BACKSTORY:

This post has to do with Tumblr TERFs trying to make the abuse a trans kid experienced by adult MichFest TERFs seem somehow okay. The abuse was witnessed by multiple individuals, specifically members of the Lesbian Avengers and a MichFest performer and member of Sister Spit, Nomy Lamm. The account of what happened to this trans kid is located here (under “The Cycle Continues” section). However, here’s what eyewitnesses said happened at MichFest:

In 1999, Camp Trans was largely facilitated by two chapters of the Lesbian Avengers and as part of the group’s action, they brought a 16-year-old trans girl to the MWMF ticket booth and informed them that everyone in the group was from Camp Trans. Moreover, they explicitly stated that some of their group was trans. While the MWMF sold everyone in the group tickets, the moment the group of Avengers entered the gates, TERFs began trailing the group shouting, “MAN ON THE LAND!” This continued until the TERF group turned into a mob that had surrounded the trans youth, yelling and shouting at her until MWMF security moved everyone to a tent where the trans youth was made to stand in front of the large group of TERFs who spent the next two hours berating her. One adult TERF openly threatened the life of the trans kid without consequence. Afterward, the youth was marched to the gates of the festival and expelled. I interviewed the Lesbian Avengers about their experience:

[Lesbian Avenger]: About 10 TERFs were waiting for us when we came in. The whole ‘MAN ON THE LAND!’ started as soon as we walked in. I mean, at the time, we’re kids, we’re teenagers and these are all adults. I mean, when I think about it now, it was just so fucked up. We were trying to give out t-shirts and stickers about being inclusive. But, it was getting bad.

[Trans girl in the group]: A huge crowd of yelling people formed around us and I started crying at that point. It got so loud that Nomy Lamm, who was performing there as part of Sister Spit, came over and stood up for us… The crowd and me were walked over to a tent area. The way that it worked was that there was a queue of people who were going to get to say whatever they wanted to say. I remember, specifically, one woman looking right at me and telling me that I needed to leave the Land as soon as possible because she had a knife and didn’t know if she would be able to control herself if I was around her.

Cristan Williams: WHAT? How did people react to that death threat?

[Trans girl in the group]: Because of the way they were queuing, as soon as one person stopped speaking, another would start, so nobody said or did anything about the death threat. At that point, I checked out. At first, I was sobbing and [B] was holding my face close to hers, telling me that it would be over soon, but then I just checked out.

[Lesbian Avenger]: The moderator did nothing. It was just a mud-slinging, hatred pouring out. It was just like one by one by one being like, ‘You’re a rapist! You’re raping the Land! You’re destroying womanhood! I don’t know what I’m going to do to you!’ – it was just violent, hatred, and I know that most of it was geared at [the trans girl in the group]. I was up there being attacked, but I wasn’t getting the brunt of it. This went on for at least two hours. At least 30 people were allowed to speak at us, but there were around 75 under the tent, and if you included the people around the tent who were watching and listening, well over 100.

I asked Lamm about what she had observed before the trans kid was forced to stand before the TERF mob to be publicly threatened and castigated. Lamm said that she had known the Lesbian Avengers were going to be there and found them as the TERF mob began to assemble.

Lamm: I was all ‘Oh I’m so happy to meet you’ and then all the sudden it was like we were surrounded by people screaming at [the trans girl in the group], this one woman in particular was going “What is your point? Why are you here?” and I remember standing in front of her and spreading my arms to keep people away from [the trans girl in the group] and I was like “She doesn’t have to talk to you! She doesn’t have to answer your questions! She’s doing a workshop tomorrow, go to the workshop if you want information.” [T]hese women came screaming towards us yelling “We are being raped right now! Penises on the land!” and shit like that.

Williams: Can you talk about how you felt in that moment, standing there with your arms out protecting her from these people?

Lamm: I think I just felt really protective. I was like, “No way! Huh uh! You’re not gonna fuck with this brave [kid] who put herself on the frontlines here!” I felt angry that people couldn’t see that this was a person, a vulnerable young person… I can’t imagine how traumatic that must have been for her.

Lamm’s courage didn’t evaporate once the trans girl in the group was physically safe. During her set on the MWMF stage, she publicly took a stand against the woman-born woman Intention.

Lamm: When I was on stage I said, “I just want to say that including trans women in this space is not going to take anything away, it’s going to add to it. I’ve been in women-only spaces that include trans women and that’s been my experience.” I was surprised that a bunch of people stood up and cheered. It made me feel hopeful.

In a press release dated August 24, 1999, MWMF organizer Lisa Vogel addressed what occurred to the trans youth thusly:

A number of spontaneous gatherings developed where participants discussed and debated the presence of the Son of Camp Trans activists and their actions. Volunteer facilitators helped to structure discussions so that various viewpoints, including those of the Son of Camp Trans, could be heard. The Son of Camp Trans activists scheduled a workshop session for Saturday at noon in the workshop area, and various Festival participants announced their intention to hold community meetings at different locations on Saturday.