All genders, all sexualities, all ages, all races and all backgrounds together –
Reclaiming the night, reclaiming our rights – and the streets!
5:30pm onwards, Saturday 1st March 2008
Where?
5:30pm – Meet @ Retro Bar, 78 Sackville Street, Manchester, M1 3NJ
Map:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=The+Retro+Bar+M1+3NJ&ie=UTF8&ll=53.477345,-2.235761&spn=0.012132,0.029182&z=15&iwloc=A
6pm – Congregate to march @ Sackville Park, Sackville Street, Manchester City Centre. Look out for the giant pink ‘QUEER TRANS BLOCK’ banner!
7:30pm – All genders rally @ Sackville Street, Manchester City Centre.
Please note: QUEER TRANS BLOCK will share the same start and end points on
Sackville Street as the “women” only and “men” only demos, but will be actively queering gender, space and separatism as an entirely unique protest accountable to itself.
Please bring any info/fliers/zines/free resources/vegan cake to hand out which are trans-positive, queer-positive, sex-positive, anti-oppressive and celebratory of biodiversity!
Why?
QUEER TRANS BLOCK is a transfeminist response to the separatism, erasure and censorship of transwomen, transmen, sex workers, gendervariant, genderqueer, non-gender-normative and intersex folk within the populist feminist movement.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfeminism
QUEER TRANS BLOCK is called in memory of Sam Roberts, genderqueer human rights activist, eco-gender warrior and trans social worker/counsellor, who organised the mixed genders Reclaim The Night March and Rally in Ipswich, December 2006. This gender inclusive RTN rally gave a voice to everyone affected by the Ipswich sex workers’ murders, especially the sex workers themselves:
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/topics/gender/
As a result of this progressive community-based approach to RTN, Sam received death threats from and was even labelled as a “paedophile” by London Feminist Network, who denounced Ipswich mixed genders RTN.
Sam was reviled by separatist feminists until herm death in May 2007.
One example of anti-trans separatist feminist propaganda designed to cause divisions:
http://www.questioningtransgender.org/
Sam’s friends will read out some of hir poetry and give their own first hand accounts of Ipswich mixed genders RTN to inspire and provoke debate around the future of political movements actively challenging all forms of oppression and separatism.
The NUS Women’s Campaign have publicised Reclaim The Night NORTH as being “women only (including trans women)”, although this definition has been edited, erased and left out of all the other publicity materials for this significant national feminist demo for some unexplained reason:
http://www.officeronline.co.uk/women/275060.aspx
Currently, trans people are not protected from
discrimination in the provision of goods and services in
the UK, transsexual people in Wales are refused
healthcare and treatment from NHS Gender Clinics by
NHS Wales and there are no legal/cultural protections for
trans people under 18, genderqueers, intersex folk and
anyone who doesn't fit within the binary gender system of
"male" or "female" - Homeless trans people are left
for dead on the streets by local authorities who cannot
provide safe appropriate housing to any vulnerable minority group.
Reports and feedback on this transfeminist action can be found on:
Manchester Indymedia:
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/manchester/
Trans Youth Network:
http://www.transyouth.org
G7UK Blog:
http://www.g7uk.com/
Get Bent Manchester:
http://www.get-bent-manchester.com
Quit moochin’ on’t’interweb, we’ll see you on the streets, lovely people of all genders XXX
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