Contents:

2-02-04: Lambda Literary Foundation (LLF) nominates Bailey's book for a "Lammy"

2-24-04: Gwen Smith, authoress of the memorial website "Remembering Our Dead", blasts LLF for nominating Bailey's book.

2-24-04: LLF announces that Man Who Would Be Queen to Remain on Lambda Literary Awards Finalists List

3-01-04: Prominent TransMan Jamison Green Challenges LLF

http://www.lambdalit.org/

16th Annual Lambda Literary Awards Finalists named

February 2, 2004
For immediate release

Media Contact:
Jim Marks 202-682-0952
LLF@lambdalit.org

Washington, DC - The Lambda Literary Foundation announced the
Finalists for the 16th Annual Lambda Literary Awards, celebrating
achievements in gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT)
literature in 2003.

This year, 100 finalists are recognized in twenty categories,
reflecting a diverse range of distinguished voices from the GLBT
community. In the Gay Men's Fiction category, for instance, the
settings include New York theatrical life, Gertrude Stein's Paris, a
rapidly modernizing Beijing, rural upstate New York and the urban
"circuit" party set. The Lesbian Fiction category is just as varied,
exploring the darker reaches of Los Angeles, Sierra Nevada ski
resorts, a working class Chicana childhood in northern California, a
family with dark secrets in London, Ontario, and a New-Agey nunnery.
Best-selling novelist Patricia Highsmith is the subject of two
finalist books (a biography and a memoir), and - in a sign of the
maturing of GLBT book publishing - pioneering novelist and biographer
Edmund White is himself the subject of a biography. Previous Lammy
award finalists Terry Wolverton and Michelle Tea, whose books competed
in the Memoir category last year, have returned with nominations in
the Lesbian Poetry category.

The full range of the publishing community is represented from
mainstream international publishing houses to the varied small
independent presses. This year, Los Angeles-based Alyson Publications
boasts the most nominees with fifteen nominations spanning ten
categories. New York's Kensington Publishing has eight finalists in
six categories. Cleis Press, located in San Francisco, grabs five
finalists in four categories and Firebrand Books, after recently
re-opening, is a contender for the highly coveted Lesbian Fiction
award.

Seventy-four judges, presenting a broad cross-section of the gay and
lesbian literary world, will select a single book in each category to
win the prestigious Lambda Literary Award, considered to be the
highest accolade for a book from the GLBT community.

The Awards gala will be held in Chicago at the prestigious Chicago
Mart Plaza Hotel on June 3rd, 2004, on the eve of the annual Book Expo
conference.

The Lambda Literary Foundation is the only national nonprofit
organization dedicated to the recognition, promotion and publication
of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered writing. The Foundation
publishes the Lambda Book Report, a monthly GLBT book review magazine,
and The James White Review, a gay men's literary quarterly.
Additionally, it organizes the annual Lambda Literary Awards and an
annual writers conference, the Lambda Literary Festival. The Lambda
Literary Foundation is headquartered in Washington, D.C. For further
information about the foundation, please visit the web site at
www.lambdalit.org or call (202) 682-0952.

Forbidden Acts, by Ben Hodges (Applause Theatre & Cinema Books)
Motifs and Repetitions, by C.E. Gatchalian (The Writers' Collective)
Prok, by Brian Drader (Scirocco Drama)
The Band Plays, by Mart Crowley (Alyson Publications)
Women in Turmoil: Six Plays, Robert Schanke, ed. (Southern Illinois
University Press)

Transgender/GenderQueer

She's Not There, by Jennifer Finney Boylan (Broadway Books)
The Drag King Anthology, Donna Troka, Kathleen Lebesco, Jean Noble,
eds. (Harrington Park Press)
The Man Who Would Be Queen, by J. Michael Bailey (Joseph Henry Press)
Trans-gendered, by Justin Tanis (The Pilgrim Press)
Transgender Journeys, by Virginia Ramey Mollenkott and Vanessa
Sheridan (The Pilgrim Press)

Visual Arts/Photography

A Face in the Crowd, John Peterson and Martin Bedogne, eds. (Prospect
Publishing)
Familiar Men, by Laurie Toby Edison (Shifting Focus Press)
Focus on Living, by Roslyn Banish (University of Massachusetts Press)
Vacation in Ibiza, by Lawrence Schimel and Sebas (Eurotica/NBM)
Women Seeing Women, Lonthar Schirmer, ed. (W.W.Norton)

 

Sincerely,

Deirdre McCloskey
 

Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2004 09:30:04 -0500
To: LLF@lambdalit.org
From: Caitlyn Antrim
Subject: Trans book nomination

 

Dear Mr. Marks,
 

I learned today the the book by J. Michael Bailey, "The Man Who Would Be Queen" was nominated in the LLF award category for Transgender/GenderQueer. I believe this must have been a mishap because the content of the book represents the worst of stereotyping, outdated scientific opinion and misrepresentation. Even its appearance on your list of nominees contributes to harm of modern studies of transsexualism and femininity in boys.

This is a book of anecdotes, not science. It's stories were obtained by stealth and misrepresentation. It engages in the worst of stereotyping of both transgender and gay and lesbian people. Prof. Bailey has admitted to falsifying, to the point of reversal of the truth, a key story of a young boy who he claimed to have been turned away from his transgender feelings by parental guidance. He has now admitted that he created that ending because it illustrated the point he wanted to make and that it Never Happened.

In the course of obtaining his anecdotes, Professor Bailey conducted private consultations for the stated purpose of determining whether he would approve the individuals for their sex reassignment surgery. This was wrong on three points. First, Prof. Bailey placed the people in the position of wanting to say whatever was necessary to obtain his approval for surgery (this is known behavior in the TG community). Second, Prof. Bailey later used these _private_ consultations for his public book, without permission of the individuals. Third, Professor Bailey has not joined the professional society dedicated to transsexualism and gender dysphoria, preferring to base his work on sex research and sexual orientation. While there is debate over the quality of his research in sexual orientation, it is clear that Prof. Bailey does not have expertise in transsexualism and has the support of only a small group of like-minded researchers and a group of like-minded individuals who believe in evolutionary biology with a racist and anti-GLBT thrust.

I am sure that others have sent you URLs of reviews and comments that substantiate my comments. Please do not let this book obtain additional visibility - and please review the information on the web sites managed by Lynn Conway and Andrea James.
 

Numerous individuals in our community have put extensive effort into uncovering the truth behind "The Man Who Would Be Queen". I ask that rather than consider this book for an award that you give special recognition to the individuals who have worked so hard to uncover the danger presented not only by this book but by the network of individuals who support it and its message of misinformation.

Caitlyn Antrim

--

www.w-o-m-a-n.net
 

Dear Mr Marks

My name is Christine Burns and I am one of the leading campaigners for the legal and civil rights of trans people in the United Kingdom.

 

I am a former vice president of the well-known lobby organisation Press for Change (www.pfc.org.uk), a member of the Parliamentary Forum on Transsexualism, and have been closely involved with the UK Government's work to bring forward a Bill affording full legal recognition of transsexual people in this country. You can read about myself at http://www.pfc.org.uk/campaign/people/cburns.htm and you can find out about the Bill currently passing through Parliament at http://www.pfc.org.uk/gr-bill/index.htm

As one of this campaign's leaders I have had more than a simply academic interest in the book, "The Man Who Would Be Queen". Putting aside the obvious absence of any of the usual trappings of legitimate science in the book, I find it amazing (a) that it was published at all and (b) that it was published by - of all things - the National Academy of Science. Indeed, you will see that I was one of the first international commentators to ask for (and fail to get) any sort of answers from the NAS. (See the open letters of mine which are published at http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/CHRISTINE-BURNS-LETTER.html).

 

My concern has been, from the outset, that the book offered a form of succour to the very kind of people who would be looking for any kind of "evidence" (legitimate or otherwise) which would appear to contradict the authoritative international evidence taken by domestic courts, the European Court of Human Rights, the European Court of Justice and Her Majesty's Government in getting to this legislative point.

For the avoidance of any doubt let me make this clear: The community of legitimate experts who actually treat transsexual people and undertake bona-fide research into helping them have never taken the ideas advanced in Michael Bailey's book seriously since they were first advanced by his mentor, Ray Blanchard, well over a decade ago. Bailey is not a member of the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association (HBIGDA), to which most professionals in this field belong. Furthermore, when the board of HBIGDA wrote to the committee at North Western investigating the complaints against Bailey and formally criticised his behaviour and publication themselves, Blanchard (who was until then an HBIGDA member) resigned in a huff. The HBIGDA board knew that that outcome was almost certain to occur and therefore you can have no stronger indication of the very serious concerns that both professionals and transsexual people alike have about this whole affair.

In view of all this I am therefore astonished and disappointed that the LLF could have allowed its name to be associated in any way with supporting such a travesty .. especially as your organisation styles itself as LBGT rather than simply LGB. (Perhaps you should consider how seriously you take the responsibility of appending that "T" on the end -- it should be there for a reason, not just because it is the chic thing to do nowadays).

I do acknowledge that organisations can sometimes sleepwalk into doing horrendous things that they really didn't intend. Being generous I am assuming that that is what has happened here. The proof of the pudding will lie in how quickly you investigate and respond to this very serious affair however, and reconsider your actions in shortlisting such a blatantly transphobic, damaging and misleading work masquerading as science.

To quote John Bancroft of the Kinsey Institute, commenting on this book, "It is not Science". That alone should ring alarm bells.

Kindest regards

Christine Burns

 

Christine Burns
Trans Rights Campaigner and Educator

E-mail: c_burns (at) btinternet.com
http://www.pfc.org.uk/campaign/people/cburns.htm

Below is the text of an "open letter" that I am publishing in the issue
of Lambda Book Report that went to press today. I plan on posting this
letter on our website on Monday.

Thanks to everyone for their input.

Jim

 

One thing about living in the Internet Age: When you hit a raw nerve,
you learn about it quickly.

—Jim Marks


--
Jim Marks, Executive Director, Lambda Literary Foundation
LLF Programs: Lambda Book Report, The James White Review, Lambda
Literary Awards and Lambda Literary Festival
Online at www.lambdalit.org
202-682-0952; 202-682-0955 fax; PO Box 73910, Washington, DC 20056-3910
shipping address: 1217 Eleventh St. NW, Suite 1, Washington, DC 20001

http://www.baywindows.com/main.cfm?include=detail&storyid=604717

 

Bay Windows - Arts
Issue: 02/19/04

Lambda Literary awards come under fire
By R.J. Grubb

Last week, the prestigious Lambda Literary Foundation
routinely named its annual list of finalists for the best gay,
lesbian, bisexual, and transgender contributions to literature.
But doing so, the foundation quickly came under attack from
protesters seeking the prompt withdrawal of a publicly
disreputable book.

The rejected nomination concerns J. Michael Bailey's
controversial book, "The Man Who Would be Queen." In March 2003,
Bailey, then chair of the psychology department at Northwestern
University, published The Man Who Would Be Queen: The Science of
Gender-Bending and Transsexualism. Following its publication,
reviewers were quick to call the book "junk science" and question
its numerous theoretical findings as baseless. Besides citing
shoddy research, outraged readers objected to Bailey's thesis
which equates transgenderism with a perversion. Amid allegations
of ethics misconduct performed during the research of the book,
...
Bailey is accused of having sex with one of the book's subjects
and violating federal law by failing to obtain consent to use
the subject as research in his book. In November, Northwestern
announced that Bailey was the subject of an ethics investigation.

Despite the author's well-publicized critical backlash and
professional crash, Lambda nominated The Man Who Would Be Queen
as one of the year's best books in its "transgender/genderqueer"
category.

Upon hearing Lambda's selection of Bailey's book,
"GenderTalk" radio hosts and trans activists Nancy Nangeroni and
Gordene MacKenzie were "horrified."

"Their nomination of Bailey's book reveals at the very least
that to Lambda Literary, trans-inclusion doesn't include learning
about trans issues or including knowledgeable trans persons in
their nominating body," said Nangeroni.

According to Lambda's Web site, "seventy-four judges,
presenting a broad cross-section of the gay and lesbian literary
world," selected each nomination. This year's nominees
represented the foundation's 16th annual crop of finalists, all
chosen for their achievements in gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgender (GLBT) literature. Winners receive what's called
"Lammy" awards in several different categories. Winning a Lammy
is considered the highest accolade for a book from the GLBT
community. Lambda plans to present their awards at a gala held
on June 3 in Chicago.

Like many others, MacKenzie has been disputing Bailey's
findings since she read the book last summer. At the National
Women's Studies Association Conference in New Orleans, MacKenzie
conducted a presentation which discussed the backlash directed at
Bailey and his faulty findings. MacKenzie, who directs the
women's studies program at Merrimack College said, "I use it as
an example of junk science in my Gender and Diversity class."

Lambda's announcement sparked an instant email and letter
writing campaign directed at Jim Marks, the foundation's executive
director. It is the first time a Lammy finalist has been
challenged. Protests request the removal of Bailey's book arguing
it marks a serious mistake made by the literary organization.
Among those callers were Nangeroni and MacKenzie. On Feb. 9,
Marks was booked to discuss the controversy on their weekly radio
program GenderTalk, which airs live from 6:30 to 8pm on 88.1fm
WMBR. According to the latest Lambda Book Report, Marks said the
foundation is reconsidering the nomination in light of the
objections and will announce the results in the Book Report's
March issue and on Lambda's Web site at, www.lambdalit.org.

Complainants hope Lambda will quickly acknowledge their
perspective and take Bailey off their list. Yet even if Lambda
withdraws Bailey's book, the controversy underscores
inconsistencies in the foundation's mission which strives to
further literacy and understanding about GLBT people. As
Nangeroni suggested, the act is akin to "a trans organization
honoring a homosexual recovery ministry."

"Bailey's basic message is that transgenderism is a
perversion of either homosexual or self-love," said Nangeroni.
"This is not only untrue, it is in itself a perversion whose
effects are quite damaging to the lives and self-esteem of a great
many people. For a high profile GLBT organization to affirm such
a message implies that that organization is either out of touch,
dishonest, or self-hating on some level."

Currently protests remain contained to writing letters and
placing phone calls. However, the longer the controversy wages,
the greater potential it holds for creating divisive rifts in the
GLBT community.

"We would like to see [Lambda] withdraw Bailey's nomination,
with an apology, before any substantial protest is required," said
Nangeroni. "If this does not happen, then the GLBT community will
be witness to yet another stupid internal quarrel. For this to
happen at a time when the struggle for gay marriage is at a
turning point that demands the undivided attention and support of
every GLBT activist would be an especially sorry tragedy."
 

Following is an e-mail sent on to Jim Marks from Gwen Smith.

where we remember the many beautiful trans lives lost to violent hate crimes.

Mr. Marks,

It came to my attention that J. Michael Bailey's The Man Who Would Be
Queen has been nominated for a Lambda Literary Award.  This seems an
unusual, even contradictory choice for Lambda Literary Foundation to
make.  Considering The Man Who Would Be Queen for a Lammy in the
transgender category seems akin to nominating Anne Paulk's Restoring
Sexual Identity in the LGBT Studies category.  Both are books that --
while considered well-intentioned by their authors -- only serve to harm
our community.

Bailey's book serves to foster poor stereotypes of transgendered people
that are uncommon in reality. For example, Bailey's assertion that
transgendered people are typically sex-workers, or that we all fit into
two rigid and unproven categories. These are only two small examples out
of a book chock-full of half-truths and outright fictions. These same
stereotypes can and are being used against transgendered people at this
time.

Bailey -- like Paulk -- seem to have had a clear agenda when writing
their texts, as well.  Certainly Paulk is writing under the aegis of
Harvest House and Exodus Ministries, and has a clear goal of bolstering
the so-called "Ex-gay" movement.  Bailey's goals and motives seem less
clear, but it seems obvious that he has set out to provide poorly
researched "science" and sometimes-less-than-truthful anecdotes as a way
to prove his own pet theories, much of which he seems to have cribbed
from Dr. Ray Blanchard.

This is why I've chosen to compare Bailey to Paulk.  No-one would think
that the Lambda Literary Foundation would be a credible organization if
her text showed up as a finalist.  I figure that by using this example,
you may see why this is so offensive to transgendered people -- and why
now the Lambda Literary Foundation is being seen as being no friend to
transgendered people.  The inclusion of the Bailey book is a major blow
to any possible belief that the Lambda Literary Foundation was in any way
an organization with credibility in its choices for a Lambda Literary
Award.

More than this, it amazes me that such a poorly written and planned book
at Baiey's would even make sure a list.  Maybe there was a desire for
more possible finalists, but I also know there were several other books
that did not make said list: Branded T, The Gender Frontier, and Wrapped
In Blue being the first to come to mind.

If Lambda Literary Foundation is indeed supposed to be about the
recognition and promotion of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender
community, and if the Lambda Literary Awards are truly designed to honor
the best and the brightest the community has to offer, then the selection
of Bailey's book would be as laughable as the Paulk book ever being on
the list.  While I am aware that you will not be delisting the Bailey
book from your finalists -- what's done is done, after all -- I hope that
the Lambda Literary Foundation will be aware that while the damage is
already done, much could be said by choosing one of your other finalists
in the transgender category over a book as clearly and intentionally
defamatory as Bailey's

Cheers,
Gwendolyn Ann Smith

 .  .
/\\//\  Gwendolyn Ann Smith * www.gwensmith.com
> () <  Columnist, Bay Area Reporter & Philadelphia Gay News
\/()\/  Board Member, FTMI * Board Member, GEA
"I want this to be a harmony of voices" - Lauren D. Wilson 
 

on Lambda Literary Awards Finalists List


After two weeks of discussion, the Finalists Committee for the Lambda
Literary Awards voted to retain The Man Who Would Be Queen as a
finalist for the 2003 Transgender Award.


"This was a very difficult decision, and I appreciate the seriousness
and integrity with which the committee considered the issues raised by
the opponents and supporters of The Man Who Would Be Queen," said Jim
Marks, Executive Director of the Lambda Literary Foundation, which
organizes the annual Lambda Literary Awards (Lammys). "They have been
very sensitive about the depth of feeling on this matter."

When the 2003 Lambda Literary Award finalists were announced, the
selection of The Man Who Would Be Queen touched off a firestorm of
protest that the book was transphobic, poor science and that the
author, J. Michael Bailey, was the subject of ethics charges at
Northwestern University, where he chairs the Department of Psychology.
The book also drew equally strong expressions of support from other
transgender activists and from colleagues in the field of study.

Given the range of opinions heard by the Finalists Committee, it agreed
to focus on whether the content of the book was at odds with the Lambda
Literary Foundation’s mission of supporting gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgender people through cultural literacy. The viewpoint that
received the majority vote was that "Bailey has not set out to
intentionally do harm to gay men and transsexuals. He doesn't get it on
some fundamental levels but he genuinely thinks he does."


With the Finalists Committee decision made, now a panel of judges will
consider which of the five books in this category will be selected for
the 2003 Lambda Literary Award. The five finalists in the transgender
category are: She's Not There, by Jennifer Finney Boylan (Broadway
Books); The Drag King Anthology, Donna Troka, Kathleen Lebesco, Jean
Noble, eds. (Harrington Park Press); The Man Who Would Be Queen, by J.
Michael Bailey (Joseph Henry Press); Trans-gendered, by Justin Tanis
(The Pilgrim Press); and Transgender Journeys, by Virginia Ramey
Mollenkott and Vanessa Sheridan (The Pilgrim Press). The same judging
process will be followed for the books in the other 19 categories.


The results of the judges’ decisions will be announced at a gala
banquet to be held June 3, 2004 at the Chicago Mart Plaza Hotel.
Tickets are $125 for the dinner, $175 for the dinner and gala
reception, with discounts for tickets purchased before March 31, 2004.
For more information or to order online, go to www.lambdalit.org or
call 202-682-0952.



Additional information:


How was the book selected in the first place? The finalists for the
Lambda Literary Awards were nominated by their publishers and other
authorized agents in the fall of 2003; the nomination period closed
December 15, 2003. The finalists in each category were chosen by an ad
hoc committee of LGBT book professionals. Committee members voted
independently of each other and their votes were not shared with other
committee members. Choices were ranked on a scale of 5 to 1 (five being
the highest score) and the five books with the highest totals were
selected as finalists.

Did every member of the finalist committee vote for the books selected
as finalists? No. Because of the ranking system, the fact that
categories could have many entrants and that there is no runoff, it is
quite possible for a book to become a Lammy finalist without all the
Finalists Committee members voting for it.


What about the questions raised on the book’s scientific merit? In an
Open Letter published in the February 2004 Lambda Book Report, Lambda
Literary Foundation executive director Jim Marks discussed the ethical
and censorship issues raised by the call to remove the book from the
list. As the committee discussed the points being raised, and we
continued receiving comments from the public, it became clear that
opinion on the scientific merit of the book was divided. For instance,
we received comments from two members of the editorial board of the
Journal of Sex Research, one speaking on behalf of the book, the other
questioning it. Given such a division of expert opinion, it was beyond
the competence of a literary review panel to make a judgment on
scientific merit.



Finalists Committee:


Larry Bailey, The Open Book, Sacramento, CA
Victoria A. Brownworth, author and critic, Philadelphia, PA
Michelle DiMeo and Pam Harcourt, Women and Children First, Chicago, IL
Richard Labonte, Books to Watch Out For
Kris Kleindienst, Owner, Left Bank Books, St. Louis, MO
Sara Look, Charis Books, Atlanta, GA
Retha Powers, Bookspan
Philip Rafshoon, owner, OutWrite Books, Atlanta, GA
David Rosen, Insight Out Books
Richard Schneider, Editor, The Gay & Lesbian Review
Martha Stone, Literary Editor, The Gay & Lesbian Review
Jane Troxell & Robert Starner, Lambda Rising Bookstore, Washington, DC
Kurt Weber, A Different Light Books, Los Angeles, CA


--
Jim Marks, Executive Director, Lambda Literary Foundation
LLF Programs: Lambda Book Report, The James White Review, Lambda
Literary Awards and Lambda Literary Festival
Online at www.lambdalit.org
202-682-0952; 202-682-0955 fax; PO Box 73910, Washington, DC 20056-3910
 

To: transgendernews@yahoogroups.com
Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2004 06:10:49 -0000
Subject: [transgendernews] [Opinion] Time for our T back - Lambda
Literary Awards
Message-ID: <c1he99+b4s4@egroups.com>

Forwarded from "Christine Burns" - Press for Change (UK),
please redistribute widely

----Start of forwarded message ----

Dear Jim

I'm addressing this reply to your release about the LLF's decision on
"The Man Who Would be Queen" in a way that copies as many transsexual
and transgender people that I know how.

(Readers who have not received Jim's statement directly will find a
copy of it below).

I call upon those people to signify whether they agree or disagree
with what I say next by further copying this message onto other
online lists of trans people and by supporting what I have to say by
emailing your own views to Jim_Marks@lambdalit.org

JIM, IT IS TIME TO ASK FOR OUR T BACK

There is a disturbingly arrogant presumption among Gay, Lesbian and
Bisexual organisations throughout the world wherein they assume that
the suffix "T" is something that is in their gift to append to the
list of peoples whom they embrace. Time and time again I have been
invited to help groups make the case to their committees for whether
they should deign to add the T to their own statement of mission. The
arrogance is simply beyond belief.

I have to break it to you in as gentle a way as possible Jim. They are
(and LLF) wrong.

The T belongs to transgender people. It is OUR letter T. And it is our
privilege to decide who wears it.

The "T" is an award that has to be earned. And, in my view, this
incident demonstrates that Lambda Literary Foundation has a long way
to
go in learning what it means to say that you support and embrace the
struggle faced by the world's transgender people.

I ask you to remove the letter "T" with immediate effect from your
literature and your web site and call upon others to signify whether
they agree with that sentiment.

You state your collective viewpoint as:

"Bailey has not set out to intentionally do harm to gay men and
transsexuals. He doesn't get it on some fundamental levels but he
genuinely thinks he does"

I take that as a statement of appeasement towards someone who, by
their actions and connections, has done everything in their power to
defame transsexual people and threaten the advance of the rights and
protection of a community which every day, on every continent, faces
crushing social exclusion, physical and mental harassment and worse.

To describe Bailey as a well meaning buffoon who means well and
doesn't mean to perpetuate such egregious falsehoods about our people
simply doesn't accord with the reality. The statement suggests, in
fact, that perhaps "The Lambda Literary Foundation doesn't set out to
insult transgender people - they simply don't get it on a fundamental
level".

The "T" on the list of those you embrace has to be earned. It has to
represent something. It needs to be awarded by trans people on the
basis of a belief that you really DO get what we are about.

At the moment it is clear from your decision that you don't.

Therefore, if only as an act of public good faith, I call upon the
Lambda Literary Founation to remove the T that seems to mean nothing
to your organisation. Trans people will decide when, and if, you have
the right to have it awarded back to you.

Yours sincerely and in disgust

Christine Burns
Trans Rights Campaigner and Educator,
Manchester, England.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   --   PLEASE CIRCULATE WIDELY

February 26, 2004
Contact: Nancy Nangeroni (nancy@gendertalk.com)
GenderTalk Radio
www.gendertalk.com
c/o WMBR 88.1 FM, 3 Ames St., Cambridge, MA  02142


GenderTalk announces "LammyLit Memorial" Award

[Cambridge, MA] GenderTalk Radio, the most popular and widely respected 
radio program on transgender issues, is pleased and proud to announce a 
new award created in the spirit of the Lambda Literary Foundation 
Awards nominations. These formerly-respected LLF awards are given, 
according to Executive Director Jim Marks, to persons where "He doesn't 
get it on some fundamental levels but he genuinely thinks he does" (see 
Lambda's announcement at www.lambdalit.org/Lammy/FinalistDecision.html).

This week's GenderTalk LammyLit Memorial award goes to Fred Phelps, who 
thinks he's doing God's work, but on some level, just doesn't get it. 
Fred is well known to GLBT persons across the United States for his 
"God Hates Fags" website and his virulently homophobic demonstrations 
against GLBT persons. Says GenderTalk founder and co-host Nancy 
Nangeroni, "We've been very sensitive about the depth of feeling on 
this matter."

The GenderTalk award is selected by an impartial committee of straight 
white millionaires who are paid well for doing whatever makes them the 
most money. While personally unfamiliar with Phelps or Gay issues, they 
nonetheless believe they have made the right choice.

With the announcement of this award, it is expected that grateful Gay 
and Lesbian persons will shower the GenderTalk staff with money and 
treat them to expensive dinners at Hyatt Hotels.

The GTRLLM Award was inspired by the finalist selection of J. Michael 
Bailey's "The Man Who Would Be Queen" for a Lambda Literary Foundation 
award. Despite the book's having been soundly critiqued (here: 
http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/
LynnsReviewOfBaileysBook.html) by leading transgender academics and 
activists, and the ongoing investigation (see 
http://www.tsroadmap.com/info/bailey-investigation.html) of its author 
for unethical research methods, the nominating committee bravely stood 
its ground in defending freedom of speech for pathologizing 
transphobes.  Meanwhile, leading trans activists called his book "the 
most transphobic publication in over 30 years".

The Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization unaffiliated with any 
transgender organization or cause, has issued an "Intelligence Report" 
(http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?sid=96) which 
likens Bailey's work to "racist science" and reveals connections 
between neo-eugenics fans of the Human Biodiversity Institute (HBI) and 
the book's author.

Despite all this and a substantial outcry of protest 
(http://www.baywindows.com/news/2004/02/12/Arts/
Lambda.Literary.Awards.Come.Under.Fire-604717.shtml and 
http://www.tsroadmap.com/info/lambda-literary.html) of the book's 
nomination, Lambda Lit's nominations committee has seen fit to reaffirm 
Bailey's nomination, because, as director Marks writes, "He doesn't get 
it on some fundamental levels but he genuinely thinks he does". Such 
profound wisdom led directly to the creation of this GenderTalk award 
(and the election of George W. Bush).

All persons interested in congratulating the members of Lambda Lit's 
finalist selection committee for their brilliant work in inspiring this 
award can find their contact information here: 
http://www.tsroadmap.com/info/lambda-literary.html .   Those wishing to 
congratulate LLF's executive director Jim Marks for his brilliance of 
vision and fairness of judgement can email him at llf@lambdalit.org.
                                                
 

Lambda awards finalist sparks anger

by Zak Szymanski

Bay Area Reporter March 4 2004

Several months of public outcry over J. Michael Bailey's The Man Who Would be Queen didn't seem to affect the members of the Lambda Literary Awards' finalists committee; Bailey's book is up for an award in Lambda's "transgender" category, touching off a second wave of activism around the book that now includes an online petition to remove the book from Lambda's short list.

The book will now be forwarded along with four other titles to a panel of judges who will make the final decision. The Lambda Literary Awards are held annually and take place this year on June 3 in Chicago.

Bailey, a heterosexual psychologist and faculty member at Northwestern University, touted The Man Who Would Be Queen as a nonfictional, scientific account of the experiences and identities of male-to-female transsexuals. His research methods have been criticized as well as defended, but it is his final conclusion that angered many when the book was first released last year: MTF transsexuals fall into one of two categories, according to Bailey, those who are effeminate gay men, and those who are masculine men but who are sexually aroused by the idea of themselves as women.

Furthermore, said Bailey, most gay men were effeminate in childhood, and many of them would have transitioned into females but decided they would not have been attractive women.

³Whoever made this decision needs to do a better job. A much better job," said an e-mail to the Lambda Literary Foundation from Professor Deirdre McCloskey, whose book Crossing: A Memoir was a 1999 finalist in the same category. "It would be like nominating Mein Kampf for a literary prize in Jewish studies.²

Soon after its release, Bailey's book was condemned by members of the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association, the body of physicians and mental health experts responsible for setting the "standards of care" for sexual reassignment. Additionally, a group of Bailey's alleged research subjects (many assert that Bailey's research was in large part conducted by visits to drag bars) filed a formal complaint at Northwestern University alleging that they never gave consent to be studied and that Bailey fabricated details about their stories in order to fit his own hypotheses. Northwestern University launched its own investigation into Bailey's research protocol last year.

Nevertheless, the committee of Lambda Literary Awards decided to keep the book on its list for a few reasons, said Jim Marks, who as executive director of the Lambda Literary Foundation administers the awards but does not select nominees or finalists.

Marks noted that many researchers have written in strong support of Bailey's methods and conclusions, and that some transsexuals actually support Bailey's research as well. There have been some well-known ­ although controversial and considered by many to be antiquated ­ research studies that document "autogynephelia," the state of being aroused by oneself as the opposite sex.

But many transgenders point out that there are also research studies by the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality on gay "conversion" to heterosexuality, and that Lambda probably wouldn't have promoted a book by that organization. Interestingly, the NARTH Web site actually features The Man Who Would Be Queen, praising the author for recognizing femininity (or as the NARTH reviewer calls it, "diminished masculinity")in gay men, stating that Bailey's find "has implications for treatment of men with unwanted homosexuality."

Critics of the Lambda Awards also point out that the issue is not whether some transsexuals fit into Bailey's categories; his blanket statements unscientifically generalize an entire population, one whose members have repeatedly said they have been harmed by the book.

Whether transgenders were harmed or not, Marks told the Bay Area Reporter that Lambda's finalists committee decided Bailey did not do so intentionally, and therefore the book was not in opposition to Lambda's mission.

A statement posted by Marks on the Lambda Literary Foundation's Web site says, in part, that the committee decided that ³Bailey has not set out to intentionally do harm to gay men and transsexuals. He doesn't get it on some fundamental levels but he genuinely thinks he does."

But Marks did not explain why the standards for literary awards are not higher than not causing intentional harm and don't include "getting it" when it comes to a purported scientific document.

Marks also refused to say whether there were any transgenders on the committee that decided whether transgender concerns were compromised by the book.

But Marks did say that other books on the Lambda finalists list could just as easily be criticized for furthering stereotypes; the novel The Book of Salt by Monique Truong, said Marks, is written by a heterosexual woman and features effeminate Asian gay male characters.

"Anyone can critique a book. Because people are able to interpret things doesn't mean we all have to necessarily agree with their interpretation," said Marks.

A book like Truong's, of course, is fiction. A book like Bailey's, note activists, has repercussions for the trans as well as gay communities when it comes to recognizing individual experiences, securing equality, and accessing appropriate and vital healthcare.

THE SHOW GOES ON

Publicists for Bailey's book had no comment on the Lambda Awards controversy, but they directed the B.A.R. to an open letter posted last June by Joseph Henry Press, the book 's publisher.

"None of us involved in the publication of The Man Who Would Be Queen imagined the extent of the controversy that its publication would trigger,² said the statement. ³We deeply regret the fact that some have found the book harmful or offensive. ... The appropriate response ... we believe, is not to silence the scientist or to censor the expression of his findings and ideas. Rather we hope that the publication will inspire a productive discussion about future directions and methodologies in research on issues of gender and sexuality."

Bay Area trans activist, scholar, and writer Susan Stryker, a two-time Lambda nominee, agrees with many activists that the inclusion of Bailey's book "reveals, at best, a great deal of ignorance about transgender issues among the selection committee," and that "transgender people are justifiably angry and feel betrayed by presumed allies."

However, Stryker also said that since "the bad decision" has been made, she will stick by the nomination from a civil libertarian and anti-censorship position.

"I would hate to see any book pulled because of political opposition, even if I think the book is utterly stupid and the nomination procedure deeply flawed," Stryker told the B.A.R. "This controversy points to a need for LLF to examine and change its nominating procedures, specifically by having culturally competent nominators on the selection committee. If there's a tranny category, there needs to be trannies on the committee."

Stryker also called for better communication between those who are angry and the Lambda Literary Foundation, noting that attacks and defensiveness are hindering productive dialogue.

She also said, however, that "if Bailey wins in the transgender category despite all the flak that has been stirred up, trans people should raise bloody hell and do everything possible to hold LLF's feet to the fire. That would be really inexcusable."

In addition to Bailey's book, the other finalists in Lambda's transgender category are: She's Not There, by Jennifer Finney Boylan (Broadway Books); The Drag King Anthology, Donna Troka, Kathleen Lebesco, Jean Noble, eds. (Harrington Park Press); Trans-gendered, by Justin Tanis (The Pilgrim Press); and Transgender Journeys, by Virginia Ramey Mollenkott and Vanessa Sheridan (The Pilgrim Press).

A published list of the Lambda finalist committee is available online. Not every committee member voted for each finalist selection. For more information on the controversy, and on the Lambda Literary Awards, visit www.lambdalit.org.

To sign the petition against recognizing The Man Who Would Be Queen as an awards finalist, visit http://www.petitiononline.com/bailey/petition.html.
 

March 5, 2004:

Petition drive protesting

Tops the 1000 mark in just six days!

Six days after launch, an online petition about the book by J Michael
Bailey has collected over one thousand signatures. It continues to grow.
This week we tell something of the tale behind the controversy and the
remarkable progress of the petition itself. And we ask, are there one
thousand liars, or just one?

March 7, 2004:

ONE THOUSAND LIARS ... OR JUST ONE?
===================================
by Christine Burns

Just over a week ago I launched a petition that has found its way around
the world and alerted hundreds of people to a controversy that has been
brewing for almost a year.

"The Man Who Would Be Queen" was written by the academic psychologist J
Michael Bailey, who holds the chair of psychology at North Western
University, near Chicago. The book was published in April 2003 by one of
America's most prestigious academic institutions, the National Academy
of Science (NAS), and was accompanied by aggressive marketing hype and
glowing testimonials by supposedly expert contemporaries and associates
of the author :

"Based on his original research, Bailey's book is
grounded firmly in science."  -- Joseph Henry Press

"Bailey is one of a rare breed of writers who manages
to combine first-rate science with deep psychological
understanding, resulting in great breadth of vision.
-- David M. Buss, author of The Evolution of
Desire: Strategies of Human Mating and Evolutionary
Psychology: The New Science of the Mind

"Absolutely splendid" -- Simon LeVay, Ph.D., author
of Queer Science

In the following months, as trans campaigners tried in vain to point out
that neither the author nor his fan club had a clue about transssexual
people and their lives, a remarkable series of revelations and events
began to unfold.

It transpired that Bailey's "research" was anything but original or
grounded in science. Most of the ideas about the controversial topic of
"Autogynephilia" had come from Bailey's mentor, Ray Blanchard -- a
researcher whose institution (Toronto's "Clarke Institute") did not earn
the nickname "Jurassic Clarke" without just cause. Certainly, the
concepts of "homosexual" and "autogynephilic" transsexualism find no
favour among therapists who actually counsel and help to treat
transsexual people. Bailey was not even a member of the globally
recognised, "Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association"
(HBIGDA) and was later strongly criticised in a letter to his university
by the HBIGDA board. Elsewhere John Bancroft, President of the Kinsey
Institute, faced Bailey across a stunned conference hall at a meeting of
the International Academy of Sex Research (IASR) and spelled it out:

"Michael, I would caution you against calling
this book 'science' because I have read it ...
and I can tell you it is NOT science."

It also emerged that Bailey's "research" had been limited to cruising
gay bars in the Chicago area in search of drag queens, and that his book
was based on contacts with seven latina trans girls who had turned to
prostitution to survive pre-operatively. They were introduced to Bailey
by their mentor, another trans woman (Angelica Kieltyka), who thought he
would write the all-important referral letters for their surgery.
Kieltyka, herself, became Bailey's sole example of a so-called
"Autogynephile", under the pseudonym "Cher". She angrily refutes the
diagnosis. Other subjects, whose histories didn't support Bailey's model
were excluded from the book.

A few weeks after the book's publication, Angelica Kieltyka made herself
known to the trans academics and campaigners who were trying to take in
what had happened. Angelica was able to shed light on how the book had
come to be written and the ways in which the author had ignored her
protests as his intentions became horribly apparent. She introduced the
book's other subjects to the investigating team and a very different
picture began to emerge from the one presented in print. A series of
very serious formal complaints followed. Bailey has been accused of
research ethics violations and (most serious of all) having sex with one
of his research subjects. The claims are currently under investigation
by Bailey's university.

As the less formal investigation work took place among academic trans
people and campaigners determined to unravel the story of the book's
motivations and publication, a darker picture began to emerge. Bailey
and those who praised his work were found to be linked through a right
wing think tank peopled by a strange mix of ideologically inclined
businessmen, academics and journalists. Investigations into Steve
Sailer's "Human Biodiversity" group found connections between Bailey and
Blanchard, key fans of the book, David Buss and Steven Pinker, and right
wing homophobic writers such as John Derbyshire.

See
http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/BaileyAssociates/HumanBiodiver
sityGroup.htm

Indeed the connections around the story of Bailey's book are so complex
that sophisticated graphics were needed to begin to represent the links:

http://www.tsroadmap.com/info/bailey-chart.html

Those links are now being investigated in more depth by a professional
team from the prestigious Southern Poverty Law Centre (SPLC). Their
initial findings can be seen at:

http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?sid=96

Above all, it soon became apparent that this controversy was never a
matter of scientific difference or the freedom to publish unpopular
outcomes of legitimate research. Indeed this wasn't even science. We
began to realise that "The Man Who Would Be Queen" was the product of
ideology, backed by an unholy alliance of people who dishonestly support
one another's efforts without disclosing their affiliations.

This wasn't simply about scientists being beastly to transsexual people
without concern for the damage they could cause. The damage .. though
dressed up as compassion .. is quite deliberate, and was just the
opening salvo of things to come in a US political climate which is
seeing increasing efforts to subvert the entire mission of science for
socio-political ends.

And then along came the Lambda Literary Foundation ...

Just how Bailey's book originally came to be nominated for an AWARD is
still not clear. What is apparent, however, is that the process then
went wrong in the most spectacular way imaginable and has seemed
incapable of righting itself.

The result, of course, was last week's online petition -- launched in an
email from me on Saturday evening here in Britain, just over a week ago.
(http://www.petitiononline.com/bailey/petition.html)

The petition didn't need much explanation to strike a chord. It spread
like wildfire. Within six hours it had over 100 signatures. Forty-eight
hours from launch the tally stood at over 600 signatures from around the
world. And, just over six days from initial announcement, the score
crossed the hugely symbolic ONE THOUSAND point and continues to grow.

One thousand signatures from around the world may not sound all that
spectacular compared to some protests, in which millions have taken to
the streets to campaign against wars. For the trans community it is a
hugely significant event however. It makes history. Never before have so
many trans people come together from around the world to take part in a
single political act.

People who have lived their lives in stealth ventured out to sign the
petition. People of all ages signed it. Signature number 986 came from
one of the most famous trans names in the last century, April Ashley.

For people who represent less than 1 in 10,000 of the world's
population, 1,000 signatures is the everyday equivalent of ten million.
And if ten million people protested something in just six days in any
other circumstances that would be regarded as very significant indeed.

And what were they saying? The petition was aimed at the Lambda Literary
Foundation (LLF), of course. Signatories are calling on the foundation
to think very hard about how they managed to shortlist a book which goes
against their entire system of values, and to act as those values
dictate.

The LLF's mission statement says that the Foundation is there ...

"...to create social change and achieve full
civil rights, dignity, and self-respect for
gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered
individuals through education, youth advocacy,
anti-violence efforts, and fighting
discrimination of all forms, to achieve full
participation in society of persons belonging
to a sexual minority."

However, the reason for signatories believing that Bailey's book fails
to contribute to LLF's mission is summed up at the end of the petition
statement ...

".. we feel that the nature of the distress and
potential harm occasioned to transsexual people
by the author's actions makes this work an
inappropriate candidate to be honoured by
a transgender-inclusive organisation ..."

The "authors actions" have been to lie and to protect his deceit in the
most brilliantly circular of ways of course.

"Most gender patients lie "
Bailey - p. 172

So, any trans person who doesn't agree with Bailey's stigmatising tract
can therefore be comfortably dismissed because anything they say is a
product of their pathology.

And this is the principal way in which Bailey has set about countering a
tsunami of criticism over the last year since his book was published.
Indeed, he goes further. He actually claims in interviews that many of
his friends are transsexual and that most trans people support what he
says in his book. For twelve months he has characterised the
investigative campaign led by Professor Lynn Conway and Andrea James as
an unrepresentative minority outburst, by people who are simply angry at
the way he describes them. This is what his friends and supporters have
told the Lambda Literary Foundation too -- further confusing a group
whose ignorance of trans lives is manifest.

So this week's petition result has far more significance than merely
protesting the stupidity of the Lambda Literary Foundation... It gives
the lie to Bailey's entire claim to support and authenticity.

The petition raises the question of how many liars there really are.

If you are one of the hundreds of people with a trans background who
have signed the Bailey Book petition in the last week then you are, in
Bailey's book, a liar. Either that you are in deep denial about all the
things which he says about you (some of which you'll find below).

It seems that lying must be endemic among the friends and associates of
trans people too .. all those non-trans people who have put their names
to the petition in support of people they know.

All of which starts to stretch the bounds of credulity even further than
they have been stretched already.

The question now is whether Bailey's lie can be sustained much longer.
Are there thousands of liars or just one? Is the world at last waking up
to the deceit that has only flourished because of widespread ignorance
among those who should have seen through him already?

Will the Lambda Literary Foundation be the first to say publicly that
they were hoodwinked? What will happen to those supposedly professional
scientists who've lied to protect their friend's deceit? What will
happen to the executives of Joseph Henry Press who have agressively
peddled a book of lies as "science" on behalf of a National Academy
whose leaders have failed the duty of their position?

As we approach the first anniversary of a lie which has still to be
fully exposed, what will the coming months hold?

One thing is for sure. The truth is there to be uncovered. And, as more
people ask questions about this controversy, we can only hope that the
movement to reveal that truth will gather pace and come to its
inevitable conclusion.

Christine Burns
7th March, 2004

(To see the list of petition signatories go to :
http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?bailey&1)


----- More Bailey Quotes ------

" - - - homosexual transsexuals are used to living on the margins of
society" Bailey - p. 184
 
"Homosexual transsexuals tend to have a short time horizon, with certain
pleasure in the present worth great risks for the future." - Bailey p.
184
 
"Prostitution is the single most common occupation that homosexual
transsexuals in our study admitted to." Bailey - p. 184
 
"The more resourceful and attractive transsexual prostitutes are call
girls." Bailey - p. 185
 
"Nearly all the homosexual transsexuals I know work as escorts after
they have their surgery." Bailey - p. 210
 
"As for shoplifting, homosexual transsexuals are not especially well
suited as much as especially motivated. For many, their taste in
clothing is much more expensive than their income allows." Bailey - p.
185
 
"Do they get married? ... homosexual transsexuals are not very
successful at finding desirable men willing to commit to them." Bailey -
p. 209

 

Below is an announcement that we are posting on our web site today. I
would like to thank everyone for their comments and e-mails. We welcome
additional comments or discussion, although our limited staff and
resources preclude answering everyone personally.

Jim

March 12, 2004. The Lambda Literary Foundation announced that "The Man
Who Would Be Queen" has been removed as a 16th Annual Lambda Literary
Award finalist.

The change was prompted by a request from the panel of judges that is
reading all the finalists in the transgender category, which said the
book was not appropriate for the category. The Foundation does not
identify the judges to the public or each other until the Awards
banquet, which this year will be held June 3, in Chicago, IL. Upon
receiving the request, executive director Jim Marks went back to the
Finalist Committee, which had selected the book originally. A majority
of the committee agreed to honor the request.

Because the action was unprecedented, it provoked heated discussion
within the Finalist Committee. Finalist Committee member Kris
Kleindienst said, "Removing the book from the list is not censorship.
The book is widely available, has been widely reviewed and is not about
to be denied to the public. What we are doing is behaving in a
responsible manner to make sure the list of finalists is compatible
with the Foundation’s mission. Having looked at the book closely, I am
sure it is not." Several committee members echoed Kleindienst’s views.

Finalist Committee member Victoria Brownworth, along with several
others, disagreed on the censorship issue. "Banning a book and
censoring a book are two different things. While I hate to be the
titular voice of the ACLU here, especially since I personally disagree
with many aspects of Bailey's book, if we take the book off the list we
are indeed censoring it. It doesn't matter what our reasons are."

"This has been a difficult and humbling experience for the Foundation,"
said Executive Director Jim Marks. "We’ve never before had a case in
which a book, whose author and publisher both affirm their support for
gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual rights, has at the same time
been opposed by those who say its content in fact is antithetical to
those rights."

"Throughout the controversy that has raged over the book’s selection as
a finalist, we have struggled to maintain the integrity of the
process." Marks said. "Since the impetus for the change came from the
within the category’s judges, and was reviewed and voted on by the
Finalist Committee, we feel that the decision is consistent with our
process."

The recipients of the 16th Lambda Literary Awards will be announced at
a gala banquet to be held June 3, 2004 at the Chicago Mart Plaza Hotel.
Tickets are $125 for the dinner, $175 for the dinner and gala
reception, with discounts for tickets purchased before March 31, 2004.
For more information or to order online, go to www.lambdalit.org or
call 202-682-0952.

--
Jim Marks, Executive Director, Lambda Literary Foundation
LLF Programs: Lambda Book Report, The James White Review, Lambda
Literary Awards and Lambda Literary Festival
Online at www.lambdalit.org
202-682-0952; 202-682-0955 fax; PO Box 73910, Washington, DC 20056-3910
shipping address: 1217 Eleventh St. NW, Suite 1, Washington, DC 20001
 

 

March 14, 2004:

=====================================================
Spirit in the Wires
Copyright C Christine Burns 1996

Disembodied, the disenfranchised
File away their chains online
Forging new links, stronger, wider
Outlaws in the flesh combine.
Souls connect with souls, and reason,
Stretching out in space and time,
Synaptic impulse, becomes magnetic,
Electric purpose forms a line.
Stronger now the souls, united,
Challenge status so, in time,
A people once imprisoned, frightened,
Walk free of stigma, absolved of crime.

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/christine_burns/Spirit.htm
 

Planet Out

News & Politics:

Group rescinds honor for disputed book

The Lambda Literary Foundation announced Friday that it was removing a controversial book about transsexuality, titled "The Man Who Would Be Queen," from a list of finalists for its annual literary awards.

The controversy is not likely to abate soon, since Bailey is under investigation by Northwestern University officials for ethics violations. Several of his research subjects have charged that Bailey distorted their stories to better fit his theories, and that they did not consent to have their stories used in his book. Others have publicly refuted his findings.

Sources:

http://www.gay.com/news/article.html?2004/03/16/3

Members of the Lambda Literary Foundation committee

who selected Bailey's book for a gay and lesbian book award:

We thought you'd like to know who the gay men and lesbian feminists are who launched this attack on us. Following are the names, addresses, URL's and phone numbers of these people. We think that they should hear from you, so as to gain some comprehension of the scale of the pain they have inflicted on transwomen throughout the world. Tell them that they have a duty to read through the long list of petition signatures, and to then think hard about why so many people are openly decrying what they have done.

Note: There is some evidence that the owners and employees of several of the book stores listed below have specific lesbian-feminist policies of welcoming only "womyn born womyn" (thus excluding trans women) as customers in their stores.  We suggest that our investigators out there quietly gather evidence about any discriminatory policies employed by stores listed below, for future publication on this site.

Larry Bailey

The Open Book, Sacramento, CA
Open Book Ltd, (916) 498-1004, 910 21st St, Sacramento ,CA 95814
http://www.openbookltd.com

Victoria A. Brownworth

Author and critic
c/o Hazel McPhee
311 W. Seymour St. Philadelphia, PA 19144

Michelle DiMeo and Pam Harcourt

Women and Children First
5233 N. Clark St. Chicago, IL 60640
773.769.9299
Fax: 773.769.6729
wcfbooks@aol.com
http://www.womenandchildrenfirst.com

 

Richard Labonte

Books to Watch Out For
PO Box 882554 San Francisco CA 94188
or
7-A Drummond St. W Perth, Ontario K7H 2J3 Canada
http://www.btwof.com/

 

Kris Kleindienst

Owner, Left Bank Books
399 Euclid St Louis MO 63108
http://www.left-bank.com/

(314) 367-6731
3631 Bellerive Blvd. St. Louis, MO. 63116
(314) 481- 4842
fax: (314) 367- 3256
e-mail:kriski@primary.net

 

Sara Look

Charis Books
1189 Euclid Avenue
Atlanta, GA 30307
Tel: (404)524-0304
Fax: (404)522-6663
info@charisbooksandmore.com

 

Retha Powers

Bookspan
401 & 501 Franklin Avenue Garden City, NY 11530-5945
516-490-4561
Fax 516-490-4714

Time & Life Building
1271 Avenue of the Americas, 3rd Floor New York, NY 10020
212-522-4200
Fax 212-522-7081
http://www.bookspan.com
Executive Editor of the Quality Paperback Book Club. She has written articles for Essence, Glamour, Ms, and The New York Times Magazine and was recently profiled in Entertainment Weekly's top gay media figures.

 

David Rosen

Insight Out Books
A new gay and lesbian book club has been founded by two veterans of Quality Paperback Book Club, David Rosen and Retha Powers
1225 South Market St., Mechanicsburg, PA 17055
service@insightoutbookclub.com
http://www.insightoutbooks.com

 

Philip Rafshoon

Owner, Outwrite Bookstore & Coffeehouse
991 Piedmont Avenue
Atlanta, GA 30309
Tel: 404-607-0082
Fax: 404-607-0092
outwritebooks@usa.net
http://www.outwritebooks.com

 

Richard Schneider, Jr.

Editor, The Gay & Lesbian Review
PO Box 180300 Boston MA 02118
617.421.0082
http://www.glreview.com
info@glreview.com

 

Martha Stone

Literary Editor, The Gay & Lesbian Review (see above)
STONE@MEDEX.MGH.HARVARD.EDU

 

Jane Troxell & Robert Starner

Lambda Rising Bookstore
1625 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington, DC 20009
(202) 462-6969
(Fax) (202) 462-7257
shop@lambdarising.com
http://www.lambdarising.com

 

Kurt Weber

A Different Light Books
8853 Santa Monica Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA 90069
Phone: 310-854-6601
Fax: 310-659-6430
ConsumerServ@adlbooks.com
http://www.adlbooks.com/

 

 

For more information about the Bailey book investigation, see the following webpages:

 

http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/LynnsReviewOfBaileysBook.html

 

http://www.tsroadmap.com/info/bailey-blanchard-lawrence.html