I’m referring here to the news coverage of the City of Gainesville, Florida’s anti-discrimination ordinance, which City Commissioners passed just about one year ago.

The Associated Press news story, “Fla. conservatives fight transgender restroom rule” (and there are headline variations) is getting a great deal of attention.  (I follow transgender-related news every day — have for many years — and that’s a lot of attention.)

With the economy going down the toilet, I don’t find it very surprising that many of the folks who cheerleaded for those who brought it on — are ramping up diversionary societal acrimony.

It’s been going on in Montgomery County (Maryland) too, among other places, and I expect it will become (even more so) staple fare for the LaBarberas, the Barbers, the Sheldons and the like.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A blond girl heads from a playground into a women’s restroom. A scruffy man, lurking outside, darts in behind her. ”Your City Commission Made This Legal,” the words on the TV screen read.

The dark ad came from opponents of a gender identity provision added last year to the city’s anti-discrimination ordinance, which now allows the city’s roughly 100 transgender residents to use whichever restroom they’re most comfortable using.

Foes want to repeal the new protection with a March 24 ballot measure that has divided Gainesville, a generally gay-friendly university city surrounded by staunchly conservative north Florida.

Those who support the transgender protections say their opponents are really unleashing a broader attack on the rights of gay, lesbian and transgender individuals in general.

The city commission approved the restroom provision by a 4-3 vote a year ago. Before the ink could dry, Bible-quoting opponents angrily began working for its repeal.

”You are trying to operate in a realm you do not have the authority to operate in,” one pastor, George Brantley, told the commissioners.

The debate is expected to become noisier as the ballot nears with opponents resorting to more TV ads and campaigns pegged to such slogans as ”Keep Men out of Women’s Restrooms and vice versa.”

Organizations defending transgender rights are mustering their own campaign.

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force notes 108 cities and counties nationwide have similar transgender protections. An attempt to repeal an ordinance in Montgomery County, Md., failed when a court ruled opponents did not collect enough signatures to place it on the ballot.

Citizens for Good Public Policy, the group behind the commercial that aired last summer in Gainesville, collected more than 6,000 signatures last summer to win a referendum. If approved, the repeal measure would also prevent the commission from adding protections beyond what the state requires: race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability and marital status.

Cain Davis, chairman of Citizens for Good Public Policy, said the issue is about regulating a ”government gone wild” and ensuring public safety, charging that sexual predators could now simply enter a women’s restroom claiming to be a transgender individual.

”We know when men go into women’s restrooms, bad things can happen,” Davis said.

City Commissioner Craig Lowe, leader of a group called Equality is Gainesville’s Business, called the ads from Davis’ group a grossly distorted attempt to whip up fears.

Lowe’s group believes anti-discrimination protections for people who change their sexual orientation are good for business and foster diversity. He noted that 433 of the Fortune 500 companies have policies covering sexual orientation and 153 cover gender identity.

Since the ordinance took effect, police have reported no problems in public restrooms stemming from the law.

Retired postal worker Donna Lee, who became a female with surgery in 2001, moved to Gainesville from Ocala last March after hearing about the anti-discrimination ordinance. The 60-year-old is working to save the protections.

”We just want to live our lives with the basic civil rights that everyone else has,” Lee said.

But some are taking no chances.

Computer programmer Clare Holman, who was born male but now lives as a female, said she simply stays away from public toilets.

”I don’t want to run afoul of the law by using the wrong restroom,” Holman said.

——

On the Net:

Equality is Gainesville’s Business: http://equalitygainesville.com

Citizens for Good Public Policy: http://citizensforgoodpublicpolicy.org

~~~~~

Related …

The View From (Ab)Normal Heights

City of Gainesville: Gender Identity Anti-discrimination Ordinance Legislative History (PDF)

City of Gainesville: Meeting Agenda (1/28/08) (PDF) [see pages 40-42]

City Of Gainesville: Ordinance No. 051225 (1/28/08) (PDF)

Transgender ordinance backlash (2/3/08) (St.Petersburg Times)

I was very surprised to hear the news that my friend Diego Sanchez is going to by Rep. Barney Frank’s (D-MA) new Legislative Assistant — a senior policy advisor to the congressman. Mr. Sanchez is going to be taking over for Joe Racalto at Rep. Frank’s Washington DC Congressional office — Sanchez’s new workplace is going to be a congressional office in Washington DC’s Labor Building.

As Rep. Frank’s Legislative Assistant, Sanchez will be responsible for tracking LGBT, healthcare, veterans, and labor issues, as well as issues regarding the 2010 census. The confluence of LGBT issues and the 2010 census will be if or how LGBT couples are counted — is the federal government going to count how many same sex couples’ have formed domestic partnerships, civil unions, or marriages within states that recognize these unions? Are they going to count the children of these relationships in a way that reflects these children’s legal parentage? Sanchez will be the one tracking this particular concern for Rep. Frank and our LGBT community, and working to see that our LGBT families are counted in a manner that accurately counts our families.

Just looking at his LinkedIn profile, there is just no doubt that Sanchez’s 30-years of experience in Healthcare, HIV/AIDS, press relations, communications, and LGBT issues, as well as his experience as being on the DNC Platform Committee and an At-Large Delegate at last year’s Democratic National Convention, shows that he’s extremely well qualified for his new position.

So why report on this new hire in Rep. Frank’s Office? Well, not only is Diego Sanchez a well-qualified candidate applying for a congressional job, but Sanchez is also Latino; Sanchez is also a transman. As a transman, he’ll be the first out trans person to ever work as a senior staffer in a DC congressional office.

And, Diego Sanchez’s hire by Rep. Frank not only breaks the DC congressional office barrier for trans people, but he breaks that barrier for trans people of color:

As a Latino, formerly as a Latina woman, and now as a transman, I’ve been a lot of ‘firsts’ but it doesn’t make me token. It makes me first to get a chance and it usually feels tardy, for me and many others who are capable but don’t get a shot.
–Diego Sanchez

Perhaps surprisingly, Sanchez isn’t the first trans person to ever work as senior staff for a congressperson. Rep. Norm Coleman (R-MN) has employed Susan Kimberly as his Chief of Staff in his home district office.

[More below the fold.]

Read the rest of this entry »

How to run an effective divide-and-conquer strategy is something that the leadership in the LGBT civil rights organizations showed the opposition how to do in the 2007/2008 ENDA battle. As many recall, LGBT community leadership splayed out for “Christian” right organizations the divide over gender identity and expression language and the civil rights trans people.

Well, I look at the recent piece from Bay Windows / EdgeBoston entitled Mass Family Institute is down, but is it out?, and realize we’re looking ahead again at yet another divide-and-conquer the LGBT community over trans people campaign; at another fear-based campaign that’s going to focus on the idea of predator men-in-dresses using public bathrooms. From the article (emphasis added):

By most visible measures the Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI), which just two years ago was well positioned to place a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage on this year’s ballot, is at a low point in its influence on Bay State politics. Its amendment campaign failed in 2007, and last summer it stood powerless as the House and Senate pushed through a repeal of the 1913 law, clearing the way for out-of-state same-sex couples to marry in Massachusetts. And despite MFI’s efforts to elect social conservatives to the legislature this fall, groups like MassEquality were able to increase the number of same-sex marriage supporters in the 200-member legislature from 151 to 158. National allies on the religious right, such as MFI’s parent organization Focus on the Family and its spin-off, Family Research Council, spent thousands of dollars in prior years to fund MFI’s marriage amendment campaign, but they appear to have largely withdrawn from their involvement in Massachusetts in 2008.

Yet MFI President Kris Mineau said the future looks bright for his organization and the social conservative movement in Massachusetts.

“I believe the outlook for MFI is very positive, because as we say in the fighter pilot business, this is a target-rich environment,” said Mineau, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force.

He said MFI is open to pushing for another marriage amendment in the future if it becomes viable. In the meantime the organization will press forward lobbying on a range of issues including opposition to abortion, casino gambling, pornography and comprehensive sex education. MFI’s top priority in the upcoming session is defeating a bill to amend the state’s hate crimes and non-discrimination laws to add gender identity and expression protections. The bill was first filed in the current session and died in committee.

So now we see a predictable LGBT target, and from previous bathroom predator campaigns from the opposition in the past couple of years we know what their ads are going to sound like:

http://www.pamshouseblend.com/upload/Autumn/FOTF_05-21-08_sb200_PredatorBathroomAd.mp3

And look like:

In this time where resources are much scarcer, and LGBT people have been dissatisfied to how the No On Prop 8 Campaign was run by LGBT civil rights organizations, how much in the way of resources are LGBT civil rights organizations going to devote to basic civil rights issues over other LGBT issues, such as marriage equality? And assuming a civil rights organization is willing to devote precious resources to a transgender civil rights effort, how much money will LGBT people donate to any LGBT causes when many of these folk 1) have limited resources themselves, and 2) no longer trust the LGBT leadership to run effective political campaigns?

And perhaps most importantly, is the LGBT community again going to be divided-and-conquered over civil rights related to the phrase gender identity and expression? — over bathrooms? Not just in Massachusetts regarding state law, but nationally regarding ENDA?

I believe that now is the time to prepare for the predictable future. It would be a shame to see the LGBT community caught flatfooted yet again over predictable arguments that we can expect to see from our opposition.

[Below the fold: A comment, apparently made by a gay man, regarding transphobia that goes to the point on how gender identity and expression is a dividing point for LGBT community. Warning: lots of profanity and insults to trans people.]

Read the rest of this entry »

News and views for Thursday, December 4th and Friday, December 5th …

[FL, USA] “On March 24, registered voters in the city of Gainesville will decide whether the city’s anti-discrimination ordinance should be the same as Florida state anti-discrimination statute. If local law were altered to mirror the state statute, the change would eliminate the words “sexual preference” and “gender identity” from the classes of people in Gainesville who are granted equal access to housing, employment, public accommodation and credit. Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan emphasized Thursday that without the city’s added protections, it is perfectly legal for a business owner to refuse to serve a gay person or for a landlord to deny housing to a transgender individual. She said the city has chosen to protect these people from discrimination. “If you take away your community’s right to do that and cede that right to the state, then you defacto say, that, ‘OK, we are willing to allow those discriminations.’ “” — Commissioners OK amendment wording

[NY, USA] “Rejecting a trial judge’s objection that a gendered name-change would cause “confusion,” a unanimous panel of the New York Appellate Division in Albany ruled on November 26 that the person formerly known as Earl William Golden III should be allowed to take the name Elizabeth Whitney Golden. However, the appellate court also ruled that Justice Jeffrey A Tait, the Broome County trial judge who had denied the name-change petition, should include in his order a statement that the name change could not be used as proof of a change of sex.” — Trans Name Change Win

[OH, USA] In Cleveland, the “City Council is well on its way to including transgender people in the city’s non-discrimination code and creating Ohio’s third domestic partner registry. Ordinances to do both were been approved on December 1 by council’s Legislative Committee and will likely be passed by the full council at their December 8 meeting. Mayor Frank Jackson is expected to sign both the registry and the measure to add gender identity to the city’s equal rights ordinances, said his spokesperson Maureen Harper. The equality ordinances have included “sexual orientation” since 1994 … The bill’s sponsor, [Council member] Joe Santiago, asked if there was a need to add the phrase “and expression” after “gender identity” in the bill’s wording. [ACLU staff attorney Carrie] Davis said adding “expression” would be a broader definition and more inclusive. After discussion, however, Santiago and the members agreed that the measure’s definition of “gender identity” essentially includes “expression.”” — Partner registry and TG rights bills approved

[OH, USA] And, in Columbus, “Ohio’s capital city is considering changes to its human rights ordinances to add protection based on gender identity or expression. The proposed ordinance will be introduced December 8 by councilor Priscilla Tyson, who chairs the administration committee. Tyson was appointed to city council in 2007 to fill the seat vacated by openly lesbian Mary Jo Hudson, who resigned to become the Ohio insurance commissioner. The ordinance updates sections of city code covering employment non-discrimination, fair housing, public accommodations and ethnic intimidation.” — Columbus prepares to add gender identity protections

[USA] From today’s Washington Blade editorial: “In the fight for ENDA last year, many members of Congress who agreed to vote for an ENDA bill that protected gays and lesbians wouldn’t vote for the bill if transgender people were included. No demand by the House leadership was going to get their votes for two reasons: First, many didn’t really understand the meaning of transgender; second, some felt that even if they understood they couldn’t justify that vote to their constituents who didn’t in the next election. In the future, if we can harness the energy displayed by members of our community and our straight allies after the defeat of Prop 8, we have a chance to change this outcome.” — Now what?

[USA] Michael Gross is not the only person who’s angry. From a cynical and angry Vanessa Edwards Foster, “However, the trans community’s movement – simply the essential desire of being able to survive and earn a living – is currently being overwritten, completely occluded from public sight and vanishing before our very eyes. ‘[W]e are angry, probably not least at ourselves for our own complacency and cowardice, for not working as hard as we could, for not giving as much as we could, and for letting so much slip from our grasp.‘ Nearly forty years after the late Marsha P. Johnson, former NTAC member Sylvia Rivera and others created this current popular movement’s flashpoint at Stonewall, the trans community anger will not be quelled, nor will we be sated. Will we simply allow ourselves to disappear? Those of us who’ve had virtually nothing to begin with will not relinquish our grasp on what little we do have. There are far too many of us that remember, far too many of us that are still left out. We will not go quietly into that dark night. Enter the Retributive Era.” — Trans Rights Movement Is Disappearing Before Our Eyes

[USA] We’re not just angry, we’re “thrilled” too. — Homosexual/Transgender Lobby Thrilled With Obama Team

[Australia] “The Federal Government’s human rights arm plans to invent a new official status called “intersex” adding it to male and female as a legally recognised gender. The Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission wants people to be able to change their gender on their passports and driving licences even if they do not undergo surgery. And transgender lobby groups say that even this does not go far enough and are demanding a fourth legal gender called “other” for people who feel like their gender is indefinable or changes from day to day. The extraordinary proposals are contained in a discussion paper quietly issued to transgender and transexual advocates by the commission, a statutory body that advises the Government on such matters. The paper, entitled Sex Files - The legal recognition of sex: Proposed reform, says the introduction of the new “intersex” gender is a “key feature of the reform proposal being developed by the commission”. “Recognition of intersex: Persons who cannot or do not identify as either male or female would be able to choose to be identified on their birth certificate and passport as intersex,” it says. “A person who cannot or chooses not to undergo surgery would not be automatically ineligible to request a change in their legal sex.”" — Government human rights arm pushes for third gender

[Canada] “Transgendered porn star Buck Angel —who bills himself as “the man with a pussy” —makes a lucrative living selling and starring in adult DVDs (Buckback Mountain, Buck Off) and streaming videos. The demographics of his audience offer some surprising insight regarding gay and lesbian desires. “Eighty percent of my customer base is gay men. Twenty percent is female —bisexual, straight and gay,” explains Angel. “I get a lot of gay men writing me letters about how they are so turned on by me and they can’t believe it and what does that make them, are they now straight? My vagina freaks people out, especially gay men,” he says. “They are attracted to me as a person but because I have a vagina, it just totally throws them for a loop, they can’t wrap their head around it.” Angel says he has seen and heard many horror stories about the treatment of trans folks by gays and lesbians. “Twenty years ago, I identified as a dyke. When I started transitioning, the dyke community ostracized me; every single one of my friends wanted nothing to do with me. There was no knowledge about what was going on then. “Funnily enough, a lot of people have called me since then, asking me how they go about transitioning now.”" — The evolution of desire: How trans people are challenging our understanding of same-sex attraction

[UK] “The applause was heartfelt, but few of the hundreds of immaculately dressed ladies celebrating at the NatWest Everywoman Awards at the Dorchester yesterday were aware that entrepreneur Kate Craig-Wood, who won one of the main prizes, started life as a man. She certainly doesn’t feel she got the award under false pretences, telling me: ‘I officially became a woman two years ago.’” — A woman’s winning touch

[UK] The Endocrine Society has published its draft guidelines for the endocrine treatment of transsexual persons. The conclusions set forth in the guidelines were as follows: “Transsexual persons seeking to develop the physical characteristics of the appropriate gender require a safe and effective hormone regimen that will 1) suppress endogenous hormone secretion determined by the person’s genetic/biologic sex and 2) maintain sex hormone levels within the normal range for the person’s gender. A mental health professional (MHP) must recommend endocrine treatment and participate in the ongoing care throughout the endocrine transition. The endocrinologist must confirm the diagnostic criteria the MHP used to make this recommendation and collaborate with the MHP in making the recommendation for surgical sex reassignment. We recommend treating transsexual adolescents (Tanner stage 2) with suppression of puberty with GnRH analogues until age 16 years old, only after which time cross-sex hormones may be given. We suggest suppression of endogenous sex hormones, maintaining physiologic levels of gender-appropriate sex hormones and surveillance for known risks and complications in adult transsexual persons.” — Endocrine Treatment of Transsexual Persons: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline (PDF)

[UK] The New Scientist’s write-up on the Endocrine Society guidelines: “Young teenagers with extreme gender identity disorder should be given drugs to block puberty so that they don’t have to experience distressing changes to their bodies which they perceive to be out of line with their true gender. So say draft international guidelines (pdf format) issued by the Endocrine Society this week – the first to offer advice to doctors on this controversial issue. The hope is that by delaying puberty, young teens will be given valuable thinking time in which they can decide if they are sure they want to begin gender reassignment using cross-sex hormones at the age of 16. Ultimately, this strategy would also make it easier for them to live in their chosen gender. For example, potential male-to-female transsexuals will not have developed the deep voice, facial changes and body hair associated with adult masculinity. Gender-reassignment surgery should be avoided until the age of 18, the guidelines say.” — Delaying puberty could help gender-confused teens

[UK] A question that perhaps you’ll never see on the U.S. Census: “Members of the public are to be questioned about their sexual orientation in a range of surveys by Government statisticians which will create the first accurate estimate of the size of Britain’s homosexual population … Future studies could also ask Britons if they have had sex swaps or are “undergoing the process of gender reassignment”. The Office for National Statistics, the organisation that collates data for use by Government, says the new questions are essential to meet equality laws and to find out if people from minority groups are discriminated against. The answers received will also create the first comprehensive picture of how many homosexuals live in Britain, in which areas, and how old they are.” — Office for National Statistics to calculate size of Britain’s homosexual population

[UK] From a review of a new biography, “Moreschi: the Angel of Rome”: “The castrato craze was one of the most bizarre phenomena of the European Baroque period. In the middle years of the 16th century eunuchs began to be prized in the courts of Italy for their peculiar vocal power and brilliance. By 1600, Pope Clement VIII could solemnly declare that “the creation of castrati for Church choirs is to be held to the honour of God”. A century later the gelded male, whether soprano or alto, dominated the Italian operatic scene. Stars such as Senesino, Caffarelli and Carestini earned huge salaries in the course of glittering international careers, while the legendary Farinelli, by singing the same five arias nightly for 23 years to two schizophrenic kings of Spain, became their éminence grise and, as some believed, unofficial ruler of the Spanish empire. “Long live the knife!” bawled Italian theatre audiences, and for many an impoverished family the operation seemed like a passport to financial security.” — The last castrato

News and views for Monday, December 1st and Tuesday, December 2nd …

[USA] Yesterday’s this day in history: “It’s front-page news when George Jorgensen Jr. is reborn as Christine Jorgensen, gaining international celebrity and notoriety as the first widely known person to undergo a successful sex-change operation … Jorgensen’s sex change, which may have been leaked to the press by Jorgensen herself, hit the headlines Dec. 1, creating an international sensation. “Ex-GI Becomes Blonde Beauty” screamed the banner of Jorgensen’s hometown New York Daily News … But Christine Jorgensen’s world was not an enlightened one, particularly when it came to transgenderism. She paid the cost for this lack of sophistication. A first announced engagement fell through, and a second one failed as well, when the state of New York refused to issue the couple a marriage license. Her intended husband also lost his job when the marriage plans became known. She later traveled the lecture circuit, talking about her experiences and advocating for the nascent transgender cause. Jorgensen died of cancer in 1989, a few weeks short of age 63.” — Dec. 1, 1952: ‘Ex-GI Becomes Blonde Beauty’

[USA] While some people change, others don’t ever seem to change their tune. Not quite yesterday in history, but this was Matt Barber of the Concerned Women for America railing last December against “homosexual activism”: “Still, the real trouble begins when our government seeks — by force of law — to make all of us share in that delusion by enacting thought crimes edicts such as “hate crimes” legislation and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). As I’ve said before, it’s “The Emperor’s New Clothes” meets George Orwell. Homosexual activist legislation forces everyone to entertain the delusions of a very small percentage of the population who define themselves based upon aberrant and mutable sexual behaviors. These laws lend official government recognition to conduct that every major world religion, thousands of years of history and uncompromising human biology have deemed both immoral and unnatural.”

And, this is Matt Barber, now with Liberty Counsel, yesterday: “With Brazil’s government caving in to homosexual activism, many fear America is not far behind. Brazilian activists have launched several lawsuits to silence Christian opposition of homosexuality, and a Christian author has been both censored and fined over comments in his book. Mat Barber, with Liberty Counsel, believes America will likely follow suit. “It’s really chilling, and people need to be aware that this is not a threat that is isolated to Brazil or Europe or Canada,” he contends. “It’s coming to our shores (America) as well.” Barber explains he has witnessed homosexuals seeking to legally silence Christians and notes similar governmental legislation will be reviewed in Washington in January. “Hate crimes legislation, the Employment Non-discrimination act — legislation that under a President Barack Obama and with liberals in control of the House and the Senate, we can expect to see passed,” he says. Barber cites Colorado as an example that some states already have similar laws in place. “Governor Ritter signed into law a bill that says it is essentially illegal to write anything that’s homophobic,” he adds. “So based on that law in Colorado now, to actually publish the Bible would be considered a violation of the law.”" — Will homosexuals silence America’s Christians?

[USA] Meanwhile, unlike Mr. Barber, the “homosexual activists” are looking forward to change: “Officials with the Human Rights Campaign and National Gay & Lesbian Task Force are hopeful that Barack Obama’s administration and Democratic leaders in Congress will help orchestrate the passage next year of two gay rights bills that enjoy widespread support. The Matthew Shepard Act, which would authorize federal authorities to prosecute anti-gay hate crimes, and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would ban job discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, are considered high priorities among gay-supportive lawmakers, officials with the two groups said … [HRC's David] Stacy and Rea Carey, the Task Force’s executive director, said they believe the consensus among nearly all gay rights advocacy groups is to insist that Congress move forward with a version of ENDA that includes protections for transgender persons. Gay and transgender activists became divided in 2007 when Democrats in the House of Representatives, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and gay Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), decided to vote on a version of the bill that excluded transgender protections. The two lawmakers said they determined that there weren’t enough votes to pass a trans-inclusive bill and that keeping trans protections in the bill would result in its defeat. The House passed a gay-only version of the bill that year, but the Senate never took up the measure. Capitol Hill observers have speculated that Senate leaders did not believe a trans-inclusive bill could clear the Senate and agreed to requests by gay and transgender activists to put the measure on hold until 2009. Frank told the Blade last month that a coalition of gay and transgender rights groups have made “good progress” in building support for a trans-inclusive ENDA in the year since the House passed the gay-only version of the bill, and he’s hopeful that enough support could be lined up to pass a trans-inclusive version of the bill next year. Obama said during his run for the White House that he, too, supports a trans-inclusive version of the bill. “It’s exciting that we will have a president who not only won’t threaten to veto the bill but who embraces it,” said Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality.” — Hate crimes, ENDA seen as top legislative priorities

[NY, USA] “Miller Hoffman knows what it’s like to be hassled for being a transgender person. “Discrimination against transgender people is part of our daily lives,” she told Binghamton city council on Monday night.The Binghamton resident was one of 11 people who spoke in favor of a local law that would make it illegal to discriminate against transgender individuals. The proposed law would also protect against discrimination because of height and/or weight as well as age, race, religion, national origin and sexual orientation. The proposed law would apply to employment, housing and public accommodations. Council members may vote on the proposal on Dec. 15.” — Advocates urge council to pass anti-discrimination law

[MI, USA] “The city of Kalamazoo has stepped beyond existing state and federal laws, making it illegal to use sexual orientation to discriminate in housing, public accommodations and employment. The Kalamazoo City Commission voted 7-0 Monday night to adopt an expanded anti-discrimination ordinance that makes it a municipal civil infraction to discriminate against gays, lesbians and transgender citizens.” — Kalamazoo City Commission unanimously approves gay-rights ordinance

[HI, USA] “Cross-dressers, queer concubines, and the Sin of Onan — the Hawaii of pre-European contact had it all. Most LGBT travelers to Hawaii think of the islands as a languid society, a “hang loose” place of tolerant politics where cultural differences are easily celebrated. But few tourists realize just how queer Hawaii actually was before the Europeans showed up … Another notable queer aspect of old Hawaiian culture that is still strong today is the concept of the mahu. Transvestitism is common in parts of Polynesia, where men choose to don women’s apparel, grow up as a girl, and even become a wife of another man, sometimes even cutting his/her thighs to “menstruate.” Some traditions dictate that a male, usually a younger brother, is compelled to take on the feminine role of family caretaker when a suitable daughter is lacking. Whether or not that connotes homosexuality is not important. Mahu hold a necessary role in the communal family and are usually not outcasts in Polynesian society. Now that modern media and politics have flooded Hawaiian culture, the word mahu is often used in a derogatory way to describe an effeminate man, or a gay man in general. But the mahu tradition refuses to go away: An annual transvestite beauty pageant, The Universal Show Queen, packs in crowds in mainstream Waikiki hotels. And Kim Coco Iwamoto, who is transgender, holds a seat on the state’s board of education — the highest office ever for an elected transgender person in United States. So there is hope that history will repeat itself, and the 50th state can draw on its ancient traditions to become a trailblazer of tolerance in the 21st century.” — Hawaii’s Polysexual Past

[Canada] “There are many things I don’t miss about university life. Foremost among them is the idiotic debate — which seems to be ongoing on most liberal-arts campuses — about bathrooms. I don’t mean the actual physical amenities inside the bathrooms. I mean the eye-glazing arguments about who gets to use what bathroom, unisex versus sex-specific, and — most commonly — the accommodation of pre-op, post-op, mid-op, non-op, quasi-op and paleo-op transgendered individuals, who represent about 0.1% of the student population, yet seem to dominate an enormous share of student-council deliberations. (Please bear in mind that the target of my ire is not the transgendered community itself, most of which is no doubt exasperated by the endless obsession over its bathroom needs, and has legitimate concerns about bathroom harassment besides — but rather the earnest campus activists who, starved for any sort of discrimination to fight in this hypertolerant age, have adopted the toilet as their equivalent to Rosa Parks’ bus seat.)” — Jonathan Kay on the idiocy of university bathroom identity politics: Why not just dig a big hole in the ground and make everybody use it?

[Italy] “What do Silvio Berlusconi and a communist transvestite have in common? That may sound like the set-up to a bad joke, but the search for a serious answer could just bring some focus to the bizarre spectacle of Italian public life. On Nov. 24, millions of Italians tuned into the ever-popular local version of Celebrity Survivor, or Isola dei Famosi (”Island of the Famous”). The show was wrapping up its sixth season with the coronation of the latest champion, Vladimir Luxuria, a former cabaret performer and Refounded Communist party member. In 2006, the unlikely politician became the first transvestite to be elected to Italy’s parliament. Luxuria’s participation had already ensured record high ratings for the 10-week-long show. Interest centered not only on how a communist politician would interact with two-bit stars and showgirls, but curiosity about what Luxuria would look like without her makeup.” — Italy’s Communist Tranvestite TV Star

[India] “Sitting cross-legged on the uneven floor of their bedroom in Dhobi Gali of old Sabzi Mandi in north Delhi is a coy, newly-wed couple. She is chopping vegetables while he carefully covers her face with a dupatta. The marriage, sanctified on November 30 at a nearby Shiv mandir, is unique because the groom, Deepak (name changed), was born a girl and has undergone three operations for a complete sex change, only to marry his childhood sweetheart, Savita (name changed).” — And she became he to marry her

News and views for Wednesday, November 26th through Friday, November 28th …

[CA, USA] “Trans-Latina migrants are slowly discovering the asylum option in San Francisco and California. A steady stream of transgender applicants has been showing up in what immigration attorneys say are open-minded asylum offices and immigration courts that have become acquainted with gender-identity–based claims. Exact numbers of how many transgender women have gotten asylum are hard to come by since the government doesn’t track the reason for awarding asylum status. Yet such cases almost seem like a sure thing because of the severity of the alleged discrimination. “You almost gotta try to lose it,” attorney Robert Jobe says. In fact, none of the 12 immigration attorneys interviewed for this story could remember any trans clients being denied some sort of protection. Even if applicants can’t get asylum, they may still be eligible to stay via other international treaties that offer haven from persecution. And, as many trans-Latina prostitutes have learned, even a lengthy rap sheet in this country won’t seriously threaten their chances of receiving protected immigration status.” — Border Crossers

[GA, USA] “As the 31 names of transgender people killed around the world during 2008 were read aloud at Atlanta’s Transgender Day of Remembrance vigil, each of the deceased’s biographies ended with “Remember me.” A crowd of more than 100 braved wind and cold temperatures Nov. 20 outside the State Capitol to do just that. A bell chimed for each person and trans activist Sir Jesse McNulty played “Taps” after the names were read. Many of the dead included transgender women of color — a “holocaust” that can no longer be ignored, according to Dee Dee Chamblee, executive director of LaGender Inc. “There is a holocaust of transgender women of color. Many of them are prostituting [because they can’t get jobs] and are in danger. But when you are African American and transgender, well, you can’t get lower than that,” she said. “These women are killed out of meanness, hatred. And all they want is to eat, a place to stay. They put their life on the lines. Everybody should be outraged.”” — Transgender activists, allies rally at Capitol

[MI, USA] “Nearly 70 people filled the rows at Metropolitan Community Church of Detroit on the bitterly cold evening of Nov. 21 to commemorate Transgender Day of Remembrance … “We are here to remember our transgender brothers and sisters who have been killed just for being transgender,” said Rachel Crandall, executive director of TransGender Michigan. “If you ask me how I feel about that, I’ll say I’m really pissed off.” Crandall’s anger is not difficult to understand. According to a letter read by Transgender Detroit’s Michelle Fox-Phillips from Transgender Day of Remembrance founder Gwendolyn Smith, a transgender person has a 1 in 12 chance of being murdered due to anti-transgender violence or prejudice. “I wish to remind each of you (that) the most basic right we have is the right to exist,” Fox-Phillips read. Currently no transgender-inclusive hate crimes legislation exists in Michigan or at the federal level.” — Community gathers for 9th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance

[NY, USA] “A midlevel appeals court ruled Wednesday that a transgender individual can change from traditionally male to traditionally female first and middle names, regardless of potential confusion. The case involved Earl William Golden III’s petition to change names to Elisabeth Whitney Golden. A lower court had concluded the proposed change was “fraught with possible confusion.” The Appellate Division of State Supreme Court noted that people can change their names “at will,” provided there is no fraud, misrepresentation or interference with the rights of others. Done in court, the switch can be “speedy, definite and a matter of record.” While confusion can be one reason for a judge to reject someone’s name change petition, “that factor is not, standing alone, a basis to deny a petition inasmuch as ‘confusion is a normal concomitant of any name change,”‘ Justice Anthony Cardona wrote.” — NY court removes bar to transgender name changes

[NY, USA] “And so Syracuse mirrors in painful fashion the national schizophrenia of a people determined to push the boundaries of possibilities while insisting on denying others the freedom to be who they are. On the night that America celebrated the election of Barack Obama, millions watched in disbelief as the people of California voted to ban gay Americans from enjoying the delights and anguish associated with the institution of marriage. This is the great contradiction that presents itself in the current chapter of American history. What is it about this country, and about our community, that still causes some to cling to the idea that we can decide for other people how to live out their sexual lives? What is it about the idea of someone loving someone of the same sex, or realizing that their mind and their body are at odds on the question of gender, that some in this freedom-loving country find so offensive? Many will say this is just a problem of the individual who pulled the trigger. You can think that if you choose to, but it only makes the problem persist, and makes you part of it. That man pulling the trigger learned somewhere along the line that there is a right way and a wrong way to love somebody, and that his anger against those who are different is somehow justified. He learned that people like him get to decide the fate of another person. He learned that those people should learn to be like him. A gun, a few drinks, a dare later, and Teish Cannon lay bleeding in her brother’s arms.” — A Nightmare on Seymour Street

[USA] From Kelley Winters, “Psychiatric incarceration and abuse of gender variant youth and adults has for generations been facilitated by diagnostic nomenclature that equates difference with disease: nonconformity to assigned birth-sex with mental disorder and sexual deviance. It is time for the American Psychiatric Association and other mental health organizations to repudiate the practice of gender-reparative therapies, as they have renounced reparative therapies for sexual orientation. It is time for the APA and the mental health professions to extend an apology to all who have been imprisoned or traumatized in the course of these treatments. In drafting the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder, it is time for the APA to remove the classification of Transvestic Fetishism and revise that of Gender Identity Disorder to serve constructive rather than destructive purposes. It is time for new diagnostic nomenclature consistent with the medical principle of “First, do no harm.”” — The Gender Gulag: Voices of the Asylum

[USA] From Vanessa Edwards Foster, “Typically I must admit a slight bias towards moms in allowing their children to be who they are innately – who they were meant to be. Much of this comes from my upbringing and my own dad’s notice of my natural feminine tendencies and his insistence that I “be the man” from the age of five onward, urging me into football and other masculine pursuits. Men have a harder time dealing with anything resembling emasculation. But in an unusual twist, Chicago Bears middle linebacker Brian Urlacher may well be doing the right thing, while his son’s mom, Tyna Robertson, is in the wrong. It’s Robertson who is claiming that Urlacher is feminizing his three year old son Kennedy, and seeking to remove Urlacher’s visitation rights.” — Pro Linebacker’s Child Used As A Football In Tabloidesque “Gender Confusion” Custody Battle

[USA] “Shame on you, Dr. Phil. As a man who’s own personal mantra is urging people to “get real,” Dr. Phil was decidedly unreal in his approach to transgender rights on a show that aired last month. (You Tube clip at the bottom of this post.) Allison Steinberg’s latest post takes Dr. Phil to task for allowing a phony doctor with ties to Focus on the Family to be an “expert” on his show regarding to transgender issues … Dr. Stanton, in fact, is no doctor. He holds a Master’s degree from the University of West Florida and is known widely as one of the foremost defenders of evangelical family values. He is a fellow at James Dobson’s organization Focus on The Family, which boasts a Christian mission, “To cooperate with the Holy Spirit in sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as possible by nurturing and defending the God-ordained institution of the family and promoting biblical truths worldwide.” The show angered the parents of transgender children that were guests on the show as well as the larger LGBT community.” — Dr. Phil Misrepresents Transgender Identity

[Australia] “The Australian Department of Health has come under fire for appointing two men’s health ambassadors who were allegedly involved in writing a document that espoused homophobic views … The paper entitled ‘21 Reasons why Gender Matters’ was published by the Fatherhood Foundation two years ago and Mr Marsh and Mr Williams were among 34 authors who contributed to the document. Amongst other things, the paper describes homosexuality as ‘gender disorientation pathology’ and suggests that gay people are more likely to abuse children, be unfaithful or violent in relationships and abuse drugs.” — Australian government ‘health ambassadors’ in gay hate controversy

[Australia] “Australia’s Health Minister Nicola Roxon has dismissed one of the new Men’s Health Ambassadors for co-authoring an anti-gay, anti-transgender report. Warwick Marsh, president of Fatherhood Foundation, was one of 34 co-authors of 21 Reasons Why Gender Matters, a report which calls homosexuality a mental disorder. Ms Roxon announced today that Mr Marsh would no longer be an ambassador on the panel. “Mr Marsh has not repudiated his offensive comments. This makes his position as an Ambassador untenable and I have made a decision to dismiss him from this role,” she said.” — Health ambassador sacked for standing by anti-gay comments

[Australia] “A bitter feud has erupted at a prestigious golf club after it was revealed a leading member was undergoing a sex change. Male members of Wynnum Golf Club in Brisbane were disgusted when they learned married dad-of-one Don Asher, 52, had begun hormone treatment to become a woman. They forced Mr Asher to quit the men’s team after he turned up for a tournament wearing a dress. Following an emergency meeting at the club, Mr Asher was given permission to play for the ladies team. Yesterday he said he has never been happier– despite the hostile reaction of his former friends. “It feels as though everything is right at last,” he said.” — Sex-change golfer now a birdie

[Australia] “Human Rights Commissioner Graeme Innes sent a solemn message last week, calling on Australians to remember the “horrors and difficulties” that discrimination still inflicts on people who are gender diverse. The comments were made to mark the 10th International Transgender Day of Action and to announce the impending release of a report which will give recommendations on how to tackle trans discrimination in Australia. “It is sobering to think that this day of action was established as a reminder of those who have been killed as a result of anti-gendered hatred or prejudice,” Innes said. After same-sex entitlement reforms, the Commission has now set its sights on the rights of the trans community and has been researching and consulting on issues faced by gender diverse communities over the last year.” — Innes pushes for trans law change

[Thailand] “The ever increasing turbulence of the anti-government protests notwithstanding, a demonstration of a different nature was taking place yesterday in Bangkok. Unaffiliated to any political party, a group of transgender ‘ladyboys’ paraded past central Police Headquarters in Bangkok to protest at the lack of AIDS awareness in Thailand. Glamorously dressed in brightly coloured ball gowns and feathered head-dresses, the group struck a contrasting pose to the increasingly militant demonstrations … While observers hope the increasingly fraught situation in the country will end peaceably, the ladyboys, with their stylish parade of singing and dancing showed the world how peaceful yet fabulous protest is all about.” — ‘Ladyboy’ protests amid Thailand’s political chaos

[Malaysia] “While the causes of gender identity disorders are still disputed, one thing is certain – these patients need care and compassion, rather than discrimination.” — Gender poser

News and views for Tuesday, November 25th …

[MA, USA] “A crowd of more than 200 people filled St. Luke’s and St. Margaret’s Church in Allston to hear prominent members and supporters of Boston’s transgender community memorialize the violent deaths suffered by transsexuals worldwide at the 10nth annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. The event is held every Nov. 20, the International Transgender Day of Remembrance, in honor of Rita Hester, a transsexual whose violent – and still unsolved — murder in her Allston apartment shocked the community and spurred candlelight vigils and other memorial services across the world.” — More than 200 gather for Transgender Day of Remembrance observance

[NY, USA] “It’s been 10 days since Moses “Teish” Cannon was shot to death, apparently targeted for being transgender. On Monday, Cannon’s death brought the state’s human rights commissioner to Syracuse to meet with local transgender groups and speak out against what they consider a hate crime … “Part of the challenge we have is to educate and raise the consciousness of those young people who don’t at this point yet fully respect the human rights of those who are transgender,” said [Commissioner Galen] Kirkland. “The only way to stop the cycle of violence, to stop the cycle of prejudice and bigotry is to teach the younger generations coming up so that they know that hate is not ok and action based on hate is never, never, never acceptable,” said NYCLU chapter director Barrie Gewanter.” — Human Rights Commissioner talks about transgender death

[NY, USA] “In response to the tragic murder of Lateisha Green earlier this month, TLDEF [Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund] calls upon Albany lawmakers to pass the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA), which would add gender identity and expression to the state’s hate crimes law. This plea comes after Dwight R. DeLee, 20, allegedly shot and killed Lateisha Green, 22, a transgender woman, outside a house party in Syracuse on Nov. 14 because he thought she was gay.” — TLDEF Calls Upon Lawmakers to Pass Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act

[OR, USA] “It’s unclear what reaction the group from Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., was seeking when it arrived here to rebuke the town’s mayor-elect. But it’s not likely that Silverton’s festive, cheery response was what the religious protesters hoped to achieve. The town greeted the small group with an overwhelming rally of its own. Four Westboro protesters arrived in late morning, going first to Silverton’s city hall, then to First Christian Church, each brandishing a series of signs with a seemingly loose-knit yet dogmatic theme: “Fags Are Beasts,” “You’re Going to Hell,” “America is Doomed,” “Your Pastor is a Whore,” “God Hates You” and “Antichrist Obama.” The target of their sharp language was the town’s transgender mayor-elect, Stu Rasmussen.” — Silverton rallies against church’s hate message

[USA] “Advocates have been fighting for decades to protect gay and lesbian workers from employment discrimination at the federal level, thus far unsuccessfully. Title VII prohibits sex discrimination, but not sexual-orientation discrimination. The sex-discrimination ban has been successfully invoked in some cases by gays, lesbian, and transgender employees who were able to show that the discrimination or harassment they experienced constituted sex-role stereotyping. But for most who experience discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity federal law provides no cause of action. The longstanding exclusion of this type of discrimination from Title VII was poised to end this past year, though, when the House of Representatives passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2007 (ENDA). ENDA would have filled an important gap in Title VII and extended protection to a class of workers regularly subjected to discrimination. Two versions of ENDA were considered – one that covered gender-identity discrimination, and one that did not. In some ways, transgender employees have had more success in proving sex discrimination – as I have written about in an earlier column – than gay and lesbian employees have. But, still, their victories have been scattered and they’ve suffered many more losses than wins. It thus makes sense to make ENDA as broad as possible in order to promote workplace equality for all.” — Why the New Administration Should Focus on Workplace Equality: Some Easy Fixes for Important Problems

[Italy] “The first transvestite elected to the Italian parliament, Vladimir Luxuria, garnered the votes of most TV viewers Monday night as the winner of the reality TV show “Celebrity Island.” The 43-year-old served in parliament for two years as a member of the Refoundation Communist Party before losing his bid for re-election in April. Over the past six weeks Luxuria, whose real name is Wladimiro Guadagno, has been a star on reality TV, trying to survive living on the beaches of Honduras with other celebrity “survivors”. In the end viewers picked Luxuria as their favourite … Born a man who dresses as a woman, Luxuria, also an actor, has become an icon of the Italian gay movement and easily won his seat in parliament in 2006 representing a district in Rome.” — Italian transvestite ex-MP triumphs as reality TV star

[India] “Should Shabnam Mausi be using the men’s restroom or the women’s? That’s the rather discomfiting question administrators at the Madhya Pradesh state assembly wrestled with on the day Mausi attended the legislature for the first time in 2000. Mausi made her own choice: She decided to use the women’s. Mausi, the first enunch to get elected to a state assembly, trounced opponents from all major parties in a by-election she contested as an independent candidate that year. After being unseated in 2003, the 48-year-old is back seeking votes for the 27 November polls, this time on a Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) ticket … But she is no longer a curiosity in a state where five eunuchs have been elected to various public offices since 2000. There are at least 10 eunuchs, popularly known in the subcontinent as hijras, contesting the polls to the 230-member state assembly this year, according to election officials.” — Eunuchs: fighting polls, still living on the fringes

[Mexico] “Transsexuals in Mexico City can get new - and altered - identity documents starting Monday if they provide a birth certificate and a medical certificate to local authorities thanks to a new municipal ordinance. Those eligible for the benefit are those people who have a report issued by two specialists certifying that they have undergone - or are in the process of undergoing - a sex-change procedure, whether or not it involves surgery. One of the promoters of the initiative is municipal assemblyman Jorge Carlos Diaz Cuervo, of the Alternative Social Democrat party, who told Efe that the aim of the reform is to put a halt to discrimination. The 42 family courts in Mexico City will receive the requests to modify the name and sex on the birth certificates of interested transsexuals, who must prove that they are adult Mexican citizens who have subjected themselves to “a process of (sexual) reclassification.”" — Mexico Transvestites To Get New IDs

News and views for Wednesday, November 19th and Thursday, November 20th (Transgender Day of Remembrance) …

[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, can pursue a negligence damage claim against prison officials, an appeals court ruled on November 14, but she was not entitled to seek damages under the “cruel and unusual punishment” provision of the State Constitution … As a result of the appellate court overturning that dismissal, Alexis Giraldo, sent to Folsom State Prison in January 2006 while serving time for a parole violation, will be given a trial on her charge that prison officials were negligent in failing to protect her. However, the court found, the California Constitution does not afford an individual right to sue for damages for violations of the cruel and unusual punishment provision, which can only be enforced through a suit seeking to end unlawful punishment. A trial jury considered but rejected Giraldo’s claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress.” — Trans Inmate’s Suit Revived

[GA, USA] “Doraville has become the latest Georgia city to add transgender employees to its nondiscrimination policy. The move means transgender workers — those whose biological and gender identity are not the same — cannot be fired or mistreated in the northern DeKalb County city. “We have never discriminated against anyone, and we never will,” said Mayor Ray Jenkins. “We want to stay ahead of the issue.” The policy puts Doraville in rare company. Atlanta and Decatur are the only other cities in the state that protect transgender workers. In fact, while the protections have become more common in private business, they are more unusual at the municipal level. That is why, to advocates, it’s symbolic for a former industrial city of just 10,000 to approve the policy. The change comes on the heels of a federal lawsuit by Vandiver Elizabeth Glenn, a transgender woman who said she was fired from her job at the Georgia General Assembly because of her decision to change her gender from male to female.” — Doraville won’t discriminate against transgender employees

[OR, USA] “Stu Rasmussen promised a new administration if he was elected, and he’s as good as his word: Silverton residents not only are getting a new mayor; they’re also getting a new Stu … Silverton appears to have come to terms long ago with Rasmussen’s nebulous gender, which he describes as “25%, maybe 30% between” man and woman, and his “adoption of the twins,” as the mayor-elect refers to his breast surgery. But he still manages to catch some people off guard. “Guys come up to me in the bar and say, ‘Hate to tell you this, but I saw this woman on the street the other day, and I’m thinking, great legs, nice tan, and she turns around and I go, ‘Oh, my God, it’s Stu!’ ” Rasmussen recounts in the deep voice that seems always softened with a trace of humor. “If I could have a face transplant, it’d be perfect. A face like this, only a mother could love. But people overlook the face now,” he says, glancing discreetly down at his tank top, “because there’s all this other real estate.”" — The mayor-elect’s new clothes: Silverton, Oregon, elects a transgender leader

[USA] An interview with Julia Serano: “The rising visibility of trans, intersex, and genderqueer movements has led feminists—and, to a lesser extent, the rest of the world—to an increasing awareness that m and f are only the beginning of the story of gender identity. With the release of Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity, Julia Serano offers a perspective sorely needed, but up until now rarely heard: a transfeminine critique of both feminist and mainstream understandings of gender.” — Gender diversity: A Transsexual Woman’s view of Sexism

[USA] From Kelley Winters, “To summarize, the term “autogynephilia” means far more than a description of erotic phenomenon. “Autogynephilia,” and its corollary “homosexual transsexualism,” have come to represent an over-arching body of derogatory stereotypes that are promoted as science but remain dogmatically resilient to contrary evidence … The term “autogynephilia” has grown to represent an affront to the human legitimacy and dignity of many transitioned women. It serves no constructive purpose in an evidence-based diagnostic nosology. I strongly urge the American Psychiatric Association to remove this offensive term from the supporting text of the GID diagnosis and refrain from adding it to the nomenclature of paraphilias in the DSM-V.” — Autogynephilia: The Infallible Derogatory Hypothesis, Part 2

[USA] From Donna Rose, “In a related note, the Human Rights Campaign has produced a video commemorating the Transgender Day of Remembrance. I don’t mind sharing that although I appreciate these kinds of things in principle I’m having a hard time appreciating this. I blame this organization for actively supporting the single-most destructful thing to be forced upon the transgender community despite their commitments to the contrary. I blame this organization for continuing to treat us with disrespect and, over the past year, could have used their resources to create untold amounts of support and education - but has not. I blame this organization for actually penalizing legislators who demonstrated a higher standard and a greater commitment to full Equality than HRC held itself to. I blame this organization for doing more to fracture the GLBT community than anyone from the outside would ever have been able to do. I blame this organization for trying to become a voice for transgender people when, in fact, they have no right to speak on behalf of any of us: they need to talk with us before they can hope to talk for us. All these things make these kinds of videos feel like a slap in the face more than something to appreciate. They don’t seem to learn that how you do something is just as important as what you do and they continue to do things wrong. –The best way to get the message across that you really care isn’t to produce flashy videos that include only HRC staffers. It’s to treat us with respect, to be honest with us, to engage us, and to actively help find ways that we can work together. It’s to actively build tools to help educate, to help get transpeople jobs, to do the difficult work or rebuilding some level of trust that continues to lay in shambles for most of us. If some of that had come before this video I might feel differently. However, it hasn’t. As a result, recent Press Releases and videos feel more like the same old tired HRC PR tactics than anything heartfelt or sincere to me.  Those looking for a DOR 2008 video created by and with transpeople simply need look here.” — Warning: HRC rant

[MN, USA] Minneapolis radio host Chris Baker, who last week referred to Thomas Beatie as a “mutilated lesbian” and a “freak,” on Tuesday blamed the murder of trans woman Latiesha Green on the media: “Doesn’t some of the blame lie with the American media who enables this fraud? … I would say a majority of the blame does not lie with the nitwit that shot him, other than the fact that he’s a nitwit and a guy who should have been in prison in my opinion, who shot him. But to me, this is the — this is an example of how, by enabling people and trying to push this false reality, leads to horrible crimes like this.”" — Baker: Media have “blood on their hands” for murder of transgender woman because they created “false sense of reality”

[TN, USA] “A former Memphis police officer pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to civil rights charges in the jailhouse beating of a transgender prostitution suspect that was captured on video. An indictment unsealed Wednesday accuses Bridges McRae, 28, of using unreasonable force by repeatedly striking Duanna Johnson with his fist and handcuffs in the intake area of the Shelby County Jail in February … Johnson, 43, who had a long history of prostitution arrests, was shot to death on a Memphis street by an unknown assailant earlier this month. The killing is still under investigation and no arrests have been made … The beating and Johnson’s murder have drawn the attention of advocates for gay and transgender rights, including the Human Rights Campaign, a national group that has called on the Memphis Police Department for a “commitment to treating transgender people with respect and fairness.”" — Officer Pleads Not Guilty to Videotaped Beating of Transgendered Woman

[Australia] “A doctor has been found guilty of performing an indecent act on a suicidal transsexual patient. Sulieman Hamid, 53, of Melbourne, touched the cognitively-impaired patient on her breasts and lips while he treated her for a slashed wrist in a cubicle at the Sunshine Hospital emergency department in June 2007. The court was earlier told the patient propositioned the doctor while he was treating her. A jury in the Victorian County Court today found that the touching did not constitute the more serious charge of indecent assault. It also found him not guilty of raping the woman at her home the following day.” — Doctor touched transsexual patient

[Canada] “Sex reassignment surgery (SRS) has been funded in Ontario since June, but the minister of health still seems confused about it. The Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) has been paying for SRS since Jun 3, after it was announced in May that the government would be relisting the procedure again after 10 years. But health minister David Caplan — who replaced George Smitherman in the portfolio in June — seems unaware of that or that the debate over exactly what shape the final process for SRS in the province will take is ongoing.” — Caplan confused about SRS: Health minister sends contradictory messages

[Finland] An update on Olli Aalto: “The Evangelical Lutheran bishop of Mikkeli, eastern Finland, says that an Imatra vicar who plans to undergo gender reassignment treatment can keep his job … During a joint press conference with Aalto on Thursday, Bishop Voitto Huotari confirmed that Aalto has a legal right to retain his post. Huotari denied that he had ever threatened to dismiss Aalto. He added that it is up to the vicar to decide if he will continue working. Aalto said last week that he had been encouraged to leave the Church and that he would consider legal action if he was expelled from his job. The cleric says he is tired of leading a double life, noting that extensive studies have diagnosed him as a transsexual. Aalto says the Church has a responsibility to provide work for someone who has been a faithful servant.” — Transgender Vicar Allowed to Keep Job

[India] “Police in Bangalore reportedly forced about 100 hijras (working-class transgender people) from their homes last week. Human rights groups said this is part of a pattern of prejudice-driven violence and abuse in the city aimed at hijras, mostly male-to-female working-class trans people … When challenged on their unconstitutional actions, the police told some of the activists that they had orders from higher up to round up hijras in Bangalore. Hijras are often unable to obtain identity papers because their gender identity and appearance do not correspond to their sex at birth. As a result, many cannot find housing, education, or legal employment – or, in many cases, even vote. The effective loss of basic citizenship rights – coupled with widespread social prejudice leaves them economically marginalised and exposed to police abuse.” — Indian police accused of “social cleansing” after another attack on trans community

[New Zealand] “With Jack yesterday were Nicky Gerard and Brooklynne Michelle, who were both born with male bodies and had transitioned to females. One of the toughest tasks was getting a job, and even though they both had university degrees it hadn’t helped, they said. “The discrimination is always there. I mean, you’re upfront with who you are, but generally being that truthful doesn’t help. It’s hard trying to be accepted in a work situation,” Nicky said. Brooklynne remembers before her transition walking down the street to a favourite cafe for a coffee with a mate being no problem at all. “Not now. The minute I’m out walking in the street, the sniggers, the ridicule, the abuse follow me all the way. It’s tough.” The three said that “being trans” was never a lifestyle and it wasn’t choice.”It’s the way we were born.”" — Boys will be girls and life will be tough

[Sweden] “Maria Sundin from Sweden’s Trans Oresund network said: “The demand for the exclusion of certain diagnostic criterias such as transvestitism, sado-masochism and fetishism from the Swedish verison of ICD-10 (KSH97) has been supported by the GLBT community for quite a while.” The World Health Organisation’s coding of diseases is known as the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems and it is on its 10th Revision (ICD-10). “It’s also important that the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare will work towards an elimination of these diagnostic criterias from the ICD-10 on an international level,” said Ms Sundin. “As far as I can see this action will not influence how our national health insurance will fund various medical needs for the transgender community. Access to treatment is based on the diagnosis of transsexualism, which will remain in the Swedish version of ICD-10.” — Sweden removes transvestism and other ’sexual behaviours’ from list of diseases

[Sweden] “It sounds like a lost episode of The Twilight Zone. A man enters a laboratory, dons a special headset and shakes hands with a woman sitting across from him. In a matter of seconds, he feels like he’s inside the woman’s skin, reaching out and grasping his own hand. Strange as it sounds, neuroscientists have induced this phenomenon in a series of volunteers. People can experience the illusion that either a mannequin or another person’s body is their own body, says Valeria Petkova of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. She and Karolinska colleague Henrik Ehrsson call this reaction the “body-swap illusion.”” — Your body is mine

[Germany] Only the sky was the limit when Yvonne Buschbaum soared to big heights as one of the leading women’s pole vaulters in Germany. Now the sky is wide open for Buschbaum, who feels the lightness of being after revealing her transsexuality last year and undergoing a gender change to Balian Buschbaum since then. “Courage is the road to freedom. I woke up in complete freedom today. The sky is wide open,” said a recent diary entry on his website … A year has passed since Buschbaum revealed that she felt like a man trapped in a women’s body and would undergo the gender change to find her personal freedom. She appeared in television talkshows and also won respect in the athletics scene for her courage. But the medical implications of the gender change - the use of doping substances [testosterone] - required Buschbaum to quit pole vaulting … ” — The sky is no limit for gender-changed vaulter Buschbaum

[UK] “The 9th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance has been marked in the UK by the Trades Union Congress with a call on employers to stop discriminating against people on the grounds of gender identity … Although there have been improvements to the law, there remain gaps and widespread exemptions that leave trans people without full protection in employment … Earlier this week the Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe, Thomas Hammarberg, held a meeting about the human rights situation of transgender people and discrimination based on gender identity. He said the problems of transgender persons as to go to the “very roots of what human rights are: the protection of the most vulnerable in society, the integrity of the human body and the right to be free from inhumane treatment.” Professor Stephen Whittle, Jane Thomas and Richard Koehler represented TransGender Europe at the meeting. TEU co-chair Julia Ehrt said: “It is clearly unaccaptable that a transgender person has to trade off legal properties like the right to integrity and self determination versus the recognition as a trans person.” The group said that in most European countries sterility and being single are forced pre-requisites to obtain name and gender change.” — Unions call for an end to discrimination on Transgender Day of Remembrance

News and views for Sunday, November 16th …

[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] “About 75 people marched through the Cooper-Young neighborhood on a cold Sunday night in memory of Duanna Johnson.” — Transgendered murder victim mourned at vigil

[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] …

[NC, USA] Pam Spaulding attended the 2008 Equality NC Conference at Duke University in Durham on Saturday, and provided this video of NCTE’s Mara Keisling of the National Center for Transgender Equality talking about the HRC, the non-inclusive ENDA and transgender advocacy …

[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

[UK] From Helen G at Bird of Paradox, “MPs call for Commons committee to consider representation of… well,
just about everyone but trans people, apparently.”

News and views for Friday, November 14th …

[VT, USA] “They started out loving me. They thought I was the greatest thing since Grandma’s apple pie,” he recalls. But Tony says things changed once town officials learned he was transgender. “It was like day and night. I went to work one day and no one talked to me,” he says. Tony says he was ostracized, harassed, and officers didn’t respond to calls for backup. On some occasions, he felt his life was put in danger. He was being forced out. “I was a victim,” Tony says. “I know I will never forget it and I will do everything in my power to prevent anyone else from going through it.” – Transgender Discrimination

[CA, USA] In Palm Springs, a restaurant has changed its dress code: “The revised policy no longer forbids male patrons dressed in drag … The owners’ policy change comes more than a month after Dink’s opened and three weeks after Palm Springs entertainer Tommi Rose was turned away from the restaurant because of his attire. Rose, who frequently performs in drag, visited Dink’s on Oct. 18. He had attended the Equality Awards earlier that night and was wearing an evening gown. The doorman told Rose that his “kind” wasn’t allowed there, Rose said. When he asked the doorman what he meant, he was told “‘men dressed in drag,’” Rose said.” — Men in drag now welcome at Dink’s

[OR, USA] From columnist Carol McAlice Currie writing in Friday’s Statesman Journal (alternate link here or here), “Hampton would have been within his rights to pull his son from the child care program. Instead, he took his grievance to the airwaves via the Lars Larson talk show. Larson declared that sexual orientations such as this employee’s are “illegal, disgusting, grotesque and perverse.” Hampton urged the conservative talk-radio fans to call the Y and make sure that other children weren’t “left in jeopardy” … Protect them from what, I asked? A person different from themselves? A person who has enough to deal with as she struggles to reject a gender assigned by genitals, but not borne out by feelings? … Seeking to shame or embarrass the Y and this individual is wrong, and so is the message the other children now are getting: that people who are different are to be despised.” — Father should teach tolerance

[GA, USA] “Is ‘butch’ an outdated word? Maybe. But there are still butch women — of course it’s there.” With the rise of transgender men, however, sometimes there is a blurring of the old-school butch/femme roles that became popular in the 1950s among working class lesbians. “Now we have tranny boys who date gay men, who date femmes, who date other transmen — the rainbow spectrum has really changed in the past four to five years,” Holder said … “A femme is about being a lady, beauty. I like to dress up, smell good, look good. I have always been a girly-girl,” she said. “A femme is the essence of being a lady. I hold myself to a certain standard.” Watson has dated both femmes and studs. She explained that “butch” is the word that tends to be used by white women while “stud” tends to be an African-American term … The hardest part of being a lovely femme is going to clubs and other women telling her she’s not a lesbian. “They think I’m straight because of the way I look. I always ask, ‘Well, what does a lesbian look like?’ I’m very comfortable with who I am.”” — Butch/femme dynamic thrives in Atlanta women

[CT, USA] “The weathered bronze statue strikes the classic Venus de Milo pose — a graceful female figure with rounded breasts and belly, standing in coy contrapposto, covering her genitalia with a casual hand. But the Grecian symbol of womanhood takes a new twist in this photo, sporting a pink tie and short blond wig, with playful orange balloons floating at its feet. Instead of the quintessential feminine image, viewers now face a wacky, whimsical, sexually ambiguous human figure. All of the art on display at the Afro-American Cultural Center gallery’s exhibit of Trans/Genderqueer art and photography seeks to similarly confuse the viewer’s preconceptions of biological, sexual and cultural boundaries.” — Full breasts exposed

[MI, USA] “In a late night session Thursday, the Michigan House passed a package of two bills to expand the state’s ethnic intimidation act. Under the bills, bias motivated crimes would be subject to more severe punishments, including extended prison time and upgrading of misdemeanor criminal acts to felonies … The set of bills expands the current definition of bias crimes to include sexual orientation, disability, and gender identity and/or expression. It also makes it a crime for targeting a person because they are perceived to be a member of a protected class.” — Michigan House passes hate crime package, sends it to Senate

[MI, USA] “Less than twenty-four hours after the Michigan House overwhelmingly approved the passage of a package of bills to expand the state’s Ethnic Intimidation Act, a mother of a murdered transgender teen encourage the State Senate to move on the bills.” — Mother of slain transgender teen speaks out on Mich. house passage of bias crimes bill

[USA] Mara Keisling of the National Center for Transgender Equality asked about ENDA (Will Congress be able to pass a trans-inclusive ENDA?), “Absolutely. We were so close last fall. Now, there are a lot of people doing a lot of work around ENDA and I am confident that if we all get the grassroots and DC work done that has to be done, we will have sufficient votes to pass ENDA and even overcome any possible parliamentary maneuver from our opponents. That being said, most of us do not expect ENDA to come up right away in this Congress though I wouldn’t want to venture a guess more specific than that.” — We Won, We Lost. What’s Next for 2009?

[USA] Rea Carey of The Task Force asked about her organizations’ legislative priorities, “The Task Force Action Fund has a number of legislative priorities, including expanding and strengthening existing federal hate crimes law and the repeal of ”Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), but our top legislative priority will continue to be passage of an inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Leadership will likely move other legislation first, such as the hate crimes bill, and we look forward to working with them on those efforts as well. However, a key focus of our energy and expertise will be on creating federal employment protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.” — We Won, We Lost. What’s Next for 2009?

[USA] “These past few years we have seen a number of serious researchers complain that anti-gay and “ex-gay” ideologues are distorting and cherry-picking lines from scientific publications. The cure for this, and the prevention for a repeat of the past eight abysmal years of American history, is, it seems to me, education. People need to learn to read critically, everyone should have a solid background in scientific methods, some statistical literacy would be a nice thing. Listen carefully when you hear them talk about education, about home-schooling and charter schools, and when they complain about our public schools. Some groups benefit when Americans are poorly educated.” — NARTH Misinterprets the Science

[USA] “I keep wondering just how much the many different configurations of body, gender, presentation and behavior (words from the Trans 101: Terms and Concepts workshop yesterday) that fit under the big umbrella of “transgender” are asked to fit there because of the rigidity of the binary gender packages of “male” and “female”, “men” and “women.” As presenter Beth Harrison-Prado noted at the outset, “transgender” is above all a word — albeit freighted with meaning in our culture — and a word required by people’s growing recognition that gender in real life, rather than in the movies, magazines, and the conventional popular cultural imagination, is complex and immensely variable.” — Gender Complexity

[USA] From ABC News, “Thomas Beatie, the transgender man who bore a daughter four months ago, has become the public face of an issue for many other transgender people: having their roles as parents legally recognized. In an exclusive interview airing tonight on “20/20,” Beatie told Barbara Walters that he is pregnant with his second child … As the biological parent, Thomas Beatie has legally secure rights. His wife, on the other hand, is not biologically related to their baby but is granted parental rights by virtue of her marriage to Thomas Beatie. So if the validity of their marriage were challenged, experts say, Nancy Beatie’s parental rights could be in jeopardy. “There is litigation in other states over whether their marriage would be recognized,” said Nancy Polikoff, a law professor at American University in Washington, D.C. Polikoff envisioned a scenario in which the Beaties moved to a state that refuses to recognize Thomas Beatie’s legal sex change in Hawaii. If that happens, his marriage would be revoked as an illegal same-sex marriage and Nancy Beatie’s parental status could be questioned. That would be a nightmare for the Beaties. “Oh, I think we’re very worried,” Nancy Beatie said. “We’re both very worried.” Said Thomas Beatie: “If something were to happen to me, I want to make sure that Nancy has custody over her daughter” … In order to secure Nancy Beatie’s parental rights, lawyers advise the Beaties to do what many same-sex couples with children do — have Nancy Beatie, as the nonbiological parent, adopt their baby. “When there is a slight question whether the marriage will be upheld by a court if it’s challenged, the nonbiological parent will take the step of adopting the child, not because it’s always necessary but just to make absolutely sure that the parent-child relationship is legally protected,” Columbia’s Goldberg said. Polikoff of American University said, “Adoption will guarantee recognition in all states.” The Beaties agree that adoption would protect them, but they don’t want to do that as a matter of principle. They see themselves as a legally married heterosexual couple. They note that they file taxes jointly as husband and wife. “We shouldn’t have to adopt our own daughter,” Thomas Beatie said. The Beaties are seeking legal representation to pursue a change in the birth certificate. “I feel that it’s a flawed document,” he said. “We’d like to see this process remedied for the next child, for the next pregnant man.” — Pregnant Man, Other Transgender Parents Face Legal Questions

[USA] A related article, also from ABC News, “No longer living on the fringes of society, transgender families are quietly raising their children in towns and neighborhoods across the country. Take the case of Andey and Leaf Nunes, and their son Antonio. Even in San Francisco, where the two men live, their relationship raises eyebrows and the questions of, “What is a woman? What is a man?” “We’re a gay male couple that got to have a child the old-fashioned way,” said Andey, a transgender man. “I am Antonio’s biological mother on his birth certificate.”" — Transgender Couples: Changing the Face of Family

[UK] “An Audience with April Ashley takes place in the Small Concert Room at St George’s Hall tomorrow at 7.30pm. Miss Ashley was born in Liverpool in 1935 and lived in Norris Green for all of her childhood. In 1960 she was one of the first transsexual people to undergo gender confirmation surgery in Morocco. She went on to develop a successful career as a model, appearing in Vogue amongst other magazines. She was “outed” as a transsexual by the Sunday People in 1961 and her marriage and subsequent divorce removed the ability of trans people to acquire full legal status. This was not satisfactorily resolved until the passing of the Gender Recognition Act of 2004.” — Out and About

[UK] Where Julie Bindel is scheduled to be on December 5th. — Public Debate: A Feminist Perspective on the Transsexual Debate,

[India/Nepal] ““Sexual minorities should be treated as fairly as other citizens. If a member of our community breaks the law by all means book him but please don’t round up every hijra or transsexual you can find, the activists who support them and brutalise them,” said Manohar of Sangama. ”Also, please stop spreading false and outlandish stories about people being kidnapped and castrated just to sensationalise issues and create more fear and mistrust among the public,” he added appealing to the press and the authorities.” — Reality bites

[Australia] “So say we all.” — In Parliament Yesterday

News and views for Tuesday, November 11th …

[TN, USA] “The shooting death of a transgendered woman won’t stop a planned lawsuit over her February beating at the hands of police, one of her attorneys said Monday. Duanna Johnson, 43, was shot in the head at Hollywood and Staten in North Memphis late Sunday. She died at the scene. Although the Memphis Police Department identified the victim as Dwayne Johnson, attorney Murray Wells said the victim was the person he knew as Duanna.” — Transgendered abuse victim found dead

[TN, USA] The video from CW30 Eyewitness News’ report (”Duanna Johnson’s Death Will Not Stop MPD Lawsuit“) last night …

[Australia] “At the Grauniad, where noted Transphobe Julie Bindel was nominated for an award as “Journalist of the Year” by UK GLB(but not T) group STONEWALL. Named after a riot against police oppression of trans* and gays started by a Transgendered woman, to add a touch of Irony … So why does all this matter? Surely it’s just more silly sophomoric political games, people shouting at each other in the battle of the -isms, with no-one but they interested in the outcome? It matters because of this - the events I wrote about in Nothing Unusual … It matters because just as the beating of Duanna Johnson was not widely publicised in MSM, her murder will go unremarked either, even if a ballistics exam shows (purely by coincidence) a police-issue weapon was involved. It matters because if the Julie Bindels of the world are allowed to preach their poisonous Xenophobia without being called on it, then consequences such as this are inescapable.” — Today’s Battle

[USA] “New reality series Sex Change Hospital (WE tv Tuesdays, 11 pm/ET) follows patients — from retired grandfathers to construction workers, businessman and office managers — as they undergo surgery to transition from one gender to another. We caught up with Dr. Marci Bowers (formerly Mark Bowers), who has performed over 550 male-to-female sexual reassignment surgeries, to find out more about the life-changing operations at her clinic in Trinidad, Colo., the compelling docudrama and the social stigmas involved with transgender patients.” — Transgender Doctor Talks Sex Change Hospital

[CA, USA] The Stanford Law School has honored transgender attorney Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), with its National Public Service Award. — Stanford Law School Honors Public Interest Attorneys Shannon Price Minter and Julia R. Wilson with Public Service Awards

[USA] (Too bad certain Americans for Truth never focused on WMDs as they have on MWDs.) The latest from “Porno Pete” LaBarbera: “What will a President Obama do to protect the right to privacy of female federal workers who don’t want men wearing dresses – with male genitalia – sharing their women’s restroom?” LaBarbera said. “Will a President Obama request funds from Congress to embark on an ambitious ‘Transgender Restroom Construction Project’ to build special “trans” bathrooms in government buildings – so as not to subject female employees to sexual harassment and violations of their privacy?” — Will Federal Female Employees Be Safe from Cross-Dressing Men Using Ladies’ Restrooms in the Obama Administration?

[MD, USA] “So — a foreign guy went into the ladies fitting room with his wife and baby. That’s the story.
The letter writer, Bunny Galladora, hints that this is supposed to have something to do with our county’s new nondiscrimination law. The guy wasn’t dressed as a woman or claiming to be transgender, he was speaking a foreign language and maybe comes from a less puritanical country than ours, where men help their wives pick out clothes and watch the kid. As long as he isn’t leering at the women, exposing himself, or molesting anyone, there is no law — and never has been a law — against him being there … The WCTU lady says she was uneasy saying something to the store employee “with the new law having been passed.” Was she afraid somehow that she was going to accidentally discriminate against someone on the basis of gender identity? If there was something unusual about the man’s gender identity you would think she’d mention it. Let’s see how quickly Channel Seven gets this “challenge to the new law” on the air. And to think, they don’t like it when we call them “nuts.”" — WCTU Leader Outraged by Foreigner at Kohls, Blames New Law

[USA] “We need to start rebuilding for a fully inclusive ENDA. Start making strong alliances, start reaching out, start laying the bare strategic groundwork for the next battle a year or so from now. Let the lawyers continue to fight to overturn Prop 8, it was in some respects a red herring primarily designed to build and test a religion-based political machine, but it did serve (hopefully) as a fertile source of lessons learned and an insight as to how we need to fight the upcoming fight for our rights.” — Forward Thinking

[USA] “This statement and its supporting literature, that hypothesize sexual deviance as a cause of transsexualism, have sparked dissent among clinicians and researchers and outrage within the transgender and transsexual community [4-8] While theories around “autogynephilia” seem exceptionally impervious to contrary evidence, the controversy has raised questions about tolerance and bias in American Psychiatry– at what point do bad stereotypes preclude good science? The term “autogynephilia,” meaning “love of oneself as a woman,” was first introduced by Dr. Raymond Blanchard of the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, now known as the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. He is currently chairman of the Paraphilias Subcommittee for the upcoming DSM-V. Blanchard stated that, “All gender dysphoric males who are not sexually oriented toward men are instead sexually oriented toward the thought or image of themselves as women.” [9] The absolutism in this statement, in the words “all and “instead,” seems astonishing. [10] It reduces a broad continuum of sexuality among transwomen to two narrow maligning stereotypes: either “homosexual males” in denial of a “homosexual” identity or pathological narcissistic “males” sexually attracted to themselves.” — Autogynephilia: The Infallible Derogatory Hypothesis, Part 1

[USA] “The gender alternative to ENDA would still be far from perfect. Even the most inclusive version of ENDA proposed so far was startling in its embrace of stark gender binarism, protecting transgender employees only to the extent they clearly declared themselves to be one sex or the other. The political process may continue to demand caveats on affirmative action and disparate impact claims. Judicial treatment of the new law could go in several directions. Judicial enthusiasm for the PDA, for example, has been mixed. Courts have sliced and diced sex, pregnancy, sex-plus, and sex stereotyping claims in defiance of Congress’s view that all are of a piece. There is no guarantee that their enforcement of a gender amendment would be more enthusiastic. A gender amendment would, however, create at least a chance for some progress, and a chance to avoid creating new problems for intersectional and other non-archetypal plaintiffs.” – Instead of ENDA, A Course Correction for Title VII

[Indonesia] “Heavyset and wearing the pink Islamic headscarf and matching flowing clothes of a pious Indonesian housewife, 48-year-old Maryani says her penis is a gift from God. Born as a boy and raised as a Catholic, Maryani spent years of drinking and selling sex on the streets as part of this city’s transgendered community before discovering Islam. Now, with her eight-year-old adopted daughter Rizky Aryani scrambling across her sturdy thighs, Maryani says her job is to bring Islam to her fellow “waria,” as transgendered people are known here. Tucked into a small alley in Yogyakarta, Maryani’s house has been turned into Indonesia’s first Islamic school set up specifically for waria.” – Indonesian transgendered find refuge in Islamic school

[Finland] “A local Imatra vicar’s announcement that he plans to undergo gender reassignment surgery is forcing the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church to take a stance on sex change. The minister, Olli Aalto, who is taking a temporary leave of absence, intends to begin hormone treatments. After this, he will undergo surgery and physically become a woman. Voitto Huotari, the bishop of the local Mikkeli diocese, says Aalto can no longer continue in his job. Aalto considers this view to be blatantly discriminatory. Aalto says he has been encouraged to leave the Church. However, firing him would break equality law. Aalto says he’s considering taking the Church to court if he is expelled from his job. “Pressuring me to leave is already discrimination,” says Aalto.” — Imatra Vicar Plans Gender Reassignment Surgery

News and views for Monday, November 10th …

[TN, USA] As Autumn has mentioned here, troubled trans woman Duanna Johnson was found shot to death in Memphis today. The news reports as of Monday evening …

The victim of a shooting early today in North Memphis has been identified by a local attorney as the transgendered person who was beaten by police earlier this year … Police are looking for suspects in this morning’s shooting. A witness told investigators three people ran from the scene after a shot was fired.

Shooting victim identified as person who was beaten by police

The lawyer for a transgender woman who was preparing to sue Memphis police says his client has been killed … Wells said Johnson’s family still intends to sue Memphis police because of the jailhouse beating

Lawyer: Shooting victim was woman beaten by police

A statement from the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center: “Duanna bravely confronted the Memphis Police Department officers who brutalized her while she was in police custody. At great personal cost, Duanna was the public face of our community’s campaign against racism, homophobia, and transphobia. There was no justice for Duanna Johnson in life. The Mid-South Peace & Justice Center calls for justice in the investigation and prosecution of Duanna’s murder.”

Transgender Beating Victim Found Dead in North Memphis

[IL, USA] “Even a dreary, drizzly Chicago November evening did not deter a strong crowd of at least 300 from gathering to protest the Museum of Broadcast Communications’ induction of James Dobson into the Radio Hall of Fame on Saturday at the downtown Renaissance Chicago Hotel … “They said they couldn’t do anything because he won the vote,” explained Thayer while addressing the crowd early in the evening. “At one point in the history of our country, the premiere broadcaster [of the 1930’s] was Father [Charles] Coughlin, a notorious anti-semite and racist. They did not, rightfully, choose to honor him, but unfortunately a double standard still persists in this country for haters of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people.”‘ — Chicagoans Protest Dobson’s Hall of Fame Induction

[NY, USA] ” ‘Malcolm Smith, the Queens Democrat who will be the new majority leader, appeared at ESPA’s annual Manhattan Fall Dinner last October and enthusiastically pledged to “forward” the marriage equality bill on “the first day of our session,” and to put it at “the top of the list” when discussing agenda items with the governor.’ I’m fine with that happening on the first day - so long as a bill to rectify the 2002 Gays’ and Lesbians’ Right to Discriminate Against Trans People Act (sometimes referred to as SONDA) is ‘forwarded’ first on that first day and so long as not one thing is done on the marriage bill until the bill to rectify the 2002 Gays’ and Lesbians’ Right to Discriminate Against Trans People Act has passed both houses of the legislature and has Gov. Paterson’s signature affixed to it.” — Marriage My Ass

[NY, USA] “I’m sure there were plenty of transwomen who wanted to vote in New York City who could have been profiled in this article. Or the Times could have done an article about voter apathy and used Michelle Carver as an example. So good on the Times for at least referring to Michelle Carver with female pronouns and a female honorific. But this issue deserves serious coverage, not condescending commentary on a someone who isn’t even facing the problems outlined in the beginning of the article.” — Traditional media still has trouble covering transgender issues

[USA] “In their first interview since the birth of their daughter, Susan, this past summer, Beatie and his wife, Nancy, speak candidly to Barbara Walters. Find out about the childbirth experience, how they’re raising their daughter, and what the future holds for them on “What Is a Man, What Is a Woman? Journey of a Pregnant Man” Friday on “20/20″ at 10 p.m. ET ,,, The hour also explores how gender boundaries are dissolving, and how transgender couples create families amid the social and legal complexities of this brave new world.” — Barbara Walters Exclusive: ‘Journey of a Pregnant Man’

[USA] “Today, I have no problem with my self-worth. I don’t need laws that protect my employment or include me in hate crimes legislation to justify my humanity. My self worth and humanity is based on me and me only. My renewed belief in God has also been very helpful. Trans people all over the country have come to realize that they will not relinquish their humanity to anyone. No one decided our humanity or self worth but us. Maybe our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters need to take a little lesson from the trans community when it comes to self worth. We have been put down and marginalized for such a long time and for so many reasons that we had to make peace with our humanity. We have been left out of legislation so many times that we had to build the strength within us to move on. We have seen so many trans-related bills fail that it has dampened our self worth. Yet, we keep moving forward.” — Devaluating Your Self Worth

[USA] “That is exactly how many of us feel about ”friends and neighbors” who somehow found a way to justify leaving trans people behind on ENDA. And although I hate to compare griefs the fact of the matter is that it’s all the same. Fundamental rights are fundamental rights, whether it be the right to have a job and earn a living or the right to have loving committed relationships recognized and to raise a family. Denial of both are materially harmful. No difference. Yet you made a conscious decision to harm us, Joe. You did. Perhaps you’ll recognize that you were that friend and neighbor - to me personally and to our community in general - who made that hurtful decision yet can somehow justify still being a “friend”. I hope that you recognize that the crowds still protesting the Prop. 8 outcome in cities throughout California and across the country are the same as gender variant people and allies who protest at HRC events around the country, upset with the injustice that has been forced upon us and needing to express that anger and frustration.” — What’s the Point?

[UK] The Department of Health has authorised the publication of “A guide to trans service users’ rights” (PDF here), the sixth in the series of booklets that it has commissioned the Gender Identity Research and Education (GIRES) to develop.

[Canada] “Put yourself in the place of someone who’s trying to transition. Many people simply just don’t understand why you would do that. Then add to that the realization that the APA, a socially-recognized mental health authority, considers you to be diseased, simply out of who you are. Ask yourself if you would be willing to trade a bit of your dignity for medical treatment. If not, why should anyone else have to?” — Non-normative gender is not a disease

[Sweden] “Jan-Olov Ågren, a male cross-dresser from Norrbotten in northern Sweden, has been handed a victory by the county administrative court in his bid to go by the name Madeleine. Ågren has a penchant for dressing up in women’s clothing and when he does, he likes to go by the name Madeleine, reports the Norrbottens-Kuriren newspaper. But the Swedish Tax Agency had previously rejected Ågren’s application to have his name changed to Jan-Olov Madeleine Ågren on the grounds that it’s not appropriate for a man to have a woman’s name.” — Cross-dressing Swedish man can be named Madeleine

[Peru] “In the city of Iquitos, in the Peruvian Amazon, attitudes towards gender roles and sexual orientation are comparatively relaxed. But despite the thriving gay and transvestite scene, members of the cross-dressing community, known as chivas, still face prejudice and violence. Sixteen-year-old Rober has been working as a transsexual prostitute since he was 12. Donning his girlish clothes and wig every night, he says that he’s happier on the streets than at school, despite the risks to his safety.” — Walk on the wild side: Peru

News and views for Thursday, November 6th …

[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] The Washington Blade runs down the “mixed” results of Tuesday’s election. — Polis becomes 3rd openly gay member of Congress

[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.

It’s hard for me not to fume a bit over the latest Congressional Scorecard from the HRC. The HRC has for a number of years claims to be an LGBT organization, but the political branch of their organization penalized seven congresspeople who voted against the final version of ENDA — the seven congresspeople who voted against ENDA because the final version of ENDA didn’t include protections for gender identity and expression.

Specifically, the HRC Congressional Scorecard for the 110th Congress has been released. In their report, Joe Solmonese explains…

Although not the vote we hoped for, the ENDA vote was historic. A strong bipartisan majority of 235 members of Congress sent a clear message that employment decisions should be based on job performance, not sexual orientation. In addition, seven members who are strong supporters of the LGBT community — Reps. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), Rush Holt (D-N.J.), Michael Michaud (D-Maine), Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.) and Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) — voted against the bill because they were disappointed that it did not include transgender protections.

And yet, the HRC still lowered the scores of the seven in their report for not supporting the final version of ENDA that didn’t include gender identity and expression. The page highlighted here (select image to enlarge) shows, as an example of the seven, how Rep. Holt was marked down for voting against the final version of ENDA. Rep. Holt’s final score is 90% instead of the 100% he should have had.

Perhaps it should seem pretty strange to all of us that the HRC, an organization that claims to be an LGBT civil rights organization, penalized seven congresspeople who showed a greater commitment to fully inclusive civil rights protections than the HRC did during the same timeframe.

Solmonese also said in the report:

A new Congress and a new president will have the opportunity to make even greater progress. The list of unfinished business is long. We need to have a president who signs the Matthew Shepard Act into law. We need to pass a fully inclusive ENDA. We need to repeal DADT. We need expanded funding in our battle against HIV/AIDS. And we need to expand benefits and protections for LGBT families.

If we pass a fully inclusive ENDA in the next Congress, I wonder if it will be in spite of the HRC instead of with the help of the HRC. The HRC’s recent record — a record which includes this current scorecard markdown of seven congresspeople in their most recent report — seems to indicate it very well could be a “in spite of” moment.

Frankly, I don’t believe that any words that Mr. Solmonese speaks have any real weight anymore, and I certainly don’t trust him or the HRC to work as equally hard on T issues as hedoes/they do for G and L issues in the next congressional session.

I’m tired of feeling angry about this. Rep. Tammy Baldwin gives me some hope, though. In an interview in the Huffington Post, she answered the question We also came very close with ENDA. Do you think it will be possible to pass The Employment Non-Discrimination Act nationally? this way:

I think the results of the November 4th election will inform the answer to that question also. We had, by my count, a very, very close to a majority who were willing to vote on an inclusive measure. We were very concerned in a lot of the sort of internal discussion, when we were advancing the Bill to the floor which revolved around what sort of response there would be to any type of mischief-making on the floor by the opponents of this legislation and, whether we could if there was an attempt to separate out gender identity and expression withstand an attempt to do that and keep the Bill intact. And, while I was not in the prevailing side of the internal debate on this, the decision was made to introduce separate bills, one protecting people from employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and the other based on gender identity and expression and to move those Bills separately.

Again, I was advocating a different course of action, but in terms of can we do it next session, I think the question will be how many more individuals will be elected to the Congress in this election who are willing to cast that vote. And, if we have a stronger majority, I think we will be able to move forward with an inclusive Bill.

One other thing, it reminds the whole question, reminds me of the Patricia Ireland quote. First, when we’re dealing with a sitting Congress, you’re trying to build majorities by changing people’s minds, but she use to say “If you can’t change their minds, change their faces.” And that’s what we do in elections. We’re hopefully going to seat a new Congress in January of next year that has greater numbers of pro-equality members.

As someone whose primary idnetity is as a “T,” this isn’t much to latch onto — but at least it’s something.

Sunday night …

Fannie and Freddie, a “bi-gender” mess — a long time coming and a longer time payin’ … brought to us, “bipartisanly,” of course.

I just can’t focus on one candidate’s putative primacy on gay and transgender issues when both parties are and have been (and will be) parties to running the country fiscally, monetarily, militarily and every other which way into the ground … and I’m getting it you know where.

Some things trump other things and, as much as Ivana, I just can’t count on a Trump to help me out … as a poor tax payer of limited means.

By the way, St. Barney (Kat’s well-chosen appellation), who’s been so benificent on “T” stuff (sarcasm alert) — heck, you may not know which (pun alert) ENDA’s up, but Chairman Barney knows — there’s money for everything, like old times — something to look forward to in the “days” ahead … is a player in all this.

Frankly, I’m cranky … and not amused by any of this.

Sorry.