------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Feb. 21, 2002 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
ANTI-WEF ACTIVIST ARRESTED: "LIVING TRANS IS NOT A CRIME!" By Elijah Crane New York On Feb. 2, protesters braved a force of more than 10,000 New York cops in order to confront the World Economic Forum. Oppressed people of many nationalities and genders were especially targeted as they asserted their legal right to demonstrate. As the anti-WEF protests were winding down for the day and head-counts were the theme of the hour among affinity groups and comrades in the struggle, the casualties of the day grew to include Dean Spade and his supporters. A gang of riot police arrested, assaulted and dragged Spade and two of his supporters into custody around 5 p.m. His crime? Attempting to use a public restroom in Grand Central Station. Spade is a female-to-male transgendered person, an activist and a law student. He described the situation in a statement distributed via email: "I entered the 'men's' room, as is my custom, and was followed in by a cop. As I was looking to see what stalls were open, he approached and asked for my ID. I explained that I was in the right bathroom, that I am transgender and I understood his confusion, but I was just going to use the bathroom and leave." A friend went into the restroom after the cop, recognizing that Spade could face trouble. The officer forcefully continued the demand to see Spade's ID. The friend made an effort to "vouch" for Spade, but to no avail. Realizing that he was being denied the right to use the restroom, Spade and his friend attempted to leave. "At that point," the statement continued, "we tried to walk past the cop and he physically restrained us by pushing us up against the wall and blocking our exit while he radioed for backup. Ultimately, we were thrown to the floor and dragged (with me screaming 'I was just trying to pee! Help me!' to the tourist and protester onlookers) through the station." Another friend was also arrested while trying to advocate for the two who were already detained. Once in custody, Spade was thrown into the female population. While it may have been safer in some ways, it was another act of anti-trans bigotry. Why did he have to be imprisoned at all? He was held for a total of 23 hours at three different precincts. And the transphobia was not isolated to the cops. 'LIVING TRANS IS NOT A CRIME!' When a court-appointed attorney spoke with Spade, his first question was: Why was Spade in the men's room? When the activist responded that he was transgender, the attorney replied that he didn't need to know Spade's personal business. Yet this transphobic lawyer then asked all too personal information regarding Spade's body. When Spade asked why he needed to know, the attorney accused him of being unwilling to cooperate. Spade explained his response to this outrageous inquiry in his statement: "Because I was unsure about what would happen to me if he would not advocate for me vigorously, and because I feared being given a bail I could not meet, I ultimately suffered the indignity of having to satisfy his curiosity about my genitalia by explaining it. "Even then, he said dismissively about my transgender, 'Well, that is your personal business,' and left without giving me any information about what would happen in the courtroom." Hours later when he was led into the courtroom for arraignment, Spade found it filled with supporters wearing stickers that read, "Living trans is not a crime." News of the arrest traveled quickly. Supporters are spreading his statement far and wide on the Internet. Spade was released on his own recognizance. He has a court date on March 6. He faces charges of disorderly conduct, trespassing, resisting arrest and obstruction of government administration. Supporters plan to fill the courtroom to let the courts know that transphobia is the crime. Spade is working on a new law project focusing on the needs of low-income transgender, transsexual, gender-queer and gender-variant folks in New York City. He concluded: "It was funny to spend a week writing a grant about issues such as the discriminatory treatment of this population in criminal justice contexts, as well as the inadequacy of many lawyers to provide sensitive and appropriate services to us, and then to experience these very problems myself on the weekend. The experience has reinforced my commitment to this work." [Elijah Crane is a transgender activist. He helped organize participation in the Feb. 2 anti-WEF protest.] - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. 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