This is what Hillary Clinton’s campaign put out as a press release today:

New Poll Shows Hillary Leading Among LGB Voters

In a new survey released by Hunter College, Hillary Clinton leads all Democratic candidates in support among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) Americans. According to the poll, Hillary leads with 63 percent, 41 points ahead of the next candidate.

“I’m honored to have the support of so many in the LGB community,” said Clinton. “Together, we can end the divisiveness of the past seven years and change the direction of this country so that we embrace the full diversity of our nation.”

The poll also found that 72 percent of LGB likely voters consider Senator Clinton a supporter of gay rights. As President, Hillary will also work to end discrimination in adoption laws, sign hate crimes legislation and ENDA into law, and put an end to the failed policy of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. She will work to make sure that gay and lesbian couples in committed relationships have the same rights and responsibilities as all Americans.

I’m posting this specifically show that the Hillary Clinton for President Campaign left out the “T” when referring to the “LGB Community.” The first two paragraphs of the press release might not have mentioned T’s because they didn’t find enough T’s to be statistically significant for their poll, but I would think that in the last paragraph — where she mentions what she would do as president — she certaintly could have added that she was for LGBT civil rights/equality.

As it is, it looks like she’s just for LGB civil rights/equality.

Given the recent mess with ENDA, I find it noteworthy that her campaign’s messaging about the “alphabet soup” of communities was one that left off the T. Whether or not leaving off the T out this media release was intentional or not, to me it sure seems to be pretty poor form.

In Early October, Donna Rose resigned from the Human Rights Campaign’s Board of Directors. That was bad news; the HRC’s commitment to transgender inclusion and transgender equality were put into question when their only transgender board member resigned.

Well, if that was bad, today’s news is probably worse news for transgender people and allies. Jamison Green and Donna Rose submitted a new resignation letter today — the only two members of the HRC’s Business Council are resigning.

For those who don’t know how the HRC Business Council impacts workplaces in the U.S., the HRC Business Council is the group in charge of developing the Corporate Equality Index (CEI). There now will be no quality transgender voices in the group that supervises the creation of an in-depth analysis and rating of large U.S. employers and their policies and practices pertinent to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees, consumers and investors.

Rather than quote from the resignation letter, I’ll provide the whole text of it after the break. Needless to say though, the only words I can use to describe this development is this is bad — this is a real shame.

Read the rest of this entry »

From a statement by George Pearsons — Chairman of the ORU Board of Regents:

Today, a letter was sent from Richard Roberts to the Board of Regents of Oral Roberts University tendering his resignation as President of Oral Roberts University effective today, November 23, 2007.

The Board of Regents will meet Monday and Tuesday, November 26 and 27, 2007 to determine action in the search process for a new president.

Executive Regent Billy Joe Daugherty will continue to assume administrative responsibilities of the Office of the President, working together with Chancellor Oral Roberts, until the Regents meeting.

In his letter of resignation to the Board, Richard Roberts said, “I love ORU with all my heart. I love the students, faculty, staff and administration and I want to see God’s best for all of them.”

Roberts resigned this week following accusations that he used school funds for personal use, and charges that his wife Lindsay repeatedly spent time with an “underage male” in various situations.

Apparently, Roberts power isn’t completely diminished by his resignation — but that may be changing. In the Associated Press article ORU regents meet to begin selection of new president:

Regents at Oral Roberts University are meeting to begin selection of a new school president, three days after embattled televangelist Richard Roberts resigned from the top post.

In closed-door meetings Monday and Tuesday, the regents were also scheduled to decide the fate of ORU Provost Mark Lewandowski, who had offered his resignation on Nov. 15, telling the regents chairman he could not “in good conscience serve under (Roberts’) leadership.”

Meanwhile, some faculty and students at the 5,700-student evangelical school say Roberts’ influence remains intact as long as he remains the chairman and CEO of Oral Roberts Ministries and sits on the board of regents.

It was also unclear Monday whether Roberts would remain CEO of the university, even though he resigned as its president, or whether he would be allowed to continue living in his university-owned home near campus.

The mighty ORU Leader falls a bit further down from his pious perch than before — and appears to be circling the drain for lower depths still.

~~~~~
Related:
* Why does God hate Oral Roberts University?
* More sex-sleaze alleged at Oral Roberts University
* Could this be the beginning of the downward spiral for Richard Roberts?
* Oral Roberts: the devil made them do it

No, really …

Monday November 26, 4:29 pm ET

Dick’s Sporting Goods to Acquire Chick’s Sporting Goods for $40 Million in Cash

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Sporting goods and apparel retailer Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. on Monday said it agreed to buy Chick’s Sporting Goods, a privately held company.

Dick’s will also assume $31 million of Chick’s debt. The deal will be funded using Dick’s exiting credit facility.

Chick’s shareholders can earn up to $5 million in additional payment if some performance criteria are met through June 2008.

The deal is expected to be complete on Dec. 31.

Dick’s expects the deal will be “marginally” helpful to earnings in fiscal 2008.

Dick’s Sporting Goods to Buy Chick’s

The Whittier Daily News reported in its article Transgender student elected king that Andrew Gomez was elected Homecoming King at Pasadena City College. No big deal you say? Well, Andrew is a transman.

Andrew’s candidacy was challenged…

PCC’s homecoming committee initially ruled Gomez ineligible because of his pierced ear.

But after students complained, lodging charges of discrimination, the committee relented and reversed its decision. Gomez said his election earlier this month as Homecoming King surprised him, even though he initially ran hoping to become a source of inspiration for other gay, lesbian and transgender students.

“I wanted them to feel like they could do something like this, instead of having them feel, `I am not straight so I can’t do this,”‘ Gomez said.

When Tony Covarrubias ran for prom king in Fresno earlier this year and didn’t win the title, Focus On The Family’s CitizenLink titled an article Girl Who Sought to Be Prom King Loses, and the Freepers ran an article with the title “Shemale Runs For Prom King.

When three weeks later a Fresno trans girl wins prom crown — when Chrystal Vera won the Prom Queen title at Fresno’s Roosevelt High School — (Jack T.) Chick Publications wrote a piece entitled Court: Women’s Restroom Okay for ‘Transgendered’ Men, where they wrote:

The sodomite indoctrination in our schools and work places is having some “unintended consequences.” A Pennsylvania court has “opened the door for men, who believe they are women, to come to work in a dress and use the women’s restroom and shower facilities,” according to The Wanderer, a conservative Catholic weekly.

In a Fresno, California high school, a female “transgender” student ran for prom king and lost, but a male “trans” ran for prom queen and won. He is also on the cheerleader squad and stands 6 foot 4 inches in his high heels.

…Our only defense, and the only hope for America, is a revival of Bible-based morality. For that to happen, the rebel hearts must be changed, one at a time.

Soul winners, we need to step up our witnessing. We need to counter the lies of Satan with Gospel Truth. If we haven’t time to speak to someone about the Lord, we can always give him a tract, or leave one where someone will find it.

Apparently, identifying as transgender equates to identifying as a deceiver… a sodomite. And, “we” have to tie the deceit to the bathroom — of course. It’s always the bathroom when it comes to transgender people, isn’t it?

Can’t wait to see what’s written about Andrew Gomez. Well, actually, I can wait — my heart is with him, as I’m sure they’ll be some vitriol.

And as a final side note, please don’t send me any gospel tracts, especially if it should come from Chick Publications. Somehow I won’t feel the love of God when I’m lambasted as a sodomite and one of Satan’s liars.

~~~~~
Related:
* Is It Deceit?
* Is It Deceit? — A Second Look

Now that transgender issues are part of the Radical Homosexual Agenda®, I should probably mention at the start here that my Radical Homosexual Agenda® item for today was making a lower fat tray of lasagna. To lower the fat, I used ground turkey breast, non-fat feta, and low fat ricotta. Also, I used whole wheat lasagna noodles to well, put healthy whole grain goodness into the dish. Y’all should be taking notes.

But more seriously, here in my home state of California, Focus on the Family Action is grousing about the Homosexual Agenda® wasting of California’s education resources:

Lynne Fishel, spokeswoman for the California Family Council, said the homosexual agenda is using up valuable instruction time and resources.

“The Legislature continues to pass legislation that affects schools, but are really peripheral to basic education,” she told Family News in Focus.

Finn Laursen of the Christian Educators Association said the solution is to get back to core curriculum.

Egads! Apparently, I and the rest of my homosexual agendaists want students graduating out of California’s schools to be dumber than a box of rocks! But, we apparently want the rocks to be gay friendly. Go figure.

Well, as a transwoman, I’m concerned that the victims of school bullying can also suffer academically — for example, Tamara Lange, a staff attorney for the ACLU told the Contra Costa Times that there is a 27 percent dropout rate among transgender students.

And, on top of that…

- More than one-third (36 percent) of GLBT undergraduate students have experienced harassment within the past year, as have 29 percent of all respondents.

- Those who experienced harassment reported that derogatory remarks were the most common form (89 percent) and that students were most often the source of harassment (79 percent).

- Twenty percent of all respondents feared for their physical safety because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, and 51 percent concealed their sexual orientation or gender identity to avoid intimidation.

And, beyond that…

…the 2004-06 California Healthy Kids Survey shows that 27 percent to 30 percent of middle and high school students have reported being harassed because of their race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation or disability.

Yeah, teaching basics will solve everything.

Oh, and Ms. Fishel — read this from the Lompoc Record:

Veteran activists credit the political participation of gay youth, their straight friends and children of same-sex parents with a string of recent legislative victories…

…the most effective spokespeople are not necessarily gay youth, but the straight students who joined with them to form more than 2,500 high school gay-straight alliance clubs across the country since the early 1990s.

Carolyn Lamb, director of California’s Gay-Straight Alliance Network, estimates that up to 40 percent of the 400 high school and college students recently bused to Sacramento for Queer Youth Advocacy Day were not gay, lesbian or transgender.

“Most of the adult-driven (gay) civil rights work doesn’t have such large numbers of straight allies who see it as a civil rights cause,” she observed.

* sigh * I’m so tired of Focus on the Family Action‘s stupid Christian Dominionist Agenda®.

~~~~~
Related:
* The Homosexual Agenda
* Latest Attacks Of Teh HomoSEXual Agenda’s Transgenderededs’s Bullet Points

Catching up on some of the weekend news …

#1 – Saturday on NPR’s Weekend Edition Scott Simon commented on Georgia Fuller’s charge that Riverdale, Georgia city council member Michelle Bruce “pretended to be transgendered, just to be popular” …

“We couldn’t find out how much a member of the Riverdale City Council is paid, but it’s probably not enough to want to make you change your gender to win a council seat — it’s Riverdale, Georgia after all, not San Francisco’s Castro District. Ms. Bruce says, ‘I’m the same Michelle I was four years ago. They’re just trying to distract from the issues.’

… Being transgendered has become a political asset in some parts of the South. Like getting endorsed by Pat Robertson or the NRA, it could have urgent implications for the presidential campaign ahead as both parties try to win votes there. Everyone running for office says, ‘I’m the candidate of real change.’ A transgender candidate can add, ‘and that’s not just talk.’ Rudolph Giuliani famously appeared in drag at a roast in 1997 — maybe that’s why he’s ahead in the polls. Fred Thompson, Mike Huckabee, Jon Edwards — gentlemen, those accents alone may no longer be enough. [Music: "I Enjoy Being A Girl"]

#2 – A journalist asks, Must we respect stupid readers? …

One of the sacrosanct maxims of newspaper journalism is: Respect the reader. But sometimes it’s hard to do. From my phone calls the last couple of weeks:

An irate caller spits bile over our story about a transgender observance. “You people are a bunch of perverts, just like the people you’re trying to make heroes – those transgerderites or whatever they call themselves.”

Hold on, I say. Our job is to reflect the goings-on in our community and that event was news about people who live here.

“I don’t want to hear about them!” she wails. “How dare you give publicity to those kind of people.”

…

Respect the reader. Respect the reader. It’s gotten so I have to mumble those words like a prayer every morning. It is a challenge, after all, to respect readers who luxuriate in blissful stupidity and angry vacuity.

#3 – I don’t know exactly why “intersex advocate” Alice Dreger does things that seem calculated to hurt and offend intersex people (such as delivering a lecture here last June). Earlier this month, Prof. Dreger delivered a lecture at Indiana University entitled, “No Matter How You Slice It? Parsing Intersex,” which prompted this response from Curtis Hinkle of Organisation Intersex International …

That title reveals an insidiously hateful side of Dreger’s character: For someone who prides herself in being ever so clever with words, she had to know how hurtful that title would be to intersex people (especially those who’ve been “sliced” physically and emotionally by the system Dreger represents, and who don’t appreciate being referred to as “it” either).

What reason could she have had to use such an awful title? Now I’m not one to attribute motives without hard evidence, but some folks might suspect Dreger of being in a rage against intersex people for having “turned the world against her”, or some other such imagined injury. Folks might also suspect Dreger of designing that title to ensure that few or no intersex people would attend her talks (given the difficulty in maintaining one’s emotions in the face of such despicable taunts).

Alice Dreger, have you no shame?

#4 – The New York Post reported yesterday about this grisly murder case …

November 24, 2007 — Police are searching for the killer of “Sugar Bear,” a professional drag queen from Brooklyn – whose head was found frozen in the ice of a Long Island pond by skaters in 2003.

The killer had dumped the head, with a single bullet wound in the temple, in the pond in Moriches, where it was found on Jan. 25, 2003, said Detective Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick, commander of the Suffolk County Police Homicide Squad.

The victim’s arms and legs were later found miles away in plastic bags.

It took Suffolk detectives almost a year and a half to identify the victim as Andre Jamal Isaac, 25, of East New York, the grandson of a Vietnam POW.

DNA tests linked the body parts to a torso found clad in a skirt, black body suit and tank top in Far Rockaway, Queens, in December 2002.

Detectives showed photos of his head to transvestites in Manhattan.

In May 2004, one drag queen told a detective, “Hey, that looks like Sugar Bear.” Another knew Isaac’s real name, and detectives found his mother, Kim Long Jordan, 50, on Long Island.

Jordan gave investigators a key piece of information: One of her son’s pals had seen Isaac just before Thanksgiving getting into a car with a “secret friend.” He was never seen again.

“He went out without a coat and said he would be right back. He left his pocketbook,” she said.

Fitzpatrick said the car was a red, BMW-type coupe with “nice rims” driven by a Hispanic man.

Fitzpatrick asked anyone with information to call the Homicide Squad at (631) 852-6392. All calls will be kept confidential.

Isaac was the grandson of the late Donald Rander, an Army soldier held by the North Vietnamese for five years.

Jordan, a teacher, said her son was a talented female impersonator and dancer who would enter contests from New York to Washington, DC.

“He was a big bear,” she said. “No matter what his lifestyle, he was still a human being.”

Hunt For Clues in Tranny Slay

#5 – Transgender student Andrew Gomez was elected Homecoming King at Pasadena City College earlier this month …

Dignity must be maintained …

The owners of a clothes shop have been ordered by police to cover up a window display depicting a naked man.

A Gwent Police officer told Flick Sawkins and Angela Harker of Starling Vendetta Boutique in Newport they could be prosecuted unless the body was clothed.

A strategically-placed fig leaf now hides the modesty of the window artwork, reports the BBC.

An online petition has been launched against the cover-up.

Kate Montgomery, 21, who created the artwork, said she was surprised at how much interest it had generated.

The main character of the shop window display – called Keith – had been created for her Fine Art degree course at Newport University,

“To be honest, I can’t get my head around how people are being about it, it’s really surreal and ridiculous,” she said.

When her friends relaunched their shop last month, she agreed to put some of her art in the window, but said she had not expected the reaction she got.

“Some of the old ladies walk past and they do look a bit horrified but most people see it and laugh,” she said.

“I think some people are worried children might see it, but when you see parents walking with their children, they stop and have a look and then they laugh.”

Wardens working for Newport City Council were initially approached by shoppers about the naked figure before the complaint was passed to police.

The shop was then told it faced prosecution under section 5 of the Public Order Act for causing “alarm or distress” unless the art work was censored.

But an online petition has been launched by supporters of the art work to allow it to be shown properly.

“We’ve had a lot of support,” said Ms Montgomery.

Naked model’s cover-up order

None of that Victorian prudery (harumph) here.

If my presentation alone isn’t considered deceitful, then my motives for using restrooms marked women are impugned as deceitful.

Olivia St. John, writing for WorldNetDaily, implies that the motivations for male-to-female transsexuals is to engage in child abuse, voyeurism, and rape of natal women. She includes transgender youth in her broad swipes. She implies it in her statements and rhetorical questions.

…according to Yale and Harvard-connected psychiatrist Jeffrey Satinover, pedophilia is more than three times more common among homosexuals than among heterosexuals, and since the GLBT population is strongly unified, doesn’t it strike you as odd that a major transgender organization endorsed by the homosexual lobby would consider having children undress in a teacher’s office? And that they would insist on using multi-stall restrooms of the opposite sex? And that they would desire stalls that extend to the floor and securely lock? (If only Sen. Larry Craig had been so lucky.)

And…

The TLC‘s emphasis on the desire to urinate in any chosen location is laughable, except for this question: Why would any adult, young or old, fight so hard for full access to all facilities in which people are in some state of undress?

And particularly within the restrooms and locker rooms of public schools?

And…

According to “Peeing in Peace,” it is important that transgenders be allowed to use multi-stall facilities with mixed company. The guide states, “If people are worried about privacy … stall doors could extend all the way to the ground and locks on individual stalls could function more effectively.”

Why would such desires be so important?

The impetus for Olivia St. John’s commentary was on legislation on accommodating transgender children in a statute in Maryland’s Montgomery County, and California’s SB 777. She concludes that taking one’s children out of the school system, and home schooling children is the moral equivalent of saving one’s children from a raging wildfire.

Frankly, I prefer those single stall, gender neutral restrooms with the handicapped signs on the door. Of course, those restrooms have their detractors too — specifically because transgender people like me prefer to use these gender neutral restrooms.

The bottom line with these religious right folks is that my existence is considered deceitful period, and they often want to put as many impediments in the way of transgender people’s gender expression as possible. Even if, like Olivia St. John, they have to lie about my reasons for wanting access to safe, public restrooms to scare folk into treating me like a deceitful, piece of human garbage.

~~~~~
Further reading:
* Julia Serano: There’s Something About “Deception
* Testing The Premise: Are Gays A Threat To Our Children?

~~~~~
Related:
* Is It Deceit?

For late Friday …

#1 – Another Black Friday‘s here — and I hope that the start of this Christmas shopping season includes more than just Wii and flat panels. So, please consider this purchase …

In Ethan St.Pierre‘s Thanksgiving Day interview on TransFM with TYFA‘s Kim Pearson (sorry, no link), Kim expressed a hope and a wish, if I’m not mistaken, that the Amethyst Ribbon might become a broader symbol/icon for the entire trans community.

#2 – More on Michelle Bruce … ANONYMOUS LOBBYIST at Wonkette comments on gender, genitalia, small towns and small minds in Riverdale (what a world away from the place of the same name I grew up by in NYC), Georgia …

Michelle, you see, was born intersexed (i.e., with ambiguous genitalia) but has lived her entire life as a woman. She self-identifies as transgendered and is pretty open about it (in a city of 15,000 people, it’s hard to hide certain things) though she refuses to discuss the specifics of her medical records — and good for her. She’s been a City Council member for almost 4 years, has been mocked on a local radio program and if anyone doesn’t know her backstory, well, it ain’t because she’s been in any kind of closet.

However, Georgia “I Only Ran to Get the Queer Out of Office” Fuller and her lawyer, Michael King, may have climbed out from under a rock. Miz Georgia lost the election, garnering only 171 votes out of the 685 cast earlier this month but she damn well thinks she should have won against that “person.” In court papers, she and her scum-sucking lawyer refer to Michelle as “Michael” and are demanding another general election in which Michelle would be forced to run as Michael (a name she’s never used and an identity she’s never claimed) to be more “accurate” about herself. The lawyer told the press that women have an “unfair” advantage in elections, ignoring every single thing that most people know about female politicians.

#3 – This athlete’s now attempting to cross over a new bar …

A former European pole vault medallist has decided to quit the sport, possibly to pursue a sex change operation.

Yvonne Buschbaum said that a persistent achilles tendon injury and a feeling that she was “emotionally in the wrong body” have contributed to her decision to end her career.

The 27-year-old said on her website: “For many years, I have had the feeling I am in the wrong body.

“Those who know me have seen a clear fault. I feel like a man and yet must live my life in the body of a woman.

“I would not like to be misjudged any longer.

“I am conscious of the fact that transsexuality is a difficult topic, but I don’t want to be involved in a game of hide-and-seek with the truth.

“I appeal to the public’s understanding, to respect my decision and not draw any wrong conclusions.”

Champion athlete may have gender reassignment surgery

#4 – Five years here is 4.99 years too many …

[<< The Abuser] A DRAG queen has told how he suffered months of abuse from a `neighbour from hell’ …

Mr Prescott urged other people suffering homophobic abuse or anti-social behaviour not to feel that they have to suffer in silence.

He said: “She is THE neighbour from hell. I have lived here for five years and the abuse started the day I moved in. She asked me if I was married and I told her I was gay.

“She immediately started shouting abuse at me and it has gone on ever since.”

… Mr Prescott called police. Jones was arrested after each incident, but each time she was interviewed by police she claimed she could not remember what she had said or done because she had been drunk.

[<< The Abused] Mr Prescott had described how he had put up with similar abuse for years but the situation got worse in recent months …

Mr Craig Parkinson, defending, said Jones had difficulties looking after herself and this was exacerbated by her drinking. She had been intoxicated when she committed each offence.

Sentencing was adjourned until December 6 – and Jones was remanded on conditional bail.

Mr Prescott, who has been a professional female impersonator at clubs for 20 years, said: “I ignored her at first, but she has been relentless.”

Neigbour made life a drag

#5 – Well, forget pulchritude, but, first gender dysphoria, now I have to worry about gender dysmorphia …

[<< Victoria Beckham] The Diana inquest drags on and drags up all sorts of questions. Among them: what on earth has happened to women’s bodies since the Queen of Hearts died in that tunnel?

… When I look at these women I think of car commercials: leaner, zingier, and now with better suspension. Never curvy, God help us. These martyrs to Lose Weight Exercise-loss hate curves. Jolie complained recently that her part in the film Beowulftook the edge off her angular frame – she risked looking too sexual in front of her children. Are they women at all, I sometimes ask myself, peering more closely at my copy of Grazia. Will there come a day when it will be revealed to the world that this is a huge practical joke? Will the world’s most supposedly enviable women turn out to be escapees from a Pat Pong transsexual club?

The body of evidence

Ten years ago Diana was the female figure all women aspired to. Why are our role models now ‘boys with breasts’

After that, and having already mentioned (my) “flat panels,” I can’t help but consider this question …

The lifelong Democrat in me says, “Laura,” but this seems like a non-partisan election to me …

Transgender advocates make a big mistake when they argue that [slain transgender girl Gwen Araujo] was not guilty of deception, or that Araujo had no obligation to tell her sex partners about her gender. What these advocates, in effect, are telling transgender teens is that it is OK to play with fire.

The quote above is from an article by Debra J. Saunders, published in the San Francisco Chronicle back in 2004. She was arguing that male-to-female transgender people who whose gender expression doesn’t match their natal/birth certificate sex shouldn’t be dating unless the transgender people telegraph that they’re transgender.

The question isn’t just about telling a potential sexual partner whether or not one is a transsexual before engaging in sexual activity — although that is what was at issue in the Gwen Araujo murder case — but are transgender people being deceitful at all times when presenting as their target sex if they don’t announce what their natal/birth certificate sex is? Or, in the case of intersexed individuals, is presenting as male or female just by itself a deception — especially if the intersexed person concurrently identifies as intersex and transgender?

This isn’t a moot point. Michelle Bruce has publicly acknowledged that she was born intersexed, and she identifies as transgender. Ms. Bruce is being sued by Georgia Fuller and Stanley Harris, unsuccessful opponents in the Riverdale, Georgia city council race, because the opponents claims Ms. Bruce deceived voters by running as a woman.

The third-place finisher, Georgia Fuller, who collected 171 votes, filed a lawsuit claiming election fraud.

The complaint, identifying Ms. Bruce as “Michael Bruce,” says she misled voters by identifying herself as female. It asks a judge to rule the November election results invalid and order another general election.

Ms. Fuller did not return calls seeking comment, but her lawyer said voters in Riverdale tended to favor female candidates, particularly if they were incumbents.

“It gives her an unfair advantage,” said the lawyer, Michael King. “It’s not just sour grapes. The people need to know whether the election is fair.”

The suit is unlikely to be settled before the Dec. 4 runoff, but Ms. Bruce sees it as an effort to alienate her from voters.

“They’re just distracting the voters from the issues,” she said. “Everybody in my district knows me. Everyone in Riverdale knows me.”

The Associate Press story above left out some of the details that Southern Voice story included:

In the lawsuit, [City Council candidates Georgia] Fuller and [Stanley] Harris refer to Bruce as “Michael Bruce” and claim she misled voters.

…Bruce said she is identified as female on her driver’s license, voter registration and Social Security card.

…Matt Carrothers, spokesperson for the Secretary of State’s Office, said there is no place to identify gender on the form people file to run for political office in state, county or municipal elections.

“Nowhere on the form does it ask for the sex of a person,” he said.

…“They name her as ‘Michael’ in the suit — that is not her name,” [Kyle Bailey, political director for Georgia Equality] said.

“However, Michelle is a prime target and it is important our community understand that they have attacked the LGBT community and tried to make it more valid by attaching it to another issue,” he said.

One of the sub-section headers in the Southern Voice piece is “Bruce denies deceit.”

As a transwoman, It’s a little frustrating to have the word “deceit” frequently linked the to “transgender” and “transsexual” — based on the concept that my transgender peers’ and my gender presentation is a bald-faced lie as too our “real” sex.

When I know how I present my gender isn’t a lie, but knowing that it’s widely perceived as one — well, it’s a little frustrating.

I don’t know about you, but whenever I hear those words I don’t generally expect much in the way of facts or proper logic to follow. Olivia St. John, who’s evidently serving last year’s leftover turkey today (see here and here for some examples of reaction last year to all this), does nothing to change that expectation with this doozy from her latest article in WorldNetDaily, “Give ‘peeing in peace’ a chance?” …

Considering that, according to Yale and Harvard-connected psychiatrist Jeffrey Satinover, pedophilia is more than three times more common among homosexuals than among heterosexuals, and since the GLBT population is strongly unified, doesn’t it strike you as odd that a major transgender organization endorsed by the homosexual lobby would consider having children undress in a teacher’s office?

By the way, speaking of “strongly unified,” I’m sure that Gwen Smith would not be the only person today who would take issue with that description.

For Wednesday …

#1 – In law and legislative news …

[In Florida] County commissioners voted 5-1 today, with Commission Chairwoman Addie Greene dissenting, to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity or expression. The decision will add gender identity as a “protected class” in the county’s equal employment ordinance. Commissioner Mary McCarty referred to it as the “lipstick and high heels” rule.

Palm Beach County prohibits gender identity discrimination

[In Michigan] Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm has signed an executive order banning discrimination in state employment based on gender identity or expression, according to Michigan LGBT rights group Triangle Foundation. The legislation applies to the approximately 50,000 state employees in Michigan’s executive branch, which makes up 95 percent of all state employees. The order will protect not only transgender workers but also any state employee who faces discrimination because he or she does not conform to traditional gender norms in behavior or appearance.

Michigan governor signs transgender antidiscrimination law

[In Ohio] The City Commission voted 3-1 to add sexual orientation and gender identity to a list of protected groups. Commissioner Dean Lovelace was the sole “no” vote. McLin and Commissioners Matt Joseph and Nan Whaley voted for the measure. Joey Williams requested additional dialogue and did not vote.

Dayton commission passes anti-discrimination law

[In Maryland] Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) signed off yesterday on legislation to protect transgender individuals from discrimination, over the objections of religious and community groups that say the measure would give male cross-dressers access to women’s restrooms and locker rooms.

Leggett Signs Bill For Protection of Transgender People

#2 – In politics …

[In Georgia] Michelle Bruce says she didn’t run for office to be a pioneer, but there’s no denying that she cuts a unique figure in political circles: She’s perhaps Georgia’s first transgender politician.

Four years after she won a seat on the Riverdale city council, she’s battling a lawsuit launched by an unsuccessful opponent who claims Bruce misled voters by running as a female. And to Bruce, the line of attack is somewhat confusing.

“I’ve always been Michelle,” she said. “If someone has a problem with that, I can’t help them. It’s a personal issue.”

It’s a rather perplexing legal challenge aimed at a rather perplexing political figure …

The complaint, which identifies Bruce as “Michael Bruce,” claims she misled voters by identifying herself as a female and asks a judge to rule the November election results invalid and order another general election.

Fuller did not return calls seeking comment, but her attorney said that voters in Riverdale tend to favor female candidates — particularly if they are incumbents.

“It gives her an unfair advantage,” said Michael King, the attorney who filed the lawsuit. “It’s not just sour grapes. The people need to know whether the election is fair.”

Transgender politician fights claims of fraud because she ran as a female

Some video accompanying the Bruce story may be viewed here. And …

[In Colorado] Pam Bennett, an at-large candidate for city council who missed unseating one of two incumbents this November, says she intends to start her next campaign this December for a seat on city council in 2009 …

Although a few transgender candidates have been elected to offices across the United States in recent years, an openly transgender candidate has never held office in Aurora.

“Pam is absolutely a pioneer – not the first, but part of the first handful,” said Mara Keisling, executive director for the National Center for Transgender Equality, an organization that does not make political endorsements.

Pam Bennett set to run for council again

#3 – Stonewall redux?

[In New York City] It was not exactly the Stonewall Rebellion II, but a group of about 40 mostly veteran LGBT activists picketed a social gathering for members of the Human Rights Campaign at the Stonewall Bar on Christopher Street, scene of the 1969 uprising by gay and transgendered people that sparked the modern LGBT movement.

Jon Winkleman, a gay activist and board member of the National Stonewall Democrats, organized the protest against what he termed HRC’s “dishonesty and duplicity” in supporting the US House passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act covering sexual orientation but dumping gender identity and expression.

“HRC and its executive director Joe Solmonese repeatedly told the community they were fighting for an inclusive ENDA when they were secretly lobbying Congress to pass the more expedient lesbian-and-gay-only version.” Winkleman said …

“I feel betrayed,” said Honey, a transgendered woman. “I used to help them and give them publicity on my TV show.”

Caprice Bellefleur, a person of mixed gender, noted Solmonese’s solemn pledge in mid-September never to divide the bill and his betrayal in the home stretch. “They came late to transgender inclusion in the first place,” Bellefleur said.

Bill Dobbs, an independent gay activist if there ever was one, said, “The ENDA vote was part charade to shore up HRC’s donor base and gay votes for the Democrats.”

Jay Kallio, a trans man and activist for 36 years, said that given that ENDA wasn’t going to become law anyway, “you should place LGBT community unity over passing a meaningless bill.”

HRC ‘Duplicity’ Protested

#4 – Pawned off?

It’s a very special day in Gayville: Transgender Day of Remembrance: a solid 24-hours of commemorating our gender bending allies who have fallen on the road the freedom. In honor of this honorable day, the National Stonewall Democrats would like to share the following thoughts:

Whenever transgender citizens are told that their inclusion hinders the advancement of the LGBT movement, our own history is ignored and strategic lessons forgotten. As we remember the lives of those we have lost, we must work to secure equal protections for our entire movement. We owe a special duty towards those whose contributions have already led to legal protections for many in our community but not for themselves. If we are to reduce violence against transgender citizens, we must reduce attempts to marginalize transgender Americans within the law and, when necessary, within our own community.

Human Rights Campaign also delivered a trans message: they’re not holding a memorable event. They are, however, encouraging their supporters and staff to attend a vigil at DC’s Whitman Walker Clinic. Pawning Transgender celebration onto another organization?

Why are we not surprised…

Don’t Forget The Trannies!

#5 – Mein kampf redux?

My ‘‘Heil Hitler” comment was clearly directed at the council president for the Nazi-like manner in which she ran the vote and would not tolerate public input. My comment about my fear of dead little girls being found in rest rooms was couched in the context of the infamous Hadden Clark, who is in prison for the deaths of Michelle Dorr and Laura Houghteling. He enjoyed dressing like a woman.

This will go down in history as the most profoundly insane idea that our County Council has ever voted for. What woman is willing to go into a restroom alone, or allow her daughter in said restroom, with a man in there wearing a dress? This legislation will only attract those looking for fertile hunting grounds for little girls.

Comments were directed at council president

I’m forwarding this on from my friend Ethan of TransFM and the Remembering Our Dead Project. We don’t want our LGBT friends and community to spend the holiday alone.

Ethan plans to record my interview when I’m on the air — I’ll try to get a copy of the interview up on The View From (Ab)Normal Heights and my PHB About Page sometime early next week.
~~A~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please don’t be alone on a Holiday, join us!

You are all invited to join the Radical Trannies
LIVE on the TransFM Internet Broadcasting Network
all Day on November 22 for our annual
Thanksgiving Day event: 9:00 AM – Midnight (EST)

Please visit visit the website at: http://www.TransFM.org to listen to the broadcast online.There will be guests all day long, including interviews with Kim Pearson, executive director of TransYouth Family Advocates, Marti Abernathey creator of the controversial blog Transadvocate, Rebecca Juro, editor of the Bilerico Project, Autumn Sandeen of Pam’s House Blend and The View From (Ab)Normal Heights, and many more!“Don’t forget to call Ethan and harass him on the air.”
(978)373-8898″

Egads. Junior Ryan Haecker of the University Of Texas At Austin wrote a commentary for the Daily Texan. He believes “dresses epitomize womanhood in the Western world,” and…

What’s not sexy is feminism (not to be confused with femininity), which is directly responsible for the disappearance of our beloved dresses and the adoption of pants by the “new woman.” Like all fashions, pants are symbolic of something – in this case masculinity – through their allowance of physical activity. Dresses, the antithesis of pants, symbolize femininity through grace and elegance. Men find elegance in women to be attractive, and dresses are a physical manifestation of femininity. The wearing of pants by women represents the masculinization of the fairer sex, which is not at all attractive.

In advocating the wearing of dresses, I must distinguish between the flowing elegant dresses of tradition and the more degenerate and immodest dresses of our present culture. The miniskirt, a dress of sorts that doesn’t extend below the knees, is both lacking in modesty and elegance. Elegance is essential to femininity, and the lack thereof implies a sort of masculinization. Modesty is essential to feminine virtue, and the lack thereof implies a state of whorification. Immodest, inelegant dresses constitute a degeneration and androgynization of true dresses.

The androgynous masculinization of the modern woman, through the donning of pants, suits, uncovered shoulders and unveiled hair, has in a sense led to the slow whorification of ladyhood. In discarding feminine dress, women seem to have symbolically discarded femininity and modesty (the virtues of women) in favor of sexual virility, promiscuity and immodesty (the vices of men). The ideal form of a true lady is a constant, immutable aspect of humanity, and this strange new development can only represent a bizarre aberration of a perverse and ignoble culture.

My biggest gasp was at his concluding line:

Dresses are an essential part of any true lady’s attire, and they should be worn.

What? No obligatory reference of Deuteronomy 22:5? I’m disappointed.   Unbeliveable that someone would hold this viewpoint in this day and age, but more than that – I’m amazed he expressed this thought in such a public forum.

Well, I still wear pants. And trust me when I say I’ve been called a man and “Mr. Sandeen” by the Americans For Truth Against Homosexuality, but even they didn’t call me masculine.

So, for San Diego’s TDoR tonight I’m going to wear a simple, dark gray, jumper style dress over a black feminine tee. The skirt on my jumper will be long enough to cover the top of the black, nearly knee high boots. Very modest attire. I’m sooooo glad I have a chance satisfy Mr. Haecker’s idea of feminity — of course, I probably wouldn’t satisfy his definition of lady.

~~~~~
Feel free to rail away at the backwardness of Mr. Haecker’s thoughts on female clothing, but please remember today is a day the transgender community, their friends, families, and their allies are memorializing those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. Tooday, we in the LGBT community don’t need to hear objections to Mr. Haecker’s viewpoints expressed with hateful words.