IDAHO - May 17th - Aftermath

Following the IDAHO event in Sheffield, I was moved to get in touch with one of the organisers of the event to see if I could raise some of the problems I found with the event with him.

My first email: (19th May)

Dear [edited out],

I wanted to send you a message following the IDAHO event last Monday,
as its organiser. I am involved in working for transgender equality at
the moment.

I felt the event was a good event, but I was disappointed with a
couple of things around it.

Firstly was the publicity regarding the event. I found out about it
from the 'exposed' magazine, which a friend pointed out to me. I had
to go online to clarify the details of the event, because the advert
there had 'Monday 17th May 2009' printed as the date of the event.

Secondly was the Transgender aspect of the event. I felt it got next
to no coverage during the event, with it being consistently dropped
from being mentioned alongside homophobia, and only one guest speaker
on the matter. The council banner had no mention of such and I was
particularly disturbed that the strongest image of the transgender
community (which I have been thus far unable to find whatsoever)
wasn't the arranged speaker, but [edited out] who from what I gather had
pushed her way into making a comment on stage at the very end of the
event. I don't felt that served the interests of the transgender
community very well at all. As seems to be the norm, GLB events have T
tacked on to it, with little understanding about transgender and
transsexual issues, and it very much felt that way at the event.

It was a very positive event (if a little small for a city the size of
Sheffield) for the gay and lesbian communities however. I think it's
an important event to run and I don't envy the potentially thankless
task of organising such an event. Despite my complaints, I would still
like to thank and congratulate you for the effort organising the event
must have taken.

Yours sincerely,

I got this reply: (24th May)

Many thanks for your e-mail detailing your experience of the IDAHO event which took place on the 17th May, and for your recognition of the potential challenges of organising such an event. If I may, I would like to address the various points of concern you have raised.

Firstly, by our own omission, some publicity material did go out with the incorrect year, though the day and date were correct. We agree that this typing error was unfortunate and made every effort with further distribution and on-line sources to ensure that the correct year was stated. I'm sure you can understand, that, while not an excuse, occasional typing errors make it through any proof reading practices.

We are disappointed to hear that you feel the trans community of Sheffield was not well represented at the event; certainly as each speaker did speak out against transphobia as well as homophobia - every effort was made to ensure both LGB and T communities were equally recognized. We do appreciate and understand your concern over the often lack of recognition of trans communities in events and service provision - but we would like to reassure you that we consulted with, and invited other speakers to offer the trans perspective, who unfortunately could not attend, and in no means merely attempted a tokenistic effort.

The IDAHO event in Sheffield has grown year upon year - gaining in recognition, attendance and contribution - indeed some feedback we have received was that it was bigger, better and more inclusive than an event that was recently held in Brighton - W do appreciate all feedback and endeavour to ensure that each year is more successful than the last. We're really pleased you were able to join us on Monday and hope to see you again next year.

With best wishes

A reply has been sent out today: (28th May)

Thank you for getting back to me, and answering some of the points in my email. I am glad to hear that you were not giving a token effort, I would like to challenge the comment that every speaker spoke out against both transphobia and homophobia; I was at the event and took notes for an independent article I wrote about it, and I specifically noted whom did not mention transphobia at all, this is an issue with each speaker though, and not something I find at fault with you.

May I enquire who you had been in contact with and had invited to speak at the event in regards of transgender and transsexual perspective?

Regards,

Edited to Add: This latest email has been sent an 'out of office' response, delaying further replies until the 14th of June.