Leslie Feinberg- an activelyOUT member's perspective

I asked one of our members, Jane N. to tell us about the Leslie Feinberg talk which took place at Stanford University

Many staff, professors, current students and alumni turned out to hear transgender activist Leslie Feinberg speak on Wednesday, October 3, at Stanford as part of the Feminist Studies 101 curriculum. The lecture hall was packed. Feinberg vividly recounted the Stonewall Rebellion and how the street youth and patrons of the bar heroically fought back against the police and locked the officers inside the bar. I knew what Stonewall was, but I never really understood how brutal and victorious the incident was for the LGBT people and street youth involved.

Feinberg used the Stonewall Rebellion as a platform to describe how the LGBT movement has been, and needs to be a part of other anti-oppression movements throughout the world. The stories and lectures were captivating, and I, like many others left the event feeling empowered and proud to be a part of the LGBT community and history.

Feinberg’s novel Stone Butch Blues, is a classic in the Queer women’s cannon. Stone Butch Blues is the compelling account of a gender queer person’s coming of age in a working class Butch and Femme community. Feinberg, is currently promoting zer newest book Drag King Dreams.

- Jane N.