Maeve DuVally’s Post

Who said Pride Month is over? Rainbow luxuriating over Montauk this afternoon.

It's Pride! (well kind of towards the end) As a board member and donor, I'm honored to join GLAAD in accelerating acceptance for all LGBTQ people. I support GLAAD because it's all about creating positive narratives about members of our community. GLAAD's work has never been more crucial than in this pivotal election year. We are taking action to ensure the 2024 election promotes equality and safety for all by: --Holding the media accountable for fair and accurate reporting --Registering, educating, and mobilizing both LGBTQ and allied voters --Countering negative messaging with pro-equality communications campaigns Learn more https://lnkd.in/ee_J_6df and please consider making a donation to my personal fundraiser page today to push our culture forward. https://lnkd.in/ew3P6S5q

Thank you Dakota Derryberry and Arizent for having me in. The energy in the room pulsed strong, which certainly enlivened me. As we discussed, sharing and learning is what #Pride is all about. The view of New York Harbor doesn't hurt either.

I've bitten my tongue all afternoon. I know Pope Francis has reached out to welcome transgender people in the past but the statements in the Infinite Dignity declaration released today are a slap in the face of transgender people. It is tempting to dismiss this as the product of an institution stuck in 400 A.D., but that doesn't take account of the harm this will do in the form of zealots using it to justify violence against transgender people. I was born a Catholic, received many of the sacraments and considered myself devout at early points in my life. Thank goodness I had the good sense to leave forty years ago. The church of the 1960s and 1970s did a great job convincing me I was going to Hell. I won't let them do that again. While we are on the topic of dignity, the statements in this declaration threaten my dignity as a proud transgender person in transition. https://lnkd.in/emrTtjaM

Well said Sarah Kate Ellis. I have to admit straight off that I am a huge fan of the The New York Times and use it as my primary source of information about what is going on in the world. Additionally, a part of me doesn't want to believe that the Times now has a consistent anti-trans bias given how sensitively the paper portrayed my coming out experience at Goldman Sachs five years ago. But, the numbers don't lie and this GLAAD and Media Matters for America study is damning. Having been a journalist and PR executive for my entire career, I know what is left out of the story is often as important as what is included. Our transgender and gender non-conforming community, as well as society as a whole, deserve better from the most powerful journalism platform in this country.

This timely story by Amy Russo at The Providence Journal is very personal to me because I attended Providence College in the early 1980s and I am LGBTQ+. I am tangentially connected to the people and events mentioned because E Corry Kole, the former DEI director referred to in the story, invited me to speak at an alumni event at the college last year around this time. Apparently, I was the first out transgender person speaking at an official school event. I spent time with LGBTQ+ students, faculty and allies and felt the togetherness and compassion from a group of people who don't feel entirely comfortable in the place they are in. PC is, of course, a Catholic school so E's efforts to make the school more queer friendly were incremental but still forward. However, by all accounts (click on the link in the story to view a very thoughtful open student letter), the school is backsliding. It's 2024 (not the Middle Ages) and we are still talking about treating a particular underrepresented group with dignity and respect-in Providence no less, which is considered a progressive city. This story is not going away. Unless the school administration listens to and addresses the concerns of the students and faculty expressed in that letter, we are in for some turbulent times up in Providence. https://lnkd.in/efbFa378

I haven’t really wanted to post in a while but I’m going to get off my seat today. Part of that is a letdown from publishing and promoting my memoir last year and not managing my expectations very well. In a sense, I’m in the process of trying to figure out my next chapter. I may be guilty of sulking a bit too, which isn’t the best look. I had facial feminization surgery (with a healthy dose of rejuvenation for this older trans woman) in December and vocal cord surgery yesterday. I am extremely privileged to have been able to have these procedures courtesy of the fine surgeons at Mount Sinai Health System. I am fortunate to live in a state which takes care of its transgender people. I know many of my trans brothers and sisters are not so fortune. I also know from reading Erin Reed's Erin in the Morning that the environment in state legislatures is not improving for both trans youth and trans adults. By the way, please allow me to plug her reporting, which gives detailed and timely information on trans issues happening across the country. This is focused micro journalism at its best, if you allow an old PR pro to weigh in. I am one more data point for all the major, reputable medical organizations espousing the primacy of trans healthcare to our wellbeing. I can’t say enough about the importance of mental health care, because without the internal, the external often lacks a foundation. I firmly believe the transphobes will be discredited and discarded onto the scrapheap of history where they belong. However, at the moment, they are still immensely harming our community. Let’s challenge them at every turn, Maeve

My sobriety date, 1/18/18, was the lowest day of my life but also the best. I’m usually pumped for my sober anniversary in January but at six years, I find myself a little bit subdued, trying to figure out what I should be figuring out. Sobriety is like that though. When I was drinking, every day was tediously and painfully the same—wake up physically sick, hate myself, swear off booze and make resolutions, discard resolutions, admit I was going to drink later, drink later until I pass out. And, get up and do it all over again. I kind of like not knowing what’s going to happen. Suspense spices things up.

Thank you Carol Anne Riddell and CUNY TV for having me on recently to discuss "Maeve Rising". I have a soft spot for shows that focus on books. https://lnkd.in/epvunypi Even the elves were reading the book around Christmas. Get your copy if you haven't yet.