“I have always held the belief that all people, no matter race, religion or sexual orientation, are entitled to equal rights. As many know, I consider myself a devout and faithful Mormon. I prefer to keep the details around my contribution through my church a private matter. But I am profoundly sorry for the negative attention that my actions have drawn to Film Independent and for the hurt and pain that is being experienced in the GLBT [gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender] community.”
–L.A. Film Festival director Richard Raddon
Richard Raddon, the director of the Los Angeles Film Festival who has been at the center of controversy ever since it was revealed almost two weeks ago that he had contributed $1,500 to the campaign to ban gay marriage in California, resigned from his post over the weekend.
The nonprofit arts organization Film Independent sponsors both the Los Angeles Film Festival, held in May, and the popular Independent Spirit awards. Raddon is a member of the Mormon Church, which actively called on its congregants to work for the passage of Proposition 8, the constitutional amendment defining marriage as only between a man and a woman.
…After Raddon’s contribution was made public online, Film Independent was swamped with criticism from “No on 8″ supporters both inside and outside the organization. Within days, Raddon offered to step down as festival director, but the board, which includes Don Cheadle, Forest Whitaker, Lionsgate President Tom Ortenberg and Fox Searchlight President Peter Rice, gave him a unanimous vote of confidence.
Yet, the anti-Raddon bile continued to bubble in the blogosphere, and according to one Film Independent board member, “No on 8″ supporters also berated Raddon personally via phone calls and e-mails. The recriminations ultimately proved too much, and when Raddon offered to resign again, this time the board accepted.
That $1,500.00 donation to the Yes On Prop 8 campaign has essentially cost him his career; it’s has cost him his ability to make a living in his chosen field.
…How much lobbying are transgendered people doing on behalf of gay men and lesbians?
(And no, trans board members on state and national non-profits don’t count. I mean private citizens.)
How many trans folks are lobbying to end Don’t Ask Don’t Tell??
How many trans folks are lobbying to end a relic of the Anita Bryant era– Florida’s complete ban on gay men and lesbians to adopt children??
The truth is very few, if any. That’s because it’s not their issue. They can’t have it both ways.
So, while fresh with same-gender marriage/marriage equality being in the spotlight, I’d like to hightlight that trans people have been involved working on marriage equality here in San Diego. Specifically how trans people were involved in San Diego’s Join The Impact event on Saturday, November 15th, if only just to highlight one example of involement as a representative example.
So although one of the reasons why I’m doing a little documentation is to accentuate the positive about working for change, what JJ in Chicago wrote last July reminds me that sometimes it’s also about stemming off negative perceptions that aren’t necessarily reality based; sometimes it’s about pointing out where people we don’t necessarily expect to be working on broad LGBT issues are working on broad issues.
There were trans people marching, and there were trans people in the planning process. At the Marriage Equality/Join The Impact march in San Diego a week ago Saturday, there were at least 20,000 participants. There were trans people marching, and there were trans people in the planning process.
Let me cite just one who was in the planning process as an example of the many.
In San Diego, the “Face Behind FaceBook” for the march was Kelly Moyer. Never heard of Kelly? Well, like so many of the new grassroots leadership, she’s been somewhat quietly working for LGBT and trans-specific issues — she’s a volunteer at the Hillcrest Youth Center an San Diego Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, And Transgender Center facilitating trans discussion groups. She’s also very active in San Diego’s lesbian community, working on event planning (such as for Dyke March) and is a member of a key community standing committee. She’s also on Sun Microsystems’ Gays, Lesbians and Friends (GLAF) employee resource group, working with Sun to increase the company’s diversity. Basically, she’s been “behind the scenes” — yet in plain view — for awhile.
After the Join the Impact in San Diego, she gave a speech on staying on a positive message with regards to marriage equality. I don’t have to agree with everything she says to understand that her message is important.
Below the fold is the last few paragraphs from her November 15th speech.
[MD, USA] ” If all humans are created equal, then why do only two Maryland jurisdictions have laws to protect a group that includes hundreds of Marylanders? It’s a statewide conflict over transgender discrimination. Sally Thorner reports people close to the issue say it’s time for a change.” — Top Model Talks About Being Transgender
[TN, USA] “The videotaped beating of a transgender woman in police custody in Memphis last February led to charges against two officers and national condemnation from gay rights groups. The officers were fired, and the Police Department overhauled some of its procedures and began sensitivity training for the entire force. But a week ago, the woman, Duanna Johnson, 43, was found fatally shot near downtown. Ms. Johnson’s death has revived scrutiny of the case as the department is under pressure to find the killer. “Duanna Johnson’s case was tragic before, and now it’s an almost unimaginable loss,” said Jared Feuer, the Southern regional director of Amnesty International. “Her treatment demonstrates a culture of violence against transgender people that must be addressed.” — Murder of Transgender Woman Revives Scrutiny
[MN, USA] “On the November 14 edition of his Minneapolis radio show, Chris Baker repeatedly referred to Thomas Beatie, a pregnant transgender man, as a “mutilated lesbian.” He also referred to Beatie as a “freak.” Baker also stated: “If a lesbian gets pregnant, I’m fine with it. I’m OK. Just stop alternating reality and trying to force me to buy into your psychosis.” Baker made the comments while discussing Barbara Walters’ interview of Beatie and his wife, Nancy Beatie. Guest co-host Nicole Remini said of Walters’ interview, “[S]o Barbara goes, ‘Are you pregnant again?’ Like, bluh. Sorry, I just threw up in my mouth on the radio.” Remini added: “It’s disgusting. I really have a problem with it.”" — Radio host Baker referred to Thomas Beatie as a “mutilated lesbian”
[NH, USA] Virginia Prescott of New Hampshire Public Radio interviewed journalist Hanna Rosin, whose article about a transgender child, “A Boy’s Life,” appeared in the November 2008 issue of Atlantic Monthly. — Transgender Children
[CA, USA] “A transsexual former California state prison inmate, who claimed to have suffered repeated sexual assaults and beatings at the hands of two cellmates, should be allowed to pursue a negligence damage claim against prison officials, an appeals court ruled on November 14, but she was not entitled to pursue damages under the “cruel and unusual punishment” provision of the state constitution. The plaintiff’s demand for injunctive relief was properly denied, ruled the court, because by the time of her trial, she had been released on parole … As a result of the ruling, Alexis Giraldo, who was sent to Folsom State Prison on January 4, 2006, while serving time for a parole violation, will be given a trial of her charge that prison officials were negligent in failing to protect her from attacks by her cellmates … Since Giraldo was released on parole before the trial, the state might take the prudential step of offering Giraldo a monetary settlement of her claim rather than have to go through a trial at which each of the named defendants would have to testify, especially considering the specific allegations of callous disregard on the part of some of them recited by the court.” — California Appeals Court Revives Transsexual Inmate’s Negligence Suit Against Prison Officials, but Rejects State Constitutional Claim
[WI, USA] From Jillian Barfield, ” … I’ve concluded that the overwhelming majority of corporations that have been contacted by The Transgender Job Bank who are on the CEI 100% inclusive list are NOT inclusive and that I believe that the Human Rights Campaign organization is deceiving the public by representing that the problem of transgender workplace discrimination is not as prevalent as it truly is. At the same time The Human Rights Campaign accepts substantial financial support from these same organizations to promote their rich, white, gay, male agenda. The Human Rights Campaign has used their political ’scorecard’ system as a political weapon to disenfranchise the transgender community in Congress. I call upon the Human Rights Campaign to cease these practices immediately and to remove references to the transgender community from their public agenda.” — The Human Rights Campaign – Rich, White, Male, Agenda
[MD, USA] “Martine Rothblatt envisions you uploading a digital version of yourself that could live forever online. It’s not her first far-out idea … it’s a tough sell, that is, until you consider the other seeming impossibilities Rothblatt – who has a doctorate, a master’s degree in business administration and a law degree – has already achieved. When she was young, she dreamed of tiny satellite antennas that could fit on the tops of cars; she later launched Sirius Satellite Radio and won recognition as one of the inventors of the medium. She was born male, but felt female, and in the early 1990s underwent a sex change operation and became an advocate for transgender rights. With no drug development background, she started a biotech company to find a treatment for her daughter Jenesis’ primary pulmonary hypertension, a rare, life-threatening disease that elevates the pressure on blood vessels in the lungs. Today, Silver Spring-based United Therapeutics has a stock market value of about $2.6 billion and gave Rothblatt a compensation package worth $25 million in 2007.” — Virtual immortality
[Spain] “The Spanish monarchy is upset that the cranky things their Queen says to them all day managed to get written down and have said that she was quoted “inexactly” and apologized if Grandma’s nutty rants upset any of the local homosexual peasantry. The Spanish Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Transsexuals and Bisexual accepted the apology, failing to mention that come Madrid Pride, you can bet half the gays will be dressed up as sexy, glittery Sofía’s.” — Spanish Queen Doesn’t Understand Parading Queens
[South Korea] “Transsexuals should be allowed to change their legal gender without undergoing a sex-change operation, South Korea’s rights watchdog said Monday, suggesting the Supreme Court amend its transgender guidelines. The top court’s guidelines stipulate that transsexual people have to have sex reassignment surgery in order to officially change their gender. The guidelines were made in 2006 to maintain judicial consistency amid concerns that rulings had varied according to judges’ social leanings since the first case for a male-to-female transsexual person was approved in 2002. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea said such court guidelines, however, overlook the expenses and health risks transsexual people have to bear for surgery. “A sex reassignment surgery is very expensive, and its results sometimes can have fatal effects on one’s health. Considering those concerns, it is too excessive a demand for the judiciary to require surgery, while there can be other medical methods for sexual transition, like hormone therapy,” Yoon Seol-ah, the commission spokesperson, said. A 2006 survey by the rights commission suggests many transsexual people live in poverty due to prejudice and discrimination. Their monthly income averaged 700,000 won (US$497), it found, while a sex-change operation costs up to 100 million won. No official data exist, but the commission assumes there are about 4,500 people in South Korea who identify with a physical gender different from the one with which they were born. Those who have had gender reassignment surgery number 300 to 400. The watchdog also said other guidelines, such as requiring applicants to be 20 or older and unmarried, or to have finished the military service or be exempt from it, violate their human rights and should be abolished. “Their lives will be better off if their gender gets changed early and their identity forms early,” Yoon said. The watchdog also said judges should rule over transsexual cases with legislation rather than the top court guidelines and suggested that the National Assembly speaker establish a special law on the issue. — Transsexuals should be allowed to change legal gender without surgery: watchdog
[Nepal] A real Shangri-La? “Close on the heels of an international furore over the state of California’s decision to ban same-sex marriages, the apex court of nascent Himalayan republic Nepal has given its nod to such unions. “My eyes were filled with tears when I read the Supreme Court decision,” said Sunil Babu Pant, Nepal’s first publicly gay lawmaker and a gay rights icon in South Asia … Also striking a blow for transgenders, who were the butt of abuse for crossdressing, the court has ruled that crossdressing is not perversion but an individual’s freedom of expression.” — Same-sex marriage gets court nod in Nepal
[NY, USA] Trans woman Teish Cannon was shot and killed Friday night in Syracuse, New York: “Moses “Teish” Cannon was openly gay, and his family said Saturday that is why he was shot and killed Friday night. His death should be treated as a hate crime, they said … [Cannon's mother Roxanne] Green talked lovingly about Moses Cannon and said she accepted who he was. “That’s the life he chose. That’s who he wanted to be,” Green said about her son … “Teish was loving, caring and compassionate,” said Rhonda Gary, Cannon’s aunt. “She carried herself with respect.” The family did not mince words. Cannon’s death, they said, was a hate crime. The family said the person who shot Moses Cannon deserves a sentence of life in prison without parole. “I feel the person who lured him there (to Seymour Street) should get the same,” Green said.” — Mother: Gay son targeted by killer
[NY, USA] Syracuse police have charged a suspect in the Cannon killing: “Dwight R. DeLee shot and killed Moses “Teish” Cannon with a .22-caliber rifle Friday night because he didn’t like that Cannon was openly gay, Syracuse police said … “There was no previous argument between these individuals, there was no previous fight, there was no bad blood,” [Police Chief Gary] Miguel said. “Our suspect took a rifle and shot and killed this person, also wounding his brother, for the sole reason he didn’t care for the sexual preference of our victim. Isn’t that sad? Isn’t that a sad situation that that’s the sole reason why? “I talk to you about this atmosphere of violence and that certain individuals believe that violence is the answer no matter what, and here’s just another example,” Miguel said. Cannon’s family said his death should be treated as a hate crime. Miguel said it’s up to the District Attorney’s office to decide if it’s a hate crime.” — Syracuse man was killed for being gay, police say
[TN, USA] “Gay, lesbian, bisexual, most of us are familiar with, maybe even comfortable with. But matters of gender identity — which are separate from sexual orientation — are less understood. Simply put, Johnson’s brain and soul did not match her genitalia. That was tough for Skinner to deal with. And it certainly didn’t line up with her religious beliefs. But — and here’s the lesson — Skinner respected that her daughter knew herself better than even a mother could. Her love for her child, God’s child, never waned, even if her understanding of what her daughter was going through wasn’t complete. Skinner wants people to know that Duanna was a good, loving person. “She was very smart, and that’s why I wanted her to get her life in order.” And order didn’t mean life as a male. “I don’t think she would have ever returned, because she said she could never be a man again.” Because in her heart, Duanna Johnson never was.” — Essence of person can belie physical
[TN, USA] “With candles in their hands and great sadness in their hearts, dozens of Mid-Southerners demanded justice Sunday, November 16, 2008 during a prayer vigil for Duanna Johnson. “We’re here to commemorate Duanna’s life,” says vigil participant Casey Lanham, “and to remember the sacrifice she unfortunately had to encounter.” “All citizens of Memphis,” says Amy Livingston of the Mid-South Peace & Justice Center, “should agree that all human life has dignity and should be respected and valued. Duanna was a beloved member of this community. And by community, I mean Memphis.” … “This is a stand for a human being,” says Will Bates, “who was killed because she was different than everyone else. This is a stand for humanity. This is a stand for all of us.” — Mid-Southerners Demand Justice for Duanna Johnson
[MA, USA] Gunner Scott of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition spoke at the Proposition 8 Protest in Boston yesterday [begins at 01:12 of the video] …
[USA] From Donna Rose, “I hope that some of the broader community outrage over denial of basic rights gets saved for ENDA. It’s a whole different thing being on the side getting your rights than being on the side denied. Many of those same people out marching this weekend will find a way to justify excluding others from getting theirs if and when they’re faced with those kinds of decisions. Many of those writing passionate letters about higher ideals will be ready to betray those ideals if they have the opportunity when ENDA rolls around again. They will have conveniently forgotten what it feels like to be on the outside.” – The Side Denied
[USA] From Becky Juro, “Unbelievably, it took the actual stripping of already existent marriage rights from gay and lesbian Californians to finally mobilize our community to loudly and proudly fight for our rights in significant numbers nationwide. At last, LGBT America has said “Enough!” and we’re taking to the streets in protest all across our country. It’s about damn time … For me, and I’d bet for many of you reading this, particularly if you are transgender, the parallels to the recent past are pretty obvious. When the transgender community was stripped from ENDA, we responded in much the same way, though on a much smaller scale. For the past year or so, there have been regular protests at Human Rights Campaign events nationwide, and while significantly smaller in size, they’ve been consistent and they’ve been active. Despite their small size, the message has gotten out, slowly but surely, not by force of numbers but by constantly being out there, constantly promoting the same clear message of equality and fairness, and by never, ever, backing down or giving up on what we know to be right. That’s how this battle will be won. Not by marching and protesting for a week or even a few weeks, but by being consistent and unrelenting, by making our voices heard wherever and whenever they need to be heard, over and over and over, until the message finally starts sinking in to the community, to those inclined to support us, and eventually to average fair-minded straight Americans. We’ve seen it happen with HRC and ENDA, and we’ll see it happen here, perhaps even more quickly because of the huge numbers involved.” — It’s The End Of The World As We Know It
[USA] “Over the summer, a wrangle between eminent psychiatrists that had been brewing for months erupted in print. Startled readers of Psychiatric News saw the spectacle unfold in the journal’s normally less-dramatic pages. The bone of contention: whether the next revision of America’s psychiatric bible, the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,” should be done openly and transparently so mental health professionals and the public could follow along, or whether the debates should be held in secret.” — Wrangling over psychiatry’s bible
[USA] Wisconsin Public Radio’s audio magazine, To the Best of Our Knowledge, has an hour-long show entitled “Transgender Identity“: “Aaron Raz Link and his mother, Hilda Raz wrote the story of Aaron’s gender reassignment surgery. Conceptual artist Genesis P-Orridge talks about music and gender. Jason Goodwin wrote a novel set in 19th century Istambul. Kelley Eskridge is never specific about the gender of her recurring character Mars.” — Transgender Identity
[MI, USA] “A proposed Kalamazoo city ordinance aimed at protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered individuals from discrimination will be introduced Monday before the City Commission … The proposed city ordinance, dubbed the “Equal Rights Ordinance,” would protect against discrimination in the areas of housing, employment and public accommodations. The ordinance would apply to both the private and public sectors, although there would be some exemptions. Churches would be exempt and so would individuals who are seeking to rent out part of a residence in which they are living.” — Proposed Kalamazoo ordinance would ban discrimination against lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgendered individuals
[UK] “Craig-Wood, who launched Memset in 2002, has been shortlisted for the IBM-sponsored Demeter Award for being the most inspiring entrepreneur aged between 26 and 35 … As entrepreneurial women go, Craig-Wood bears the unusual distinction of having been an entrepreneur previous to having been a woman. According to Memset’s press release, Craig-Wood underwent gender reassignment surgery in 2005. Perhaps ironically, she says she has since encountered challenges trying to be taken seriously as a woman in a male-dominated industry. Those challenges may make Craig-Wood further emblematic of some of the spirit of the awards.” — Hosting Exec in Everywoman Awards
[UK] “April Ashley, one of the first people in the world to undergo a successful sex-change operation and an icon for transsexuals across the globe, will be holding an “audience with” evening in the concert room of St George’s Hall tonight … Born George Jamieson in Liverpool in 1935 to a poor family, she describes her childhood as “horrendous”. As a little boy, her androgynous looks resulted in endless bullying, physical abuse from her mother, and culminated in her being forced to endure inhumane experimental treatments in misguided attempts to normalise her.” — Sex-change pioneer April to hold court
[India] “I love the scent of jasmine, have a crush on Abhishek Bachchan and want to wear glass bangles. When I look at a woman I am ogling at nothing but her tempting chiffon and gorgeous hair. While at home I apply kajal on my eyes, but it never sticks as I often burst into tears. Sometimes, I feel I won’t be able to take it anymore and want to end my life.” These are the words of Manu, a transgender in Thiruvananthapuram, who for two decades now has suffered the trauma of living a double life, unable to attain her only dream — to live as a woman. Manu is just one of the thousands of transgenders in Kerala for whom realising their original sexual identity is nothing more than a dream forcing many into lives of depression, prostitution or quiet frustration.” — Lives rarely told of social rejection and frustration
[Finland] “Pirkko Mäkinen, the Equality Ombudsman, demands clarity on matters regarding sexual minorities. Transgenered persons’ rights currently fall through the cracks, she says … Speaking at the TransHelsinki event organised by the Sexual Equality Association SETA on Saturday, Mäkinen said the legal rights of sexual minorities should be made clear. The current text of the Equality Act does not specifically mention transgendered persons. Mäkinen points out that a sex change operation should not have any bearing on an employment relationship … Earlier this week, a local Imatra vicar’s announcement that he plans to undergo gender reassignment surgery led to factions of the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church questioning whether the vicar could keep his job.” — Equality Ombudsman: Time to Clarify Rights of Sexual Minorities
[Turkey] “As we were getting ready for the “November 20th, Remembrance Day for Transgender victims of hate murders” we were devastated by a news we received. On November 10, 2008, around 9:00 PM in Etlik, a district of Ankara, our friend Dilek was attacked with a pump action shotgun. She passed away at the Ankara Diskapi Education and Research Hospital at around 12:30 AM on November 11, 2008.” — Another transgender friend was murdered in Ankara!
Leaders of the campaign against Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in California, raised nearly $40 million and ran a careful, disciplined campaign with messages tested by focus groups and with only a few people authorized to speak to the media.
They lost.
In the week since, California has seen an outpouring of demonstrations ranging from quiet vigils to noisy street protests against Proposition 8, including rallies outside churches and the Mormon temple in Westwood as well as boycotts of some businesses that contributed to the Yes on 8 campaign.
Many of those activities have been organized not by political professionals and established leaders in the gay community, but by young activists working independently on Facebook and MySpace.
The grass-roots activism is a tribute to political organizing in the digital age, in which it is possible to mobilize thousands of people with a few clicks of a mouse. It has generated national attention — and set up a series of Saturday demonstrations that organizers hope will attract tens of thousands of people to city halls throughout California…
I really recommend this entire article.
We’ve forgetten, apparenlty, that Stonewall began as mob justice in response to systematic, government injustice. The aftermath of the Prop 8 vote in California looks like its more a series of Stonewall style uprisings than a top-down, micro-managed/micro-messaged, LGBT Civil Rights organization led response.
Frankly, these marches and protest seem to be a further example of how the HRC doesn’t know or speak for the grassroots of the LGBT community; but it’s apparent now that other LGBT civil rights organizations — such as Equality California, The Gay and Lesbian Center of Los Angeles, the San Diego LGBT Center, NCLR, and the Gay and Lesbian Task Force to name a few — who were leaders in the No On Prop 8 Campaign didn’t and don’t speak particularly well for the grassroots of the LGBT community either.
If there ever is a time for the organizational reflection by LGBT civil rights organizations, I think winter of 2007 (remember ENDA?) is when it should have began, and it’s definitely way over due now. LGBT Civil Rights organizations are far behind the times on what the attitudes towards LGBT issues are, and their focus groups and marketing approach to messaging don’t speak at all to what the “mob” thinks about civil rights.
Here’s an example of the real cost born by individuals for their financial support of Proposition 8. From the Sacramento Bee:
Scott Eckern, the California Musical Theater official embroiled in controversy following revelations of his donation to the Proposition 8 campaign, issued a statement Tuesday expressing shock over the backlash, saying “I had no idea this would be the reaction.”
Revelations over the weekend that Eckern, the company’s artistic director, had given $1,000 to the voter-approved ballot measure to ban same-sex marriage had drawn calls of an artistic and audience boycott Monday of the Sacramento theater company that produces the Music Circus and presents Broadway Sacramento.
I understand that my choice of supporting Proposition 8 has been the cause of many hurt feelings maybe even betrayal. It was not my intent. I honestly had no idea that this would be the reaction. I chose to act upon my belief that the traditional definition of marriage should be preserved. I support each individual to have rights and access and I understood that in California domestic partnerships come with the same rights that come with marriage.
I definitely do not support any message or treatment of others that is hateful or instills fear. This is a highly emotional issue. I have now had many conversations with friends and colleagues and I now have a better idea of what the discrimination issues are, how deeply felt these issues are and I am deeply saddened that my acting upon my religious convictions has been devastating to those I love and admire… I am deeply sorry for any harm or injury I have caused.
Basically, it’s pretty much a Not good enough! moment for supporters of the theater who were against Prop 8. One example of a significant voice:
Gay and lesbian artists called Monday for an artistic and audience boycott of California Musical Theatre after learning that its artistic director donated $1,000 to a campaign that backed banning gay marriage in California.
…California Musical Theatre is the capital’s oldest professional performing arts organization and California’s largest nonprofit musical theater company. It has 32 full-time employees and its budget for 2007 was $16.5 million.
…”Hairspray” composer Marc Shaiman called Eckern Thursday to discuss his donation. “Hairspray” closed this summer’s Music Circus season.
In a post on one Web site, Shaiman relayed what he told Eckern: “The idea that your donation came from a salary that for a short amount of time was drawn from profits from a show I wrote upsets me terribly and I would never allow anything I write to play there and will encourage my colleagues to consider doing the same.”
Want to see another example of individual awakening to the economic cost to supporting the Yes On Proposition 8 campaign? There’s an example of a Los Angeles restaurant owner’s surprise at the economic backlash for supporting Prop 8 here.
As many of you may know I’m a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Some might conclude given my family’s membership in the Mormon Church that our company supported the recent ballot initiative to ban same sex marriage in California. This is simply untrue. Marriott International is a public company headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, and is not controlled by any one individual or family. Neither I, nor the company, contributed to the campaign to pass Proposition 8.
The Bible that I love teaches me about honesty, integrity and unconditional love for all people. But beyond that, I am very careful about separating my personal faith and beliefs from how we run our business…
(Chino Blanco has a PHB diary on this Marriot statement here.)
If Prop 8 were put to a vote again in a year or two, I think the ProtectMarriage.com would have a lot of problems finding business owners and business executives who would donate to the campaign. There is a learning curve going on right now — these businesspeople are discovering that there is a real economic cost to their businesses if they don’t establish and publicize progressive policies towards LGBT people. And, their gods help their businesses if business owners and executives are perceived as being against progressive policies towards LGBT people to the point of supporting the withdrawal of fundamental civil rights of LGBT people.
While we continue to look back and talk about the how fundamental marriage rights were lost in California, Arizona, and Florida this past election, looking forward we need to remember that on a federal level, we don’t have a fully inclusive ENDA either. And, I can tell you that as a result of employment discrimination against LGBT people, many LGBT people — especially minority transgender women like Sharmus Outlaw — are doing sex work as a means of survival. To me, that’s an economic issue that hits my community and me too close to home.
“Sex work is about survival,” [Sharmus] Outlaw said. “It’s not about choosing a neighborhood to go into and to prostitute. We are struggling as transgender women to make ends meet and to survive in today’s world where we are misunderstood.”
But residents of a Northeast neighborhood not far from Union Station told a different story. Jeff King said that when he opens his door in the morning, he often finds condoms on the sidewalk. Joseph McHale said, “The last thing I hear when I go to bed at night is the clicking of their heels.”
D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), who chaired the hearing of the Committee on Public Safety, said: “I agree with those who keep in mind that there are human beings involved in this. It is not just about punishing somebody.”
But Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) said “street prostitution is nonnegotiable. There is no level of street prostitution that will be okay.”
As Sharmus Outlaw said in the video, she needs employment opportunities. Survival sex is about not having any employment oportunities.
We all need to start working now for a fully inclusive ENDA in the 111th Congress. If you’re looking to do something for equality and civil rights over the next few months, consider writing letters to and/or meeting with your local congresspeople about a fully inclusive ENDA — one that includes sexual orientation and gender identity and expression — for this coming Congress. And that’s especially true if you’re African-American, Latino or Latina, Asian American, Pacific Islander-American, etc.; a veteran; a disabled person; a Christian, a Muslim, a Jew, a Pagan, etc.; a transgender person…or for that matter just somebody who knows or knows of someone who has an LGBT identity and another identity listed in state or federal law as a protected class.
We have a more Democratic Congress than we’ve had in decades; in this time of economic downturn, LGBT people need broader employment rights and protections, and we should have the support in a Democratic Congress to get those civil rights and protections. Let’s make sure our congresspeople know what we want, and hold feet to fire if we don’t get it soon.
Alex Blaze is doing “Rebel Girl” by Bikini Kill (which reminds me of this photo which I saved for I’m not sure what reason some time back) at Bilerico Project. Check it out there.
No, this is Otis Redding’s rendition of “A Change Is Gonna Come” and the only really “queer” thing here is why it took so long …
[Australia] “Dr Hamid, of Glenroy, is standing trial in the Victorian County Court for eight sex-related charges including rape, sexual penetration of a cognitively impaired person by a provider of medical services and indecent assault.” — Doctor ‘raped suicidal transsexual’
[Turkey] “Discrimination: The legislation about discrimination does not include the sexual discrimination. The lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transsexuals and transvestites still face the charges of the “indecent exposure” and the “acts against public morality.” Lambdaistanbul, the organization that embraces individuals with sexual preferences other than heterosexuality, was closed by the Istanbul Governor. The discrimination against the gays in the military service is still strong. Transsexuals suffer attacks. The homophobic violence easily turns into sexual violence. Investigations are needed in these areas.” — The European Union Report Points To Lack Of Reforms In Turkey
[Canada] Toronto Sun fashion columnist Derick Chetty takes singer Kate (“I Kissed a Girl”) Perry to task for “ugly behavior” at a charitable benefit: ” … the pretty chanteuse who when on the red carpet, exclaimed rather loudly when she saw Enza “Supermodel” Anderson, “Oh, you’re a man!” The popular transgendered columnist for Metro and a fixture on the social scene in Toronto, said his heart sank when he heard her. “I felt like a freak of nature at this gay event,” he said. “Did this woman not know that there were going to be transgendered persons, drag queens, gays and lesbians at this event?” — Fashion Cares at Monster’s Ball
[Canada] A feature in The Martlet (the independent weekly student newspaper at the University of Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia) on the Transgender Day of Remembrance: “Turje emphasizes that the more we interrogate the ways gender controls our lives, the more we will be able to imagine a world where we will have the freedom to express all sides of ourselves without fear. If there is a message that the bodies of the 237 speak, a lesson in this long history of gender violence, then surely this is it. History needs to claim no further souls to make its message clear. By the light of the candles on Nov. 20, may a prayer be said and a determination made for the 237 to rest in peace at last.” — Remembered and celebrated
[USA] Human Rights Campaign (HRC) president Joe Solmonese “said hate crimes legislation, which passed in the House and Senate last year but was dropped from a defense authorization bill before final passage, would potentially be an easier victory in the short term, since lawmakers in both chambers have passed it and Obama has announced his support for the measure. ENDA would require more work, Solmonese said; last year the House passed a non-transgender-inclusive version of the bill, and the Senate has not yet voted on it, so there would be more work needed to build support for it in both chambers.” — What can we expect from an Obama administration?
[USA] An interesting item of (trans)Americana, “The Female Teamster – a girl in men’s attire was taken from the Bowery Theatre, New York – on her examination, it appeared she had been driven from home by her step-father’s cruelty and changed her dress to make a better life – lived out in the capacity of a servant boy, clerk, followed boating on the canal, driving team, etc – she states that situated as she is, without friends, she prefers her present dress as she is far more healthy than she formerly was and is enabled the better to gain her livelihood.” — New TG Archive Acquisition: 1828 TG Newspaper
[IL, USA] Reeling 2008 (The 27th Chicago Lesbian & Gay International Film Festival), the second oldest gay and lesbian film festival in the country, starts today. Among the festival’s showings — Trinidad, SqueezeBox!, a collection of shorts including Playing with Gender, and Out Late.
[FL, USA] From Palm Beach County, Florida, the county school board “is seeking to exceed the requirements of a new anti-bullying policy, mandated by state law, to specifically prohibit harassing students who believe they were born the wrong gender and those who may be perceived as being too masculine or too feminine for their gender.” — School board to expand protections for gay students
[TX, USA] In the San Antonio Express-News today, “4.67 implies that federal law, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, outlaws employment decisions based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The fact is Title VII does not outlaw employment decisions based on sexual orientation or gender identity. However, one unelected person has issued an edict to protect sexual orientation, a decision far beyond what is required by law.” — City manager overstepping her bounds
[MI, USA] Zoe Brain comments on election day in Hamtramck, Michigan: “”We don’t want any group to get special freedom and discriminate ourselves,” said Akm Rahman, co-chairman of Hamtramck Citizens Voting No to “Special Rights.” “This is unnecessary. We have a lot of other things that need to be done (such as) taxes, crime and economic development. Those are more important issues.” And yet it’s important enough to get a ballot specifically to remove existing Human Rights. We understand. Michigan, by the way, voted 57:41 for Obama. Some issues transcend Blue and Red.” — In Other News…
[USA] From Jillian Weiss, “Personally, I am strongly committed to moving ENDA forward, as workplace equality is my area of professional expertise, and a subject about which I have profound feelings. I am putting aside my hard feelings and concentrating on catching the ball. I hope that advocates of marriage equality do the same. Yes, we got dinged. Now let’s pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off and get back to work.” — ENDA, marriage equality and moving the ball forward
[USA] Via Curtis Hinkle of OII, OII is launching its site in Chinese as part of their commemoration of Intersex Solidarity Day. For more information on activities worldwide to celebrate Intersex Solidarity Day, November 8th, see here.
The National Center for Lesbian Rights, Lambda Legal, The American Civil Liberties Union, and Equality California have issued a media release indicating the organizations are jointly challenging the legality of Proposition 8. Their position is that the initiative process cannot be used to undermine the constitution’s core commitment to equality for everyone:
The American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights filed a writ petition before the California Supreme Court today urging the court to invalidate Proposition 8 if it passes. The petition charges that Proposition 8 is invalid because the initiative process was improperly used in an attempt to undo the constitution’s core commitment to equality for everyone by eliminating a fundamental right from just one group – lesbian and gay Californians. Proposition 8 also improperly attempts to prevent the courts from exercising their essential constitutional role of protecting the equal protection rights of minorities. According to the California Constitution, such radical changes to the organizing principles of state government cannot be made by simple majority vote through the initiative process, but instead must, at a minimum, go through the state legislature first.
The California Constitution itself sets out two ways to alter the document that sets the most basic rules about how state government works. Through the initiative process, voters can make relatively small changes to the constitution. But any measure that would change the underlying principles of the constitution must first be approved by the legislature before being submitted to the voters. That didn’t happen with Proposition 8, and that’s why it’s invalid.
Having lost my faith in the basic fairness and decency of the majority Californians around 3:00 AM PST this morning, I’m hoping this latest legal maneuver is sucessful.
Who knew last December that that might be a way to cope with our difficult economic circumstances … when so many of us are not so flush anymore. In tough times, curse the darkness … and call the ACLU …
A US woman who was arrested and prosecuted for swearing at her toilet has won nearly £12,000 in compensation.
Dawn Herb’s legal fees will also be paid as part of the out of court settlement with the city of Scranton, Pennsylvania.
She was arrested last year after a neighbour, an off-duty police officer, heard her swearing at her overflowing lavatory through an open window.
She was charged with disorderly conduct and faced a possible 90 days in jail, reports the Scranton Times-Tribune.
But the judge at her trial found her not guilty, saying that swearing was not illegal and her language was constitutionally protected free speech.
Civil rights group the American Civil Liberties Union, which took up the case, announced the settlement.
“It’s clear the city was wrong,” Ms Herb said in a press release. “However, I’m glad that I was able to fight for my rights. In the end, I found justice.”
Mayor Chris Doherty voiced dissatisfaction over the incident, saying: “It is what it is.”
Brian Prowel says he was discriminated against as a factory worker because of gender stereotyping, and he wants his day in court. But his sexual orientation may prevent him from achieving that goal.
Prowel, 39, of Penn Hills in Allegheny County, worked at Wise Business Forms Inc. in Butler from 1992-2004, where he helped produce a variety of business forms.
In court papers, he stated that pervasive gender stereotyping plagued his days at the factory and that, when he complained about it, he was ultimately dismissed from his job.
Alleged acts of workplace harassment included being nicknamed “Rosebud” and “Princess” and being ridiculed for the way he walked, spoke and sat — with his legs crossed and foot swinging.
In addition, coworkers allegedly placed a feathered tiara at Prowel’s workstation and wrote graffiti about Prowel and AIDS on bathroom walls.
In 2006, Prowel filed a federal lawsuit under Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bans discrimination on the basis of sex…
Prowel is gay. Did he experience sex discrimination because of his gender expression related to how he behaved as a gay man, or did he experience discrimination exclusively because of his sexual orientation without regard to his gender expression?
When the courts try to differentiate between the two types of harassment I believe they’re trying to spilt hairs.
Functionally, I don’t see much of a difference between if discrimination or harassment occurring because of gender identity or expression or because of sexual orientation because those who harass for those reasons don’t really see much of a difference between transsexuals, crossdressers, drag queens and effeminate gay men. Discrimination cases like Prowel’s are why I believe we need as fully inclusive an ENDA as possible.
Frankly, I believe we need to plug as many legal holes as possible to minimize discrimination and sexual harassment.
Judge Robertson’s claim that the Library of Congress violated Title VII of the 1964 civil rights act by not hiring Schroer is incorrect – and judicial activism. Title VII only addresses the issue of males and females – not confused individuals who think they’re the opposite sex. Robertson’s use of this section is illegitimate and should be appealed to a higher court.
A person who thinks he’s the opposite sex is medically diagnosed as having Gender Dysphoria, which is still listed as a mental disorder in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). A person who wears opposite sex clothing has a mental illness described as transvestic fetishism in the DSM.
There is currently no federal law in effect that provides cross-dressers, transsexuals, drag queens, or she-males federally protected class status. However, efforts have been underway in Congress for years to pass legislation doing this. The brief filed by the Library of Congress in this case points out that Title VII does not protect transgendered persons from discrimination.
One of those laws is the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which has been blocked from passage by the aggressive work of TVC. ENDA originally contained protections for “gender identity” but was stripped from the bill by homosexual Barney Frank in order to get it passed.
Using a phrase I heard often while serving in the US Navy, l feel like I’m “beating a dead horse” when I point out how offensive Andrea Lafferty’s and Lou Sheldon’s language usually is regarding transgender people. They frequently refer to trans people by the incredibly offensive pejorative “she-male”.
The TVC also cites the how the American Psychiatric Association (APA) lists transgender conditions in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) — apparently as a reason why transgender people should experience employment discrimination, which by extension…
For those who don’t remember, Diane Schroer was told she was going to be hired by the U.S. Library Of Congress, and saw the decision to employ her rescinded after she told her hiring agent she was going to transition from male-to-female in the workplace.
From the ruling:
After hearing the evidence presented at trial, I conclude that Schroer was discriminated against because of sex in violation of Title VII. The reasons for that conclusion are set forth below, in two parts. First, I explain why, as a factual matter, several of the Library’s stated reasons for refusing to hire Schroer were not its “true reasons, but were pretext[s] for discrimination,” Tex. Dep’t of Cmty. Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 253 (1981). Second, I explain why the Library’s conduct, whether viewed as sex stereotyping or as discrimination literally “because of . . . sex,” violated Title VII.
…None of the five assertedly legitimate reasons that the Library has given for refusing to hire Schroer withstands scrutiny.
And…
Conclusion
In refusing to hire Diane Schroer because her appearance and background did not comport with the decisionmaker’s sex stereotypes about how men and women should act and appear, and in response to Schroer’s decision to transition, legally, culturally, and physically, from male to female, the Library of Congress violated Title VII’s prohibition on sex discrimination.
The Clerk is directed to set a conference to discuss and schedule the remedial phase of this case.
What a wonderful decision.
Great work by the ACLU on this case so far — I hope this civil rights ruling holds if there should be an appeal of the decision.
~~~~~
Related:
* Pam’s House Blend tag: Diane Schroer
[UK] “
[UK] “April Ashley, one of the first people in the world to undergo a successful sex-change operation and an icon for transsexuals across the globe, will be holding an “audience with” evening in the concert room of St George’s Hall tonight … Born George Jamieson in Liverpool in 1935 to a poor family, she describes her childhood as “horrendous”. As a little boy, her androgynous looks resulted in endless bullying, physical abuse from her mother, and culminated in her being forced to endure inhumane experimental treatments in misguided attempts to normalise her.” — 
[Canada] Toronto Sun fashion columnist Derick Chetty takes singer 
[USA] An interesting item of (trans)Americana, “The Female Teamster – a girl in men’s attire was taken from the Bowery Theatre, New York – on her examination, it appeared she had been driven from home by her step-father’s cruelty and changed her dress to make a better life – lived out in the capacity of a servant boy, clerk, followed boating on the canal, driving team, etc – she states that situated as she is, without friends, she prefers her present dress as she is far more healthy than she formerly was and is enabled the better to gain her livelihood.” — 
A US woman who was arrested and prosecuted for swearing at her toilet has won nearly £12,000 in compensation.
