Last Thursday, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter signed Senate Bill 200 — the Colorado public accommodation law.

The bill bans discrimination based on a person’s religious belief or sexual orientation - including transgender people - in places of public accommodation, housing practices, family planning services and 20 other public spheres. Such prohibitions are already in place with regard to race.

“I think it’s a step in the right direction for Coloradans and civil rights,” said Sen. Jennifer Veiga, a Denver Democrat who sponsored the bill.

Ritter signed Senate Bill 200 [Thursday] afternoon in his office, without any of the public ceremonies and news releases that came with six other bills he signed today. His spokesman, Evan Dreyer, said the governor was not deliberately trying to keep the signing quiet. In all, Ritter signed 20 bills today, Dreyer said.

Should I be worried about conservative Christian’s expectation of a barrage of cross-dressed, male predators stalking girls and women within the gym lockers and public restrooms in Colorado? I know from archiving news there just aren’t that many stories about cross dressed predators, let alone one’s that use women’s public restrooms and women’s gym locker rooms to do so — but if you’re James Dobson, you worry a lot about predators, bisexuals, pervy crossdressers and homosexual or heterosexual males that might walk in and relieve himself in women’s and girls’ presences:

“Who would have believed that the Colorado state Legislature and its governor would have made it fully legal for men to enter and use women’s restrooms and locker-room facilities without notice or explanation?

“Henceforth, every woman and little girl will have to fear that a predator, bisexual, cross-dresser or even a homosexual or heterosexual male might walk in and relieve himself in their presence. The legislation lists every conceivable type of organization to which this law applies, including restaurants, bathhouses, massage parlors, mortuaries, theaters and ‘public facilities of any kind.’ Those who would attempt to protect females from this intrusion are subject to a fine of up to $5,000 and up to one year behind bars.

“This is your government in action. It represents a payback to Tim Gill and two other billionaires who have essentially ‘bought’ the state Legislature with enormous campaign contributions. Coloradans deserve better!

“And by the way, because of the way this bill is written, it is not subject to the initiative process. There is no recourse.”

Be afraid. Be very afraid:

Of course, the alternative forcing people to segregate their bathroom usage strictly by chromosomes, genitalia, or whether there’s an F or an M on your original birth certificate is that female-to-male (FTM) trans people will be using women’s restroom.

Meet my FTM friend Ethan St. Pierre…

Would Dr. Dobson & Company prefer him to use the women’s restroom now? I’m sure most conservative Christian women would feel very comfortable sharing a public restroom with Ethan…

I believe Dr. Dobson & Company would rather gay, lesbian, and bisexual people — as well as people of transsexual history or transgender experience — would just never-ever-ever pee in a public restrooms at any time whatsoever. The assumption appears to be we’re all just predators waiting to assault women and girls in restrooms and gym locker rooms.

So if Dr. Dobson were king, LGBT people in Colorado Dobsonland would likely all be required to start wearing Depend Diapers. Y’know, so when we left our apartments and homes so we never set foot in a public restroom. Oh — that’s assuming that any Dobsonland businesses would sell LGBT people goods or services — or heck! Even rent apartments to us, or sell us property!

* sigh *

~~~~~
Related:
* According To CitizenLink/Focus On The Family, There’s “A New Type Of Predator” — Men In Dresses

(Heck of a place, I wonder if Scotty McClellan passed through there … ?)

From the New York Times this evening …

ABERDEEN, S.D. — Senator Barack Obama has resigned his membership in Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ, which he attended for nearly two decades, following months of controversy about pastors and their political views.

Mr. Obama said he and his wife, Michelle, wrote a letter on Friday to the church’s pastor, the Rev. Otis Moss, explaining that their estrangement from Trinity took root in controversial remarks by the church’s former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., who once was Mr. Obama’s spiritual guide.

“Our relations with Trinity have been strained by the divisive statements of Reverend Wright, which sharply conflict with our own views,” they wrote. “These controversies have served as an unfortunate distraction for other Trinity members who seek to worship in peace, and have placed you in an untenable position.”

But at a news conference after a town-hall-style meeting here on Saturday, Mr. Obama sounded pained as he confirmed his decision to leave the place he had considered his spiritual home. A sermon by Mr. Wright, a longtime pastor at the church, even provided the phrase — “the audacity of hope” — that became Mr. Obama’s campaign theme and the title of his latest book.

“I make this decision with sadness,” Mr. Obama said, speaking in subdued tones as he stood before a bland background. “This is where I found Jesus Christ, where we were married, where our children were baptized. We are proud of the extraordinary works of that church.”

Mr. Obama rejected suggestions that he denounce the church, which is one of Chicago’s largest and most socially active black churches, with a wide array of respected social programs. Several of the most prominent black theologians in Chicago attend the church.

“I’m not denouncing the church and I’m not interested in people who want me to denounce the church,” he said in response to a question. “It’s not a church worthy of denouncing.”

He said that his resignation was not a matter of political convenience, but rather that he had reached the point where neither he nor Trinity’s pastors and congregants could worship in peace. He noted that reporters now pored over sermons and that some had called sick members at home to ask about the church.

The rest of “Obama Leaves Church That Drew Wide Criticism” may be read here.

And, here’s hoping that Aberdeen appears on Sen. McCain’s campaign itinerary too some time soon. Who knows, it might be contagious.

News and views relevant to (not just) trans people …

#1 - Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter signed Senate Bill 08-200 (”Concerning The Expansion Of Prohibitions Against Discrimination”) into law Thursday. The bill essentially (defines and) adds “sexual orientation” to the state’s existing anti-discrimination statutes, where …

“Sexual orienation” means a person’s orientation toward heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, or transgender status oe another person’s perception thereof.

… and (I am shocked) Focus on the Family’s James Dobson is trying to whip up some hysteria (”Dr. Dobson Decries Ritter’s Signing of SB200“) …

“Who would have believed that the Colorado state Legislature and its governor would have made it fully legal for men to enter and use women’s restrooms and locker-room facilities without notice or explanation?

“Henceforth, every woman and little girl will have to fear that a predator, bisexual, cross-dresser or even a homosexual or heterosexual male might walk in and relieve himself in their presence. The legislation lists every conceivable type of organization to which this law applies, including restaurants, bathhouses, massage parlors, mortuaries, theaters and ‘public facilities of any kind.’ Those who would attempt to protect females from this intrusion are subject to a fine of up to $5,000 and up to one year behind bars.

“This is your government in action. It represents a payback to Tim Gill and two other billionaires who have essentially ‘bought’ the state Legislature with enormous campaign contributions. Coloradans deserve better!

“And by the way, because of the way this bill is written, it is not subject to the initiative process. There is no recourse.”

Please, when you get down to it, this is about much more bathrooms. It’s really about issues like finding employment or housing, or even about getting someone to cut your grass, and some folks’ perceived, god-given right to say trannies or gays “need not apply.” Every restroom or bathroom in the state of Colorado could be magically transformed today into one’s own little, unassailable fortress, and these folks would be no happier tomorrow. They want their own little “land of the free and home of the brave” all to themselves. That’s it.

Read the rest of this entry »

… and on the lookout around public restrooms for the individual pictured here …

The View intuits from a higher authority that said individual could be “a predator, bisexual, cross-dresser.”

~~~~~

Related …

Ritter signs controversial anti-discrimination bill

~~~~~

Hecuba: Alas! Alas! Alas! Ilium is ablaze; the fire consumes the citadel, the roofs of our city, the tops of the walls!
Chorus: Like smoke blown to heaven on the wings of the wind, our country, our conquered country, perishes. Its palaces are overrun by the fierce flames and the murderous spear.
Hecuba: O land that reared my children!

The Trojan Women

Some news and views, trans and otherwise, catching my attention today …

#1 - Sophia Siedlberg from the Organisation Intersex International commented on a Bay Area Reporter feature today (”DSM controversy could overshadow opportunities“) on Kenneth Zucker, Jack Drescher and DSM-V …

If the APA feel that some of the very real anger expressed about how certain people are appointed and the actions of those people, then the APA should consider the possibility that the Clarke Northwestern academics they have elected have, in the past been known to provoke an acrimonious response from those they “discuss” and then deliberately ignore any invitations for polite debate, while crying foul when people get angry out of sheer frustration. That is a well known and documented tactic on the part of the Clarke-Northwestern. And one that renders their objections to being called everything from “Quacks” to “Nazis” utterly meaningless, as they have deliberately taken an invidious approach to debate, in order to cry foul when the predictable response happens. We have to ask why do the Clarke-Northwestern do this? Most logical people would conclude that there may be some truth in the more slanderous accusations levelled at the Clark Northwestern as they persistently fail to engage in open debate, in a way that appears deliberate.

On the The Bay Area Reporter

#2 - Barack Obama supporter and Transadvocate blogger, Marti Abernathey, is the subject of a Bay Windows feature today (”Trans parent, gay son: pride across the generations“) …

Abernathey fights through her involvement with various national and state transgender and LGBT organizations. She runs the Transadvocate group blog (transadvocate.com) and is contributing editor for another, the Bilerico Project (bilerico.com). She also fights simply by being open about who she is. “A lot of the reasons why there are fewer obstacles now for gay and lesbian parents is because there are gay and lesbian parents,” she explains. “There’s exposure to the straight community, so it’s not an abstraction, it’s real. When trans people are open and honest about who they are, then people will start to see we’re just parents. We’re not trans parents, we’re parents. I think that’s what gays and lesbians want, and what trans people want.”

And, speaking of Obama, he has a fan in Rupert Murdoch (”Rupert Murdoch Says Obama Will Win“) …

“He is a rock star. It’s fantastic”

#3 - Actor and comedian Harvey Korman passed away today (”Comic powerhouse Harvey Korman dies at 81“) …

Harvey Korman, the tall, versatile comedian who won four Emmys for his outrageously funny contributions to “The Carol Burnett Show” and played a conniving politician to hilarious effect in “Blazing Saddles,” died Thursday. He was 81.

…

His most memorable film role was as the outlandish Hedley Lamarr (who was endlessly exasperated when people called him Hedy) in Mel Brooks‘ 1974 Western satire, “Blazing Saddles.”

…

After 10 successful seasons, Korman left Burnett’s show in 1977 for his own series. Dick Van Dyke took his place, but the chemistry was lacking and the Burnett show was canceled two years later. “The Harvey Korman Show” also failed, as did other series starring the actor.

“It takes a certain type of person to be a television star,” he said in that 2005 interview. “I didn’t have whatever that is. I come across as kind of snobbish and maybe a little too bright. … Give me something bizarre to play or put me in a dress and I’m fine.”

#4 - Where would some folks be without us … ? (”A better way to morality“) …

Cross-dressing to my mind is the single most important factor in spreading the homosexual lifestyle.

#5 - One way to get rid of some carbon footprints (”Environmentally Friendly Bombs Planned“) …

New explosives could be more powerful and safer to handle than TNT and other conventional explosives and would also be more environmentally friendly.

…

To make safer, more environmentally friendly explosives, scientists in Germany turned to a recently explored class of materials called tetrazoles. These derive most of their explosive energy from nitrogen instead of carbon as TNT and others do.

…

These compounds have great potential, “especially for large caliber naval and tank guns,” Klapötke added

It’s a good sign that Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) cleared the last hurdle prior to full approval by that chamber of the New York State Assembly. From the Gay City News:

With approval May 28 by the State Assembly’s majority Democratic conference, the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA), a measure providing civil rights protections for transgendered and other gender-variant New Yorkers, cleared the last hurdle prior to full approval by that chamber of the Legislature.

…With Democratic conference approval in hand, passage by the full Assembly seems assured; the party holds more than two-thirds of the seats in the 150-member body.

“It’s as clear as it could be that it will pass,” said [Dick Gottfried, the Chelsea Democrat who is the lead sponsor of the measure], noting that 73 members have attached their names to the measure as co-sponsors and another 11 voted for it in one of the two committees that have considered it. The Empire State Pride Agenda (ESPA), the state’s LGBT lobby group, has identified 102 members who have publicly voiced support for GENDA, and Gottfried, noting bipartisan support spanning the spectrum of both geography and ideology in New York, said, “I would be surprised if there are more than a handful of negative Democratic votes.”

…The bill could come up for a vote as early as this week…

Beyond the State Assembly, State Senate passage is a less certain thing:

GENDA’s prospects in the Republican-controlled Senate remain clouded. As with marriage equality and the school bullying bill, Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, of upstate Rensselaer County, has shown no interest in advancing the measure. Many advocates on these issues are reconciled to the fact that Democrats must win the two seats necessary to gain control of the Senate as well in order to secure passage.

Gottfried acknowledged that Senate action on GENDA will not happen this year, but did not rule out passage even if the Republicans retain control of that chamber. Citing the fact that between 2000 and 2002, the GOP leadership came around on hate crimes and a gay rights law, he said, “I think that regardless of party [Senate passage] will come much quicker than we might think.”

So in the baseball jargon of those whose teams didn’t win the World Series:

Just wait ’till next year!

A few weeks ago I participated with Ethan St. Pierre, Josh Cohen, and Dana Zircher to interview Megan Wallent for TransFM’s The Radical Guy show. As many may recall, Megan was featured in early March on ABC’s Nightline as the Microsoft executive who’s transitioned from male-to-female.

Here’s a link to the now podOmatic podcast of The Radical Guy article and audio of the interview.

In the interview, Megan talks about everything from her family (partner Anh, the children Peri, John and Samwich), details behind why she chose the name Megan, and her reaction to Microsoft spending more money on their browsers (for those who don’t know, she has been responsible for delivering multiple versions of Internet Explorer to the market) — and much, much more.

It’s a really interesting interview by a interesting group of technical/community interviewers. Would highly recommend the interview, even if I wasn’t involved in creating it.

Way back on March 30th, in the Ideas section of the Boston Globe, there was a a Q&A with Dr. Norman Spack. Dr. Spack has a clinic at Children’s Hospital Boston; he’s “a doctor who helps children change their gender.” The article is about the clinic, about the treatment, and about why the clinic exists.

IDEAS: At what age do you give kids drugs to delay puberty?

SPACK: The puberty-blocking drugs work best at the beginning of the pubital process, typically age 10 to 12 for a girl and 12 to 14 for a boy. Stopping puberty is, in itself, a diagnostic test. If a girl starts to experience breast budding and feels like cutting herself, then she’s probably transgendered. If she feels immediate relief on the [puberty-blocking] drugs, that confirms the diagnosis.

IDEAS: So the aim of your treatment is to protect children from harming themselves?

SPACK: Transgendered kids have a high level of suicide attempts. Of the patients who have fled England to see me, three out of the four have made very serious suicide attempts. And I’ve never seen any patient make [an attempt] after they’ve started hormonal treatment.

There are no genital surgeries taking place. We’re talking about blocking hormones and later giving adolescents hormones — this is how Dr. Spack addresses this:

IDEAS: At what age should children be allowed to take hormones, like estrogen and testosterone, that will forever change the way their bodies develop?

SPACK: Well, the Dutch would say 16. But I think more flexible guidelines will be coming out. For some kids, 16 might be appropriate. For others {hellip} you lose opportunities if you wait. [One of my patients, a] transgendered girl from the UK, was destined to be a 6-foot-4 male. With treatment, she’s going to end up 5-foot-10.

Dr. Spack isn’t providing for or arranging for minors to receive genital reassignement surgery as minors.

How the story has been told and emphasized — from being about the quality of children’s lives and suicide prevention to one emphasizing conservative Christian beliefs and theology; from focusing on these children to focusing on the statements of Dr. Paul McHugh — the John Hopkins professor who advised the Catholic Church regarding sex abuse and transsexuals — and whether or not Dr. Norman Spack is a “nutjob”, or whether treatments offered to transgender children at Dr. Spack’s clinic are “barbaric,” “a rejection of the lawfulness of nature.” , and “cooperating with psychosis.”

Although treatment of transsexual youth (or even adults) is not always couched in terms of faith-based, conversion therapy, often it is.

The National Association For Research & Therapy Of Homosexuality’s (NARTH’s) Dr. Richard P. Fitzgibbons mixes the treatment of transsexual adults with his Catholic faith — and the treatment of youth diagnosed with gender identity disorder (GID) — in his NARTH piece The Desire For A Sex Change:

[After the fold, NARTH, the Liberty Council, and the Catholic Medical Association weigh in.]
Read the rest of this entry »

Over the Memorial Day weekend here in the States, the British press was roasting combat veteran and former paratrooper, Jan Hamilton (Okay, I know it’s “over there,” but since I moderate the TNUKdigest group, I try to keep up with the news over there.)…

A former paratrooper who had a sex-change operation has won a £250,000 payout for hurt feelings after being ordered to wear a man’s army uniform.

…

Sex-change paratrooper wins £250,000 for ‘hurt feelings’

also …

Sex swap para given £250k for hurt feelings

and …

The mother of crippled paratrooper Ben Parkinson has condemned a “£250,000 payout” to the army’s first sex-change officer who lost a job after refusing to wear a male uniform for a medical.

…

“Why does this person deserve so much when our boys have lost everything?

“These seemingly trivial matters are awarded such huge amounts of money and yet people with terrible injuries get nothing. You just despair.”

…

Tory MP Patrick Mercer - a former soldier himself - criticised huge discrepancies between payments for injuries and legal job disputes.

He said: “I can’t understand how the MOD can justify paying these amounts when soldiers suffering very serious injuries in action are getting less than £10,000.”

…

Fury of injured soldiers’ families as sex-change Para captain ‘wins £250,000′ from Army

You know, it’s — here’s “glamour shot” Jan, who’s getting £250,000 for a sex-change, and here’s “the most injured soldier every to survive,” who’s getting considerably less. (The article did eventually say Mr. Parkinson’s compensation award was revised higher to the maximum allowable £285,000 following a Daily Mail campaign, which raised “£210,000 to his legal fighting fund.” By the way, Parkinson’s case is not the only one the Mail is trumpeting.)

Apparently, however, there was no £250,000 agreement. And it looks like the Ministry of Defense (MOD) is just using the press to give her a good “bitch slap” (while the press gets another opportunity to “slap” the MOD).

Petra Henderson late yesterday posted in her Eurotransgender group on Yahoo …

THERE IS NO 250,000 POUND AGREEMENT.

OK I got a message (and a short follow up second one yesterday), from
Jan Hamilton on another (Military) Forum I am in…

Since she cannot make any statements to the press without prior
military approval or risk her ongoing case, I am going to forward this
WITHOUT her knowledge or approval.

I think it is important that our community know she is being set up by
the press and certain “leaks” in the Army to set the Public against
her and thus indirectly also against all TS people, including several
TS people still serving in HM Armed Forces.

Headlines such as “Sex swap para given £250k for hurt feelings” with
half truths about what the case is about, and who is casing the
dispute and need to go to court created a lot of waves and a certain
amount of “damage control” being needed by many people, including
myself, to reactions of serving and ex-soldiers.

More fuel was added to the “Witch burning pyre” as the other Paper’s
keen to grab a slice of these half truths, wrote headlines like “Fury
of injured soldiers’ families as sex-change Para” and that these
headlines lead to others such as the incident last week “Sex swap
soldier attacked in pub” were we saw the negative reactions to Jan and
her case and her being outed last year by the Army, probably by the
same person(s) who released “details” of this imaginary deal?

Today, Hamilton’s reaction did appear in one paper (although the headline left a bit to be desired) …

Ex-paratrooper Jan Hamilton, who was fired after refusing to wear a male uniform for a medical check-up, says she was “extremely upset” by reports in several national newspapers she has been awarded the substantial sum in an out-of-court settlement.

The 43-year-old, from Lytham – who was once known as Ian – took action to sue the Army for unfair dismissal and sexual discrimination, but she says discussions are still going on and she has not “received a single penny”.

She said: “I was really disgusted to read these stories which are absolutely not true and what’s worse is nobody bothered to contact me about them.

“There is no £250,000 agreement, I have never sought £250,000 and neither would I accept it.

“I have been trying to negotiate my resignation with the Army so I can just get on with my life.

“I thought I was making some progress and was feeling positive about the talks.

“Now I feel crushed by this. Someone came up to me in the street yesterday and called me a money grabber, which is just not fair.”

She was particularly upset at reports comparing the payout to sums received by soldiers seriously injured in Iraq and Afghanistan.

She added: “It is totally false and what has really got to me was the way some national newspapers have brought the families of those soldiers into it, those heroes who have suffered horrific injuries in the line of duty – at a time when these people should be left alone.

“I really feel for those families and think it’s despicable they have been asked about this. Especially as it’s not true.”

…

Fury over sex-change soldier £250,000 pay-out claim

Interesting story to say the least.

Memorial Day has been a day that’s hard for me to mark each year. When our country goes to war, people die — how many of our nation’s wars can we look back at and say “This was a cause worth dying for”?

The armistice at the end of World War I was the date of the traditional Memorial Day. As far as historians know, there is only one American veteran of that war still living — and he’s being honored this Memorial day:

The last doughboy came home to Missouri to be honored on this Memorial Day for his service to his country.

Frank Woodruff Buckles, 107 years old and the only known remaining United States veteran of World War I, was celebrated Sunday at the Liberty Memorial as the “last surviving link” to the Great War, which ended 90 years ago.

He was awarded the Veterans of Foreign Wars’ Gold Medal of Merit and sat for a photographic portrait that will hang in the National World War I Museum.

The flag flown today outside of the Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri will be presented to the former Cpl. Buckles tomorrow.

On a weekend that these days seems to be more celebrated for it’s “blowout” sales of mattresses, BBQ grills, and new cars, perhaps it’s welcome news — and perhaps sad news — to note that the last surviving American veteran of The War To End All Wars is standing in for the soldiers for the end of the war for which Memorial Day was first conceived.

For me, he stands in for more than just his war. When I eat my barbeque grilled, 98% fat free hot dog today, I’ll be thinking of Mr. Buckles standing in for all of those who sacrificed their lives in service to America’s ideals of liberty, equality, and justice.

I haven’t publicly talked about my weight loss much since I announced I was having gastric bypass surgery in mid-February. At some point I’ve needed to revisit the subject, if for no other reason that so many readers wished me so well in surgery. Frankly, I can’t tell you how much I appreciated the warm thoughts then — and still do appreciate those thoughts now.

But I’m reaching a couple of weight loss milestones, and one of these is related to the month of May, so I do need to revisit the surgery at this point.

So let’s begin with last May — 2007 — I weighed in at the Veterans Administration Primary Care Clinic at my peak weight: 296 pounds. To me, it was retching that I saw myself only four pounds away from crossing the 300 pound mark — a mark I never ended up crossing.

Today, my digital bathroom scale had me at 196 pounds. Granted, that was a clothes-less weigh in, and my May 2007 weigh in was one where I was fully clothed, but let’s say in a close enough for government work kind of way that I’m 100 pounds lighter than I was this time last year. And, of the 100 pounds lost, 40 of the pounds were lost before the surgery, and 60 have been lost since surgery day.

Beyond that, 197 pounds was my previous low weight since transitioning to Autumn in February of 2003 (I reached that low weight late in 2003). I’m in new territory — I’m actually not sure what my dress size will be when I (hopefully) stabilize somewhere around 165 pounds.

By the way, I’m 5′10″, and really am “big boned.” At some point relatively soon I’ll reach a point where, because of my breadth of my rib cage, further weight loss won’t impact the my under-bust measurement; I guarantee you that it will be a quite a ways from the Hollywood standard of “Size 0″ (which we all know is an “important” standard here in Southern California!).

Where does this leave me? Well, for me the most important reason for having the gastric bypass was for my health, but in taking my daily walks I’m finding I’m getting stared at. Being transgender, my first internal reaction always seems to be “I’m being read as trans,” but apparently what’s actually happening is when people comment to me at what they’re looking at, they’re focusing on features they find attractive. Mostly, I’ve received a number of comments from women positively commenting on my curly hair, and about as many from men commenting about my legs. No one was commenting when I was significantly heavier.

It’s unnerving. I’m middle-aged, and in my mind I’m supposed to be past the point where anyone looks at me as anything but an aging boomer. Besides, I play a mean game of Scrabble — aren’t I supposed to be appreciated for my mind?

So, not wanting to make my weight loss a regular topic of Blend conversation, as PHB is more about public issues than personal issues, this may be the last time I bring up the weight loss or my gastric bypass as the subject of an entire diary. I just wanted to let everyone know that the surgery has been doing its job as planned, my recovery has been without any physical complications whatsoever, and I’m thankful for everything about the surgery — including the warm thoughts from folks here at PHB.

~~~~~
Related:
* Surgery Set For February
* Under The (Hopefully) Tiny Knife Tuesday
* I’m Back! Well, Sort Of.
* Video: Autumn In The VA Hospital, Post Gastric Bypass
* Video: Autumn Gets A Stuffed Toy In The Hospital

I don’t give a hoot about what you think,
I look in the mirror and I’m tickled pink.

Yesterday, the band Weezer released their official video to their single “Pork And Beans.” The video features quite a few celewebrities, including a couple of famous gender benders. One is comedian Liam Sullivan — also known as Kelly of Shoes fame, and the other Chris Crocker.

I guess I never do take my activist hat off. I watched the video to see the cameos of Kelly, as Liam Sullivan is probably my favorite performer ever (I just love how Liam seems to capture a certain kind of trans experience without trying to “be” transgender) –yet watching the video, surprisingly my eyes welled with tears when Weezer lead singer Rivers Cuomo embraced Chris Crocker. When Rivers embraced Chris, the lyrics quoted above were playing in the background.

The full, bridge hook and chorus went as follows:

I’m going to do the things that I wanna do,
I ain’t gotta thing to prove to you.
I eat my candy with the pork and beans,
Excuse my manners if I make a scene.
I ain’t gonna wear the clothes that you like,
I’m fine and dandy with the me inside.
One look in the mirror and I’m tickled pink,
I don’t give a hoot about what you think.
I don’t care,
I don’t care,
I don’t care,
I don’t care,
I don’t care,
I don’t care.

Immediately before I watched the video, I’d read a OneNewsNow blog entry entitled Is This Really a Prom? I do care when folk like Pam Clayton writes stuff like this:

So now we are having gay proms? Since the gay agenda likes to compare themselves to the racism felt by African Americans how can they have a dance for those who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or transgender? The event is being held at the National Museum of Mexican Art and is being promoted for the youth ( although adults are also invited). Well isn’t that just wonderful, we have underage children at a prom with Gay adults.

So basically, it’s just that sometimes I feel wearied from anti-LGBT lies and hate, so seeing the acceptance communicated in the Rivers’ embrace Chris caused a pretty emotional reaction on my part.

Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.
–Martin Luther King Jr.

Call me less than flabbergasted, but Wal-Mart is opposed to a shareholder proposition to add gender identity and expression to their non-discrimination policy. On page 54 of their 2008 Proxy Statement begins their response:

WAL-MART’S STATEMENT IN OPPOSITION TO
PROPOSAL NO. 4

As one of the world’s largest private employers, we place diversity at all levels, from our Board to our Associates, among our top priorities. Our dedication to a diverse workforce is well known, and we believe our actions demonstrate that we work hard to implement our Equality of Opportunity Policy. That policy states that “Wal-Mart will not tolerate discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, sex, age, sexual orientation, religion, disability, ethnicity, national origin, veteran status, martial status or any other legally-protected status.” In view of the wide reach of this policy, we do not believe a change to our Equality of Opportunity Policy is needed to ensure that our Associates at all levels are treated fairly and with respect.

Our dedication to building and retaining an inclusive and respectful workplace for all of our Associates has been recognized by numerous groups promoting such standards across the country. In 2007, we were honored to be the recipient of the National Bar Association’s Spirit of Excellence Corporate Award; we were named one of DiversityInc.’s Top 50 Companies for Diversity; we were named as one of the National Association of Female Executives’ Top Companies for Female Executives; and we received other recognition for our on-going commitment to diversity in the workplace. Our commitment to diversity also extends to our supplier base, and through our Supplier Development Program, we seek to advance our business relationships to minority- and women-owned suppliers.

The Board is proud of Wal-Mart’s accomplishments in this area. The diversity of our Associates and suppliers shows that we are leading by example toward a diverse workplace in the United States and globally. The Board is committed to monitoring our Company’s progress in this regard and to helping ensure that we adhere to our core beliefs and stated policies. The Board believes that Wal-Mart already appropriately addresses the concerns set forth in the proposal and believes that revising our Company’s policy would not benefit our Company, our Associates or our shareholders.

For the above reasons, the Board recommends that the shareholders vote AGAINST this proposal.

I don’t feel respected when Wal-Mart are specifically against anti-discrimination protection for transgender and other gender-variant people in their employ.

And by the way, this is the second major corporation we’ve tracked at Pam’s House Blend that has used their DiversityInc rating (Wal-Mart was no. 41 of top 50 company’s for diversity in 2007; Verizon was no 1 on the same list for 2008) as to why the corporation doesn’t feel a need to specifically add gender identity and expression language into their non-discrimination policies.

My value of DiversityInc’s lists have been shrinking recently. It appears notable to me that the boards of two corporations that have done well in recent DiversityInc’s Top 50 Companies for Diversity have seen their boards recommended voting against the interests of transgender employees — recommended against adding gender identity and expression to their non-discrimination policies. How do corporations become top businesses on DiversityInc lists when there is a class of people that corporations feel free to advocate against to their shareholders — without repercussion from DiversityInc?

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Related:
* DiversityInc’s No. 1 Employer Is Against Gender Identity/Expression In Non-Discrimination Policy
* Verizon Shareholders Vote Down Protections Based On Gender Identity And Expression

Focus On The Family’s CitizenLink has a warning out about men-in-dresses predators - a new group of predators who will lurk menacingly in Colorado’s elementary school restrooms and women’s locker rooms of public gyms if Gov. Bill Ritter signs Senate Bill 200.

From the article Colorado Legislation ‘Tramples Religious Freedoms’ comes an ominous, audio warning to Coloradans:

Focus On The Family/Citizenlink: Men In Dresses A New Type Of Coloradan Predator

It doesn’t seem to matter to Focus On The Family/CitizenLink that it has no documentation to back its “predator presupposition” regarding “men in dresses.” And yet, Focus On The Family/CitizenLink has no apprehension in claiming that “men in dresses” are going to be “a new type of predator” should Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter sign Senate Bill 200.

* sigh * I don’t believe anyone or any organization has ever studied whether states or municipalities that have passed sexual orientation and/or gender identity and expression inclusive public accommodation laws have experienced any change in the number of predatory actions by crossdressed men. I wish some LGBT organization would fund that study as I’m so tired of hearing this same religious right man-in-a-dress bathroom predator argument over and over again.

Oh…and if the audio wasn’t enough — From the print article:

“With SB 200, we no longer have two ’sexes,’ ” said Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst for Focus on the Family Action. “We enter a brave new world with a myriad of ’sexual orientations.’ This bill, unfortunately, is in keeping with a national effort by ‘transgender’ advocacy organizations to accomplish an open-bathroom policy.”

Hausknecht said sexual predators can be expected to use this law as “cover” as they search for their next victims — in any public bathroom they come across.

“SB 200 threatens public safety and tramples religious freedoms,” he said. “This bill needs to be vetoed and sent back to the Legislature with instructions to come back next session with something that all Coloradans can be proud of.”

Per the subheader of the article, apparently the “myriad of ’sexual orientations’” mentioned by Bruce Hausknecht that would replace the two sexes would be some sort of five sexes plan, as all public accommodations apparently would include restrooms that…

…would be opened to men, women, bisexuals, transsexuals and transgendered individuals.

Bisexuals? Huh?

This Focus On The Family/CitizenLink article (and accompanying audio) seems to be fear mongering at it’s near worst — We can only hope the Colorado governor ignores FOTF’s rabid propaganda.

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Related:
* When It Comes To Transgender People & Civil Rights, It Really Is Always About The Bathroom