27 minute read

v Response To Your Saturday Evening Email

vivian@integrityusa.org

Vivian Taylor <Vivian@integrityusa.org>

to Caroline Dear Caro,

Thank you for your email. I am distressed to learn that you think that I am a fireworks display with all sparkle and no substance.

I am not sure where you see emptiness in my leadership. I have moved the national organization from a basement in Kentucky to a functional national office in Boston. I have cleaned up our books and bank accounts and set us up on a regular bookkeeping schedule. I have staffed the office with talented, committed workers. I have taken over the leadership of our two statewide campaigns and our national campaign, moving them from a collapsing spiral into successful winners that please our funders and make them more likely to fund us further in the future. I have worked with David Norgard to create a meaningful, accountable development plan and I have worked with our development director to figure out what concrete steps we need to put it into action. I have searched out sources of funding that will keep Integrity alive long enough to put our development program into high gear, sources of funding that look to the future and ensure that our brand does not become obsolete. I have found new, young leaders who are excited about our work, who are excited to take responsibility for our organization and for the Episcopal Church. I have worked in all cases to serve as an interesting, engaging, inspiring spokesperson for Integrity. As you may have seen Friday, I have lead us to a major victory against the religious discrimination bill in Oregon.

Here are some more detailed answers to your questions.

Where are we on establishing which chapters are still viable and getting their financial reports/bank statements? A written report would be very helpful. Also, I was embarrassed by the eye rolling in my own chapter about a financial form that had been received from national with lines for how much rent we paid and how much we paid a secretary. I didn't see the form but the implication was that national has no idea about chapters if they can ask for such irrelevant information. What was that about?????

The chapter audit has gone extremely well and smoothly. I have documented the progress of that project through my ED reports. I have also emailed you the audit documents, and they are also attached to this report.

We have found that a number of the chapters have died due to inattention. There are roughly 28 functional chapters left in Integrity. Sam and I are working with the leaders of the survivor chapters to learn what their needs are, what work interests them, what would energize them.

The finance form that was sent to the chapters was produced by Cathy Jacobowitz. We no longer have access to the original financial reporting form. I asked Cathy to produce something that would be sure to get all the information that the IRS might need. Her form did include standard organizational expenses in order to cover all bases (but there was nothing about secretaries).

Carpenter: several weeks ago I asked you for a report on where we were and what you saw us doing to complete the grant requirements. I still haven't seen that, nor have I seen the letter you sent to Carpenter following your meeting with Ann. And I was greatly perplexed when you were asking the Board to tell you what BOL workshops had happened since you have been ED. Why don't you know? Were you not paying attention? Do you not have a calendar or something??

I included information about where we were on Carpenter in my most recent ED report, but here is more specific information.

We have held or will hold 11 BOL trainings in the July-July period originally stated in the grant. We have also recruited 7 DOs of the 32 we were hoping to. I have three more candidates(one in Ohio, two in NC) I'm looking at and am trying to convince their PCs to move on.

The reason I had to ask about workshops was that first, I didn't know what had taken place in the time before I came on, and second, that I was not sure about what workshops took place early in the Fall as I came on. I was never given clear direction on the scope of the grant work, the expectations of who was responsible for what in the grant work, and what had been done so far on the grant work. It took me until late November to put together an idea of what was happening and begin to respond to it.

Starting then, once I had an idea of what the Carpenter Grant was, I kept significantly better track. The issue was that very little information was passed on to me by either David or the board, so I had to come to understand much of the work based on my own investigation.

With my letter to Ann, my understanding was that the board was finalizing how exactly you wanted Carpenter to change the grant objectives. I told Ann that the board was still working, but it was likely that we would ask for an extension to the end of the year to allow us to hold the regional meetings in the Fall.

We plan is to work with the PCs are the meeting in June and, with them at their meeting, get each to commit to specific weekends for their regional meetings.

Ohio: I don't know what it means when you say Haas likes us. I need to know what you're doing in far more detail. I had a call from Tracy Lind who says she hasn't heard from you since your initial meeting and she wanted to know what was happening and who you had been in touch with. I was embarrassed that I only knew that you had found someone to organize locally but I didn't know if that was in the south or the north, which are apparently two quite separate zones. I need to get a detailed report of whom you have actually spoken with in any detail about the work there and what is planned, and the credentials of the organizer(s) you have found. Tracy is connected to the person heading up the UCC work and thinks we should do as they are and use the Haas money to hire a local organizer who either knows or can quickly get to know the Episcopal LGBTQ leaders. Which is not a bad idea except that we have put the Haas money into our general budget. But we don;t want to have suggestions that we are misappropriating the $$ we have been given to get the work done. It's complex, but I need a much more detailed report.

It is incorrect to say that I have not been in touch with Tracey Lind since our first meeting. I spoke to her a number of times before my second Ohio trip and she was scheduled to be at the faith summit at Trinity Cathedral. Sadly that summit was canceled due to a major ice storm which hit Ohio.

I have backed off from Tracey because she made it clear that she had neither the time nor the energy for our Haas Jr campaign work. Unfortunately, Tracey's unwillingness to participate in Integrity work in Ohio is not out of character for the Integrity people in the state. We have two leaders connected with Integrity there, Tracey and Tom Fehr. Tom also has been unwilling to do much more than be on Equality Ohio's search committee for their faith organizers.

I have instead been working with David Soland, who during my second Ohio trip agreed to be our statewide campaign organizer.

On the recent trip it became clear that David Soland is feeling overwhelmed, so I am working with Equality Ohio and him to create a more directed mission there. The basic idea of our Ohio work is to identify high-value target legislators, then turn people of faith out in their districts as way of convincing them to move forward with the Equal Housing and Employment Act.

One issue is that until Friday, I did not have the list of target legislators. Finally having that, my plan is to work with David to identify Episcopal parishes in those districts and to contact them about putting on the trainings we have received from the Task Force for this campaign.

To assist in this work, I am also trying to bring on a man named Andrew Gordon to be our DO for the northern diocese in Ohio. Gordon is actually based here in Boston, but I believe he will be extremely helpful contacting our target parishes by phone and email. He is a straight man Democrat, but he cares deeply about our work. He also knows everyone in his diocese and has a background in doing the sort of political organizing which the grant calls for. I met with him last week and will be talking with him again with more specifics this week.

As to the Haas Jr money in Ohio, here is the situation as far as I can tell. You decided to take the $25,000 for Ohio without either understanding the grant objectives or checking to see what sort of capacity for work Integrity had in Ohio, which was basically nil before I started going up and down the state.

I'll also remind you that you in a number of phone calls told me not to work on the Ohio situation, that our local leaders were handling it, that I needed to focus my time elsewhere.

In an 18 March email to me about the situation with the grant, you said “I confess that I hadn't realized we had committed to do so much in Ohio. I apologize for my part in letting us take on so much - these objectives were basically worked out by David.”

I thank you for your apology. The fact is that a large, potentially embarrassing mess was created. The root of this particular situation is a lack of engagement with the reality of Integrity. One of the reasons I wanted to bring an attorney on was to ensure that we were protected legally in case Haas Jr suspected us of financial misappropriation in the Ohio situation.

I have been hard at work to turn this situation around in a way that was cost-effective and protective of Integrity's reputation. In doing so, I am not only protecting the organization from being known for financial mismanagement, but I am also protecting you and the board who, as board members, are fiscally and legally responsible for this organization.

Sam: What exactly is he doing with his time?

Sam has been hard at work on a number of projects. I am attaching one of his biweekly DD reports to this email as well as his report on the chapter contact project, and his checklist for the database update project, and some of the graphics and documents he has produced for us. Some of these documents are like the gift acceptance policy, meant to improve our development work, others like the "After Marriage" document have been created to help us think about what work there is in the future, what work might be meaningful to our members across the Church. I believe that we can have a more productive conversation about his work once you have read through his documents.

He and I have also been working together to ensure that we are able to put David Norgard's development plan into practice in concrete, meaningful ways. My understanding is that Sam's job is essentially to put David's plan into practice. We have been preparing for the board's approval of the plan to move on that work.

The three month list of things that came out of our last face-to-face meeting: You say you look at it frequently, but what's happened about support for people in the discernment process? What about E-VOW? What about the "Telling Our Story" workshop? What about having design elements that chapters can use?

First, the list that came out of the meeting in Salt Lake City was a six-month work list, not a three-month work list. The work on the plan was not slated to be completed until the end of May.

The roll-out for the Spanish language subtitled version of VOW has moved slowly. The folks I've talked to about the project are simply not excited by Spanish subtitling. At least one person I spoke to had assumed that we were producing a Spanish dub of the movie. I believe that in order to make the subtitled version meaningful that we will need to combine it with a Spanish language Trans 101 training. I have spoken to a number of people about translating the Trans training that we produced for our work in Ohio, and I believe that once we have that completed we will be in a much stronger position to roll out materials including the movie.

I have worked to roll the ideas for the Telling Our Story workshop into the Conversations With People You Know training we have worked with the Task Force to develop for our work in Ohio. In the Conversations training, people learn and refine how to craft and share stories about why we care about LGBT people, and why inclusion and legal protections are important. This is a training that is important to our Ohio campaign, but I believe that it will also be extremely helpful in other parts of the country as well.

Sam has been hard at work in producing new branded materials and design elements for us to offer to the chapters. I have included a number of examples of his work with this email.

Mission drift is coming up with lots of new ideas and running after them when what we're already trying to get done apparently isn't happening. Mission drift is becoming too focused on trans issues and not LGTBQ issues in general (we are not TransEpiscopal). Mission drift is leaping into more secular political work. Mission drift is not carrying the board with you, because if you're not carrying us chances are you're not carrying other people either.

I am not entirely sure what extra trans work you are referring to. Other than the trans work I have done specifically to meet our obligation in Ohio, all I have done are four speaking engagements, all of which I either paid for or ensured were paid for by the people who invited me to speak, and my own personal work of bringing the voice procedure to America. The voice procedure was something I did in my own time, and offered to the board as an extra achievement for the organization to make us look good publicly. Please let me know if you feel that I've done other work that is shifting the focus of Integrity problematically.

I am unsure of what you mean about “carrying the board with” me. I produce detailed ED reports every two weeks and regularly post in the working group about what I'm doing, what I'm thinking, and what and why my plans are. How can I do a better job of communicating my work to the board in a way that does not make you feel as though I am asking you to help run the day to day operations?

As ED you are responsible for running the organization according to the budget that is set by the Board. Which means that you should be able to look at the travel budget that is available for your own travel, divide it by 12 and see how much you have a month. Then you can decide whether to take the train to DC. Also, if you think we need more of Laura's hours you can see if the money is available in the budget. These are things for you to decide.

The Board only needs to be involved if you want to do something for which there is no budget; you want to move money from one area to another; or you think we are going to have a significant shortfall in income or significant overrun in expense.

You say you want systems. As ED you are responsible for creating the systems the organization needs to function but it seems that you are looking for someone else to tell you what they are. It was your job to find out from David or to create new ones.

Part of the issue I have is that I need you and the rest of the board to be abiding by the organization's bylaws and by all federal, state, and local laws. I have again and again been forced to deal with problems created by simple disregard for the rules.

As ED, I need to be able to say what the system is and to know that the system will be followed.

The Board is not involved in day-to-day operations. I can't tell you how to send a BOL display or record and track who has it.

Without a transition plan, I was not given information of many of the simple procedures that are required for our various programs. Even today I am still working to pull together all of the basic information that I need to ensure that things move smoothly on a day-today basis.

You want me to give you a comprehensive list of what Integrity is involved with but I have no way of tracking all the ideas you're generating and the initiatives you are starting with other people and organizations... I have no way of sorting through the brainstorming versus the actual plans to do something.

What I was asking for there was specifically, as of the Sept 1st 2013, what were the programs moving forward that I was responsible for. That is information that I was never given. Through my own investigations, I have done my best to figure out what my responsibilities as ED are on the program side. I just wanted to be clear that I am not missing anything.

I hope that these answers have been helpful. I look forward to continuing this conversation in person in California.

Thank you,

Vivian Taylor

(704) 322-8041

Executive Director, Integrity USA vi Elizabeth Kaeton Transcript

Vivian Taylor <Vivian@integrityusa.org>

To: Carolyn Woodall <deacon.carolyn@gmail.com>

Hi Carolyn, Here it goes.

Thanks,

Thu, Jul 31, 2014 at 5:44 PM

Vivian Taylor (704) 322-8041

Executive Director, Integrity USA

Forwarded message

From: Vivian Taylor <Vivian@integrityusa.org>

Date: Mon, Jun 9, 2014 at 8:03 AM

Subject: Elizabeth Kaeton Transcript

To: Matt Haines <integritypdx@gmail.com >

April 26th, 6:21pm that's even more true for trans women who are sex workers this is a trend that needs to be spoken to it is commonly used to shame trans women, and to silence trans women But, there ARE many sex workers who identify as male and use drag as a "marketing tool". My problem is with drag. Obviously. drag queens aren't trans they make a big deal out of it

I'm sending this to you privately b/c I don't want to embarrass you publicly: So, here's the thing: As soon as we admit that articles like this are "always fun" - for whatever reason - we open the journalistic door to "have fun" with all sorts of other inaccuracies and prejudices that are just as bad as the hypocrisy of a KKK leader (who is awaiting trial for murder) paying for sex with a Black trans person. In North Carolina. From that news source. Besides which, the whole field of gender identity and expression remains subject to individual identification. I am presently working in pastoral counseling with two gay male prostitutes, one of whom, he says, uses drag as a "business angle" but clearly identifies as gay male. I got your point, Vivian, but it would have been better if you had just gotten to it. Your energy might have been better spent encouraging us all to write to the Editor of NY Magazine (not exactly a bastion of critical news) and giving them some lessons in writing style for Transgender issues.

Hi Elizabeth, thank you for the message I want to make it clear that I am condemning this entire story the way it moves from a serious incident of killing violence Sure. My only point was that you could have made your point better. to making jokes about being caught with a trans woman But, how do we know that the person was a trans woman? We don't. Could have been a male sex worker using drag as a marketing tool. Sure, still no joke, but I guess I have to admit that I have HUGE problems with drag. Men who make fun of women and make money doing so by night and still using male privilege by day. It's a HUGE problem in the feminist community. Again that does not mean that the person deserves the kind of language used in the article, but then again that was not the point of the article which was to make the KKK person who is now charged with murder look deranged. Success.

Elizabeth, it is extremely common for trans women to described in the news as men dressed as women I get that.

We have one segment of the trans community making fun of and making money by making fun of women and still using male privilege by day. That's not okay. At. All.

Excuse me? Most every definition I've read includes "drag" as "gender expression". well that's complicated but drag queens aren't trans they're men who dress up there's been a lot of discussion of this around Ru Paul's show I get it. But, you best be prepared for a whole lot of Christian feminists who are pretty pissed off about drag queens being part of the Trans demographic. They are covered under the Trans laws. Look, this is not a conversation to have on FB IM. Obviously too complicated for that Hmm?

My point is that you could have framed the article differently. Saying that it's "fun" to learn this stuff about KKK leaders was very unfortunate phrasing. it's ironic the news paper is absolutely having fun they're joking

And, we'll have the conversation about drag and drag queens and privilege at another time. and they need to be called out for it

Yes, your phrasing was unfortnate.

I'm just curious about what you meant about trans laws covering drag queens and feminists being mad about it is there something I should looking out for?

As simply put as I can: Drag queens who wear women's clothing - heels, stockings, showing lots of cleavage, makeup - in exaggerated fashion / making fun of or lifting up as "beauty" - and make money as "entertainm ent" by night, but don't identify as female but, rather, female expression, still utilize and exercise male privilege by day. They are still identified - in all the major sources - as "trans". That's what pisses off Christian feminists. I hear lots of conversations in several of the organizations to which I belong. It's complicated, yes, but I think some women are growing impatient as we sort this all out.

What sources are identifying drag performers as trans?

Every one I've read. They don't say "drag performers" but they are under the umbrella of "gender expression". What complicates things is that, when someone is transitioning, we say - and rightly socheck with the person before assigning pronouns. It's nuanced and sophisticated for some people to see someone who is dressed as a woman using male pronouns from a drag queen. From everything I understand, this is a heated discussion in the trans community as well, which is divided.

Are you saying that you think it is improper to work towards protections for gender expression?

Of course. But, we do have to make distinctions about drag queens who make money making fun of women and still get to use male privilege. Sorry, of course NOT. Of course its PROPER to work toward protection for gender IDENTITY and EXPRESSION.

It's the making money by making fun of women that is troublesome well, I'm not a fan of drag, but there are a lot of kinds of performances I'm not a fan of and I really don't think it's fair to lump trans women in with drag queens

C'mon Vivian. You're smarter than that and so am I there's are two fairly separate communities Fair or not, that's what is.

Elizabeth, that's wildly insulting

I am not a man in a dress by saying that trans women and drag queens are the same group, that's what you're saying But, drag queens are, and we are asked to accept them as part of the trans community which is part of the LGBT community, which some LG and B people say are separate communities. Is that really helpful who is asking you to do this? drag queens are cisgender gay men

Of course you're not.

No, I'm not saying that VIV. I'm saying that drag queens as part of the trans community is what is being promoted by most ever trans group I know.

Who?

Not necessarily

Again, Vivian, this is not a conversation to be had on FB IM. It's way too complicated and too emotional. It should be -and will be - F2F one day. Soon, I hope. What I am saying is, you are claiming that trans people are saying something

My point is that you could have made your point about the article much better than you did, and I hope you will, in the future.

If it's every trans group you know, I would appreciate a link I work to improve my writing every day

And I appreciate your advice on clairity

We all need clarity in these issues, Vivian. The Christian LGBT community can be pretty sheltered sometimes and this is a very complicated issue. As Virginia Mollenkott says, "You can just add "T", stir and come up with an LGBT community".

Certainly not when trans people are accused of "making fun of women"

I would love to have time to speak in person next time I'm in Virginia

I said DRAG QUEENS. Stop putting words in my mouth. Indeed, I just went looking for Omnigender. I do believe drag queens come under "gender expression" and part of the trans community in that book.

But you also said that drag queens are trans people so, some trans people's existence is insulting to women I don't make up the rules. I just try to understnad them and to live by them.

I said that Drag Queens were considered part of the trans community by no less than Virginia Mollenkott.

ANYONE who makes fun of someone is insulting.

Someone who makes money by making fun of them is insulting. there are other adjectives but they wouldn't be helpful.

I'm not a member of the drag community, but I know many folks who are and do not consider themselves trans

And, I know just as many who do. well, it's a complicated issue of community membership you said, "We have one segment of the trans community making fun of and making money by making fun of women and still using male privilege by day. That's not okay." that's a pretty wildly negative thing to say about trans folks especially given that not all drag queens are trans, that trans women aren't using male privilege That was after I established that my understanding is that drag queens are part of the trans community. That understanding has come from many years of listening and reading and counseling. More years than you've been trans, no doubt. So, I established my definitition which you disagreed with. That does not make my statement "wildly negaive" about trans folk. whoa

And, not all women - including trans women - are feminists. and I certainly don't have all the answers and that's why I just work for legal protection for everybody Neither do I - have all the answers - which is why I was asking questions which you somehow wanted to turn into accusations.

Not cool, Vivian. Especially for someone who is a strong ally in trans justice. the issue is that you're making claims about what trans people are No, I am not making claims, damn it. I am telling you what I've read and what I've been told. And, if you're honest, you'll admit that this is a controversy in the Trans community I've even cited a major author.

Go, Read. Then, we'll talk.

Elizabeth, we can talk, but please don't insult me personally

I am really angry that you are putting words in my mouth. If this is what you do to allies . . . . . I feel deeply insulted by you.

You are trying to put words into my mouth and insinuating things that are simply NOT true. I'm really angry with you. how many years do you think I've been trans?

And, I have tried to stop this conversation three times but you continued to try to bait me with insinuations. Like this one. Of course, you have been trans all your life. I'm probably twice your age. GET IT? So, now I'm pissed and I AM going to end this conversation. to be continued when cooler heads prevail. sure seriously, I'm not trying to insult you, I'm just trying to understand what you're saying And, you are insulting me in the process. And, pissing me off. this would certainly have been a better conversation to have in person I certainly didn't mean offense

I said that three times, Vivian. That we should have this conversation in person. And, you did offend, as you told me that what you understood me saying was offensive. I am not the enemy. I am an ally. You certainly didn't treat me as one. You were very disrespectful. I need to cool down and let this conversation sit before I let it go. I've been doing this work all of my adult life. I don't appreciate having my intentions questioned flippantly, just for sake of argument.

So, when we do have this conversation in person, don't be surprised when I hold you accountable to your style of argument

Elizabeth, if you are an ally, I would appreciate you listening to what I have to say about the trans community. I live there and I would appreciate it if you accepted the possibility that I understand some things about being trans better than you.

I do. I tried to say that. However, it would be good to acknowledge that the trans community, like the rest of the LGBT community, is larger than either one of us experience. that's certainly true

THank you. Now, it would be wise to end there. Don't you think? On a place of agreement? sure you have a good evening vii

[Integrity Board] Request for Independent Investigation Inbox

vivian@integrityusa.org

Caroline Hall <caro@integrityusa.org> to Integrity

Dear Board:

As you know, Vivian Taylor has made serious allegations against me.

Unfortunately, Integrity does not have a policy for what to do in such a situation. However, it is clearly necessary that the Board take these allegations seriously and so I am requesting an immediate independent investigation.

I have sought some advice, and understand that the company that issues our Directors and Officers Insurance policy may well have a risk management expert available to advise the Board on the correct course of action for such an investigation.

In the meantime, I am attaching my memory of the conversation which the Board asked me to have with Vivian regarding her professional demeanor and especially her way of sitting, together with Vivian's accusatory email. You will note in the email that she says this is the third incident. I do not know what the other two are. I will shortly send you the email correspondence which I believe may be one of the incidents to which she refers.

Thank you for giving this your urgent attention, best wishes, Caro+

From: "Vivian Taylor" <Vivian@IntegrityUSA.org>

To:

"Caroline Hall" <caro@integrityusa.org>

Subject: Last Week's Call

Date: Wednesday, June 18, 2014 7:24 AM

Dear Caro,

I feel that we need to have a conversation about our phone call on Wednesday, 11 June.

While I am always thankful for your advice and guidance, some lines were crossed in what you said to me last week.

First, whatever you think about my gender presentation, it is inappropriate for you to insult my mother, saying that she didn't raise me properly. I have been out to my mother since I was 16 years old. She has not only loved and supported me, she has also taught me a great deal about navigating the world as a professional. She was one of the first women superior court judges in North Carolina, was legal council for the North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and now has a successful private practice. She is also still deep in grief over the death of her husband of 37 years. For you to insult her as a part of my performance review is simply unprofessional.

Second, I have considered what you said about my needing more feminine shoes to be profession, but I believe that my boots are professional. They are beautiful, functional, and comfortable. I take the time to polish my boots and ensure that they are always in good repair. I have above average sized feet and smaller women's shoes make it difficult for me to walk the distances I need to in a given day, they cut my feet up. My boots also provide me with a sense of confidence and continuity to my seven years in the military. When I am wearing heavy boots, I know I that I am working. They are also a well known part of my “personal brand” and are loved and noticed by many of our supporters and potential supporters.

More than that, my boots are an important element of my gender presentation as a butch trans woman.

Third, you told me that you were teaching me how to cross my legs like your headmistress taught you as a girl in boarding school. I want to ask you not to speak to me like a child. I am a veteran of the Iraq War, I am a well loved writer, I am a national leader in my field. I do not believe that it is appropriate to compare me to a school girl who has to be taught to be properly lady-like.

Forth, I am horrified to learn that someone has been looking up my skirt. I feel violated. To have people also spreading this rumor around the Church that is my home makes it worse, makes it more embarrassing. I never wear skirts or dresses in professional environments that do not fall below the knee, usually by a several inches. Even when crossing my legs at the ankle, my appearance is perfectly modest. If someone is looking up my skirt, that is their choice, their problem, their attack on me.

I am a survivor of sexual assault and this situation has been deeply triggering of that trauma for me.

This is the third time recently that I have had to write to you about sexual harassment. After the second time I had hoped that you would take the issue of ongoing sexual harassment into account as you spoke with me.

You didn't express anger that someone would violate my privacy, my personal space that way. You didn't pledge the board's support in addressing this incident of sexual harassment. Instead, you came to me with the news that someone has been looking up my dress to see my underwear as a way of critiquing my job performance.

I am working extremely hard for Integrity, and we are seeing important successes because of that. I deserve a workplace with basic protections against hostile sexual harassment, a workplace where I can do my job without people staring at my crotch.

How do you suggest we solve this problem?

Thank you,

Vivian Taylor

(704) 322-8041

Executive Director, Integrity USA

Telephone Conversation June 11,2014

I told Vivian that the Executive Session of the Board the previous evening had agreed that we would respond to the email we had received making it clear that we believed she was the best person for the job.

In addition, since we were so far past the six month point, rather than doing a six month review, we had decided to wait for September at which point I, Christian and Lis would meet with Vivian in person. We were going to look for a suitable review outline which she could complete and we would complete and that would form the basis of the conversation.

She said that seemed agreeable.

Then I told her that there was one issue which the Board had agreed could not wait until then. It was a delicate issue especially because it could be considered to be an aspect of gender expression.

I then told her that as she wears short skirts, when she put her ankle on her knee or sits with her legs open it is possible to see her panties which was not ok when she is representing Integrity. I reminded her that I had talked several times about professional dress.

Vivian said she was very surprised and embarrassed and no one had told her that before.

I wanted to give her time to regroup and so told her that crossing at the knee is fine and every cis woman’s mother teaches her from an early age to keep her knees together. It was even something the headmistress of my high school taught us except that she said we should always sit with our knees and ankles together, which can be darned uncomfortable.

Vivian asked me what I thought about the clothes she had worn to the Board meeting in Pasadena –were they professional enough? I said, not so much. She was surprised, saying that she had asked someone for advice on what to wear. I had difficulty explaining what I considered to be professional and said that if she were clergy I would say “just wear your clergy clothes” so she might want to look at what clergy of her age are wearing. I mentioned that a red dress she had worn in a recent photograph would look good with a small jacket.

She asked what I thought of her boots, so I said that they were great for a Boston winter but a smaller shoe would be better for a professional look at other times.

I said that this was all difficult and if she wanted to hire a dress coach the Board would pay for it.

The conversation turned to other things.

I came away from it very relieved that Vivian had taken it so well and surprised that she had been unusually non-defensive.

6/20/14 viii Payroll vivian@integrityusa.org

Vivian Taylor <Vivian@integrityusa.org> to Matt

Good morning Matt,

Wed, Jul 30, 2014, 11:11 AM

Once again today the staff as not been paid. Twice a month Lis, our treasurer, asks for hours. Laura and I both submit them to ensure that all three people on staff are paid on time. In this case Laura was also told that she would be paid today in an email from Lis.

Pay issues lead to bad morale. I am working to keep everyone in good spirits but we need to ensure that Integrity's are paid their right wages immediately.

Thank you,

Matt Haines <integritypdx@gmail.com>

to Vivian Vivian,

Wed, Jul 30, 2014, 11:37 AM

I will forward this to Lis and ask her to take care of it. I am not clear on all the details. Are pay days the 15th and the 30th, or is it a different pattern than that? Also, what is the normal means of payment, a check or automatic deposit? W hat role does Cathy Jacobowitz play in this? Please help me understand the system, so that we can get this fixed.

Thank you, Matt