Equality Texas mourns the death of Jennifer Gale, a 47-year-old transgender homeless woman who died yesterday. Jennifer’s body was found Wednesday morning. She was lying in an outdoor walkway at the First English Lutheran Church in Central Austin.
…Jennifer’s voice rang through Austin Council Chamber doors every week, often times in support of the homeless population of which she was a part.
“Let’s give the homeless a place to Lose Weight Exercise that need jobs and need help,” said Gale Tuesday night before the city’s Health Services Board.
Her death points to critical problems faced by the homeless, and especially by homeless women and the transgender homeless.
“Jennifer most nights slept outdoors,” said Austin Mayor Will Wynn. “Jennifer, we believe, is the 136th person who has died sleeping on the streets (of Austin) over the last 12 months.”
Marti Bier, policy aide for Austin City Council Member Randi Shade, said the following regarding Ms. Gale’s death:
Something Jennifer would never talk about, but was a reality for her, is that she is a transwoman living in a transphobic society. Homelessness in the trans-community is a really big problem, and one that goes ignored. There are no laws in Texas protecting transgender people, whether from job discrimination, housing discrimination or hate crimes.
There was really nowhere for Jennifer Gale to go to protect herself from the cold last night. The Salvation Army (the only shelter in town that takes in women) would not let her in there unless she was grouped with the men (which includes sleeping with, and showering with, other homeless men). They would make her use her male birth name and completely disregard, and disrespect, her identity as a trans-woman. There is so much to be learned from Jennifer Gale, and so much to be worked on in our community.
I have chills running through my spine over this. Homelessness is a scary reality that many trans people face in every city — they don’t have jobs because they’re discriminated against for being trans (and often in combination with also being a member of a second minority group or protected class, such as regarding race, disability, etc.), and their are often no shelters that will take trans people as they are. If gender expression doesn’t match natal sex, there is often no shelter for them to get out of the cold.
My eyes are already welling over Jennifer Gale, and how she died sleeping on the streets…how she appears to have died from exposure on a cold, cold night.
The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission is investigating a complaint filed by a transsexual woman against Harrisburg Area Community College, claiming she was suspended for not using a unisex bathroom.
Shannon Powers, director of communications for the commission, confirmed a complaint by Jamie Nicole Anderson against the Lancaster campus of HACC was filed Oct. 16. She said the agency began its investigation last month.
Because it is under investigation, Powers said she could not reveal details of the complaint. However, according to published reports, Anderson is a male-to-female transgendered student who was studying nursing at HACC.
The program required students to change into hospital scrubs, and Anderson was using the female locker room. She said she was suspended for three days for insubordination when she continued to use the locker room after being instructed to use the unisex bathroom, the report said…
When accomodating pre-op and non-op trans students of any age, a school has to make a plan to make unavoidable nudity avoidable, while providing the trans student equal access to services. Does the unisex bathroom have a locker and a shower? Does the other changing room have these? If a public school — even a community college — wants to separate out a trans student, then the school needs to equal and appropriate facilities.
Equal public accomodations for pre- and non-operative trans people in general is something public institutions are now going to have to plan for. To not plan for the reality that any school may eventually have a trans student … well, not planning for forseeable problems invites commissions looking into discrimination, and trans people filing lawsuits.
News and views for Wednesday, December 17th and Thursday, December 18th …
[PA, USA] “The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission is investigating a complaint filed by a transsexual woman against Harrisburg Area Community College, claiming she was suspended for not using a unisex bathroom. Shannon Powers, director of communications for the commission, confirmed a complaint by Jamie Nicole Anderson against the Lancaster campus of HACC was filed Oct. 16. She said the agency began its investigation last month. Because it is under investigation, Powers said she could not reveal details of the complaint. However, according to published reports, Anderson is a male-to-female transgendered student who was studying nursing at HACC.” — HACC student sues over rest room suspension
There’s more on the Sanchez appointment at Bay Windows and at EDGE Boston, and transactivists Becky Juro and Vanessa Edwards Foster offer their thoughts on the hiring here and here.
[USA] “I am very saddened to learn today of the death of actress/comics writer/friend Maddie Blaustein at age 48. It’s being reported that she died in her sleep after a brief illness. Blaustein started out in the comics industry at Marvel, where he was known as Adam, but gradually went on a path that few could imagine — first as a very successful, talented and well-known voice actress, most notably as the voice of Meowth on the US version of Pokemon. Second, as a transgendered individual. She also wrote several issues of Milestone comics, including a run on STATIC. Aaron McQuade, who profiled Maddie for The Advocate, has more on his blog: ‘Maddie (born Adam Blaustein) might be the most recognizable transgender voice on the planet, from her roles as Meowth on Pokemon, and Solomon Moto on Yu-Gi-Oh, not to mention dozens of other anime and video games … ‘ ” — RIP Maddie Blaustein
[USA] From Media Matters, “On The O’Reilly Factor, Dennis Miller ridiculed Thomas Beatie, a transgender man who recently gave birth to a child, calling him a “nympho satyr” and saying: “[A]ll I know is the guy’s more pregnant than the old woman in the shoe is. And somebody has got to get some protection for this guy, be it a condom or an IUD or a satellite dish or a catcher’s mitt. I don’t even know what he needs down there, but I need an equipment check on aisle five.” Referring to the baby, Miller had video of the polar bear cub at the Berlin zoo aired.” — On O’Reilly Factor, Miller ridiculed transgender man, child he gave birth to
[USA] From The New York Times today on DSM-V, “The book is at least three years away from publication, but it is already stirring bitter debates over a new set of possible psychiatric disorders … The debate over gender identity, characterized in the manual as “strong and persistent cross-gender identification,” is already burning hot among transgender people. Soon after the psychiatric association named the group of researchers working on sexual and gender identity, advocates circulated online petitions objecting to two members whose work they considered demeaning. Transgender people are themselves divided about their place in the manual. Some transgender men and women want nothing to do with psychiatry and demand that the diagnosis be dropped. Others prefer that it remain, in some form, because a doctor’s written diagnosis is needed to obtain insurance coverage for treatment or surgery. “The language needs to be reformed, at a minimum,” said Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equity. “Right now, the manual implies that you cannot be a happy transgender person, that you have to be a social wreck.”” — Psychiatrists Revising the Book of Human Troubles
[Turkey] The latest on Bulent Ersoy, who was facing up to four-and-a-half years in jail: “A transsexual Turkish pop star has won a free speech case against the country’s powerful army, which accused her of turning public opinion against military service.” — Turkish transsexual star acquitted of insulting army
[Uruguay] “Uruguay’s Senate passed a bill allowing people aged 12 and older to legally change their name and gender on their identity papers, a move that opens the doors to gay marriage. The measure is meant to ease legal difficulties faced by transsexuals and cross-dressers, but would make gay marriage legal since it states that whoever changes their name and gender can “exercise all of the rights inherent to the new condition.”" — Uruguay takes step towards gay marriage
[Thailand] From the Bangkok Post, a feature on Treechada “Nong Poyd” Malayaporn, Miss Tiffany’s Universe 2004 and Miss International Queen 2004: ” … deep down, Treechada admits that she is oversensitive when anybody calls her a katoey. Surprisingly, when people say she’s much more beautiful than a real woman, Treechada does not appreciate it either. She just wants to be recognised to as “Nong Poyd” and live her life like an ordinary person. “I will not become arrogant or forget where I came from, but it hurts when people call me a katoey even though I really am one. As I said earlier, I’ve lived all my life like a woman. My mother is a woman. My beloved sister is a woman. All my best friends are women. So I am not going to compete with them. I do not want anybody to compare me with somebody else because, after all, I just want to be one of those ordinary women.” — Miss Tiffany Queen
I was very surprised to hear the news that my friend Diego Sanchez is going to by Rep. Barney Frank’s (D-MA) new Legislative Assistant — a senior policy advisor to the congressman. Mr. Sanchez is going to be taking over for Joe Racalto at Rep. Frank’s Washington DC Congressional office — Sanchez’s new workplace is going to be a congressional office in Washington DC’s Labor Building.
As Rep. Frank’s Legislative Assistant, Sanchez will be responsible for tracking LGBT, healthcare, veterans, and labor issues, as well as issues regarding the 2010 census. The confluence of LGBT issues and the 2010 census will be if or how LGBT couples are counted — is the federal government going to count how many same sex couples’ have formed domestic partnerships, civil unions, or marriages within states that recognize these unions? Are they going to count the children of these relationships in a way that reflects these children’s legal parentage? Sanchez will be the one tracking this particular concern for Rep. Frank and our LGBT community, and working to see that our LGBT families are counted in a manner that accurately counts our families.
Just looking at his LinkedIn profile, there is just no doubt that Sanchez’s 30-years of experience in Healthcare, HIV/AIDS, press relations, communications, and LGBT issues, as well as his experience as being on the DNC Platform Committee and an At-Large Delegate at last year’s Democratic National Convention, shows that he’s extremely well qualified for his new position.
So why report on this new hire in Rep. Frank’s Office? Well, not only is Diego Sanchez a well-qualified candidate applying for a congressional job, but Sanchez is also Latino; Sanchez is also a transman. As a transman, he’ll be the first out trans person to ever work as a senior staffer in a DC congressional office.
And, Diego Sanchez’s hire by Rep. Frank not only breaks the DC congressional office barrier for trans people, but he breaks that barrier for trans people of color:
As a Latino, formerly as a Latina woman, and now as a transman, I’ve been a lot of ‘firsts’ but it doesn’t make me token. It makes me first to get a chance and it usually feels tardy, for me and many others who are capable but don’t get a shot.
–Diego Sanchez
Perhaps surprisingly, Sanchez isn’t the first trans person to ever work as senior staff for a congressperson. Rep. Norm Coleman (R-MN) has employed SusanKimberly as his Chief of Staff in his home district office.
[Caleb H. Price, research analyst at Focus on the Family] says Focus on the Family has caught a lot of heat for referring to this philosophy as “ethical bankruptcy.” He contends teens are not stable enough emotionally to make a decision of such magnitude.
“We see this as a situation that’s tragic, foolish, and unconscionable for a professional medical group to encourage young people to move forward on a road where they might be making a decision about changing their gender,” he adds.
According to Price, the drug treatment program is another example of parents and physicians bowing to political correctness and to the demands and feelings of young people.
Transgender former Dallas mayoral candidate, Jennifer Gale, was found dead in Austin this morning.
From the online news report in the Dallas Morning News today …
A body found near the University of Texas campus this morning is that of perennial mayoral candidate Jennifer Gale, Austin fire officials said.
Ms. Gale, 47, a transgendered homeless former Marine, had run unsuccessfully for numerous public offices in Austin and Dallas. She finished ninth out of 11 candidates in the 2007 race for Dallas mayor.
In Dallas’ 1995 mayoral race, she earned five votes as a write-in candidate.
The body was found in front of the First English Lutheran Church in the 3000 block of Whitis Avenue where Ms. Gale was staying, and officials told KVUE-TV they feel certain the body was that of Ms. Gale.
Austin police said the medical examiner’s office had not identified the body.
A crew responded to a 911 call and found the body, fire officials said. The crew performed CPR for at least 30 minutes but never felt a pulse.
Ms. Gale gained fame in Austin by repeatedly running for multiple offices, including mayor, City Council, governor and Congress. Ms. Gale was also known for attending municipal hearings where she presented arguments in song. She planned to run for Austin mayor in 2009.
Ms. Gale ran for Dallas mayor in 2007 and wanted Dallas to legally recognize gay and lesbian unions, turn the Trinity River Corridor into a working farm and extend publicly subsidized health and dental benefits to residents.
I’m accustomed to too often seeing vile and crude comments posted on stories about trans people — you get them when you’re living, and — sad to say, no requiem in pacem — you get them when you’re dead.
I thought about turning this video below into a Q of the Day, but I really don’t want to put where pre-op and non-op transsexuals pee to a public vote. Frankly, turning this into a Q of the Day would just asking for public displays of bigotry.
Instead, let me put Riftgirl‘s Politics of P as a summation about how many of us trans folk feel about peeing in public restrooms. She’s really captured those ambigous feelings about where to pee, and how to pee, that many of us trans folk experience.
Honestly, Riftgirl has expressed some common feelings on this subject better than I ever could have.
[OH, USA] As expected the Columbus City Council last night passed a transgender anti-discrimination law. News report and video from NBC 4 in Columbus: “At Monday night’s Columbus City Council meeting, council had a plateful, voting on … whether or not to extend employment protection benefits to people who consider themselves to be transgendered. It was a packed house in council chambers as people listened in to hear which way council would vote…and they said yes to extending protections when it comes to discrimination because of age, disability, pregnancy or gender identity and expression.” — Citizens Pack In To Hear Council’s Decisions
(More on the new ordinance in Columbus can be found at the TransOhio blog.)
[USA] The Boston University student paper, BU Today, has a video feature today on transgender student, Emeri Burks: “But as a young boy growing up in Jefferson City, Mo., Emeri Burks wished only to be a girl. “I prayed every day for the body that would fix things, that would make everything right,” recalls Burks (CAS’08). “More than anything, I wanted to be anatomically and biologically female.” It wasn’t until sophomore year of high school that Burks learned of a word that explained the feelings he had wrestled with for years: transsexual. “A transsexual is someone who identifies with the opposite gender of his or her born sex,” Burks says. “For me, it means that in spite of what my body, my doctors, my teachers, and society have told me, I am — and always have been — female.” Last summer, Burks underwent sexual reassignment surgery, and today she has the body she wished for as a child. In the video above, she describes her transition from a deeply depressed boy to a much happier young woman. “At last,” she says, “I am whole.”” — “I Like That About Me.”
News and views for Sunday, December 14th and Monday, December 15th …
[NY, USA] Two news reports on the Binghamton, New York city council’s passage this evening of a transgender anti-discrimination bill: “In a move that was hailed by state civil rights groups, the city council on Monday passed a law that would outlaw discrimination against transgender individuals … Council member Sean Massey, D-5th District, who proposed the local law, said it was a “sad fact” that its protections were necessary … The director of the Central New York Civil Liberties Union, Barrie H. Gewanter, said the city was sending a strong message to state lawmakers who have not yet passed laws protecting those people … Galen D. Kirkland, Commissioner of the New York State Division of Human Rights, wrote to council members last week to express that agency’s support for the bill.” — Council approves anti-discrimination law, City council passes anti-discrimination bill
[OH, USA] In Columbus, Ohio, the city council was expected to pass a transgender anti-discrimination bill on Monday evening: “Tansgender residents of Columbus — men who consider themselves women and women who consider themselves men — would gain legal protection under legislation going before the City Council tonight. The Columbus Community Relations Commission has recommended that the city add gender identity to the list of categories in local anti-discrimination ordinances. The move would put Columbus another step beyond Ohio law and on par with dozens of other big cities and college towns … Columbus has protected gays in its civil-rights ordinances for about 20 years. Backers of the new legislation say the term sexual orientation once was thought to include people who live or dress as the opposite gender. People still refer to the “LGBT community,” which represents lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people, but advocates say one’s gender identity is different from one’s sexual orientation. And acceptance of transgender people often lags, they say … Gender identity and other new categories added to the anti-discrimination ordinances also would be added to the city’s hate-crimes ordinance.” — Gender identity on city’s agenda: Anti-discrimination proposal would add transgender people
[USA] From columnist Deb Price in TheDetroit News today, “But the [Schroer v. Billington] ruling, while a groundbreaking warning to other employers that they might be sued and held liable for similar discrimination, doesn’t automatically protect anyone beyond Schroer. In fact, federal judges disagree over whether federal sex discrimination laws cover transgender Americans … The ACLU is heartened, though, that President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team, in an historic first, includes “gender identity” in its nondiscrimination policy for appointment-level jobs in the next administration. The legal group hopes, as president, Obama will take the next step — signing an executive order formally banning job discrimination based on gender identity within the federal civilian work force. President Bill Clinton signed a similar order banning discrimination based on sexual orientation in civil service jobs.” — Activists pin hopes on Obama banning transgender bias
[USA] From today’s Washington Times, two transgender persons figure in the Young America’s Foundation‘s list of “top 10″ examples in 2008 of political correctness “running amok”on college campuses: “The roster includes … West Point, the veritable bastion of military tradition, recently hosted Allyson Robinson, a transgendered speaker and one-time graduate of the Army academy … [and] the University of St. Thomas for censoring pro-life speaker Star Parker while showcasing liberal comedian-turned-Senate candidate Al Franken and Debra Davis, another transgendered activist.” — Critics of PC decry ‘top 10 abuses’ of ’08
[USA] A sign of the times: “Activity on TJobBank has all but stopped as far as new job postings, even from the non-profits and advocacy organizations. Funding for non-profits has become scarce as the economy slides deeper into recession.” — Jobs – Trans-employment in a Recession
[USA] From Radha Smith, “I have argued that the gate-keeping process hampers the therapeutic relationship between client and therapist and I believe it does. I also believe that transitioners very much should have a therapist who can work with them, guide them, follow them and hold and hear their inmost yearnings, doubts and struggles … Opposition is not always a bad thing. It can help us to see cracks and fissures in our plans and timelines. It can show us areas we still require working in before we’re absolutely ready to move to the next transitional stage. Better, it seems to me, have that before one’s surgery than after. That much less work to do later on. Because, later on, we’ll still have problems. It’s inevitable. However, the impulse remains, quite naturally, among some transitioners to “game the system,” to get what I want when I want it and caution or discovery be damned. OK, I understand the impetus; but, I still maintain that sometimes the transitioner should be slowed in her headlong rush. Self-discovery and self-acceptance are always worthy attainments. The therapist who cares enough, is skilled enough, to demand that I do that for him or her should be held by me to be a “good therapist” not as one who “wants to derail me.”” — Gaming Therapists, Gaming Ourselves
How to run an effective divide-and-conquer strategy is something that the leadership in the LGBT civil rights organizations showed the opposition how to do in the 2007/2008 ENDA battle. As many recall, LGBT community leadership splayed out for “Christian” right organizations the divide over gender identity and expression language and the civil rights trans people.
Well, I look at the recent piece from Bay Windows / EdgeBoston entitled Mass Family Institute is down, but is it out?, and realize we’re looking ahead again at yet another divide-and-conquer the LGBT community over trans people campaign; at another fear-based campaign that’s going to focus on the idea of predator men-in-dresses using public bathrooms. From the article (emphasis added):
By most visible measures the Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI), which just two years ago was well positioned to place a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage on this year’s ballot, is at a low point in its influence on Bay State politics. Its amendment campaign failed in 2007, and last summer it stood powerless as the House and Senate pushed through a repeal of the 1913 law, clearing the way for out-of-state same-sex couples to marry in Massachusetts. And despite MFI’s efforts to elect social conservatives to the legislature this fall, groups like MassEquality were able to increase the number of same-sex marriage supporters in the 200-member legislature from 151 to 158. National allies on the religious right, such as MFI’s parent organization Focus on the Family and its spin-off, Family Research Council, spent thousands of dollars in prior years to fund MFI’s marriage amendment campaign, but they appear to have largely withdrawn from their involvement in Massachusetts in 2008.
Yet MFI President Kris Mineau said the future looks bright for his organization and the social conservative movement in Massachusetts.
“I believe the outlook for MFI is very positive, because as we say in the fighter pilot business, this is a target-rich environment,” said Mineau, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force.
He said MFI is open to pushing for another marriage amendment in the future if it becomes viable. In the meantime the organization will press forward lobbying on a range of issues including opposition to abortion, casino gambling, pornography and comprehensive sex education. MFI’s top priority in the upcoming session is defeating a bill to amend the state’s hate crimes and non-discrimination laws to add gender identity and expression protections. The bill was first filed in the current session and died in committee.
So now we see a predictable LGBT target, and from previous bathroom predator campaigns from the opposition in the past couple of years we know what their ads are going to sound like:
In this time where resources are much scarcer, and LGBT people have been dissatisfied to how the No On Prop 8 Campaign was run by LGBT civil rights organizations, how much in the way of resources are LGBT civil rights organizations going to devote to basic civil rights issues over other LGBT issues, such as marriage equality? And assuming a civil rights organization is willing to devote precious resources to a transgender civil rights effort, how much money will LGBT people donate to any LGBT causes when many of these folk 1) have limited resources themselves, and 2) no longer trust the LGBT leadership to run effective political campaigns?
And perhaps most importantly, is the LGBT community again going to be divided-and-conquered over civil rights related to the phrase gender identity and expression? — over bathrooms? Not just in Massachusetts regarding state law, but nationally regarding ENDA?
I believe that now is the time to prepare for the predictable future. It would be a shame to see the LGBT community caught flatfooted yet again over predictable arguments that we can expect to see from our opposition.
[Below the fold: A comment, apparently made by a gay man, regarding transphobia that goes to the point on how gender identity and expression is a dividing point for LGBT community. Warning: lots of profanity and insults to trans people.]
News and views for Thursday, December 11th through Saturday, December 13th …
[AL, USA] “A federal judge on Friday sentenced convicted transgender bank robber Jimmy Maurice Lewis II to a term of four years in prison. Lewis, 26, is a transgender individual who was dressed as woman when she robbed the Alabama Credit Union on Alabama 67 in Decatur on Nov. 9, 2007. Lewis has artificial breast implants but still possesses male genitalia, and police and prosecutors say her plan was to rob banks to finance a sex-change operation” — Bank robber gets 4 years: Cash was wanted for sex-change surgery, police say
[CA, USA] A judgment has been reached in Juan (“Auntie Juan”) Valera’s sexual orientation discrimination lawsuit against Costco (“the Anti-Wal-Mart“): “The panel of eight men and four women deliberated for two and a half days before finding that 45-year-old Valera had suffered under a hostile work environment. However, the jury rejected a claim in the October 2006 lawsuit that Valera was a victim of sexual orientation discrimination, that Costco failed to provide accommodations for his needs, and that the company acted with malice.” — Judgment in warehouse store discrimination case: $420,000
[ID, USA] Apparently, it’s been a difficult and trying past 28 years for trans woman Catherine Carlson, and a traffic ticket dispute involving the use of her former male name was “the last straw”: “For nearly a year, Catherine Carlson refused to pay the fine for driving with a suspended license because it was issued to both her and the man she used to be. She went to jail four times over the ticket that includes both her legal name and the one she was born with, Daniel Carlson. She had surgery 28 years ago to become a woman, the gender she believes should have been assigned her at birth … Her struggle for acceptance since the sex-change operation on Thanksgiving Day 1980 has gone on much longer. She chose a life of solitude at a trailer park near the Payette city limits, rejecting a society she feels has rejected her … Dressed in black pants, a plaid shirt and hiking shoes, Carlson is rail thin with long blond hair. Fine lines map her face, she hand-rolls her cigarettes, eats little and survives on nine travel-sized mugs of coffee a day. She lives on a $1,000-a-month Social Security check, suffers from depression, emphysema and a heart condition. “Changing your gender is not going to solve all your problems,” Carlson said … She worked three jobs, saved up about $15,000 to castrate Daniel and get saline breast implants for Catherine. She took estrogen until it became too expensive … Carlson views her struggle against the local justice system as a fight for rights granted to everyone else under the U.S. Constitution, acceptance in the society she has secluded herself from for all these years. “You’re going to have to make me one of ‘We the People,’” Carlson said.” — S. Idaho transgender woman fights use of male name
[MI, USA] The recent, successful repeal of a sexual orientation/gender identity anti-discrimination ordinance by voters in Hamtramck, Michigan appears to have set the stage for a similar effort against a recently adopted anti-discrimination ordinance in Kalamazoo : “Petitions aimed at rescinding a new city ordinance banning discrimination against gays, lesbians and transgender individuals in housing, public accommodations and employment began circulating in Kalamazoo churches last weekend. Gary Glenn, president of the American Family Association of Michigan, said Thursday that his organization is supporting the efforts of unnamed local activists toward a 2009 ballot measure to rescind the ordinance … Glenn confirmed that AFAM has a supporting role in the local petition drive. But he declined to name local organizers, saying “determining who their spokesman is is up to them.”“There is a petition being circulated to allow the citizens of Kalamazoo to make the decision on this ordinance, not the politicians,” Glenn said. “Experience proves that in other jurisdictions, ordinances like this have been used to discriminate against and penalize people who believe homosexual behavior is wrong.” — Petitions target new ordinance
[NH, USA] Brianna Cook is suing the PC Connection, accusing the company of gender discrimination in violation of state and federal law after that company declined to hire her: “Cook is a post-operative transsexual with experience in marketing communications and sales, both as a man and as a woman, her suit states. She claims PC Connection officials implied that her hiring was assured, and that a company recruiter later told her she was eventually rejected because she hadn’t disclosed that she had previously applied to the company as a man.” — Transsexual sues over discrimination
[OR, USA] What were members of Fred Phelps’ Westboro Baptist Church really doing in Silverton a couple of weeks back protesting the election of its new transgender mayor, Stu Rasmussen? Well, one person evidently thinks it’s all part a devious and subversive transgender agenda and he sets the record straight: “Could this whole affair of protesting Silverton’s new transgender (a man dressing as a woman) mayor be a well-organized set-up to foster and make acceptable transgendering? The Westboro church may be a front organization to make sensational news through “hate messages” under the guise of Christianity, thus undermining true Christianity. … The infinite wisdom of God makes no mistakes. Men are men, women are women. That is the reality now and forever no matter how they dress or alter their bodies.” — Church’s protest could be a setup to make sensational news
[WA, USA] The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association is a trailblazer when it comes to the formulation and implementation of policy governing the participation of trans persons in organized athletics: “Before the 2006-07 school year, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association had never fielded a question about transgender athletes. That year, they received four inquiries about whether teenagers with non-traditional gender identities could compete for their schools. Trans issues were no longer out of bounds. “No one had ever asked, so we had no policy” … the 2007 policy talked about “transgender” issues, the revised version referred to “gender identity or expression.” It says: “Fundamental fairness, as well as most local, state and federal rules and regulations, requires schools to provide intersex and transgender student-athletes with equal opportunities to participate in athletics. This policy creates a framework in which this participation may occur in a safe and healthy manner that is fair to all competitors.” The policy says that if questions arise whether “a student’s request to participate in a sex-segregated activity consistent with his or her gender identity is bona fide,” the student may seek review of eligibility through a confidential process, beginning with his or her school administrators. A hearing would then be scheduled before a WIAA committee specifically established to consider gender identity appeals. The committee is to include at least one person from the medical or mental health field who is familiar with gender identity issues … ” — Washington embraces trans athletes
[USA] “The Human Rights Campaign is calling on President-elect Barack Obama to implement numerous non-legislative changes to improve the lives of gay and transgender Americans … The many changes recommended by HRC include expanding President Bill Clinton’s executive order barring discrimination in the federal workplace on the basis of sexual orientation to include gender identity … Other recommendations include … [requiring] that the federal government only hire contractors that have non-discrimination provisions for sexual orientation and gender identity categories … [and] allowing the Internal Revenue Service to provide reimbursements for medical expenses in the gender-transition process through tax-preferred flexible spending accounts. Also, allowing transgender people to change their gender markers on federal documents and records, including passports.” — HRC asks Obama to make pro-gay changes: Requests include expanding non-discrimination protections
[UK/Turkey] “The biology behind the raging-hormone rite of passage known as puberty has long been a mystery. Just as the pimply, mood-swinging teen puzzles parents, the process that sets the teenager off has also stumped scientists. But researchers from Turkey and England say they have discovered one of the master molecules that triggers sexual maturity.” — Research uncovers puberty genes
“[T]he job of the gay community is not to deal with extremists who would castigate us or put us on an island and drop an H-bomb on us. The fact of the matter is that there is a small percentage of people in America who understand the true nature of the homosexual community. There is another small percentage who will never understand us. Our job is not to get those people who dislike us to love us. Nor was our aim in the civil rights movement to get prejudiced white people to love us. Our aim was to try to create the kind of America, legislatively, morally, and psychologically, such that even though some whites continued to hate us, they could not openly manifest that hate. That’s our job today: to control the extent to which people can publicly manifest antigay sentiment.” –Bayard Rustin; From Montgomery to Stonewall (1986)
Apparently, Pat Boone doesn’t appreciate being called “homophobic.” Check out his final paragraph his latest column in WingNutDaily:
Me, homophobic? Ridiculous. I love my homosexual friends, but I detest these irresponsible street tactics that can and do lead to violence. Violence breeds more violence. But love – and respect, even through disagreement – can accomplish miracles.
Are you unaware of the raging demonstrations in our streets, in front of our churches and synagogues, even spilling into these places of worship, and many of these riots turning defamatory and violent? Have you not seen the angry distorted faces of the rioters, seen their derogatory and threatening placards and signs, heard their vows to overturn the democratically expressed views of voters, no matter what it costs, no matter what was expressed at the polls? Twice?
I refer to California’s Proposition 8. You haven’t heard about the well-oiled campaign to find out the names of every voter and business that contributed as much as $1,000, or even much less, in support of Prop 8? You haven’t heard about the announced plans to boycott, demonstrate, intimidate and threaten each one – because they dared to vote to retain marriage as between one man and one woman? You haven’t seen, on the evening news, prominent entertainers and even California Gov. Schwarzenegger, urging the demonstrators on, telling them they should “never give up” until they get their way?
Assuming you have become aware of all this, let me ask you: Have you not seen the awful similarity between what happened in Mumbai and what’s happening right now in our cities?
Pat was worried, in the robo-call, about giving “special rights” to “even transgender individuals,” and asked Kentuckians if they’d “like Kentucky to be another San Francisco.” Apparently loving LGBT “individuals” doesn’t mean letting LGBT people enjoy freedom from discrimination in all aspects of their lives.
Pat Boone doesn’t like the term homophobic applied to him. Well, in my opinion, the term fits him like a glove — he’s been expressing his anti-LGBT sentiment for quite awhile now.
We recommend that adolescents who fulfill eligibility and readiness criteria for gender reassignment initially undergo treatment to suppress pubertal development.
…Caleb H. Price, research analyst at Focus on the Family, said young people are in no position to make a decision of this magnitude.
“Teenage years are marked by a confusing maze of feelings that wax and wane on a daily basis,” he said. “It is unconscionable for a professional group to push hormone treatment that alters — perhaps irrevocably — natural physical development.
“The endocrinologists have clearly been hijacked by activist groups, lost their credibility and entered into ethical bankruptcy. They’ve capitulated to the political correct notion that gender is a social construct and can be changed.”
The problems with that Caleb statement are many, but to let me highlight a few.
First and perhaps foremost, FOTF’s Caleb isn’t an endocrinologist, but he feels confident in substituting his judgment for those of a society of endocrinologists. That’s a lot of righteous hubris.
Secondly, Caleb makes the assumption that the youth in question are fickle in how they perceive their own gender identities. I know from talking to folk at Trans Youth Family Allies, health care providers, other trans people, and my personal experience that these youth aren’t fickle in how they perceive their own gender identities. If an individual youth was fickle in his or her gender identity, that would be the reason for a healthcare gatekeeper to state that a particular adolescent didn’t meet the eligibility and readiness criteria for this treatment.
Also, transyouth aren’t making healthcare decisions on treatment on their own. By framing the treatment schema as FOTF’s Caleb does, he implies that’s exactly what’s happening. Does he really, honestly believe that parents and medical professionals aren’t involved in the decision making process? Does he really believe that youth make these decisions on their own? In my opinion, this is yet another example of FOTF’s less than honest framing of issues.
And lastly, while Caleb and most medical and healthcare experts on trans people agree that gender can’t be changed, Caleb doesn’t agree with what scientific evidence seems to be indicating regarding how sex and gender don’t always match. As Zoe Brain over at AEBrain documents, there is scientific evidence that sex (what’s between the legs) and gender (what’s between the ears) don’t always match; there is a growing body of evidence that people’s brains can be cross-gendered from their bodies.
As usual, Focus On The Family appears very willing to substitute their organizations’ interpretation of the Bible for good science, good healthcare, and/or good public policy.
[CA, USA] The Marin Independent-Journal reported yesterday that two San Rafael parents are upset by a school policy that allows students who identify as a different gender to use the restrooms and locker rooms assigned to that gender: “San Rafael school officials say the policy is in keeping with state law, which treats gender and sexual identity as protected statuses. Unless students would be subject to “unavoidable nudity,” they could be asked to share a restroom with a student who is biologically of the opposite sex. To do otherwise would leave the school district open to lawsuits, attorney Dora Dome said. “A subject’s discomfort does not have the same legitimacy on a legal basis as supporting the rights of an individual,” said Dome, the district’s legal counsel. “Based on a substantial legal record, the district must allow access to transgendered students.” — Parents irked by policy allowing transgendered access
[CT, USA] A verdict is expected Friday morning in the murder trial of Anthony Rogers. Rogers is accused of killing Southern Connecticut State University student Ricky Lee Blakes in 2004. Blakes was dressed as a woman at the time of his murder: “When he found out Blakes was a man, Rogers pushed him out of the car and shot him in the upper body, [Rogers' former girlfriend, LaToya] Boyd said. She said that Rogers told her that after shooting Blakes, he drove around the corner, came back and shot him a few more times. Blakes was found by police facedown in a pool of blood just off Woodward Avenue, dressed in women’s clothing. Police did not realize it was a man until they rolled over the near-lifeless body, police officers said in testimony last week.” — Verdict expected Friday in Rogers murder trial
[USA] Edge Boston has a feature on trans people — Melissa Sklars, Barbra Casbar Siperstein, Amanda Simpson, Dana Beyer — who have become active in politics: “When America elected its first African American president, pundits boldly declared the landscape of prejudice and limitations changed forever, and in a heartbeat. But when the sun rose on November 5, gay Americans woke up to a country in which their rights were further diminished [Prop 8]. These recent setbacks pale in comparison to the fact that few states protect against job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation – or gender identity. Marginalized by society as well as the LGBT movement, the transgendered are steadily gaining visibility in the political arena. They’re accomplishing that by building a reputation and power base through old fashioned political networking … Transgendered candidates are still often viewed with skepticism by their own parties and as curiosities by the media. “It’s still very difficult for the transgendered to get elected to office,” says Melissa Sklars, a director of the New York Trans Rights organization.” — Trans Politicians Move Into Mainstream
[Australia] From the Sunshine Coast Daily, an itinerant trans woman alleges that she was verbally abused and attacked last Tuesday: “”He just started screaming abuse at me, swearing and calling me a ‘trannie fag’,” Alice said … She said the man chased her into a nearby playground where he allegedly threatened anyone who came to her aid. She alleged the man smashed a bottle and hit a man who had tried to protect her. Another car arrived at the scene and a man holding a base ball bat stepped out of the car and allegedly chased Alice down the street … Alice, her best friend and her daughter have spent the past 18 months travelling around Australia. She says once knowledge of her transsexual nature is made public, she is chased from the towns. The Sunshine Coast, she said, had been no different … “I can’t understand why normal people act like this. I harm no one but I am always subjected to people’s abuse because they don’t like me for who I am.” Police have charged a man with one count of public nuisance and two counts of common assault.” — Transexual woman ran out of town [Updated story]
[Mexico] The Mexican Supreme Court is considering a case focusing on the right of transsexuals to privacy and non-discrimination: “When transsexuals or transgender persons in the Mexican capital have their birth certificates altered to reflect their change in identity, is it legal to include a notation on the new document indicating that Ms Y used to be Mr X? That is the question raised by a Mexican transsexual through an appeal under consideration by the Supreme Court, which brings up the issue of the right of transsexuals to privacy and non-discrimination. The 11 Supreme Court justices are expected to issue a final ruling on the appeal in the first few weeks of 2009, in a case that is the first of its kind to be brought before the country’s highest judicial body with jurisdiction over constitutional matters.” — MEXICO: Supreme Court Debates Transsexual’s Right to Privacy
[USA] From The New York Times today on 
[Turkey] The latest on Bulent Ersoy, who was 
[USA] The “Earthlings Welcome Here” episode of Terminator, which aired Monday evening on Fox (and which can be viewed online 
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[UK] “A Guilford woman has revealed how a sex change [
[USA] Edge Boston has a feature on trans people — Melissa Sklars, Barbra Casbar Siperstein, Amanda Simpson, Dana Beyer — who have become active in politics: “