Lauree Hayden SEIU Staffer Speaks About LGBTQ-labor Intersectionality

Lauree Hayden a Service Employees International Union(SEIU) Staffer presented at the 2013 LGBT media conference explaining why it's important for LGBTQI writers to cover union issues.

First thing Lauree did was to ask to see a show off hands of how many of us had ever been union. Approximately 30 of the 60 or so in attendance raised theirs hands including me. Lauree then asked how many of us currently belonged to a union and all but a smattering including myself lowered our hands.

I was fired from my first job after beginning transition at Walmart after "Our Walmart" organizers entered the store a month earlier. Seemingly a non issue at the time to me I told the store manager, in a meeting he asked for, that I once belonged to the Teamsters and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. I wasn't concerned partly out of a misplaced sense of loyalty to the store that had hired me when no one else would and after all hadn't I had just received my third year review indicating I was doing a good job?

I should have been worried.

I was fired a few months later after they continually demanded that I do a job they were fully aware was beyond me physically to do. That was just a cover as they ended up quickly firing most of the other employees who were present or even employed at the times the organizers had entered the building.

I like untold thousands of Walmart employees were fired because we  once had been or were suspected of having union affiliation even if it was years in the past. The rich are that scared of us organizing and demanding a fair share.

The truth is as the rich continue to profit at our expense at ever increasing percentage while we continue to make less in respect to what we made twenty years ago. Union breaking is and continues to be a leading tool of the one percent as evidenced by the lack of Union members present at our LGBTQI media conference.



Truly union, Cis-labor, and transgender people are meeting at the intersection of poverty, homelessness and despair. The LGBT media has a obligation to publish the map that will help guide our way back.

An Interview With Cleve Jones LGBT Icon on Compton and Beyond

Cleve Jones and David Mixner held an a Q&A session during the opening reception for the LGBT Journalist's at this years Convention in Philadelphia that left many in the room scratching their heads wondering why they were talking about topics not normally associated with the LGBT agenda.

Ah, coalition building:)

One recurring theme talked about by both speakers was the importance of coalition building and their shared grief at losing much of their generation to Aids/HIV. Cleve Jones being involved with unions trying to introduce us to a demographic thats not usually LGBT friendly relaying his horror at seeing LGBT activist cross picket lines and exhorted those present not to do so. Both Jones and Mixner joked about being over 60 but answered questions with such youthful joy as to stir emotions and passions within everyone present, albeit not favorable from everyone.

This first class reception and dinner was held on the top floor of the Comcast tower so we had the opportunity to listen to a presentation expounding on how inclusive Comcast is, owner of NBC universal and Logo, and how they are striving to become the LGBT community's channel of choice.



After a quick perusal of Comcast shows I couldn't find anything highlighting transgender people in a positive way, only Rupaul on Logo who's made his contempt of trans people public and Drag Queen Sherry Vine, again not representative of trans people

Cleve Jones, sometimes called the conscious of the Castro became a volunteer for Harvey Milk after this chance encounter with him as shown in the movie "Milk":



I had a chance to catch up with Mr. Jones after he spoke. I asked Mr. Jones about the level of participation trans people had in the LGBT's communities earliest uprisings. He told me "at Compton they did but not so much at Stonewall.".
Then I asked if he felt as many trans people do, that we were being erased by mainstream media now that President Obama has raised the bar by mentioning Stonewall along with other civil rights milestones. He told me that more people did need to talk about our participation because it wasn't just gay and lesbians, there were transsexuals and tranny's there as well.

Jones noted I was slightly taken back by his use of the word tranny so he explained saying he knew it's not a word to use cavalierly but said he has always had friends who identified as trannys. He said he didn't' think it should be thought of a bad word anymore so than 'queer'. In the respectful context that Cleve said it, nether did I. Jones went on to say that he thinks transgender people spend way too much time and effort arguing about dichotomy and believes trans people need to take a more active role in advocating for ourselves.

He also said he didn't like the concept of the transgender umbrella. Monika Roberts joined in the conversation then explaining to Cleve the word transgender is essential as it allows legislators to more easily identify us.

Given that trans people are still not being represented overall in media a positive light I think one major focus of ours as LGBT journalists is to remind Comcast that there desire to be 'our' channel can only be achieved with a fair portrayal of trans people as well as gay and lesbians.