Back in the early
1990s, no one talked about transgender people, they were not on TV or in
movies, and the fight to protect their civil rights was not being debated in
the halls of government. So how did this community get organized and begin this
fight? What did it take for Transgender
people to achieve the visibility they have today and who were they able to
raise the issue of their civil rights to highest levels of power? In her new memoir, TRANS/gressive: How Transgender Activists Took on Gay Rights,
Feminism, the Media & Congress...and Won! author, activist and
gender theorist Riki Wilchins tells
the inside story of how in just a few years, a handful of trans activists would
come together in the face of enormous difficulties and opposition to launch from
the very margins of society what would grow into the modern political movement
for gender rights. The book details the
long and winding road of trans rights from the early days of anti-trans rights
in segments of the feminist movement, to the murder of transwomen such as
Brandon Teena, through the fight to include trans rights among those of
the ‘Gay and Lesbian” community. Riki joins me on the show today to talk all
about the book and the continuing struggle for transgender equality.
This sure has been
another crazy week in politics what with Special Counsel Robert Mueller
impaneling a grand jury and issuing subpoenas to the President announcing his
plan to curtail immigration to the US.
Joining me today to help us wrap up the week in politics is Eleanor Clift the Washington
correspondent for The Daily Beast, where she covers the
White House and writes about politics and culture.
Listen to The Michelangelo Signorile Show weekdays live from 3-6 pm ET on SiriusXM Progress 127 and on the SiriusXM apps. Not a subscriber? Not a problem! Listen online any time with a free thirty-day pass or go to the app store and download SiriusXM for free and listen on your phone
|