I work mostly on trans civil rights issues. I work on issues involving trans youth and trans military service. In past years I’ve worked on trans antiviolence issues, especially issues involving hate crimes and trans media coverage.
I haven’t worked on other issues that I care about, such as a woman’s right to choose and anti-poverty programs. Like most of us, I’m limited by how much money and how much time I have to expend on issues that I care about. Beyond that, I’m also disabled with a bipolar condition that through time is lessening my ability to expend personal energy, which is interrelated with time, on any issue I care about.
And, I care about things beyond politics. I have family I care about on whom I spend time, energy and finances. I have my two cats; I have hobbies; I have basic needs (food and shelter, for example) as well, where my personal resources are expended.
Basically, I can and do care about many personal and political issues, but my limited personal resources define my ability to do something about any issue I care about. So I expend my personal resources on issues I care about and where I believe I can make the most difference.
So do most of us. For example we may spend our time, energy and financial resources on our families, our health, on physical fitness, animal rights, our jobs, our hobbies, and/or on any number of political candidates or issues. We, as individuals, expend our time, energy and financial resources on what we care about. We can’t expend our limited resources on everything we care about – so we expend our various, limited resources in alignment with our personal priorities.
So on a personal level, we all have a limited amount of resources to expend on what we care about.
Our LGBT non-profit organizations have the same limitations. Our political and service organizations are focused on a limited number of issues – often these are single issue focused organizations, although a few, such as the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and the Task Force, are “shopping cart” organizations that take on multiple issues at a time. What and where our community members are willing to spend time and money on tells us where our priorities are.
And, some of us have more power than others in defining what our LGBT community issues are. Our large donors drive issues. For example, if a donor gave a $100,000 to the HRC with the stipulation that the money be spent on marriage equality, then that issue would receive attention by the HRC at least to the level that $100,000 would “buy.” And if multiple large donors were to give to the HRC, then the HRC would spend the financial resources, including the time and energy of their staffers, on marriage equality.
And, our LGBT community expends a lot of resources on marriage equality, whereas our LGBT community doesn’t expend its resources on other issues, such as trans military issues.
So, if I want time, energy, and money expended on trans military issues, I’m going to have to turn to my own limited resources to move that issue.
“I remember saying, ‘Most activists in the transgender community do only as much activism as they can afford.’” said Dallas Denny, past president of The International Foundation for Gender Education, in a 2005 interview with Helen Kramer. “By that I meant that not only are there practically no paid positions in the transgender community, but that it’s difficult to even raise money to cover hard expenses like copying and postage or travel. Most of the activists I know subsidize their own activism. I know I did for many years.”
Denny indicated at the cost of that kind of activism, “Some activists give and give, neglecting their own lives, until they are sucked dry. Thus, we eat our leaders.”
This take on activism applies to more than just transgender activism: it applies to most activism.
Our LGBT community has limited resources; our LGBT community members have limited resources. We do as community and individuals get the activism we can afford. And, that, in part, is a function of our community’s and our own limited amount of resources.
