BLAST FROM THE PAST~PRIDE EVENT ORGANIZER BLOCKS REPORTER

 

Joe Uvalles II as "Beatrix LeStrange"

As a 4 year old kid on Union Avenue in Seattle, I walked to the corner grocery to spend my nickel, either on an ice cream cone or a roll of red "caps" that would pop on the sidewalk when hit with a rock.

One day, I saw a tall black man wearing a dress and I ran into the house to ask my mother:  "Why is that man wearing a dress?"  

My mother simply said: "Don't look at him!" never answering my question.

Admittedly, in the 50's we used words that are now unacceptable to describe people; retard, spastic and homo.  

Use of the word "queer" was also discouraged n polite society, but now that word is embraced.

Pastor Ali Lopez

Yesterday, at the Market Square Pride event Pastor Ali Lopez exclaimed:  "I'm queer and I'm a pastor.  How about that?" before she asked for a blessing on all present from a generic God.

Uvalles(Beatrix), the organizer, tried to stop me from taking pictures in a public venue for a public event, sponsored by H.E.B., the Community Development Corporation, Planned Parenthood of South Texas, the Brownsville Jaycees and the ACLU, among others.(I wonder what the ACLU would have thought about Uvalles/Beatrix's attempt to stifle my right to free speech via photo journalism?)

Uvalles' rationale for interfering with my work is his claim that I'd used the word transvestite in a story.

Since the event, Uvalles has more clearly stated his objection to my "writing" via Facebook:

Uvalles:  "I’m sorry but I did not consent to these photos. You and this blogger have a history of transphobic and problematic language online and on blogs and simply asked Mr Barton to stop taking photos out of respect for the community present."

Eventually, I learned that Uvalles' concern was about a story I wrote about two drag queens performing at La Movidita over a year ago in which I described them as transvestites. 

trans·ves·tite/transˈvesˌtīt,tranzˈvesˌtīt/
noun: transvestite; plural noun: transvestites
a person, typically a man, who derives pleasure from dressing in clothes primarily associated with the opposite sex.

I've since learned that the LGBTQ community prefers the term transgender or the ambiguous non-word trans.

Of course, the word transgender concerns a person's sense of sexual identity, something I can't determine simply seeing a man in a dress or a woman in men's garb.  I'm not a mental health professional and make no claim to having made a psychological analysis.

Here's my response on Facebook to Uvalles:

Joe. . you may lack the perspective of time, but all these words have cycled in and out of acceptability. Queer and gay are now acceptable, but, in previous years not so much. A transvestite is simply by definition someone who enjoys dressing in the characteristic clothes of the opposite gender, thus not a boogie word at all. As for the pics, your permission is not needed for a public event in a public place and wasn't requested.

Juan Fidencio Trevino,

Brownsville Bright

Although, it's not relevant to my right to photograph at a public event, most of my pics were readily posed, such as the one one on the left of Juan Fidencio Trevino, who once maintained a blog, Brownsville Bright.  Blogs can be tedious to sustain, but Trevino made this comment about my work in 2017:

Good Afternoon Mr. Barton,

As possibly the newest local Brownsville blogger, I wanted to thank you for being a part of the reason why I became interested in this field. The way you use your voice to inform people is inspiring, and I hope to emulate that effectiveness in Brownsville Bright. Consider me a friendly face. I hope we can both be positive influences to our city."

Juan Fidencio Trevino

The irony is that I've consistently supported and promoted events by the LBGTQ community and will continue to do so.  My attitude, as always:  Live and let live!