Best of TA

Best of TA

ROGD researcher caught lying to the press

October 11, 2018 ·

Dr. Littman lies, possibly misleading parents into withholding care from trans kids. Recently the author of a Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD) study lied to a credulous Canadian reporter who printed misleading medical and psychological information that can encourage parents to withhold evidence-based care from their children. The following is an excerpt from Canada’s The Globe and Mail newspaper: Dr. Littman describes the condition experienced by these girls as “rapid-onset gender dysphoria" (ROGD).… Read more.

Singal’s Florida: You’re very wrong about trans kids

February 25, 2018 ·

UPDATE (4/20/22): This article was updated to respond to spurious recommendations from the Florida Department of Health, which assert the same debunked claims this article fact-checks. Having learned that the mainstream publication The Atlantic has paid professional anti-trans concern troll Jesse Singal to write about trans issues, I want to address his well-worn arguments before he can make them. To do so, I will assert and then substantiate a few things: The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)… Read more.

Why they ALWAYS talk bathrooms

January 19, 2018 ·

The TransAdvocate produced a short documentary to examine the political right's propensity to focus on bathrooms when it comes to trans equality. The reality is, the political right always focuses on bathrooms, privacy, and sexual safety concerns when taking a stand against equality, no matter the oppressed population. This documentary examines, from a historical perspective, why this political rhetoric works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHzrPGyiwqo Podcast Extra Transcript In Illinois, one of the states that joined North Carolina in suing the Obama Administration for… Read more.

Are Misogynist, Homophobe, & TERF slurs?

November 4, 2017 ·

Into the nexus of the 'gay alt-right feminist' movement I received notice that an opinion leader in the sex essentialist activist community had linked to one of my articles titled, You Might be a TERF if... The article lists explicit instances of ideological hate and real-life violence (up to and including attempted murder) carried out in the name of a form of sex essentialist 'feminism' that developed in the US during the mid-to-late 1970s. The Feminist Current, a site substantially dedicated… Read more.

Violence, Nonviolent Action, and Social Reaction: A Nonviolent Amazon Perspective

September 18, 2017 ·

In a TransAdvocate article entitled "On the Ethics and Utility of Violence," an anonymous contributor makes the case for such violent acts as punching Richard Spencer, a white supremacist who has invoked Nazi slogans, in the middle of an interview while he was assaulting no one and posed no physical threat to anyone. Far from a "victory," I find that act of violence a surrender to the ethos of patriarchy and domination, as opposed to the values of feminism, democracy,… Read more.

Help the trans community overcome Hurricane/Tropical Storm Harvey!

August 28, 2017 ·

Help the Gulf Coast trans community affected by Hurricane/Tropical Storm Harvey:     Many members of the Gulf Coast trans, intersex, and genderqueer community have lost everything. Trans, intersex, and genderqueer individuals can experience extreme difficulties in natural disaster situations. The TransAdvocate's parent organization, the Transgender Foundation of America has organized a community disaster relief fund. The fund will assist Gulf Coast trans, intersex, and genderqueer survivors recover from this disaster. The Texas Gulf Coast trans community… Read more.

Fake “Radical Feminist” group actually paid political front for anti-LGBT James Dobson organization

April 10, 2017 ·

The Women's Liberation Front (WoLF) is a supposedly radical feminist activist group which, as noted by Pink News, shows “little evidence of campaigning on any women’s issues unrelated to transgender people”. They claim to “lobby for pro-choice legislation” and for “women's autonomy”, but somehow evidence of (or calls to) action for such purposes are completely absent from their website (archived here so you don't have to give them pageviews) outside that vague mission statement blurb. What you do see, however,… Read more.

Is Sadism Popular With TERFs? A Chat With An Ex-Gendercrit

July 29, 2016 ·

BY Rani Baker @destroyed4com4t Let’s get this out of the way: deep down, I believe everyone is earnestly trying to do things that are right and protect things that they value. I mean, I kinda have to believe this on some level to keep functioning. I don’t subscribe to the idea of good and evil or social struggles that have a clear cut hero and villain. Life is complicated and fluid, and… Read more.

The New York Magazine lies to parents about trans children

July 28, 2016 ·

By Kelly Winters, PhD Jesse Singal, the Senior Editor at nymag.com, has enlisted his New York Magazine blog to promote the widely publicized presumption that painful distress with birth-assigned sex and gender are just a phase for the great majority of children who suffer it: While the actual percentages vary from study to study, overall, it appears that about 80 percent of kids with gender dysphoria end up feeling okay, in the long… Read more.

The media is lying about why NC is being sued

May 15, 2016 ·

By Cristan Williams @cristanwilliams Almost without exception, all news stories covering the US Attorney General's suit against North Carolina omits the rather significant fact that when North Carolina took federal money tied to the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and Title IX, they signed a contract with the federal government explicitly agreeing to not discriminate on the basis of “gender identity”. Unlike what you may have heard, this breach of contract is… Read more.

What the US Attorney General actually said about trans people & fighting NC in court

May 10, 2016 ·

On Monday, May 9th, the United States Attorney General, Loretta Lynch came out swinging against North Carolina's commitment to discriminating against trans people. The speech that AG Lynch gave is incredibly striking and stands as a singular moment in the history of trans advocacy. While numerous sites will pair soundbites with their own commentary and others will inevitably misrepresent her words, we at the TransAdvocate wish to simply let the AG's words… Read more.

Showdown in NC: Read the ultimatum the DOJ sent NC

May 5, 2016 ·

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has given the State of North Carolina until Monday, May 9, 2016, to cease discriminating against trans people: Both you and the State of North Carolina (the "State") are in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964... Specifically, the State is engaging in a pattern or practice of discrimination against transgender state employees and both you, in your official capacity,… Read more.

Debunked: JoeySalads’ Transgender Bathroom Hoax

May 2, 2016 ·

Once again, news media around the globe proves that they'll promote just about anything anti-trans, without verification. Zinnia Jones released an in-depth analysis and debunking of YouTuber Joey "Salads" Saladino's "transgender bathroom experiment" wherein Saladino dons a bad wig so that he can stage and film what he presents to be the actual fear of (cis) women when they encounter what's supposedly a trans woman in the women's bathroom. The UK's Daily Mail --the same news… Read more.

Fight back: Report Mississippi & North Carolina HATE here!

April 24, 2016 ·

By Autumn Sandeen & Cristan Williams Anti-trans activists in both Mississippi and North Carolina have passed laws that effectively remove trans people from public life. Making it legal on a state level to discriminate against trans people in employment, housing, goods, and services while making it illegal for trans people to use public hygiene facilities that correspond with their transitioned status ensures that trans people cannot function within society. We at the TransAdvocate believe that the evidence shows that erasing trans people from… Read more.

EEOC Commissioner: “Contrary state or local laws provide no defense to an employer that violates Title VII”

April 14, 2016 ·

Recently in BuzzFeed in the article Feds “Ready” For Transgender Discrimination Complaints In North Carolina, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Commissioner Chai Feldblum was quoted as saying: I want workers to know that even though there isn’t yet a federal Equality Act protecting them, even though there is not a state law protecting them, and even though city laws have been removed, they can walk into a federal agency called the EEOC. Their claim will be taken, it will be… Read more.

Washington’s Just Want Privacy’s Talking Points For Their Antitrans Initiative

April 12, 2016 ·

Do you want to know what Just Want Privacy's talking points are? The talking points that the organization gives out to their spokespeople who support of their "repeal the rule" initiative on transgender public accommodations? The things they tell them not to say? Just Want Privacy is the group who wants to repeal the public accommodation antidiscrimination protections based on gender identity in Washington by a statewide initiative. One thing… Read more.

The 2008 Gainesville Bathroom Bill TV Spot Revisited

January 18, 2016 ·

Their Supposed 2 + 2 Didn't Equal Their What They Said Would Be The Outcome Of 4 Just this last year in Houston, the Campaign For Houston created what turned out to be an effective, creepy ad that more that implied that if one gave civil rights based on gender identity to Houstonians, then men would be given the legal right to enter public women's bathrooms unimpeded -- and then… Read more.

The TSA: a binary body system in practice

January 3, 2016 ·

Traveling While Trans: The False Promise of Better Treatment By Dr. Cary Gabriel Costello Back in 2012, I wrote about the problems I regularly encountered as a trans person when going through TSA security screening at airports. Since that time, we've been promised, much has changed. The TSA has formally stated that it will not discriminate on the basis of gender identity. Passengers are to be screened based upon their gender presentation. Any pat-downs are to be conducted… Read more.

(Re)Introducing inclusive Radical Feminism

January 2, 2016 ·

The TransAdvocate is pleased to announce the launch of a new program aimed at making a decades-old intersectional trans, intersex and genderqueer inclusive radical feminism more accessible. The TransAdvocate, in partnership with the Transgender Archive, launched The Conversations Project on New Year’s Day 2016. The Project seeks to inspire discourse through its community group, a journal, interviews and the publication of a book-length collection of collaborative essays from radical feminist… Read more.

Fact check: study shows transition makes trans people suicidal

November 2, 2015 ·

A 2011 Swedish study proves that trans people are more suicidal due to transition, are likely rapists and that trans women exhibit male socialization. Or does it? Perhaps you've heard that a Swedish study found that trans people who access medical care are more likely to commit suicide. Writing for the Wall Street Journal, former Johns Hopkins chief psychiatrist and anti-LGBT activist Dr. Paul McHugh cited a Swedish study to make the following fact assertion: A 2011 study… Read more.

Study: Trans kid’s gender implicit; govt report condemns conversion therapy

October 17, 2015 ·

A recent study found that the gender identity of trans children is as implicit as the gender identity of cis children. A study with 32 transgender children, ages 5 to 12, indicates that the gender identity of these children is deeply held and is not the result of confusion about gender identity or pretense. The study, led by psychological scientist Kristina Olson of the University of Washington, is one of the… Read more.

As #LeelahAlcorn’s mom talks to CNN, Leelah’s Reddit posts come back to haunt her

January 2, 2015 ·

While her mom talks to CNN to profess her love and support, Leelah's Reddit posts paint a homelife defined by bullying and fear. Much has been written about Leelah Alcorn's suicide note* which identifies conversion therapy and unsupportive parents as contributing factors to what happened to Leelah. Under the weight of public condemnation, Leelah's mother, Carla Alcron told CNN that "e told him that we loved him unconditionally. We loved him no… Read more.

Trans people have 99 problems, and Facebook is just one

November 20, 2014 ·

A personal reflection on the abuse of weaponization of Facebook’s “Real Name” Policy By Emmagene Cronin I woke up Monday morning, the first day of Trans Awareness Week, as I do everyday before I’m off to classes. I get myself out of bed after hitting the alarm a few times, and then I trot downstairs to make myself some coffee and read a news story or two while I try to wake up from the lack of sleep I know I just… Read more.

I Am Jazz: an amazing book for trans kids

September 14, 2014 ·

Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings recently published a book for trans kids titled, I Am Jazz. The beautifully illustrated story is based on the real-life experiences of Jazz. Laverne Cox said that the book is an “essential tool for parents and teachers” and that “I wish I had had a book like this when I was a kid struggling with gender identity questions.” Cover: I Am Jazz I had an opportunity to both review the… Read more.

TERF hate and Sandy Stone

August 16, 2014 ·

Sandy Stone was a problem that Janice Raymond, author of The Transsexual Empire: The Making of the She-Male, decided to take care of. Raymond felt that Stone -- an out trans woman who was part of the radical feminist lesbian separatist music collective, Olivia Records -- didn’t belong. Raymond engineered a smear campaign that nearly destroyed the Collective and put Stone’s life in jeopardy, culminating in armed TERFs asserting their intention to murder Stone. Olivia Records was a successful… Read more.

Mom confronts TERF bigotry aimed at her family

August 13, 2014 ·

By Debi Jackson Although I have been part of the LGBT community for the last three years since my daughter transitioned from male to female, I still seem to learn something new every day. Take, for example, my recent discovery of a group that some call TERFs, or Trans-Excluding Radical Feminists. Within the last few weeks, I’ve become a target of hate from some who watched a video of me giving a speech about my daughter’s transition. Most of that… Read more.

Clinging to a dangerous past: Dr Paul McHugh’s selective reading of transgender medical literature

June 15, 2014 ·

In a June 12th opinion article in the Wall Street Journal, well-known anti-transgender psychiatrist Dr. Paul McHugh attempts to make a case against supporting hormonal and surgical transition for transgender individuals. McHugh, professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University, has been actively working against the medical treatment of trans people since the 1970’s. As the university’s chief psychiatrist, he was instrumental in closing the Johns Hopkins Gender Program in 1979, one of the first programs of its kind, citing… Read more.

NOW state rep talks with the TransAdvocate about TERFs, trans-inclusion and civil rights

April 18, 2014 ·

I heard of Poppy years before I met her. I knew her to be a major force behind Southern feminism. Poppy has a long history of working for reproductive rights both as an attorney and as a volunteer clinic escort. It was as a volunteer clinic defender that I got to personally know her. The National Organization for Women (NOW) is the largest multi-issue women’s rights organization in the United States dedicated to taking action to bring women into full… Read more.

We need storytellers who are not cisgender men: why David Marcus’ views are misguided and misinformed

April 7, 2014 ·

In his latest piece for TheFederalist, arts writer David Marcus takes on what he believes to be a great injustice: the inclusion of trans people in a list of playwrights developed to demonstrate that perspectives beyond those of men actually do exist and are readily accessible. The list, a public google document titled “We Exist,” was developed in response to a recent comment by a director at a gathering of professional DC theater folks that there are too few… Read more.

“What’s Between Your Legs?” Is the New “So What Do You Do in Bed?”: Trans Issues In The Media

April 1, 2014 ·

By Cathy Renna @cathyrenna Possibly inspired by Laverne Cox and Orange is the New Black, I blurted out the title of this post at a recent panel about media coverage of transgender issues, as I was trying to put into context the quality of coverage of transgender issues today, as compared to gay and lesbian issues in the early 1990s. It has stuck in my head since. Back then I was working at GLAAD and gay and lesbian people were still… Read more.

Transgender college student Andraya Williams humiliated by Piedmont campus police says enough is enough

April 1, 2014 ·

Andraya Williams Subjected to discrimination, intimidation, humiliation and stonewalled by North Carolina Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC), transgender student Andraya Williams tells the TransAdvocate she's had enough. On March 19th, Ms. Williams was detained by a campus school guard while exiting the lady's room bathroom telling her that they had heard reports of a man in the restroom and asked her for her college ID. Ms. Williams then presented her ID, which clearly identifies her… Read more.

Crossfit’s “scientific” refusal to allow Chloie Jönnson to compete in women’s division not actually supported by science

March 21, 2014 ·

In a situation that recalls the recent controversy around MMA Fighter Fallon Fox, Chloie Jönsson, a trans woman, was recently banned from competing in the women’s division of Reebok’s CrossFit athletic competition, a high-intensity endurance fitness challenge with a cash-prize of $250,000. She is now suing Crossfit for $2.5 million for discrimination. In the letter to her lawyer, obtained by TMZ, CrossFit contends that:  This is simply wrong as a matter of human biology and if you can’t see… Read more.

#JD4PJI: The downfall of the Pacific Justice Institute and the sweet victory of trans youth

March 7, 2014 ·

The one thing that you have to realize is that everything the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) did to a trans kid in Colorado was about PJI's desire to stop a law in California that codified equality standards for trans children. Law makers in California proposed legislation that would help ensure that California's trans children would be able to have a school experience free from institutionalized oppression. PJI hated this idea and decided that were going to fight it every… Read more.

“Right to discriminate” bill supports KKK’s right to racial segregation says Sen Yarbrough’s office

February 21, 2014 ·

By Cristan Williams @cristanwilliams Arizona state senator, Steve Yarbrough (R) sponsored Senate Bill 1062, hailed as a "property rights" bill aimed at ensuring that business owners and social service organizations would have the right to discriminate on the basis of religious freedom. Devon Mills, speaking for Yarbrough's office said, "It allows business owners to use religion as a reason to deny someone business if it conflicts with their religious belief." Arizona Democrats, who argue the legislation is a way to legalize discrimination against LGBT… Read more.

[UPDATED] Toronto Star’s editorial problem

January 19, 2014 ·

On Saturday, January 4, 2014, the Toronto Star published an anti-trans hoax without first fact checking. The claim was that a 70 year old woman was undressing in a Toronto-area YMCA when a male-bodied individual "who was pre-everything" and who had been given access to the women's changing area merely because they claimed to be trans, stripped nude, walked around, and with an erection hit on the elderly woman. The Toronto Star twice published this claim. On Friday, the Star tried… Read more.

Did bias lead to prosecution of bullied Hercules trans student?

January 14, 2014 ·

By Cristan Williams @cristanwilliams Jewlyes Gutierrez, 16-year-old trans sophomore at Hercules High School On December 4, 2013 an investigative reporter, Jennifer Lopez interviewed the police department about a case against a trans Hercules High School student who had fought back against school bullies: Detective Putten returned my phone call. This was in reference to Jewlyes Gutierrez, a transgender student who  was being bullied and harassed at her high school. The context that I had contacted Detective Putten… Read more.

Toronto newspaper pushes trans hoax, claims no duty to fact check

January 6, 2014 ·

On Saturday, the Toronto Star's "ethics" journalist, Ken Gallinger, unquestioningly published the incredible claim that an elderly Toronto women was hit on in the YMCA women's locker room by a male-bodied individual who was walking around the women's locker room fully nude, replete with erection. Fact checking is not what we do here at the Toronto Star! The article claimed that the nude and erect individual was allowed into the women's locker room because they merely… Read more.

Top TransAdvocate Stories of 2013

December 30, 2013 ·

The TransAdvocate joins other media outlets in celebrating that most hallowed of Holiday traditions: The Top 2013 List. What follows is a look back of the most popular and most evocative stories we published in 2013. Most Fascinated: Published on February 25, 2013, Matt Kailey wrote Why Do Trans People Make Me Uncomfortable? Misogyny lies behind these concepts. The unwarranted devaluation of women and the feminine, along with the unwarranted elevation of men and the masculine, lies behind these concepts.… Read more.

Fact Checking: anti-trans “parents of students” speak out at school board meeting

December 11, 2013 ·

By Cristan Williams @cristanwilliams Charlotte Burrous, a reporter for the Canon City Daily Record asserted that parents of students spoke out at a school board meeting: Parents of students in the Florence-Penrose School District expressed concern during Monday's regular board meeting about a transgender Florence High School girl who has been granted permission by the school, and the district, to continue to use the girls' restroom at the school. Yeah, they're talking about Jane Doe: Before… Read more.

Eavesdrop on a right wing anti-trans training camp: teaching fear mongering and lies

November 29, 2013 ·

Recently, an equality effort in Florida was defeated by appealing to the 'trans people = rape' meme. As it turned out, appealing to this meme was deliberate and is, in fact, part of a curriculum currently being taught to anti-LGBT activists. The TransAdvocate obtained audio from one of the training sessions given by the Christian Family Association (CFC) on October 5th, shortly after their successful defeat of a Florida equality measure that included trans people. The curriculum taught at this training… Read more.

Interview with Delta county “castration” school board member: turns out she’s linked to anti-LGBT groups

November 25, 2013 ·

Recently Katherine Svenson, a Delta county School Board member in Colorado, found herself the topic of controversy after remarking that trans kids should be castrated before they use the restroom. What news reports failed to note was that Svenson is the co-founder of an anti-gay ministry: Cached 2010 copy of TellASIA founding members Here's some of what TellASIA spends its time doing: It so happened that the dates of the final conference coincided with the date when South… Read more.

Colleen Francis and the infamous Evergreen State College incident

November 13, 2013 ·

The mere mention of the incident should send shivers down your spine. Trans people who support protections based on gender identity should feel nervous when Colleen's name is mentioned. If you're trans, you should hope that this incident fades into the distance and is never brought up in polite conversations. For the uninitiated, here's a recap from Fox News: A Washington college said their non-discrimination policy prevents them from stopping a transgender man from exposing himself to young girls inside… Read more.

Restoring your faith in humanity: supporting Jane Doe

November 12, 2013 ·

Before PJI: Jane Doe (front row, middle) with school friends. The Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) is the ex-gay organization who claimed that a trans kid (who I refer to as Jane Doe) in Colorado was harassing cisgender girls in the restrooms. Media outlets published PJI's story without fact checking their claims, prompting members of the right-wing community to call for the death of Jane Doe. While PJI’s claims were proven false, the public animosity PJI inspired by and focused on Jane took… Read more.

California school students & faculty support genderqueer student set on fire & who continues to be misgendered in the press

November 10, 2013 ·

Sasha Fleischman, a genderqueer senior at Colorado's Maybeck High School, fell asleep in the rear of a bus heading for East Oakland. Sasha's skirt was set on fire by a 16 year old named Richard Thomas, resulting in 3rd-degree burns. Sasha was hospitalized and must have skin grafts. Sasha will remain hospitalized for several weeks, but should be home for Thanksgiving. "Sasha is getting good care, and has a good prognosis for recovery," Trevor… Read more.

PJI fundraising video targeting suicidal trans kid goes viral

November 7, 2013 ·

The Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) is the ex-gay organization that stirred up the right-wing word when it claimed that a trans kid (who I will refer to as Jane Doe, for reasons of safety) in Colorado was harassing cisgender girls in the restrooms. Right wing media outlets jumped at the story without fact checking PJI's claims, prompting members of the right wing community to call for the death of the trans kid. As a result of PJI's bullying Jane Doe was placed on a suicide watch. Even… Read more.

Spot anti-trans signature gatherers in California? Report it at 866-377-0578!

November 2, 2013 ·

The TransAdvocate has documented the dirty tricks anti-trans groups are playing in California. We documented how the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) falsely claimed that a trans girl had been harassing cis girls in the restroom so they could use it to scare Californians into rejecting AB 1266, the law protecting trans children. We documented how the PJI lied about there being a police investigation targeting the trans girl. We interviewed and fact checked PJI, proving that they were dishonest time… Read more.

What happens when PJI is confronted by parents?

October 24, 2013 ·

The Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) is the ex-gay organization that stirred up the right-wing word by claiming that a trans kid (who I will refer to as Jane Doe, for reasons of safety) in Colorado was harassing cisgender girls in the restrooms. Right-wing media outlets jumped at the story without conducting any fact checking, prompting members of the right-wing community to call for the death of the trans kid. While I interviewed Matthew McReynolds, staff attorney for PJI earlier this week,  McReynolds was first interviewed by the… Read more.

Family of Colorado trans kid targeted by harassment hoax speaks up

October 20, 2013 ·

I’d like to introduce you to a 16 year old high school student who I’m going to refer to as “Jane Doe.” I’m calling her "Jane" because, after an ex-gay organization orchestrated an international smear campaign against her, numerous individuals have stated that she should be beaten and killed. Jane recently moved to a small Colorado town with her two moms. Jane transitioned from male to female two years ago with the blessing of her therapist. In October 2011, Jane… Read more.

Trans Student Attacking Girls in School Restroom! Or, you know… not.

October 14, 2013 ·

The push for radical transgender rights in schools is trumping privacy rights at one Colorado high school. A male student at Florence High School who claims to be a transgender has been harassing girls in the bathroom. When parents complained, school officials said the boy's rights as a transgender trumped their daughters' privacy rights. - charismanews.com Right wing news outlets are falling over themselves to bemoan the sad state of our public school system now that the law allows transgender… Read more.

TERFs & Trans Healthcare

October 12, 2013 ·

While there are many who feel that morality must be built into law, I believe that the elimination of transsexualism is not best achieved by legislation prohibiting transsexual treatment and surgery but rather by legislation that limits it and by other legislation that lessens the support given to sex-role stereotyping, which generated the problem to begin with. Any legislation should be aimed at the social conditions that initiate and promote the surgery as well as the growth of the medical-institutional… Read more.

Trans Radio Theater: Poe Comedy With A Purpose

August 31, 2013 ·

From the Houston trans community comes this comedy gem: [soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/27466208" params="" width=" 100%" height="166" iframe="true" /] A poe is someone who parodies fundamentalism in such a way that it is ridiculous yet simultaneously difficult to tell if the media is real or a parody. The "radio show" mixes absurd reality with absurd comedy to make a deadly serious point. Enjoy!   Tip this TransAdvocate! Writers for the TransAdvocate work hard to bring you news and… Read more.

California Trans Bill Freak Out

August 27, 2013 ·

Supposedly, as the RadRight narrative goes, the California bill protecting trans kids in school is anarchy and madness. Unsurprisingly, TERFs and H-BSers jumped on that narrative: You know what? BS. Here in TEXAS - yes, conservative TEXAS - we've had these California-style policies in effect for YEARS. And you know what's happened? Nothing... Except trans kids got to go to school without having to face institutionalized bigotry. Yup, from kindergarten to high school, here in Texas towns like Houston, trans kids… Read more.

Thoughts On Chelsea Manning’s Coming Out

August 24, 2013 ·

I have some thoughts on how Pvt. Chelsea Manning's gender dysphoria was rolled out. Let me begin by saying I'm going to give, and I'm going to advocate for, respect for Manning's chosen name and publicly embraced gender, and I'm going to use female pronouns and call her Chelsea. That; however, comes with a mixed bag of emotions. I'm going to respect Chelsea's public request in part because of the Biblical teaching I learned as Pentecostal youth that I still… Read more.

New Jersey bans trans conversion therapy

August 20, 2013 ·

A lot has been said over New Jersey's new bill, signed into law by Gov. Chris Christie (R), which bans gay conversion therapy. What you may not know is that this law is inclusive of trans kids, too: 2. a. A person who is licensed to provide professional counseling under Title 45 of the Revised Statutes, including, but not limited to, a psychiatrist, licensed practicing psychologist, certified social worker, licensed clinical social worker, licensed social worker, licensed marriage and family… Read more.

Dear Jennifer Usher, Please Do Keep Your Focus On Me

August 17, 2013 ·

Jennifer Usher posted up on her blog a post entitled Slacktivists? ROTFLLMAO!!!!! as a response to my recent Transadvocate post Transsexual Separatist Slacktivism Doesn’t Win Legislatively. I haven't made it a habit of responding to her, but I am doing so this time -- and personally to her at that. Jennifer, I know I'm violating the "don't feed the trolls" axiom about responding to folk who, with intent, try to provoke angry or personal responses, but in this case… Read more.

Progressive Talking Heads Not Talking About California School Success And Opportunity Act

August 15, 2013 ·

It's kind of sad, really. Progressive talking heads on cable television aren't talking about Gov. Jerry Brown (D-CA) signing AB 1266, the School Success and Opportunity Act. (The act will become law on January 1, 2014 -- the tenth anniversary of California's first transgender rights bill, AB 196, the Gender Nondiscrimination Act, becoming law.) From the Transgender Law Center's description of the bill that Gov. Jerry Brown of California signed on August 12, 1213: California law already prohibits discrimination in… Read more.

Hypocrisy, Hate and Harm #no2h8splc

August 6, 2013 ·

The above is a picture of militant lesbians and gays protesting against a movie that promoted false gay stereotypes. March 18, 1970 Ladies' Home Journal Sit-In Above is what happened when a bunch of RadFems righteously took over the offices of the Ladie's Home Journal because it was a vector for promoting false stereotypes about women. Protesting negative stereotypes of cisgender women in the media has a long and proud tradition among feminists. Queer Nation's New York… Read more.

My MTF daughter: An ordinary life with an extraordinary girl

August 4, 2013 ·

For some reason or another, my blog has become less personal over the last few years. I’ve shared stories, news, videos and pictures, but nothing that is really personal—from the uberscribbling heart—so to speak.  That’s about to change. The uberscribbler is more than just an author, public speaker and social media junkie.  There are more stories to share, things that need to be said, and thoughts that I need to send out to the universe via the world-wide web. And… Read more.

The TERF Empire Declares War Against Trans People

July 25, 2013 ·

Trans pioneer Dallas Denny published an article on TA about expressing her misgivings about the upcoming publication of a book promoting  Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist (TERF) hate. She just received a chilling response from a group of  TERF academics declaring war on trans people. The anonymous author declares war on me and for that matter on all transpeople. He or she and his or her six compatriots claims that they will raise an army of graduate students who will oppress me… Read more.

The Letter

July 20, 2013 ·

When I learned Routledge Press was planning to publish a book about "transgenderism" by Australian academician Sheila Jeffreys, I was astonished. Why was I astonished? Because Jeffreys considers transsexual surgery a human rights violation, has called medical intervention with transgendered children eugenics and McCarthyism, and refuses to use appropriate pronouns when referring to us, cynically claiming she is seeking “clarity.”  I identity FTMs and MTFs by the pronouns that demonstrate their sex class of origin for the sake of clarity. –FTM Transsexualism… Read more.

Birth of a Transsexual Separatist and then Born Again

July 5, 2013 ·

I have been asked by numerous people in the transgender community what caused my change of heart as far as TS Separatism goes. I think folks really do want to understand what makes a separatist and how I was able to leave it behind. I think it is important to tell the story from beginning to end including how I became one. I don't blame anyone for being incredibly offended by what I did because I am offended with my… Read more.

Gawking at TransKid’s Genitalia is “Freedom of Speech” says Philly PD

July 4, 2013 ·

A much older adult, who was famous in the eyes of a kid, talked the minor into exposing themselves to the adult. The adult then took a good long look - long enough to memorize the details of the kid's genitals. The adult then wrote an article featuring the explicit details of what the underage kid's genitals looked like. While this might elicit a strident response from folks who care about things like the age of consent, the use of… Read more.

TERF Appropriation of the Trans Day of Remembrance

June 11, 2013 ·

Our friend Lee is back with another awesome critical commentary comic: On May 13, the TransAdvocate wrote about the appropriation of the Trans Day of Remembrance by Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists (TERFs). Cathy Brennan, contributor to the Radfem2013 conference, has sunk to yet a new low.  She is now trying to exploit the death of our sisters (Transgender Day of Remembrance – TDOR)  to further her justification of transphobia. She wants us all to believe that it isn’t transphobia that kills us, it… Read more.

[UPDATED] Anti-Trans Radio Show Dropped From SiriusXM!

June 7, 2013 ·

UPDATE: I just received a statement from Clear Channel! See below... On June 3rd - just days into Pride Month - the Clear Channel radio show Lex and Terry, broadcast by SiriusXM,  began discussing the gay/trans panic issues saying, There's a teen that shot a tranny after finding out that it was a man after they had a little sexual encounter. A co-host responded, I don't blame him. I would have shot his ass too. [soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/95574012" params="" width=" 100%" height="166" iframe="true" /] The gay/trans… Read more.

[UPDATED] SiriusXM Broadcasts ClearChannel Support for Trans Murder

June 5, 2013 ·

6/6/13, 1:10 PM UPDATE: Sign the petition demanding that Clear Channel issue a public apology! 6/5/13, 8:30 PM UPDATE: I've spoken with Senior Vice President of Communications at SiriusXM and he has made it clear that they do not support the comments of the Lex and Terry show and have taken steps, via an official statement (see below), to distance SiriusXM from the show. Sirius satellite radio, founded by out transwoman Martine Rothblatt, bought XM satellite radio in 2008… Read more.

A Challenge to GallusMag, Editor of GenderTrender

May 31, 2013 ·

Apparently I've made the big time. I discovered that GallusMag, self-identified RadFem (TERF), TERF opinion leader and co-founder of RadFemHub, has attempted to troll me on her infamous TERF blog, GenderTrender. According to GallusMag, I have huge sweaty balls, I'm a man, I hate lesbians and gays, I hate feminists most of all, I have a sexualized image of myself as a woman, that I'm known for my advocacy for men's rights, that my greatest desire is to be a… Read more.

Changing My Recorded Gender With The Department Of Defense

May 21, 2013 ·

fter my surgery and later issuance of a new birth certificate last November, I wanted to apply to the Department of the Navy (DON) to change my recorded gender. The Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) keeps track of servicemembers and retirees genders, so I wanted, for gender affirmation and DOD acknowledgement, my gender reflected in my Department of Defense (DOD) records. There is no gender marker on military identification cards, so it's not an issue of being outed by… Read more.

The TERF Appropriation of the Trans Day of Remembrance

May 13, 2013 ·

A TERF hate-tracking site recently raised a warning that Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist (TERF) leaders are attempting to appropriate the Trans Day of Remembrance: Cathy Brennan, contributor to the Radfem2013 conference, has sunk to yet a new low.  She is now trying to exploit the death of our sisters (Transgender Day of Remembrance – TDOR)  to further her justification of transphobia. She wants us all to believe that it isn’t transphobia that kills us, it is male violence. While it is true that the majority of… Read more.

Evon Young Case Update

May 8, 2013 ·

The last time I posted on the murder of Milwaukee trans man and rapper Evon Young five suspects, 37 year old Ron Allen, 23 year old Devin Seaberry, 26 year old Billy Griffin, 18 year old Ashanti Mcalister, and 27 year old Victor Stewart had been arrested and charged with Young's murder. In a January 31 court hearing they defendants all plead not guilty to the first-degree intentional homicide charges they face. The charges come with a maximum life in prison sentence… Read more.

Three More April African-American Transwomen Deaths

May 3, 2013 ·

I'm beyond sick and tired of being sick and tired of the near genocidal levels of anti-trans violence that are taking away far too many under 30 transwomen of color before they've had a chance to live their lives.  We are not only losing them, but their potential contributions and talents toward building all the communities we intersect and interact with.   TransGriot  April 5, 2013 29 year old Kelly Young, 30 year old Ashley Sinclair and 20 year old Ce Ce Acoff until this… Read more.

Being Trans Affects Everything

May 1, 2013 ·

It's not a lifestyle (and I hate that conservaterm).  When you swallow those hormones or take those first shots of testosterone or estrogen, it causes seismic shifts in your life that mere cis people can't begin to comprehend. But if we're going to gain trans human rights coverage and make transphobia as unpalatable as racism, homophobia or sexism are, we're going to have to do our best to make them understand. The day I swallowed my first hormone I no… Read more.

Revictimized In Death

April 30, 2013 ·

Dehumanization of murdered trans women seems to be the norm these days. No matter how many times GLAAD and trans activists reach out to teach journalists how not to revictimize murdered trans women -- especially trans women of color -- there always seems to be a "next time." A new example of a "next time" is found in John Caniglia's two articles for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, entitled Oddly dressed body found in Olmsted Township pond identified and Brutal slaying… Read more.

What Hate Looks Like

April 29, 2013 ·

15-year-old Raymond Buys shortly before his death Raymond Buys was sent to an infamous right-wing training camp for effeminate boys. "I sent my son on this course to make him a better man, to give him a better future..." said Buys' mother, Wilma Buys. Buys in camp uniforms Upon admission to the hospital, Buys had had brain damage, cigarette burns all over his body, a broken arm, numerous bruises and resembled Nazi concentration camp survivor. He died… Read more.

Seven Transphobic Tropes Debunked

April 29, 2013 ·

I've discussed in the over 6500 posts on this blog (and had fun eviscerating ) these seven transphobic tropes that seem to constantly pop into articles about this community and radfem hate screeds. Questioning Transphobia has a excellent series of articles that eviscerate the seven most common anti-trans arguments.  And you know as a TransGriot public service I'm going to make it easy for you to find them. Thanks to Questioning Transphobia's Queen Emily for the hard solid thinking and… Read more.

HBS: Play Ground for Frauds, Bullies and Self-Loathing Transsexual-Transgender People and wannabee Transsexuals

April 27, 2013 ·

Yesterday I posted a piece titled: Django Unchained: House Slaves Like Stephan and the “Girls” of HBS. I’ve seen the damage of all the abuse and bullying play out across the various trans-communities. I’ve seen the suicides, I’ve seen the substance abuse.I’ve gotten really sick of these bullies claiming some sort of right to decide who is or isn’t transsexual based on some sort of purity test that they, themselves would likely fail. I first came on line in the summer of… Read more.

Revisiting ‘the fallacy of cis privilege, again.’

April 27, 2013 ·

I've noticed that TERFs tend to lie. Like, a lot. As in, metric tons of BS. TERFs far and wide are currently gnashing their collective teeth over the reality that their hate-fest conference (#RadFem2013) was booted from its venue for the second year in a row. Instead of being an emotional adult about their situation, they instead (of course) chose to construct a narrative wherein their bad behavior had nothing to do with their eviction; instead, they're victims of a conspiracy. In other words,… Read more.

[UPDATED] #RadFem2013 Lies, London Irish Centre Truth + a Preview of Sheila Jeffreys’ New TERF Book!

April 23, 2013 ·

RadFem 2013 organizer, Cathy Brennan responds to this post in a totally rational, non-hateful way. For the second year in a row, the TERF hate conference  has been booted from their venue. For the second year in a row, the TERF hate leadership is claiming to be victims of a conspiracy. Last year is was a transgender conspiracy and this year it's a so-called "Men's Rights" conspiracy: Here's why the TERF's claim they're being booted from their venue:… Read more.

Reality Check: Fallon Fox and the Transgender Advantage

April 13, 2013 ·

  Those in her corner cite studies that show that testosterone production is diminished by several years of estrogen therapy, while adversaries contend that those studies are flawed, and that she has an unfair advantage in muscle mass. - MMA Fighting Look, she’s huge! She’s not just huge, she’s got a fucking man’s face. I mean, you can wear all the lipstick you want. You want to be a woman and you want to take female hormones, you want to… Read more.

Trans Exterminationalists In Their Own Words

April 11, 2013 ·

One of the things that mystifies me is why The Southern Poverty Law Center hasn't declared Trans Exterminationalist Radical Feminism as a hate group.   Could it be because the rumor may be true that a TERF works for SPLC and squashes the subject every time it comes up in SPLC circles? SO if you think I being harsh when I call this group of rad fems Whyte Womyn Gone Wyld, trans oppressors or wonder why I have zero tolerance for their hate… Read more.

DC Comics To Introduce First Reality Based Trans Character

April 10, 2013 ·

I've talked in the blog about the Archie Comics having storylines in which they have done 'what if' gender bending with their hero Archie and reimagined his life twice as a girl in issues 516 and 636.  In Archie 636 they took it a step further and gender swapped Betty and Veronica as well as Archie. Gender fluidity has been present in the comic world for decades but only through fantasy based methods such as magic, shape-shifting, brain-swapping, and cloning via adult or independent… Read more.

50,000 Deaths

March 27, 2013 ·

Technology on the Social and Ethical Aspects of Transsexual Surgery By Janice G. Raymond Assistant Professor of Medical Ethics and Women's Studies Hampshire College/University of Massachusetts Amherst, Massachusetts June, 1980 Note: If you're looking for the article that proves that Raymond helped strip insurance coverage of trans care from public and private insurers, that article is located here. The subject of transsexualism, whether raised in the public forum or in the academic or medical communities, has been viewed… Read more.

Naming the Real Monsters

March 25, 2013 ·

At the New Statesman, Juliet Jacques with one of the best, distilled and concise pieces I’ve seen setting out point-by-point who the media monsters are and the evil that they perpetrate; here is but one: 2. Transphobia cuts across left/liberal and conservative media Transphobia in left/liberal media tends to come, still, from this radical feminist perspective, tending to attack trans people as a category. Conservative pundits seem to focus more on isolating trans people in apparently “public” roles, undermining their identities by… Read more.

Logic Be Damned: MMA Fighter Fallon Fox and the PC Conspiracy

March 10, 2013 ·

The MMA world has been a-buzz after learning that MMA fighter Fallon Fox is trans. A popular site for all things MMA recently posted an article that was quite good. The author sought out the informed opinion of experts and the resulting article was both insightful and balanced. However, the follow-up article failed in every way the first succeeded. Instead of using the informed opinion of a professional who has first-hand knowledge of the physiology of post-transition trans folk, the site used the opinion of Dr. Johnny Benjamin. Benjamin took great pains… Read more.

Dos and Don’ts of Trashy Trans Reporting

March 5, 2013 ·

This is a review of the way a single story is handled by two diffident tabloid newspapers. The sensationalistic reporting style is so starkly different that I thought it would make an exceptional case study for the dos & don'ts of trans reporting (even when it's tabloid reporting). DO - From the New York Daily News:   Do keep the focus of the mockery on the criminal and not on his victim A hulking ex-firefighter accused of violently attacking his transgender… Read more.

HUD Launches Trans-Inclusive Fair Housing App

March 5, 2013 ·

The HUD App Reciently, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) unveiled the first housing discrimination mobile application (app).  The app provides a quick and easy way to learn about your housing rights and to file housing discrimination complaints, and inform the housing industry about its responsibilities under the Fair Housing Act. “Having this first fair housing mobile application equips people everywhere with the information they need to combat housing discrimination,” said John Trasviña, HUD Assistant Secretary… Read more.

PFOX’s ‘Ex-Trans’ Spokesperson Exposed

February 21, 2013 ·

Read the PFOX propaganda about Darrell here. Now that the reparative therapy folks have been discredited to the point that some states are considering legislation to ban it, the ex-gay industry is scrambling to shift tactics and amend talking points in order to keep clocking those dollars from faith based groups and conservative donors. They are now setting their sights on targeting the trans community and separating desperate parents misinformed about trans issues from their hard… Read more.

Interview With an Actual Stonewall Riot Veteran: The Ciswashing of Stonewall Must End!

February 18, 2013 ·

The POTUS noted Stonewall in his 2013 inaugural address: We the people declare today that the most evident of truth that all of us are created equal -- is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls and Selma and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King… Read more.

I Believe There’s An LGBT Community, But…

February 18, 2013 ·

One of the ongoing arguments I hear and I reject whether it comes from the LGB end of the spectrum or the trans end of it is that 'there is no LGBT community'. Granted I've railed more than a few times on this blog about some of the contentious history that has occurred between elements of it, but the evidence is overwhelming that an LGBT community exists. While I believe there is an LGBT community, at the same time I… Read more.

Take the Trans “Sense of Community” Survey!

February 14, 2013 ·

Take the survey here   For some time, I’ve seen and heard subjective assertions like: I love the trans community! I hate the trans community! There is no such thing as a trans community! I wish the trans community was stronger where I live! So... Is there a trans community? Strangely, quantitative research complementing existing ethnographic research concerning this question is hard to come by. The results of this research will map where (and possibly why) the trans population detects and… Read more.

Federal Updates: New VA Trans Directive & ENDA via Executive Order?

February 12, 2013 ·

ENDA via Executive Order On social policy, Obama is reconsidering whether to issue an executive order prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. When he decided not to issue such an order last year, the White House said it would prefer to pass a law applying to gays and lesbians in the workplace. But if Congress seems unlikely to act on the broader legislation — called the Employment Non-Discrimination Act — officials have… Read more.

Stonewall Plus 1

February 10, 2013 ·

August, 1970 Readers knock, praise the big parade Editor: As a subscriber and reader of your paper, I would like to comment on the Christopher Street West Parade held last Sunday (June 23) here in L.A. I consider myself pretty well up on what is happening regarding current affairs relevant to our segment of society, and I felt this type of demonstration was a great idea. I guess I thought too soon. That parade did more harm than good. By… Read more.

Why I outed “ex-gay” Matt Moore

February 9, 2013 ·

After my last post about a profile on Grindr using ex-gay writer Matt Moore’s photo and personal details, I contacted Moore, who responded as follows: The grindr profile was really mine. I’ve been on it on and off for the last couple of weeks. Like I told the guy who sent you the picture, I am wrong in having been on grindr. I haven’t changed my views on homosexuality, the bible, etc. Creating a grindr profile and talking to guys on it… Read more.

Nadine Williams South Wales Transgender Woman Cleared of Rape Charge

February 9, 2013 ·

Nadine Williams, a transgender woman has beencleared of rape and two counts of sexual assault which she was accused of doing before transitioning while presenting as Dean, a male. Ms. Williams who spend 6 months remanded to pretial confinment iwith men while waiting for the trial simply said she was relieved the "torment" was finally over. The unfortunate articles I've seen to date have misidentified Nadine as a 'transgender man,'  further adding confussion by misgendering with male pronouns. But as a testament to her character Nadine… Read more.

Fox News vs Trans Health Care Needs

February 8, 2013 ·

The real story: Long-standing medical and psychiatric literature demonstrates clear benefits of medical and surgical interventions to assist gender variant individuals seeking transition. However, transgender and gender variant people are frequently denied medical, surgical, and psychiatric care related to gender transition. Access to medical care (both medical and surgical) positively impacts the mental health of transgender and gender variant individuals. Discrimination and lack of equal civil rights is damaging to the mental health of transgender and gender variant individuals. For… Read more.

We Have a History, Too

February 7, 2013 ·

Another one from the TransGriot The Newspaper Column archives that I pined in February 2005 for Black History Month. We Have a History, Too Copyright 2005, The Letter Ever since I was a child I've loved history. I enjoy looking at past events to get an understanding of how the reality of the present took shape. It is then that you can formulate plans to make a better future. The transgender community is starting to come to grips with this… Read more.

Fernanda Milan Granted Danish Asylum!

February 5, 2013 ·

Thought I would pass along to you TransGriot readers the wonderful news that Fernanda Milan has been granted asylum in Denmark on November 26. She did not publicize the news according to ILGA Europe at the time because she is angry that she was forced to go through lengthy and grueling proceedings. Asylum was even denied to her in the beginning with the reversal happening only days before she was scheduled to be deported from Denmark. She got a right to be… Read more.

Being Fearlessly Out and Trans is a Revolutionary Act

January 31, 2013 ·

On one of the trans Facebook groups I monitor a post was put up about the gruesome murder of transman  Evon 'Yung LT' Young.  One person remarked in the comment thread under the post that's why she never leaves her home, and of course my response to that comment triggered this post. That's what the haters want...They want you to cower in fear locked up behind your doors. Your most revolutionary act as a trans person is to be fearlessly out… Read more.

Trans Rapper Murdered: The Official Story vs. The Friend’s Story

January 29, 2013 ·

Multiple news outlets have reported on the recent torture, murder, and mutilation of a mid-western trans rapper. The rapper, Evon Young went missing January 2. The official story is that 5 men were arrested for torturing, mutilating, murdering, immolating and then throwing Evon in a dumpster because someone thought Evon maybe stole something... or maybe it's that Evon was killed as part of a gangland initiation rite... or may it's that Evon was killed in a burglary gone wrong. While the official story… Read more.

Insidious: Extreme Pressures Faced by Trans People

January 27, 2013 ·

Studies show that the trans population lives under extreme psychological pressures unseen in even active military personnel. Fifty-five percent of trans people  were found to live with social anxiety. Within the general American population, similar types of anxiety are experienced by only 6.8%  of the population while these levels of anxiety were found to exist at a rate of 8.2% among military personal. Levels of social anxiety experienced by population. This graph compares the social anxiety transgender people feel against… Read more.

“So, what was Stonewall?”

January 25, 2013 ·

In the wake of the President Obama's historic speech referencing Stonewall, NPR ran a piece asking and purporting to answer the question, "So, what was Stonewall?" The article calls upon Martin Duberman, now 82, to retell the story of Stonewall. Martin Duberman published the first history of Stonewall in 1993. His history significantly featured trans folk. Bizarrely, the NPR author Liz Halloran seems to rewrite Duberman's history, spending many lines minimizing the trans aspect of Stonewall:  "I liked the mix of people," he said. "It was not… Read more.

RadFem Speak Out Against TERFs!

January 20, 2013 ·

So, who’s heard of Julie Burchill and her “censored” article? Coming to the defense of her maligned feminist friend, columnist and author Julie Burchill wrote an article about trans women. Apparently, her friend Suzanne Moore’s latest article contained a faux pas. In Burchill’s words: She wrote that, amongst other things, women were angry about “not having the ideal body shape – that of a Brazilian transsexual”. At best, this is simply a poorly constructed byproduct of the aged-out argument that idealized… Read more.

PLEASE! ‘Come For’ Us!

January 20, 2013 ·

There’s a laughably pathetic piece of nonsense making the rounds right now – emanating from one of the usual pits of transexterminationistic insanity.  I have no intention of linking to it, but this is the beginning of it: First they came for Janice Raymond and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t an academic. One doesn’t really need to be an expert on the Holocaust (or even Godwin’s Law for that matter) to see where its headed, but the supporting cast includes Mary… Read more.

They’ve Got Form (Part I)

January 19, 2013 ·

Regarding the recent brouhaha over Julie Burchill's recent article in the Observer, republished (and then taken down) on the Guardian website, and re-re-published at her request in the Telegraph, an article referring to Trans people as "Shims" and "She-males", "Dicks in chick's clothing" etc... The Guardian said it best, the last time this happened. Or rather, one of the last times - it happened again and again afterwards too. On January 31 the Guardian's Weekend magazine published the first of two articles by the… Read more.

Transwomen Are Fighting A Two-Front ‘War On Women’.

January 18, 2013 ·

Much attention has been focused on the 'War on Women', the anti-woman political policies the conservative movement and Republican politicians have been pushing for years and implementing once they gain political control of state legislatures. And yes, being that we are now estrogen based lifeforms, they affect trans women as well.. Girls like us have been fighting a two front war. Since the 1970's we've had to deal with the War on Transwomen whose reprehensible foot soldiers are radical feminists in addition to… Read more.

Trans Panic Violence and Defamation on SyFy Channel’s Lost Girl Goes Unanswered

January 17, 2013 ·

By Diana O’Brien 16 Jan 2013 The third season premiere of Lost Girl just demonstrated the well-worn path for advancing gay/lesbian/bisexual themes in the media. That path continues to be walking over the crushed public image of transgender people. Lost Girl has received a lot of attention for its sexually charged plot lines and positive portrayal of lesbian and bisexual female characters. Even GLAAD has taken notice of the show, promoting it in The GLAAD Wrap and What to Watch.… Read more.

Sounds Like a Threat to Me

January 17, 2013 ·

The problem is that the very imagery of what she’s referring to is so weird that I honestly can’t tell precisely what its a threat of. Guardian columnist Suzanne Moore has launched an outspoken attack on PinkNews after it published a story about the killing of a trans woman in Brazil. Linking to Wednesday’s story, Moore tweeted from her account @suzanne_moore Read this piece of shit and Pink News will hear from my lawyers in the morning I am back to sort this out and to… Read more.

Tipping Point On RadFem Transphobia?

January 17, 2013 ·

The British Transphobic Feminist Troika unleashed their hate speech upon the world last week probably thinking they would get pushback from the trans community they and their acolytes could spin and demonize them with until it quickly blow over. Not this time. This time it isn't just our British trans cousins who are pissed off about the transphobic scribblings.   They got reinforcements from various trans bloggers around the world and pushback from the surprising direction offeminists, allies and other justice minded folks tired of the… Read more.

The Observer Screws Up

January 16, 2013 ·

There are things one does not do in a national newspaper. One does not call Blacks "uppity ni**ers". One does not state as fact that Yids drink the blood of Christian children. And one does not publish articles like this one. Starting with a quote illustrating a complete lack of anything redolent of white feminist privilege "Sod that, we're having lobster and champagne at Frederick's and I'm paying," I told her. Half a bottle of Bolly later, she looked at me… Read more.

What Say You Now, Suzanne ‘Brazilian Transsexual’ Moore?

January 16, 2013 ·

After all, the Julie Birch Ill Society probably just cheers whenever a transsexual woman gets ‘cut out.’ From Pink News: It’s being reported that a transwoman has been shot dead in Brazil. According to the ‘Guerrilla Angel Report’ blog site, it is claimed the victim, named by the site as Cecilia Marahouse, worked as a performer and that the shooting took place near Fortaleza, north-eastern Brazil, on 11 January 2013. She is described as being a “well known” figure among the area’s LGBT community. Earlier this week, British journalist Suzanne… Read more.

Gender Orientation, Identity, and Expression

January 16, 2013 ·

I've witnessed many arguments and misunderstandings explode over the conflation of these THREE dimensions of what we in trans discourse collectively refer to as gender: Gender Orientation: One’s subjective experience of one’s body, including its sexed attributes. Gender Identity: Identity labels used when socially constructing sexed personas within the context of social groupings. Gender Expression: One's situational expression of cultural cues which communicate gender identity. Note that gender identity and expression are absolutely culturally influenced. However, even if you stick me on a deserted island, I am… Read more.

The Human Rights Campaign Just Needs More Education About Transphobia

December 9, 2012 ·

The Human Rights Campaign has a history of making moves that make it seem like it is becoming more and more trans aware/friendly/positive. After all, they hired Allyson Robinson: and they gave Lana Wachowski the HRC Visibility Award: So they're on our team, right? They're our allies? Apparently team trans hasn't "educated" HRC's e-mail Communications Coordinator, David Salisbury. Salisbury apparently thinks this is appropriate behavior for an HRC employee: Can you say institutionalized transphobia? Or maybe the Human Rights Campaign… Read more.

Exploiting The Transgender Dead: Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition’s Rent-A-Corpse Page

November 18, 2012 ·

I used to be outraged when the non-profit sector of the "LGBT" community tried to exploit the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), but after repeated attempts (1, 2, 3, 4) I have come to expect it. This year's attempt comes from the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition's (MTPC) TDOR page: You too can become a Boston TDOR sponsor. You can make MTPC's TDOR page look like a sponsored NASCAR vehicle! As I mentioned before, the intention behind the TDOR is best… Read more.

Bigots Unite! Deploying the Klan Fallacy in 3… 2… 1…

November 13, 2012 ·

It’s happened. TERFs and the people who DEFENDED Prop 8 have untied as one voice to proclaim that pre/non-op transwomen - as a group - are 1.) icky because 2.) they’re actually men, and therefore 3.) a danger to cisgender women. “Now, it’s a Right Wing Organization that is standing up for Women and Girls…” – Cathy “Sorry About Your Dick & I’m Not A Bigot” Brennan Yes, because that’s what right wing organizations do, Brennan. They… stand up for women… Read more.

I Get The Anger, But Hate Isn’t The Answer

October 27, 2012 ·

Over the last few days I've seen a lot of anger from the trans community over the Roseanne Barr controversy. I do understand the anger. We are often portrayed as being sexual deviants who just want access to women in bathrooms and showers.  I do understand the fear we live under, every single time we attempt to urinate. I get it. But  when you do something like this, in response to hatred: or this: or this: and especially this: and… Read more.

What Did Roseanne Say That Was So Transphobic?

October 27, 2012 ·

I heard that question asked over and over on Twitter last night after Roseanne Barr tweeted: Well, the short answer is, "where do I start?" Barr is speaking of is Colleen Francis. Francis was using the sauna in a women’s locker room inside the recreation center at Evergreen State College when a few girls from a local swim team complained. What do I find transphobic about Barr's statement? I've not seen ONE media… Read more.

Right Wing Throwing Transphobic Hatred at Rachel Maddow?

October 1, 2012 ·

What would you say if I told you that right-wingers on Facebook were throwing transphobic, misogynistic slurs around like this: "a nasty two cent slut ....h. mmmmmm" "Whoopie should have held her down and Joy could've bitch slapped her. Can't stand Maddow." "That horse faced wench needs to put a stopper in that pie hole." "... Maddow isn't a woman. It incubated, popped through someone else's chest and somehow learned to speak." "If she weren't so sadly skinny, I'd think… Read more.

Unity, NOT Uniformity!

August 3, 2012 ·

As you may know, most of the TS Separatist leaders have moved on with their lives and the ones who are left seem to be the Ashley Love/Just Jennifers of the world who regularly make absurd and demonstrably false claims.  I will continue to both confront and make evidence-based corrections when folks like Love attempt to pass off fiction as fact. Having said that, now that the historical record seems to have been set right on coinage myths, I can't say that I have any… Read more.

Ashley Love, Quit Colonizing Isis King!

July 5, 2012 ·

Isis recently modeled political shirts that read, “Legalize Gay” and “Gay is O.K.” and I know what you’re thinking… You’re thinking that it’s cool that an out transgender woman is able to support one of the many political causes she cares about. What would you think if I told you that your reaction is wrong; moreover, what if I told you that you’ve just helped oppress Isis and every transgender woman out there? Furthermore, what if I told you that the only… Read more.

‘Don’t Call Us, and We Won’t Call You’ – Law Enforcement and the Trans Community

June 18, 2012 ·

A couple of years ago, I attended a community forum in Denver that was set up so that trans people could meet with local police and discuss our community’s concerns. The police representatives present were from a newly formed “diversity”-type unit that was created to work specifically with marginalized communities, including LGBT communities, and to investigate possible hate crimes or crimes that appeared to specifically target members of these particular communities. The officers and detectives in attendance were friendly, attentive,… Read more.

Laura Jane Grace and Coming Out as Trans in the Public Eye

June 4, 2012 ·

So about once every year or two, somebody comes out as trans in a rather high profile way. Two years ago it was Chaz Bono. Before that there was Christine Daniels, Susan Stanton, and others before them. When this happens, I usually experience a mix of emotions. Lots of trans folks celebrate the visibility that comes with these high profile coming outs, and how it can humanize us in the eyes of the world. In my case, when I came… Read more.

Not Quite Another One…

May 29, 2012 ·

Girl is born looking like a Boy. She tries to be a Boy. Fails, but can fake it well. She has to to try to have some kind of normal life. Later, she finds out her body isn't as male as everyone (including her) thought. She's in-between, so can live as the woman she always was, without feeling like some kind of sex pervert. Her partner takes in her stride the fact that she married another girl, the person matters,… Read more.

Toby’s Act Reintroduced For Fourth Time

April 9, 2012 ·

I've been writing posts about NDP MPP Cheri Di Novo's attempts since 2007 to cover trans people's human rights in Ontario by adding gender identity and expression to the Ontario Human Rights Code via Toby's Act. It was named for Toby Dancer, a music producer and trans parishioner of DiNovo's who committed suicide a few years ago.  She has attempted three times to get this passed but it either has languished in the Ontario Legislature or has died due to… Read more.

McDonald’s Happy Meals and Asking the Right Question

April 2, 2012 ·

“Is the Happy Meal for a boy or a girl?” I had no idea that McDonald’s Happy Meals were gendered, but then I’ve never ordered one before this week. I’ve been suffering from a nasty bronchial thing, which I thought was improving but which then circled back on me. I still had to run some errands, though, and I was hungry, so I pulled into McD’s. I decided that, since I couldn’t taste anything anyway, a Happy Meal would be… Read more.

Feminism Must Be Led by Love, or Not At All

April 2, 2012 ·

Recently, I have experienced a round of attacks by some radical-identified feminists and lesbian feminists for my writings and transgender advocacy.  There is a long history of conflict between transgender/transsexual people, especially trans women, and radical feminists and lesbian feminists that dates back beginning in the 1970s.  The pinnacle of this battle was when lesbian feminist Janice Raymond published her notorious book The Transsexual Empire: The Making of the She-Male in 1979.  For nearly 15 years, Raymond’s anti-transsexual screed often… Read more.

I’m Calling it: the Death of the TS Separatist Movement

April 2, 2012 ·

I’m going to call it: the TS Separatist movement – as it has existed over the past 5 years – is dead. The foundational falsehoods upon which TS Separatism was built have been exposed and thus, destroyed.  Furthermore, in an ironic twist, it’s been shown that the guy HBSers (a subset of the TS Separatist group) named themselves after didn’t actually think one could transition from one sex to another. Practically all Separatist opinion leaders have moved on to (hopefully) do better things with their time and energy… and I wish them well!… Read more.

Berlin Authorities Endorse Forced Psychiatric Treatment of a Transsexual Girl

April 2, 2012 ·

A German child, who has been living as a girl since she started school nearly seven years ago, is to be committed to the Charité University hospital in Berlin – where she will be “cured” of her transsexualism by being encouraged to take up boyish pursuits. This follows a ruling by the Berlin Court of Appeal that Alex Kaminski (name changed) may be separated from her mother, with whom she now lives, and forcibly moved to a psychiatric ward in… Read more.

Thanks Again To All My Sistah Girls

March 28, 2012 ·

When I first began my transition back in 1994 I was concerned whether I'd be able to be the type of girlfriend I wanted to be and needed to be to the women cis and trans who eventually became part of my sistah circle. Don't know why I was concerned about that at the time, but after almost twenty years on this side of the gender fence, as many of you have told me during our conversations I shouldn't have… Read more.

Tracking Transgender: The Historical Truth

March 28, 2012 ·

Why and when did transsexual people begin calling themselves transgender? According to some internet memes transsexuals began self-identifying as transgender due to a vast global plot by crossdressers1,2 . According to this conspiracy, transsexuals by the millions were forced by the media3, through a cunning application of crossdresser colonization 4 to start using the term “transgender” sometime in the mid-1990s by a communist.5 In an ironic twist, the apparent solution to this imagined dilemma  is to invent a new term – or string of terms – which… Read more.

The Fallacy of ‘Cosmetic’ Surgery for Trans People

March 26, 2012 ·

A woman who was arrested last year for providing dangerous “butt enhancement” shots consisting of cement, caulk, tire sealant, and other toxic and troublesome substances is facing new charges as more victims come forward. I don’t know how many of this woman’s clients were trans, but I suspect that at least a few were. The fact that this underground business is thriving – and destroying women’s health and lives – is a testament to the problem of classifying transition surgeries… Read more.

Paging Dr Mengele

March 26, 2012 ·

I'm working on getting a good idiomatic English translation of Streit um elfjährige Transsexuelle: Alex soll in die Psychiatrie - taz.de But in summary..... A Nurse decides (probably on religious grounds) that transsexuality is due to parental upbringing, so the eleven year old child will be confined to a locked ward in a mental hospital - then, in the unlikely event she can pretend to be "cured", placed in a foster home, so her supportive mother will never see her… Read more.

Dear 15 Year Old Me…

March 12, 2012 ·

From Dear 15 year old me - how you can help. If you are a LGBT adult, write a letter to yourself, but write it to the person you were when you were 15 years old. If you could go back to the kid you were then, what would you say? What advice would you give for surviving this time? Dear 15 year old me I can do nothing for you, the 15 yr old girl that I was, silently… Read more.

Dear Dr. Zucker, We Are Not an Experiment

March 8, 2012 ·

After finally hearing Dr. Zucker’s comments on the CBC Radio show I participated in that aired this past Monday, I had to sit and reflect. Dr. Zucker referred to us (parents of gender diverse children and the children themselves) as a “social experiment”. That doesn’t feel right, at all. He also called us a social movement, and a culture that meets for conferences and such, but that didn’t grate on me the same way his reference to a “social experiment” does,… Read more.

Queerty Racism And Transphobia On Display Again

March 8, 2012 ·

There's no love lost between me and Queertyas many of you longtime readers are aware of.  I've written more than a few times about the failures Queerty regularly gets into when it comes to race and trans people.It seems this rainbow themed site never fails to take the low road when it concerns the way transpeople are covered, the transphobia that is unleashed in its comment threads, the racism it sinks to or with gleefully wallowing in white gay male… Read more.

God Does Not Love Trans People

March 8, 2012 ·

This guest Transadvocate post comes from Natalie Reed. Reed describes herself as "a magical young woman who lives in the mists and pines of Vancouver, British Columbia, where she fends off the oppressive gloom and darkness basking in the warm glow of her laptop, thinking things about stuff and writing stuff about the things." You can read more about her here. He doesn’t love anyone. He’s not there at all. I’m sorry. Lately there have been a number of posts… Read more.

Crowing Over Progress

March 6, 2012 ·

Well, TS Separatists have warned us for years that progress will never be seen under the rubric of the transgender borg. The time has come for me to admit that the Separatists were right about it all! I’m so ashamed! After all of this time and effort… we’ve changed nothing… nada. We’ve made no progress at all! They were right all along! Just kidding! The Separatists have been and continue to be proven wrong about just about every single meme they’ve hysterically pushed. The newest blow to… Read more.

Equality=Bathroom Bills=Rape: Reality Check

January 23, 2012 ·

Protections will allow men to dress as women “… in order to perpetrate crimes of homicide, rape, robbery assault…” Sound familiar? It sounds like the arguments of TS Separatism and Religious Fundamentalists, doesn’t it? Actually, this quote is 40 years old and comes from a pamphlet published by a religious fundamentalist group campaigning against the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). While this equality-for-the-sexes amendment was approved by the federal government, a fundamentalist  bathroom argument scared enough states into not ratifying the amendment so that it ultimately failed to become part of… Read more.

True, All-Person Experience

January 23, 2012 ·

My Brownie uniform “True, all-girl experience,” those were the words of the teen named Taylor who is part of a group trying to get people to boycott Girl Scout cookies because the Girl Scouts allowed a transgender child to belong to a troop as reported by CNN Living, on January 13, 2012. There’s so many things that I find bewildering… where to start? First, I think it’s bizarre that we have to segregate boys and girls in groups. I was… Read more.

Rupaul: Fuck You, You Silly F****t!

January 15, 2012 ·

Even though RuPaul Andre Charles is a drag performer who lives his off-stage life as a man, he seems to think he can speak for the transgender community. In an interview with Michelangelo Signorile, Rupaul said of Lance Bass (apologizing for using the word tranny): "It's ridiculous! It's ridiculous! I love the word "tranny" And I hate the fact that he's apologized. I wish he would have said, 'F-you, you tranny jerk!'" As Monica Roberts of Transgriot (and a contributor… Read more.

Aftermath of a Boycott: Moving the Discussion Forward on Trans Issues

January 10, 2012 ·

Today's guest post comes from Savannah Garmon. Garmon is a physics researcher and trans activist who presently lives in Toronto but calls Texas home.  She likes social justice, cats, beer, and runs her own blog at leftytgirl.wordpress.com. Most of us are familiar at this point with the events around the boycott declared on Xtra! by trans activists following editor Danny Glenwright’s unfortunate decision to post Lexi Tronic’s birth name on his Facebook wall, his initial refusal to remove it despite… Read more.

‘Work It’ Ain’t Working For The Puerto Rican Community Either

January 9, 2012 ·

  For those of you who have been keeping up with the latest news and views in the trans community as the 2k12 goes through week one of the 51 remaining in this year you are probably aware of the kerfluffle that has been building since May over the problematic show Work It. It has garnered protests, pleas from transpeople and our allies to either rewrite, recast or cancel the show with those requests being ignored by ABC and the… Read more.

More Separatist Crap

December 27, 2011 ·

I just read a sad little rant by a TS Separatist: “I see the T in lgbt as being a dumping zone, a miscelaneous, really in my view, the T is a junk drawer, an oubliette if you will. The T can stand for MEN who wear women’s clothes for reasons of sexual arousal, it can stand for gay MEN who wear women’s clothes for reasons of entertainment, it can stand for Men who are still sorting out why and… Read more.

Telegraph hatred for Trans folk?

December 14, 2011 ·

Today's guest post comes from Jane Fae. Fae is a free-lance journalist, writing about law and computer technology, privacy and censorship. She has been a regular contributor to The Register and The Guardian. She blogs at Jane Fae The UK’s Telegraph newspaper was today accused of displaying outright contempt for the trans community as well as a callous disregard for the feelings of relatives of deceased lawyer, Sonia Burgess, by deliberately going out of their way to misgender the victim.… Read more.

Transgender: Homelessness & HIV

December 2, 2011 ·

I know someone who was kicked out of her family’s home because she was trans. When she was on the streets, she went to the only place she knew would be welcoming to someone like herself: a gay bar. When she got there, a man let her know that she could stay the night at his place… if she agreed to have sex with him. Until that night, she had never had any sexual relationships… exchanging sex for housing would… Read more.

Neil Patrick Harris Sounds Like A Transphobe

December 2, 2011 ·

I was alerted to a transphobic statement from Neil Patrick Harris. Trans Femmergy posted Neil Patrick Harris:  I've never sounded more like a tranny in my life.  She said: Nope. But ya do sound just like lots of other trans misogynist gay guys that don't give two shits about the lives of trans women (Dan Savage and Don Lemon come to mind immediately). Check out the video link available here (I don't embed trans-haters). Great job, NPH. Thanks for using… Read more.

‘Mom, I Just Can’t Take the Crying’

December 1, 2011 ·

When my nephew was about four or five, his best friend was a little girl of the same age. My sister and the girl’s mother were friends, so the two kids grew up together. My nephew was and is a sensitive child in many ways. He has always shared his toys, stopped to help other kids on the playground who were in trouble, and worried about people around him who seemed upset. But one day, when his friend was in… Read more.

Revealing Family Secrets

November 28, 2011 ·

“Children should be seen and not heard.” How many times did I hear this when I was little? After a while I didn’t need it whispered into my ear anymore, I embodied it. I knew there were things I was never expected to say, at home or out in public, like they never happened. Off limits for good, like a dangerous abandoned mine. It made for an interesting supper time as my family sat around chatting. Never characterized as quiet… Read more.

Kelly Osbourne: I Support the Transgender Community

November 18, 2011 ·

Editor's note: The following guest post is from Kelly Osbourne. Osbourne is a television personality and musician. Osbourne and I discussed on Twitter about her use of the phrase "chick with a dick" and "tranny" in a public interview. With this post Kelly has proven she is a responsible ally to the transgender community. She made a mistake that was borne of ignorance, not malice. This post is will go far in healing that mistake. It will also serve to… Read more.

Standing in the Light

November 15, 2011 ·

“Oh,” was my mother’s response when I explained why we aren’t coming to Thanksgiving dinner at her house. “No one else will be here. Everyone else is going to another house,” she compromised. In her mind I’m sure she thought she was making it better, but to me it made the conversation a hundred times worse. She remained silent when I invited her to our house for the holiday. Translated everyone else means family that isn’t affirming, or accepting, of us.… Read more.

I Can’t Get Over Being Told to ‘Get Over It’

November 9, 2011 ·

It’s amazing what’s expected of us as trans people. We’re supposed to watch our trans sisters succumb to unspeakable brutality on a constant basis. We’re supposed to ignore the fact that we can be legally fired in thirty-eight states simply because we’re trans. We’re supposed to “understand” when we are denied admittance to public places or refused public restroom access based on our appearance or our paperwork. And we’re supposed to “get over it” when someone uses offensive language to… Read more.

Where Will You Be for the Transgender Day of Remembrance?

November 9, 2011 ·

In the past I’ve held a quiet, personal vigil at home on November 20th for the Transgender Day of Remembrance instead of attending any of the memorial events hosted in my city & around the world. The very thought was too soul-crushing really. When friends asked me to an event last November I couldn’t even vocalize what torment the thought of attending brought me. I felt like every name spoken could be my child, and I simply could not endure… Read more.

Introducing New Transadvocate Contributors: Matt Kailey and Jennifer Carr

November 8, 2011 ·

The list of The Transadvocate contributors is growing by two today! Please Welcome Matt Kailey and Jennifer Carr! Kailey is a transsexual man and an award-winning author, blogger, and community leader, as well as a nationally recognized speaker and trainer on transgender issues. He blogs at Tranifesto. You can learn more about him here. Jennifer Carr is a writer, blogger, public speaker and advocate for gender diverse individuals. She is also "proud mother of a child who knew she was… Read more.

Boom! Dan Savage Gets Glitterbombed

November 4, 2011 ·

There has been no love lost between Dan Savage and anyone in the rainbow community who is not a white gay male, TransGriot included. He is loved by them, but the rest of us see Savage as racist, sexist, transphobic, biphobic, abelist, misogynistic... Well, I could keep waxing poetic about Savage's many sins, but what shocked many of his fans was when he because the first person within the rainbow community to get glitterbombed Tuesday. While onstage at the University… Read more.

Kelly Osbourne, Angie Zapata, and Why Words Matter

November 2, 2011 ·

Yesterday I wrote a post about Kelly Osbourne's transphobic rant in the Glamour UK. There were many attacks on my character by the Kelly Osbourne Twitter Army, but one tweet questioned my use of Angie Zapata in criticizing Kelly. I told Osbourne that: @MissKellyO R U denying U used "chick w/ a dick" or tranny? Do U know how awful ths words R & how they dehumanize us to the point of death? The Transadvocate @MissKellyO and you should learn… Read more.

Kelly Osbourne’s Transphobic Rant: Humiliated by Chicks With Dicks and Trannys

November 1, 2011 ·

Recently the daughter of Ozzy Osbourne, Kelly Osbourne, opened up about her "humiliation": "Having to tell them (my parents) my fiance had cheated on me with a tranny who sold his/her story to the press (was the most uncomfortable moment). It was so humiliating. Everyone kept telling me that Luke was cheating on me, but I never believed them. It's hard enough to get your head around someone cheating on you, but when someone is a chick with a d**k?… Read more.

We Black Trans People Need To Know Our Black Trans History

November 1, 2011 ·

And I'm not just talking about our Black history, world history, or American history (although we need to be cognizant of that as well) but our Black trans history. One of the reasons this blog is named TransGriot is because I was tired of Black trans people being unaware of the Black people who walked in our trans shoes before we arrived on this planet to pick up where they left off.  I was tired of us not knowing who… Read more.

Enough of ‘softie’ bashing

October 12, 2011 ·

Today's guest post is from Marina Mahathir. Mahathir describes herself as  "a newspaper columnist, blogger, occasional TV and film producer, activist and general nuisance. She feels most comfortable amongst colourful characters and despite a great fondness for clothes and shoes, can't abide cocktail parties for the smart set. Most people know her by her constant talk about safe sex for HIV prevention but occasionally she also irritates some people by going on about feminism and Islam. She yearns for the… Read more.

Why A Trans Rights Bill Is Needed In Canada

September 30, 2011 ·

Liberal MP Dr.Hedy Fry and NDP MP Randall Peterson just introduced Bills C-276 and C-279 a few days ago in the Conservative majority dominated Parliament. Why did they do so?   Because it's clear that the Great White North and the trans people who live inside its borders need that human rights coverage. A blatant case of anti-trans discrimination has blown up and become international news centered on the Trail's End Farmers Market in London, ON. On September 10 Karen… Read more.

When Will I See Black Trans Characters Like Edie Stokes Again?

September 29, 2011 ·

Back in 1977, in the Jefferson's fourth season we were introduced to George's old Navy buddy who was in New York to visit for a few days.   George's buddy had a reputation in the Navy as a practical jokester and he was eager to see his old friend. However, there had been some major changes in the intervening years since George had seen his old buddy, and he was shocked to discover Edie's transition.   He handled their initial… Read more.

Houston Community College: Trans People Need Not Apply

September 21, 2011 ·

        Many of you will remember that Houston Community College (HCC) seemed to have attempted to cover up the anti-trans bashing of Lance Reyna, a female-to-male transgender student after he suffered an on-campus attack. On June 22, 2010 Reyna was washing his hands in the restroom when a man with a shaved head said in a mocking falsetto voice, “Hey queer!” and put a knife to his throat. Once Lance was on the ground, the attacker began… Read more.

Hold Dr. Keith Ablow Responsible… NOW!

September 20, 2011 ·

Note: Update 9/19/2011, here’s my ethics complaint letter against Dr. Ablow before I sent it off today:   By now, you are probably aware of the disgusting and shameful professional behavior of Dr. Keith Ablow, a pop psychiatrist employed by Fox News. Here’s a quick refresher: On September 2,  Dr. Keith Ablow, the Fox News psychiatrist, advised parents not to allow their children to see a transgender person on television because he feels that doing so might turn children into… Read more.

Washington DC Taking Step To Address Trans Job Issue

September 20, 2011 ·

According to the DC Trans Coalition,  the city has promised to help address on of the pressing problems in the local trans community in terms of unemployment. As the Injustice At Every Turn report painfully pointed out,  Black transpeople are facing unemployment rates as high as 26% almost double the African American employment rate. The program had a start date of September 12  and would start with an initial class of 20 participants.  The participants would spend the first three… Read more.

Truth Wins Out Radio: Ex-Transgender Radio

September 16, 2011 ·

Example of right-wing ex-trans site I find the response that I’ve had to this is really interesting. After folks like pop-psychologist (trained in criminal psychology and practices a Chris Angel-like therapy called “Street Therapy”) Dr. Keith Ablow was given an extraordinary platform via Fox News and tell parents that their children could catch transsexualism from watching Chaz Bono on dancing with the stars, I did a quick search to see what other organizations were saying about trans folk. So, I… Read more.

It’s Still Hell To Be Trans In Honduras

September 15, 2011 ·

I know we're concerned in the States about the spike in anti-trans violence happening here, but it pales in comparison to what's happening in Honduras. I wrote a post expressing my concerns back in May 2009 about how our Honduran transsisters were getting killed and their human rights were being abused in that nation and things for our transsisters there were still problematic as the New Year dawned. Human Rights Watch compiled a May 2009 report during that same period… Read more.

You Can’t Smash Patriarchy With Transphobia

September 15, 2011 ·

This guest post is from Ray Filar. Filar is a feminist writer, freelance journalist, and Gender Studies graduate student. Her work has been featured in various blogs and magazines, including Comment is free, Pink News, openDemocracy, The F Word, and Liberal Conspiracy. She writes a blog called Political Correctness Gone Mad. If you like outpourings of anger against gender fascism whittled down into digestible 140 character chunks, you could follow her twitter on @rayfilar. "One is not born, but rather… Read more.

Freaks and Perverts

September 15, 2011 ·

As a follow-up to the previous post, from Yahoo News: 'X' now a gender option in Australian passports - Yahoo! News The comments (nearly all from US readers) are instructive. Here's some of the more popular ones, those "upvoted". And the world draws closer to the end of times. Why is it the world bends over backwards for these broken people? Let them adjust to the mainstream. A tiny percentage of confused nutters shouldn't get to modify any aspects of… Read more.

Thai Army Ordered By Court To Halt Problematic Trans Classification

September 14, 2011 ·

I talked about this issue that Thai transpeople face when they are disqualified for military service by labeling them as mentally ill. There has been a lawsuit filed, activism centered on the issue and changes to that policy are being discussed in the 'Land of Smiles'. Because the birth records of Thai transwomen are not changed to reflect the persons they are now, after age 18 they are subject to being conscripted into the Thai military.  The Thai army routinely… Read more.

A “Transsexual Versus Transgender” Intervention*

September 8, 2011 ·

Over the last year or so, I have read a number of blog entries and Facebook rants about the so-called “transsexual versus transgender” issue. For those who are unaware of this debate, it stems from a subset of transsexuals who feel that the transsexual community is not served well by being included under the transgender umbrella (some even go so far as to insist that there is a mutually-exclusive dichotomy between transsexual and transgender people). Along similar lines, these transsexuals… Read more.

An Intro: “Transgender” During the 1990s

September 8, 2011 ·

For the past few months, I’ve made available a number of never-before-considered documents that reviewed the true roots of the word “transgender”. The Myth The term “transgender” was coined by a heterosexual crossdresser chauvinist who hated transsexual people, Virginia Prince. The term was explicitly created to refer to other heterosexual crossdressers like Prince. Therefore, if you refer to a transsexual person as being a “transgender” person, you are literally calling that transsexual person a crossdresser – which is offensive! Some… Read more.

A New Orleans Trans Evacuee’s Story

August 29, 2011 ·

Many people in the wake of Katrina's devastating landfall in the New Orleans area were evacuated to Houston and other places in the metro area. New Orleans also has a large cluster of transpeople who were also affected by 80% of the city being flooded in various ways.   Some of them found themselves transported out of the city as evacuees and spending time here in the Houston metro area. One of those evacuees was then 20 year old Sharli'e… Read more.

We Have a Dream

August 28, 2011 ·

Please note at writing, the planned dedication service for the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial has been postponed. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.… Read more.

ARE YOU A MAN OR A WOMAN?

August 28, 2011 ·

I have awoken multiple times from a nightmare hearing this phrase screamed at me over and over again.  Whether awake or asleep, it echoes over and over and over again through my brain.  It is like machine-gun fire, ricocheting through my body with unbelievable velocity.  It is a question that will probably follow me throughout my entire life.  Yesterday, I was walking out of the mall to go and catch the bus.  A group of people apparently had quite a… Read more.

Yo Don, We Need To Talk – Again

August 28, 2011 ·

I was parked in front of the TV like most of trans America watching Don Lemon's interview on The Joy Behar Show, and I spent most of it like Janet Mock and probably countless other people around the country mumbling WTF under my breath Here you had a panel that includes Harmony Santana, Isis King, Laverne Cox and Chaz Bono.  All are groundbreaking people with interesting storylines, and the best you can do in that air time is conduct a… Read more.

Clear Channel Eats Crow

August 27, 2011 ·

Here’s the text of the Clear Channel apology letter: We would like to apologize for remarks made on KTBZ that has caused distress to people in the Houston Transgender Community. We addressed the insensitivity of both content presented on air with our staff and the manner in which we responded to concerned members in the community. No offense was intended. Cristan, we want to thank you and members of your organization for reaching out and enlightening us to foster a… Read more.

We Need POC Trans Speakers At The 2011 TDOR’s

August 26, 2011 ·

I've had the honor of speaking at many types of events.   They range from Trans 101 panels to speaking about trans issues from an African American perspective in college classes to testifying in front of governmental committees on behalf of trans rights issues. But one of the things I'm most proud of is being asked to be a keynote speaker at three Transgender Day of Remembrance events. It happened for me twice (2002-2003) in Louisville and I was honored… Read more.

Radical Lesbian Separatism in LGBT Activism: Hyding in Plain Sight?

August 25, 2011 ·

I recently posted "Transphobic Radical Hate Didn't Start With Brennan: The Sandy Stone-Olivia Records Controversy" to point to the past of anti-trans radical feminist bigotry. Pointing out the past is important in building a unified future. You can't simply ignore people inside the "LGBT" community who foster hatred and fear against you. There are lesbian radical feminists in the community that wish to "challenge the practice of transgenderism". I don't wish to silence dialogue, but there's a certain line of… Read more.

Transphobic Radical Hate Didn’t Start With Brennan: The Sandy Stone-Olivia Records Controversy

August 24, 2011 ·

When Cathy Brennan recently published her transphobic missive to the UN at radfem Hub, it reminded me of a similar kind of radical feminist transphobic screeds from the past. In 1977 Sandy Stone was the focus of a controversy concerning her inclusion into the Olivia Records women's collective. The following letter, "Open Letter to Olivia" and Olivia's response were posted in "Sister: West Coast Feminist Newspaper" in the June-July edition of 1977. "Dear Olivia: We are writing concerning your decision… Read more.

Pumping-Beauty Now, Pay Dearly For It Later

August 20, 2011 ·

One of the issues I don't talk about enough is the prevalence of pumping amongst POC transwomen.   It's a subject that is guaranteed to start a vigorous discussion amongst us because the trans women who have resorted to it get defensive about pumping when we talk about the people who weren't so lucky. Talking about the risks of pumping is not by extension those of us broaching the subject  engaging in making moral judgments about their choice to do whatever they wish… Read more.

Keep On Hatin’ WWBT’s

August 15, 2011 ·

I see the WWBT's are still hatin. I just spent a lovely two days at a conference in which the participants were laughing at y'all.  They noted the outright hatred you WWBT's have for lil old award winning chocolate me with the blog that 'nobody' reads. Autumn Sandeen at Pam's House Blend just wrote a post that engages in piling on A.G.Casebeer.  Because of my now twelve year and continuing friendship with him, the WWBT's are trying and failing miserably… Read more.

Of Turd Polishing and Lies

August 14, 2011 ·

Today I found that I was the subject of another Dana Lane Taylor commentary. Dana is an opinion leader in the TS Separatist group and in this post she claims that I am trying to force her and those like her to give up identifying a transsexual women: Then there are the power struggles which seem to have ramped up a lot lately. Cristan Williams, Supreme Queen of Transgender Historical Records and better than anyone else on the interwebz, is… Read more.

Thank You Phyllis Frye

August 12, 2011 ·

Thirty-one years ago today, Judge Phyllis Frye – the first openly trans judge in Texas – was able to get the Houston crossdressing ordinance overturned: - Click to for detail - Thank you Phyllis for everything you’ve done… from pioneering the field of transgender law through ICLEPT to making it safer for trans folk to leave their homes! cross-posted from Ehipassiko Read more.

Trans Erasure and the Old Bailey

August 11, 2011 ·

Today's guest post is from Catherine Butler.  Butler is an academic and writer, living in Bristol, UK and blogs here. Trans erasure happens in all kinds of places, but it happens most to those who lack a voice: children, the poor and ill-educated, and the dead. A young child gets bullied at school for preferring dolls to football. Teachers can know nothing about the child's future sexuality. Nor can they know whether the child is trans. Maybe the child just… Read more.

Black Transpeople’s Burden -The NBJC Report On The NTDS Findings

August 10, 2011 ·

As I've talked about over the last five years on TransGriot, the way a gender transition is experienced for African descended transpeople is vastly different from the way our white counterparts do. The National Black Justice Coalition recently sent me a copy of the report they compiled based on the recently released National Transgender Discrimination Survey (NTDS). Of the 6,456 people who completed the survey that the data was based on, 381 of them were Black or Black multiracial. This… Read more.

The Oldest Trick In The Anti-Civil Rights Playbook

August 10, 2011 ·

While I'm amused at times about the hysteria being whipped up about transpeople and the bathrooms we relieve ourselves in, it is never too far from my mind as a transperson of color that the same arguments people are uttering now about us are the same ones that the Forces of Intolerance fighting to defend Jim Crow segregation were using to defend 'separate but equal' facilities back in the day. I'm more than a little sick of the arguments being… Read more.

Apology To Cathy

August 9, 2011 ·

You know what I'm upset about right now? The fact I even have to write this post in the first place.. As some of you know earlier Sunday morning I was in a chat with a longtime freind of mine that discussed the odious UN paper that seeks to bar trans rights coverage to transwomen. That friend had a negative interaction a few years ago with one of the authors of that paper that she never apologized for that spurred… Read more.

WWTGSKWaHD? (What Would Tolstoy, Gandhi, Sakharov, King, Walesa, and Havel Do?)

August 8, 2011 ·

I dread writing this post. Not because it is laborious, or texting on my personal resources, but because my sensibilities are afflicted by the subject matter. It is neither my desire nor intent to further inflame an already hot topic. There are plenty willing and so capable of stoking that fire. It is my only desire to offer a consideration, a course of action which may or may not resolve the matter, but it will define us as a community… Read more.

Transgender People Should be Barred from Restrooms

August 8, 2011 ·

I was recently made aware of a disgusting revival of some of the same Raymondiod fallacies that has been used against trans people since the 1970s. This time the TS Separatist, Dana Lane Taylor has, in a stunning display sycophantic credulity, hopped onto the Raymondism bandwagon saying: The sooner the transgender community acknowledges this issue, the better… As stated repeatedly in this communication, we abhor irrational discrimination against transgender and transsexual people.  However, we equally abhor the lack of concern… Read more.

What Are Y’all Gonna Do New York Trans Community?

June 27, 2011 ·

In the wake of the failure of GENDA to pass and become the law of New York state for the fourth time, there has been some justified anger and venting about the lack of support from the GL community on this issue. But the bottom line is that we trans people also have the ultimate responsibility of looking out for our damned selves just like the New York GL peeps did on the same sex marriage bill and pass the… Read more.

Flushing the Potty Panic

June 21, 2011 ·

In 1975, a very curious thing happened in an area of the country where one might not expect such a curious event to take place. The city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, became the first jurisdiction in history of the United States of America to pass an ordinance guaranteeing the equal protection under the law of the right of sex and/or gender variant people to live their lives free of discrimination by others based on their "having or being perceived as having… Read more.

Reparative Therapy for Trans Youth: Kenneth Zucker is Different from George Rekers How?

June 8, 2011 ·

Watching this recent CNN story on reparative therapy and the damage it did to George Reker's poster child (Kirk Andrew Murphy), I was struck by the similarity of this story and a child that NPR covered about childhood gender identity issues. "Bradley" was treated by Kenneth Zucker for gender identity disorder. Does this: "So, to treat Bradley, Zucker explained to Carol that she and her husband would have to radically change their parenting. Bradley would no longer be allowed to… Read more.

SEIU Political Director and Progressive Maryland Board Member Calls Trans People “Circus Freaks”

April 15, 2011 ·

I've seen vitriol spewed in my decade or so of transactivism, but it's usually spewed most venomously by the right wing. SEIU Political Director Mark McLaurin spewed this vitriolic chain of transphobic/mysogynistic/hateful comments on Dana Beyer's Facebook page concerning TransMaryland/TransUnited/Out of state supporters of fixing or killing HB235. "Ohhhhh so it wasn't spineless lawmakers who killed the bill but rather your uncannily strategic merry band of out of state circus freaks who, heretofore havent been able to organize anything more… Read more.

Do Not Blame Trans People For The Fact That, At Midnight, Maryland Will Have No Statewide Trans Protections

April 11, 2011 ·

The reason that the Maryland legal status quo of today is trans-free is not the fault of anyone who opposed HB235.  The Maryland legal status quo of today was created by the people who engineered a gay-only rights bill for themselves a decade ago. That's reality. The people who opposed HB235 for non-christofascist reasons were simply trying to keep things from getting worse. That's reality, because... This is indeed a sign of the times - those times being 2001. So what about… Read more.

Washington Post Gets in the Act of Being Scrivener for ‘Equality’ Maryland’s Trans-Othering Narrative of Deception

April 8, 2011 ·

According to an unsigned WaPo editorial, Maryland: passed a law banning discrimination against gay people a decade ago, but transgender individuals were dropped from the legislation. Since then, attempts to repair that have failed at least four times in Annapolis, even as other states extended legal protections. Now it’s time for Maryland to do the right thing for a beleaguered minority that’s been abused and ignored for too long. Which means that Maryland's senators should either amend HB235 to where it actually… Read more.

Sadly Not an April Fool’s Joke

April 1, 2011 ·

Over at PHB, Monica Roberts commented: When multiple civil rights attorneys tell me it won't do what EQ MD claims it will, the bill needs to die. Naturally, Laurelurleen Ramseyerogovitch chimed in afterward.  But, more interesting than any of the sock's puppeting (something about her trying to tell Monica that Monica was "missing the point"; memo to Monica: I'd consider that to be an endorsement) was this: In case your monitor's graphics aren't up to par, I'll repeat the, um...,… Read more.

Translation: Gay Marriage Greed Killed Trans Rights (Even a Diseased Version Thereof)

March 29, 2011 ·

From the Baltimore Sun: After the House of Delegates this weekend voted overwhelmingly to prohibit employer and housing discrimination for the transgendered, the bill crossed over to the Senate Monday where it landed in an unusual committee: Senate rules. ... Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller said that his chamber is engaged with the budget now and is unlikely to take up the bill. "When we are through with the budget we’ll have time to deal with other issues that… Read more.

Demanding That We Forget is Transphobia

March 28, 2011 ·

A comment by laughriotgirl on one of the threads at PHB wherein refusing to bend over and take gay transphobia is branded as homophobia: What bothers me Is that we are expected to just forget things happened That was in response to yet another attempt to exercise control over what trans people are allowed to remember in polite company: What has John Aravosis said recently that is offensive? If you can show me, I will bring it up with him.… Read more.

Exactly Ten Years Ago

March 26, 2011 ·

History that some who claim to be our allies expect us to forget: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, March 27, 2001 HRC CONGRATULATES MARYLAND SENATE FOR VOTING TO END LEGAL DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION Maryland is on the Verge of becoming Twelfth State to Ban Discrimination, Says HRC WASHINGTON - The Human Rights Campaign today congratulated the Maryland state Senate for voting to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation in housing, public accommodations and employment. The House is also expected… Read more.

The Continuing Con Artistry of Morgan Meneses-Pinochet and Free State (Still, Always and Forever) Just Us

March 25, 2011 ·

First, a word from Kelli Busey (one which, (1) I've made one slight grammatical correction to, and (2) even without correction in all likelihood, will be disappeared from Pam's House Blend because it is likely to bruise the sock ego of a certain decloaked puppet): This fight is killing the LGB and transgender community. On equality maryland's facebook page their own members, the ones who haven't been deleted or banned yet, are calling Sheets out for the crushing oppression of the transgender… Read more.

If its an Effort to Undermine Trans Progress, You Can Bet There’s a Gay Marylander Behind it

March 25, 2011 ·

And so, apparently HB 235, the Maryland trans bill that no trans people who actually need the practical protections of civil rights law actually want, has been ramrodded through the House Health Government and Operations Committee with amendments. And yet... The people in Maryland who will be permanently othered by the bill - not to mention the people in other states who will be othered by the doubtlessly-already-planned carbon copies of this monstrosity - cannot actually access the live language… Read more.

Further Trans-Marginalization on the Move in Delaware

March 24, 2011 ·

From the Rhode Island Avenue Cesspool: Yesterday, at a press conference on the steps of Legislative Hall in Dover, primary sponsors Senator David Sokola and Representative Melanie George introduced a comprehensive civil unions bill to great fanfare. Speaking impassionedly, they explained that now is the time for state law to catch up with the reality of people’s daily lives. The bill, SB 30, would provide all of the rights, benefits, and obligations of marriage to same-sex couples, but would not… Read more.

How?

March 24, 2011 ·

Considering that, yesterday, a subcommittee vote was taken - at which amendments to the already-anti-trans HB 235 were adopted - and allegedly a vote of the full committee is on tap for today and then a floor ramrod vote tomorrow, how is it... ...that this is all the information that the Maryland Legislature's website has to offer the people who will be othered by this latest act of transphobic gay greed in Maryland? Read more.

The Real Name of the Real Game: Ten Years Ago

March 13, 2011 ·

Just to make it clear: I recognize no statute of limitations when it comes to gay participation in the creation of third-class status for trans people.  I don't use the word "culmination" if it involves something where there is anything that I feel that there is left to do. In 2001, Maryland gays got everything that they were wanting to get out of the Maryland Legislature in 2001.  The only 'compromise' they made involved the lives of people other than… Read more.

Many Travesties Verified Just Today

March 9, 2011 ·

We are approaching the 35th anniversary of a momentous court decision.  In honor of that anniversary, I thought I'd post for your reading pleasure and intellectual nourishment: M.T., PLAINTIFF-RESPONDENT, v. J.T., DEFENDANT-APPELLANT Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division 355 A.2d 204 October 14, 1975, Submitted March 22, 1976, Decided Mr. Charles L. Bertini, attorney for appellant. Mr. Joseph S. Conte, attorney for respondent. Opinion by: Handler This appeal presents the portentous problem of how to tell the sex of… Read more.

Gay Media: Maryland Trans Community, Love The Crumbs We Give You

March 4, 2011 ·

As much as trans people seem to want to believe it, gay (GayINC) media is not their friend/advocate/ally. Tom Lang, of Know Thy Neighbor said: It seems that the hard work of transgender and transsexual activists inside and outside of Maryland are getting some movement regarding the discriminatory Maryland Bill HB235. But how are our friends over at the "lgbtq community news source", the Washington Blade, covering the story? They posted ‘Political reality’ forces changes to Md. trans bill.  They… Read more.

Shit-Shovelling Shills and Their Same Old Shams, Scams and Swill: New Faces, No Changes

February 28, 2011 ·

Take a look at this guy: Based on the teeth-gritting, is he: Unable to shake off a badger that's gnawing his foot off? Unable to shake off a badger that's gnawing his testicles off? Unable to take a piss? Unable to take a shit? Unable to believe the shit he's shoveling? Hopefully for his physical well-being it is (5), but that, then, would only beg the question of why he's shovelling it to begin with.  Oh wait...I bet you can guess why: Some… Read more.

Too Exposed to Expose?

February 27, 2011 ·

So... Why did I re-run that 12 1/2-year-old piece about Judge Frye and her dogs over at ENDABlog?  Because of this: Ramseyer wasn't using internet anonymity in order to be mean. Its connection to my 1998 Frye piece will become a bit more apparent below, but that line appeared in a Feb. 22-dated piece of santorum, in The Stranger (ironic given the origin of the noun "santorum"?  not really, but more on that below), and it came from a scrivener of Laurel Ramseyer, a… Read more.

HRC North North

February 23, 2011 ·

Gay, Inc.-Delaware needs some trans Egyptians: Equality Delaware by Chris Beagle in Letters from CAMP Rehoboth (2/4/2011)The Next Critical StepJuly 2, 2009 was a historic day for LGBT Delawareans. After 11 challenging and hard-fought years, Governor Jack Markell signed SB 121 into law, adding “sexual orientation” to the state’s list of prohibited acts of discrimination. Well, technically this isn't a lie.  That day was simply historic for trans people for a different reason than it was for LGBs.  If you're reading ENDABlog, you… Read more.

The GayInc Muzzle on Maryland

February 22, 2011 ·

Transgender blogs (here, here, here, here, here, here, here and that's not counting the numerous blogs by Katrina Rose here and on ENDAblog)  have been buzzing over the lack of public accommodation protections in Maryland's HB235. The head of TransMaryland,  Jenna Fischetti, wrote this post saying: "House Bill 235's introduction and language came as a shock to the majority of the transgender community because its lack of protection in respect to not only previous bills, or currently enacted laws in both Montgomery County… Read more.

If Its a Gay, Inc. Explanation About Anything Related to Trans Law, Its Bullshit

February 19, 2011 ·

Tom Lang (definitely not pictured above) lays out the context in what anti-trans bill-monger Cathy Brennan viewed (views?) as the northern counties of Maryland: Here We Are In February of 2011 And The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Which Was the First in the Nation to Legalize Same Gender Marriage, Which Defeated Attempts to Take Away These Marriage Rights Through a Ballot Initiative Process and Which Has an Attorney General Who is Suing the United States to End DOMA on Behalf of… Read more.

How the Disease of St. Barney’s Dance Has Dumbed-Down Anti-Discrimination Discourse

February 18, 2011 ·

From Facebook: Now, Tom is just pointing to a stealth-obnoxious piece in the Boston Herald about Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick's recent trans executive order. The fact that its author, Hillary Chabot, saw fit to allow this spin gem says plenty: “If this indeed is a bathroom bill, if it is there’s no doubt that it will impact the public schools,” said Kris Mineau, a longtime opponent of the bill. Except, of course, that it is a state-level executive order. State-level… Read more.

You Tell Me What The (Only) Real Agenda Is, Pts. 1 and 2

February 18, 2011 ·

Seen on the front page of Queer Channel Media a wee bit after midnight on Friday, Feb. 18: Got to have the gender-bending gay choreographer, eh? But substantive, contextual discussion of what the usual gay suspects are trying to get away with in Maryland....? Where is that in Gay, Inc., 'news'papers? Where is… Read more.

Come to Think of it, I’ve Never Seen Morgan Meneses-Sheets and Cathy Brennan in the Same Room at the Same Time

February 17, 2011 ·

Good news: The person that Free State Just Us was trying to turn into a Trans Jemima for the nefarious purpose of creating a public perception of having an understanding of the reality of trans people's lives, has realized that she was being used. Sandy Rawls the director of Trans-United announced on her facebook profile that her group has withdrawn its support of Equality Maryland's transgender 'equality' bill minus public accommodations. Brava! Now, of course, comes what everyone with years… Read more.

Why No ENDA? The Scary Trans Frank’en Penis!

February 15, 2011 ·

There's a meme going around the GLBT leadership out in the media right now that goes something like this: "Democrats wouldn't pass ENDA even when we had the votes and no one knows why." And what do our transgender leaders say about this troubling question? Dana Beyer  blamed it on the  "national LBGT leadership": "This was strange, since after talking to then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) a number of colleagues said she was perplexed as to why the national LGBT leadership had abandoned… Read more.

Has Marriage Derangement Syndrome Genetically Altered Gays and Lesbians to the Point Where All They Can Do is Lie and Deceive?

February 14, 2011 ·

If the actions of gays and lesbians surrounding screwing trans people out of their civil rights and then re-writing/ignoring the history of their role in creating third-class status for trans people were the only criterion for making such a determination, sadly then, the answer would be in the affirmative - and irrebuttable. Take, for instance, gay marriage. I could just leave it there and it would still be virtually irrebuttable. But, even though Marriage Derangement Syndrome is at the heart of… Read more.

In All Seriousness Becky, Why Did You Think For One Second It Would Be Any Different?

February 9, 2011 ·

Rebecca Juro went to the circle jerk for the obscenely rich, out of touch gay oppressor class of New York (billed in some circles as NYC's HRC gala): While waiting for the introductions to begin, I spent some time checking out the crowd. The first thing I immediately noticed was that unless there was someone who I hadn't seen or was so passable as to be completely undetectable, I was the sole transperson there. This was at least partially confirmed… Read more.

All’s Sans Daylight on the Exterminationist Frontier

February 6, 2011 ·

One Sunday morning reading selection: The term Transgender is an umbrella term coined by transgender activists to describe the following individuals: heterosexual cross-dressers; homosexual transvestites or drag queens; and transsexuals (individuals undergoing so-called sex change operations) and she-males. Some of these individuals live their lives as she-males with both female and male sexual characteristics. These are deeply troubled individuals who need professional help, not societal approval or affirmation. And another Sunday morning reading selection: If we listen to transgender people… Read more.

Can New York Gays Put Trans Needs Ahead of Gay Wants?

February 5, 2011 ·

I'm not holding my breath. Andrew Cuomo, New York’s new Democratic governor, has repeatedly emphasized that he “want to be the governor who signs the law that makes marriage equality a reality,” saying in his January 5 inaugural speech, “We believe in justice for all, then let’s pass marriage equality this year once and for all.” To be sure, State Senate Republicans voted 30-0 against out gay Manhattan Democrat Tom Duane’s equal civil marriage bill in December 2009, but Long… Read more.

Evan Wolfson: LGB or T and Single? Drop Dead!

February 1, 2011 ·

Mr. Gay-Marriage-And-Nothing-Else-But-Gay-Marriage doubtlessly try to spin away from that characterization of a HuffPo piece, but if you're single and/or trans and/or LGB or T and currently living somewhere that doesn't provide access to the legal system for LGBTs to combat employment discrimination, that's what he's telling you. Time for Government to Show All Families Deserve Protection Individuals? You're on your own. "DOMA" harms married same-sex couples by withholding from them the more than one thousand federal responsibilities and protections of marriage… Read more.

GayINC 101: a Tutorial

January 30, 2011 ·

Wondering if you're part of GayINC? Some recent comments by GayInc bloggers have asked/mocked/been incensed by people asking that question: Most entertaining PHB rumor out there: that we are all tools of Gay Inc. We're still waiting for our raises from $0 to $0...plus generous D&G gift cards...." - Pam Spaulding "If you only knew how laughable it is to call me "Gay Inc." - Jeremy Hooper GayINC stands for Gay incorporated. "Gay rights" organizations like the Human Rights Campaign, National… Read more.

So…The Marriage Derangement Syndrome-Oids Don’t Have To Take Responsibility For Anything?

January 27, 2011 ·

From Joe at The John's site: Opponents of same-sex marriage have created a three-pronged effort that insures the issue will be a key topic in the Presidential election. There are efforts underway by Republicans legislators in Iowa, the first caucus state, and New Hampshire, the first primary state, to end their existing marriage laws. In Iowa, the GOP-controlled House has begun the process of passing a bill to put a ban on the ballot. In New Hampshire, both the House… Read more.

‘Old Line’ Indeed

January 22, 2011 ·

From 'LGBTQ Nation': Maryland lawmakers are making good on their promise to introduce marriage equality bills in the state legislature this year, and advocates are optimistic that Maryland will soon become the sixth state to legalize same-sex unions.In a symbolic move that underscores the momentum building in the “Old Line” State, majority leaders in both chambers will act as lead sponsors of the bills, with the first such bill introduced in the state Senate on Friday. Ohh... I know an… Read more.

The Reality That Dares Not Speak Its Name in Gay Blog Land

January 18, 2011 ·

Facts matter. Here is a timeline that apparently cannot be spoken of in Gay Blog Land. “jpmassar” posted the item New Hampshire to LGBTs: Happy New Year! Now Die. In the view of myself, Kathleen and some others, the post mischaracterized the legal position of trans people in New Hampshire. I took issue with it on that PHB thread - more vocally than any of the others.  Kathleen occasionally chimed in as well. “Lurleen,” and others, took issue with my interpretation of… Read more.

Super Secret Lesbian Barista At Pam’s House Blend and The Trans Lunch Counter Sit-in

January 15, 2011 ·

Kathleen, a transwoman and commenter on Pam's House Blend (PHB), asked a very compelling question: "It's hard to justify pushing for national orgs to focus all their resources on marriage & no such push for basic employment rights in the same state." She was referencing states like Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, Hawaii, Maryland, Delaware, and New York that have basic employment protections for gays and lesbians but do not protect transgender people. With that in mind, Kathleen's questioning of a… Read more.

After The Personal Wars: What’s Next In The Fight For Transequality?

January 14, 2011 ·

Given the current political climate it looks as if the Employment Non-discrimination Act (ENDA) is dead for at least the next couple of years. What should we do? We need to look at the example of Haverford. From Philadelphia Gay News: "Haverford is on its way to becoming the 19th jurisdiction in the state to ban LGBT discrimination, as the township commission voted 5-3, with one abstention, at its Jan. 10 meeting to adopt a measure that prohibits discrimination based… Read more.

Senator Casey Asks Social Security Administration to Provide Gender Change Publication

January 10, 2011 ·

Today Senator Bob Casey asked the Social Security Adminstration to create a publication for gender change: Dear Commissioner Astrue: Thank you for your continued leadership of the Social Security Administration (SSA) and demonstrated commitment to improve SSA'S service to the public. l commend your agency for the website's recognition by the American Customer Satisfaction Index and your maintenance of over 50 informational publications available to the public I write today today to request your attention to a gap in Social… Read more.

Gay Agendas and The Trans-Sisters of Perpetual Adoration

January 4, 2011 ·

When I heard that "Kathleen" over at Pam's House Blend was banned for allegedly outing an anonymous blogger that just happened to be affiliated with GayINC, I was shocked... for all of about thirty seconds.  As someone that's been inside the belly of the "GLBT blogger beast", I can tell you that there is a coordinated message that is put out by GayINC that is generally followed by the bloggers that are "in the know." As with traditional media these days, access… Read more.

DEAR STONEWALL, PLEASE STOP EXPLOITING OUR DEAD!

November 18, 2010 ·

I'm pissed. Every year I write this post. EVERY SINGLE GODDAMN YEAR. You just can't help but feed off the dead. You did it in 2007, in 2008, and 2009, and you're doing it again this year. What am I talking about? Every year I do a post about a group that is either exploiting or misusing the Transgender Day of Remembrance.  Today after reading Gwen Smith's  "Dancing on Graves" on the subject, I get this in my email: Today… Read more.

History Theft: How Gay and Lesbian Historians Appropriate Trans History

October 9, 2010 ·

As far back as we have history of transgender people, we have appropriation (a nice word for theft) of our history by gays and lesbians. I wrote a post about Albert Cashier, who was a veteran of the Civil War and lived as Albert most of his life. His identity stayed intact for most of his life. Only until he was admitted to Watertown State Hospital was it widely known that Cashier was born female. When he was forced to… Read more.

Hiring Teh Trans

June 24, 2010 ·

Todays guest blogger is Michelle Diane Rose. Michelle is a communications student and the co-author of The Color of Sunlight. She lives in Portland, Oregon and works for a non-profit. (I dunno why I've taken to using "teh" instead of "the". A sneer seems to be creeping in from offstage somewhere and I'm thinking it's indicative of something but I dunno what, yet.) Would you hire a tranny? C'mon, this is Oregon, a blue State through and through, right? We… Read more.

When Ticked Off Gay Men Attack: Misogyny As A Knife

March 29, 2010 ·

Last week when I posted Tribeca Film Festival Promotes Exploitation of Transgender People, I never thought that the call to action would cause controversy within the GLBT community. As gudbuytjane said about the movie on her blog: I felt sick. I have seen the lives and even the deaths of trans people appropriated by cis LGB culture before, but I didn’t think anyone would be so crass as to describe in lurid detail the deaths of two trans people (ironic… Read more.

Tribeca Film Festival Promotes Exploitation of Transgender People

March 22, 2010 ·

The Tribeca Film festival has announced it's 2010 lineup of films and "Ticked-Off Trannies With Knives" is among them. "When a group of transgender women are violently beaten and left for dead, the violated vixens turn deadly divas in this hilariously campy homage to the exploitation films of the '70s and '80s ("Transploitation," anyone?). Loaded with bodacious bods and extreme violence, this revenge fantasy proves that it takes more than balls to get even." And guess what, it's billed as… Read more.

Genital Checking, Bad ENDA Language, and NCTE Lobby Days

March 10, 2010 ·

Recently  I did an  interview with Ethan St. Pierre of Transfm.org. You can listen to here: We discussed a post at the Bay Area Reporter titled "Leaders: ENDA will get House vote this month", specifically comments from the executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE), Mara Keisling. Even as NCTE gears up for it's  "Lobby Day 2010", Keisling said of the changes to the ENDA language concerning transgender people: "it might be harmless or it might be… Read more.

Transphobia? Only On CBS

February 12, 2010 ·

First they aired a tranphobic episode of The New Adventures Of Old Christine, then CBS News decided to ditch the accepted guidelines of the AP Stylebook to write this ugly little post, and now this: CBS was recently criticized for airing an anti-abortion ad during the Super Bowl while refusing to sell ad time to a gay dating site.  CBS's repeated promotion of ugly stereotypes of transgender people show an obvious disregard for our community. When GLAAD gave the The… Read more.

Dr. Jillian T. Weiss Soon To Join Other Transgender Activists In The Wilderness

February 10, 2010 ·

That's my opinion on where the good doctor is headed. In a recent post at Bilerico.com she said: "The incredibly unflappable Signorile asked about the failure of Congress to move on ENDA and DADT, and the President's failure to lead. Frank's angry response was that the LGBT community has failed to lobby Congress. He characterized our community as "lazy" and "whining". He said "that is why we will lose" on ENDA and DADT. It was obvious he was more interested… Read more.

Gay Mafia Wars: ENDA and the Politics of Personal Destruction

December 10, 2009 ·

As I write this, I  feel as if I've been transported back in time to May of 2007. The National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC) had just had a successful lobby days event and I reported back that the talk on the Hill during  Lobby Days was that we were being written out of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Mara Keisling said then that: "Rumors that a non-inclusive ENDA will be introduced in the Senate are unequivocally only rumors that seem to… Read more.

The White Gay Mafia Wants Marriage, Not ENDA

December 8, 2009 ·

I read the post by Adam Bink, "Misdirected Anger Over ENDA" and I have to say I'm pretty damn appalled. His first contention: "I reject blame placed upon people who choose to focus on an issue and pound on it. In the first place is prioritization. By my own estimate, probably 80% of my posts and online organizing in the past three months have related to marriage equality. I focused on marriage in the Corzine race, Maine, New York State,… Read more.

Racism, Congressional Hearings, and GLBT Politics: Stop Excluding African Americans

November 3, 2009 ·

On November 5th, 2009,  the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee will hold hearings on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). The hearings will take place in a city where over half of its citizens are African American. According to the Washington D.C. Transgender Needs Assessment Survey performed in 2000, only 58 percent of transgender respondents in Washington D.C. were employed, 29% reported no annual source of income, 31% reported that their annual income was under $10,000, and 15% reported… Read more.

Media Using Children For Profit: Gender Change, Not Sex Change Kids

October 20, 2009 ·

Every time I see a story about "USA: 8-year-old child sex change",  "8-year-old boy has 'sex change', or Boy, 8, has ’sex change’, that is Unbelievable!,  it sickens me. Not because of the children, but because of the media. These children are transgender, not transsexual. They are simply being allowed to self  identify, without any surgery or hormones. Trans-children won't need hormones blockers until the onset of puberty (which happens in a range from 10-18 years old), and generally don't… Read more.

Am I A Woman Born Transsexual?: The Politics of Trans-Identities

September 16, 2009 ·

The intersection of internet wars sometimes brings interesting observations to mind, and today one such intersection really spoke to me. Recently Jasper over at Jasper's wardrobe has made some pretty controversial things about gender and transwomen. From "just your average straight white guy with a cunt": "I do not recognize any claims to the truth of a gender. All genders are constructed. From this standpoint I see hormones and SRS as body modifications. That is great. Tattoos piercings and hormones.… Read more.

Filmmaker Kevin Smith Loves Brazilian Transsexuals!

September 4, 2009 ·

At least that's the comment he made on Twitter: Are you Brazillian (sp)? I'm only into Brazillian (sp) Trannies. Pre-op. As I've stated before, I think celebrities that make these kind of jokes will reap what they sow in comments around the internet. Celebrity sites will report what the star joked about in jest as a fact, not as humor. Lady Gaga is the perfect example of this (from The Sun): "She also said in a recent web blog: 'I… Read more.

Frank Leaps Transgender Lobbyists in Single Bound

September 1, 2009 ·

Am I the only one who is a bit puzzled/miffed/baffled by Barney Frank's insinuation in this exchange: There is another difference from 2007. Frank now has a policy adviser who is a female-to-male transsexual. Diego Sanchez is the first transgender person hired for a senior congressional staff position on Capitol Hill. Sanchez has done extensive face-to-face lobbying for ENDA, and Frank says that's enabled some members of Congress to get to know a transsexual for the first time. "He interacts… Read more.

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly?

August 27, 2009 ·

I spend a lot of time here at The Transadvocate posting various news articles from around the web through a plugin that pulls tweets from the Transadvocate Twitter page. Recently Stephanie Stevens from Abnormal Heights and Transgender News Yahoo group started tweeting transgender news on Twitter as well.  This morning she posted the following tweet: In California, a transwoman led police on a 100 mph chase in stolen vehicle. http://bit.ly/DAr00 In response to that tweet, I asked: @TransNewsGirl how is… Read more.

Conan O’brien Mocks Transsexuals For Easy Laughs

August 14, 2009 ·

As if transsexuals needed any help being stigmatized, Conan O'Brien did his part  to further negative stereotypes with a comedy sketch portraying transsexauls as mustached strippers. To make matters worse  the liberal leaning website, Huffington Post, promoted the video on its site.  Just another example of how transphobia isn't a left/right thing. Read more.

Megan Fox is a Transsexual! Lady Gaga is a Hermaphrodite! Daniel Radcliffe is a Tranny Chaser!

July 15, 2009 ·

In my search of twitter for transgender/transsexual content for the Transadvocate on Twitter, the tweet: "ZOMG Megan Fox is a transsexual!" comes up repeatedly. The genesis of this meme is from Megan Fox herself: I am pretty sure I am a doppelganger for Alan Alda. I'm a tranny. I'm a man. I'm so painfully insecure. I'm on the verge of vomiting now. I am so horrified that I am here, and embarrassed. I'm scared. Another celebrity rumor suggests that Lady GaGa… Read more.

A Strange Brew – Pam’s House Blend Now Serving: Privilege

June 30, 2009 ·

There's been a controversy brewing over at Pam's House Blend, and the flavor of the day is privileged. It all started with the post "Jumping Into The Deep End Of The Language Pool", then "Aravosis Needs To Issue His Own Apology To Trans People Before Citing TGs Regarding Fed LGBT Issues", and continued with "Enough Already". You can read it all yourself but the bottom line is this, if you dare cite white gay male privilege, you're not welcome to… Read more.

ENDA Bill Introduced… Last Week?

June 24, 2009 ·

Today at 1pm today (6-24-09) Barney Frank is set to officially introduce the HR 2981, The Employment Non-Discrimination Act. This week, Congressman Barney Frank will introduce the Employee Non-Discrimination Act.  The legislation would extend federal employment laws, which currently prevent job discrimination on the basis of race, religion, gender, national origin, age, and disability, to also cover sexual orientation and gender identity.  The bill covers both the public and private sectors. Although some states have passed laws to prevent such… Read more.

The Big Shitty Lie: Transgender Trouble and Toilets

June 16, 2009 ·

On twitter yesterday, Kyle Pratt of Ruminations Blog posted this: 'Bathroom bill' foes rally in Mass.: http://digg.com/d1tt6Z?t More problems with "transgender" guys and restrooms. Of which I responded with: Can you name one person that's been a victim of a sex crime by transgender person in a bathroom? Lying to scare people is pathetic. he responded by saying: I don’t think I scared anyone, it wasn’t a lie--it is a warning. There 's no reason a man should go into… Read more.

ENDA And Hate Crimes Go To The Back Of The Bus

June 8, 2009 ·

Last Thursday Jason Bellini of the Daily Beast reported that  the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) had made a deal with the Obama Administration to delay repealing the Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) policy in an effort to focus on the federal hate crimes bill and Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). I thought it sounded too good to be true. For a minute I was almost proud of them for doing the right thing! On twitter Jburroway, of Box Turtle Bulletin, asks… Read more.

No Match, No Job, No Surgery

June 2, 2009 ·

Maybe it was my naiveté, but I always thought when I got my documentation changed, I transitioned, and was passable, that I'd be able to live the nice normal life I did before transition. It hasn't quite worked out that way. Recently I was interviewed a few times and offered a job... and then I got that dreaded call. "Marti, we were doing our normal background check and we have a problem. We keep getting a rejection with your gender."… Read more.

Hate Crime Blood Lust

April 20, 2009 ·

To those that use Angie Zapata's death as a way to "raise" your profile by covering the trial, shame on you. I have to agree with Brielle over at Women In Love. "Anyone who presents a rational ideology to empower the lgbt as a whole is basically ignored. People want blood. It’s the only thing that really draws their attention. We want liberation! we want free speech! (Please coat with blood first though, thanks)The dozens of sites that routinely re-post… Read more.

My Dead Feminist Heart

April 15, 2009 ·

Reading Nexy's blog, I found out about a post over at Feministing and the boycott that's being called by some in the transgender community. The title of the post is "Men in Women's Bathrooms, Is Your State Next?" I don't believe the post itself was bad. The original post author, Miriam, asked in the last paragraph: "Here's the thing that always gets me about the bathroom debate: The idea that laws governing a space which by nature is unpoliced, unregulated… Read more.

Transsexuals Not Covered In Hate Crimes Bill

April 6, 2009 ·

Back on Feburary 25, 2009 Kathy Padilla wrote a post over at Pam's House Blend titled "Hate Crimes & ENDA: Bad Bills Come and Bad Bills Go". When it came out I really thought it would be one of those explosive posts that rocked the community down to the bone. She said: "The new definitions can generally be said to cover gender expression but not gender identity. Which in the real world would present the likelihood that gender variant gay,… Read more.

ENDA and The Gay Media Cabal

March 30, 2009 ·

According the Washington Blade, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) approved a policy statement that"the group will not support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA, if it excludes language protecting persons from discrimination." The Advocate followed suit with: "The Human Rights Campaign adopted a policy statement on Wednesday that says the group will not support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act if it excludes protections for transgender individuals. The statement was approved by the HRC board of directors in Washington, D.C. 'It’s the… Read more.

The Great Transsexual Radical Feminist Menace

March 24, 2009 ·

"I don't give a shit whether or not they [MTF transsexuals) want to chop themselves up. I don't give a shit if they want to wear dresses. That doesn't make them female. It doesn't mean their issues and concerns are female issues and concerns. So long as female issues and concerns are subsumed to and absorbed by male interests (as they are when male people call themselves and are accepted as female), women will never socially realize our full humanity AS FEMALE PEOPLE." Read more.

You Don’t Know Jack or Barack

December 18, 2008 ·

Last month the Advocate ran an article titled "Gay Is The New Black?: The Last Great Civil Rights Struggle". Today Joe Solmonese and other gay rights advocates have expressed outrage at the choice of Pastor Rick Warren. But not every GLBT person agrees. I count myself as one of those voices. I defended Barack Obama feverishly when the whole Donnie McClurkin thing came down because I understood what he was trying to do. He's never claimed to be a liberal,… Read more.

The Gingrich That Stole Christmas

December 9, 2008 ·

There's a recurrent story that is going through the gossip circles during the Christmas season in trannyland. It goes like this: Barney Frank and the Human Rights Campaign really got their clocks cleaned by the United ENDA controversy, and now that they've really learned their lesson! Good ole' St. Frank and the HRC's equality elves will surprise everyone and come on board by supporting a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and opposing any version that doesn't include everyone. There's only one problem with that dream/fantasy/rumor... it ain't true! Read more.

The Irresistible Temptation:Exploiting Our Dead

October 9, 2008 ·

Last year I wrote Photo Ops, Donations, And The Selling of Our Dead, when the Human Rights Campaign tried to hijack the Washington D.C. Transgender Day of Remembrance. To refresh your memory, the founder of the Transgender Day of Remembrance, Gwen Smith, said of the day:

"The Transgender Day of Remembrance serves several purposes. It raises public awareness of hate crimes against transgendered people, an action that current media doesn’t perform. Day of Remembrance publicly mourns and honors the lives of our brothers and sisters who might otherwise be forgotten. Through the vigil, we express love and respect for our people in the face of national indifference and hatred. Day of Remembrance reminds non-transgender people that we are their sons, daughters, parents, friends and lovers. Day of Remembrance gives our allies a chance to step forward with us and stand in vigil, memorializing those of us who’ve died by anti-transgender violence."
Read more.

The Sound of Silence: The HRC National Dinner Protest

September 25, 2008 ·

Last week I received an email from the Human Rights Campaign informing me that Joe Biden will be speaking at the the Human Rights Campaign National Dinner on October 4th, 2008. Since that time I've expected to hear about an organized protest of this event from the transgender activist community in Washington D.C. Protests have already happened from coast to coast (and everywhere in between). Last Feburary the New York City protest caused many prominent local politicians to boycott the New York City HRC Dinner. In July the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club, Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, Pride at Work, And Castro For All, the Lou Sullian Society (FTM SF), and the Trans March came together to boycott the Human Rights Campaign Dinner. Such a strong presence of organized labor was especially important. The key note speaker for the San Francisco dinner, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, dropped out of the event because of labor's involvement. Read more.

What NCTE Doesn’t Say

September 6, 2008 ·

I recently recieved an email alert from NCTE about a fully inclusive ENDA. Mara Keisling said:

Dear Friends, I have no doubt we can pass a transgender-inclusive ENDA next year if we all do the work now to educate Congress and the public. In a recent interview Rep Barney Frank (D-MA) agreed saying:
"The more Democrats we have, and obviously, not every Democrat votes with us, the better we'll do. If we can pick up 15 Democratic seats, then I think we are in good position to pass a transgender-inclusive ENDA." (http://www.365gay.com/features/interview-with-barney-frank)
Of course he's right, not every Democrat votes with us and not every Republican votes against us. That's why the best work we can be doing now to get us in position for winning our rights in 2009 is the work of building relationships and educating all of our lawmakers - whoever they are, where ever they are. When I'm visiting lawmakers on Capitol Hill one thing I hear far too often is that lawmakers don't think they have transgender people in their districts. You and I know that is impossible - we are every where. I can visit your representatives everyday up on the Hill, but they really need to hear from you and to meet you face to face.
Read more.

Can I Have a Refund Please?

September 4, 2008 ·

On June 25, 2008 I was asked to sign on to the National Stonewall Democrat's Transgender ActBlue page. While I disagreed with the effort (there was no concerted effort behind the scenes to make the fundraising campaign a success), I donated $150 to try and help in the effort. As I predicted, it was a flop (collecting a measly $4,951. I know gay donors that have given as much). Read more.