As you all know by now, Mary Ann,
Sarah and myself took part in the GenderPAC Lobby days in Washington DC
this month. Our story begins with Sarah and I leaving from my house by
car Sunday afternoon. Mary Ann had flown in from a conference she was attending
for work and would arrive at the hotel before us. The drive out was relatively
uneventful. In Penn. we both had to use the restrooms a couple of times
and opted for the Ladies, a felony in the state of Pennslyvania had we
been hassled, which we weren't. Not a surprise as Sarah and I both pass
pretty well.
We arrived in Washington around 11:30 Sunday night and found the hotel without much trouble. That's when the fun started. Mary Ann had reserved the room for the three of us under her male name, but somehow they had gotten the last name wrong. When we inquired about the room it took about ten minutes just to figure out which name it was. The room clerk barely spoke English, and would not tell us the room number and when he rang up to the room, there was no answer! Sarah asked the clerk where some of the other transgendered people were, and we were surprised to learn that he didn't realize that the place was teeming with T*s! Who knows what was running through this guy's mind while confronted with two tired women trying to get the room number of this guy named Mark.
In fairness to Mary Ann, she had left instructions at the desk that we were coming and that we should be given keys and sent up as soon as we arrived, but the clerks changed shifts between then and our arrival and our clueless clerk didn't understand the instructions. Sarah and I did locate another room with some of the other trannies and were told that a number of them were at a small bar and grill a couple of blocks north of the hotel. We set off in search of Mary Ann.
At the bar and grill, we again ran into a stone wall. No one remembered a bunch of trannys at the bar! Well, some of the gals were pretty passable, but some of them wouldn't pass at midnight in a dark alley and a bunch of us together should be at least memorable. As it turns out, most of the people were at another resturaunt right next to the motel, including our own Mary Ann. We returned to hotel and once again tried to get the clerk to understand that we were tired and would really like to find our room and settle in. This time the lobby was now locked and we had to communicate through a pass through! He refused to let us in, (I think we scared him a bit) but he did agree to call the room again. Success! This time Mary Ann was in the room and we were finally told the room number and given keys. I forgave the clerk the trouble when I heard him tell "Mark" that two young ladies were asking for him at the front desk. I haven't been called young for quite a while now. The three of us had several good laughs over that "hell of a man, Mark" and his two "young ladies" sharing "his" room!
The next morning was quite interesting as three women tried to use the same bath to get ready for the day's lobbying. Being the lowest maintainence of the three, I was naturally ready well before Mary Ann and Sarah. I proceeded to the lobby of the hotel where I met some of the other people from our group. Ann Casebeer, who was at our last meeting, was there and she introduced me to several of the others. Mariette Pathy Allen, who takes those wonderful pictures of transgendered people for Transgender/Tapestry was also part of the group as well as Alison Laing, the editor. At 7:30 the group gathered up and prepared to walk to the Metro station to take the train to the Capital, and surprise, surprise, no sign of Mary Ann and Sarah! As we started towards the station on foot, I looked back and there they were, leaving the hotel at last. They quickly caught up with us and we all proceeded to the station. "Convienently close to the Metro Station" took on a new meaning as well as we walked and walked and walked. Finally we arrived at the station. Forty or so transgendered women in a group. It was surprising how few people seemed to notice us. Riki Wilchins gave us all a quick lession on how to get our tickets from the machine and how to get back to the hotel and we proceeded to our destination. At the Capital we looked for the press who had been informed of plans, and told there would be a press op at 9 AM. No one there. We weren't newsworthy enough!
After a round of pictures of us as a group on the steps of the Capital, we split up and headed for our appointments. At this point I wondered why I wasn't nervous. Here I was in a strange city, about to talk to some of the most powerful people in our country and openly presenting as myself, a transsexual woman. Why wasn't I scared to death? Maybe it had something to do with the absolute lack of problems we had with anyone over our presentation up to that point, but still it was a bit of a surprise.
Our first appointment was with Suzanne McKenna from Senator Glenn's office. We arrived early enough to find a spot to sit and briefly go over the material. Sarah, Mary Ann and myself were joined by Ann and Diane. We were warmly welcomed and listened to. Sarah and I recounted the choice we had to make between which restroom to use in Penn. on the way out and found that we had a story that people could relate to. Very few people realize that transgendered people have to make choices like that everyday and that either choice was illegal. Nothing brings home the lack of civil rights we face quite as well as this. It was a story we learned to tell at each of our following meetings and I noticed that each time we did, the look in the people's eyes we were talking to changed from "Oh, another group to listen to" to real interest in what we had to say after that.
The rest of the day went very smoothly. We all met for lunch at the Rayburn cafeteria and then went on to our afternoon appointments. I was very glad I wore comfortable shoes. Everyone, including the guards at the entrances to the various buildings, was polite and friendly.
Later that evening we all gathered in the Lobby of the motel and went over the day's events. We chatted among ourselves afterwards and several of us decided to go off in search of the fabled DC nitelife. Whatever you've heard about the nitelife in DC, isn't true on a monday night. After driving endlessly around Dupont Circle, we all landed and finally located one of the bars we had heard about. Monday night is leather night. Whooops! We fit in like pumps in a men's locker room.
Three bars later, we spotted a Latin bar and since it was Cinco de Mayo, we decided to give it a try. There weren't many people there, but they seemed happy to see us. One of the gals in our group, Vanessa, is one of the prettiest TS's I've ever seen. While several of the guys at the bar were drooling over her and I was feeling like chopped liver, a guy turned and looked at me and exclaimed "You are magnificent!". He then grabbed me by the arm, grabbed his girlfriend as well and led us both out onto the dance floor. I was in heaven. After a few minutes I quietly slipped away and Mary Ann, Sarah and I decided to return to the hotel and get some well needed rest before resuming our lobbying the next day. The evening's events weren't over yet. While driving back to the hotel, a man in a car next to us started staring and craning his neck to look at us. He would speed up, slow down and stare and stare. This went on for a couple of miles and we were no longer amused, but rather remembering the stories we had told of bashings to the people we had encountered during the day! The closer we got to the hotel, the more we realized that we didn't dare pull in there until we got rid of our "admirer". Sarah did some remarkable driving and we finally lost him and returned to our room.
The next day we all went to the Capital in smaller groups and did follow ups on our calls from the day before. Once again, our reception was wonderful. At lunch I talked to Diane, who lives in Cinni, and she agreed to give me a ride back home since Sarah had planned to stay until the end of the week. I rode the Metro back to the hotel and then returned to the room and packed to leave. After a quick dinner alone, I returned to the hotel and hooked up with Diane and we drove home. Diane is a wonderful lady, we talked and talked all the way back. The trip seemed to fly by. I've invited her to join us sometime in the future at one of our meetings.
I won't soon forget the trip and look forward to returning next year, hopefully more of you will join us then....