Trouble at the Womyn's Festival Charlotte Cooper Rainbow Network December 1, 2001 Michigan Womyn's Music Festival is like a Glastonbury for dykes. It's a massive week-long festival that takes place in the woods every year in the American midwest. The old skool lesbian feminist spelling of womyn may look anachronistic to today's generation of dykes, but it is not a typo. Despite being a gathering of lesbians, the festival is steeped in conservatism, so much so that dyke punk band Tribe-8 caused a major controversy when they played on the main stage in the 1990s. However, there is one debate that even outshines the punk-versus-folk hullaballoo. For much of the festival's 25 year history there has been acrimonious disagreement between festival goers regarding whether or not transgendered women should be allowed on the site. The organisers have a "womyn-born-womyn" policy that is sacred to many attendees. Up until now transgender women have been banned from the 650 acre festival site, and many dyke and transgender community members have responded to the ban by establishing the alternative Camp Trans outside the perimeter of the festival. In the past the festival organisers have said that they would review the policy if enough women protested against it. With this in mind, Nomy Lamm, an activist and artist from Olympia in Washington, has begun to circulate a petition. Lamm told RainbowNetwork that she decided to co-organise the petition because: "We wanted to put forward a perspective that was both supportive of the MWMF and the need for women-only space, and supportive of the trans-people in our community." She added: "This has been a really divisive issue in our community. A couple of individuals who happen to be in fairly well-known bands in the punk/dyke community have made statements in support of the MWMF trans-exclusion policy, resulting in protests and boycotts by the trans community and allies, directed at those bands as well as other bands that choose to associate with them. We wanted to take the focus away from the individuals, and instead do something proactive to promote trans-inclusion at the festival." Lamm continued: "I think the idea that anyone is 'born' a specific gender is dangerous. We are born bodies with genitalia and we later learn to apply the laws of gender to ourselves. Not to say that they are not real, but that they are defined by human beings and are not essential. I know that this point of view runs in opposition to many of the assumptions held by the lesbian-separatists who founded the festival - I never want to denigrate the work that those womyn did because it is obviously important, and so much of what I have been able to do in my life is founded on their achievements - but things change. Our definitions change. Our communities change. Michigan is an oasis, but it`s also a part of the world." A festival attendee herself, Lamm said that she was "amazed at the amount of fear and misunderstanding there was among womyn on the land about trans people. I have been to many 'women-only' gatherings that were trans-inclusive, and I never felt that my safety or identity were in danger - instead, I had the good fortune of meeting and learning from some amazing trans-women; I found their presence to be fully positive and enriching, not the threatening invasive energy that these womyn feared." Lamm regards the petition as a step in the process of changing attitudes towards transgender issues. She concluded: "I like to hope that once these womyn`s fears are addressed, the policy (and attitude shaping it) will naturally transform itself." Around 500 women have already added their names to the petition within weeks of its announcement. Click here to read it. Charlotte Cooper