MWMF Anti-TS Awareness Initiative: Producers' response

[Rica A. Fredrickson]

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Please pass it on to women (on or off the net) who may wish to help.

Here's the thirteenth article from the MWMF Anti-TS Awareness Initiative:

============Forwarded Message============================================
Date: Thu, 22 Jul 1993 04:35:57 EST
From: "Nancy Jean Burkholder" <hoyden.UUCP!na...@mv.mv.com>
Subject: MWMF Anti-TS Awareness Initiative: Producers Response


reprinted from GCN, in the Nov. 10 - 16 issue, without permission

Festival womyn speak out

Some letters have been printed in the press in recent weeks regarding
the womon-only policy at the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival as it
relates to trannsexuals participating in the event. We would like to
clarify our policy and explain the circumstances which brought it to
light this last August.

In the simplest of terms, the Michigan Festival is and always has been
an event for womyn, and this continues to be defined as womyn born
womyn. We respect everyone's right to define themselves as they wish.
It's unfortunate that our choice to offer the Michigan Festival as an
event for womyn-born-womyn is being construed by some as a position on
the merits of people makingindividual choices on how to live. We only
mean to define who this event is for. We hold dearly our right to
make this determination and in the same regard we believe that is the
right of every other womyn's institution and community to define these
issues depending on their own particular needs and concerns.

We regret that the circumstances at this year's festival may have been
a result of a lack of current public information on this policy. We
think it is understandable that our priority would not be centered
around who our event is "not" for, and we have deliberately refrained
from placing our focus in that direction, though we have always been
definite about our policy when asked.

When is was clear this summer there was a known transsexual man
attending the event, the festival security staff dealt with it as
respectfully as possible. We provided local housing at our expense,
offered return airport transportation, and refunded the festival
ticket. Though the letter to the press represents Festival security
coordinators have been represented in a derogatory manner, these womyn
took much time and care to make sure this difficult situation was dealt
with as considerately as possible.

It may be valuable to know that the Festival working community
processed this issue in meetings after the event, and it is clear from
those discussions that the group of womyn who come together to create
this gathering supports this Festival policy. Though everyone was
passionate about the issue and held caring feelings for all sides of
the experience, it still was the overwhelming consensus that the
intention of the Festival remain an event provided for womyn only.

In the bigger picture of "Michigan," we feel very good about this 16th
Festiva, and we are back to work making plans for the 1992 Festival.
Our primary commitment is to keep our focus and energy on womyn and on
presenting the best week of womyn's culture and community that we know
how to create.

Lisa Vogel
Barbara Price
Producers, Michigan
Womyn's Music Festival
Walhalla, Mich.

--
Nancy
na...@hoyden.mv.com

"Good people are always so sure they're right."

--Barbara Graham's last words
Executed June 3, 1955 at San Quentin
============forwarded by Rica Ashby Fredrickson <ri...@cellar.org>
The sixteen articles now available in this series are:
1) Introduction
2) Background information
3) 1992 Gender Survey results
4) How you can help
5) Button/literature closeout special!
6) Workshop facilitators needed
7) Your $ will help us raise awareness
8) ISO Hart MI area contacts and safe space
9) '93 workshops
10) Call for volunteers!
11) Transportation
These are new:
12) Essays and letters [abstract of articles 13 to 16]
13) Producers' response [to discussion of the anti-TS policy, Nov. 1991]
14) Kinder, gentler... [... festival? by Nancy]
15) Detailed account [by Nancy, of what happened that night in Aug. 1991]
16) Response [by Nancy, to the producers' letter, late 1991]