I can’t imagine that I’m a significant enough blogger for any consevative “Christian” media type to keep an eye on me on Twitter, even a fellow third of fourth tier New Media type like Stacy L. Harp.
Late in December, Q-Notes announced their Person of the Year, and that person is North Carolinian Angela Brightfeather. I actually know Angela personally — we’ve met at a number of Southern Comfort Conventions, and we served for awhile together on the Transgender American Veterans Association (TAVA) board.
From her humble home in North Carolina to the doorsteps of national organizations and the halls of Congress, there’s no doubt that Angela Brightfeather has done her part this year.
If there were issues to be discussed, if the transgender community needed an advocate or if the transgender community was being ignored, Brightfeather stepped up.
The 63-year-old transgender leader and activist is a legend — she’s been involved in advocacy work since she was in her 20s; and she’s certainly not afraid of ruffling feathers.
“Anybody who challenges the establishment is going against the flow,” she told Q-Notes. “When you do that, you become the ultimate activist. You become the one that pushes too hard, that wants everybody to take a lead, the one who wants to really change things.” …
One of TAVA’s big accomplishments this year, of which Angela played a significant part in making happen, was a survey done with the Palm Center — The survey was a first ever study at transgender people’s military and veteran experiences.
With regards to Angela’s Person Of The Year honor, TAVA president Monica Helms told me:
“Angela has been my friend for nearly as long as I’ve been an activist, and if anyone deserves this award, it would be her. For 40 years, she has helped our community through some of its toughest times. Her voice has never been silenced, and now, it has been praised.”
Basically, Angela makes a difference for trans people both locally and nationally, and she’s been doing it for quite awhile. Kudos to Angela on her recognition by Q-Notes.
~~~~~ For disclosure purposes, Autumn is a past-Secretary for TAVA.
The Los Angeles Times has a recent piece out (December 29, 2008) on how the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, entitled DSM psychiatry manual’s secrecy criticized. The subheader for the piece is The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is being revised under a cloak of confidentiality. Critics say the process needs to be open, and cite potential conflicts of interest. From the article:
An update is underway for the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, known as the DSM, which defines the emotional problems for which doctors prescribe drugs and insurance companies pay the treatment bills. Psychiatrists working on the new edition were required to sign a strict confidentiality agreement.
Critics contend that the American Psychiatric Assn. should allow outside observers to review the scientific debate behind new and revised diagnoses.
Among the most prominent to speak out is the editor of the manual’s third edition, Dr. Robert Spitzer, hailed by peers as the most influential psychiatrist of his generation. If the DSM is often called the profession’s bible, then the DSM-III is the King James Version. Released in 1980, it set the standard by which others are measured.
Recently, Spitzer broke ranks by publishing an open letter to the profession protesting the confidentiality mandate.
A copy of Dr. Spitzer’s open letter is here. Here’s an excerpt from the letter:
[Below the fold, the Spitzer Letter and possible transgender/transsexual related issues behind the lack of transparency.]
[CA, USA] The Marin Independent-Journal reported yesterday that two San Rafael parents are upset by a school policy that allows students who identify as a different gender to use the restrooms and locker rooms assigned to that gender: “San Rafael school officials say the policy is in keeping with state law, which treats gender and sexual identity as protected statuses. Unless students would be subject to “unavoidable nudity,” they could be asked to share a restroom with a student who is biologically of the opposite sex. To do otherwise would leave the school district open to lawsuits, attorney Dora Dome said. “A subject’s discomfort does not have the same legitimacy on a legal basis as supporting the rights of an individual,” said Dome, the district’s legal counsel. “Based on a substantial legal record, the district must allow access to transgendered students.” — Parents irked by policy allowing transgendered access
[CT, USA] A verdict is expected Friday morning in the murder trial of Anthony Rogers. Rogers is accused of killing Southern Connecticut State University student Ricky Lee Blakes in 2004. Blakes was dressed as a woman at the time of his murder: “When he found out Blakes was a man, Rogers pushed him out of the car and shot him in the upper body, [Rogers' former girlfriend, LaToya] Boyd said. She said that Rogers told her that after shooting Blakes, he drove around the corner, came back and shot him a few more times. Blakes was found by police facedown in a pool of blood just off Woodward Avenue, dressed in women’s clothing. Police did not realize it was a man until they rolled over the near-lifeless body, police officers said in testimony last week.” — Verdict expected Friday in Rogers murder trial
[USA] Edge Boston has a feature on trans people — Melissa Sklars, Barbra Casbar Siperstein, Amanda Simpson, Dana Beyer — who have become active in politics: “When America elected its first African American president, pundits boldly declared the landscape of prejudice and limitations changed forever, and in a heartbeat. But when the sun rose on November 5, gay Americans woke up to a country in which their rights were further diminished [Prop 8]. These recent setbacks pale in comparison to the fact that few states protect against job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation – or gender identity. Marginalized by society as well as the LGBT movement, the transgendered are steadily gaining visibility in the political arena. They’re accomplishing that by building a reputation and power base through old fashioned political networking … Transgendered candidates are still often viewed with skepticism by their own parties and as curiosities by the media. “It’s still very difficult for the transgendered to get elected to office,” says Melissa Sklars, a director of the New York Trans Rights organization.” — Trans Politicians Move Into Mainstream
[Australia] From the Sunshine Coast Daily, an itinerant trans woman alleges that she was verbally abused and attacked last Tuesday: “”He just started screaming abuse at me, swearing and calling me a ‘trannie fag’,” Alice said … She said the man chased her into a nearby playground where he allegedly threatened anyone who came to her aid. She alleged the man smashed a bottle and hit a man who had tried to protect her. Another car arrived at the scene and a man holding a base ball bat stepped out of the car and allegedly chased Alice down the street … Alice, her best friend and her daughter have spent the past 18 months travelling around Australia. She says once knowledge of her transsexual nature is made public, she is chased from the towns. The Sunshine Coast, she said, had been no different … “I can’t understand why normal people act like this. I harm no one but I am always subjected to people’s abuse because they don’t like me for who I am.” Police have charged a man with one count of public nuisance and two counts of common assault.” — Transexual woman ran out of town [Updated story]
[Mexico] The Mexican Supreme Court is considering a case focusing on the right of transsexuals to privacy and non-discrimination: “When transsexuals or transgender persons in the Mexican capital have their birth certificates altered to reflect their change in identity, is it legal to include a notation on the new document indicating that Ms Y used to be Mr X? That is the question raised by a Mexican transsexual through an appeal under consideration by the Supreme Court, which brings up the issue of the right of transsexuals to privacy and non-discrimination. The 11 Supreme Court justices are expected to issue a final ruling on the appeal in the first few weeks of 2009, in a case that is the first of its kind to be brought before the country’s highest judicial body with jurisdiction over constitutional matters.” — MEXICO: Supreme Court Debates Transsexual’s Right to Privacy
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 Lose Weight Exercise 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
…How much lobbying are transgendered people doing on behalf of gay men and lesbians?
(And no, trans board members on state and national non-profits don’t count. I mean private citizens.)
How many trans folks are lobbying to end Don’t Ask Don’t Tell??
How many trans folks are lobbying to end a relic of the Anita Bryant era– Florida’s complete ban on gay men and lesbians to adopt children??
The truth is very few, if any. That’s because it’s not their issue. They can’t have it both ways.
So, while fresh with same-gender marriage/marriage equality being in the spotlight, I’d like to hightlight that trans people have been involved working on marriage equality here in San Diego. Specifically how trans people were involved in San Diego’s Join The Impact event on Saturday, November 15th, if only just to highlight one example of involement as a representative example.
So although one of the reasons why I’m doing a little documentation is to accentuate the positive about working for change, what JJ in Chicago wrote last July reminds me that sometimes it’s also about stemming off negative perceptions that aren’t necessarily reality based; sometimes it’s about pointing out where people we don’t necessarily expect to be working on broad LGBT issues are working on broad issues.
There were trans people marching, and there were trans people in the planning process. At the Marriage Equality/Join The Impact march in San Diego a week ago Saturday, there were at least 20,000 participants. There were trans people marching, and there were trans people in the planning process.
Let me cite just one who was in the planning process as an example of the many.
In San Diego, the “Face Behind FaceBook” for the march was Kelly Moyer. Never heard of Kelly? Well, like so many of the new grassroots leadership, she’s been somewhat quietly working for LGBT and trans-specific issues — she’s a volunteer at the Hillcrest Youth Center an San Diego Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, And Transgender Center facilitating trans discussion groups. She’s also very active in San Diego’s lesbian community, working on event planning (such as for Dyke March) and is a member of a key community standing committee. She’s also on Sun Microsystems’ Gays, Lesbians and Friends (GLAF) employee resource group, working with Sun to increase the company’s diversity. Basically, she’s been “behind the scenes” — yet in plain view — for awhile.
After the Join the Impact in San Diego, she gave a speech on staying on a positive message with regards to marriage equality. I don’t have to agree with everything she says to understand that her message is important.
Below the fold is the last few paragraphs from her November 15th speech.
[NY, USA] Trans woman Teish Cannon was shot and killed Friday night in Syracuse, New York: “Moses “Teish” Cannon was openly gay, and his family said Saturday that is why he was shot and killed Friday night. His death should be treated as a hate crime, they said … [Cannon's mother Roxanne] Green talked lovingly about Moses Cannon and said she accepted who he was. “That’s the life he chose. That’s who he wanted to be,” Green said about her son … “Teish was loving, caring and compassionate,” said Rhonda Gary, Cannon’s aunt. “She carried herself with respect.” The family did not mince words. Cannon’s death, they said, was a hate crime. The family said the person who shot Moses Cannon deserves a sentence of life in prison without parole. “I feel the person who lured him there (to Seymour Street) should get the same,” Green said.” — Mother: Gay son targeted by killer
[NY, USA] Syracuse police have charged a suspect in the Cannon killing: “Dwight R. DeLee shot and killed Moses “Teish” Cannon with a .22-caliber rifle Friday night because he didn’t like that Cannon was openly gay, Syracuse police said … “There was no previous argument between these individuals, there was no previous fight, there was no bad blood,” [Police Chief Gary] Miguel said. “Our suspect took a rifle and shot and killed this person, also wounding his brother, for the sole reason he didn’t care for the sexual preference of our victim. Isn’t that sad? Isn’t that a sad situation that that’s the sole reason why? “I talk to you about this atmosphere of violence and that certain individuals believe that violence is the answer no matter what, and here’s just another example,” Miguel said. Cannon’s family said his death should be treated as a hate crime. Miguel said it’s up to the District Attorney’s office to decide if it’s a hate crime.” — Syracuse man was killed for being gay, police say
[TN, USA] “Gay, lesbian, bisexual, most of us are familiar with, maybe even comfortable with. But matters of gender identity — which are separate from sexual orientation — are less understood. Simply put, Johnson’s brain and soul did not match her genitalia. That was tough for Skinner to deal with. And it certainly didn’t line up with her religious beliefs. But — and here’s the lesson — Skinner respected that her daughter knew herself better than even a mother could. Her love for her child, God’s child, never waned, even if her understanding of what her daughter was going through wasn’t complete. Skinner wants people to know that Duanna was a good, loving person. “She was very smart, and that’s why I wanted her to get her life in order.” And order didn’t mean life as a male. “I don’t think she would have ever returned, because she said she could never be a man again.” Because in her heart, Duanna Johnson never was.” — Essence of person can belie physical
[TN, USA] “With candles in their hands and great sadness in their hearts, dozens of Mid-Southerners demanded justice Sunday, November 16, 2008 during a prayer vigil for Duanna Johnson. “We’re here to commemorate Duanna’s life,” says vigil participant Casey Lanham, “and to remember the sacrifice she unfortunately had to encounter.” “All citizens of Memphis,” says Amy Livingston of the Mid-South Peace & Justice Center, “should agree that all human life has dignity and should be respected and valued. Duanna was a beloved member of this community. And by community, I mean Memphis.” … “This is a stand for a human being,” says Will Bates, “who was killed because she was different than everyone else. This is a stand for humanity. This is a stand for all of us.” — Mid-Southerners Demand Justice for Duanna Johnson
[MA, USA] Gunner Scott of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition spoke at the Proposition 8 Protest in Boston yesterday [begins at 01:12 of the video] …
[USA] From Donna Rose, “I hope that some of the broader community outrage over denial of basic rights gets saved for ENDA. It’s a whole different thing being on the side getting your rights than being on the side denied. Many of those same people out marching this weekend will find a way to justify excluding others from getting theirs if and when they’re faced with those kinds of decisions. Many of those writing passionate letters about higher ideals will be ready to betray those ideals if they have the opportunity when ENDA rolls around again. They will have conveniently forgotten what it feels like to be on the outside.” – The Side Denied
[USA] From Becky Juro, “Unbelievably, it took the actual stripping of already existent marriage rights from gay and lesbian Californians to finally mobilize our community to loudly and proudly fight for our rights in significant numbers nationwide. At last, LGBT America has said “Enough!” and we’re taking to the streets in protest all across our country. It’s about damn time … For me, and I’d bet for many of you reading this, particularly if you are transgender, the parallels to the recent past are pretty obvious. When the transgender community was stripped from ENDA, we responded in much the same way, though on a much smaller scale. For the past year or so, there have been regular protests at Human Rights Campaign events nationwide, and while significantly smaller in size, they’ve been consistent and they’ve been active. Despite their small size, the message has gotten out, slowly but surely, not by force of numbers but by constantly being out there, constantly promoting the same clear message of equality and fairness, and by never, ever, backing down or giving up on what we know to be right. That’s how this battle will be won. Not by marching and protesting for a week or even a few weeks, but by being consistent and unrelenting, by making our voices heard wherever and whenever they need to be heard, over and over and over, until the message finally starts sinking in to the community, to those inclined to support us, and eventually to average fair-minded straight Americans. We’ve seen it happen with HRC and ENDA, and we’ll see it happen here, perhaps even more quickly because of the huge numbers involved.” — It’s The End Of The World As We Know It
[USA] “Over the summer, a wrangle between eminent psychiatrists that had been brewing for months erupted in print. Startled readers of Psychiatric News saw the spectacle unfold in the journal’s normally less-dramatic pages. The bone of contention: whether the next revision of America’s psychiatric bible, the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,” should be done openly and transparently so mental health professionals and the public could follow along, or whether the debates should be held in secret.” — Wrangling over psychiatry’s bible
[OR, USA] “This election marked the first African-American President. The first time in 40 years an Oregon Senate candidate beat an incumbent Senator. And in tiny Silverton, Oregon, residents have elected the man who’s believed to be the first ever openly transgender mayor in the United States.” — Transgender Man Elected Mayor of Silverton
[OR, USA] From Radical Russ at Pam’s House Blend, “Now things get tricky, because Rasmussen was born male but looks female but identifies male, while other transgendered people I know were born male but look female but identify as female. I’m all for everybody being themselves, but it sure makes communications with gender-specific pronouns a little difficult.” — Silverton, Oregon, elects nation’s first openly-transgender mayor
[GA, USA] “Doraville became the third metro-area city to include gender identification in its nondiscrimination statement with a unanimous vote on Nov. 3. The city not only expanded its nondiscrimination policies to cover transgender workers, but also approved a set of policies that detail how a city employee seeking to transition genders should proceed.” — Doraville approves transgender protections
[MI, USA] “Glenn [of the American Family Association of Michigan] believes the victory is something political candidates can latch onto in the future. “The results in Hamtramck, Michigan, ought to be a wake-up call to Republicans who are now going to be casting about for issues that are consistent with the party’s platform but also appeal to minorities and Democrats,” Glenn concludes.” — Michigan town turns back ‘gay rights’ ordinance
[USA] “Discrimination against transgender workers, of course, doesn’t end with this [Schroer] ruling, no matter how groundbreaking it is. Trans-related employment discrimination cases have been on the rise, a “side effect of visibility as more and more transgender people come out,” Thaler says. “The upside is judges are finally starting to understand this discrimination is very real — and with this case and others, we now have a good legal argument to stop it.”” — Sex. Gender. Employment Discrimination
[USA] “If Jesse Ream has her way, terms like “men’s sports” and “women’s hoops” will one day seem as archaic as leather football helmets and basketball bloomers do now. Everyone who plays sports is an athlete, Ream says; separating them arbitrarily by gender is unfair and close-minded … Ream now identifies as transgender or genderqueer. Though female-bodied, she usually passes as a man. Since age 3, Ream has been called Jesse, not Jessica. She wore her brother’s clothes and played with his friends, and no one cared. Ream has no pronoun preference, advising people to use whichever words feel most comfortable to them.” — Putting the “T” into athletics
[USA] “One thing we can learn from the history of DSD treatment is that “common-sense” assumptions don’t always apply in these unique cases. Currently, practitioners who recommend elective surgery for children with DSDs rely on the belief that parental consent is sufficient authorization. However, given the medical, legal and ethical complexity of the decisions involved, it may be time to reconsider the entire decision-making process, beginning with who should be at the table.” — Medical decision-making and the child with a DSD
[Canada] “Though being white and heterosexual are commonly understood to carry privilege, most people wouldn’t consider transsexuality to be all that sweet a deal. The most accurate summation I’ve heard for the transsexual experience is that “it sucks.” But it sucks only insofar as there continues to be no space for transsexuality within a system that only recognizes two genders. In itself, though, transsexuality is a gift, recognized in some cultures as an evolved state of being — housing both a female and a male spirit, and having the ability to see the world from two perspectives at once. This is privilege.” — Tapping into trans-feminism
[UK] “The decision to nominate Guardian journalist Julie Bindel for a Stonewall Award has angered some in the trans community, and a picket of tonight’s ceremony has been widely trailed on the internet as a wider protest against “LGB transphobia.” London Transfeminist Group said they are expecting a large crowd of protesters. They assert that Ms Bindel’s articles are transphobic.” — Trans protest at Stonewall Awards faces feminist counter-demo
[UK] From Sophia Siedlberg of OII, “If there is one thing I have learned recently from the Bindel-Stonewall controversy, it is that there are generation gaps when it comes to activism. I think it was when Christine Burns of Press for Change did her “Just Plain Sense” podcast with Julie Bindel that I became aware of this. It seems to have transpired that it is most probable that Christine Burns and Stephen Whittle had a lot to do with Julie Bindel’s nomination for the “Journalist of the year” award. It is public knowledge that they were very supportive of Julie Bindel. I just don’t know if they actually had any part in actually nominating her.” — Observation of a “Press to avoid Stagnation”
[India] “The transsexuals in India lead a miserable life. The society shuns and looks down upon them. They are often made fun of and are also sexually harassed. However, the government has hardly taken any steps to remedy the problem.” — Their cup of woe overflows
[India] “Human rights activists held a demonstration here Friday to protest the harassment of eunuchs by Bangalore police last month.The activists submitted a memorandum to the Karnataka Resident Commissioner here, demanding action against policemen who arrested five eunuchs from a traffic signal on Oct 20 without levelling any charge and later harassed them.” — Rights activists protest harassment of eunuchs by police
[Turkey] “In a cramped makeshift theatre in Istanbul, a Kurd in a purple dress titillates the audience with the story of how he was born a man but found he was a woman. During his act, Esmeray wields a sharp tongue to expose the systematic violence faced by fellow transvestites. “I am a Kurd, a transvestite and a feminist, so I am screwed all round,” he says.” — Gender-benders: Transvestites test the limits of Turkey’s tolerance
[Australia] “Dr Hamid, of Glenroy, is standing trial in the Victorian County Court for eight sex-related charges including rape, sexual penetration of a cognitively impaired person by a provider of medical services and indecent assault.” — Doctor ‘raped suicidal transsexual’
[Turkey] “Discrimination: The legislation about discrimination does not include the sexual discrimination. The lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transsexuals and transvestites still face the charges of the “indecent exposure” and the “acts against public morality.” Lambdaistanbul, the organization that embraces individuals with sexual preferences other than heterosexuality, was closed by the Istanbul Governor. The discrimination against the gays in the military service is still strong. Transsexuals suffer attacks. The homophobic violence easily turns into sexual violence. Investigations are needed in these areas.” — The European Union Report Points To Lack Of Reforms In Turkey
[Canada] Toronto Sun fashion columnist Derick Chetty takes singer Kate (“I Kissed a Girl”) Perry to task for “ugly behavior” at a charitable benefit: ” … the pretty chanteuse who when on the red carpet, exclaimed rather loudly when she saw Enza “Supermodel” Anderson, “Oh, you’re a man!” The popular transgendered columnist for Metro and a fixture on the social scene in Toronto, said his heart sank when he heard her. “I felt like a freak of nature at this gay event,” he said. “Did this woman not know that there were going to be transgendered persons, drag queens, gays and lesbians at this event?” — Fashion Cares at Monster’s Ball
[Canada] A feature in The Martlet (the independent weekly student newspaper at the University of Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia) on the Transgender Day of Remembrance: “Turje emphasizes that the more we interrogate the ways gender controls our lives, the more we will be able to imagine a world where we will have the freedom to express all sides of ourselves without fear. If there is a message that the bodies of the 237 speak, a lesson in this long history of gender violence, then surely this is it. History needs to claim no further souls to make its message clear. By the light of the candles on Nov. 20, may a prayer be said and a determination made for the 237 to rest in peace at last.” — Remembered and celebrated
[USA] Human Rights Campaign (HRC) president Joe Solmonese “said hate crimes legislation, which passed in the House and Senate last year but was dropped from a defense authorization bill before final passage, would potentially be an easier victory in the short term, since lawmakers in both chambers have passed it and Obama has announced his support for the measure. ENDA would require more work, Solmonese said; last year the House passed a non-transgender-inclusive version of the bill, and the Senate has not yet voted on it, so there would be more work needed to build support for it in both chambers.” — What can we expect from an Obama administration?
[USA] An interesting item of (trans)Americana, “The Female Teamster – a girl in men’s attire was taken from the Bowery Theatre, New York – on her examination, it appeared she had been driven from home by her step-father’s cruelty and changed her dress to make a better life – lived out in the capacity of a servant boy, clerk, followed boating on the canal, driving team, etc – she states that situated as she is, without friends, she prefers her present dress as she is far more healthy than she formerly was and is enabled the better to gain her livelihood.” — New TG Archive Acquisition: 1828 TG Newspaper
[IL, USA] Reeling 2008 (The 27th Chicago Lesbian & Gay International Film Festival), the second oldest gay and lesbian film festival in the country, starts today. Among the festival’s showings — Trinidad, SqueezeBox!, a collection of shorts including Playing with Gender, and Out Late.
[FL, USA] From Palm Beach County, Florida, the county school board “is seeking to exceed the requirements of a new anti-bullying policy, mandated by state law, to specifically prohibit harassing students who believe they were born the wrong gender and those who may be perceived as being too masculine or too feminine for their gender.” — School board to expand protections for gay students
[TX, USA] In the San Antonio Express-News today, “4.67 implies that federal law, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, outlaws employment decisions based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The fact is Title VII does not outlaw employment decisions based on sexual orientation or gender identity. However, one unelected person has issued an edict to protect sexual orientation, a decision far beyond what is required by law.” — City manager overstepping her bounds
[MI, USA] Zoe Brain comments on election day in Hamtramck, Michigan: “”We don’t want any group to get special freedom and discriminate ourselves,” said Akm Rahman, co-chairman of Hamtramck Citizens Voting No to “Special Rights.” “This is unnecessary. We have a lot of other things that need to be done (such as) taxes, crime and economic development. Those are more important issues.” And yet it’s important enough to get a ballot specifically to remove existing Human Rights. We understand. Michigan, by the way, voted 57:41 for Obama. Some issues transcend Blue and Red.” — In Other News…
[USA] From Jillian Weiss, “Personally, I am strongly committed to moving ENDA forward, as workplace equality is my area of professional expertise, and a subject about which I have profound feelings. I am putting aside my hard feelings and concentrating on catching the ball. I hope that advocates of marriage equality do the same. Yes, we got dinged. Now let’s pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off and get back to work.” — ENDA, marriage equality and moving the ball forward
[USA] Via Curtis Hinkle of OII, OII is launching its site in Chinese as part of their commemoration of Intersex Solidarity Day. For more information on activities worldwide to celebrate Intersex Solidarity Day, November 8th, see here.
Awhile ago I mentioned that I donated to the Obama Campaign as part of a trans bundling of donations. I donated specifically because I wanted to send a message to candidate Obama that trans people have supported his campaign — it would be something to point to when ENDA and the Matthew Sheppard Act come up again in the next Congress.
As a group, trans people are pretty impoverished. When we did a needs assessment in San Diego, we found that the unemployment rate for trans people was ten times higher here than the unemployment rate for the general population, and we found that 57% of respondents were trying to live on less than $20,000.00 a year. Frankly, most of my subcommunity of the LGBT community doesn’t have a lot of resources to put to political campaigns. Passing a fully inclusive ENDA — one with gender identity and expression included in the bill’s text — is a real need for all gender-variant people who need jobs.
I’m on a fixed income. I’ve donated to political campaigns (No On Prop 8 and a few candidates) this year, including to the Obama campaign. I donated through the page the Stonewall Democrats/Act Blue set up to collect money from trans people and their SOFFAs (that’s Significant Others, Friends, Families, and Allies). The point isn’t that we get a bunch of folk donate the maximum of $2,300.00 to the campaign — a bunch of folk donating as little as $5.00 each to the Obama Campaign sends a message that trans people and their SOFFAs are thinking about what Obama has said previously about trans people and trans issues when they’re donating.
Well, it’s the end of the campaign finance quarter, and the Stonewall Democrats and I are encouraging those who are planning to donate this month to the Obama Campaign, consider doing it in a through this Act Blue campaign tool that sends the message to the Obama Campaign that you support the T in LGBT. And, if you weren’t considering donating in a way that says you support trans people before, please take a moment and consider it now — it’s important.
If you decide to donate, please let us know in the comments.
~~~~~UPDATE~~~~~
I should have mentioned earlier that this is a post for the Trans Blog Day For Obama. The further reading section includes some of the other trans bloggers posting for this coordinated blog event.
“Will everyone else please stop bitching about trivia!” he exclaimed–a rather inopportune verb choice that had some gay PUMAs licking their fur off. Fortunately, Barney talks like he has marbles in his mouth, so his plea came out more like this: “Veel jevvryone else reees rop wristing arout Riviera!”
I thought, for a moment, he was talking about some fabulous drag-queen delegate who had found her name on a map of France.
On a more substantive note, Kim pointed out …
… the Democratic platform this year is the most pro-gay it has ever been, calling for a repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, employment non-discrimination legislation that includes trans folks, increased money to fight AIDS and opposition to the federal marriage amendment. There was some worry earlier this month by gay activists who noticed that the words “gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender” appear nowhere in the platform (unlike 2004), but that reflects a move toward using the terms “sexual orientation,” “same-sex couple” and “gender identity”–expressions that have some legal teeth.
Mara Keisling of NCTE (National Center for Transgender Equality) made essentially the same observation a couple of days ago in one of our Yahoo! groups (TGV_Advocacy) …
… note that neither ENDA nor any other federal legislation we support — that I can think of — mentions the words gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender either. We write laws to protect people based on characteristics not by naming types of people.
And then I met Amanda Simpson, a male-to-female transgender Obama delegate from Arizona who (and I don’t think she’d mind me saying) has had about as much work done as Cindy McCain, but looks 100 times better. Simpson was introduced to me as a “rocket scientist,” and indeed, she works in the aerospace industry but can’t tell me exactly what she does without clearance. She breakfasts here in Denver with a retired one-star general and his wife, also delegates from Arizona, who according to Simpson think, like many military officers, that DADT is silly and outrageous.
The event Autumn and I attended was the LGBT Caucus.
[...]
In between speakers, Autumn would grab me for quick interviews with the transgender activists. I’ll let her take care of the names and topics (feel free to edit here, Autumn) because I really didn’t catch them.
(I think that’s Vanessa Foster (middle) and Dana Beyer (right) pictured above.)
In the meantime, according to Russ, we’ll have to “stay tuned” for that “scoop” …
… until I can edit the video and scrub the audio we’re embargoing the story. Stay tuned – I get home Sunday and this will be the first video I edit and post. Let’s just say I captured a provocative conversation with someone on his controversial stance on a complicated civil rights issue. (And damn me for bringing a digital video tape camera with no way of capturing the digital video to my laptop!)
The ACLU has summed up the story behind Col. Schroer’s case as follows:
Diane interviewed for a job as a terrorism research analyst at the Library of Congress and accepted the position, but the job offer was rescinded when she told her future supervisor that she was in the process of gender transition. The ACLU is now representing her in a Title VII sex discrimination lawsuit against the Library of Congress. This is her testimony.
She described her case at the recent Congressional Hearing on Transgender Discrimination:
Arthur Leonard of the New York Law School said this about the case:
This is potentially very significant, partly because the case is against the federal government, which could impact federal employment policy and people all over the country. It also is addressing an emerging issue as to whether people whose gender identity differs from the norm would be protected by the law’s provisions against sex discrimination [in Title VII].
Update:: I got some of the demographic info incorrect (D’oh!), so I’ve updated the below the fold demographics table to reflect the information provided to me — actually by some of the trans delegates.
Also, Melissa Sklarz is actually on the Rules Committee, verses primarily being a delegate.
We’ll keep updating this diary as I learn more about trans participation and demographics. I do want to document trans participation accurately, even though this is an unofficial gathering of this information.
~~Autumn~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’ve been talking to my transgender peers these past few weeks, attempting to fully determine who the out, transgender delegates to the Democratic National Convention are going to be.
If one tries to figure out who’s transgender from the official DNC demographic information, it’s a little difficult to do. This is because the states and territories are identifying to the DNC which delegates self-identify themselves as LGBT, but the DNC itself isn’t gathering information regarding which LGBT subcommunity the individual LGBT delegates identify to.
Going back four years to the 2004 Democratic National Convention, there were five trans representatives at the convention. Unofficially, the 2008 Democratic National Convention looks to have eight representatives. So just in raw numbers, there is going to an improvement in the amount of trans representation this convention.
And, it’s likely significant that there’s a transman on the Democratic National Convention Platform Committee — Diego Sanchez. I believe that bodes well for Democratic Party platform language that supports a fully inclusive ENDA, with specific gender identity and expression language — we’ll see.
Below the fold is an unofficial, tentative list of the transgender delegates, alternate delegates, and standing committee members scheduled to attend the Democratic National Convention.
[Below the fold: List of trans delegates, alternate delegates, and standing committee members to the Democratic National Convention, as well as identifying who the main stream media's trans reporter will be at the convention.]
even a fellow third of fourth tier New Media type like Stacy L. Harp.
[USA] Edge Boston has a feature on trans people — Melissa Sklars, Barbra Casbar Siperstein, Amanda Simpson, Dana Beyer — who have become active in politics: “
[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. “
[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.” — 
[Canada] Toronto Sun fashion columnist Derick Chetty takes singer 
[USA] An interesting item of (trans)Americana, “The Female Teamster – a girl in men’s attire was taken from the Bowery Theatre, New York – on her examination, it appeared she had been driven from home by her step-father’s cruelty and changed her dress to make a better life – lived out in the capacity of a servant boy, clerk, followed boating on the canal, driving team, etc – she states that situated as she is, without friends, she prefers her present dress as she is far more healthy than she formerly was and is enabled the better to gain her livelihood.” — 
but the DNC itself isn’t gathering information regarding which LGBT subcommunity the individual LGBT delegates identify to.