Transgender Law Center Event In Palm Springs CA Last Saturday

[VickySGV]

The Transgender Law Center which is based in Oakland CA is one of the three major transgender legal empowerment organizations in the U. S.. I have good relations with several officers of it and am a regular financial contributor, and have applied for volunteer status with them. So it did not take much arm twisting to get me to make the minimum donation for an invitation to the Transgender Law Center's fund raising event in Palm Springs CA last Saturday night, and in fact, I doubled the minimum and ended up with a star on my name badge. Palm Springs is 98 miles from my home, but its familiar territory to me since it was part of my work jurisdiction with the State for many years.

The party was at the home of the president of the Palm Springs GLBT Center Advisory Board and his husband and the patio area where most of the guests were was absolutely beautiful. While there was a very well stocked wine bar and a couple of other flavors of harder stuff, I managed to get a glass of fruit juice with a soda splash. I also noticed the fact that most of the VIP's were also on soft drinks as well. The GLBT Center hosted the event, and Palm Springs has a high percentage of GLBT residents. There may have been 6 cis hetero couples there out of about 120 people, and I know the ones I spoke to had family members that were Trans* and supported them.

The event honored California Superior Court Judge Victoria Kolakowski. Judge Kolakowski is the first ELECTED Transgender state level judge. She was elected to the Alameda County Superior Court in 2010 on her third run for the office. She was open and above board as to her Trans* status in all three elections. Texas Transgender judge Phyllis Frye took the bench a few weeks earlier, but Judge Frye was appointed and not elected so both of Their Honor's hold special firsts for TG history.

As a former court clerk (40 years ago) it was a gulp moment when Victoria requested first name use while she and I had a few minutes to talk. She knew of our work here at Laura’s and knows how useful it is to our community. We had a momentary laugh about the fact that both of us were wearing nearly identical outfits, and yes she shops the same store chain I do. Our chat was centered on the need for education by our community, and the need for people to help give it. I know it is something I am happy and emotionally ready to help with.

Later when Victoria was presented with the TLC award, and a special proclamation by the Palm Springs City Council welcoming her to their city, she re-iterated the things she and I, and I am sure most of the other people she spoke to, that Transgender people are now at the point where Gay and Lesbian people were 20+ years ago. We are talked about, we are in the news, we are being seen, but we are still where the view of us is distorted in the mind of the rest of the public. Thus we are targets for the hate and fear crowds who express the bigotry and are our current challenge to full inclusion in society as we are, Her challenge to those of us there was to find ways to show the general public that we are in fact ordinary people who can hold top level jobs and perform superior service to our communities. We include such people as judges and elected officials at other levels, college professors in many fields, retired astronauts and military personnel who have served with great honor, members of health professions of all types, and anything else that can be imagined. Our haters see only crime and perversion and the members of our communities who are chronically un-employed and may be on welfare. We cannot deny that we have a terrible problem of un-employment or under employment, nor can we deny our health and mental health problems, but with support and understanding of our Cis communities, we can reverse those negative trends and become the people who fit in honorably and productively. In the immediate future we need to counter our naysayers with facts that are accurate and which combat fear, but with tactics that are on a higher ethical and moral ground than the ones used by NOM and PJI.

I met one Palm Springs Trans* woman who is a chat moderator over at Susan's and we had fun comparing notes IRL about those sides of life. I was not shy to let people know what I try to do here and many of the Trans* folk have been here off and on but none were members. The gay and lesbian folks there of course did not know of us, but when I explained what we did, it was a total thumbs up deal. I was also introduced briefly to another Trans* woman who is running for a school board seat in another California location.

Side note, part of the program was a solicitation of pledges for Transgender Law Center, and by open declaration nearly $25K was volunteered from the crowd. That money will be matched by a special grant. $10K of it from 4 couples, I was with the higher class. Wow.

There is some effort going on now to get a TG conference into Southern California in a year or so, and I had been contacted to help get it together by a person I know from back east. I met with three of the other women who are also becoming part of the core group for the idea and will be in touch with them in the New Year. So I will just say it was a wonderful Trans* evening on the side of the upper crust.

[Guest Elizabeth1974]

Wow how interesting please keep me in the loop as I am in San Diego an would love to get involved as well