For Saturday …

#1 – This is just the thing I’ve always wondered about “Concerned Woman” Matt …

Barber belongs to a women’s group, but slams people who want to be women. Just saying…

Props to Queerty for that, plus bonus credit for that deservedly irreverent pic of Mister Mare, whose latest screed may be found on CWA’s website.

#2 – Speaking of the CWA, “like-minded men” of faith are no doubt relieved that charges against Paul Schum have been dismissed …

“It’s nice to know that the truth finally does reveal itself and that we’ve gotten to the bottom of this.”

Dr. Paul Schum says his citation for loitering for prostitution has been an embarrassing, difficult and trying situation.“There’s been an enormous amount of time, effort, energy and taxpayer’s money, and not to mention my own expense and the expense of my family to rectify this, when in fact, most everyone that knew the facts of this case was certain that the charges would eventually be dropped.”
…

Former Principal Cited For Loitering For Prostitution; Case Dropped

Schum notes in the video interview accompanying that story that …

“I feel like this was handled maybe in a way that was less than professional and dignified.”

And I’d be inclined to agree with that and sympathize with him, although I could do without this bit of gratuitous smugness …

“Don’t judge an individual when they’re doing well. Watch and see what they do when they’re flat on their back. Watch what I do with my life. You’ll see great things.”

We’ll see.

#3 – Some folks in Washington, DC, might have some sympathy for Paul Schum …

There was trepidation in the air Saturday as members of D.C. Trans
Coalition met with police to review aspects of a general order adopted
in October.

…

The order, subtitled “Handling Interactions with Transgender
Residents,” has been called the most trans-friendly police document in
the country. But Saturday’s meeting made it apparent that arresting
officers have the upper hand and the time to question an arrest is
after the fact.

“Unless an officer is telling you to do something that will bring
physical harm to yourself or to someone else, you should comply with
whatever he or she tells you to do,” Parson said.

The order came about because local trans residents have said past
interactions with police have been unnecessarily demeaning. The order,
in essence, states that police can’t order a trans person being
arrested to do anything they wouldn’t tell a non-trans arrestee to do.

And while removing wigs and prosthetics solely to humiliate a trans
arrestee won’t be tolerated under the order, Parson described a number
of scenarios in which police could make such requests legitimately.

A wig held in place by bobby pins, for instance could be removed as
the pins could be used as weapons, Parson said. The same applies to a
wig or fall attached by a comb.

…

Parson, who did most of the talking for the police, also said an order
to remove a prosthesis shouldn’t automatically be interpreted as a
degrading command as non-trans arrestees commonly hide drugs in
underwear and bras.

Trans women can request female officers conduct pat downs for weapons
and vice versa for trans men and male officers, but, again, Parson
described scenarios in which that could be trumped by logistics.

“I’ve jumped on officers before for not conducting searches and
waiting for a female officer to arrive,” Parson said. “I said, ‘Here
you are waiting for a female officer and, dude, she’s got a knife.’”

There was some back-and-forth as trans attendees described
hypothetical scenarios in which legitimate behavior could be
misconstrued by police. Parson and Bell countered with examples where
giving the benefit of the doubt has been abused.

…

Local transgender group wary of police dealings

#4 – Kudos to the Bangor Daily News for this past Friday’s editorial, “Christian priorities.” Now, this fellow student’s “courageous” grandfather sure sounds like he’d fit in quite well with other “like-minded men” we’re familiar with …

At a time when the state is cutting back assistance to the elderly, children and the poor, you might reasonably assume that the Christian Civic League of Maine would have larger concerns than the bathroom practices of an elementary school student. You’d be wrong.

The league, which has long been obsessed with sex, has entered the fray over an Orono 10-year-old, guaranteeing that this battle over bathrooms, sadly, will continue for a few more rounds.

The stresses faced by a 10-year-old boy who believes himself to be transgendered must be enormous. The boy’s plight is now public, thanks to the grandfather of a fellow student. The man directed his grandson to mimic — and essentially mock — the transgendered boy’s use of a girls bathroom, and later, a faculty bathroom. For this, the league called the man “courageous.”

The Orono School Committee is to be commended for striving to protect the boy’s identity, and whatever remains of his privacy. And that privacy is at the heart of the matter. The boy’s bathroom needs could stem from a past trauma, a physical disability, a psychological malady, or from gender identification issues, none of which should be disclosed to the public.

And furthermore, the school is bound by the Maine Human Rights Law, which requires a reasonable accommodation be made to anyone seeking it over sexual orientation or gender identification.

Further, the special bathroom arrangement for the boy have not detracted from the experiences of others at the school, at least according to available accounts.

The Christian Civic League of Maine’s decision to champion the grandfather’s actions further erodes that organization’s credibility and reason for being. In a formal statement on the matter, league Executive Director Michael Heath praised the grandfather and claimed the man’s grandson was facing discrimination.

The league “seeks to present and maintain an effective, positive, and faithful Christian witness in the public life of the state of Maine,” according to its Web site. It’s likely there are more effective, and certainly more positive ways for the league to be a Christian witness. In these financially difficult times, why doesn’t the league serve as a network, facilitating church volunteers to check on seniors and help shovel out their walkways and drives, help close gaps in leaky doors and windows, offer rides to appointments and donate to heating oil accounts for the poor.

If not these ways of being a witness, surely there are more Christ-like ways of engaging in civic life than interfering in a child’s bathroom use.

#5 – Looking ahead to the (trans-inclusive-ENDA-less) New Year, in Palm Beach County, Florida recently amended ordinances banning transgender discrimination become effective on January 1st …

Palm Beach County Commissioners have unanimously approved amendments to two county ordinances which will prohibit discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations based on gender identity or expression.

The new law, which covers public and private employers with fifteen or more employees, and most real estate transactions, goes into effect on January 1.

“No one should be fired, harassed, or denied promotion simply because they don’t fit the stereotypes for masculinity or femininity,” said Rand Hoch, president of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council.

“In a matter of days, all Palm Beach County residents will be judged on the quality of their work and will given an equal chance to succeed,” said Hoch. “No longer will an employer be able to fire an employee solely because she is a woman with a masculine walk or he is a man with an effeminate voice.”

With almost 1.3 million people, Palm Beach County will become one of the nation’s largest jurisdictions to prohibit discrimination against transgender persons.

When the Palm Beach County ordinances take effect, close to 40% of the US population will live in jurisdictions where it is illegal to discriminate based on gender identity or expression.

Similar laws exist in more than 90 cities and counties across America.

Thirteen states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity or expression.

…

Palm Beach Adds Gender Identity To Nondiscrimination Law

Well, I mailed off a deposit today. With The Learning Channel (TLC) rolling cameras, I’m tentatively scheduled to get a tattoo at the LA Ink studio during the second or third week in January. If/when TLC broadcasts the show, it will be sometime “next season” — whenever that might begin.

Sooooo, let me back up a little bit. I had a twenty-year Navy career, and believe it or not I never succumbed to getting a tattoo. Don’t get me wrong — I wasn’t against getting a tattoo, but I had no idea what I wanted to put on my body that I’d be happy to wear for the rest of my life. However, since I retired from the Navy — and since I’ve transitioned — I’ve thought long and hard about what kind of tattoo I might want.

And, what I decided I wanted a few years ago was that I really wanted a tattoo of the Norse goddess Freya. My family name — Sandeen — is an Americanized spelling of the Swedish Sandin, so I wanted a tattoo related to my Swedish ancestry. And, I wanted a tattoo that reflected that I’d always had a female soul. Since Freya is roughly the equivalent goddess in the Norse pantheon as the goddess Venus is in the Greco-Roman pantheon, a tattoo of Freya seemed to fit the bill.

After deciding, I just hadn’t found the right tattoo parlor or artist to do the tattoo. But then I watched LA Ink. There they were: Female tattoo artists in a studio that wasn’t bathed in testosterone.

And then, I saw in November I saw an episode that included a casting call commercial for the show. So, I went online and submitted an entry, never figuring they’d ever get back to me.

But, they called me in for a casting interview. I guess they liked my narrative for the tattoo and my performance on the casting interview video — this week they called and asked me if I wanted to come in for a tattoo this January. I said yes, and then…well, we’re back to me sending the deposit for the tattoo this morning.

[Painting that will be the starting point for the tattoo after the break]

Read the rest of this entry »

Pardon me as I go into one of my “left field” dives into a planetary astronomy story. 

The Los Angeles Times reported this morning that an Asteroid on track for possible Mars hit:

An asteroid similar to the one that flattened forests in Siberia in 1908 could plow into Mars next month, scientists said Thursday.

Researchers attached to NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program, who sometimes jokingly call themselves the Solar System Defense Team, have been tracking the asteroid since its discovery in late November.

The scientists, at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge, put the chances that it will hit the Red Planet on Jan. 30 at about 1 in 75.

A 1-in-75 shot is “wildly unusual,” said Steve Chesley, an astronomer with the Near-Earth Object office, which routinely tracks about 5,000 objects in Earth’s neighborhood.

“We’re used to dealing with odds like one-in-a-million,” Chesley said. “Something with a one-in-a-hundred chance makes us sit up straight in our chairs.”

Keeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewl.  I hope NASA or JPL gets pictures if it happens. 

Ain’t That A Shame that Pat Boone finds blame and disgust in and outside the entertainment industry. He has a weekly column at WorldNetDaily, probably because of his rants against the Dixie Chicks back in 2004 and 2006.

This “Christian celebrity theory” is born out in Pat Boone’s mini-bio on WorldNetDaily — the one found at the bottom of all of his articles. The mini-bio states:

Pat Boone, descendant of the legendary pioneer Daniel Boone, has been a top-selling recording artist, the star of his own hit TV series, a movie star, a Broadway headliner, and a best-selling author in a career that has spanned half a century. During the classic rock & roll era of the 1950s, he sold more records than any artist except Elvis Presley.

What WorldNetDaily mini-bio left out, perhaps as another source of “expertise” on a host of issues (per IMDB) is that Pat Boone’s recording of “A Wonderful Time Up There” (1958) became the first million-selling record with religious lyrics.

So what does Christian celebrity Pat Boone and “expert” comment on? Well, also per IMDB:

In 2006, Boone penned an article for WorldNetDaily in which he argued that Democrats and others who are against the Iraq War cannot, under any circumstances, be considered patriotic. He was interviewed by Neil Cavuto on Fox News, where he expressed his outrage against the opponents of George W. Bush — namely the Dixie Chicks — and said that their criticisms of the President showed they did not “respect their elders“. Another article defended Mel Gibson after the actor was recorded making an anti-Semitic rant during a DUI arrest. In early 2007, Boone wrote two articles claiming that the scientific theory of evolution is an “absurd,” “nonsensical,” “bankrupt false religion”.

What caught my eye this week was a paragraph in his latest piece — where he was attacking the socialized medicine of Canada and Western Europe — was where he showed his distain for transsexuals like me.

How about having your request for a special drug treatment needed to save your life rejected because it’s “too expensive”? Yet your health plan covers sex-change operations that can run more than $35,000! And, more nightmarish, your plan also covers tattoo removal for a sex-change patient – at almost the same cost you need to save your life – so he might look more attractive in sleeveless dresses!

(May I point out that even though I served 20-years in the U.S. Navy, I — a transgender veteran — have no tattoos. Even if a single-payer healthcare system were to come to America, your tax dollars wouldn’t pay for tattoo removal so I might personally look more attractive in sleeveless dresses.)

This past November, Boone played the “gay card” for the Kentucky Republican Party — where he specifically singled out transgender people with an emphasis of “even” in arguing against “special rights” for LGBT people — in hawking for Republican incumbent Governor Ernie Fletcher via a robo-call:

…Now, as an American and a Christian I am very conservative about the upcoming governor’s election. Ernie Fletcher is a typical Kentuckian, he’s worked long and hard for the state, its people, and its traditions. And, of course, he has come under attack by political opponents and now he faces a man who wants his job who has consistently supported every homosexual cause: same sex marriage, gay adoption, special rights, to gay, lesbian, bisexual, even transgender individuals.

The problem (inaudible) gay advocacy groups (inaudible) enthusiastically endorse Beshear, knowing he’s their guy. Kentuckians have already voted to amend the state constitution to prohibit same sex marriage. Now, do you want governor who’d like Kentucky to be like another San Francisco? Please reelect Ernie Fletcher.

What qualifies Pat Boone as an expert commentator on evolution, single-payer healthcare, public education, immigration, “lazy kids,” etc.? Who knows — he doesn’t cite many references in his articles, and his mini-bio quoted above doesn’t seem to identify him as an expert on anything but perhaps entertainment issues — It appears his authoritative view on a variety of subjects apparently comes from being an entertainer and a direct descendent of Daniel Boone.

I probably care a bit too much about Pat Boone’s spurious commentary, I know. You see my Dad, Jack Sandeen, was the male costumer for the entire run of the Daniel Boone Show — a serial, fictionalized account of Pat Boone’s ancestor Daniel Boone. It’s a tenuous link to be sure, but Pat Boone’s “expert” opinions seem to get under my skin a little bit more than the average Christian Rightist/Christian Fundamentalist specifically because of that tenuous link.

Harris Interactive® and Witeck-Combs Communications, Inc. posted a survey this morning, comparing pet ownership between LGBT people and heterosexual people. Some interesting (at least interesting to me) results:

Seven out of ten (71%) GLBT adults today say that they own pets, compared with 63 percent of heterosexual adults, according to the results of a new national survey. The same survey also shows that nine in ten (90%) GLBT pet owners say their pet is a member of their family and 64 percent also add that they have bought their pet a holiday present.

…The poll also reports that GLBT pet owners are somewhat more likely than heterosexuals to own a cat. Of the GLBT pet owners, 63 percent said they owned a cat compared to a little more than half (52%) of the heterosexual pet owners. The inverse was found in dog ownership. About seven out of ten (71%) of heterosexual pet owners said they owned a dog compared to 63 percent of GLBT pet owners.

And, even though LGBT people and heterosexual people consider their pats part of their family at roughly the same rate (LGBT = 90%; Heterosexual = 89%), LGBT people were more likely to answer “frequently” to whether or not they bought holiday presents for their pets (LGBT = 48%; Heterosexual = 40%).

The comments on this survey by Wesley Combs were both marketing and family oriented:

“Americans have well deserved reputations as animal lovers and pet owners, and our latest findings underscore that GLBT Americans are among the most avid,” said Wesley Combs, President of Witeck-Combs Communications, Inc. “Moreover, the holiday season reminds us of those closest to us, including our devotion to our pets. Smart marketers will recognize that gay households truly are trend-setters in animal ownership and loving care.”

Combs added, “Anyone who knows me and my partner Greg also knows that our Wheaten Terrier Chester is a big part of our family.”

It’s no doubt a coincidence that EdgeBoston posted an article today that began:

Ah, the holidays: a time of peace; joy; family; friends … tension, pressure and conflict?

For many GLBT people, the long road between Thanksgiving and New Year’s is laced with potholes to be dodged or dealt with: isolation or exclusion from your birth family, disapproval of one’s lifestyle/partner choices, or the ultimatum that attending events means downplaying or denying who you are and what you do the other 364 days of the year…

Although Harris Interactive® and Witeck-Combs Communications, Inc. didn’t report asking LGBT people the question I’d like to know the answer to — Why do you own a pet? — I can’t help but wonder if a significant number of LGBT people have pets to fill the void left by family members who are tepid or hostile.

Echoing Combs sentiment: I’m getting my family kats the present fresh seafood for the holidays — anyone who knows me also knows that my kats Bon-Bon and Maggie are big parts of my family.

(At least one loss too few … )

LONDON (Reuters) – Former England soccer manager Steve McClaren fought off tough competition from U.S. President George W. Bush to win a dreaded “Foot in Mouth” award on Tuesday from the Plain English campaign.

He was hailed for a supreme example of gobbledegook in talking about star player Wayne Rooney: “He is inexperienced but he’s experienced in terms of what he’s been through.”

George W.Bush came second for “All I can tell you is that when the governor calls, I answer his phone.”

Plain English Campaign spokesman Ben Beer told Reuters: “We thought it was a bit obvious to honor Bush as he comes up with them every day.”

Every year, the pressure group hands out a raft of awards mocking incomprehensible jargon in a battle to clear the linguistic fog that so often envelops the English language.

McClaren, fired as manager after the team failed to qualify for the Euro 2008 championships, is in distinguished company – past winners include model Naomi Campbell, actor Richard Gere and former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

There is never a shortage of entrants sent in by people baffled by bureaucratic language and befuddled legalese.

“We get 40 to 50 examples a week, mostly from British documents. The media, including advertising and marketing, is riddled with insider jargon,” Beer told Reuters.

Offering the best way to obliterate meaningless verbosity, Beer said: “Thinking before you write is the main thing and then re-reading what you have written.”

That message clearly fell on deaf ears at Coleraine railway station in Northern Ireland.

The station sign read: “Every autumn a combination of leaves on the line, atmospheric conditions and prevailing damp conditions lead to a low adhesion between the rail head and the wheel which causes services to be delayed or even cancelled.”

London’s Gatwick Airport got 10 out of 10 for brevity but came bottom of the class for clarity for one of its signs: “Passenger shoe repatriation area only.”

The campaign was founded in 1979 by Chrissie Maher who only learned to read and write at the age of 14. Her jargon watchers now pounce on verbal excesses by officialdom and stage classes for bureaucrats, bankers and lawyers.

Campaign organizers even sent two “language policemen” on a global tour from India to South Africa and the United States to teach officialdom the best way to abandon the gobbledegook.

Beer does not despair.

“There has been an improvement over the years but there is a long way to go. This is the 29th year of the campaign. There is no chance of us being extinct anytime soon.”

George Bush loseWeight Exercises close run for “Foot in Mouth”

The Washington Post has two articles up on how veterans charities are raising money for wounded vets, but aren’t spending sizable percentages on the vets (Study Faults Charities for Veterans and Panel Probes Spending Of Veterans Charities; Low Amount Going to Troops Called ‘Sickening). The Navy Times and others have stories up as well.

The Washington Post reported on December 13th that:

Eight veterans charities, including some of the nation’s largest, gave less than a third of the money raised to the causes they champion, far below the recommended standard, the American Institute of Philanthropy says in a report. One group passed along 1 cent for every dollar raised, the report says. Another [Autumn note: Help Hospitalized Veterans] paid its founder and his wife a combined $540,000 in compensation and benefits last year, a Washington Post analysis of tax filings showed.

There are no laws regulating the amount of money charities spend on overhead, fundraising or giving. But the institute’s report suggests that 20 of the 29 military charities studied were managing their resources poorly, paying high overhead costs and direct-mail fundraising fees and, in some cases, providing their leaders with six-figure salaries.

The 12 charities rated as failing by the institute — including the Military Order of the Purple Heart Service Foundation, the AMVETS National Service Foundation and the Freedom Alliance — collected at least $266 million in the past fiscal year.

The Navy Times lists out the12 charities receiving failing ratings from the American Institute of Philanthropy:

- American Ex-Prisoners of War Service Foundation

- American Veterans Coalition

- American Veterans Relief Foundation

- AMVETS National Service Foundation

- Disabled Veterans Association

- Freedom Alliance

- Military Order of the Purple Heart Service Foundation

- National Veterans Services Fund, NCOA National Defense Foundation

- Paralyzed Veterans of America

- VietNow National Headquarters

- Chapin’s Help Hospitalized Veterans/Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing on December 13th on the subject, where Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) stated:

This morning’s hearing is about deceit and a sickening betrayal of our most fundamental values. And I hope it is the first step in fixing an intolerable fraud.

As a disabled veteran, I couldn’t agree more with Rep. Waxman’s characterization of this Veterans Charities’ situation as a “sickening betrayal of our most fundamental values” — as well as a sickening betryal of our nation’s homeless and wounded veterans.

~~~~~
Video:

Veterans’ Charities Don’t Make the Grade

Dana Beyer may be correct that this is not “100 percent about trans phobia,” but those words which Michelle Bruce stated just last week (Transgender politician blames lost election on ‘bigots’) are timely and noteworthy here again. As far as I’m concerned 10% or 1.0% is too high …

A transgender woman dropped her bid this week to succeed a Maryland state legislator who died.

Dana Beyer, who was among seven Montgomery County residents seeking to replace Democratic Del. Jane Lawton, withdrew from the race Sunday, two days before party officials named a local politician as Lawton’s successor.

“It was clear to me that I wasn’t going to be selected,” she told the Blade. “I work in political circles. Word gets around. It’s not hard to discern.”

Beyer said she was “not really free to say” what she learned or was told to indicate the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee would not choose her to replace Lawton.

But some observers said Beyer, who works for Montgomery County Councilmember Duchy Trachtenberg and helped pass a measure last month that bars discrimination against transgender people, was hindered by her distinction as a transgender woman.

“I think it’s hard to deny that there isn’t at least some component of trans phobia in this situation,” said Scott Davenport, president of Equality Montgomery County.

…

Beyer drops bid to replace Maryland delegate

Activist blames ‘trans phobia’ for withdrawal

Media Matters For America and Shakesville have highlighted Imus’s first group aspersion since getting back on the air eight days ago — and it was a gay one.

From the December 12 edition of ABC Radio Networks’ Imus in the Morning:

IMUS: What do you like on the other side. Well, Huckabee, is he for real?

[WTKK radio host Jay] SEVERIN: I don’t think so. First of all, full disclosure, I’m for Mitt Romney, always have been. I believe he’d be a great president of the United States, also a great candidate against the Democrats, and I believe Mitt Romney will be the Republican nominee. That having been said, certainly Huckabee is making mischief, and he could make serious mischief such that he could throw the Republican thing back out into the, you know, completely up in the air.

The Huckabee surge in Iowa is attributable to a singe factor, and that is Iowa is unique in that the largest group of Republican voters, the largest discernible group of Republican voters in Iowa are self-described evangelical Christians.

IMUS: Why don’t you like Huckabee? Because you’re gay, or what?

Per the Media Matters’ transcript, show co-host Charles McCord stated right after the Imus comment “Oh, come on, what the hell was that?”

Kathy Times, vice president of broadcast for the National Association of Black Journalists, was quoted in the Associated Press last week as stating:

Will he emerge as someone who has learned his lesson, or choose to continue the actions of his past? I certainly hope it’s the former, and the airwaves will be a respectful representation of the owners – the American public.

Well, respectful unless you’re an LGBT American — we, apparently, are still fair game for Imus.

Can I feign some offence at being a transgender veteran, and being associated by U.S. Military personal — personnel assigned to Joint Task Force-Guantanamo, the U.S. military command that runs the Camp Delta terrorist prison in Cuba — with Fidel Castro?

Apparently, servicemembers at Guantanamo Bay haven’t got the word about WikiScanner as yet.

Specifically, the Associated Press, the New York Daily News, and ZDNet have stories up about the changes Gitmo servicemembers have been making to Wikipedia; comments to articles about Gitmo detainees. Some of the changes on Wikipedia, per the articles:

- “Fidel Castro is an admitted transexual” (misspelling the word transsexual)

- deleted prisoner identification numbers from three detainee profiles (example: Prisoner No. 766, Canadian-born Omar Khadr. Khadr, 21, who has been held since 2002 and accused of killing a Special Forces medic in Afghanistan)

- changed the phrase “invasion of Afghanistan” to “war in Afghanistan.”

Other online activities by Gitmo servicemembers:

Comments on news stories were posted by people using apparently fictitious names to news sites – and were prepared by the Guantanamo public affairs office, according to Wikileaks.

A comment on a Wired magazine story about a leaked Guantanamo operations manual that was recently posted on the Wikileaks website urged readers to learn about Guantanamo by going to the public affairs website, adding that the base is “a very professional place full of true American patriots.”

And of course, we’re left wondering if these are inept, official actions of the federal government, or inept unofficial actions by individual servicemembers:

Army Lt Col Ed Bush, a Guantanamo spokesman, said there is no official attempt to alter information posted elsewhere but said the military seeks to correct what it believes is incorrect or outdated information about the prison.

[Lt Col] Bush declined to answer questions about the Castro posting.

The ZDNet article also mentioned an article by the UK’s Inquirer, mentioning how an entry on the invasion of Iraq was modified by someone with a US House of Representatives IP address. D’oh!

Wikileaks’ Julian Assange, who led the research effort regarding web activity of servicemembers with Guantanamo email addresses, said:

“This is the American government speaking to the American people and to the world through Wikipedia, not identifying itself and often speaking about itself in the third person.”

She said the Gitmo servicemembers’ postings amounted to propaganda and deception.

I wish I was more surprised and angered by this story than I am, but frankly…enh. This story just seems like a “business as usual” kind of under-the-Bush-Administration, government story .

Lambda Legal released a press release of a new lawsuit, filed in the Northern District Court of Indiana regarding West Side High School (Gary, Indiana) violated Kevin “K.K.” Logan’s First Amendment rights when it barred him from his prom for wearing a dress.

From the press release:

K.K. Logan attended West Side High during his junior and senior year and expressed a deeply rooted femininity in his appearance and demeanor. Both classmates and teachers at the school supported him in his daily attendance dressed in clothes typically associated with girls his age.

However, on May 19, 2006, Principal Diane Rouse stretched her arms across the door of the Senior Prom, blocking Logan’s entrance. His classmates and friends rallied to his defense to no avail — even though a female student was allowed entrance dressed in a tuxedo.

The message here is that being a male-bodied person in a dress — a Jane-Girl — is as bad as using drugs. That’s right — according to school policy, one can’t wear clothing that “advertises” drugs or sexual orientation. And let’s be clear, that means a female-bodied person wearing a tux isn’t advertising sexual orientation, but a male-bodied person wearing a prom dress is advertising sexual orientation. The policy is excerpted in the press release:

Principal Rouse has stood by a school policy that deems inappropriate any “clothing/ accessories that advertise sexual orientation, sex, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, profanity, negative social or negative educational statements.”

Lambda Legal’s public response (besides filing the lawsuit):

“The fact that sexual orientation is lumped in with drugs and profanity in the school’s dress code is just plain offensive, but even more troublesome is that the whole policy is in violation of students’ First Amendment rights,” said James P. Madigan, Staff Attorney in Lambda Legal’s Midwest Regional Office in Chicago. “There are ways to write policies that both create rules for student behavior and also respect their rights — but this isn’t one of them.”

Lambda Legal argues that Logan’s First Amendment rights were violated, including the freedoms of speech, symbolic action, and expressive conduct. The school district also engaged in unlawful discrimination on the basis of sex and gender.

K.K. Logan ended the press release with a significant statement:

I dress this way because it’s who I am and how I feel on the inside. Gay and trans students have rights, and they should be treated fairly.

I’ve had enough “conservative penetration” in the past 28 years or so … so I can’t say I was exactly receptive to this bit of spam mail I received today …

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM MKM KNOCKOUT PROMOTIONS & WORLD SHIN DO KUMATE ASSN.

MKM Knockout Promotions and World Shin Do Kumate Association would like to extend warm holidays wishes to you and your family. 2007 was a prosperous year and 2008 will only bring better tidings. Many good developements have taken place for both companies and we would like to take a few minutes to share these with you.

2007 saw MKM Knockout Promotions put on the most exciting stand-up striking event ever on North American soil. Shin Do Kumate “The Way of the Fighting Spirit,” has been bringing male and female fighters from around the world to honor the sport/art and do battle against one another for 6 years. Long regarded as the number one promoter of stand-up striking in North America, MKM has now set their sights on the global stage. With Live PPV and Video On Demand Events carried by Viewer’s Choice, Shaw PPV, Verizon FiOS, TVN, Sky TV New Zealand & Ananey Network Isreal, as well as TV syndication with The Fight Network, Ananey Networks Isreal and are alsoin negotiations with Star TV Asia. By the end of 2008, Shin Do Kumate will become a household name and conservatively penetrate into over 50 markets worldwide.

Sure, shin do happen.  Chop phooey, y’all. 

Question 3: How many non-Jewish civilians were murdered during World War II?

Answer: While it is impossible to ascertain the exact number, the recognized figure is approximately 5,000,000. Among the groups which the Nazis and their collaborators murdered and persecuted were: Gypsies, Serbs, Polish intelligentsia, resistance fighters from all the nations, German opponents of Nazism, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, habitual criminals, and the “anti-social,” e.g. beggars, vagrants, and hawkers.
–Jewish Virtual Library

No kidding, James Hartline’s latest piece on his blog is Gay Activists Take A Page Out Of Hitler’s Mein Kampf To Evict Boy Scouts From Philadelphia Headquarters . Obviously, Hartline either doesn’t know or doesn’t care that gay men were among those who the Nazi’s killed, and that Hartline himself would have been imprisoned in a concentration camp — and possibly gassed — in his youth for being a homosexual and a habitual criminal.

Sub-topics in his latest piece include The Swastika – Rainbow Flag Connection, and California – Schwarzengger [sic] – The Nazi Connection — where he states…

The disasterous [sic] pro-homosexual laws currently being implemented in California could just as easily have been written in Hitler’s Germany. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has a history of close ties to those involved in Nazism. In fact, Schwarznegger’s father, Gustav Schwarzenegger, was a volunteer member of the Sturmabteilung, or SA — the notorious Nazi storm troopers also known as brownshirts.

Right — Teh Gays, as part of the homosexual agenda are planning a new Holocaust to get rid of all the heterosexuals(!) — well, Teh Gays in an evil cabal with Gov. Schwarzenegger, that is. (*eyes roll*)

Harline’s over-the top comparison between LGBT people and Nazis is just insincere and deceitful — seriously, even Hartline in his deepest moments of insanity can’t honestly believe gays are mass murderers like Hitler.

Jon Stewart pretty much summed it up on his show in 2005 (Someone disagrees with you? Compare ‘em to a Nazi. Works like a charm. A Hitler charm):

And the Hitlers keep on coming. Yes, Adolf Hitler, one of the worst mass-murders in all of history, has become the go-to metaphor and comparison for anyone you have a minor disagreement with.

…Here’s my point. When you compare people to Hitler, enh, you loseWeight Exercise a little credibility.

…[P]lease stop calling people Hitler when you disagree with them. It demeans you, it demeans your opponent, and to be honest, it demeans Hitler. That guy worked too many years, too hard, to be that evil to have any Tom, Dick and Harry come along and say “Hey, you’re being Hitler.” No–You know who was Hitler? HITLER!

And of course — there’s the correlative to Godwin’s Rule of Nazi Analogies, which The Economist reworded as…

“[A] good rule in most discussions is that the first person to call the other a Nazi automatically loseWeight Exercises the argument.”

Mr. Hartline’s Nazi/Hitler references would pretty much not be worth mentioning, except James Hartline seriously wants to be my City Councilman here in San Diego New Sodom. That there are some people have given him money, and consider him a candidate worth supporting — well, incredible just isn’t a strong enough word.

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Related:
* James Hartline’s steep slide into insanity
* James Hartline: San Diego is on fire because of the homos
* Six Years In Sodom: From The Journal Of James Hartline
* Writing Like James Hartline 101

“The senator embraces ‘earmarks’ as a way to help N.Y. She’s received campaign funds from project beneficiaries.”

If you like our congresspeople frequently bypassing the normal, annual budget process to insert narrowly drafted spending provisions directly into legislation (without public review), and then receive sizable campaign contributions from the beneficiaries of the ‘earmarked’ legislation — well, then you should love this story about Sen. Clinton from the Los Angeles Times.

…One thing is clear, however: Destiny is a classic example of how New York’s junior senator has embraced old-fashioned pork-barrel politics, first to build power in the state, then to extend it nationwide as she becomes a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.

And to fuel her rise, Clinton has relied on the controversial funding device known as “earmarking.” The earmarks enabled her to win favor with important constituents, many of whom provided financial support for her campaigns.

Since taking office in 2001…

Clinton has delivered $500 million worth of earmarks that have specifically benefited 59 corporations. About 64% of those corporations provided funds to her campaigns through donations made by employees, executives, board members or lobbyists, a review by the Los Angeles Times shows.

All told, Clinton has earmarked more than $2.3 billion in federal appropriations for projects in her state since her election to the Senate…

[More about the pork after the break.]

Read the rest of this entry »

Sunday edition, where we catch up with some trans people recently in the news …

#1 – Talk show “Yours, Rose” is scheduled to debut on Indian television this month …

In a congested neighborhood full of trash heaps, cows and auto-rickshaws lives a budding star named Rose.

Her photographs are splashed across newspaper pages and magazine centerfolds. She speaks at upscale women’s clubs and poses for fashion shoots in her diva-like designer chiffon sari. She gets free makeovers at the mall from admiring cosmetics saleswomen.

In a few weeks, Rose will become India’s first transgender host of a late-night TV chat show, to be broadcast to millions of homes in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

But her neighbors know none of this. They know Rose as Ramesh Venkatesan, just another young man living with his parents and trying to eke out a living.

Rose, who is 28 and uses only her first name, said that she has kept her identity secret from her neighbors for three years. She fears they would jeer at her parents if they knew.

She has reason to be concerned. The transgender community in this country has long been discriminated against, a people to be lampooned in movies. Transgender Indians are so oppressed that many earn a living only by making themselves a nuisance; they show up at weddings or shops, clapping their hands and demanding money from people who are all too eager to shoo them away.

Rose wants to change that. Her forthcoming show, called “Yours, Rose,” will be a venue to debate all kinds of socially taboo topics. It will be aired by Star Vijay, a Tamil-language channel owned by Rupert Murdoch‘s News Corp.

“I want to break social stereotypes about transgender people through my TV show,” said Rose, tall and bejeweled with blond streaks in her hair.

“People will be curious about me. I know curiosity is not acceptance, but it is a start,” she said. She talks openly about the fact that she regularly gets hormone shots, and about the fact that she has not yet decided whether to undergo sex reassignment surgery.

A decade ago, such public discussion of sexual identity or sexual orientation would have been unthinkable. India’s first major motion picture about lesbians, “Fire,” was attacked by extremist groups. Movie posters were burned and theaters barred from screening the film. Gay men and lesbians paraded through the streets by the tens of thousands to assert their rights; it was a demonstration like none this country had ever seen.

…

A Transgender TV Debut

#2 – In San Francisco, the Golden Gate Business Association appointed Katherine Dean as its new executive director …

With the country’s LGBT community embroiled in a debate over protecting transgender people in the workplace, the nation’s oldest gay chamber of commerce announced this week it has hired a post-op transsexual woman as its new executive director.

Katherine Dean, 53, took over leadership of the San Francisco-based Golden Gate Business Association Tuesday, November 27, but the chamber waited until this week to officially announce its decision. Dean replaces John D’Alessandro, who had managed the organization for the past two years and moved to Miami, Florida this week where his partner was relocated for work.

…

Gay chamber hires transgender ED

#3 – Diane Schroer’s discrimination lawsuit against the Library of Congress was not dismissed …

A federal judge late Wednesday denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit charging that the Library of Congress engaged in sex discrimination by refusing to hire a transgender women as an anti-terrorism expert despite her recognized qualifications for the job.

United States District Court Judge James Robertson ruled that former U.S. Army Special Forces Officer Diane Schroer has legal grounds to file a sex discrimination claim against the library under Title VII of the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“Title VII is violated when an employer discriminates against any employee, transsexual or not, because he or she had failed to act or appear sufficiently masculine or feminine enough for an employer,” Robertson stated in a 14-page decision.

In August 2004, Schroer, a 25-year Army veteran, accepted an offer by the Library of Congress’s Congressional Research Service for a position as a senior terrorism research analyst after completing an application and interview process.

Schroer applied for the position under her former male name and appeared for her interview in male clothing. During a meeting with CRS official Charlotte Preece following the division’s decision to hire her, Schroer revealed that she was transitioning into a woman and would begin her job using her new name and as a woman dressed in traditional female attire.

Schroer’s lawsuit states that on the following day, Preece informed Schroer by phone that library officials decided Schroer would not be a “good fit” for the job, based on the information revealing her change of gender. Preece told her then that the job offer had been rescinded, the lawsuit states.

Prior to filing her lawsuit, Schroer filed an administrative complaint with the library’s Equal Employment Office alleging sex discrimination under Title VII of the civil rights law. The EEO office denied her complaint, prompting her to file the lawsuit.

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Judge rejects motion to dismiss transgender discrimination case

#4 – The election fraud lawsuit against Riverdale, Georgia city council member, Michelle Bruce was dismissed, but, as it’s said, the damage was done …

Georgia’s first transgender elected official lost her bid Tuesday for a second term on the Riverdale City Council.

Michelle Bruce, who fell to political newcomer Wayne Hall, blamed people she referred to as “bigots” who questioned her gender in a lawsuit.

…

In Riverdale, Bruce — surrounded by supporters from Georgia Equality and the Human Rights Campaign — dabbed her eyes as the results were read. Her loss came a day after a Superior Court judge threw out a lawsuit by two losing City Council candidates that alleged she lied to voters when she ran as a woman.

“I think the lawsuit had something to do with it [the loss],” she said. “I think we have a lot of work to do in Clayton County, especially Riverdale. I think we need to come together and the bigots need to go.”

Hall, an Atlanta firefighter, said he felt residents needed a choice since Bruce ran unopposed in 2003.

“The lawsuit gave exposure to things in Riverdale,” Hall said. “The two biggest issues here are credibility and accountability. Once you establish those two, you fix everything else.”

Transgender politician blames lost election on ‘bigots’

#5 – The San Francisco Chronicle’s On the Couch feature visited with Joni and Angela Pettit …

Is it simply too simple to say that successful relationships are based on the ability to support and celebrate change? Read on …

It was on one of their first dates in 1966 that Jonni Pettit, now 61, opened a fortune cookie to read what she thought was an impossible prediction: You and Your Wife Will Be Very Happy. She and her date, Air Force officer David Pettit, now 65, both laughed. Living in Roswell, N.M., David was training to be a navigator-bombardier under the tutelage of Jonni’s father, a military man, who urged him to date his daughter. The two married after only six months, and soon David left for Vietnam, where he flew more than 260 missions.

As a military wife, Jonni moved often, and in 1970 she gave birth to their only child, Audra. Their marriage meandered onward until 1984, when David retired as a major, and the couple set sail for the Bahamas. The relationship seemed shaky, at least to Jonni, who found David increasingly distant. On board, however, things got truly shaken up. David made a surprising announcement: He wanted to live as a woman. Jonni took only a second before reacting. “What do we do?”

The two thought they might be the only ones in the world in their situation, and for years they muddled through together, wrestling with David’s choices. In the ’90s, the advent of the Internet brought them support and a community.

Together the two (with Audra’s support) began the process of David’s transitioning to Angela. Settling in Fresno, they saw a therapist and came to understand how their marriage could accommodate this huge life change. Finally, in 2002, Angela traveled to Canada for sex-reassignment surgery. In retrospect, Jonni says, the qualities David was suppressing were those she was most in love with. “David was an unhappy, depressed, controlling man,” she explains. “Angela is the opposite: She’s caring, warm and most delightful.”

On a recent trip to Pacifica, where the two stayed in their plush RV, Angela, charmingly chatty, coos over the couples’ three bichon frises while Jonni looks on affectionately. Recently retired from her advertising job at the Fresno Bee, Jonni is now free to travel, and the two women often take driving trips through the West, stopping to lecture on college campuses about Angela’s transition and their unusual and unusually happy marriage. And they are delighting in their new granddaughter, Brooke, like proud grandmothers everywhere.

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Jonni and Angela Pettit: From husband to wife