Bay Area Reporter - September 7, 2006
Zak Szymanski, z.szymanski@ebar.com

Spotted in attendance were Supervisors Chris Daly and Bevan Dufty; Assessor Phil Ting; Public Defender Jeff Adachi; author-activist Jewelle Gomez; Crash owner Terrance Alan; Sylvia Guerrero, mother of the late transgender teenager Gwen Araujo; and many others. Traditional dance was performed by Ladies of Passion and Men of Halau Hula O'Lilikoi; music was provided by DJ Puss Puss; and Tita Aida served as the mistress of ceremonies. Community allies - including the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, District Attorney Kamala Harris, and the Horizons Foundation - were acknowledged with awards.

J. Green, C. Chung, & Sr M. Elizabeth at Tuesday's TLC event – Photo: R. Gerharter

But the true star of the show was Sister Mary Elizabeth, who was honored with TLC's Vanguard Award for her early transgender activism.

In 1974, Sister Mary Elizabeth led the effort to pass progressive legislation allowing for transgender people to change their birth certificates so that they could lead productive lives with the correct legal documentation. She also worked to make sure that the Department of Motor Vehicles preserved its policy around ID change; prevented legislators from denying public health benefits to transgender people; and worked against the transgender exclusion from the Americans with Disabilities Act.

"I didn't start out to be an activist," she told the Bay Area Reporter. She happened to be present during a car ride where several transgender people were complaining about the inability to change their documentation. "I rather naively asked what the problem was, and I was told that it was the law that prevented it. I naively replied, 'Okay, then, change the law!'"

Hundreds of letters and several trips to Sacramento later, she was successful, and Governor Jerry Brown signed the birth certificate law in 1977.

"The system worked," she said. But it would be another 25 years before a pro-trans piece of legislation was passed in California, and she soon found herself at the losing end of a struggle with the Women's Army Corps, which voided her enlistment just three months before she was eligible for retirement.

Sister Mary Elizabeth took her vows in 1988 at St. Clements by the Sea Episcopal Church, which welcomed her as a transgender woman until its local acting bishop denounced her on the front page of the Los Angeles Times. While her early activism was groundbreaking for the transgender community, she is perhaps best known for launching the AIDS Education Global Information System, or AEGIS.

"For many people getting online in the mid-1990s, AEGIS was the first place we read about HIV/AIDS treatment options and theories," Cecilia Chung, deputy director of TLC, told Tuesday's crowd. "Many of you here can remember how terrifying those days were and how comforting it was to know that, at the very least, someone cared enough about you to keep you informed."

Since the launch of AEGIS, Sister Mary Elizabeth said, she has simply not had the time to continue to lead trans activism efforts.

"I maintain limited contact with a few friends, but essentially I get up at 0500, climb into my Backsaver chair, and go to work. I break for meals, and generally finish my day around 2400. Once a month I take a break for a movie and dinner with a friend."

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