FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 20, 2010

Chicago, IL—Members of the organization Stellar have called on transgender people and allies to participate in an act of non-violent resistance at this year's Dyke March. Stellar does not endorse the march, citing the fact that the Chicago Dyke March Collective (CDMC) has yet to address the concerns transgender people have regarding last year's march. Instead Stellar encourages trans people, trans-questioning people, activists, and allies to participate in the march to resist both the hate that manifests itself in society at large and the transphobic, cissexist elements that persist within Dyke March.

Last year Veronika Boundless, a Chicago resident, was the lone transsexual woman in CDMC until she was compelled to leave after finding that the collective fostered an environment in which members of the collective gave low priority to hearing the concerns of transgender people and in which members themselves felt entitled to use transphobic hate speech with impunity. Though a few members have conceded in private that the collective has acted in a problematic manner, the only assurance that has been offered to Veronika has been promises that CDMC would deal with some of its problems in closed-door meetings where no trans people would be present. As for Veronika and other TBLGQ people who have concerns over what Dyke March has become, they have formed Stellar, taking their cue from an old union slogan: "Don't mourn, organize."

Stellar invites interested trans and trans-questioning people and their supporters to join them in a contingent at Dyke March. Stellar can be reached by e-mail at march4all (at) gmail.com. Stellar will be meeting for Dyke March at 2:30 PM on Saturday, June 26 at 7054 S. Jeffery Blvd.

Stellar is a grass-roots organization of trans, bi, lesbian, gay, queer, and questioning folks in Chicago. It calls itself Stellar to pay homage to Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) and in doing so recognizes the contributions that transgender people, working class people, and people of color have made from the beginning of the TBLGQ rights movement.