Transgendered Evacuee Arrested

[IsabellaDelRio]

:arrow:

http://www.theeagle.com/stories/090905/local_20050909047.php

[Jordan]

wow thats F.....up!! I think theres more important things to be on the agenda, such as looters, snipers, food, water etc..

[Harajuku Tgirl]

...

[edgeoflife]

I must agree with you ladies. What happened was wrong.

[tsluver247]

The story was disturbing with what is going on right now.

[WendyWilliams]

I am very disturbed by this and I sent the Mayor of this County an email.

Here is his email
ewentrcek@bryantx.gov

Here is his homepage:
http://www.bryantx.gov/Departments/citysec/mayor.htm


If you are disturbed than speak up,,make sure you attach the url of the article and state that we as Americans in a time of crisis need to focus on the more important things.

Truly sad

[~*MoNi*~]

Thank you for that link Wendy. I wrote the mayor as well and I wanna encourage all you ladies to go there and write him. Imagine if that was YOU. It's wrong so please email him in regard to this issue and express your outrage. If it was you then you would want all your sisters accross the world to speak up for you.

:(

[Jordan]

Thank You Isabella and Wendy for bringing this to light seeing as how there has been NO national news coverage (go figure), and i agree we should all email that mayor and be heard, our voices and hers!!!

[KaMiLeUnGuRl]

I hate when things like this happen but theres only one thing i can do is help out, seriously i got in trouble for using the ladies bathroom in a gas station when i used to do shows.. i told them bitches sue me! I highly forbid going into the mens rr in femm cause it just creates MORE of a problem then... On it now Ladeez!

[Ecstatic]

I sent the Mayor an email as well. Man, that is some disturbing shit. One step forward, two steps back is how it seems to go sometimes.

[~*MoNi*~]

i'm sure whatever you sent him ecstatic was pretty intellectual. hopefully it made him think.

[Elagese21z]

I sent the following:

Dear Mayor Wentrcek,
as a born texas resident I'm extremely disgusted by the arrest of a transgender person named Arpollo Vicks for being who she is. She has used women's rest rooms all her life and now she has been injustly accused of using them? That is like accusing someone of existing and telling them they are wrong to exist. This is simply wrong. As an American, I ask you to PLEASE correct this police MIS CONDUCT thereby redeeming the freedom and equality this great country and state of Texas encompass.

Best Regards,
AL

I was really tired when I wrote it, but hopefully it helped :shock: .

[edgeoflife]

After reading about this on the forums and getting a message at TGPixel.. I sent an email as well.

copy below:

I read the story about the young transsexual woman who was arrested while using a restroom. That was wrong. THere are far more serious crimes being commited that the law lets go unpunished. I feel this is a unfair reason to lock up a an innocent person(s).

It's just another case of people still having hang ups.

[Hugh Jarrod]

It's just another case of people still having hang ups.


Forgot to log in, that was my comment.

[Scott]

And I just sent out my e-mail to the mayor.


Scott

[MsDazzler]

this is sooo ridiculous!!!! I am appalled at how America can fuss over one thing but overlook another thing. Urghh.... just like drugs war.. I honestly think they are spending too much time n energy on combating drugs, especially marijuana, when they r skimping on other serious things.

[Ecstatic]

i'm sure whatever you sent him ecstatic was pretty intellectual. hopefully it made him think.
I hope it made him think, Moni! I deliberately kept it short and simple, though--I wanted him to get the message!

[Jordan]

A dear friend of mine emailed the Mayor in response to this travesty, and i wanted to share an excerpt that he included, I applaud him greatly for this....The Transgender community is a fast
growing
community and becoming more common as each day passes by. If anyone
should
be held responsible it's the people that set up the shelters without
proper
accommodations for all

[WendyWilliams]

Jordan with due respect that statement means nothing but an escuse or a way to place blame, Fact is this individual is held in HIS county jail therefore if HE wanted tomake this right he would. However I do applaud him for answering one of the MANY emails I am sure he has received and I hope he now see's we as a community are nationwide.

Lets hope to hear something positive from this and hopefully this young lady will know she had support.

Thanks Jordan for the post
Wendy

[Harajuku Tgirl]

...

[Scott]

Jordan with due respect that statement means nothing but an escuse or a way to place blame, Fact is this individual is held in HIS county jail therefore if HE wanted tomake this right he would. However I do applaud him for answering one of the MANY emails I am sure he has received and I hope he now see's we as a community are nationwide.

Lets hope to hear something positive from this and hopefully this young lady will know she had support.

Thanks Jordan for the post
Wendy

The thing is Wendy is that this was only an excerpt from a little bit longer letter written to the mayor. Not a response from him. It was in no way defending him. I'm only saying this because I was the one that wrote it. I originally chose not to publish it on a thread for personal reasons but I will if it is wanted because I don't want it thought that the statement was in any way meant to shift blame.

Scott

[WendyWilliams]

Well sorry I took it as "his response"

No harm no hurt


Great to see ALL of us united on this issue.


HUGS

[TSMorena35]

Thanks Wendy Williams for the link. I too wrote the Mayor to protest this abuse of Authority in the Arpollo Vicks case. The mayor and all of the employees of that town are lacking Sensitivity Training in dealing with issues concerning Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, and Transgendered People. I do not know that town's policies, but arresting a displaced 20 year old Transsexual is appalling. Did not one official in the town think to perhaps see if there were any organizations, like that of the Montrose Counseling Center, which are specifically working to shelter the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Victims of Hurricane Katrina.
As mayor the buck stops with him, he's the one that should take steps to correct the mishandling of this situation.
http://hometown.aol.com/tsmorena35/index.html

[Scott]

No need to apologize at all. Like you said we're all united on this issue.
After talking to a couple of very dear friends I decided to share my letter I wrote to the Mayor.

Dear Sir,
A friend of mine brought this news article to my attention and while most times I read news and just let it go this time I felt compelled to speak on the subject.
I was, to say the least, appalled by reading of the arrest of these young women. While I can understand the shock of the genetically born women after seeing the transgender women in the shower I feel that arresting them was a bit extreme considering the much more serious and life threatening crimes going on.
The biggest problem seemed to be improper communication and prison should never be an option for that. The transgender community is a fast growing community and becoming more common as each day passes by. If anyone should be held responsible it's the people that set up the shelters without proper accommodations for all people. With everything going on the last thing needed is to arrest someone because their gender is not understood. That is just another form of prejudice and as far as I knew this country was one for people to live in without fear of that.
For the record I am not transgender but I have dear friends that are and after thinking "what if this happened to them?" I was sickened by the thought.
I'm sure you have probably gotten many mails pertaining to this so I hope it makes you think and realize that the only crime commited was the one against the young woman being held in jail.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope you do the right thing and let this young lady go free with a sincere apology made.

Sincerely,
Scott G. Henry

this is sooo ridiculous!!!! I am appalled at how America can fuss over one thing but overlook another thing. Urghh.... just like drugs war.. I honestly think they are spending too much time n energy on combating drugs, especially marijuana, when they r skimping on other serious things. This is what is great about websites like this. We can unite together and make a difference as a group regardless of what current unjust situations are upheld. Lets keep it up 8)

[Elagese21z]

the above guest comment was mine..forgot to login :P

[Ecstatic]

I received a response from Mayor Wentrcek:

The incident you are referring to took place on the campus of
Texas A&M University which is located in College Station, Texas. The
City of Bryan, which is located north of College Station, had no
jurisdiction in this matter.

Ernie Wentrcek

I am impressed that he took the time to reply. Fortunately, my email did not place blame, but said in part:

I was very disturbed to read the news article regarding 20-year-old
Arpollo Vicks, a transgendered woman, being arrested for using the women's shower in Reed Arena. I don't know if this comes under your purveyance at all, but especially in a time of crisis I found this arrest unconscionable.

[edgeoflife]

Hey I got a reply from him too from the email I sent.

below:

This incident occurred on the campus of Texas A&M University located in College Station, Texas. The City of Bryan, located north of College Station, did not have jurisdiction in this matter.



Ernie Wentrcek


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: PhillyDude [mailto:phillydude@msn.com]
Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2005 12:47 AM
To: Wentrcek, Ernie
Subject: outrage



I read the story about the young transsexual woman who was arrested while using a restroom. That was wrong. THere are far more serious crimes being commited that the law lets go unpunished. I feel this is a unfair reason to lock up a an innocent person(s).


THankd for the email address and website url. Im glad i sent this email.

[WendyWilliams]

Well his website says he is the Mayor of Byran, so whose jurisdiction is this??

He sent the same email out to every person.


I find it odd since his jail is in a city which is part of byran, when you google this he comes up as the Mayor, Hopefully he will respond with whose jurisidiction it is.

[Scott]

I guess by the time it got to my e-mail they must have got tired of the whole message. I got a condensed version of "This incident did not occur in the city of Bryan"

Short and sweet


Scott

[~*MoNi*~]

me too. same message. they are passing the butt.

[Scott]

me too. same message. they are passing the butt.

And that butt certainly stinks.

[Sexy_Lexi]

I got the same reply as the rest of ya'll

[WendyWilliams]

Since Texas A&M University, a state property, is located in the city of College Station jurisdiction could be with either entity. However, the County Attorney reviewed the case late last week and ordered the release of the individual with no charges to be filed.



Ernie Wentrcek


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: HotWendyWilliams@aol.com [mailto:HotWendyWilliams@aol.com]
Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2005 10:55 PM
To: Wentrcek, Ernie
Subject: Re: Dear Mayor



May I ask whose jurisidiction this is then

[~*MoNi*~]

Thanks for the update Wendy :)

[WendyWilliams]

So you see he lied when he said it wasnt his jurisidiction as after I asked than "whose is it" he said "it lied inbetween two" LOL

Dont you love politicians LOL

[Ecstatic]

Here's an article about her release; note that our emails had an influence:

Concerns rise on handling of LGBT evacuees
by Eric Johnston
PlanetOut Network

Arpollo Vicks barely escaped with her life by swimming to safety when Hurricane Katrina floodwaters engulfed her New Orleans home. Then slept on a highway for two days before she and her two teenage nieces were bused to a shelter in Bryan, Texas, about 100 miles north of Houston.

That's when Vicks endured yet another ordeal. The transgender woman was tossed in jail for six days and separated from her family for taking a shower.

Her treatment has prompted advocacy groups to mobilize around the legal needs -- in addition to humanitarian needs -- of LGBT citizens who are suffering in the aftermath of Katrina.

Vicks, a transgender woman who goes by the name Sharlie, had used the women's shower at the Texas A&M University-run evacuee shelter. When another woman complained to authorities that it made her "uncomfortable," university police arrested Vicks for trespassing, according to Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE).

"They took a person and put her into basically solitary confinement for a week after she had just lost everything," Keisling told the PlanetOut Network. "And I am just aghast that that kind of thing happens in America."

NCTE has begun distributing a document to shelters, entitled "Making Shelters Safe for Transgender Evacuees."

On Monday, Lambda Legal announced plans for outreach to LGBT survivors of Hurricane Katrina who may experience discrimination in services provided by relief agencies because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or HIV status.

"Tragedy does not discriminate, and neither should relief agencies," said Kevin Cathcart, executive director of Lambda Legal.

AIDS organizations also warned that people in the disaster zone who are living with HIV/AIDS are now at risk of serious illness caused by interruptions in their medical treatments as well as by exposure to water-borne pathogens.

The National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA) noted that AIDS service organizations were making "valiant efforts" to serve people from hotel rooms and makeshift offices. But despite the strong local response, NAPWA said the federal Department of Health and Human Services has yet to announce a plan to guarantee HIV-positive evacuees access to antiretroviral medication and medical care.

Meanwhile, Keisling said things were looking up for Vicks, who was released from jail, with the charges dropped, after pressure from numerous individuals and organizations, including the Montrose Counseling Center of Houston. The Red Cross has since moved Vicks to a hotel in Houston, where she has been reunited with her nieces and her mother.

But Keisling said she still worries about others whose rights may be trampled during the crisis.

Posted September 12, 2005