TERF supports anti-gay activist group

Cathy Brennan, an opinion leader in of the Trans Exclusionary RadFem movement has chosen to side with the ex-gay organization, the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI):

 

TERF8
Fails to mention this story was recanted

 

Worse, Brennan volunteered to serve as the mouthpiece of the right-wing anti-gay activist organization:

TERF10
Trans people are “inherently intimidating and harassing” and no, we’ve not actually supported anything we’ve said with any evidence, but trust us. We wouldn’t lie. This totally isn’t politically motivated!

TERF2

PJI is the same group that filed a lawsuit to preserve gay conversion therapy. TERFs have taken up the new pet cause of the organization that asserted:

If the Supreme Court rules that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional and that the definition of marriage as between one man and one woman is unconstitutional, then we’re basically going to have an open heyday for homosexual marriage as well as other kinds of “marriage” being introduced and being protected through this case law precedent, such as polygamy, perhaps adult incest and who knows what else will be attempted to be added on.

Brennan, an attorney the LGBT Bar Association disavowed…

CB-LGBTbarAssoc… links to the original PJI letter asserting that the trans kid is a predator.* In the letter, the anti-gay group asserts that the transgender youth is sexually harassing cisgender girls and that the school is part of a trans conspiracy to endanger cisgender women. Brennan has uploaded the Pacific Justice Institute’s letter to her site and is featuring it without noting that the allegations are false or that media who’ve investigated the claims have removed the story.

The letter Brennan offers asserts:

  • The trans student, “has made sexually harassing comments towards the girls” [NOTE: This claim was proven to be fabricated]
  • The school has, “threatened students with penalties ranging from charges of hate crimes to dismissal from school sports” for asking that the sexual harassment stop.

Brennan apparently shares the reality in which this anti-gay group exists. In their apparent reality, public schools are part of a trans conspiracy to weasel into restrooms where they’ll be free to carry out their nefarious purpose and if you challenge their reality, then you too are part of the conspiracy.

Brennan became somewhat infamous after she outed a trans teen to his parents and school, and attempted to intervene in the medical care of a transgender person she didn’t like. Most recently, Brennan targeted Dana Taylor, contacting and outing her to her employer. Fortunately, Dana was already out to her employer. To this track record, Brennan apparently wishes to stand with the likes Karl Rove and James Dobson in supporting PJI’s efforts.

PJI tipped their hand to their true purpose in the last paragraph of their press release:

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Apparently the life of this Colorado trans kid is mere fodder in their larger war against Californian protections for school-age trans kids. I guess any harm the Pacific Justice Institute or their acolytes causes to this Colorado trans kid is acceptable when they’re fighting for their right to discriminate against California trans kids.  For those who stand against trans equality, apparently this is what adult morality looks like.

You can read more about this ex-gay group’s effort to ostracize a trans kid at:

You can listen to the phone conversation school Superintendent Rhonda Vendetti and I had about PJI’s claims. In the conversation, Vendetti makes it clear that no harassment has taken place.

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From a trans kid, responding to the efforts of Brennan and the PJI.

NOTES:

* This TERF is known to record IP addresses and out trans people. Please see this post before going to her site.

2011 study of 6,450 trans people:

“A staggering 41% of respondents reported attempting suicide compared to 1.6% of the general population, with rates rising for those who were harassed/bullied in school (51%)… It is part of social and legal convention in the United States to discriminate against, ridicule, and abuse transgender and gender-nonconforming people within foundational institutions such as the family, schools, the workplace, and health care settings, every day. Instead of recognizing that the moral failure lies in society’s unwillingness to embrace different gender identities and expressions, society blames transgender and gender non-conforming people for bringing discrimination and violence on themselves.”

1/2 trans folks raped:

    • 50%: Courvant, D., & Cook-Daniels, L., 1998. Transgender and intersex survivors of domestic violence: Defining terms, barriers, and responsibilities
    • 59%: Clements, K. SF Department of Public Health, Department of Public Health. (1999). The transgender community health project: Descriptive results. San Francisco: San Francisco.
    • 54%: Kenagy, G. (2005). The health and social service needs of transgender people in Philadelphia. International Journal of Transgenderism, 8(2/3), 45-56. DOI: 10.1300/J485v08n02_05
    • 46%: Kenagy, G., & Bostwick, W. (2005). The health and social service needs of transgender people in Chicago. International Journal of Transgenderism, 8(2/3), 57-66. DOI: 10.1300/J485v08n02_06

1/4 trans folks beaten:

    • 37%: Clements, K. SF Department of Public Health, Department of Public Health. (1999). The transgender community health project: Descriptive results. San Francisco: San Francisco.
    • 43%: Kenagy, G. (2005). The health and social service needs of transgender people in Philadelphia. International Journal of Transgenderism, 8(2/3), 45-56. DOI: 10.1300/J485v08n02_05
    • 37%: Transgender Law and Policy Institute’s “Transgender Issues: Fact Sheet”



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Cristan Williams is a trans historian and pioneer in addressing the practical needs of underserved communities. She started the first trans homeless shelter in Texas and co-founded the first federally funded housing-first homeless program, pioneered affordable health care for trans people in the Houston area, won the right for trans people to change their gender on Texas ID prior to surgery, started numerous trans social service programs and founded the Transgender Center as well as the Transgender Archives. She has published short stories, academic chapters and papers, and numerous articles for both print and digital magazines. She received numerous awards for her advocacy and has presented at universities throughout the nation, served on several governmental committees and CBO boards, is the Editor of the TransAdvocate, and is a founding board member of the Transgender Foundation of America and the Bee Busy Wellness Center.