We’ve already heard from Focus On The Family Action/CitizenLink on the a federal circuit court ruling in Diane Schroer’s favor regarding whether or not the Library Of Congress discriminated unlawful employment discrimination against her. Now the Traditional Values Coalition (TVC) and the Liberty Counsel (via the American Family Association’s online “news” publication OneNewsNow.

First, from the TVC’s She-Male Wins Lawsuit Against Library Of Congress:

Schroer’s Political Agenda

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…

[More below the fold.]

Read the rest of this entry »

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

… is (eternal, it would seem) vigilance … and gasoline for the car. Thanks to Jim for his continuing work and commitment to transgender rights in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Heard outside the Giant at Neelsville Village Center today, September 13, 2008: “Would you like to sign a petition to keep men out of women’s bathrooms?”

Yes, the shower-nuts are still at it. We had a comment here on the blog from someone who described an encounter with petition signature gatherers in Germantown this afternoon, so I went out there.

Let me explain. The Citizens for a Responsible Whatever wanted to have a referendum to relegalize gender identity discrimination. The highest court in the state said no, there will be no referendum. The law went into effect immediately this week. It’s in effect now, you can’t discriminate against someone on the basis of their gender identity. The deadline for filing for a referendum has passed.

[...]

There was another lady there. As I walked up she stopped somebody and said, “Would you like to sign a petition to keep men out of women’s bathrooms?”

The second lady tried to hide her face when I pointed the camera at her, but I got her before he raised her clipboard. “Too late,” I said.

She wants to gather signatures to retain the right to discriminate against a group of people but she doesn’t want you to see her face. May I suggest the white robe with matching hood?

“May I suggest … ”

Check out the rest of his post, “The Shower-Nuts Are Still At It,” here.

Yes, it is time for them to move on, but it sure didn’t happen this weekend at the Neelsville Village Center and it may not happen for quite a while yet.

Maryland’s transgender “anti-discrimination law will take effect immediately.”

Some of the early news coverage …

• Court upholds Mont. Co. trans measure
• Md. Court Blocks Referendum on Transgender Rights
• Court blocks transgendered law referendum

” … I am disappointed in the transgender community. They seem to think that if Nancy Pelosi and myself, George Miller and a few others waved a magic wand we could deliver it.” — Congressman Barney Frank speaking Monday in Denver with Towleroad about a trans-inclusive ENDA (Employment Non-Discrimination Act)

Some of the transgender news and views we came across on Tuesday …

#1 - Autumn spoke with Shannon Minter And Mara Keisling yesterday at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. You can hear that here. And, if it’s your cup of tea, there’s plenty more coverage of the DNC at Pam’s House Blend.

#2 - “Removing ’some’ of the inequalities” … “still a political problem” … “has enough lobbying been done?” … so, to whom do you think Barney Frank’s referring?

…

He added that the Employment Non Discrimination Act still presented “a political problem.”

It was originally designed to make it illegal to fire, refuse to hire or promote a person based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

The decision to remove trans people from the scope of the legislation caused anger among the LGBT community in the US, with many demanding an “all or nothing” stance.

“The question now is whether enough lobbying has been done to include people who are transgender,” Congressman Frank said.

“We need more lobbying on that. We had a very good hearing on that issue and it helped. Previously, we were running into problems getting it out of committee, and I think the hearing we had a major impact on that. It also depends on if we get more Democrats.”

…

Congressman attacks gays who support McCain

Kat Rose over at ENDAblog had something to say about “more Democrats” …

And wait for those 15 to be ‘educated’ by those who say that they have our best interests at heart.

And then wait for him to say 15 more are needed.

#3 - Joshua Lynsen of the Washington Blade spoke with Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley at the DNC in Denver on Monday. Lynsen asked O’Malley about Montgomery County’s (Md.) upcoming transgender rights referendum …

Blade: Last question. There is a transgender rights measure that is going to the ballot in Montgomery County in November. Do you expect to become involved in that battle at all to help protect the rights of transgender people?

O’Malley: You know, I think we passed a similar bill in the city of Baltimore when I was mayor, if my memory serves me correctly. So, you know, there are bills at the local level. There’s bills at the state level. I typically don’t get involved with local ordinances. I try to focus my attention on statewide bills. But we did it in the city of Baltimore and dogs and cats didn’t fall from the sky. You know? It was — I think these bills — I don’t know. I think it would probably be a good thing for Montgomery County to do. I don’t have the legislation in front of me, but if it’s like what we did in Baltimore, it caused no problems whatsoever.

Blade: So it’s got your thumbs up?

O’Malley: Yes.

O’Malley reiterates call for civil unions

#4 - We haven’t heard much about Susan Stanton since early April (”Wife Seeks Amicable Divorce From Ex-Largo Manager Susan“). As a follow-up to that news, the Tampa Tribune reported yesterday …

Susan Stanton, the former Largo city manager known as Steven Stanton before a sex change, has mediated his divorce from his wife of 18 years, according to court documents.

The agreement was signed off on by a Pinellas-Pasco judge on Aug. 6.

…

Transgendered Ex-Largo Manager Gets Divorce Terms

The St. Petersburg Times noted (”Stanton’s marriage comes to an end“) that Stanton “has a good relationship with her ex-wife, but she has lost most of her friends” and “has been unable to find work.”

#5 - In the UK, the late Lynne Braithwaite was honored last Friday …

A FLY-PAST of a lone Vulcan bomber across Morecambe on Friday was a
fitting tribute to a leading transgender activist, author and RAF veteran of 40 years.

The life of Lynne Janine Braithwaite BEM, who died on August 12, was celebrated at a packed Lancaster Cremator-ium where friends and family said their farewells to a remarkable person.

They included the Deputy Chief Constable of Lancashire police force, who gave a speech outlining Lynne’s involvement as a volunteer advisor on transgender issues, who toured the country speaking at various seminars and workshops – fighting for the rights of all transgender people.

The fly-past of the Vulcan bomber was in honour of the work carried out by Lynne as an engineer on the Vulcan to the Sky project – a campaign to get the Vulcan airborne again which was only achieved months before Lynne passed away.

Lynne, of Westfield Grove in Morecambe, certainly led an inspirational life.

She was born Lawrence James Braithwaite on July 1, 1934 in one of Beatrix Potter’s houses at Near Sawrey in the Lake District.

She left school to join the RAF in September 1949, retiring as a Flight Sergeant on July 1 1989.

Lynne was awarded the British Empire Medal in the Queen’s Honours List in 1976.

Her expertise was maintenance of Vulcan bombers. It was with this experience that she was called out of retirement as engineering consultant to the Vulcan to the Sky Trust.

In early 2008 the Vulcan bomber XH558 passed its airworthiness tests and flew once again. Lynne was very proud of this achievement and it was therfore entirely appropriate that the plane was present at her funeral.

After leaving the RAF Lynne ran her own business making silver model aircraft until 1992, when it went bust during the recession.

Not long after her transition to female in 1994 aged 60, she contacted Lancashire Constabulary asking what policies and procedures they had regarding transgender people.

Lynne had significant input advising on best practice for trans people as service users and employees in the police service.

Until July 2008 she remained an active member of Lancashire Northern Police Division’s Independent Advisors Group where, over the years, she was consulted on a number of policing issues and policies. At the time of her death she was also an active member of Trans Lancs group – an advisory team for the constabulary, keeping them up to date with the legal and social issues affecting trans people.

She wrote several books including ‘Diaries of a Transfemale’ and ‘From Brigands to V Bombers’.

The Press For Change website, which campaigns for respect and equality for all transgender people, paid tribute to her: “Lynne was a vibrant, indefatigable person who was always active and approach-ed life with the enthusiasm of someone decades younger. She will be greatly missed.”

Fly-past tribute to RAF veteran

Transgender news and views for Monday …

#1 - Autumn flew into Denver yesterday where she will be covering the Democratic National Convention for Pam’s House Blend. Among the other trans folks in Denver for the Convention (as delegates) are Marisa Richmond and Vanessa Foster.

#2 - Testimony concluded last Friday in Diane Schroer’s bias suit against the Library of Congress …

A federal judge yesterday concluded a four-day bench trial in a lawsuit brought by a former Special Forces commander who lost a job offer as a terrorism research analyst at the Library of Congress because he disclosed he was undergoing the medical process of becoming a woman.

U.S. District Judge James Robertson heard testimony from more than a dozen witnesses, including scientific experts, officials at the Library of Congress and Diane Schroer, the former Army colonel who brought the suit. Robertson said he would issue a ruling soon.

Schroer, who applied for the job in 2004 under the name of David and has since completed the medical transition to become a woman, testified that she was hurt when she lost the job offer after disclosing the transition to the person she thought would be her future boss. She filed the sex discrimination suit under the Civil Rights Act. The Library of Congress has argued that the Civil Rights Act does not prohibit discrimination against transsexuals or on the basis of gender identity.

Testimony Ends in Transsexual Bias Suit

#3 - JimK at Vigilance, who’s been closely following the fate of Montgomery County’s (Md.) recently-passed transgender rights law, expressed some exasperation yesterday with the wimpy, “croquet” tactics of the law’s supporters …

Look, this isn’t croquet we’re playing here, this is a fistfight. The other side has been throwing punches for months, and our side is waiting for funding so we can have a poll so we can decide what we want to tell people. “Making information available” is important and so obvious it shouldn’t need to be said. It is also not a persuasion strategy. People who want information need to be able to find it, I agree. But your average ignorant voter doesn’t care that much and isn’t going to look for it. If you want to give them information you’ve got to give it to them. In their face.

“Prohibit discrimination” is the wimpiest campaign slogan I can imagine. It’s got more syllables than impact. The people of our Blue county oppose discrimination, and would support this bill if they knew what it said. That’s why we elected the Council who passed it unanimously and the County Executive who was happy to sign it. But the anti-gay, anti-transgender bigots are making sure people don’t know what the law is about. They’re not conducting polls and adjusting their message for the “median voter,” they’re waving their arms and getting red in the face, telling lies and misrepresenting the law in any way that will get people’s attention. When one side is saying your daughter will be raped and dead girls will be turning up all over the county, “prohibit discrimination” is not an effective response.

…

Woman Fired For Wearing Pants

Over at the Maryland Politics Watch blog, Montgomery County trans woman Maryanne Arnow recounts the discrimination she has faced …

In the last year, I’ve had to face distinct increases in discrimination and denigration from the general public in the normal course of my daily life. This is occurring directly as a result of a local campaign from conservative groups that continually foster unwarranted fears, stereotypical misrepresentations, and highly negative references to transgender people, in the public eye of perception.

I have faced extreme social and workplace humiliations in the last several years since beginning my transition (change) of gender. I have applied at dozens of restaurants, retail stores, warehouses, and even major hotel chains such as Marriott, most located in Montgomery County.

…

As it now stands, it is both legal and apparently still socially acceptable to discriminate against anyone like myself in hiring, workplace, housing, public services, and public accommodations. I once again have no civil rights or legal protections at any level. Not federal, state, or county, and mainly as a direct result of the actions of these groups to force a referendum on this law.

We have been burned at the stake, in the use of guilt by association to other highly negative stereotypes such as pedophiles and sexual predators. This has nothing to do with transgender people whatsoever. This is an outright lie. It is a crass, cruel, and disgusting distortion. This is an utter fallacy to the fullest extent that it has been used by these groups.

As a fellow citizen, neighbor, wife, and daughter - as a warm and articulate person, and skilled professional Culinary Artist, I have found this intolerably painful. This is entirely unacceptable by any ethical standard that I know of. There have been direct, and deeply negative impacts on my life as a result of such discriminatory behaviors.

Enough is enough. Help restore my most basic civil rights, and overrule the falsehoods being spread by these groups, once and for all.

Living with Discrimination as a Transgender Woman

#4 - Over at Trans Universe, Angela Brightfeather would like a “simple question” answered …

That simple question is:

“Senator Obama, would you veto an exclusive version of the Employment Non Discrimination Act if it did not include employment protections for transgender people?”

It’s a tough question to ask a man who believes in not impeding any rights bill from passing, but it is an important question to ask. If the answer is anything but “Yes,” I will take my vote on November and either find someone else to vote for, or just sit this one out and encourage everyone to do the same until people come to realize that this makes common sense.

And, the big question for Senator Obama is . . . . ?

#5 - It’s raining a bit tonight in Asheville … it’s been so long I feel like streaking into the night. Night all.

Law.com and the National Law Journal have a new piece up on retired Army Colonel Diane Schroer’s pending case before the federal court in Washington, DC. This looks as if it may turn out to be the most significant case regarding transgender people and federal employment to ever reach the courts.

The ACLU has summed up the story behind Col. Schroer’s case as follows:

Diane interviewed for a job as a terrorism research analyst at the Library of Congress and accepted the position, but the job offer was rescinded when she told her future supervisor that she was in the process of gender transition. The ACLU is now representing her in a Title VII sex discrimination lawsuit against the Library of Congress. This is her testimony.

She described her case at the recent Congressional Hearing on Transgender Discrimination:

Arthur Leonard of the New York Law School said this about the case:

This is potentially very significant, partly because the case is against the federal government, which could impact federal employment policy and people all over the country. It also is addressing an emerging issue as to whether people whose gender identity differs from the norm would be protected by the law’s provisions against sex discrimination [in Title VII].

[More below the fold.]

Read the rest of this entry »

Do the rights of religious freedom and free speech, as guaranteed in both the federal and the California Constitutions, exempt a medical clinic’s physicians from complying with the California Unruh Civil Rights Act’s prohibition against discrimination based on a person’s sexual orientation? Our answer is no.

In a unanimous decision, the California Supreme Court today reversed an appeals court’s that allowed an improper affirmative defense. And, that improper defense was …

…[an] affirmative defense…stating that defendants’ “alleged misconduct, if any” was protected by the rights of free speech and freedom of religion set forth in the federal and state Constitutions.

This means that a “first amendment” defense against compliance with California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act’s prohibitions against discrimination isn’t an acceptable reason to discriminate in the public marketplace.

The San Diego Union-Tribune summed up the case and ruling as follows:

The California Supreme Court ruled Monday that doctors can’t use their religious beliefs as a reason to refuse treatment to patients because doing so violates the state’s anti-discrimination law.

The unanimous decision came in the case of an Oceanside lesbian couple who are suing two doctors at a North County clinic. They claim the doctors would not perform a certain artificial insemination procedure because their strong Christian beliefs prevented them from impregnating a lesbian couple.

The closely watched case pitted religious freedom rights guaranteed in the constitution against California’s strong anti-discrimination laws, which bar businesses from discriminating against customers and clients based on certain characteristics such as race, gender, age and sexual orientation.

The Los Angeles Times addedn:

In a unanimous decision, the state high court said a state antidiscrimination law trumps the religious freedom rights of doctors in such cases.

If doctors do not want to help lesbians have children, they must refuse to perform the procedures for all patients, the court said.

The ruling stemmed from a lawsuit by a San Diego woman who contended that Christian doctors at a clinic told her they could not help her become pregnant because their religion condemned having children outside of opposite-sex marriages.

This is a huge win for fair-minded Californians.

~~~~~
Further reading:
* Lambda Legal: Benitez v. North Coast Women’s Care Medical Group
* : State Supreme Court says doctors must treat gays and lesbians

~~~~~
Related:
* Do Your Damn Job
* Group flips on whether religion lets doctors refuse to inseminate lesbians

Looks like Andrea Lafferty and company bought a bale of straw recently, because she appears to have built a straw man last Friday (August 15, 2008):

The platform draft approved Aug. 9 by the party’s 186-member Platform Committee apparently omits two controversial issues which had been in the 2004 Democrat Platform. There is no mention of the words “gay” or “lesbian or the party’s opposition to a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

Why would the Democrats eliminate (or appear to eliminate) these two key provisions. Because they read polls, too and know that the American people are opposed to homosexual marriage. And since Obama is trying to convince Christians and African-Americans of his alleged “faith,” specifically courting the Christian vote, he can’t let those folks know his rabidly pro-homosexual/transgender stand. They are deliberately trying to hide the homosexual agenda in the Platform by using terms most Americans find unfamiliar.

…It was not “specificity” that they were after–but cover. This amendment strategy was done intentionally to avoid any public discussion or paper trail of the strong support for the homosexual/transgender agenda by Senator Obama and the Democrat party.

–Andrea Lafferty, writing for the Traditional Values Coalition’s (TVC’s) 2008 Democrat Platform - The Most Pro-Homosexual/Transgender Ever And Incredibly Deceptive

Ah! That was exactly it, Andrea! How did you find out? Was it you’re quick-witted spies, covertly planted within Homosexual Agenda, Inc., that have cleverly ascertained Sen. Obama’s and the Homosexual Agenda-eers nefarious plans? Or did the clouds part, and God reveal to you in a booming voice the nefarious plans of Sen. Obama and the Homosexual Agenda-eers? Either way, your deft analysis wouldn’t in no way resembles a straw man argument, right?

Because, as you know, it really was good cover because no one is discussing LGBT issues related to the Democratic Platform except your organization. Well, exept for those other “Christian” media outlets discussing these same issues (here, here, and here, for example), the LGBT media outlets discussing these same issues (here, here, and here, for example), and the main stream media outlets discussing these same issues (here, here, and here, for example) — so you’re so right that that using the terms sexual orientation and gender idenity and expression instead of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender has been great cover for the quashing of public discussion of the Democratic Platform’s take on LGBT issues.

[Below the fold, the TVC's hypocritical stance on"personal attacks and mudslinging".]

Read the rest of this entry »

Jeez, I thought trans-sexuals were too limp-wristed to do that, Pete …

Anyway, from NoNewsNow, this “news” …

A 53-year-old man has filed a complaint with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission after the City of Cleveland refused to allow him to use the women’s locker rooms and restrooms at a local public swimming pool.

The man, who will only identify himself as “Karen Deamons,” claims to be a woman even though he has been married to women twice and is the father of three children. The city has tried to accommodate the man by allowing him to use private toilet stalls as a dressing room.

“But it’s still not good enough,” says Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality. “He’s demanding his so-called ‘rights’ — ‘rights’ which are literally being created out of thin air by activist judges and activist law based on this absurd notion that a man can be ‘a woman’ because that’s how he feels he is,” he criticizes.

LaBarbera says he is genuinely saddened by the efforts of gender-confused people such as Deamons to pretend to be someone they are not. “The last thing he told the Cleveland Plain Dealer was, ‘I want the city to let me go through the ladies restroom as a normal woman. That’s who I am and what I am.’ And, obviously, if this man were really a ‘normal woman,’ there would not be any controversy,” he points out.

According to LaBarbera, trans-sexuals are shaking their fist in God’s face and demanding to be treated as they want to be rather than as they were created. He warns that thousands of similar complaints and lawsuits can be expected as transsexual activists become emboldened by support from activist judges and legislators.

Trans-sexual files complaint against Cleveland, OH

I am genuinely sad for Pete. It’s not just the “existential emptiness this poor man has” that Wayne Besen referred to — it’s the obvious “financial emptiness” of his … which leads him to “prostitute” himself like this to make ends meet. And, I don’t know, but — speaking of the world’s oldest occupation — it seems to me that the “sex trade” would at least be a more honest form of prostitution for him to pursue.

Can’t help it … but the headline on Tommi Avicolli Mecca’s article in Beyond Chron today about the Human Rights Campaign’s fundraiser in San Francisco brought to mind an image of a big room full of Roys and Silos …

~~~

Related …

Enda United: We will not be divided

Lesbian activist ousted from HRC dinner

Here’s a CBS5 news report on the planned boycott of the event by supporters of transgender rights …

“Hiring one transgender person, or giving half-hearted apologies, doesn’t cut it. They need to be accountable. They need to do the right thing.” — Robert Haaland

Here we go: What I’ve been reading online today, paired with an open thread to discuss these articles, or stuff you find interesting.

- Marriage rights celebration, ‘D-List’ celeb among celebration’s highlights. Excerpt:

After 34 years of celebrating diversity and rights for the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community in San Diego, the local organization Pride San Diego is reaping the rewards of activism and education.

Comment: I’m volunteering at the Transgender/TASC booth on Saturday, and the Scouting For All booth on Sunday.

The Scouting For All booth is extremely important to me. I have an Eagle Scout son, and I two other sons in scouting. If it were known that my two sons who are still in the Boy Scouts had a transgender parent, in accordance with how the Boy Scouts Of America’s national policy is applied, my sons would be kicked out of scouting. For me, protesting against the Boy Scouts has a lot to do with them discriminating against youth because of how their parents identify their sexuality or gender identity.

- DiversityInc: Jena 6 Aftermath: Nooses Punishable By Prison. Excerpt:

Nine months after the nation began witnessing an uptick in the number of reported noose sightings following the furor over the Jena 6 incident in Louisiana, lawmakers there, as well as in Connecticut and New York, have made hanging a noose a crime punishable by imprisonment. And more states are likely to follow.

Since September of last year, the number of reported noose incidents nationally jumped to nearly 80, according to the DiversityInc Noose Watch, the first and only tracker of national reported noose sightings.

- San Francisco Chronicle: 24% of state high-schoolers likely to drop out. Excerpt:

Nearly 1 in 4 California students will drop out during high school, state educators said Wednesday, basing their prediction on what they said is the most accurate information about student attendance they’ve ever collected.

Using a new student-tracking system, state educators found that 127,292 high school students in ninth through 12th grade quit school during the 2006-07 school year. That means 24 percent of incoming freshmen won’t stay in school long enough to graduate, researchers said, assuming that pace remains steady.

…The new dropout rate is far higher than the 13 percent educators had earlier estimated using less-sophisticated counting methods they had relied on for years.

Comment: I wonder what the graduation and dropout rates are for LGBT youth — I did a quick look this morning, and couldn’t find any statistics on the subject. I’m sure they’re out there, but I’m not sure where to look for the stats.

- MSNBC: Gore pitches 10-year shift to clean energy; Former VP praises Obama, McCain on climate issue, sees huge opportunity. Excerpt:

Just as John F. Kennedy set his sights on the moon, Al Gore is challenging the nation to produce every kilowatt of electricity through wind, sun and other climate-friendly energy sources within 10 years, an audacious goal he hopes the next president will embrace.

- Bay Windows: A novel defense: Convict’s bid for retrial hinges on alleged anti-trans discrimination against potential juror. Excerpt:

At first glance the murder trial of Roxbury gang member Sam Smith, known as “Fat Sam” according to press reports, seems to have little to do with transgender civil rights. In June 2001 a jury convicted Smith of first-degree murder for shooting and killing a member of a rival gang in Roxbury’s Ramsey Park in 1991. But Smith and his attorney, David Mirsky, are hoping that the U.S. Supreme Court will force the state to grant Smith a retrial on the grounds that one of the prosecutors in the case allegedly dismissed a juror because the juror appeared to be transgender.

- Los Angeles Times: Blue Shield sued for allegedly lying about its coverage; L.A. city attorney’s suit contends Blue Shield of California has illegally rescinded the coverage of more than 850 policyholders since 2002.

Comment: * sigh *

- The Lesbian & Gay Foundation (UK): Open meeting held for gay community and local police. Excerpt:

On Monday July 28, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community will have an opportunity to meet representatives from Merseyside Police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to discuss homophobia and hate crime.

The meeting, organised by the Police, the CPS, Terrence Higgins Trust, Wirral LGBT forum and Trans Wirral will be held from 6.30 -8.30pm at The Lauries Centre in Birkenhead.

The open meeting, ‘Merseyside Police and Hate Crime response’ allows members of the LGBT community to meet directly with representatives of Merseyside Police and the CPS to address concerns around homophobic and transphobic incidents and other safety concerns. Homophobic incidents and attacks are often under reported and this meeting will provide a forum for open and honest dialogue.

Comment: I hope this clears some air, but my guess is that bad feelings from the incident that precipitated this meeting are going to linger for awhile.

Last month the City Council and mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan voted to expand that city’s antidiscrimination protections to include discrimination based on one’s sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.

When such protections have been enacted in other places in the country, such as