This statement was published on The Rubber Rose’s myspace page last night

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November is an important month for us, both personally and politically. In order to further the awareness of November 20th, Transgender Day of Remembrance, we showcase an artist or art that highlights the issues of gender and gender identity. This year we chose “XXBoys” by Kael T. Block, a photo project celebrating the vibrant and growing international f2m community. We worked very hard to bring in his work and were excited to have it hang in our gallery in order to honor a community that we know and love, to bring the pride, beauty, strength and diversity of the f2m community to a larger audience.

On Saturday, November 10th, on the day of our opening, it came to our attention that Kael T. Block has been accused of rape, that multiple women have spoken up and shared their stories about surviving. We received a heartfelt phone call from San Francisco, were mailed a long list of testimonials and email exchanges detailing their experiences. This caller, along with members of the San Diego community, questioned our intent, our knowledge, and even our politics on this matter.

And our hearts were broken. Torn between showing you the work and its historical significance, and supporting our hurting/healing community, we chose to go ahead with the opening – almost as planned. In light of the new information, we felt it necessary to display the statements we received, those of the survivors, those of Block’s, and a statement of our very own presenting the confusion and uncertainty we felt in the moment. We posted all of this next to the artist’s bio in order to give all who viewed the exhibit full disclosure.

It has now been 5 days since that decision… and in that time we hope that the portraits have been viewed and enjoyed simply for the sake of those brave enough to step in front of the camera, regardless of who might have been on the other side…

And yet we still have the question of accountability.

Regardless of how much information we do or don’t have, we recognize above all else that we are accountable to the community we are connected to. The accusations surrounding Kael T. Block directly conflict with our mission statement and our wish to create a safe space for sexual empowerment.

We have decided to take the exhibit down before its scheduled closing of November 30th.

It has not been an easy decision to make.

However, in the midst of this struggle, something beautiful and tangible has grown. The shock of the information shared during the exhibition’s opening night inspired some of our f2m friends and customers to see each other and celebrate each other as heroes, rather than placing public strangers like Kael on pedestals.

As we remove the work of Kael T Block we will be replacing it with portraits of the f2m community here in San Diego, taken in this space within the next few days.

In closing, we would like to thank Kael T. Block for his photographs and the “XXBoys” project- the pieces we received are beautiful and we recognize that this is an important project to undertake.

We would like to thank those that spoke out on the issues surrounding these allegations, as it took courage and strength.

We would like to thank the people here in San Diego that have given us the support and encouragement to make the tough decisions we have had to make in the past few days.

And finally, we would like to invite you to join us for Twister, a trans social/mixer celebrating the diversity of southern California’s f2m community on Friday, November 30th. It will also be opening night for this new project where you will find a representation of our local f2m trans guys and the significance of a community united.

With love and respect,
Lea and Carly
The Rubber Rose

If anyone is interested in participating by being photographed or by taking the photos themselves, please email therubberrose (at) hotmail (dot) com.

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I am no longer working with the Rubber Rose in any “official” capacity, so please direct any further comments or questions on this matter to them.