I'm not sure why the Hillary Clinton campaign is sending me their LGBT related emails (I've never solicited this), but it seems as if I've been put on her press list. Today I received this: It's an email from the Clinton campaign, reminding us that Clinton is the candidate best suited to tackle "LGBT" rights. In case the campaign needs a lesson on what the LGBT acronym means: L is for lesbian G is for gay B is for bisexual… Read more.
I will be at the White House next weekend and not outside looking in but inside it with the rest of the LGBT bloggers, who will be attending the 5th Annual LGBT Media Journalists Convening.. Having attended my first one last year I'll tell you, except the unexpected, every second. But this year is extra special. I will be visiting the president's house as a reporter for the transadvocate, formally a blog, but now a newly designated news site.… Read more.
While the vast majority of the feminist word understands that in a society that punishes trans people, not being trans is beneficial. However, fringe nuts on both the left and right often bleat on about how cisprivilege isn't real. More educated, less employed Trans Unemployment Rate, 2005 Snapshot: 37%: Xavier, J., Bobbin, M., & Singer, B. (2005). A needs assessment of transgendered people of color living in Washington, DC. International Journal of Transgenderism, 8(2/3), 31-47. doi:… Read more.
I recently received an email from Mara Keisling asking me to join the: "National Center for Transgender Equality and the Transgender People of Color Coalition in Washington, DC on June 17, 2013 to lobby for basic job protections and fair treatment in the U.S. immigration system." In years past, the lobby days put on by the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition, GenderPAC, and the National Center for Transgender Equality, were invaluable in educating both citizen lobbyists and the US Congress about… Read more.
Equality means just that. While the trans community is invested in marriage equality, the reality trans folk face each day is described by the American Psychiatric Association thusly: Discrimination and lack of equal civil rights is damaging to the mental health of transgender and gender variant individuals. For example, gender-based discrimination and victimization were found to be independently associated with attempted suicide in a population of transgender individuals, 32% of whom had histories of trying to kill themselves, and in… Read more.
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.
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.
Then-HRC head Elizabeth Birch, August 1998 (in an interview with OutSmart magazine (Houston)): Then-HRC head Elizabeth Birch, September 1, 1999 (in Outlines(Chicago)): Outlines: The concept of trans issues … are they in partnership just like with Black issues might be, or are they integral to the agency? ENDA is just one example of how that manifests itself. Birch: I think that the Human Rights Campaign has done as much if not more on transgender issues than most other national [ gay and lesbian… Read more.
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.
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.
as if you needed to read any more... THE CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR OF THE SERIAL RAPIST From 1984 to 1986, FBI Special Agents assigned to theNationalCenterfor the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC) interviewed 41 men who were responsible for raping 837 victims. Previous issues of the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin provided an introduction to this research (1) and the characteristics of the rapists and their victims. (2) This article, however, describes the behavior of these serial rapists during and… Read more.
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.
When Mara Keisling of NCTE publically came out in support of Maryland's gender identity anti-discrimination bill, I wondered what her angle on it was. Bilerico recently posted "3 Ways to Improve ENDA Advocacy: Take the Fight to the States" written by civil rights attorney Tico Almeida. Almeida points to why there was such a push for HB235:"But the policy and legislative advocates at both NCTE and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force think it is plausible that we can… Read more.
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.
From Queer Channel Media: Support for same-sex marriage tops the list for what LGBT rights supporters want to hear from President Obama next week during his State of the Union address. No. It tops the list of what the 'all gay marriage, all the time - and fuck the working-class shlubs who don't already have employment anti-discrimination protection and don't have an 8-figure estate tax bite taht they're trying to dodge'-oids want. The demand from advocates makes for great expectations… Read more.
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.
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.
Tomorrow you'll likely to see a big push from inside the beltway "equality" organizations pushing for passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). From a recent e-mail plea: Dear United ENDA Coalition Organizational Leaders: We think you'll agree that our community is more than ready to see ENDA passed now. So we are writing to ask your organization to sign on to a very simple statement asking Congress to PASS ENDA NOW. The statement is attached but you'll see that… Read more.
In a recent interview with Karen Ocamb, Barney Frank said: “I’m hoping to get a vote on it in committee . I’m doing a lot of work on it quietly, to get the issues involving transgender access to rooms where people have their clothes off. That’s a fact that you have to deal with, particularly for people who have not had an operation." Frank has had a reputation for… Read more.
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.
Join us for a live tweetup chat! Read more.
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.
Coming up on the two year anniversary of the Human Right Campaign's (HRC) support of Barney Frank dropping gender identity from the 2007 Employment Non-discrimination Act (ENDA), the irony of HRC's current position on DOMA couldn't be scripted any thicker. HRC defended their defection with Frank in 2007 this way: "Our community can work with the people who want to help us, or we can walk out on them," Solmonese wrote. "In a community facing such fierce opposition from the… Read more.
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.
"He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it." — Martin Luther King Jr. Well it didn't take long for responses to my last blog. One person wrote me privately saying she was disappointed I didn't "understand" how "serious" the Pam's House Blend controversy was and that I should've "come down harder" on her and Autumn Sandeen for these bannings or muzzlings they enacted on their trans "members and bloggers." Then on my posting I had… Read more.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Today on the show we discussed: Allyson Robinson+IFGE=HRC <3 ??? Here We Go Again: IFGE Elects HRC’s Allyson Robinson To The Board HRC and Their access to power. After expending political capital over Rick Warren, I wondered how much has ole' Joe got. HRC Relishes Sudden Access To White House Obama Fundie Watch Revelations of Truth Why I pray for our new president Dr. Kenneth Zucker's War on Transgenders Non-Discrimination Legislation: Transgender people plead for law change Campaign Puts The… Read more.
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.
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:Read more."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.
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.
I was looking at videos for my YouTube post and found this video titled "Twin Boys Living As Girls". It was taped in the early nineties, and is from the Jenny Jones Show. I sat their thinking this was just another trans segment on talk TV. It is not. When I realized who these two girls were, a sat here trembling, on the verge of tears. If you are not aware after watching the video, of just who these young… Read more.
I really do hesitate to even write this post, as the topic is a rehash of one of the ugliest times for GLBT unity I've ever seen. Recently Matt Foreman said the following on the Michelangelo Signorile Show concerning the ENDA debacle: I think what really happened is the Speaker's people said 'look, Congress has a terrible reputation right now, they're not delivering for any progressive causes, what do we do to deliver for our progressive allies?' That means labor, health, and environment, and gays. And so, I mean... I don't know this for a fact, but I'd bet my life this is what happened. They went to Barney frank, they said, 'what do we need to do to pass ENDA?' Representative Frank, who's always been pretty squeamish on the trans issue, ... and I guess I can say these things because I'm leaving my job, ya know, said 'look the best way to pass ENDA and the easiest way is to take out gender identity.' And I don't think the Speaker's people thought this through, didn't think it through and said 'lets do it. ' Yesterday, Barney Frank came on Signorile's show to respond to Foreman's statement and said: He just made that up, that's not remotely how it happened. He also has no basis for talking about my attitude on transgender people because I've had one set of conversations with Matt Foreman about transgender people. In 2002, when he was the head of Empire State Pride Agenda, he lobbied hard to get through the New York legislature a bill that did exactly what our bill did last year, it covered discrimination based on sexual orientation, but excluded people that were transgender. Some people didn't like that. Tom Duane said at the time that Matt Foreman excluded him from meetings on the subject. Matt Foreman not only helped get that bill through, frankly, and this I disagreed with, as part of the deal to get it though, that year the Empire State Pride Agenda endorsed the Republican George Pataki for reelection over an outstanding African American Democrat, Carl McCall. So you had Matt Foreman guiding to passage an ENDA bill that didn't cover transgender, it was called SONDA for the State of New York, and in return, denying an endorsement that I think he should have gotten on to Carl McCall. The reason I talked about it with him was because called me around that time, this is late 2002, and said 'I'm being criticized for doing this, would you come to a meeting that we're having in New York to celebrate it and give an award for Gov Pataki to show that uh people shouldn't be attacking me for it.' And even though I did disagree with decision to make make the deal with Pataki, I do believe that you work together with each other, and you try to be supportive, and I went up there. Read more.
I like to think of my advocacy/political work in much of the same way as I think of how to invest my money. I see activism as an investment in my community and my future. With that in mind, I have to say that I don't see the benefit in protesting the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). There are so many national organizations that support transgender people and support gender identity in ENDA (National Stonewall Democrats, National Gay and Lesbian Task… Read more.
“This is a story of the lives and loves, and hopes and dreams, of young Batswana in the context of the changing cultural norms and values of modern times. Each of the dancers are shaped and challenged by the forces upon them: love, power, money, lust, and authority. They must choose their destiny by making difficult choices and search for what they truly believe in.” — plot summary for the documentary, Re Bina Mmogo (2004) It’s been a really blue funky week and a half for me. Seeing John Edwards drop out of the race just over a week ago, I’m left with nothing but second choices for the upcoming presidential election. I feel as if I’m wakening from a really bad hangover. My personal preference was for a presidential candidate who would address the rampant inequities, to eliminate poverty and end the disenfranchisement and disparity in this entitlement-oriented society. The last thing I wanted was a choice of gatekeepers for the corporate power stranglehold status quo. With my last best hope for that out of the campaign at virtually the same time my job ended, it’s been consideration time over the two primary candidates who are left. Read more.
In the past week or so I've noticed increasing heat (see also: infighting) from the supporters in the GLBT Clinton camp. Tuesday they pointed towards Hillary Clinton's "fully inclusive" ENDA statement as a sign that Hillary is a more GLBT inclusive candidate than Barack Obama. I unexpectedly found an example of this kind of rhetoric from Nancy Nangeroni (of Gender Talk fame). She included the text from Hillary's statement to the GLBT community that included her support to: pass the… Read more.
“We're setting sail to the place on the map from which no one has ever returned ….” — Ship of Fools, World Party It was just Tuesday that I read in the press that Gay/Lesbian/Straight Educators Network (GLSEN) founding executive director Kevin Jennings was stepping down. He announced he will be back from his current sabbatical as planned on Feb. 1, but will step down on August 1, 2008 after thirteen years. According to another organization source, he isn’t taking… Read more.
With passage of The Matthew Shepard Act in the Senate on Thursday, it should have been a time for celebration. But on the heels of the victory came the news that gender identity could possibly be stripped of from the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. The Advocate confirmed the story tonight saying: "The Democratic House leadership is considering stripping protections for transgender people from ENDA after a preliminary vote count found the measure would not pass if it had trans-inclusive language. 'The fact of the matter is, we’ve been canvassing this -- the votes just are not there for a trans-inclusive bill,' said Steven Adamske, spokesman for Rep. Barney Frank, sponsor of the original bill. Reps. Frank and Tammy Baldwin, the only openly gay members of Congress, called for the count after they learned House speaker Nancy Pelosi feared the measure lacked enough support to pass." Matt Foreman took the bold step this morning by posting to Bilerico.com "A non-transgender-inclusive ENDA? No way!" Around the same time, a statement was put out by the Executive Directors of nine national LGBT organizations saying: Our collective position remains clear and consistent regarding the status of the Employment Nondiscrimination Act. Our organizations oppose the removal of protections for transgender people from ENDA. We would also oppose any bill that did not protect transgender people. We are shocked and upset that, according to the Washington Blade, influential members of the House of Representatives have apparently made a decision to remove protections for transgender people from the bill. If true, this decision was made without consultation with leaders of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. While we don’t doubt the sincerity of Congressional leadership’s intent to take action and be helpful to the LGBT community, we cannot disagree more with this strategy. We will continue to work with LGBT supportive members of Congress to urge their colleagues to immediately drop this strategy. Jody Huckaby, Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians & Gays Matt Foreman, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Inc. Mara Keisling, National Center for Transgender Equality Kate Kendell, National Center for Lesbian Rights Jon Hoadley, National Stonewall Democrats Rebecca Fox, National Coalition for LGBT Health Jeremy Bishop, Pride At Work, AFL-CIO Clarence Patton, National Coalition of Anti-Violence Projects Andrea Densham, Mautner Project Read more.
“So I get on my knees and pray … we won’t get fooled again!” — the Who Fresh on the heels of Southern Comfort Conference (SCC), many of the transgender community reveled in what seemed a penultimate victory: HRC – yes, the Human Rights Campaign – was actually appearing to take the transgender community as equals. (Obviously the ultimate victory would be equal rights for us all, jobs and all.) All of the years of HRC’s historic missteps seemed to magically disappear. We’re now a welcome, if amnesiac community for the Equal Sign people. During the speeches there was much congratulation and self-congratulation, and plenty of high spirits about the impending bills in Congress awaiting votes: Hate Crimes (already passed inclusively in the House) currently awaiting Senate approval, and the all-important Employment Non Discrimination Act (ENDA) approaching the House vote. All seemed right with the world in Trans America’s focus point that weekend at SCC in Atlanta. All seemed eerily right to some of us long-timers with memories intact as well. Eerily too right. After the speech, everyone clapped, ate, enjoyed the rest of SCC and went home. Most of us waited with baited anticipation. Myself, I couldn’t get over how this reminded me of 2002. At the SCC in 2002, HRC came down and made the big presentation again, and ushered in the coming out of a brand new national activist on the scene, Mara Keisling formerly of then-disbanded WGTE – the group name under which a study in concert with HRC was conducted. She was planning to open shop with an org of her own. No more WGTE, now NATE or NOTE was the names she was hashing over at the time (later settling on NCTE). HRC was not going to deal with the existing trans orgs -- NTAC nor IFGE, while GenderPAC left the trans fold to focus on "gender." So Mara’s sudden emergence fit them to a T, literally, and was welcomed in the HRC fold. However, it wasn’t just HRC’s king or queen-making within the trans community that was the draw of this presentation. This was more about the study findings, ballyhooed as changing the minds of HRC about trans inclusion in legislation. Word went out, there at that conference, that HRC was behind transgender inclusion and would begin such a push immediately. The question from the skeptical among us was posed as to what would happen if this ran up the HRC flagpole, and they instead decided “Nah!” and let Mara twist in the wind. Mara responded that they wouldn’t dare try, “and if they did, rip them a new asshole for publicly trashing her political credibility.” I’ll never forget the look on David Smith’s face at her answer … curious. Read more.
According to the Washington Blade:"House Democratic leaders are strongly considering dropping anti-discrimination protections for transgender persons from the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA, after an internal Democratic head count on Wednesday found that the bill would likely be defeated if it included the trans provision, multiple sources familiar with the bill said. "In May of this year I reported of the whispers in the halls of Congress to drop transgender people from the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Some went as far… Read more.
Unbelievably, I woke up to find this in a google alert:"Bringing back Hitler and the SS" From the get go, it's filled with lies:"Right now we have a bill called HR 2015 that, in my opinion, would bring back forced hiring by our government for local business. Surprised, I am not."From the bill:No Preferential Treatment or Quotas- Nothing in this Act shall be construed or interpreted to require or permit- (1) any covered entity to grant preferential treatment to any individual or to any group because of the actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity of such individual or group on account of an imbalance which may exist with respect to the total number or percentage of persons of any actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity employed by any employer, referred or classified for employment by any employment agency or labor organization, admitted to membership or classified by any labor organization, or admitted to, or employed in, any apprenticeship or other training program, in comparison with the total number or percentage of persons of such actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity in any community, State, section, or other area, or in the available work force in any community, State, section, or other area; or (2) the adoption or implementation by a covered entity of a quota on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. She continues:"A company will no longer be able to hire a person because of their qualifications. The company will be forced by law to hire the type of person that will be mandated by our government." Apparently there's some kind of forcefield around her eyeballs that keeps her from reading the above section of the bill that says NO QUOTAS. On with more fear mongering! Read more.
With a vote coming soon on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, I'd like to revisit something Chris Crain said a while back in his post "A trans activist tees off on ENDA" that was in reference to my post "You Can Still Fire Me". At his blog he said: The EEOC says exactly what I said: "existing federal civil rights laws have already been interpreted by SOME JUDGES to protect trans workers." Is it every judge? No. Would adding "gender identity"… Read more.
The vitriol over at Traditional Values Coalition is heating up. As Bil over at Bilerico has reported : "The Traditional Values Coalition has a series of offensive cartoons they've been circulating since ENDA became a possibility. While the group isn't known for their Christ-like love of truth, this latest flier steps outside of their usual circle of lies and deceit to directly attack two people who, as far as I know, aren't doing anything to their organization." You can find… Read more.
Meredith Brooks once sang: " I’m a bitch, I’m a lover I’m a child, I’m a mother I’m a sinner, I’m a saint I do not feel ashamed I’m your hell, I’m your dream I’m nothing in between You know, you wouldn’t want it any other way" But I guess there are some gay men who aren't channeling Meredith. From the Washington Blade's "Bitch Session" "It’s transgender people that need the gay and lesbian movement to succeed not the other way around. They are a minority within a minority who couldn’t get very far without us yet they always arrogantly fail to recognize that! Learn some humility instead of being so damn uppity. To the transgender activist who had the gall to say that gays and lesbians can’t move forward without them: The fact is transgender activists have opposed gay rights legislation in the past simply because they weren’t included! Despite their being as bad as Christian conservatives or selfish brats, we often managed to succeed without them! They should thank us for forgiving them for this and allowing them to retard our progress by including them now!" Read more.
It was billed as the "HRC Foundation and Logo Presidential Forum" but you could have just as easily called it the "HRC and Logo Presidential Forum on Marriage Equality. But it wasn't supposed to be that way. According to Donna Rose's blog: "I have been told by people who would know that a decision has already been made that each candidate will be given a "T" question (their words, not mine). When I sent my list of questions this morning (the deadline was noon), part of the response I got back was that they particularly "like the more general ones because it requires them to be more forthcoming." For the record, there was ONE question during the entire forum that was a "T" question. Joe Solmonese asked John Edwards the following question: "Susan Stanton is in our audience tonight. She was, for 17 years, the city manager in Largo, Florida. She did her job well; she was respected and admired. And when it was revealed that she was transgender, she was fired. So my question for you is if a member of your staff came to you and told you that they were transgender and that they were thinking of transitioning, how would you react to that? And who in your life has influenced what your reaction might be?" Read more.
Chris Crain has repeatedly suggested 1, 2, 3, 4 that transgender people don't need to be included in the Employee Non-Discrimination Act because "existing federal civil rights laws have already been interpreted by some judges to protect trans workers." A recent EEOC informal discussion letter would suggest otherwise. Historically, courts and the EEOC have held that Title VII does not prohibit discrimination against an individual because of transgendered status. See, e.g., Ulane v. Eastern Air Lines, Inc., 742 F.2d 1081… Read more.
An update on the previous post, Trans-panic Defense Alive And Well In Palm Beach. A 17 year old Florida teen was found guilty of a second-degree felony of aggravated battery when he assaulted a 39 year old transwoman. Further details of the beating were learned when one of the police officers testified. From the Palm Beach Post: "Palm Beach police Sgt. Jennifer Sandman, who interviewed the teen on the morning of the incident, testified at Monday's trial in juvenile court… Read more.
Hillary Clinton is going to be the next President of the United States and look at all the trans friendly people who are endorsing her campaign. Can you imagine endorsing a candidate that doesn't support gays and lesbians? Why not? They don't have a problem supporting Presidential candidates that don't support transgender people, and why would you be surprised at that? Take a look at what's happening in NY with GENDA or Massachusetts where transgender people can still be fired from their jobs, harassed, beat up and murdered with no hate crime law to help with investigations or prosecutions. MASS Equality is having trouble trying to figure out what to do with their left over 3 million dollar budget. Their job is done, same sex marriage is legal, gays and lesbians have a non-discrimination law and a hate crimes law. Look out NY, same sex marriage will be next in your state too. Don't worry, they'll be back for ya...just ask Jeff Soref to help ya out, perhaps he'll even put in a good word for us so Hillary will support a trans-inclusive ENDA. I do believe there are a few members of Mass Equality on Hillary's support list too, let's all remember to thank them. While we're at it, we can thank Peter Rosenstein (another name on the "list") for his stellar support for trans-inclusion in ENDA and the Hate Crimes Prevention act. You can read about it here in his opinion piece: Should we support pro-gay legislation that does not include trans protections? Do I really need to mention Joe Solmonese's co-hostess on XM satellite radio? She gets the double whammy award for support. The list of undying support goes on and on and on but don't take my word for it, you have Google. Hold the phone! There is one transgender person on this list, go get 'em Melissa Sklarz! We like to try and change the world, one tranny at a time. Here's Hillary's support list: Read more.
If nothing else, last week was historic in that the three major transgender advocacy organizations (National Transgender Advocacy Coalition, National Center for Transgender Equality, and the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition) brought in citizen lobbyists to Washington D.C. from across the United States for a week of direct congressional advocacy. Rolling in to DC on Tuesday, I had the chance to see the lobbyists for the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC) in action. Tuesday night NTAC sponsored a plenary session or… Read more.
It's coming up on two years ago that I wrote an "Open Letter to Cheryl Jacques." A month after I posted my open letter, Jacques greeted transgender protesters outside of Human Rights Campaign's (HRC) offices with the news that HRC would not support any version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act that didn't include transgender protections. She later wrote: "passing ENDA without gender identity and expression is like passing a copyright law that covers books and television shows but doesn't cover… Read more.
When Chris Crain left his position at Window Media, I thought the voice of "transjack" was dead. I couldn't have been more wrong. Today the Washington Blade published an op-ed by a long time Democratic gay activist and Washington D.C. mayoral adviser, Peter Rosenstein. He writes:"On the eve of the House taking up the Hate Crimes Prevention Act it appeared that passage was not assured in this form. Republicans thought they figured out a way to strip the bill of… Read more.
As some of you may have noticed, there was no Carnival of Bent Attractions (COBA) post last month. This was partially due to the move of COBA to Transadvocate.com. So without further ado, the May addition of the Carnival of Bent Attractions! Romeo Vitelli's April 1st post, "Becoming Lili" reflected on the life of transsexual trailblazer Einar Wegener. "Born in Denmark in 1886, Einar Wegener must have seemed a typical male of his time. The role that he (or more… Read more.
I pulled a couple of well versed legal minds in to shed more light on the shared space concerns: "It's problematic for employees who have transitioned prior to employment. As I read it, it means that shower or locker rooms without private stalls are exempt, so long as employees get a shower or locker room 'not inconsistent with' their self-identified gender. Thus, a transgender person, regardless of surgical status, can be singled out for placement in a single-person shower room,… Read more.
So we've got a trans-inclusive ENDA, time to celebrate! Or so I thought, till I actually looked at the language. Section 8(a)(3) CERTAIN SHARED FACILITIES- Nothing in this Act shall be construed to establish an unlawful employment practice based on actual or perceived gender identity due to the denial of access to shared shower or dressing facilities in which being seen fully unclothed is unavoidable, provided that the employer provides reasonable access to adequate facilities that are not inconsistent with… Read more.
In my recent post, Rose Colored Glasses, I had quite a few people respond here and on livejournal. Anyone familiar with the history of the trans-community and HRC (Human Rights Campaign) will know how contentious that relationship has been over the years. In March of 2001 the board of directors changed their mission statement to include transgender people. In the six years since our inclusion it's been an uphill battle to get HRC to actually include transgender people in their… Read more.
