Author: 8420a707a8099321768f84ad8b407c7c

This August, Camp Trans and the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival announced changes in a 14-year struggle over the explicit exclusion of transgender womyn from the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival. The Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival (MWMF) is the largest and longest-running women’s separatist music festival in the world, started in 1976 in rural Michigan. MWMF emerged from the radical women’s community of the 1970s and encompasses a wide range of women and a wide range of political views. In recent years, MWMF has been criticized for what some see as regressive ideas about gender, self-identification and separatist space.

In 1991, a trans woman was kicked out of the music festival in an event that would become historic. The MWMF created an official policy specifying that the festival is for ‘womyn-born-womyn’ only, and asking that anyone not identifying as a ‘womon-born-womon’ not attend the events arguing that women who were born and raised as women share a common experience and thus need separate space. Since 1994, Camp Trans has been staging protests and cultural events directly across the road from the entry gate to the MWMF, with the explicit goal of changing this policy. Camp Trans believes that all self-identified women should be welcome at the festival. Camp Trans’ tactics have ranged from direct education work with festival attendees, to a national boycott campaign pressuring artists and performers not to play at the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival. Camp Trans has also emerged as its own yearly festival, drawing 100-200 participants each year for music and workshops focused in transgender communities. A variety of artists and activists have spoken out in support of trans inclusion in recent years, including the Indigo Girls, Emi Koyama (www.eminism.org) and author Michelle Tea.

This past August, two transgender women bought tickets at the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival gates, stated that they were trans women, and were permitted into the festival by the women working at the gate. Camp Trans responded to this event with a press release proclaiming the struggle to be over, and celebrating unity between Camp Trans, and supporters of trans inclusion within the festival. (see the release at: http://camptrans.squarespace.com/latest-news/2006/8/21/camp-trans-press-release.html) The festival responded with a press release contradicting Camp Trans’ message. According to MWMF owner and proprietor Lisa Vogel, “if a transwoman purchased a ticket, it represents nothing more than that womon choosing to disrespect the stated intention of this Festival.” Vogel’s basis for continued exclusion of trans women is also articulated: “I ask that you respect that womon born womon is a valid and honorable gender identity.” (see the release at: http://www.intraa.org/story/mwmfpolicyrebuttal)

It is unclear which of these naratives will end up being more accurate regarding the festival in the coming year but the understanding of gender in radical communites is changing According to Camp trans organizer Jessica Snodgrass, “this is not about winning. It’s about making our communities whole again. The policy divided people against each other who could be fighting on the same side. We want to be part of the healing process.”

Thunder, Rafael Donner, a long time activist was found dead in his car on the streets of West Berkeley. Spending years working to free Leonard Peltier by coordinating monthly prayer circles infront of the Oakland Federal Building. He was a DJ on 104.1 doing a Pirate radio show entitled “Earth First, Corporations Last” on both Free Radio Berkeley and Berkeley Liberation Radio. He was also a dedicated advocate for People’s Park and worked on keeping the general peace between park users. He often recited the opening prayer during Park celebrations and could be found at numerous Native American powwows Sun Rise Ceremonies and other functions.

A Memorial was held July 30 starting at the Ho Chi Minh Park and proceeded four blocks north into People’s Park. There loved ones held an open mic event, some sharing stories and pain.

He is survived by two children, their mother, mother, nephew, and the larger community of friends and projects that he gave so much to.

Les Mastenbrook was killed in a car crash in Cheyenne, Wyoming while driving cross-country from Oakland to Massachusetts to visit friends and her family there. Les joined the Slingshot collective earlier this year and was working on re-designing our website when she died.

Les was cut down at a very young age, but during her short time on earth, she made a lot out of her life. She grew up in Concord, MA and attended the Maryland Institute College of Art, from which she graduated Cum Laude with a degree in photography. She moved to Oakland where she made close ties with lots of folks. She was into screen printing, live music, photography, travel, cooking, web design and riding bicycles. Her excitement for life and warm smile were infectious.

The following was written by her house mate and friend Jacqueline.

I had wonderful but brief encounters with Les. When I went to Massachusetts for her funeral, I heard stories of her childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood that together addressed the great puzzle that is the complete spirit of Les.

Les was so happy, so delighted, filled with wonder, amazement, and joy for the world and it’s people. We first met when she was dancing — an immense smile upon her face. Les wrapped her arm around my shoulder and I felt really happy as we danced at that show. At other shows I went to with her, she always had that smile on her face. When we sat and talked she was excited and exuberant. She was always eager to go; to do; and to live. She loved when the world happened around her — and it did. Soon we became friends — inseparable. We looked out for one another and took on each other’s lives and burdens.

I watched Les hope and dream. We built goals and created a group house in Oakland together with all the possibilities that one could fathom. What I will miss the most about Les — without a question — are those morning talks on the side of my bed. Or when she would come to my room, to my bed, and grab my shoulders and scream “Jack” in my face before she would tell me of her latest news, or her previous night’s dreams.

California fell in love with Les — with her excitement and joy. And Les fell in love with California. And that is certainly the greatest gift I have ever received. I watched her laugh, cry, sing and fall in love.

I find solace that our last encounter was a great one. While I was heading to work, Les came back for some forgotten items for her much anticipated cross-country trip. She sat on the back of the car and I on my bike. I figured I should go to work because I was running late. But hey, she was my good friend, and I would rather talk to her. We had only a few moments together then we said,” I love you — have fun”. I gave her a kiss on her checks and I rode off. For selfish reasons I wish Les could come back, although I know that she was completely fulfilled with the life she had created for herself

During September, a federal court sentenced Kevin Kjonaas, Lauren Gazzola, Jacob Conroy, Joshua Harper, Andy Stepanian and Darius Fulmer — the Stop Huntington Animal Cruelty (SHAC) 7 defendants — for their participation in the campaign to end the cruelty of Huntington Life Sciences corp. (HLS). The SHAC 7 were sentenced to between one and six years in federal prison and were ordered to collectively pay restitution in the amount of $1 million and one dollar to HLS for financial damages. The six were the first people tried under the Animal Enterprise Protection Act of 1992 (formerly known as the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act). Kjonaas got 72 months, Gazzola 52 months, Conroy 48 months, Harper 36 months, Stepanian 36 months and Fulmer 12 months. The SHAC 7 were convicted of conspiracy for advocating against HLS, talking and organizing protests — no violence or property damage was involved.

The SHAC 7 need support: kind letters from you and money for jail. They don’t have addresses as of this writing because they haven’t reported to jail yet. Check shac7.com for more support info.

Representatives from North American Infoshops meeting at an infoshop Gathering in Baltimore June 29-30 decided to form an Infoshop Network to help coordinate mutual aid between these autonomous collectives. Infoshop is a term used to refer to activist resource centers that often provide a reading room, access to zine and book libraries, public internet access, and space for meetings, movies, lectures and music shows. Some are run by volunteers and are non-profits while others are small businesses that contain cafes and bookstores. Each project is an independent collective, however the scores of infoshops in North America and across the globe form a loose network providing a public access point where people can find radicals and radical groups.

According to the Infoshop Network, they seek to set up “a newsletter with updates from infoshops and ideas, get a solidarity network going for infoshops and organizations in trouble with state repression, get a help hot-line for new and old infoshops looking for advice, a touring line for traveling artists and authors, and possibly even stuff like collective bargaining with distributors.”

They have set up an e-mail list, at infoshopnetwork@lists.resist.ca. Contact them at contact@infoshopnetwork.org. They are seeking to contact infoshops and get them to designate a Infoshop Network Liaison, which will do the following things:

1. Bring back information from the larger Network to their collective.

2. Bring information to the larger Network from their collective, like updates, calls for help, etc.

3. Serve as the basic contact person for the Network.

4. Get people in their collectives to be involved in working groups of the Network, especially related to their skills.