The photo is a 1974 photo of Leslie Feinberg, from the FBI file on hir. I’ve written a piece on my interpretation of Transgender Warriors and Trans Liberation, but I don’t think it’s quite polished enough, so I’ll post it later. Instead, I’ll go over hir FBI file: https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/dc-metro/rg-065/6282555/Batch0010/6282555_100-HQ-480756.PDF.
The FBI thought Feinberg could be violating the Communist Control Act, advocating the overthrow of the government, and engaging in rebellion. Needless to say, a hero to all of us. Feinberg was a member of the Workers World Party (the party still exists, but more notably PSL split from it), which apparently wasn’t openly advocating for the overthrow of the U.S, they just think it’s inevitable.
My favorite line? “captioned subject is believed to be a white female, who became male through some kind of sex change operation, and is possibly homosexual”. Some interesting language choice, and it’s an interesting snapshot into the evolution of Leslie’s identity.
The FBI found Leslie’s place of birth and birthdate from public school records. It’s a bit of an interesting look into all of the many places the FBI can get their information, along with how information like that was so much more patchwork before the digital age.
“Interview of subject is not being recommended because of the questionable nature of his sexuality”. Hmm, interesting.
It’s interesting how their investigation spanned multiple cities, from Kansas City to NYC to Bufffalo to Boston. It probably involved quite a few officers, though I’m sure it wasn’t the main focus for all of them.
There’s some interesting mention about changes in Leslie’s gender identity. Born a girl, for a time wearing a beard and mustache, then going back to “she”. I’m sure we all know, Feinberg’s gender didn’t stop evolving there.
“Subject reportedly contributes all extra money to WWP”, Leslie definitely was dedicated to the cause. Leslie doesn’t attend NYC WWP meetings, but the FBI doesn’t mention why.
The FBI isn’t immune to typoes, Leslie did some “criminal terspass” that garnered some attention.They wasted some time checking if Leslie was in Boston, but verified where Leslie in NYC lived by pretending to be a part of the Voter Registration Commission.
There’s a whole 43 pages of documents, all just from 1974-75. There’s plenty of interesting tidbits in there, so maybe check it out.
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Commiseration sadposting
spoiler
Lot of childhood/teen memories of trying to get mental health help complaining about how awful I felt and my mom always ending those conversations with “well I don’t know what to tell you” or my dad yelling “quit huffing” whenever I’d sigh
I’m a really introverted and quiet person generally and try to wear any hardships close to the chest but I’m dumbfounded still sometimes at how bad my parents were about mental health in general
They weren’t exactly shining examples themselves but sometimes it’s just like “goddamn, you two really dropped the ball with me after I was like, what, 10?” I’m an only child, it’s not like they were running around trying to keep an eye on a bunch of younger siblings or something. I guess Dad getting drunk and watching TV and Mom looking the other way and reading woo woo energy healing guidebooks was more important than me at the time
Imagine if you and I were instead scurried away by wolves and raised together in a cave, retvrn to tradition and all that
I saw my father recently and I said something without thinking about how we dont see each other very often and he winced and got defensive, i couldnt stop thinking about how pathetic it all is
not to mention i got stuck talking to his friend whos daughter is a trans influencer tiktoker, who told me being trans isnt why i cant find a job. His daughter started hrt as a kid, looks cis, doesnt tell anyone she’s trans, and is i repeat, a micro celebrity
i had a cry i feel a smidge better, thanks for listening
Imagining the adoptive wolf parents mauling the not imaginary dad’s friend for being that clueless and obtuse