10/10/13 Indigo Girls Speak Out About Anti-Trans Policy at Michigan Womyn's Music Festival | GLAAD

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Indigo Girls Speak Out About Anti-Trans Policy at

Michigan Womyn's Music Festival

By Megan Townsend, GLAAD's Entertainment and Operations Coordinator | April 5, 2013

A new Change.org petition has been launched calling on the Indigo Girls and other performers at

the 2013 Michigan Womyn's Music Festival to pull out and boycott the festival until the festival

adopts a policy that would allow transgender women to attend. The petition, launched this week,

currently has over 1,200 signatures.

Festival founder and producer Lisa Vogel has stated previously that the Festival "has been

created by and for womyn-born womyn, that is, womyn who were born as, and have lived their

entire life experience as, womyn." After a transgender woman was ejected from the festival in

10/10/13 Indigo Girls Speak Out About Anti-Trans Policy at Michigan Womyn's Music Festival | GLAAD

www.glaad.org/blog/indigo-girls-speak-out-about-anti-trans-policy-michigan-womyns-music-festival 2/8

Issues: Entertainment, Music, Transgender

Tags: Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, Indigo Girls

1991, trans people have organized multiple

protests against the policy, including

establishing Camp Trans outside the

festival's gates.

The Indigo Girls addressed the protest in a

statement posted to their blog yesterday:

"We strongly feel that the time is

long overdue for a change of

intention, to one that states very plainly the inclusion of Trans Womyn. To

us, this change of intention is the only path to a truly 'safe space' for

womyn. […] Although we are playing the festival, we honor the current

protest against MWF and hope that it will help move the community

towards change. Any money that we make playing the Festival will go

towards Trans Activism. We will make a statement from stage at the

Festival in support of Trans Inclusion. We have made it clear that this will

be our last time at the Festival until MWF shows visible and concrete

signs of changing their intention."

The full text of the Indigo Girls statement can be read at their website and the petition calling on

performers to boycott the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival's for their policy of excluding

transgender women can be seen here.

10/10/13 Indigo Girls Speak Out About Anti-Trans Policy at Michigan Womyn's Music Festival | GLAAD

www.glaad.org/blog/indigo-girls-speak-out-about-anti-trans-policy-michigan-womyns-music-festival 3/8

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CommentPosting as Cathy Brennan (Change)

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Erica Watson

Being a woman is not about being born with a vagina. It is about the mind. As far as I understand (and as far as it matters to me) a trans

woman IS a "woman born a woman". She was just born with the wrong physical parts to match that. A trans woman is not a man who one day

wakes up and decides to start wearing woman's clothing and calling himself Jane instead of John. She is a whole person who has endured and

often long and painful process of recognizing herself for who/what she truly is and accepting that person and bringing her out of hiding. I just

don't understand the bigotry some people feel the need to perpetuate.

Reply · · Like · Follow Post · April 12 at 10:18am1

Jade Gee ·

So yeah, everyone is saying that this is a big deal for The Indigo Girls to openly support Trans women inclusion at MWMF. I don't hand out

cookies for doing what was right all along. This is still a shame on them for ever supporting the policy and a I am still left unconvinced seeing

that they are still performing at this years MWMF.

Reply · · Like · Follow Post · April 6 at 12:35pm

Follow

4

Po Lomami · · Présidente et cofondatrice at CHEFF asbl

Shame for making a statement on stage against the policy in order to raise awareness and give the money to Trans Activism ??

Reply · · Like · April 6 at 3:34pm

Follow

1

Jade Gee ·

No, shame that they have supported the rule all these years. I don't believe in handing out prizes for something people should

have done in the first place.

Reply · · Like · April 6 at 8:49pm

Follow

3

Katie Berger Tremaine · Top Commenter · Intern/Volunteer Cataloger at Quatrefoil Library

You know, most of us have done the wrong thing for a while before deciding to do the right thing.

Reply · · Like · June 2 at 10:13am1

Jenny Boylan · · Top Commenter · Member, Board of Directors at GLAAD · 438 subscribers

GLAAD blog post on the Indigo Girls good stand on the transphobic MIchigan Women's Music Featival.

Reply · · Like · Follow Post · April 5 at 10:01pm

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14

Edie Love · · Starr King School For The Ministry

Actually the blog post is not 100% accurate. Camp Trans has moved inside the festival now, for the past several years

transwomen have openly attended, much to the dismay of the hardcore "womyn born women" crowd.

Reply · · Like · April 5 at 10:06pm

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3

10/10/13 Indigo Girls Speak Out About Anti-Trans Policy at Michigan Womyn's Music Festival | GLAAD

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10/10/13 Indigo Girls Speak Out About Anti-Trans Policy at Michigan Womyn's Music Festival | GLAAD

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