Marsha C. Botzer
Marsha C. Botzer is a Seattle based activist and non-profit administrator who has been working in the Transgender rights movement since the mid-1970s.[1][2][3] Botzer is a trans woman herself.[2] She founded Ingersoll Gender Center in Seattle in 1977, making it the oldest non-profit organization working in the space of transgender rights.[4]
Career
Foundation and Development of Ingersoll Gender Center
Botzer has cited a problem of joblessness and underemployment of transgender people as being the reasons for founding Ingersoll Gender Center.[5] Getting the word out about the organization to a marginalized group before the internet posed a challenge. Botzer has said that in the face of this she would tuck Ingersoll Center business cards between the pages of books in the Seattle Public Library's small collection of books on the subject of gender.[6] Over the course of the late-20th century, Botzer made over 100 trips accompanying transgender residents of Seattle to Trinidad, Colorado where they sought gender confirmation surgery.[6] She even introduced the doctor there, Dr. Stanley Biber, to Dr. Marci Bowers who succeeded him at his practice in Trinidad after he retired.[6]
Involvement with Public Policy
Botzer first gained a formalized role in Seattle politics in 2015 when after years of advocacy she was appointed to a task force under Mayor Ed Murray centered on LGTBQ issues.[7] This task force got a law passed that requires all single-occupancy restrooms to be gender-neutral.[7] The law applies to both City operated restrooms and privately owned places of public accommodation.[7]
In 2019, Botzer was appointed to a King County Council task force focused on Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Inclusion.[8]
In 2021 the Seattle Police Department was banned from participating in Capitol Hill Seattle Pride's march, and some gay cops said that they felt excluded from the Pride event. Botzer suggested a potential strategy to create solidarity between police and the LGBT community would be for the police department to hire more transgender cops, which she argued would reduce the accounts of police violence against transgender people.[9]
References
- ^ "About Us". Ingersoll Gender Center. Retrieved 2022-01-10.
- ^ a b Constant, Paul; Graves, Jen; Herz, Ansel; Holden, Dominic; Madrid, Cienna; Minard, Anna. "The Smartest People in Seattle Politics". The Stranger. Retrieved 2022-01-10.
- ^ "The 21 Most Lesbianish Cities in the US: The Autostraddle Guide". Autostraddle. 2012-01-24. Retrieved 2022-01-10.
- ^ Editor (2021-04-17). "Current and Former Staff Call Out Anti-Blackness at Ingersoll Gender Center". South Seattle Emerald. Retrieved 2022-01-10.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ Turnbull, Lornet; Times, The Seattle (2013-07-01). "Overshadowed by gay and lesbian compatriots, the transgender community is fighting for acceptance - Las Vegas Sun Newspaper". lasvegassun.com. Retrieved 2022-01-10.
- ^ a b c "New book highlights Seattle's role in transgender movement". The Seattle Times. 2021-04-15. Retrieved 2022-01-10.
- ^ a b c jseattle (2015-06-25). "Seattle, where 'restrooms are available and safe for all'". CHS Capitol Hill Seattle. Retrieved 2022-01-10.
- ^ "County Council Confirms Members of Task Force focused on Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation". King County. June 26, 2019. Retrieved Jan 10, 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Rantz: Gay cops rail against Seattle pride ban as groups push them 'back in closet'". MyNorthwest.com. 2021-06-01. Retrieved 2022-01-10.