Public Memorial Service on Sunday in Austin for Jennifer Gale

by: Karl-Thomas Musselman

Fri Dec 19, 2008 at 04:13 PM CST

WHAT: Mobile Loaves & Fishes and House the Homeless are holding a memorial service for Jennifer Gale with remembrances and music of the homeless woman who died on the streets this week

WHEN: 11 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 21

WHERE: The Homeless Memorial and Tree of Remembrance on Auditorium Shores at South 1st and Riverside

MORE INFO: Alan Graham, alan@mlfnow.org or 422-1849

Donations will be accepted for both organizations or you can give online in advance.

P.S. You can also confirm for the event on Facebook or support her there.

Update: Yesterday we posted some commentary from a staffer at City Hall which may have been a bit premature in its analysis of Jennifer Gale's challenges with Austin homeless services as a Transgender woman. While the issue certainly is a real issue for many trans folks who are homeless, I wanted to post an update from the same individual to shed new light and information on local services and what might be able to be done to make sure we are most accommodating in Austin.

So what I wrote the other day about trans-services may not have been entirely accurate. I have since spoken with people at both the ARCH and the Salvation Army here in town to learn what they do for homeless transfolks. It turns out the ARCH, while a men's only shelter, is actually pretty educated on the issues and accepts people as they present themselves. While this wouldn't have helped Jennifer Gale except for day-sleeping, it is certainly respectable. They will also provide for privacy in the restrooms/showers for transfolks. The Salvation Army on the other hand...they do apparently have a policy of non-discrimination and they do not turn trans people away, but I'm not fully sold on their ability to actually understand the issue. If they are not full they will give trans people privacy (maybe they have private quarters of some sort), but if full and they are in an overflow shelter situation, as they were Tuesday night, I am under the impression that they will assign people according to their anatomy.

To be honest, I'm not sure the right answer. I know that putting a transwoman in a men's dormitory is not the right answer. If she happens to have male anatomy still, having her shower with women doesn't seem like the right answer either. I appreciate the private quarters/private showering situation, but I don't know how sustainable that is or how much agencies can do that in dire circumstances when there just isn't room to provide privacy.

It also seems like the City of Austin may have policies in place already to provide for trans protection in employment, public accomodation and housing. I'm not sure yet what the definition of "public accomodation" is, but I'm starting to wonder if there actually is something we can do policy-wise. If not, maybe this is more of an enforcement...and therefore, education issue for our community, and those service providers. Now, how do we do that?