Who Are We

I've worked for transgender rights since 1990. An MIT graduate in engineering, I founded GenderTalk radio, and developed the MTPC website. My mission is to support the advancement of respect and fair treatment for transgender people in the most effective way I know how: as chair of MTPC's Steering Committee, where I can continue to support all of the amazing people doing the good work of MTPC. Besides leading the SC and helping with strategic planning and communications, I maintain the website and continue to develop our web-integrated database towards better empowering our community.

As a graduate of Boston University's School of Law, a previous MTPC intern, and a founding member of the Massachusetts Transgender Legal Advocates, working on the MTPC Steering Committee is some of the most meaningful work I do. I have been working with MTPC since 2002. I believe that the best (and maybe the only) way for trans communities to achieve justice is to work together, empower our community and fight to improve the lives of all transgender people and that we need to focus on ending racism, classism and sexism within and outside trans communities in order to achieve that goal. For these reasons, I believe that MTPC is uniquely qualified to work toward transgender justice, as the largest transgender-run and operated political group in the state. As a white attorney, I try to use the privilege I have to work together with others and achieve shared goals for justice.

My most recent work with MTPC has been in serving as a junior legal supervisor to our legal clinic to keep folks in our community surviving and able to fight for justice and in recruiting and sustaining major donors. However, over the years, I have tried to be flexible and take on whatever work MTPC needs that I feel I am able to do. My personal goals for MTPC for the 2011-2012 year are to work toward being a humane and fair employer to our executive director and any other employees we may take on, to envision creative ways that we can 'compensate' our unpaid staff, even if we do not have the money to pay them, and to work to engage more of our community members and volunteers to take a leadership roles in our organization. I believe that together and organized, trans communities can win justice.

i am a 49 yr old, white, transgender man who came out as trans in 2006. I am in a long-term relationship with a woman who identifies as a lesbian and am the biological parent of two sons, ages 18 & 16. I am a long-time social justice advocate working for women's and lesbian rights in the 70's and 80's, combating white privilege in the 90's and 00's, and working for transgender rights most recently. Educationally, I have a BSW and an MBA and spent a large portion of my career as a health care executive. For the past 7 yrs I've been a self-employed multicultural consultant conducting trainings and providing executive coaching addressing issues of privilege/oppression in the workplace. I also have worked for many years with white parents who have adopted transracially, to address issues around their white racial identity and its impact on their children of color. I have extensive experience presenting and doing public speaking which i enjoy. I am a decent writer as a result of writing client and workshop proposals and I have had articles published in a variety places. My most prominent lens is a racial one and I will be continually inviting myself and other committee members to consider how our race(s) are impacting our process and our decisions.

As former State Director and Lobbyist for the National Organization for Women in Massachusetts (a member of MTPC's Transgender Rights Coalition), I've had the honor of working with Gunner and the other MTPC coalition members on a near-daily basis. The Transgender Equal Rights Bill has been one of Mass. NOW's top legislative priority ever since it was filed. I have worked tirelessly to help get this bill passed, and it has become more than part of my job--it's a personal issue for me now. As a feminist, I have always supported equal and civil rights for ALL people. As I have come to learn more about the issues the transgender community faces, I have become even more invested in transgender rights. I will do anything I can to ensure that my trans friends and colleagues have access to the opportunities and rights that I do. My background is in public policy and program development, and I also enjoy community relations and outreach. I bring a lot of energy, ideas, and knowledge to the table--and most of all, I have the passion that's needed to work on this issue. As a non-transgender woman, I'm in a unique position to reach out to people outside of the transgender community to build relationships, garner support, and foster understanding. I am ready and willing to do anything MTPC needs to advance the rights of our community.

A graduate of Brandeis with a Masters in Public Policy, I have been involved with MTPC since January 2009. I was elected to the Steering Committee in the Summer of 2010, and stepped into the role of Interim Fundraising Committee Chair in January 2011. I love working on fundraising for MTPC as well as continuing to be involved with the governance of an organization that means a lot to me. I admire the success that MTPC has had in building coalitions to outside groups and movements, and I believe I can help contribute to bridging some of those ideological divides and strengthening those relationships. MTPC has really welcomed me and fostered my sense of activism, and I would like to give back to an organization that has meant a lot to me over the past few years.

I enjoy working toward Trans rights and equality. I have a background in social services (domestic violence and sexual assault advocacy). I have worked hard to try and remove gender markers and blocks to service access based on gender/gender identity within the fields of domestic violence and sexual assault, and continue to do so. I consider myself against the concept of gender roles, expectations, and labels all together and wish people didn't have to fill in the bubble when it really doesn't matter.

I chair the newly created Faith Outreach & Liaison Committee (working title). I'm a transgender leader specializing in faith, religion and spirituality. I'm Chair of the Interfaith Coalition for Transgender Equality (ICTE), Emeritus Founding Chair of Keshet's Transgender Working Group (TWiG), and a board member of Congregation Am Tikva. I'm 34, and identify as female, queer, transgender, genderqueer, a Fat Admirer and fat ally; I'm committed to working for size / fat acceptance. I live in Boston; my wonderful partner Julia McCrossin lives in Washington, DC. I'm a writer, an artist, and a science fiction and fantasy fan.

I was born in greater Boston and have always lived here. I came out as a lesbian as a high school freshperson in 1990, and have had a queer career in all senses ever since; I came out as transgender when I was a senior in 1993. I'm proud to say I've been involved with MTPC since its founding, and have known and worked with some of its leaders since before that. MTPC is a truly vital and wonderful organization, and I want to help it continue to grow and improve.

As Chair of MTPC's People of Color Committee, I believe our committee has made some strong beginnings at establishing community, determining the goals and needs of that community and creating a path to enable it's members to reach those goals.

I am also on the steering committee for QAPA (Queer Asian Pacific-Islander Alliance), and a founding member of the Trailblazers, the Boston based softball team for trans and gender variant people. In my professional life, I work as an architect. I am glad to contribute to MTPC's efforts and look forward to working on the issues that impact our enriched communities.

Co-Chair of the MTPC Policy Committee, I coordinate trans-focused policy projects around important community issues. I work at Fenway Health, first performing quality control on clinical HIV prevention trials, then with the national Network for LGBT Health Equity. Additionally I am the chair of Youth Kicks, a social marketing campaign of the late National Youth Advocacy Coalition focused on LGBTQ youth tobacco control. I have represented the transgender community at local and national events, and have a strong passion for transgender health, employment non-discrimination, college inclusion and protection from violence.

I attended Northeastern University for undergrad where I successfully advocated for a Gender Neutral Housing program, trans-sensitive identity document policies and expansion of NU's Women's Studies into Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies. Among other advocacy projects and roles, I also served as President of the LGBTQ student group NU Pride where I planned campus and community events and meetings that raised awareness of transgender issues.

As an activist, educator and transman, I am honored to be part of this amazing organization that inspires, motivates and supports me. I am always reflecting on ways that I can best utilize my education, experiences, and my social collateral, so that all members of the transgender community have a voice and place in the fight for civil rights in Massachusetts, and beyond. I have facilitated numerous transgender education workshops on a variety of topics at the university, community and national level over the past five years of which I have been a member of MTPC. I hold a Masters of Education in Social Justice Education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and am the Program Manager of TransCEND.

As chair of the Outreach Committee, I am fortunate to engage with community members and the public at numerous events throughout the state. I believe outreach and education are an integral part of activism and that in sharing our stories, we become woven deeper into the fabric of society. In these venues, outreach volunteers not only create opportunities for visibility, but for honest and authentic connections, conversations and open up dialogues with supporters and potential allies.