attendant salary, and her wife Kirsten is half-nonwhite.
07 March 2009
End of the Experiment
I decided to shut down my simulated airline business.
I'm looking a lot like United Airlines - too much so for comfort. It's September 2000, and the fuel prices, which had tripled in the past year, are hammering me. I had brought in tons of 747s to expand my international network and add to my profits, but now they will eat up my cash reserves instead. I don't have a strong regional network to make up for it (it simply cannot be done from Seoul, while it's much easier from Beijing, Hong Kong, or Tokyo). The only difference is that I actually treated my employees better, and that I am in no danger of a strike. (In fact, I'll be liquidating my airline while it still has 700 million dollars in value - so that my 20,000 employees will have a generous severance package.) But I will be going out of business in a few more months of game time anyway.
In any case, I had a good chance to look into the industry's mentality, and to understand Sarah's corporate bosses a bit better. Indeed, United did very well when its network was limited to North America, and its costs were well within reason. It's the botching of the international expansion (too aggressive, too careless) that hammered United around 2000. In any case, the more I understand Sarah's employer (which also is the airline I know the best and fly the most), the more realistic Sarah's work environment gets, and that should keep me happy.
I'm looking a lot like United Airlines - too much so for comfort. It's September 2000, and the fuel prices, which had tripled in the past year, are hammering me. I had brought in tons of 747s to expand my international network and add to my profits, but now they will eat up my cash reserves instead. I don't have a strong regional network to make up for it (it simply cannot be done from Seoul, while it's much easier from Beijing, Hong Kong, or Tokyo). The only difference is that I actually treated my employees better, and that I am in no danger of a strike. (In fact, I'll be liquidating my airline while it still has 700 million dollars in value - so that my 20,000 employees will have a generous severance package.) But I will be going out of business in a few more months of game time anyway.
In any case, I had a good chance to look into the industry's mentality, and to understand Sarah's corporate bosses a bit better. Indeed, United did very well when its network was limited to North America, and its costs were well within reason. It's the botching of the international expansion (too aggressive, too careless) that hammered United around 2000. In any case, the more I understand Sarah's employer (which also is the airline I know the best and fly the most), the more realistic Sarah's work environment gets, and that should keep me happy.
04 March 2009
Back to NorCal
I just came back from an overnight trip to Northern California, which was prompted by business and did not involve any research for Sarah at all.
In fact, I stayed as far away from San Francisco and Berkeley as I could - as I think the political correctness of the liberals there is proving to be just as toxic to me as the far-right theocracy of Southern California. My trek started in Monterey, overnighting in Milpitas just north of San Jose and finishing up in Sacramento. One reason for Sacramento was a visit to the air museum at the former McClellan Air Force Base, where I could see two examples of the F-86 Sabre, the very aircraft that Sarah's grandfather flew during the Korean War (and translated into Sarah's own interest in aviation). Didn't really enjoy the visit though, as I was not really in an aviation mood today - certainly not military aviation.
Otherwise, I've been working long hours (getting nothing done, actually) and not getting much of any time off at all. I'm also extremely sick and tired of having to constantly babysit coworkers and "family" members due to their inability to understand basic English. I'm not very happy.
I was actually relieved to spend the past two days driving my new Hyundai, which now bears a vanity plate referring to Kwan Yin, Sarah's (and my) transgender matron saint. It is a great car, and the vanity plate is a very strong counterpoint to all the theocratic negative energy that permeates the California freeways. The only downside, of course, is the car's Bluetooth system, which allows people to call me at the worst possible times, and disturb my peace. A few hours without my babysitting, and everything seems to go haywire.
As for the online airline simulation game, I'm starting to fall apart, due to the game's "open skies" environment where anyone can fly any route, even domestic runs in a foreign country, regardless of nationality (imagine the New York - San Francisco route being dominated by airlines from China). Basically, anyone hailing from a city with lots of demand can grow fast, and drive competitors from nearby cities out of business. Two competitors, one in Hong Kong and the other in Beijing, are doing just that - and I can't keep up from my Seoul hub. And with my time commitments, I may have to call it quits early. I do think I got my objective - learning the aviation economics enough to apply it to Sarah's work environment - accomplished. (And by chance, my mainline fleet is looking a lot like United's - the only difference being the Boeing 767-400, which United doesn't fly, but I will, but whether I'll survive long enough to actually fly the plane is another question altogether.)
I have, however, made some strong statements even in that game, by abruptly pulling out of the Los Angeles market in late 1999, incensed over the extremist antics of the Korean-American community as well as its collaboration with other primitive immigrant communities of SoCal (they alone make up half of Los Angeles already) for the passage of Proposition 22, California's first gay marriage ban. I'm starting to think that as noble as Kwan Yin's determination to save every human first is, I think she can forget about ever reaching nirvana for herself, as long as she continues to try to save the theocratic immigrant communities in Los Angeles, which are absolutely hopeless. Pulling my Kwan Yin-themed airline out of the Los Angeles market was my way of saying that in the game.
In fact, I stayed as far away from San Francisco and Berkeley as I could - as I think the political correctness of the liberals there is proving to be just as toxic to me as the far-right theocracy of Southern California. My trek started in Monterey, overnighting in Milpitas just north of San Jose and finishing up in Sacramento. One reason for Sacramento was a visit to the air museum at the former McClellan Air Force Base, where I could see two examples of the F-86 Sabre, the very aircraft that Sarah's grandfather flew during the Korean War (and translated into Sarah's own interest in aviation). Didn't really enjoy the visit though, as I was not really in an aviation mood today - certainly not military aviation.
Otherwise, I've been working long hours (getting nothing done, actually) and not getting much of any time off at all. I'm also extremely sick and tired of having to constantly babysit coworkers and "family" members due to their inability to understand basic English. I'm not very happy.
I was actually relieved to spend the past two days driving my new Hyundai, which now bears a vanity plate referring to Kwan Yin, Sarah's (and my) transgender matron saint. It is a great car, and the vanity plate is a very strong counterpoint to all the theocratic negative energy that permeates the California freeways. The only downside, of course, is the car's Bluetooth system, which allows people to call me at the worst possible times, and disturb my peace. A few hours without my babysitting, and everything seems to go haywire.
As for the online airline simulation game, I'm starting to fall apart, due to the game's "open skies" environment where anyone can fly any route, even domestic runs in a foreign country, regardless of nationality (imagine the New York - San Francisco route being dominated by airlines from China). Basically, anyone hailing from a city with lots of demand can grow fast, and drive competitors from nearby cities out of business. Two competitors, one in Hong Kong and the other in Beijing, are doing just that - and I can't keep up from my Seoul hub. And with my time commitments, I may have to call it quits early. I do think I got my objective - learning the aviation economics enough to apply it to Sarah's work environment - accomplished. (And by chance, my mainline fleet is looking a lot like United's - the only difference being the Boeing 767-400, which United doesn't fly, but I will, but whether I'll survive long enough to actually fly the plane is another question altogether.)
I have, however, made some strong statements even in that game, by abruptly pulling out of the Los Angeles market in late 1999, incensed over the extremist antics of the Korean-American community as well as its collaboration with other primitive immigrant communities of SoCal (they alone make up half of Los Angeles already) for the passage of Proposition 22, California's first gay marriage ban. I'm starting to think that as noble as Kwan Yin's determination to save every human first is, I think she can forget about ever reaching nirvana for herself, as long as she continues to try to save the theocratic immigrant communities in Los Angeles, which are absolutely hopeless. Pulling my Kwan Yin-themed airline out of the Los Angeles market was my way of saying that in the game.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)