Oh dear. For the Beaumont Society to mess up once in a week by breaking the story of the pregnant British trans bloke is unfortunate. For them to mess up twice by apparently giving their blessing to a deeply offensive advertising campaign is downright unforgivable.
I've met the current Beaumont Society president on several occasions, and I consider her to be pretty sound. I've never met either of the two officials named as sources for these two incidents, but I have to question their competence after showing such a conspicuous lack of basic common sense in the face of external enquiry.
I'm reminded of my days at university, of student societies. Students love titles and positions, they look good on the CV. It's pretty easy to get yourself in the position of public relations officer for the University Tiddlywinks Society, you just have to show willingness for the job and it's yours.
But there's the thing, nobody gives a toss about the Tiddlywinks Soc. You can say what you like, and it'll never matter. No newspaper is ever going to solicit your opinion so the "I'll do it!" school of recruitment is fine in that arena.
Unfortunately though the Beaumont Society operates on a wider stage than a university students union. It seems as one of our better-known national trans organisations they've become the go-to destination for journalists and others looking for a Quotable Tranny. A press contact for such an organisations has a very simple task when faced with a question: say the right thing, or say nothing. Which usually means "Say the right thing if you know what you're doing, or if you don't know what you're doing then shut the f**k up!".
I mean, come on! It's corporate employee 101: never say anything without ensuring it's on-message first!The only recruitment model for a public relations job with an organisation like the Beaumont Society should be one based on merit, if you don't know what you're doing you should never be allowed the job just because you say "I'll do it!", no matter how long you've been 'on the scene'!
A few days ago I defended them as a Beaumont Society member against some of their harsher critics and I still stand by that defence as far as it went. By all means knock them for their inept media handling I said, but don't knock them for supporting all facets of our community at the grass roots level.
I'm afraid I can't defend their inept officialdom though. I won't be canceling my membership because I still believe they can be a force for good in our community, but for what the voice of one member is worth I expect from within to see both a cull of the inept and a significant change in their public relations strategy from one of rent-a-quote to one of saying the right thing or nothing at all.
It's not easy, defending an organisation that seems to have a knack for becoming ever more indefensible.
Showing posts with label Beaumont Society. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beaumont Society. Show all posts
Tuesday, 21 February 2012
Thursday, 16 February 2012
BS on the BS
It seems to be open season on the Beaumont Society at the moment. With some justification, as one of the higher-profile national trans groups they have become something of a go-to for journalists wanting to talk about trans issues, and we're told they inadvertently broke the story of a UK trans man having a baby. Now trans groups are being approached by journalists from one of the nastier tabloids trying to track the family down.
The whole affair sounds like a bit of a cock-up, to be honest. The Beaumont press contact comes out of it all looking woefully naïve, and as a primarily MtF organisation they shouldn't be talking about FtM issues anyway. If all that has been said is true, a few heads need to roll at Beaumont Towers and serious attention needs to be paid to their press policy.
The press story isn't the reason for my writing this post though. I'm reading a lot of comments about the story and I feel that many of them verge on hate-speech and are not acceptable. Phrases like "Deeply closeted gay club" and "You can almost smell the testosterone and man smell" are just the tip of an iceberg of misandry and TV-hate that has surfaced in the last couple of days.
I'm a member of the Beaumont Society, and while you can read my views on their press policy above, I'm not recognising the organisation I know at a local level in the reactions I've detailed in the preceding paragraph. I've met more than one of their elected officers including their current president and I've seen some of the grass-roots support they provide all over the country to real trans-identified people both in the closet and coming out of it. Now, in 2012, not a stereotypical image based on how they might have been in 1972 or 1982.
The Beaumont Society provide support to all corners of our sphere, from the wackiest cross-dresser to the most stealth-seeking transsexual. I see this very well, I live on the border of two of their regions, one of whose regional organisers is a flamboyant TV and the other is a long-transitioned TS. The latter regional organiser was one of the ladies who mother-henned me on my first outing presenting as female back in 2010, something she has done for countless other trans women edging out of the closet. This is the everyday work of the Beaumont Society, real people spending a lot of their time attending support groups, helping real trans people at difficult times. There are many trans organisations on the national stage with very lofty ideals, but I have yet to find any of them helping people out of the closet on a wet Saturday in Swindon.
I get the impression that a lot of the criticism of the Beaumont Society stems from their association with the TV end of the spectrum. I've read vitriolic comments about private parties for TVs wearing silly clothing, it seems that any association with such people should be of great offence to someone who identifies at the TS end of the spectrum. If those people can't grasp the concept of a support organisation whose remit covers a wider community than just them then I am sorry for them, with their tiny closed transphobic minds.
So by all means slam the Beaumont Society for their media cock-up. They deserve that. But if you know nothing of the grass-roots work they currently do in supporting real trans people in the here-and-now in 2012, then shut up and stop having a go at them as an organisation just because you don't like them. Or get off your internalised-transphobic arse, and start giving some grass-roots support yourself!
The whole affair sounds like a bit of a cock-up, to be honest. The Beaumont press contact comes out of it all looking woefully naïve, and as a primarily MtF organisation they shouldn't be talking about FtM issues anyway. If all that has been said is true, a few heads need to roll at Beaumont Towers and serious attention needs to be paid to their press policy.
The press story isn't the reason for my writing this post though. I'm reading a lot of comments about the story and I feel that many of them verge on hate-speech and are not acceptable. Phrases like "Deeply closeted gay club" and "You can almost smell the testosterone and man smell" are just the tip of an iceberg of misandry and TV-hate that has surfaced in the last couple of days.
I'm a member of the Beaumont Society, and while you can read my views on their press policy above, I'm not recognising the organisation I know at a local level in the reactions I've detailed in the preceding paragraph. I've met more than one of their elected officers including their current president and I've seen some of the grass-roots support they provide all over the country to real trans-identified people both in the closet and coming out of it. Now, in 2012, not a stereotypical image based on how they might have been in 1972 or 1982.
The Beaumont Society provide support to all corners of our sphere, from the wackiest cross-dresser to the most stealth-seeking transsexual. I see this very well, I live on the border of two of their regions, one of whose regional organisers is a flamboyant TV and the other is a long-transitioned TS. The latter regional organiser was one of the ladies who mother-henned me on my first outing presenting as female back in 2010, something she has done for countless other trans women edging out of the closet. This is the everyday work of the Beaumont Society, real people spending a lot of their time attending support groups, helping real trans people at difficult times. There are many trans organisations on the national stage with very lofty ideals, but I have yet to find any of them helping people out of the closet on a wet Saturday in Swindon.
I get the impression that a lot of the criticism of the Beaumont Society stems from their association with the TV end of the spectrum. I've read vitriolic comments about private parties for TVs wearing silly clothing, it seems that any association with such people should be of great offence to someone who identifies at the TS end of the spectrum. If those people can't grasp the concept of a support organisation whose remit covers a wider community than just them then I am sorry for them, with their tiny closed transphobic minds.
So by all means slam the Beaumont Society for their media cock-up. They deserve that. But if you know nothing of the grass-roots work they currently do in supporting real trans people in the here-and-now in 2012, then shut up and stop having a go at them as an organisation just because you don't like them. Or get off your internalised-transphobic arse, and start giving some grass-roots support yourself!
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