Most of what you've probably been told about Evergreen College is... false.

[Guest LizMarie]

1. Colleen Francis did not expose herself to teenagers.

2. Colleen Francis did not expose herself to 6 year olds.

3. Colleen Francis did not "parade around" nude.

4. Colleen Francis did not "fondle" herself in front of underage girls.

What did happen?

Colleen Francis and her cisgender female friend were in the sauna which is an off limits area to underage persons!!!

At that point, two seventeen year olds violated the standing rules about the sauna and happened to see Colleen Francis in the sauna.

The rest of the story? Complete and utter BS manufactured by... another radical right wing "ex-gay" religious group.

And before you appeal to the news media, let's look at what the college itself said about the "incident":

Sprague wrote, “Unfortunately many news reports and online commentaries have chosen to take a sensational, and often inaccurate, path in characterizing what has and has not happened at Evergreen.” He went on to clarify, “On the occasion that sparked the media coverage, the individual in question was using the sauna, an area generally off limits to swim team members.” Sprague also made it clear that this was “one incident that occurred in September 2012, not multiple incidents” and that Francis was “covered up with a towel on the way to the sauna and when leaving it. ”

What is the truth? The truth is that major media do not do very much real investigative journalism anymore. They are fed stories from sources, and then run with those stories. This happened with CBS recently with its phony Benghazi story, where their so-called "eye witness" had previously admitted to spending the entire night nice and cozy at his seaside villa. That lack of journalistic integrity caught Lara Logan and now she's been placed on leave by CBS.

We saw the same strategy attempted in Colorado - ex-gay group manufactures story, disseminates story to right wing media sites, which is then picked up by other national media sites and... that time it detonated, because someone bothered to fact check the situation.

Reference: http://www.transadvocate.com/colleen-francis-and-the-infamous-evergreen-state-college-incident.htm

I'll have another post about the right wing religious training programs which actively teach lying about trans people as a legitimate political method to achieve their goals.

[Cyndee]

This "incident" was way too close to home, the damage has already been done here. And yes it's not hard to fathom the whipped up sensationalizm propagating lies for their agenda, I hope the people that spread lies for these reasons continue to be exposed.

[Guest KimberlyF]

I find it interesting as to exactly what the activists at transadvocate describe as proving CF's innocence.

If you take everything they say as fact, which goes against other comments and actions the school made at the time, but again, take it as fact.

There is a police report that proves that they were called on two consecutive days from two different youth swim teams.

So now here are points Transadvocate uses to defend CF:

-The sauna area was off limits to the two teens.

-Unless one specifically tries to see inside the sauna, you cant view the people inside the sauna.

-Colleen Francis AND her cisgender female friend were using the sauna together. They were sitting there talking.

-At no point did Francis act to expose herself to children.

-At no point was Francis walking around nude in the area where children were.

OK, accepting this is how it went down, it's OK for CF to expose CF to any of age woman who were to walk into the sauna?

The police are called on CF on Wed. We don't know have any proof of what exactly went down, but the very next day, CF is naked in the woman's area.

I'm sure it was totally a coincidence happening the very next day. Just dumb luck.

But as transadvocate says, if any minors saw anything, they were in the wrong area. Not that any underage girls didn't see anything in the woman's facility. But it's the girl's own fault!!!

The swim coach, a woman who was of legal age, also got an eyeful according to the police report. But that is not an issue at all.

But hey, if people in the community want to hitch their wagon to CF, have at it.

[Guest Jenni_S]

Curious.

http://www.adfmedia.org/files/EvergreenPoliceReport.pdf

Somewhere there are lies going on in this case. How does one tell, objectively, who is?

[Charlize]

This is disturbing not as much because of what possibly was seen or not seen but because we live in a society that thinks of nudity as a sin. I am not ashamed of my body. It works pretty well still to get me around. Not such a pretty sight at 65 but it works. Some changes would be nice but what's new. The fact is that their is a really sick, up tight group of folks who are always looking to bash anything different than their norm. Time for some magnificent sculptures of some trans bodies at various stages.

Hugs,

Charlie

[Guest KimberlyF]

That's even worse. It's been a while. So it was the swim teacher who contacted the police on Wed over the Sauna. The police report, though, is over nakedness on thurs in front of a minor in the locker room. The DA said the law was unclear so they wouldn't prosecute. There was no mention of these police calls/reports being false which would make them illegal.

[Guest LizMarie]

The police report lists the original allegation. That doesn't mean that is what actually occurred. Police are required to record the allegation made in order to proceed with the investigation. The prior day is simply a complaint about a "man" being in the woman's locker. There is nothing in the report about exposing herself.

The second day clearly states that a student (17 years old) entered the sauna, breaking the school rules against entering that area. That student then complained to a coach who entered the sauna and demanded Colleen Francis leave.

There was no exposing herself to 6 year olds. That was a lie.

There was no exposing herself to the swim team. That was a lie.

All that happened was an underage student entered an area where she shouldn't have been, saw Colleen Francis, and then ran to a coach. The rest? Complete and utter bullcrap.

The incident of the first day? There is no allegation of anything other than Colleen Francis simply being there. There is nothing in the police report about exposing herself in any way. There was simply a report of a man in the women's locker room.

If someone is outraged at Colleen Francis' mere existence, then get in line with the Pacific Justice Institute and picket Jane Doe in Colorado too, simply for existing. Picket every single walking living transwoman who is pre-op or non-op.

The police report meshes with what the college has stated.

[Drea]

I have little trust of the radical trans folks who will bend over backwards to justify any occurrence and try to maintain that no trans folks has ever done anything untoward. It carries no more weight with me than the radical anti-trans peeps.

Passionate and vocal argument doesn't make something a fact.

I've seen such claims of these so often made based on what we have hear which is a source as biased as fox news except for the political agenda behind the bias.

I expect it is just a matter of time before we once again hear "news" once again how republicans denied trans woman's kidney transplant" trying to rejuvenate that piece of nonsense into a rallying issue for trans rather than the ridiculous assertion it was.

Then again there are lots of people who passionately believe in ancient aliens and bigfoot.

[Guest KimberlyF]

The police report is backwards, but this is how I read it with the quotes directly from the report.

Wed Sept 26-Evergreen Swim Club student(s) reported to adult coach who saw CF "sitting with her legs open with her male genitalia showing" in the sauna.

Thursday sept 27-17 yo from Capital High School saw CF "naked and displaying male genitalia" in locker room

[Cyndee]

I would prefer that the story be forgotten in time, and we know that the media has already done that. And I would prefer to work to present a positive image for transpeople that does get remembered...

Right on Meg.

Don't give us more problems, offer and provide solutions....

[Drea]

I would prefer that the story be forgotten in time, and we know that the media has already done that. And I would prefer to work to present a positive image for transpeople that does get remembered...

Right on Meg.

Don't give us more problems, offer and provide solutions....

Oh I agree and the way to move forward is not by denying reality and to address the concerns, show that we understand, rather than deny. It is the denial and insistence of not setting any limits that any reasonable trans person thinks makes sense to address that gives the critics ability to gain traction.

[Guest Melissa~]

My personal standards are apparently much higher than CF. In general I choose not to associate with her, or get in similar situations. CF also had some statements from the time, I'm not about to dismiss her own words either.

I concur it's best to leave this one in the dustbin. There is no parallel to Colorado here.