Posted on 12/16/2004 12:10:14 PM PST by freespirited
Amanda Simpson was recognized last week by the YWCA as one of a dozen local Women on the Move.
That's more than a personal accomplishment for the 43-year-old senior principal systems engineer at Raytheon Missile Systems. It's also a personal victory, since Simpson is a transgendered woman who very publicly allowed the media to recount her transition from Mitchell Simpson four years ago.
"To say that I was absolutely thrilled is a bit of an understatement," Simpson said. She was selected from a pool of 89 finalists for the award, which gives the nod to women who are committed to the elimination of racism and the empowerment of women.
When Simpson was introduced at the awards banquet, the audience heard about her accomplishments at Raytheon, her recent bid for the state House of Representatives and her volunteer work in the community. She was also singled out as "an example of courage" for being open about her transition and becoming a nationally known speaker on gender issues in employment - openness worth recognizing when anonymity can be easier.
Linda Breck, director of leadership development for the YWCA, met Simpson at YWCA leadership conferences and planning committees. "She is very professional. She's certainly committed to the mission of the YWCA," Breck said. "She's very reliable and has great ideas. But she's really being recognized for her activism in the community and for taking a leadership role."
Kent Burbank, executive director of Wingspan, the local lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community resource center, said he gives the YWCA credit for issuing the award. It came on the heels of the "moral values" debate launched following the national elections, when voters in 11 states banned gay marriage at the polls.
Simpson's award, he said, makes a larger statement. "It's a wonderful achievement for her personally, but it's also an important thing for the transgender community that a transgendered woman be recognized as a woman," Burbank said.
But, as Simpson can attest, while she went public to help erase the stigma that can follow gender transitions, it isn't always easy having an adjective following her everywhere - something this very story is perpetuating.
"To some extent, yes, I wish when someone mentioned that I was the first transgendered person to win a (state) primary in the United States, I wish that wasn't true. I wish I didn't have to be the trailblazer. Someday, I won't have to be, because it will be completely accepted, but until then, I can't let harassment and biases continue unchallenged.
"Why should I not do things that I'm interested in?" Simpson continued. "Should I not get involved in politics or not work with nonprofits because of my past? And the answer to that is 'No' - I'm going to pursue things that interest me."
Simpson said she is noticing more tolerance. She won a similar award from Raytheon three years ago, and there was some grumbling then, she said, since it came so soon after her transition. But with the exception of some news accounts during her legislative campaign, Simpson said, the focus of the race was on important issues - health care, education, the economy - and not her transgenderism.
Ultimately, even though she had limited funding as a Democrat running against two popular incumbents in a district with a Republican advantage, she still collected 21 percent of the vote - a respectable showing since she trailed the second-place winner, an incumbent, by only seven percentage points.
"I'm not in people's faces. I'm challenging discrimination by saying, 'This is who I am and this is what I do.' All I ask is to be accepted for my qualities and judged on that basis."
"It's fun to stay at the YWCA"
WTF!?I am so confused on so many levels about this.Number one, why is it even considered for this award.
You beat me. Hey, this is one way to even up the odds on the dearth of women in the hard sciences.
memo to psychopaths: knock this crap off.
I have to admit "she's" definitely cuter than Estrich or Albright.
Gross.
Women(*) on the Move
Before any you start throwing insult at this person, keep in mind that Raytheon Missile Systems is the one of the companies working on the U.S. missle shield and this person is one of the senior engineers.
So someday your buts may be saved from a nuclear missile aimed at your city partially due to this person's work.
I believe the phrase we're looking for is "a man who voluntarily submitted to surgical mutilation of his genitalia because of a mental disease or defect by which he was convinced he really was a woman." There, that's better.
She's going to look funny when that male-pattern baldness sets in.
There's a joke in there somewhere, but it's the end of the day and my brain is stuned... :0)
All I can say is...
unnnngh.....
"So someday your buts may be saved from a nuclear missile aimed at your city partially due to this person's work."
Well this is actualy a little disconcerning. The fact that someone is in charge of protecting me from a nuclear missile attack who happens to have had their penis cut off worries me even more. There are hundreds of other people out there who can do the same thing that "it" is doing had not had their penis cut off. It comes down to mental stability.
Nope. Amanda is a guy with breasts who had his d**k chopped off.
"So someday your buts may be saved from a nuclear missile aimed at your city partially due to this person's work."
Well this is actualy a little disconcerning. The fact that someone is in charge of protecting me from a nuclear missile attack who happens to have had their penis cut off worries me even more. There are hundreds of other people out there who can do the same thing that "it" is doing had not had their penis cut off. It comes down to mental stability.
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