Civil rights depends on... Dana did *what*?!?

I had to read these two blog posts twice. Three times for Dana's.

I can recommend Valerie Keefe's blogpost, but Dana's? I'm quite stunned. I knew she wasn't so good at reading, but ... Really?!?

Okay, the nutshell version. Valerie Keefe, writing in The Huffington Post, argues that civil rights shouldn't depend on what's between your legs, nor how whatever is there got there. She further says that what you wear shouldn't matter. Civil rights depend on you being a person, basically. Cool. :-) 

I share that opinion and have sometimes (!) voiced it quite vociferously. :-)

In the middle of her Huffington Post piece, Ms Keefe introduces us to one of Dana Lane Taylor's more judgmental posts: the Transgender Borg Collective. ... ... ...  ... WTF?!?

Now that's interesting. The text of Dana's post has changed!!! I wonder why? 

Here's the version Google has cached: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:cwR-YvqIytQJ:www.ts-is-liberation.org/blog/2011/06/28/the-transgender-borg-collective/+%22The+transgender+borg+collective%22+%22People+always+assume+I+have+various+stances+on+things+without+actually+ever+seeing+the+proof%22+dana+lane+taylor&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=safari

Screenshot taken at 11:31:47AM
Cached version is from "Jan 9, 2012 19:23:18 GMT"

Here's the version as it looked when I clicked on the appropriate link:

Screenshot taken at 11:31:22AM

Wow. 

The relevant quote:

People always assume I have various stances on things without actually ever seeing the proof. I don’t consider myself “HBS/Classic Transsexual” nor do I push that on people. My philosophy is basically that if you claim to be a women who was born in a male body and you don’t want to repair this birth defect, you might not be a woman. Why would someone not want to fix this? I do have issue with those who claim a non-op status due to financial reasons. There are a lot of us who are fighting to get rights for medical treatments that are mandatory and to have insurance companies cover this treatment as they would for any other medical condition. Claiming that surgery is optional destroys this  effort. This is a serious issue! Those with transsexual histories, who are supporting the transgender community’s non-op is an option argument are helping to tear down any possibility of reforming insurance policies.  You have been assimilated into the Transgender Borg Collective and they are happy to have you there.  And yes, I have been lobbying my employer to remove the exclusion of mandatory triadic treatment from their health insurance policies so I take it personal. Do I not have a right to be angry at those who are damaging these efforts? I damned sure do! Yes, I am very angry about it.

Just to make sure  - here's a screen capture of the bit where Dana extolls on being "discovered":

I'm... I'm quite taken aback! 

The topic of this post was how could Dana be so silly? She acclaims the mention of her blog in The Huffington Post - and apparently missed where Ms Keefe said:

She's wrong. She's wrong with the heat of 10,000 suns, just as wrong as a cancer patient assuming that the existence of radiation therapy is making it impossible to get chemotherapy. She's wrong for advocating for a second that surgery be a precondition for basic human rights. She's wrong for assuming that genitalia are gender, and just as wrong as a French Court that assumed that a trans woman had to have a certain cup size to be a woman, and I shouldn't even need to draw attention to this any more than any other Internet crank who isn't writing laws or cheques to those who write laws, [...]

(It's immediately under the quote from Dana.)

Holy smokes. I'm quite at a loss. Dana just destroyed *any* credibility she had.

Talk about ... Well, whatever.

Word to the wise: Dana, change the post back. You own that site, I'm sure you can. Admit to being a bit angry and careless and doing something foolish. Apologize. And get back to your usual blether. You can recover some of your reputation; don't try to bullshit your way through, either.

If you don't, your credibility will stay shredded. As it is, very few will take you at all seriously after such a dumb move.

I love debate and the bazaar the internet gives us. But sometimes you have to wonder about folk. :-)

Carolyn Ann

Added: I decided to ask Ms Keefe when she retrieved the quote from Dana:

Hi, Valeria. I thought you made some telling points in this post. 

I'm curious: can you tell me when you retrieved the quote from Dana Lane Taylor? Because the blog post you refer to ("Transgender Borg Collective") has changed. It's now about "pimp slapping"! (Which is a copy of another of her blog posts, which was, specifically, about pimp slapping.)

Google has, as of January 9th, the same text as you. And I remember reading the words you quoted shortly after she wrote them. But this morning, the post, as I said, has changed.

I don't know if she'll tell me, or if HuffPo will "approve" the comment (apparently comment moderation is on for that post). I'll let you know. :-)

===
11:52PM. Dana has left 6 comments on this post. Each one is angrier than the last.

Feb 5: Dana makes a few inane accusations in her commentary. I have challenged her to come up with the proof; at this point I think it's safe to say she can't because it doesn't exist. She's obviously got me confused with some other bloggers and didn't bother to check out her silly allegations. C'est la vie.