Lily McBeth did not seek the seek the status of transgender activist. She just wanted to continue her occupation as a substitute teacher.
Lily died near her home in Little Egg Harbor, NJ last week...after a long illness.
She was very much at peace with her life. She just wanted to be who she was.
--Lily's daughter, Maureen
After being a substitute teacher in Eagleswood Township for nine years, McBeth underwent sex rassignment in 2005. She sough to continue her work, but as I wrote about at the time, that was not without objection.
Jeers to Mark Schnepp, the angry father mentioned in this diary, which was pretty much ignored on Saturday. Mr. Scnepp claims that having his child taught by a transgendered woman violates his religious beliefs. Mr. Schnepp is apparently a member of the Church of I Hate You and devoutly believes in the Book of things God would have been against if He'd only thought about them or maybe he did and just didn't tell anyone about it (What...that's not in your Bible?), so he took out a full page ad in the local newspaper, trying to make sure that not only would Lily McBeth not be able to teach his children, but would not be able to work anywhere, and that it was necessary for all the bigots in his community to stand up proudly and try to run Ms. McBeth out of town.
Cheers to the news this morning that the school board voted 41-1 to retain Ms. McBeth as a substitute teacher.
Jeers to the 1.
And a lot of hope and prayers requested that this doesn't now escalate to the next step, which is too often violence of some sort.
Jeers to having some really painful memories flooding back when I received similar "attention" because some people didn't think I was fit to teach at a state university in Arkansas and thought everyone should know about it. Trust me on this: most of the time you do not want to hear your name mentioned on drive-time radio shows.
I wrote the poem and created the artwork for a Cheers and Jeers on February 28, 2006, before I knew what the outcome would be.
Poem du Jour:
Scarlet Letter
(Click on image for full size version)
For Lily McBeth
Your world changed before
because you wanted it to
and you were strong
Now your world changes again
because one man wants
to teach his child bigotry
I know the pain
I've been there before
You must stay strong
You are a teacher
Now is the chance
to show them
what real teaching is
Speak your peace, M'Lady.
--Robyn Elaine Serven
--February 28, 2006
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Lily eventually resigned from her teaching job in 2009 because she was frustrated about the meager number of assignments she received.
Steven Goldstein, founder of the Garden State Equality rights group, said Ms. McBeth never wanted to become a symbol of anything, but became one nonetheless.
It is so much easier to understand an issue with a human face, and Lily became the human face of transgender rights for many people. She did so much to increase understanding and awareness of transgender people just by being strong and being who she was.
--Steven Goldstein, Garden State Equality
Ms. McBeth was also a ukulele player and carver of decoy ducks. She acted in Local theater and sand in her church choir. She also worked locally trying to re-establish the clam populations in Barnegat Bay.
Ms. McBeth donated her body to a medical school for research and physician training.
Speaking about teaching in a 2009 interview, Lily said,
I tried to be an example of something you might want to be when you grow up: a kind, caring person.