Camp Trans
Encyclopedia
Camp Trans is an annual demonstration and event held outside the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival
by trans women and their allies to protest the Festival's policy of excluding trans women from attending.
has its roots in lesbian-feminist
and lesbian-separatist analysis of patriarchy
, and is intended to provide a week-long safe space for attendees to enjoy music created exclusively by women, immerse themselves in woman's culture and celebrate their womanhood in a safe environment without domination, oppression or interference by men. Its primary organizers adhere to a belief that a defining quality of womanhood comes from being born and raised in a female body.
A more organized group of trans women and their allies began camping and holding demonstrations
outside the gate. After a five-year hiatus, Camp Trans returned in 1999, led by transgender activists Riki Ann Wilchins
and Leslie Feinberg
, as well as many members of the Boston
and Chicago
Lesbian Avengers
The events of this year drew attention and controversy, culminating in tensions as a small group of transgender activists were admitted into the festival to exchange dialogue with organizers and to negotiate a short-lived compromise allowing only post-operative
trans women on the festival land.
In the early 1980s and in 1999, a stealth transgender musician who had transitioned 10 years earlier did perform in MWMF, and during 1999's Camp Trans event, a number of trans women purchased tickets and were admitted to MWMF. A similar claim of victory was published by Camp Trans that year.
In 2006, a trans woman organizer of Camp Trans named Lorrraine Donaldson was sold a ticket to the 31st annual Michigan Womyn's Music Festival. On Tuesday, August 8, 2006, Donaldson approached the workers at the front gate of the festival and asked if she could purchase a ticket. She was instructed to read an outdated handout that was printed by the festival office in 2000 following the controversial events surrounding the Michigan 8 protest. This paper indicated that the festival was still enforcing a policy of exclusion for transsexual women. When Donaldson pointed out that the document was outdated and asked for a current version from the workers, they told her that none was available. Donaldson requested that the workers seek up-to-date policy information in writing from the office and informed them that she would return the next morning. That same day, the newly organized Yellow Armbands pro-inclusion support group held their first meeting at the Watermelon Tree in the common dining area of the festival.
On the morning of Wednesday, August 9, Donaldson again approached the box office workers near the front gate and asked to purchase a ticket. She was met at the gate by three members of the Yellow Armbands and one organizer of Camp Trans, all of whom witnessed Donaldson disclosing her trans status to the box office manager, before being sold a ticket and given an orange wristband that designated her as a "festie". Donaldson attended the festival for the remainder of the week and participated at a trans inclusion workshop that was presented by trans woman Emilia Lombardi, who was also an organizer with Camp Trans and who was sold a ticket to the festival on Friday, August 11, as well. The workshop was listed as part of the official festival program and both Donaldson and Lombardi were open about being trans women at the workshop that was attended by over 50 people. Donaldson and Lombardi also continued to join the Yellow Armbands mealtime gatherings, where they were met with support from festies and workers. The conclusion of the 2006 festivals in Hart, Michigan was marked with noted optimism and collaborative spirit between Camp Trans constituents and their pro-inclusion supporters at MWMF, as was noted immediately by members of the community and media. A camper also captured the good news as it was presented onstage by a Camp Trans committee member and later posted it on YouTube
.
Camp Trans argued that the press release was a deliberate and necessary tactic designed to bait Vogel into responding with a transphobic press release which would make the parameters of the "wbw-policy" officially known. Supporters of this tactic felt that because Vogel hadn't given the Camp Trans organization permission to republish the letter, nor was the policy (or what Vogel referred to as an "intention") available in writing on the MichFest website or elsewhere, that this was the only way that Camp Trans could ostensibly prove that the policy actually existed. Others felt that the motivation behind the press release was nebulous and not supportive or inclusive of Donaldson or others who were involved in the positive developments that occurred in the summer of 2006. They also believed that the press release caused unnecessary conflict between inclusion activists and the festival office and they preferred to focus on the larger community who were clearly supportive of trans women attending in 2006. Regardless, Vogel did in fact issue a response where she stated again that the festival is intended for women-born-women, and that they hope and expect trans women to respect that intention. Following the press release fallout, Donaldson resigned from Camp Trans and joined the Yellow Armbands as an organizer.
In 2007, the Yellow Armbands blog was frozen by an organizer who resigned from the activism due to lingering issues regarding lack of transparency in the inclusion movement. Other activists also resigned over concerns that Camp Trans was privileging the voices of trans men over trans women in their organization. The remaining inclusion activists at Yellow Armbands created a new online community and blog and renamed their organization Fest For All Womyn.
Donaldson returned to MWMF in 2007 with the newly renamed Fest For All Womyn/Yellow Armbands and camped in The Twilight Zone area of the festival along with other trans women and female assigned at birth inclusion supporters.
2007 was also a landmark year for Camp Trans, because for the first time in their 16-year history, they held elections for their organizational positions. Camp Trans organizers celebrated this as a positive step in the right direction when the majority of elected positions were filled by trans women.
In the Pink and Black #6 zine issue, the publishers included the following description of the vandalism left at one of the Michigan kitchens:
"August 7. Hart , MI: Vandalism at Michfest
This year at MichFest, the words “Real Womyn Have Cocks” were painted on the MichFest kitchen and other damage was allegedly done to MichFest property. A flyer was distributed with the following text: 'Second-Wave ‘Feminists’, A hot load from my monstrous tranny-cock embodies womanhood more than the pieces of menstral (sic) art your transphobic cunts could ever hope to create. Love, Womyn-born-Monsters"
Despite these unofficial statements, neither the MichFest office nor the Camp Trans organization has confirmed the veracity of these accounts, nor whether the vandalism occurred at the worker or main kitchen. Although workshops were allegedly held to resolve the matter, no one has specified whether or not Lisa Vogel made an official response.
A thread from the MichFest bulletin board created on August 9, 2011 contains statements from numerous long time MichFest attendees and workers, who confirmed that trans women attended the festival in 2011. There has been no comment from Camp Trans in regards to their attendance or participation in the 2011 festival.
Michigan Womyn's Music Festival
The Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, called "the Original Womyn's Woodstock" and often referred to as MWMF or Michfest, is an international feminist music festival occurring every August since 1976 near Hart, Michigan...
by trans women and their allies to protest the Festival's policy of excluding trans women from attending.
Background
Michigan Womyn's Music FestivalMichigan Womyn's Music Festival
The Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, called "the Original Womyn's Woodstock" and often referred to as MWMF or Michfest, is an international feminist music festival occurring every August since 1976 near Hart, Michigan...
has its roots in lesbian-feminist
Lesbian feminism
Lesbian feminism is a cultural movement and critical perspective, most popular in the 1970s and early 1980s , that questions the position of lesbians and women in society. It particularly refutes heteronormativity, the assumption that everyone is "straight" and society should be structured to serve...
and lesbian-separatist analysis of patriarchy
Patriarchy
Patriarchy is a social system in which the role of the male as the primary authority figure is central to social organization, and where fathers hold authority over women, children, and property. It implies the institutions of male rule and privilege, and entails female subordination...
, and is intended to provide a week-long safe space for attendees to enjoy music created exclusively by women, immerse themselves in woman's culture and celebrate their womanhood in a safe environment without domination, oppression or interference by men. Its primary organizers adhere to a belief that a defining quality of womanhood comes from being born and raised in a female body.
History
Camp Trans was sparked by a 1991 incident in which a woman named Nancy Burkholder was ejected from the festival after her transsexual status became known to festival security guards Although the festival has maintained a women-born-women policy since its inception, as evidenced by posters from the first festival in 1975 , the 1991 incident falsely led to the belief that the policy was only articulated as a means of preventing transsexual women from attending. Each year afterwards a group of women, both trans and female assigned at birth, protested the exclusion of trans women from the event. Initially these protests were small and sometimes carried on inside of the camp.A more organized group of trans women and their allies began camping and holding demonstrations
Demonstration (people)
A demonstration or street protest is action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause; it normally consists of walking in a mass march formation and either beginning with or meeting at a designated endpoint, or rally, to hear speakers.Actions such as...
outside the gate. After a five-year hiatus, Camp Trans returned in 1999, led by transgender activists Riki Ann Wilchins
Riki Wilchins
Riki Wilchins is an activist whose work has focused on the impact of gender norms. While she started out as a transgender leader -- founding the first national transgender advocacy group -- her analysis and work broadened over time to include discrimination and violence regardless of individuals'...
and Leslie Feinberg
Leslie Feinberg
Leslie Feinberg is a transgender queer and communist activist, speaker, and author. Feinberg's first novel Stone Butch Blues is widely considered a groundbreaking work about gender.- Career :...
, as well as many members of the Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
and Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
Lesbian Avengers
Lesbian Avengers
The Lesbian Avengers began in New York City in 1992 as "a direct action group focused on issues vital to lesbian survival and visibility." Dozens of other chapters quickly emerged worldwide, a few expanding their mission to include questions of gender, race, and class.Though some groups continue...
The events of this year drew attention and controversy, culminating in tensions as a small group of transgender activists were admitted into the festival to exchange dialogue with organizers and to negotiate a short-lived compromise allowing only post-operative
Sex reassignment surgery
Sex reassignment surgery is a term for the surgical procedures by which a person's physical appearance and function of their existing sexual characteristics are altered to resemble...
trans women on the festival land.
In the early 1980s and in 1999, a stealth transgender musician who had transitioned 10 years earlier did perform in MWMF, and during 1999's Camp Trans event, a number of trans women purchased tickets and were admitted to MWMF. A similar claim of victory was published by Camp Trans that year.
Events of 2006
By 2005, activists at Camp Trans and MWMF had become frustrated with the boycott effort and felt that a combined effort of external and internal activism on the grounds of MWMF might be more effective in securing inclusion.In 2006, a trans woman organizer of Camp Trans named Lorrraine Donaldson was sold a ticket to the 31st annual Michigan Womyn's Music Festival. On Tuesday, August 8, 2006, Donaldson approached the workers at the front gate of the festival and asked if she could purchase a ticket. She was instructed to read an outdated handout that was printed by the festival office in 2000 following the controversial events surrounding the Michigan 8 protest. This paper indicated that the festival was still enforcing a policy of exclusion for transsexual women. When Donaldson pointed out that the document was outdated and asked for a current version from the workers, they told her that none was available. Donaldson requested that the workers seek up-to-date policy information in writing from the office and informed them that she would return the next morning. That same day, the newly organized Yellow Armbands pro-inclusion support group held their first meeting at the Watermelon Tree in the common dining area of the festival.
On the morning of Wednesday, August 9, Donaldson again approached the box office workers near the front gate and asked to purchase a ticket. She was met at the gate by three members of the Yellow Armbands and one organizer of Camp Trans, all of whom witnessed Donaldson disclosing her trans status to the box office manager, before being sold a ticket and given an orange wristband that designated her as a "festie". Donaldson attended the festival for the remainder of the week and participated at a trans inclusion workshop that was presented by trans woman Emilia Lombardi, who was also an organizer with Camp Trans and who was sold a ticket to the festival on Friday, August 11, as well. The workshop was listed as part of the official festival program and both Donaldson and Lombardi were open about being trans women at the workshop that was attended by over 50 people. Donaldson and Lombardi also continued to join the Yellow Armbands mealtime gatherings, where they were met with support from festies and workers. The conclusion of the 2006 festivals in Hart, Michigan was marked with noted optimism and collaborative spirit between Camp Trans constituents and their pro-inclusion supporters at MWMF, as was noted immediately by members of the community and media. A camper also captured the good news as it was presented onstage by a Camp Trans committee member and later posted it on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
.
2006 press release controversy and resulting organizational changes
Following the 2006 festival, a small group of Camp Trans organizers issued a press release that stated that the MWMF had "ended its policy of exclusion." A disagreement ensued within the Camp Trans and Yellow Armbands organizations over whether or not this press release was ethical due to issues of transparency and consent.Camp Trans argued that the press release was a deliberate and necessary tactic designed to bait Vogel into responding with a transphobic press release which would make the parameters of the "wbw-policy" officially known. Supporters of this tactic felt that because Vogel hadn't given the Camp Trans organization permission to republish the letter, nor was the policy (or what Vogel referred to as an "intention") available in writing on the MichFest website or elsewhere, that this was the only way that Camp Trans could ostensibly prove that the policy actually existed. Others felt that the motivation behind the press release was nebulous and not supportive or inclusive of Donaldson or others who were involved in the positive developments that occurred in the summer of 2006. They also believed that the press release caused unnecessary conflict between inclusion activists and the festival office and they preferred to focus on the larger community who were clearly supportive of trans women attending in 2006. Regardless, Vogel did in fact issue a response where she stated again that the festival is intended for women-born-women, and that they hope and expect trans women to respect that intention. Following the press release fallout, Donaldson resigned from Camp Trans and joined the Yellow Armbands as an organizer.
In 2007, the Yellow Armbands blog was frozen by an organizer who resigned from the activism due to lingering issues regarding lack of transparency in the inclusion movement. Other activists also resigned over concerns that Camp Trans was privileging the voices of trans men over trans women in their organization. The remaining inclusion activists at Yellow Armbands created a new online community and blog and renamed their organization Fest For All Womyn.
Donaldson returned to MWMF in 2007 with the newly renamed Fest For All Womyn/Yellow Armbands and camped in The Twilight Zone area of the festival along with other trans women and female assigned at birth inclusion supporters.
2007 was also a landmark year for Camp Trans, because for the first time in their 16-year history, they held elections for their organizational positions. Camp Trans organizers celebrated this as a positive step in the right direction when the majority of elected positions were filled by trans women.
Allegations of Violence and Vandalism During 2010 Festivals
According to an online news site, Anarchist News, there were several incidents of violence and vandalism during the 2010 festivals. A printed version of the statements found at Anarchist News, as well as further details regarding the incidents was first published by Pink and Black Attack in early September 2010. Allegedly, a confrontation ensued between attendees of Camp Trans and a tow-truck driver near the gates of MichFest during a reading of the history of Camp Trans.In the Pink and Black #6 zine issue, the publishers included the following description of the vandalism left at one of the Michigan kitchens:
"August 7. Hart , MI: Vandalism at Michfest
This year at MichFest, the words “Real Womyn Have Cocks” were painted on the MichFest kitchen and other damage was allegedly done to MichFest property. A flyer was distributed with the following text: 'Second-Wave ‘Feminists’, A hot load from my monstrous tranny-cock embodies womanhood more than the pieces of menstral (sic) art your transphobic cunts could ever hope to create. Love, Womyn-born-Monsters"
Despite these unofficial statements, neither the MichFest office nor the Camp Trans organization has confirmed the veracity of these accounts, nor whether the vandalism occurred at the worker or main kitchen. Although workshops were allegedly held to resolve the matter, no one has specified whether or not Lisa Vogel made an official response.
A thread from the MichFest bulletin board created on August 9, 2011 contains statements from numerous long time MichFest attendees and workers, who confirmed that trans women attended the festival in 2011. There has been no comment from Camp Trans in regards to their attendance or participation in the 2011 festival.
See also
- TransphobiaTransphobiaTransphobia is a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards transsexualism and transsexual or transgender people, based on the expression of their internal gender...
- Michigan Womyn's Music FestivalMichigan Womyn's Music FestivalThe Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, called "the Original Womyn's Woodstock" and often referred to as MWMF or Michfest, is an international feminist music festival occurring every August since 1976 near Hart, Michigan...
- List of transgender-related topics
- Lesbian AvengersLesbian AvengersThe Lesbian Avengers began in New York City in 1992 as "a direct action group focused on issues vital to lesbian survival and visibility." Dozens of other chapters quickly emerged worldwide, a few expanding their mission to include questions of gender, race, and class.Though some groups continue...
- SexismSexismSexism, also known as gender discrimination or sex discrimination, is the application of the belief or attitude that there are characteristics implicit to one's gender that indirectly affect one's abilities in unrelated areas...