http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2341011737/
Calpernia Performs Stunning Live @ Denver Pride
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEhcAQqS82o&feature=channel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_James
Andrea Jean James (born January 16, 1967) is an American film consultant, actress, LGBT rights activist, and transsexual woman.
Contents[hide] |
Career
In 2003, James co-founded Deep Stealth Productions with her business partner Calpernia Addams, to create educational materials for transsexual women, to raise awareness about the epidemic of violence perpetrated against transpeople and to combat the poor image of transpeople in the media.[1] James is the host of the Deep Stealth Productions instructional film Finding Your Female Voice.[2]On February 21, 2004, James was a member of the first all-transgender cast, as well as a producer, of The Vagina Monologues, performed on V-Day in Los Angeles. She gave the welcome alongside Calpernia Addams, and performed the monologues "The Woman Who Liked to Make Vaginas Happy" and "They Beat the Girl Out of My Boy - Or So They Tried 04", and took part in the introduction of the Vagina Warriors, along with Addams and Monologues writer Eve Ensler.[3] She has also consulted for the production of a documentary film project about the 2004 V-Day performance entitled Beautiful Daughters and appeared in this film.[4]
James was a script consultant for the 2005 film Transamerica[5] and also consulted with actress Felicity Huffman for her role in the film.[6] She also made a brief appearance, in an excerpt from her voice video, shown at the opening of the movie.[7] James appeared in the HBO production Middle Sexes: Redefining He and She, which aired on 6 December 2005.[8] In 2007, James directed the 7-minute film "Casting Pearls."[9] James appeared in the reality dating television series Transamerican Love Story, which aired on Logo, an LGBT channel;[10] she was confidante to Calpernia Addams as she selected from among eight suitors.[11]
Transsexual activism
She also operates the free TS Roadmap website, a source of information for transsexuals, concerning physical, social, and legal aspects of transition.[12] The section of TS Roadmap on hair removal proved so popular that James spun it off into its own site, Hair Facts[13], with a companion discussion forum called Hair Tell.[14]One section of TS Roadmap criticizes the controversial work of psychology professor J. Michael Bailey and of Ray Blanchard and others describing their theory dealing with biology and sexual orientation as scientifically unsound, outdated, and defaming of transsexual people.[15][16] Bailey denies this characterization of his work and has provided his own account of the controversy.[17]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Winchell
Barry Winchell (31 August 1977 – 6 July 1999) was an infantry soldier in the United States Army, whose murder by a fellow soldier, Calvin Glover, became a point of reference in the ongoing debate about the law known as "Don't ask, don't tell" that requires the military to discharge service members based on sexual orientation.
Contents[hide] |
[edit] Life and murder
A native of Missouri, Winchell enlisted in the Army in 1997 and was transferred in 1998 to Fort Campbell, Kentucky. As a Private First Class, he was assigned to the 2/502nd Infantry of the 101st Airborne Division. While stationed at Fort Campbell, he received a Dear John letter from his high school sweetheart. Winchell later accompanied his roommate, Spc. Justin Fisher, and other soldiers for an excursion to the Nashville downtown bars. In 1999, Fisher and others took Winchell to a Nashville club The Connection which featured transgender performers. Here Winchell met a male-to-female transgender showgirl named Calpernia Addams.[1] The two began to date.Fisher began to spread rumors of the relationship at Ft. Campbell where both men served. Winchell then became a target of ongoing harassment which his superiors did little to stop.[2]
The harassment was continuous until the Fourth of July weekend, when Winchell and fellow soldier, Calvin Glover, fought after Winchell accused a boasting Glover of being a fraud. Both were drinking beer throughout the day. Glover was soundly defeated by Winchell, and Fisher harassed Glover about being beaten by "'a fucking faggot' like Winchell". Fisher and Winchell had their own history of physical altercations as roommates in the barracks of Ft. Campbell. Fisher continued to goad Glover. Subsequently, Glover took a baseball bat from Fisher's locker and struck Winchell in the head with the baseball bat as he slept on a cot outside near the entry to the room Winchell shared with Fisher in the early hours of 5 July 1999.[3] Winchell died of massive head injuries on 6 July at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center.[4] Glover was later convicted for the murder of Winchell; Fisher was convicted of lesser crimes regarding impeding the subsequent criminal investigation, and both were subsequently incarcerated at the United States Disciplinary Barracks.[5][6] The murder charges against Fisher were dropped and Fisher was sentenced in a plea bargain to 12.5 years, denied clemency in 2003, released to a halfway house in August 2006, and released from all custody in October.[7] Glover is serving a life sentence.
[edit] Fallout
Winchell's murder led President Bill Clinton to order a review of the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy, a policy which some assert was a significant factor in the murder of Winchell by Calvin Glover.[8][9][10] The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network was a prominent critic of how the policy was implemented, and they demanded to know who, in higher ranks, was responsible for the climate on base.[11] The policy review led to the addition of a “Don’t Harass” clause in the policy.Winchell's parents, Wally and Patricia Kutteles, and many others continue to press for a re-examination of the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy. Despite campaigning by the Kutteleses and LGBT activist groups, the Commanding General of Fort Campbell at the time of the murder, Major General Robert T. Clark, refused to take responsibility for the purported anti-gay climate at Fort Campbell under his command.[12] After being exonerated, he was nominated and approved for promotion to Lieutenant General on 5 December 2003.
Lieutenant General Timothy Maude however, did visit with Patricia Kutteles. He was a point man on LGBT issues for the U.S. Army.
The 2003 film Soldier's Girl is based on Winchell's murder and the events leading up to the brutal slaying. Winchell was portrayed by Troy Garity. The film received a Peabody Award and numerous Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, and sparked renewed debate of the effects of the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy during the Clark promotion hearings.[13]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calpernia_Addams
EXCERPT:
Calpernia Addams
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Calpernia" redirects here. For other uses, see Calpurnia (disambiguation).
| Calpernia Addams | |
|---|---|
 Calpernia Addams, at 2009 Outfest Legacy Awards | |
| Born | February 20, 1971 Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Residence | Los Angeles, California |
| Occupation | Actress, author, musician, activist, spokesperson |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Website | |
| http://www.calpernia.com/ | |
Contents[hide] |
Biography
Addams grew up in Nashville, Tennessee.[2] She served as a Hospital Corpsman with the Navy and United States Marine Corps. During her last year in the military she came out as a transgender woman.[3] Addams chose the name "Calpernia" from the William Shakespeare play Julius Caesar (a variant spelling of Caesar's wife Calpurnia) and its appearance on a tombstone in the film The Addams Family.[3]In 1999, while working as a performer, Addams began dating PFC Barry Winchell. Word of the relationship spread at Winchell's Army base where he was harassed by fellow soldiers and ultimately murdered.[4] Winchell's murder and the subsequent trial resulted in widespread press[5] and a formal review of the U.S. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) military policy, ordered by President Bill Clinton.[6][7][8] The case became a prominent example used to illustrate the failure of DADT to protect LGBT service members.[5] Addams' and Winchell's romance and the crimes of their abusers are depicted in the film Soldier's Girl, released in 2003. Addams was portrayed by Lee Pace. A subsequent New York Times article, "An Inconvenient Woman", documented the marginalization and misrepresentation of transgender sexuality even by gay rights activists.[5][9]
Career
Addams began entertaining as a child by playing Bluegrass and Gospel-style fiddle in church, and acting in school plays. While in the Navy she worked in community theater as an actor and director. After completing military service and returning to Nashville, Calpernia played fiddle with a Celtic band. In 1993, she began work at The Connection, a 40,000 sq ft (3,700 m2) nightclub/theater, where she eventually met Winchell in 1999. She gradually began headlining up to 10 shows a week for audiences of up to 2,000 people.In her sixth year as a full-time cast member and after winning one Miss Nashville Entertainer of the Year, Addams won Tennessee Entertainer of the Year in 1999. With Winchell's death Addams suspended her performances, then left Nashville to move first to Chicago and then to Los Angeles.
In 2002, she formed Deep Stealth Productions in Hollywood with Andrea James.[10] Deep Stealth creates educational and entertainment material around gender-identification issues and the experiences of differently-gendered people. Addams and James coached Felicity Huffman for her Academy Award-nominated performance as a transgender woman in the film Transamerica.[11]
At the Sundance debut of Soldier's Girl, Addams met Jane Fonda, whose son Troy Garity had played Winchell. Fonda suggested Addams mount an all-transgender production of The Vagina Monologues.[3] The production was to contribute funds and help raise awareness of violence against women; it became the subject of the 2006 documentary film Beautiful Daughters.[12]
A reality television series entitled Transamerican Love Story, featuring Addams choosing among eight suitors, debuted 11 February 2008 on Logo TV.
In April 2008, Addams performed alongside Fonda, Glenn Close, Salma Hayek, Alicia Keys, and others in a tenth-anniversary production of The Vagina Monologues at the Louisiana Superdome.[3][13]
In May 2008, PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) chose Addams as PFLAG's spokesperson for their educational campaign, This Is Our Love Story.[14] Addams said, "I hope This Is Our Love Story will help young transgender people as they come out. By seeing the happy, confident woman I've become, I hope I can act as a role model for these young people at a critical moment in their development."[15] Addams writes a blog on gender issues for Psychology Today.[16]
Addams has released a single entitled "Stunning", available on iTunes.
Casting Pearls Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JIJHzk70v8&feature=fvw
