Well, not exactly, but I can’t help but believe that one of “the usual suspects” will put some of that spin on this news story …

COEUR D’ALENE – Police in the Lake City are investigating a reported rape on North Idaho College’s campus involving a cross-dressing man who attacked a student in a bathroom.

Coeur d’Alene police are not commenting on their investigation at this point only to say they do not feel students are not in danger because the victim said she knew her attacker.

NIC student Janea Kelso heard about the alleged rape from a friend who got an emergency alert on her phone.

“It’s scary considering this is a small school,” Kelso said.

The text message said a man dressed as a woman was hiding in the first floor bathroom of the Meyer Health and Science Building and raped a woman last Friday. Kelso says teachers warned female students to be careful.

“They just said be careful when leaving class go in buddy system,” she said.

The victim told police she knows the rapist, who is described as being white with brown hair and is clean shaven. The attacker is 48-years-old and is not an NIC student. Police are not releasing the man’s name and no one has been arrested

NIC administrators notified students of the attack and said security officers are watching for suspicious people but they are not adding additional patrols.

“We have no indication since this was according to police someone known to her, we don’t believe nor does our security or police that is someone looking for targets at this time but still urging everyone to be vigilant,” NIC vice president John Martin said.

Police have declined comment on the case but did say that a rapist is not roaming the streets.

Students on guard after alleged rape at NIC

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)

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

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

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

Schroer’s Political Agenda

Judge Robertson’s claim that the Library of Congress violated Title VII of the 1964 civil rights act by not hiring Schroer is incorrect – and judicial activism. Title VII only addresses the issue of males and females – not confused individuals who think they’re the opposite sex. Robertson’s use of this section is illegitimate and should be appealed to a higher court.

A person who thinks he’s the opposite sex is medically diagnosed as having Gender Dysphoria, which is still listed as a mental disorder in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). A person who wears opposite sex clothing has a mental illness described as transvestic fetishism in the DSM.

There is currently no federal law in effect that provides cross-dressers, transsexuals, drag queens, or she-males federally protected class status. However, efforts have been underway in Congress for years to pass legislation doing this. The brief filed by the Library of Congress in this case points out that Title VII does not protect transgendered persons from discrimination.

One of those laws is the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which has been blocked from passage by the aggressive work of TVC. ENDA originally contained protections for “gender identity” but was stripped from the bill by homosexual Barney Frank in order to get it passed.

Using a phrase I heard often while serving in the US Navy, l feel like I’m “beating a dead horse” when I point out how offensive Andrea Lafferty’s and Lou Sheldon’s language usually is regarding transgender people. They frequently refer to trans people by the incredibly offensive pejorative “she-male”.

The TVC also cites the how the American Psychiatric Association (APA) lists transgender conditions in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) — apparently as a reason why transgender people should experience employment discrimination, which by extension…

[More below the fold.]

Read the rest of this entry »

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read the rest of this entry »

One of the things I noticed about the An Examination of Discrimination Against Transgender Americans in the Workplace hearing is that minus the Alliance Defense Fund, there weren’t any conservative Christian organizations speaking at the hearing; minus the Traditional Values Coalition any conservative Christian organizations leaving press materials at the hearing; and minus the ranking minority member of the subcommittee (Rep. John Kline, R-MN) there were no Republicans there to ask questions of the witnesses at the hearing.

So what’s happening now there’s a conservative Christian community characterization of the hearing as if there was serious wave of opposition speaking to trans employment issues — but they didn’t actually have much presense there opposing any future gender idenity and expression inclusive legislation in person.

Some examples of online, conservative Christian commentary:

- PFOX: Congressional Hearing To Push Gender Confusion Upon All Americans

[OneNewsNow/American Family Association, Peter LaBarbera, Focus On The Family/CitizenLink, Concerned Women For America, and Traditional Values Coalition commentaries below the fold.]
Read the rest of this entry »

We don’t think that demonic is too strong a word to describe this. It brings us thoughts of the Nazi doctors who thought they were doing good things.

–Unsigned MassResistance editorial (April 19, 2008), and quoted in WorldNetDaily

I occasionally get asked why I spend so much time and energy repeating the message that the Bible mentions gender variant people in Matthew 19:12, Galatians 3:28 and Isaiah 56:4-8.

Well, it’s because conservative Christian’s often site Genesis 1:27 and Genesis 5:1-2 to mean that there are only those born female, and those born male, and there is no gray area between male and female.

Against science and reality, they believe in a sex (“what’s between the legs”) and gender (“what’s between the ears”) dichotomy, where gender is either male or female, and one’s gender is always aligned to, and always determined determined by the shape of one’s genitalia at birth. They strongly believe that when asking the question Can One Be A Transgender Christian?, they usually answer “No.” The Traditional Values Coalition quotes Jerry Leach in proclaiming Transgenders Need Spiritual Help:

Gender confused individuals need psychological help but they also need spiritual assistance to deal with their mental problems.

Jerry Leach, a former closeted cross-dresser, heads Reality Resources, a ministry to men and women who have gender identity problems. Leach, writing in his paper, “Homo-sexuality & Transsexuality Compared,” says that a transgendered person is not only gender confused, but he gradually rejects his God-given gender role. “Deep-seated psychological splitting or disassociation from the masculine is the most serious in the life of the transgender person. … An underlying principle that bears repeating is the reality that compulsions do not remain static. They are progressive. A man can begin with experimentation, only to discover much later that his repeated habit finally betrays him by leading him into bondage.” Leach’s web site, www.realityresources.com, has more information on how sexually confused individuals can find healing and wholeness.

Peter LaBarbera recently more than inferred that the idea that there may be transgender and transsexual youth as “tranny insanity.” Now his pals at MassResistance have gone further in their description of the treatment of transyouth, using the term demonic (the emphasis is theirs):

We don’t think that demonic is too strong a word to describe this. It brings us thoughts of the Nazi doctors who thought they were doing good things.

As MassResistance has reported in the past, this is going on at the world-renowned Children’s Hospital in Boston – not some backwater clinic. This is the elite of the medical profession. And the Boston Globe treats this with clinical nonchalance. This article is so disturbing that it’s difficult to say more.

MassResistance then cites an article in the Boston Globe, entitled Q&A with Norman Spack; A doctor helps children change their gender. Where MassResistance is upset enough to directly add a comment to the article’s quoted text is where Dr. Spack indicates that he believes transgender people are also formed — as transgender — in the image of God:

[After the fold, more pure, unadulterated crap from MassResistance.]
Read the rest of this entry »

Every now and again, folk like Americans For Truth About Homosexuality, Focus On The Family (FOTF) and the Concerned Women For America (CWA) call out LGBT organizations to take stands on issues, or to work with religious right organizations to work against some perceived scourge. Well, I have a similar call for Peter LaBarbera, Matt Barber, Janice Crouse, and Wendy Wright: it’s time for religious right organizations to condemn Rev. Lou Sheldon, his daughter Andrea Lafferty, and the Traditional Values Coalition for their repeated use of the anti-LGBT/anti-transgender pejorative “she-male.”

And, Matt Barber needs to be one of the particular voices condemning the use of this anti-LGBT/anti-transgender pejorative, as he’s used the pejorative she-male in a relatively recent piece.

I assume religious right organizations will continue to condemn use of the terms faggot — they should feel the same way about the term “she-male,” and they should be condemning their peer Rev. Sheldon, his daughter Andrea Lafferty, and the Traditional Values Coalition for their repeated use of the term.

In fact, I’m calling out these organizations to do just that.

It might be tough for the CWA to condemn it though — they’ve posted the term she-male on their website too, and Matt Barber was extremely disrespectful of Dana Beyer’s gender on Friday, February 29th.

The TVC has taken down their latest article using the term — entitled Hillary Clinton She-Male Advisor Harasses Maryland Signature Gatherers — but not before its text was archived at transgendernews. The TVC repeated the same ol’ factoid:

Maryland Citizens for Responsible Government believes that a clear reading of this bill means that a she/male, drag queen, transsexual or cross-dresser could demand access to opposite sex restrooms and shower facilities!

Here’s what Andrea Lafferty had to say about Dana Beyer:

Dana Beyer’s appearance and hostile behavior is a perfect picture of how confused these individuals are – and why no government agency or legislature should protect what is clearly a Gender Identity Disorder (GID),” said TVC Executive Director Andrea Lafferty. “Do parents really want someone like Dana Beyer entering a girl’s shower or restroom? I think not. The legalization and protection of a serious mental disorder cannot be permitted to stand.”

It’s not enough that the article has been taken down. The TVC needs to be condemned for its repeated use of the pejorative she-male by other conservative Christian organizations, and the term needs to be erased from the TVC and other conservative Christian organization websites — like the CWA’s website. She-male is a term that’s at least as offensive as the term faggot — all these conservative Christian organizations need to condemn their peer conservative Christian pejorative users.

By the way, Rev. Lou Sheldon has endorsed Sen. John McCain for president. Does anyone think Sen. McCain will “reject and denounce” Rev. Sheldon’s endorsement for president in the same way Sen. Obama has rejected and denounced Louis Farrakhan’s endorsement for president?

So while I’m calling on conservative Christian organizations to denounce Rev. Sheldon, Andrea Lafferty, and the Traditional Values Coalition for their repeated use of the anti-LGBT/anti-transgender pejorative she-male, I’m also calling on Sen. McCain to reject and denounce Rev. Sheldon’s support of his candidacy for president due to his frequent use of anti-transgender terms, as well as his and the TVC’s derogagtory use of other LGBT terms, such as drag queen.

~~~~~

And speaking of transgender civil rights laws and factoids….

“A hotel or convention site will not be allowed to turn down a transgender/cross-dresser or BDSM (whips & chains, sadomasochism) convention. A restaurant will not be able to turn away a special party for she-male prostitutes and their clients, or cross-dressers. A museum or library will not be allowed to turn away a GLBT activist seminar promoting BDSM, public nudity, public sex, or legalized prostitution. A function facility will not be allowed to refuse a seminar on breast removal and hormone treatments for women ’transitioning’ to men. A Catholic church could even be forced to hold a forum on homosexual or transsexual ’marriage’ or polygamy. These behaviors and activities could all be considered ’gender expression’ and these venues are could all be considered ’public accommodations.’”
–Amy Contrada, The Coming Nightmare of a “Transsexual Rights and Hate Crimes” Law in Massachusetts: Why Bill H1722 Must Be Defeated; PART 3: Public Accommodations

I’ve grown tired over the past few weeks of Theresa Rickman’s mischaracterizations of the transgender civil rights legislation in Montgomery County, Maryland; now I’m just as tired of Amy Contrada’s 75 pages of mischaracterizations and exaggerations of the effects of Massachusetts’ H1722. Bay Windows‘ take on Amy Contrada’s 75 page diatribe: Contrada warns of trans apocalypse.

There are 13 states and dozens of municipalities with transgender inclusive civil rights legislation in place — the bathroom factoid is just that — a factoid. The bathroom fueled apocalypse hasn’t come yet to any state or municipality — it’s not going to come to Massachusetts either.

Amy Contrada is MassResistance’s main blogger, and she’s a piece of work. You may remember her from for using her own daughter’s coming out to foment homophobia, as well as claiming that Biblethumper Diane Steele was set up when Steele slapped “homosexual rights supporter Jack Kirschenbaun” in the face.

I’m transgender woman, but I don’t make shit up whole cloth about conservative Christians — Amy Contrada and the Traditional Values Coalition do make shit up whole cloth about transgender people like me.

~~~~~
Further reading/Further listening:
* Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition’s H1722 Talking Points
* Concerned Women For America (MP3): Not My Shower! (Opposition piece: Interview of Theresa Richman by Matt Barber — discusses Dana Beyer at length by name. Matt Barber calls Dr. Beyer a “gentleman,” and refers to Dr. Beyer by male pronouns.)

~~~~~
Related:
* From Your Friendly Neighborhood Montgomery County “Christians.”
* TVC Calls Maryland Activist “Shemale”
* Convincing sales pitch of the year, from Traditional Values Coalition
* Just Feel The Love From The TVC
* The TVC’s Latest Assaults On The Federal Employment Protections Act
* Daughter of MassResistance’s Amy Contrada comes out
* MassResistance: the lowest of the low
* MassResistance goes silent after Amy Contrada’s treatment of daughter

From Andrea Lafferty and the nice folks at the Traditional Values Coalition, “Hillary Clinton She-Male Advisor Harasses Maryland Signature Gatherers” …

“Dana Beyer’s appearance and hostile behavior is a perfect picture of how confused these individuals are – and why no government agency or legislature should protect what is clearly a Gender Identity Disorder (GID),” said TVC Executive Director Andrea Lafferty. “Do parents really want someone like Dana Beyer entering a girl’s shower or restroom? I think not. The legalization and protection of a serious mental disorder cannot be permitted to stand.”

Once again, words just utterly fail me with these people …

There was a good read yesterday (“The Sentinel: Shower-Nuts Lied To People“) from Jim at Vigilance on the petition drive in Montgomery County …

I’m glad to see this story. I have wondered if there wasn’t any law regulating what you can tell people when you get them to sign a petition.

Unfortunately for us, The Sentinel is behind a paywall. Here’s the story.

Petition Faces Big Road Blocks

A top attorney with Montgomery County said that some if not all of the signatures gathered by Citizens for a Responsible Government for a petition may be invalid if it is born out that petitioners were misrepresenting the contents of the petition to potential signers.

Citizens as diverse as members of the media, church goers, county council members and their staffers have reported that the CRG, a group responsible for a petition drive to try and get a referendum vote on County Council bill 23-07, which protects transgender individuals from being discriminated against in employment, housing and public accommodations, have been misrepresenting the content of the bill and their petition for several weeks.

True, that. We heard them say all kinds of stuff. They said, This law will require men and women to use the same bathroom. They said it would enable pedophiles and predators to come into ladies rooms. We saw one guy with a sign that said, “Protect our children,” though the law has nothing whatsoever to do with children.

You can read the rest of the entry here.

How to make church relevant? Sex! (Obviously, Rev. Wirth had something else on his mind and was not paying much attention to Doris et al. in Shrek 2 and Shrek 3, by the way … ) …

A Florida church leader is challenging married members of his congregation to have sex every day for a month.

The challenge for single parishioners is slightly different, though – to abstain from sex for 30 days, reports Sky News.

Paul Wirth, head pastor of the Relevant Church in Ybor City, said the marathon undertaking could help cut high divorce rates.

He said: “Couples across America are struggling in their relationships, both married and single people.

“For married people it seems like the sex is great up front but then for some reason life happens.

“But when you’re single it’s like you’re always thinking about it and you’re like, man I’d like to have it as much as possible.

“And sometimes that prevents them from having a great really healthy relationship later on when you do get married.”

The Relevant Church describes itself as “a casual, contemporary Christian church” and says its services are designed “specifically for urban professionals and young families”.

Mr Wirth’s previous sermons have included using hit film Shrek The Third to explain “what happens when we trust God”.

Pastor tells flock to have sex – every day

Or, as the Minneapolis City Pages headlined it, Bang your spouse for Jesus!

That’s to say, I’m not at all surprised to be reading this in WorldNetDaily this morning …

It happened this week when a man, wearing a skirt and makeup, walked into a women’s locker room at a health club.

“I could see his muscles, I could see his large hands. He was wearing a blue ruffled skirt that came down to above the knee,” Mary Ann Andree told WJLA-Television after the incident at the Rio Sport and Health Club in Gaithersburg.

…

“It is becoming obvious that this bill will have very real and serious repercussions,” said Michelle Turner, a spokeswoman for the local organization that has adopted the Not My Shower slogan and is working on a petition that would have residents vote on the plan.

The group, Maryland Citizens for Responsible Government, has been critical of the suggestion since before it was given a green light by elected officials in Montgomery County and then signed into law by County Executive Ike Leggett.

“No longer will women and girls be able to feel completely safe in the most private and personal bathroom and locker facilities of schools, public pools, malls, stores, health clubs, restaurants and other such public places throughout the county,” the group said earlier.

The organization said Leggett’s signature on the law means even religious schools could be forced to hire transgender teachers “and then also allow cross-dressing but biological males in your daughters’ school locker room.”

The WND article (which you can find here) devolves rather predictably from there to questioning the “mental condition” of transgender persons, which reads like a tired rehash of an old press release from the Traditional Values Coalition.

Just as predictably, the article doesn’t have anything to say about “ruffles,” the mysterious transgressor.

Like Montgomery County Council member Duchy Trachtenberg, “I really do wonder about” this incident.

How quickly the lessons regarding how the Democratic Congressional Leadership managed to publicly divide the LGBT community over ENDA — how much energy and resources were wasted by LGBT civil rights and other LGBT non-profit organizations battling over the “real or perceived gender” language that was first in, then out of ENDA — have been apparently lost on Sen. Kennedy.

The Washington Blade reported this morning in their article Kennedy favors ’08 Senate vote on ENDA; Leaked HRC memo suggests putting measure on hold until next year:

Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) is expected to push for a Senate vote in 2008 on the same gay-only version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act that the House of Representatives passed in 2007, a Kennedy spokesperson said this week.

Kennedy stated on the Senate floor on Nov. 8, one day after the House passed ENDA by a vote of 235 to 184, that he hoped the Senate would follow suit by passing the employment protection bill in the current Congress, which lasts through 2008.

But until this week, Kennedy’s office had not stated publicly where Kennedy stood on the demands by many gay and transgender organizations that Congress should withhold any action on ENDA unless it includes protection for transgender persons.

“Although Sen. Kennedy strongly supports protections against job discrimination for transgender workers, inaction won’t advance justice for anyone, and will just make it harder to pass any version of ENDA in 2009,” said Kennedy spokesperson Melissa Wagoner.

“We will most likely work to move the House-passed bill, rather than introducing a separate Senate bill,” Wagoner told the Blade by e-mail. “Because the same legislation must pass both the House and Senate, now that the House has acted, the only realistic way to get a bill to the president’s desk this Congress is to have the Senate pass the House bill.”

Further into the Blade piece, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says he’s in favor of an ENDA vote in 2008 — he’s looking for a bipartisan “super majority” to protect the gay-only ENDA from a filibuster.

Speaker Pelosi, Rep. Frank, and Rep. Miller were surprised by how grassroots LGBT activists organized and fought against the sexual orientation only version of ENDA. Senators Kennedy and Reid should be under no such illusion — what Sen. Kennedy and Sen. Reid are contemplating is a prescription for dividing the LGBT base for a second time in the same presidential election cycle. A sexual orientation-only Senate ENDA bill will also likely expose Democratic Senators to preexisting backlash on this controversial issue; it will expose Senators Obama and Clinton in particular to either voting for a civil rights bill that intentionally leaves parts of the LGBT community behind, or vote against a bill that would increase the protections of most LGB people — a no win vote. Secondly, presenting a gay-only ENDA for will provide a fairly significant distraction for LGBT activists at a time when the community is trying to focus on the 2008 presidential election.

[More on Senate sexual orientation-only ENDA, and the Gov. Huckabee/Evangelical/Social Conservative Christian factor]

Read the rest of this entry »

OneNewsNow and The Advocate are reporting that Peter LaBarbera, in his roll as the website founder of RepublicansForFamilyValues.org, is urging conservative Romney backers to withdraw their support. Apparently:

Governor Romney recently remarked on NBC’s Meet the Press that it “makes sense” at the state level to adopt the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). Conservative and Christian groups have ardently opposed such legislation because it grants special protections to employees based on their “actual or perceived sexual orientation.”

…On Meet the Press, Romney told host Tim Russert that although he originally said he would sponsor ENDA at the federal level, he changed his stance because the “policy makes more sense to be evaluated or to be implemented at the state level.”

This, of course, runs afoul of the Religious Right Agenda. Peter LaBarbera said in response to Romney’s Meet the Press comments:

[Romney]‘s now openly promoting the homosexual agenda at the state level. I don’t think he can be trusted at the federal level if he’s [promoting gay rights] at the state level … You know, our leaders don’t support candidates who are pro-abortion; why should they support leaders who are pro-homosexual agenda?

And…

If pro-family leaders look the other way while a guy like Mitt Romney [actively and publicly] supports … the homosexual agenda at the state level, it’s only going to erode the respect for pro-family voices within the Republican Party.

And…

Romney may have had a late conversion on abortion, but it appears his ninth-inning flip-flop on homosexuality is falling short due to his strong commitment to ‘gay rights.’

This reminds me a lot of when James Hartline torched Crazy Lou Sheldon for betraying Christianity in 2006 California Governor’s Race.

Seriously though, does any LGBT person in America believe Gov. Romney is “promoting the homosexual agenda” like LaBarbera says Romney is?

———–
Related:
* Peter LaBarbera/OneNewsNow: One Note Song Is Playing Again
* Get to know your AmTaliban: Peter LaBarbera
* LaBarbera: social networking sites are tools of The Homosexual Agenda
* Could it be…SATAN heading for the White House?
* Mitt version 2.0: Protecting Traditional Marriage

It’s been raining in San Diego this weekend(!), so time to search the web for the “California-related” stories and perspectives! Here we go:

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* Some in Congress learned of waterboarding in ’02; CIA gave leaders private briefings about techniques. (San Francisco Chronicle)

In September 2002, four members of Congress met in secret for a first look at a unique CIA program designed to wring vital information from reticent terrorism suspects in U.S. custody. For more than an hour, the bipartisan group, which included future-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, was given a virtual tour of the CIA’s overseas detention sites and the harsh techniques interrogators had devised to try to make prisoners talk.

Among the techniques, said two officials present, was waterboarding, a practice that years later would be condemned as torture by Democrats and some Republicans on Capitol Hill. But on that day, no objections were raised. Instead, at least two lawmakers in the room asked the CIA to push harder, two U.S. officials said.

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* Human Rights Watch Report: Poor care is given to detainees. Subheader: The study’s author said the most egregious case was of a 23-year-old transgender inmate held at the San Pedro facility. Man, who had AIDS, was denied treatment and became gravely ill, finally dying on July 20. (Associated Press/Daily Breeze, California)

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* Remember those nine U.S. attorneys? (Los Angeles Times) A year ago, a Justice Department scandal forced them into new careers. Despite some bitterness, they’ve landed on their feet.

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[After the break: Republicans salivating over Clinton's association with S.F. Mayor; California diocese leaves Episcopal Church in rift over gays, theology; SDSU Student attacked on SDSU campus just hours after rally against hate; Hollywood "fade to black" begins; and more.]

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Well, what a relief! The conservative religious organizations National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) and Traditional Values Coalition (TVC) say that whether or not transgender inclusive language ends up in ENDA, I’ll be protected for being transgender anyway! Suuuuuuuuuuuuuper!

NARTH has posted a legal analysis of ENDA on their website that says Individuals With Gender Identity Issues Arguably Still Would Be Protected Under ENDA. Specifically:

Although the recently modified version of ENDA removes gender identity as a specific protected class, individuals with gender identity disorders arguably would still be protected.

ENDA, as modified, still defines “sexual orientation” as heterosexuality, homosexuality and bisexuality and still prohibits discrimination based on an employee’s “actual or perceived” sexual orientation. Significantly, the inclusion of the concept of “perceived” is a far broader protection than that provided for African-Americans, women, and people of faith under the landmark civil rights legislation, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. ENDA, as modified, would still, in effect, protect any status that may be perceived by an employer or co-workers to fall within the three included categories. There is no condition of sexual abnormality that may not be perceived to fall within one of these categories, including the following categories excluded by the ADA: pedophilia, exhibitionism, voyeurism and sexual behavior disorders.

Accordingly, gender identity disorders, even though removed from the current proposed ENDA legislation as a specific protected class, also could be “perceived” to fall within one of the three categories. Without containing an explicit exclusion, like that contained in the ADA, persons with these conditions likely will have protection under ENDA, with the result being that ENDA would provide greater and broader protection than those with disabilities under the ADA.

And, the TVC said ENDA will protect she-males transgender people like me when it wrote this week:

Individuals with gender identity disorders still would receive protection under ENDA even though language explicitly including gender identity as a protected class has been removed from the proposed legislation.

- ENDA poses a serious threat to businesses. Even though H.R. 3685 has removed “gender identity,” it will still be a litigation nightmare for any employer who has 15 or more employees. Anyone with a bizarre sexual orientation can claim protection under this legislation. The workplace is not just an employee’s cubicle. Workplaces are public facilities frequented by children-restaurants, stores, theaters, theme parks, hospitals/Dr office etc.

- H.R. 3685 includes the terms “actual or perceived” in it. The term “perceived” provides homosexuals and transgenders far broader protection than for African-Americans, Hispanics, women, or people of faith under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Equating cross-dressers or she-males to legitimate minority groups is a slap in the face to all who fought in the Civil Rights Movement.

- In addition, the word “perceived” can be used by transgenders to claim protection under ENDA. This word also covers 30 different kinds of “sexual orientations” in ENDA. Any person who is a heterosexual, bisexual, or homosexual under ENDA can also engage in a variety of sexual orientations and bizarre behaviors listed in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Of Mental Disorders (DSM).

- With respect to faith oriented religious institutions, it is unclear what constitutes “propagation of a religion.” ENDA will force Christian schools, universities, publishing companies, day care centers, independent nursing homes, advocacy groups, etc., not directly connected to a denomination, to kowtow to the demands of homosexual and transgender employees.

Geez. Three-hundred LGBT and progressive organizations have been battling for an inclusive, United ENDA for nothing! Why, if those gosh darn religious right organizations say that I’ll be covered without transgender inclusive language, then I should be absolutely assured that the federal courts will rule to protect transgender people with or without transgender inclusive language!

…right?

Seriously, it’s a result predicted by some legislative activists: Speaker Nancy Pelosi, with Representatives George Miller and Barney Frank, telegraphed to the religious right organizations exactly what arguments can scare them and their congressional peers into not supporting ENDA. And now, religious right organizations are now beginning to focus more of their arguments straight at transgender inclusion in ENDA — whether or not transgender/perceived gender protections will end up specifically included in the final version of ENDA language.

Now, tell me again exactly how dumping “perceived gender” from ENDA was supposed to be a smart strategy?