Well, maybe after the A.C.L.U. takes care of this case, they can take on this issue …

(Anyone for renaming Helena … “Girlsie” … ? )

Transgender news and views for Friday …

#1 - Here’s the latest (’Random, “Conventional” Thoughts…‘ and ‘Log Cabin Republican’s Apparently Have An Interesting Definition Of “Inclusive Republican”‘) at PHB from Autumn, who’s been a bit of a tease, and obviously in need of help.

#2 - I’m a lifelong “Yankee Yellow Dog” … but I’ll not likely be voting for the Obama-Biden ticket come election time. Time enough to share my simple thoughts about that later. Meanwhile, let’s say I can’t disagree with Serena Freewomyn today over at Bilerico …

… the Democrats are chicken shits who will pander to the least common denominator …

Of course, I’ve held the same view (but multiply it by an appropriate double-digit — at least — numerator) of the Republicans for the past 40 years … as long as I’ve been voting.

Sorry, call me a curmudgeon (or whatever you may prefer) if you wish, but no apologies, I conscientiously object to ‘em all.

#3 - Lynn Conway’s posted a critique on her site regarding the prevalence of GID. News of this sort of apparent “undercounting” came out earlier this year. Kelly Winters has also touched on the subject recently.

#4 - Marti Abernathey, who’s been busy with the Obama campaign, among other things, I’m sure, has a post up at Transadvocate (and Bilerico) today about “St. Barney” (as Kat Rose refers to him) …

On Tuesday I attended the HRC/Victory Fund luncheon and on Wednesday I attended the LGBT caucus at the convention center in Denver. Many stories were broke in the past few days, but one event passed by without a word. In a very consistent manner, Barney Frank again signaled that when ENDA is introduced, it will not be fully inclusive.

#5 - Some trans people in the news …

• “Teacher Chooses Gender Change” [Video here]
• “The Second Most Beautiful Girl in New York“
• “Transsexual’s old online ad won’t derail parks board bid“

No, I wasn’t expecting to see “transgender” (among other things) in here …

Via Wordle

(I’ll do the same for McCain next week.)

This one (click the pic) …

… not this one.

Richard Kim concluded a good blog piece (”Gay Days at the DNC“) at The Nation with …

“Will everyone else please stop bitching about trivia!” he exclaimed–a rather inopportune verb choice that had some gay PUMAs licking their fur off. Fortunately, Barney talks like he has marbles in his mouth, so his plea came out more like this: “Veel jevvryone else reees rop wristing arout Riviera!”

I thought, for a moment, he was talking about some fabulous drag-queen delegate who had found her name on a map of France.

On a more substantive note, Kim pointed out …

… the Democratic platform this year is the most pro-gay it has ever been, calling for a repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, employment non-discrimination legislation that includes trans folks, increased money to fight AIDS and opposition to the federal marriage amendment. There was some worry earlier this month by gay activists who noticed that the words “gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender” appear nowhere in the platform (unlike 2004), but that reflects a move toward using the terms “sexual orientation,” “same-sex couple” and “gender identity”–expressions that have some legal teeth.

Mara Keisling of NCTE (National Center for Transgender Equality) made essentially the same observation a couple of days ago in one of our Yahoo! groups (TGV_Advocacy) …

… note that neither ENDA nor any other federal legislation we support — that I can think of — mentions the words gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender either. We write laws to protect people based on characteristics not by naming types of people.

By the way, Kim met up with Arizona delegate Amanda Simpson in Denver …

And then I met Amanda Simpson, a male-to-female transgender Obama delegate from Arizona who (and I don’t think she’d mind me saying) has had about as much work done as Cindy McCain, but looks 100 times better. Simpson was introduced to me as a “rocket scientist,” and indeed, she works in the aerospace industry but can’t tell me exactly what she does without clearance. She breakfasts here in Denver with a retired one-star general and his wife, also delegates from Arizona, who according to Simpson think, like many military officers, that DADT is silly and outrageous.

pretty amazing person, Amanda.

Umm, not exactly, but it appears Joe & Co. may be interested in razing ‘walls and raising Log Cabins.

From Ethan St.Pierre (via a trusted, but anonymous source) at the Boycott HRC blog …

The Human Rights Campaign decided to donate the 10 grand to the Log Cabin republicans instead of the Stonewall Democrats because HRC was still pissed off that the Stonewall Dems would only support a fully inclusive ENDA.

Regarding the catty and transphobic rant from Caitlyn Scott (”America’s Next Top Model features hot tranny mess“) last Tuesday in the LSU student newspaper, The Daily Reveille. I suppose Ms. Scott does not have too much to fear in calling Ms. Banks a “hot tranny mess,” but she needs to be careful in commenting on someone’s (”horrendous crimped”) hairstyle — just ask Don Imus …

Ladies and gentleman, the inevitable has happened — Tyra Banks has lost her freaking mind.

No, I’m not talking about the horrendous crimped hairstyle she recently wore to celebrate Vogue Italia’s first all-black model issue.

I’m not even referencing the recent reports that she kept an audience for her talk show waiting for two hours while she gabbed with stagehands around the snack table backstage.

I’m talking about Isis, Banks’ newest headline-snagging protégé.

Fourteen contestants are taking part in Cycle 11 of “America’s Next Top Model,” but only one of those 14 has the distinction of being born a man.

The 22-year-old aspiring model and Maryland native told Us Weekly that she is a woman who was born a male.

Now, I understand everyone is different — and transgendered persons have just as much right to be America’s next top model as anyone else.

But I personally find it a little hard to believe that Isis is more qualified to strut her stuff down the runway than the thousands of actual women she beat out for the part — including a bevy of Baton Rouge beauties when auditions were held in our fair city.

Which leads me to my next question — Is Isis pre-op or post-op?

She is tall, thin and leggy with boyish good looks that could lead to either conclusion.

Perhaps this is the final push in the campaign started by Twiggy in the 1960s and revived by Kate Moss in the 1990s of having runway models with the figures of 13-year-old boys.

Instead of having high-strung cocaine addicts who puke after meals as role models, young girls can idolize the bodies of modern- day eunuchs.

Perhaps Isis’ inherent testosterone will make her less of a cat-fighting attention whore than the other divas in training.

If Banks, the CW and co. want something to talk about, why not just allow men to participate in the show? Then Isis could stand and deliver without the surgery.

Do men want to be snipped at by noted fashion photographer Nigel Barker and runway diva extraordinaire Miss J. Alexander so badly that they’ll go to excruciating lengths to reach their goal? Are they aching for face time with Paulina Porizkova so hard that they’re willing to castrate themselves?

I wonder how Isis’ past will influence her performance on the show.

The ANTM judges have always expressed their love of androgyny in contestants like Cycle 5’s Kim. But what about Kim’s fellow castmate Coryn, who was frequently chastised for being too masculine?

I wonder if such comments directed at Isis would be considered offensive.

If this was a true attempt to be open-minded and progressive, I would applaud the ANTM team. But I call a spade a spade, and shameless plays for ratings make me reach for my Daily Reveille-issued shovel.

Plus-sized models are old news. We’ve seen scores of confrontational contestants. We’ve had race issues out the wazoo. There was even a lesbian hook up in Cycle 5. Now we’ve reached the final frontier of edgy reality TV.

Can a woman — born a man, but now a woman — make it as a top model?

This must herald the final chapter of “America’s Next Top Model.” How do they top this? Lizard people?

ANTM has a rich and diverse history of capitalizing on the differences of one girl each season.

Cycle 3 winner Eva was short – for a model.

Cycle 5 contestant Kim was a lesbian and Cycle 10 winner Whitney was plus sized.

They even had Heather — a contestant with Asperger’s Syndrome — on Cycle 9.

Banks recaps the chosen sob story at the front of every episode in an effort to strengthen the contestant’s emotional chokehold on the audience.

And honestly, if Isis is cool with being exploited who am I to contradict her? I’m sure this is the big throbbing break she’s been waiting for all her young life.

Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation president Neil Giuliano told Us Weekly this is “an unprecedented opportunity for a community that is underrepresented on television.”

I have to respectfully disagree with Mr. Giuliano.

Is he completely disregarding the character of Mrs. Garrison on South Park?

Besides, no one encompasses the phrase “hot tranny mess” better than Tyra Banks — and I see her on TV every day.

The latest on Autumn at the Democratic National Convention, via Russ at Pam’s House Blend …

The event Autumn and I attended was the LGBT Caucus.

[...]

In between speakers, Autumn would grab me for quick interviews with the transgender activists. I’ll let her take care of the names and topics (feel free to edit here, Autumn) because I really didn’t catch them.

(I think that’s Vanessa Foster (middle) and Dana Beyer (right) pictured above.)

In the meantime, according to Russ, we’ll have to “stay tuned” for that “scoop” …

… until I can edit the video and scrub the audio we’re embargoing the story. Stay tuned - I get home Sunday and this will be the first video I edit and post. Let’s just say I captured a provocative conversation with someone on his controversial stance on a complicated civil rights issue. (And damn me for bringing a digital video tape camera with no way of capturing the digital video to my laptop!)

… I’m anticipating a “Barney.”

I have little interest in and try to limit my exposure to this kind of news, but it does seem (unavoidable at times) that there’s something ineffably “special” about the UK press/tabloids … covering American reality TV and dissipated, faded living legends … and then throwing “transsexuals” into the mix …

From the Daily Mail …

The 24-year-old managed to win over Baywatch David Hasselhoff, who quipped: ‘I’m questioning my sexuality.’

… and from The Sun …

BRITNEY SPEARS impersonator DERRICK BARRY is taking the States by storm with his rock-hard abs and razor-sharp cheekbones that would put the real deal to shame.

His sleek physique is so chic, it even had America’s Got Talent judge DAVID HASSELHOFF drooling for more during filming for the hit show.

[Photo caption: "Open-mouthed ... The Hoff"]

Drinking and drooling … pick him up KITT.

” … I am disappointed in the transgender community. They seem to think that if Nancy Pelosi and myself, George Miller and a few others waved a magic wand we could deliver it.” — Congressman Barney Frank speaking Monday in Denver with Towleroad about a trans-inclusive ENDA (Employment Non-Discrimination Act)

Some of the transgender news and views we came across on Tuesday …

#1 - Autumn spoke with Shannon Minter And Mara Keisling yesterday at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. You can hear that here. And, if it’s your cup of tea, there’s plenty more coverage of the DNC at Pam’s House Blend.

#2 - “Removing ’some’ of the inequalities” … “still a political problem” … “has enough lobbying been done?” … so, to whom do you think Barney Frank’s referring?

…

He added that the Employment Non Discrimination Act still presented “a political problem.”

It was originally designed to make it illegal to fire, refuse to hire or promote a person based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

The decision to remove trans people from the scope of the legislation caused anger among the LGBT community in the US, with many demanding an “all or nothing” stance.

“The question now is whether enough lobbying has been done to include people who are transgender,” Congressman Frank said.

“We need more lobbying on that. We had a very good hearing on that issue and it helped. Previously, we were running into problems getting it out of committee, and I think the hearing we had a major impact on that. It also depends on if we get more Democrats.”

…

Congressman attacks gays who support McCain

Kat Rose over at ENDAblog had something to say about “more Democrats” …

And wait for those 15 to be ‘educated’ by those who say that they have our best interests at heart.

And then wait for him to say 15 more are needed.

#3 - Joshua Lynsen of the Washington Blade spoke with Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley at the DNC in Denver on Monday. Lynsen asked O’Malley about Montgomery County’s (Md.) upcoming transgender rights referendum …

Blade: Last question. There is a transgender rights measure that is going to the ballot in Montgomery County in November. Do you expect to become involved in that battle at all to help protect the rights of transgender people?

O’Malley: You know, I think we passed a similar bill in the city of Baltimore when I was mayor, if my memory serves me correctly. So, you know, there are bills at the local level. There’s bills at the state level. I typically don’t get involved with local ordinances. I try to focus my attention on statewide bills. But we did it in the city of Baltimore and dogs and cats didn’t fall from the sky. You know? It was — I think these bills — I don’t know. I think it would probably be a good thing for Montgomery County to do. I don’t have the legislation in front of me, but if it’s like what we did in Baltimore, it caused no problems whatsoever.

Blade: So it’s got your thumbs up?

O’Malley: Yes.

O’Malley reiterates call for civil unions

#4 - We haven’t heard much about Susan Stanton since early April (”Wife Seeks Amicable Divorce From Ex-Largo Manager Susan“). As a follow-up to that news, the Tampa Tribune reported yesterday …

Susan Stanton, the former Largo city manager known as Steven Stanton before a sex change, has mediated his divorce from his wife of 18 years, according to court documents.

The agreement was signed off on by a Pinellas-Pasco judge on Aug. 6.

…

Transgendered Ex-Largo Manager Gets Divorce Terms

The St. Petersburg Times noted (”Stanton’s marriage comes to an end“) that Stanton “has a good relationship with her ex-wife, but she has lost most of her friends” and “has been unable to find work.”

#5 - In the UK, the late Lynne Braithwaite was honored last Friday …

A FLY-PAST of a lone Vulcan bomber across Morecambe on Friday was a
fitting tribute to a leading transgender activist, author and RAF veteran of 40 years.

The life of Lynne Janine Braithwaite BEM, who died on August 12, was celebrated at a packed Lancaster Cremator-ium where friends and family said their farewells to a remarkable person.

They included the Deputy Chief Constable of Lancashire police force, who gave a speech outlining Lynne’s involvement as a volunteer advisor on transgender issues, who toured the country speaking at various seminars and workshops – fighting for the rights of all transgender people.

The fly-past of the Vulcan bomber was in honour of the work carried out by Lynne as an engineer on the Vulcan to the Sky project – a campaign to get the Vulcan airborne again which was only achieved months before Lynne passed away.

Lynne, of Westfield Grove in Morecambe, certainly led an inspirational life.

She was born Lawrence James Braithwaite on July 1, 1934 in one of Beatrix Potter’s houses at Near Sawrey in the Lake District.

She left school to join the RAF in September 1949, retiring as a Flight Sergeant on July 1 1989.

Lynne was awarded the British Empire Medal in the Queen’s Honours List in 1976.

Her expertise was maintenance of Vulcan bombers. It was with this experience that she was called out of retirement as engineering consultant to the Vulcan to the Sky Trust.

In early 2008 the Vulcan bomber XH558 passed its airworthiness tests and flew once again. Lynne was very proud of this achievement and it was therfore entirely appropriate that the plane was present at her funeral.

After leaving the RAF Lynne ran her own business making silver model aircraft until 1992, when it went bust during the recession.

Not long after her transition to female in 1994 aged 60, she contacted Lancashire Constabulary asking what policies and procedures they had regarding transgender people.

Lynne had significant input advising on best practice for trans people as service users and employees in the police service.

Until July 2008 she remained an active member of Lancashire Northern Police Division’s Independent Advisors Group where, over the years, she was consulted on a number of policing issues and policies. At the time of her death she was also an active member of Trans Lancs group – an advisory team for the constabulary, keeping them up to date with the legal and social issues affecting trans people.

She wrote several books including ‘Diaries of a Transfemale’ and ‘From Brigands to V Bombers’.

The Press For Change website, which campaigns for respect and equality for all transgender people, paid tribute to her: “Lynne was a vibrant, indefatigable person who was always active and approach-ed life with the enthusiasm of someone decades younger. She will be greatly missed.”

Fly-past tribute to RAF veteran

Transgender news and views for Monday …

#1 - Autumn flew into Denver yesterday where she will be covering the Democratic National Convention for Pam’s House Blend. Among the other trans folks in Denver for the Convention (as delegates) are Marisa Richmond and Vanessa Foster.

#2 - Testimony concluded last Friday in Diane Schroer’s bias suit against the Library of Congress …

A federal judge yesterday concluded a four-day bench trial in a lawsuit brought by a former Special Forces commander who lost a job offer as a terrorism research analyst at the Library of Congress because he disclosed he was undergoing the medical process of becoming a woman.

U.S. District Judge James Robertson heard testimony from more than a dozen witnesses, including scientific experts, officials at the Library of Congress and Diane Schroer, the former Army colonel who brought the suit. Robertson said he would issue a ruling soon.

Schroer, who applied for the job in 2004 under the name of David and has since completed the medical transition to become a woman, testified that she was hurt when she lost the job offer after disclosing the transition to the person she thought would be her future boss. She filed the sex discrimination suit under the Civil Rights Act. The Library of Congress has argued that the Civil Rights Act does not prohibit discrimination against transsexuals or on the basis of gender identity.

Testimony Ends in Transsexual Bias Suit

#3 - JimK at Vigilance, who’s been closely following the fate of Montgomery County’s (Md.) recently-passed transgender rights law, expressed some exasperation yesterday with the wimpy, “croquet” tactics of the law’s supporters …

Look, this isn’t croquet we’re playing here, this is a fistfight. The other side has been throwing punches for months, and our side is waiting for funding so we can have a poll so we can decide what we want to tell people. “Making information available” is important and so obvious it shouldn’t need to be said. It is also not a persuasion strategy. People who want information need to be able to find it, I agree. But your average ignorant voter doesn’t care that much and isn’t going to look for it. If you want to give them information you’ve got to give it to them. In their face.

“Prohibit discrimination” is the wimpiest campaign slogan I can imagine. It’s got more syllables than impact. The people of our Blue county oppose discrimination, and would support this bill if they knew what it said. That’s why we elected the Council who passed it unanimously and the County Executive who was happy to sign it. But the anti-gay, anti-transgender bigots are making sure people don’t know what the law is about. They’re not conducting polls and adjusting their message for the “median voter,” they’re waving their arms and getting red in the face, telling lies and misrepresenting the law in any way that will get people’s attention. When one side is saying your daughter will be raped and dead girls will be turning up all over the county, “prohibit discrimination” is not an effective response.

…

Woman Fired For Wearing Pants

Over at the Maryland Politics Watch blog, Montgomery County trans woman Maryanne Arnow recounts the discrimination she has faced …

In the last year, I’ve had to face distinct increases in discrimination and denigration from the general public in the normal course of my daily life. This is occurring directly as a result of a local campaign from conservative groups that continually foster unwarranted fears, stereotypical misrepresentations, and highly negative references to transgender people, in the public eye of perception.

I have faced extreme social and workplace humiliations in the last several years since beginning my transition (change) of gender. I have applied at dozens of restaurants, retail stores, warehouses, and even major hotel chains such as Marriott, most located in Montgomery County.

…

As it now stands, it is both legal and apparently still socially acceptable to discriminate against anyone like myself in hiring, workplace, housing, public services, and public accommodations. I once again have no civil rights or legal protections at any level. Not federal, state, or county, and mainly as a direct result of the actions of these groups to force a referendum on this law.

We have been burned at the stake, in the use of guilt by association to other highly negative stereotypes such as pedophiles and sexual predators. This has nothing to do with transgender people whatsoever. This is an outright lie. It is a crass, cruel, and disgusting distortion. This is an utter fallacy to the fullest extent that it has been used by these groups.

As a fellow citizen, neighbor, wife, and daughter - as a warm and articulate person, and skilled professional Culinary Artist, I have found this intolerably painful. This is entirely unacceptable by any ethical standard that I know of. There have been direct, and deeply negative impacts on my life as a result of such discriminatory behaviors.

Enough is enough. Help restore my most basic civil rights, and overrule the falsehoods being spread by these groups, once and for all.

Living with Discrimination as a Transgender Woman

#4 - Over at Trans Universe, Angela Brightfeather would like a “simple question” answered …

That simple question is:

“Senator Obama, would you veto an exclusive version of the Employment Non Discrimination Act if it did not include employment protections for transgender people?”

It’s a tough question to ask a man who believes in not impeding any rights bill from passing, but it is an important question to ask. If the answer is anything but “Yes,” I will take my vote on November and either find someone else to vote for, or just sit this one out and encourage everyone to do the same until people come to realize that this makes common sense.

And, the big question for Senator Obama is . . . . ?

#5 - It’s raining a bit tonight in Asheville … it’s been so long I feel like streaking into the night. Night all.

Unabashedly plagiarizing Obama, John McCain announces “Let me introduce to you the next President — the next Vice President of the United States of America, Britney Spears … ”

While the political world is focusing on Sen. Biden’s selection as Sen. Obama’s VP pick, I’m about ten minutes away from getting in the shower, and about three-and-a-half hours from arriving at my best friend’s wedding. You see, I’m the Party A maid of honor for Vicki.

I haven’t yet written the toast for the wedding — I’ve been working pretty hard this past week at preparing for the Democratic National Convention, as well as trying to pin down the date and location for California’s Transgender Leadership Summit that will be held in San Diego next March. Busy-busy-busy — I have to get an outline written for the toast within the next few hours.

When I go to convention next week, Lynda’s and Vicki’s wedding will definitely be on my mind. My friends have the freedom to marry today, so preserving this freedom for gay and lesbian Californians in the many tomorrows — especially preserving this freedom for transgender gay and lesbian Californians — is pretty darn important to me.

Sometime this week (I hope), I’ll post pictures of the wedding. Hey — I’ll be the one in the wedding party wearing the violet maid-of-honor gown. ☺

~~~~~
Related:
* Marriage Equality Beyond Just Gays And Lesbians

I met Ina Fried about a year ago at the 2007 National Lesbian Gay Journalist Association (NLGJA) convention when I was a speaker for the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell panel. She’s a reporter at CNET; she’s also the NLGJA’s National Vice President for Print & New Media.

Blogs are a new media, so *Pam*’s and *my* NLGJA vice president really is Ina.

Well, Ina recently has been the subject of some serious pronoun flopping on Wikipedia recently. She’s described this gender flopping phenomena in her CNET blog post Wikipedia changes my gender more than I do:

In the last few weeks, there’s been a debate as to whether “he” or “she” should be used on my page with different volunteer editors taking opposite positions on whether I am entitled to use female pronouns.

After several days of being “he” on Wikipedia, I was pleased Thursday to see that my pronouns had reverted back to the gender with which I identify.

As of today, when I last checked, her Wikipedia page has been written to be gender neutral.

Unlike in the journalism world, where the Associated Press Stylebook has a concrete answer on how to handle these sorts of things, there is no official “style” on gender matters or many other issues on Wikipedia.

So why has her gender been flopping so much during the past few week? The ValleyWag explains the sitch:

She knows she’s female. But some users of Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia any bigot can edit, aren’t convinced. An anonymous Wikipedia user in Knoxville, Tenn., however, refuses to accept hers as the last word on the subject, and has been changing pronouns from “she” to “he” on Fried’s listing with repeated edits in the last six weeks. The justification offered:

I am a med student with an additional major in Clinical Psychology. Ina’s self-proclaimed gender is debatable (and any debatable factoids should be left out of an encyclopedic entry).

When the Democratic National Convention is done, I believe updating her page is going to become my personal priority. No body should have their gender disrespected in the manner that this anonymous student has disrespected Ina’s.

And frankly, Ina’s page looks a little thin anyway.

.