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| Topic: Mass. transgender group launches awareness campaign |
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| Mass. transgender group launches awareness campaign [message #121519] |
Wed, 24 November 2010 11:36 |
 Teresa 
Messages: 9342
Registered: September 2007
Location: Salem, Oregon |
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Mass. transgender group launches awareness campaign
by Chuck Colbert
2010-11-24
Michelle Figueiredo, whose video is one of eight posted on the "I AM: Trans People Speak" web site. Photo by Jesse Begenyi
The message is as all-American as the 14th Amendment.
"The country was built on equal opportunity," a new multimedia public education campaign begins. "As transgender people we are asking for the opportunity to take care of our families and be free from discrimination."
No big surprise: "I AM: Trans People Speak," the nation's first-ever public awareness initiative, springs from navy blue Massachusetts. But the brief personal stories--in video, audio, written essay and photo format--hold the same message even for crimson red localities and purple ones, too.
"We want to explain to people who we are, the issues we face from our own voices, not from a medical model," said Gunner Scott, executive director of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition ( MTPC ) , an advocacy organization.
At a recent launch party, held this month at a popular Boston eatery, Scott said his "crazy idea" for the project came from National Public Radio when he heard about immigrants telling their stories through the "We Are America" multimedia program.
Scott floated his idea at a staff meeting this past summer. "No one said, 'Gunner, are you absolutely out of your mind?'" he explained.
Voilà: MPTC fast tracked the project. The Coalition received a $35,000 grant from the State Equality Fund, assembled a team, and within three months were up and running with the project ( http:// www.TransPeopleSpeak.org ) .
Scott said that another $20,000 would enable MTPC to place ads on local subway trains and busses. "This is not the end, but the beginning," he said.
It may well be a model for other states and localities to adopt, Scott said.
Transgender people are widely misunderstood by the general public and the media, transgender-rights advocates say.
"Much of the media is negative," explained Jesse Begenyi. A documentary filmmaker, she serves as MTPC clerk, as well as on the trans speak team.
"We feel boxed in," Begenyi said. "Trans people are so much more than their trans experience," she said, referring to the story told by Cohasset, Mass., resident Michelle Figueiredo, whose video is one of eight posted on the "I AM: Trans People Speak" web site.
"Her whole video is about how she ran a marathon; there's nothing about being transgender," said Begenyi, who is also a videographer for the project.
And yet Figueiredo's experience transiting from male to female while on the job at State Street cuts to the heart of the public education efforts. During a short interview at the launch party, Figueiredo, a manager, spoke about the support she received from human resources and her boss.
"I went to an HR person who said, 'Let's explore how we do this. We support you,'" shw said.
Figueiredo went on to praise her boss, a "guy's guy," she said, who told her point blank: "I don't care what you look like as long as you do the great job you do," she said. "Talk about a huge weight off my shoulders."
"He actually went on the Internet to find out more information," Figueiredo added. "He knew staff would ask questions."
Her boss genuinely cared, she said. From time to time, "He asked me: 'How are you feeling? How are the hormones treating you?'
"I put him up for a diversity award and he won."
Still, Figueiredo's positive experience at one of the Boston's venerable financial institutions is not always the case.
In dozens of states, transgender people face not only employment discrimination, but also encounter discrimination in housing, credit, education and public accommodations. Transgender persons are also victims of violent hate crimes.
In some states--even Massachusetts--where activists have fallen short in adding "gender identity" and "gender expression" to the state's anti-discrimination and hate crimes statutes, social conservatives have succeed so far in blocking transgender civil-rights legislation by hijacking the debate's language, dubbing the proposed legislation a "bathroom bill," an ugly smear pro-trans advocates consider fear mongering and scare tactics all about imaginary transgender bogeymen in restrooms and locker rooms.
And yet the power of personal story telling continues.
"It's not just about us," said Ty, a Northampton transgender man who is the biological mother of two teenage sons, during his video clip. "It's about our families."
For Mick--a licensed clinical social worker, a feminist and queer transman who resides in Boston--it is all about being true to self, he said on video. "I can finally look in the mirror, and I finally know who I am."
http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE. php?AID=29561
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| | Topic: Raffi's struggle as a transgender woman |
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| Raffi's struggle as a transgender woman [message #121517] |
Wed, 24 November 2010 11:28 |
Teresa
Messages: 9342
Registered: September 2007
Location: Salem, Oregon |
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Raffi's struggle as a transgender woman
Published: November 23, 2010 7:09 p.m.
Last modified: November 23, 2010 7:07 p.m.
Editor's Note: As part of a three-week series running on Wednesdays, Metro will post the stories of three transgender Bostonians and the struggles they've faced on their journey. Their lives are featured as part of a new public education campaign sponsored by the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition originally featured in Metro on Nov. 16. In this week's second installment, we hear from Raffi, a daughter, a Honduran native, a feminist, a Jew and a transgender woman.
Raffi: I identify myself as a feminine person, male bodied, but identifying as a woman. I came out to myself during high school, but it was hard for me to actually vocalize what those feelings I had were. I think I always had the notion that I was gender different, but it wasn't until I really got to college and I was living with men, and that was a new experience for me to be living in a gendered environment such as dorms. I realized I was just on the wrong floor of my dorm, I should have been housed with the women. So it was early on in college that I realized that I am transgender and needed to transition.
Probably the most difficult aspect of being transgender and coming out as transgender was realizing that not everyone would be accepting of it that it wasn't common for a lot of people, and a lot of people didn't know how to "handle it". For me, I think the hardest thing was losing friends. That was a pretty traumatic thing for me, just because I transitioned from living as a boy to living as a woman.
We are the same people that we always were. I think that's something I've always felt about transgender people is that we are human beings, just like everyone else. We are just in a different place I guess on a gender continuum, just like there is a sexuality continuum. That it's OK to be different, we talk so much about free to be you and me, and I think that's what I want. If I could say something to them, I mean it would be "I'm still the same person, I'm still Raffi, I'm still the same kid that you've always known, just gender-wise I'm more comfortable being feminine and identifying as a woman. That's who I really am. And if anything, that's what I was trying to let them know, this is the person I really am, and unfortunately that was something they couldn't live with.
I am a part of several communities. I am a part of my camp community. I am a part of my college community, St. Olaf College in Minnesota. That has been a really rewarding experience because a majority of people there were were accepting of me; I was very much a part of the community there. I served on several committees, I was part of different clubs, I was actually running the Jewish community there, the Jewish club there. That translated to being more active in my own Synagogue here in Massachusetts, which was very rewarding. I'm part of several committees there and I'm accepted. Being transgender is just a part of it. And I think it's a very rewarding part of being transgender is having those connections. It makes us no different than anyone else because we are part of several other communities besides whatever community we make because we are transgender.
I think one of the most rewarding things about my transition is that I had the support of my parents and friends throughout the entire process and that really helped me get to the place where I am today. Being an advocate for trans issues, but also working for larger human rights issues. And I think that is important for all people regardless of someone's gender identity or sexual orientation or what be it, that we have relationships. Those are very important as human beings to have, so I am very grateful for those.
http://www.metro.us/boston/local/article/693852--raffi-s-str uggle-as-a-transgender-woman--page0
[Updated on: Wed, 24 November 2010 11:30]
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| | Topic: Local proposals can attract far-flung attention |
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| Local proposals can attract far-flung attention [message #121507] |
Wed, 24 November 2010 10:41 |
Teresa
Messages: 9342
Registered: September 2007
Location: Salem, Oregon |
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Local proposals can attract far-flung attention
Published: Tuesday, November 23, 2010
By Sam Strike
sstrike@mainlinemedianews.com
It is not often that local governments broach issues that some think are morally charged national hot topics or constitutional matters. But when they do, they can hear from people who live outside of their town or municipality.
Three local townships are in various steps of considering legislation that would prohibit discrimination in housing, commercial property, employment and public accommodations based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.
Lower Merion, the closest to actually passing legislation that would make it the 18th in the state to do so, will hold a public hearing and possibly adopt legislation on Dec. 8.
Earlier this month a committee of the whole Board of Commissioners there voted unanimously to recommend legally advertising the ordinance, which seeks to fill a gap in state law. Pennsylvania's 55-year-old Human Relations Act prohibits discrimination based on many characteristics, like race, color and religious creed, but not sexual orientation and gender identity.
Both people and organizations have expressed their concerns about such legislation.
The American Family Association of Pennsylvania (AFA of PA), a state affiliate of the American Family Association, whose mission is "to motivate and equip individuals to restore American culture to its moral foundations," has issued alerts and news releases on the local proposed anti-discrimination ordinance.
"The Lower Merion Township commissioners need to take a hard look at the ramifications in passing such an ordinance. Not only is it fiscally irresponsible but it will place a stamp of approval upon a dangerous lifestyle and place the women and young girls in their township in danger because men who think they are women will demand to use women's restrooms and the locker/shower facilities at the local pool or Y," said Diane Gramley, president of the AFA of PA.
That restroom situation is one that the organization believes will be created by such an ordinance.
The expressed purpose of the proposed ordinance is to ensure that everyone is "afforded equal opportunities for employment, housing, commercial property and the use of public accommodations." In Lower Merion's draft document there is no mention of restrooms, showers or locker rooms.
The AFA of PA in an "action alert" also states that such ordinances have been used to "punish, deny funding to and restrict the activities of" organizations like Catholic Charities, the Salvation Army and the Boy Scouts "because they refuse to endorse homosexual activists' political agenda."
In an interesting note about organizations and companies, the draft ordinance contains an exception that makes it lawful for "a religious corporation, organization or association, not supported in whole or in part by governmental appropriations, to refuse to hire, employ, house or otherwise accommodate an individual on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, nor shall an employer be prevented from enforcing a dress code which is reasonably related to the business or profession being conducted."
Of those opposing the proposed ordinance, at least in Radnor, not everyone is against anti-discrimination legislation but rather thinks it should not come from local government.
Chip Layfield, a Radnor Township resident, wrote in last week's Main Line Suburban Life that the aforementioned exceptions in the proposed ordinances would explicitly allow discrimination against groups of people by certain organizations in the township.
He also opined that the debate the discrimination against gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgenders and transsexuals should take place on the state or national level where there may be more resources to support it.
First, Radnor tried to tackle what many thought was a gun issue. Now it's discrimination. Layfield asked, "What's next, immigration reform?"
A similar ordinance is also being considered in Haverford Township, where one commissioner said that townships should leave the issue to the state legislature. While an amendment to the Human Relations Act doing just that has been introduced in the House, it has not gained much if any traction. To be sure, the hot-button topic when addressed on the state level would attract a large level of attention and debate.
Earlier this year, Radnor Township officials attracted attention while they considered an ordinance that would have required residents to report a lost or stolen handgun or face possible fines or jail time. The ordinance's introduction in February was met with controversy and public comment from both opponents and proponents.
The board instead approved a resolution that called upon the Pennsylvania General Assembly and Gov. Edward G. Rendell to adopt a statewide law requiring residents to report lost or stolen handguns within a "reasonable" time period.
Radnor's proposed ordinance would have required residents to report a lost or stolen handgun within 72 hours of the actual loss or discovery of the loss. Violators could have been fined up to $1,000 or jailed for up to 90 days.
Although there have already been legal challenges in the state to such laws, they have been thrown out for lack of standing, meaning that to reach a court decision, the law would have to be enforced, and then fought, in one of the municipalities that have approved it.
Township solicitor John Rice said that provisions in state statutes prohibit home-rule communities like Radnor from adopting ordinances regarding guns. The question of pre-empting state law has not been squarely addressed on the issue by the courts, Rice added.
More recently Radnor discussed the possibility of creating an anti-discrimination ordinance and human-relations commission like Lower Merion and Haverford are. Officials have directed Rice to evaluate the effects that anti-discrimination ordinances have had on municipalities that have adopted them.
Radnor officials also asked about enforcing such legislation. Unanswered questions include: do municipalities have the power and right to follow up on discrimination claims and how much money and time would this legislation ultimately cost?
http://mainlinemedianews.com/articles/2010/11/23/main_line_s uburban_life/news/doc4cec250da578b180208518.txt?viewmode=ful lstory
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| | Topic: Mayor Adams to Proclaim Dec. 5-11 Transgender Child Awareness Week |
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| Mayor Adams to Proclaim Dec. 5-11 Transgender Child Awareness Week [message #121501] |
Wed, 24 November 2010 09:40 |
Teresa
Messages: 9342
Registered: September 2007
Location: Salem, Oregon |
Senior Member
Beginning Life Founder
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Mayor Adams to Proclaim Dec. 5-11 Transgender Child Awareness Week
November 23rd, 2010 at 4:47 pm
by Amanda Schurr
This just in from our friends at TransActive Education and Advocacy: Mayor Sam Adams will issue a proclamation declaring December 5-11 as "Transgender Child Awareness Week" in the city of Portland.
Per a press release from TransActive, this news marks the first time such a proclamation or official awareness of transgender children and their families has occurred anywhere in the United States or world.
On Sunday, December 5, TransActive holds its Third Annual Silent Auction and Raffle at Q Center (4115 N. Mississippi Ave.), the organization's major fundraising event of the year.
Mayor Adams' proclamation is included below in its entirety:
| Quote: | "Whereas, TransActive Education & Advocacy, founded by Jenn Burleton, Hayley Klug and Kaig Lightner is based in Portland and is an international leader in providing education, services, advocacy and research that benefits transgender and gender non-conforming children, youth and their families; and
Whereas, transgender and gender non-conforming children and youth are among the least understood, most marginalized and underserved of populations despite constituting at least one percent of all children and youth; and
Whereas, isolation, marginalization and rejection contribute to alarmingly high rates of
depression, low self-esteem and suicidal ideation experienced by transgender and gender non-
conforming children and youth; and
Whereas, transgender children who receive the love and support of their families, friends,
neighbors, communities, schools and culture have every opportunity to thrive and be successful; and
Whereas, transgender children and youth have identities that are, in every way as authentic, valid and natural as cisgender children and youth; and
Whereas, transgender adolescents deserve access to pediatric medical care and healthcare
coverage that affords them the opportunity to experience physical puberty in a way that is congruent with their gender identity; and
Whereas, all Oregon children and youth are guaranteed the right to express their gender identity as they experience it by the Oregon Equality Act, and they have the right to be educated in a safe, respectful and supportive school environment as required by the Oregon Safe School Act.
Now, therefore, I, Sam Adams, Mayor of the City of Portland, Oregon, the "City of Roses," do hereby proclaim December 5 through December 11, 2010 to be Transgender Child Awareness Week in Portland, and encourage all residents to observe this week."
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http://blogout.justout.com/?p=24535
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| | Topic: Houston cops should brush up on city ordinances |
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| Houston cops should brush up on city ordinances [message #121499] |
Wed, 24 November 2010 09:30 |
Teresa
Messages: 9342
Registered: September 2007
Location: Salem, Oregon |
Senior Member
Beginning Life Founder
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Houston cops should brush up on city ordinances
Posted on 23 Nov 2010 at 5:15pm
On Monday we told you about a transgender woman in Houston who was arrested last week for using the women's restroom at a city library. The woman, who identifies as female but has not had sexual reassignment surgery, was charged with entering a restroom of the opposite sex.
Again, the woman's arrest goes against a comprehensive nondiscrimination policy enacted by Mayor Annise Parker that allows people to use restrooms at city facilities based on their gender identity. But as it turns out, regardless of the nondiscrimination policy, this appears to have been a false arrest. That's because the city ordinance on which the arrest was based clearly states that it's only a violation if the person enters a restroom of the opposite sex "in a manner calculated to cause a disturbance." According to TransGriot, a cisgender woman successfully sued the city in 1990 after she was arrested for using a men's restroom because she didn't want to wait in the long women's line. Here's the city ordinance, taken directly from Municicode, with the relevant portion bolded:
| Quote: | Sec. 28-20. Entering restrooms of opposite sex.
It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly and intentionally enter any public restroom designated for the exclusive use of the sex opposite to such person's sex without the permission of the owner, tenant, manager, lessee or other person in charge of the premises, in a manner calculated to cause a disturbance.
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-- John Wright
http://www.dallasvoice.com/houston-cops-brush-city-ordinance s-1053505.html
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| | Topic: Communication at the airport |
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| Communication at the airport [message #121497] |
Wed, 24 November 2010 08:55 |
Teresa
Messages: 9342
Registered: September 2007
Location: Salem, Oregon |
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Communication at the airport
While many Americans have general privacy concerns about new airport security procedures, there are many groups of travelers whose concerns about privacy or insensitive treatment by TSA personnel are especially acute, including religious minorities, transgender people, and people with a variety of medical conditions, disabilities, or assistive devices.
One specific concern shared by many of these groups involves communicating with TSA officers about sensitive personal or medical matters in the often noisy, crowded, and rushed environment of security checkpoints. To give travelers an additional option for addressing these issues, TSA has developed a standardized notification card that anyone can use to discreetly inform officers about any disability, medical condition or medical device that could affect security screening.
Travelers simply write their personal information on the wallet-sized card and hand it to the security officer. These cards are purely optional, and they do not exempt anyone from security screening. However using the card should make it clear that officers should handle your condition or item in a sensitive and discreet manner. It also allows you to inform the officer without having to make verbal statements that could be overheard by other travelers.
No one is required to use this card, but you may choose to carry it and present it at any time. For example, you may wish to present it if an officer asks about an item on your person that may require additional screening. If this seems useful to you, simply print out the card and complete it, writing clearly a brief word or phrase to describe your condition or item in the blank. You may use any term you feel is appropriate to communicate with the officers.
NCTE has issued information and resources to help transgender people understand the new procedures and prepare for holiday travels. For more information, including how to file a complaint or take action, please follow this link.
http://transgenderequality.wordpress.com/2010/11/23/communic ation-at-the-airport/
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| | Topic: Prison system grapples with transgendered inmates |
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| Prison system grapples with transgendered inmates [message #121495] |
Wed, 24 November 2010 08:47 |
Teresa
Messages: 9342
Registered: September 2007
Location: Salem, Oregon |
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Prison system grapples with transgendered inmates
Sex-switch surgery funded for offenders, but not for all Canadians
By KATHLEEN HARRIS, QMI Agency
Last Updated: November 19, 2010 6:31pm
OTTAWA -- The Conservative government has ordered an abrupt halt to funding for federal inmates getting gender reassignment surgery.
Documents obtained by QMI Agency under the Access to Information Act suggest at least four offenders have sought the operation since 2008 - a controversial procedure that is not covered for many Canadians outside prison.
"The courts have ruled that CSC must provide essential medical services to inmates. However, we do not believe that sex change surgery is an essential medical service or that Canadian taxpayers should pay for sex change surgery for criminals," Public Safety Minister Vic Toews told QMI Agency.
"That's why CSC has been directed not fund such surgeries in the future," he said. The directive was made to the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) on Friday.
The ATIP documents obtained by QMI Agency are heavily censored, and CSC would not confirm how many surgeries have been granted or publicly paid for, citing the Privacy Act.
One background document says there are usually 10-16 transgendered inmates in custody at any time, with half to three-quarters taking hormones and about one or two requesting gender reassignment surgery each year.
Before the minister's directive, CSC followed a 2001 Canadian Human Rights Tribunal decision and a 2003 federal court ruling that require the consideration of sex reassignment surgery as an "essential medical treatment."
"CSC is legislatively mandated to provide every inmate with essential health care and reasonable access to non-essential mental health care that will contribute to the inmate's rehabilitation and successful reintegration into the community," said CSC spokeswoman Sara Parkes.
The cost of surgery and associated procedures varies depending on the individual patient's needs and based on consultation with recognized external experts, Parkes said.
According to CSC health services policy, pre-operative male-to-female offenders with gender identity disorder (GID) are held in men's institutions, while pre-op female-to-male offenders are held in women's institutions. CSC has received requests for both types of surgery.
Offenders diagnosed with gender identity disorder are accommodated with due regard for vulnerabilities with respect to their needs, including safety and privacy, Parkes said. The surgery is only considered when the offender has satisfied internationally recognized criteria for at least one year before incarceration and must be recommended by a recognized gender identity specialist.
Mickey Wilson, a Lethbridge, Alta., landscaper who underwent gender reassignment surgery 15 years ago, said provinces such as Alberta have "delisted" the surgery to save money or for political reasons.
Withdrawing funding could lead to increased mental health problems, despair and even suicide, he said.
"Inmates are also people, and inmates are not always guilty of heinous crimes," he said. "They may have been caught doing something against the law - it doesn't strip their basic rights. And in our country that includes health care."
Wilson tried to commit suicide several times - the first time in elementary school while growing up in southern Ontario -- and lived miserably on social assistance before his surgery. His life "blossomed" after the operation, and now he is a successful, productive member of his community.
Wilson does not know any trans offenders, but said it must be intimidating and frightening to be confined in such a closed setting divided by sex.
Kevin Gaudet, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation, doesn't support public dollars going to gender reassignment surgery for law-abiding citizens, let alone criminals.
"Health-care spending is rationed, so the question is, on what ought those precious tax dollars be spent - and many provincial governments have decided that gender reassignment surgery doesn't fall on the list of the important allocation of precious taxpayer dollars. It's an easy decision to understand - pay for it yourself," he said. "So it ought not to be allowed just because these people happen to be in a federal jail."
A 2008 letter from then-public safety minister Stockwell Day to a Canadian constituent said the provision of sex reassignment surgery would occur only in "highly exceptional circumstances" and that non-essential service, including ancilliary surgeries such as breast implants, are not covered by CSC.
Trevor Corneil, a B.C. physician with expertise in gender identity disorder, says there is much misunderstanding around GID, with many Canadians viewing sex reassignment surgery as expensive and "cosmetic."
"The public is very sensitive to their health care dollars, and there's a lot of misunderstanding about whether it's a choice or not, "he said. "It is not a choice. Your gender is not something you choose, it's something you're born with. And the actual anatomical sense may differ from your gender."
Corneil said in the long run, it is cost-effective to support people through the procedure because it makes them more productive, happy and healthy citizens. And that should apply for every Canadian.
"It's not about whether you're a criminal or not - it's about what your health-care needs are," he said.
kathleen.harris@sunmedia.ca
http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2010/11/19/16228286.ht ml
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| | Topic: Transsexuals not crazy, say rights groups |
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| Transsexuals not crazy, say rights groups [message #121391] |
Tue, 23 November 2010 14:11 |
Teresa
Messages: 9342
Registered: September 2007
Location: Salem, Oregon |
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Transsexuals not crazy, say rights groups
Defence Ministry will amend terminology
Published: 23/11/2010 at 12:00 AM
Transsexuals and rights activists are closer to having what they consider an offensive labelling of katoey removed from an official draft exemption document.
The Defence Ministry has bowed to pressure by amending the ministry's conscription regulations to provide reasons for exempting transsexuals from draft duties.
Under the existing regulation which has outraged transsexuals and rights activists, transsexuals who are exempted from military service are listed as having psychological problems in their sor dor 43 military certificate.
Transsexuals claim the "mentally ill" clause has robbed them of employment opportunities.
A new amendment to the conscription law being vetted by the Council of State means transsexuals would be relieved from draft service due to "gender identity disorder."
But transsexuals and rights activists have been lobbying for the ministry to use a neutral term rather than "disorder", which still suggests abnormality.
They have suggested that transsexuals be discharged from draft duty because their "physical appearances do not match their biological sex".
The proposal was discussed at a seminar on the issue yesterday organised by the National Human Rights Commission and the Thailand Queer Network that has campaigned for the omission of offensive labelling since 2005.
There were no objections from participants to the latest recommendation.
Col Niwatnakhon Makcharoen, deputy chief of the military personnel recruitment division attached to the Defence Ministry, said the ministry had no objection to the suggested wording.
He said the ministry had been amending conscription regulations to ensure they accommodated sexual diversity.
"We are fine with those words," he said.
"I don't think they will be any problem."
Dol Bunnag, chief judge attached to the Office of the President of the Supreme Court, has voiced support for proposed changes to any laws which are deemed to deprive people of their rights.
He also said the amendment should be implemented during the scrutiny of the Council of State to speed up the process.
"There is no need to withdraw the regulation [from the Council of State] and do it all over again," he said.
Thai law requires all males aged 21, apart from those who took a military training course during high school, to be selected for the army draft.
The Defence Ministry's proposed amendment will be forwarded to the cabinet for endorsement after it is vetted by the Council of State.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/207660/transsexuals-no t-crazy-say-rights-groups
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| | Topic: On the Streets: The Prostitution Conundrum |
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| On the Streets: The Prostitution Conundrum [message #121387] |
Tue, 23 November 2010 13:51 |
Teresa
Messages: 9342
Registered: September 2007
Location: Salem, Oregon |
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Beginning Life Founder
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On the Streets: The Prostitution Conundrum
by ALEX KRATZ
NORWOOD NEWS
It's a slow Monday night for Bianca, a transgender prostitute who operates on the corner of East 192nd Street and Davidson Avenue -- a quiet residential intersection near St. James Park, a place where the "tranny" sex trade has flourished, to the chagrin of local residents, for more than a decade.
"What are you doing here?" Bianca asks a potential customer, smiling coyly. "You're looking good."
Bianca's hair is pulled back tight against her skull, a frizzy, kink of thick dark hair puffs out into a pony tail. Her heavily made-up face is highlighted by voluptuous dark red, almost purple, lips, and big dangling, gold-colored hoop earrings.
"I'm slumming it tonight," she says, looking down at her baggy, gray-hooded sweatshirt, tight black skinny jeans and high tops. She is tall, but slender. Her sharp jaw line and wide shoulders give off just a whiff of masculinity.
Like the majority of the dozen or so prostitutes who ply their trade here, Bianca has male genitalia, but lives her life as a woman. Off and on, she takes hormones, but for the time being isn't interested in having full gender re-assignment surgery.
Bianca is 27, she says, and has worked as a prostitute near Davidson and 192nd ever since she was 16.
"My best friend got me into it," Bianca says. "She was doing it and was making a lot of money at it." She's thought about trying to get out, she says, but the money is too good. She earns enough to afford her own apartment on the Grand Concourse and usually only works a few hours a day.
On this Monday night, it's 11:30 p.m. It's been two hours and still no customers.
Ripe for Prostitution
One block off Jerome Avenue and the elevated 4 train, Davidson is a thin one-way street going north. It's lined by trees and handsome brick houses, an unusually low-density block in a section of the borough dominated by six-story apartment buildings.
T.K. Singleton, a coordinator of community initiatives for the nonprofit Bronx Community Solutions (BCS), which works through the court system to get prostitutes like Bianca off the street, says it's the "aesthetics" of Davidson that make it a hot spot for prostitution.
"It isn't highly populated," she says, "so there's not a lot of foot traffic." It's also relatively close to a highway, the Major Deegan, making it easier for johns to pop into the area from upstate, Connecticut and New Jersey.
Last month, Davidson homeowners showed up in force at the 52nd Precinct Community Council meeting and gave the commanding officer, Deputy Inspector John D'Adamo, "an earful" about the prostitution problems on their block.
Since then, D'Adamo has been arresting prostitutes and johns through a policing initiative called "Losing Proposition," which basically aims to arrest the problem away.
"After that [precinct council] meeting, there was a crackdown that seems to have quieted the problem," says Esteban Galvin, who lives on Davidson and runs a church out of his home.
Most people who live on Davidson or nearby have a story about an unpleasant encounter with a prostitute engaging in a sex act, usually in a parked car.
"Children shouldn't be seeing that kind of obscenity," Galvin says.
Another local resident, who didn't want to give her name, says she remembers walking home with her young son, 11 or 12 years ago. "I will never forget the experience," she says. "It was directly in front of us. It was a red car. They was, you know, doing their thing, at 2, 3 o'clock in the afternoon."
The woman says the prostitution presence isn't as dominant as it has been periodically in the past. "Before it used to be really crazy," she says. Several of the "young ladies of evening" she had come to know over the years have "disappeared," she says.
"The homeowners probably wouldn't agree with me," she says.
Stopping the Revolving Door
Singleton and other criminal justice experts say it's not easy to stop prostitution, even with arrest-intensive programs. Because it's a low-level misdemeanor crime, prostitutes who are arrested are usually back out in the street after a day or two in jail and a slap on the wrist.
Between 50,000 and 70,000 misdemeanor cases pass through the Bronx criminal court system each year, Singleton says. That's the highest volume of any borough and it makes quick plea deals for prostitutes inevitable, observers say.
"Once police do their job, then it's up to the prosecution," says
Diana Dykes, a former Assistant Bronx District Attorney who now works as a criminal justice professor at Monroe College. "And they're not going to hold up their calendars to move the case along [and not accept a plea deal]."
It's the goal of BCS to end this revolving door. Created by the Center for Court Innovations, a think tank arm of the New York court system, BCS "infiltrated" the Bronx criminal courts in 2005, says Elizabeth Taylor, the group's coordinator for court operations.
With 27 staff members housed inside the criminal court building on East 161st Street, BCS now oversees community service operations in the Bronx. They also serve as objective advisors for the assistant district attorneys and judges.
In most cases, they will try to steer prostitutes into "alternative sentences," which might place prostitutes into drug rehab programs or "psycho-social" classes instead of paying a fine or just getting off with time served. Taylor says the goal is to give prostitutes options other than going back out on the street.
They also work directly with police. Singleton went out of her way to praise D'Adamo's attention to the prostitution problem on Davidson. Along with patrol officers, BCS staffers go out to prostitution hot spots, which include Davidson, but also Hunts Point and Boston Road, and talk to prostitutes. Mostly, they gather data. "It helps us on the backside when they do get arrested," Singleton said.
"We know so and so has this, this and this [in their background] and then we can create sentencing options," Taylor says.
Since they took over, Taylor says BCS has increased compliance with sentencing mandates (showing up for classes, completing community service work, etc.), from 50 percent, to 70 percent.
The Cycle Continues
Singleton says they not only serve as a bridge between the DA's office and the police, but also to the community. Judges may see prostitution as a victimless crime, she says, but "we know it's the community that suffers."
Bianca mostly keeps to herself and goes about her business quietly, she says, but there are others on the block who get loud and start fights. She can understand why people are upset.
A couple of years ago, Bianca says she moved to Puerto Rico, where she still has family, and started taking classes. But without a job, she couldn't afford to stay. Employers wouldn't hire her, she says, because of her transgendered lifestyle.
This discrimination happens in the states, too, Singleton says, and it's a big reason why, combined with the stagnant economy, transgender prostitutes have such a hard time getting out of the life.
On Monday night, two other prostitutes went off with customers while Bianca talked about a savage beating she took at the hands of an African john last year. A scar on her cheek serves as a souvenir.
She's noticed a few more cops on the streets lately, but it's nothing that will stop her from coming out. The police presence ebbs and flows, she says.
In April, she says she was arrested by a persistent undercover cop who kept circling around until she finally took the bait. After they agreed on a price, Bianca got into the car and the two exchanged touches ("cops aren't supposed to touch," she says.) and the cop "ate a red light," she says. Cops swarmed the car. And then, she says matter-of-factly, "I went to jail."
She was out a couple of days later.
http://www.norwoodnews.org/story/?id=2140&story=on+the+s treets:+the+prostitution+conundrum
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| | Topic: TSA Screening Ineffective And Humiliating For Everyone, and Dangerous For Transpeople |
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| TSA Screening Ineffective And Humiliating For Everyone, and Dangerous For Transpeople [message #121386] |
Tue, 23 November 2010 13:42 |
Teresa
Messages: 9342
Registered: September 2007
Location: Salem, Oregon |
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TSA Screening Ineffective And Humiliating For Everyone, and Dangerous For Transpeople
11/22/10-by Bridgette P. LaVictoire
Six months or so ago I wrote up a piece about these full body scanners and, quite frankly, this has just gotten worse. At this point, I'd rather walk to England than fly. For the transsexual, this is an absolute nightmare. These scanners, even in the 'new' form where all they do is show a highlighted box on a generic figure is going to pick up the presence of non-standard genitalia and breast forms. It is already bad enough that breast cancer survivors are going to have their prosthetics show up, but also any wigs that they wear.
This goes for transgender flyers as well. How many are going to be given 'special' treatment when it is discovered that they still have a penis instead of a surgically crafted vulva, or a vulva instead of a surgically crafted penis? How many are going to be harassed because their bodies are not standard, and that is going to happen. Let us not kid ourselves, there are a lot of people out there who find the notion of a transperson to be a wonderful target for bullying.
Then we get into body discomfort. For me, the idea of being touched by a stranger- female or male- is rather abhorrent. While I am better able to tolerate the touch of a strange woman over the touch of a strange man, once it is found out that I was not born a standard woman, will I be assigned a male screener instead of a female one to do the pat down? A strange man touching me, especially in the groin, is likely to cause a major panic attack and flashbacks of being molested. Even if a woman does it, it will be uncomfortable in the extreme especially since many women are not exactly too thrilled to touch a transwoman's groin.
The TSA has managed to make a complete mess of things without needing to. There is no need for this kind of screening. There are proven methods which would work a lot better than this will, but those are not the equivalent of throwing the nation's collective dick on the table to prove 'ours' is bigger than Al-Qaida's. This testosterone poisoned thinking which equates a bloated military with effectiveness, threats with action, and waste with efficiency is going to ruin the US at the rate that things are going.
http://lezgetreal.com/2010/11/tsa-screening-ineffective-and- humiliating-for-everyone-and-dangerous-for-transpeople/
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| | Topic: Question: Does the TSA airport Searches break your 4th Amendment Rights? |
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| Question: Does the TSA airport Searches break your 4th Amendment Rights? [message #121335] |
Mon, 22 November 2010 18:33 |
Teresa
Messages: 9342
Registered: September 2007
Location: Salem, Oregon |
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Please read the following article before proceeding on to this post.
http://forum.beginninglifeforums.com/index.php/t/7415/2f3f6f 1f334a9aa5b46e4d80499d88a0/
This is the 4th amendment:
| Quote: | The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Amendment_to_the_United_ States_Constitution
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Here's the issue. If a transperson attempts to fly on an airplane, their trans status will be shown and they will be exposed. It's well known that trans people already suffer considerable violence because of being discovered to be trans. Therefore the act of going through airport screening puts a transpersons life and safety at risk.
The part of the 4th amendment that concerns me in this argument is this part: | Quote: | The right of the people to be secure in their persons...against unreasonable searches...shall not be violated...without probable cause.
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As this policy puts transgender people's lives at risk, I believe that it now breaks the US Constitutions 4th Amendment.
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| | Topic: Trans Justice Policy Briefing Tomorrow at Q |
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| Trans Justice Policy Briefing Tomorrow at Q [message #121322] |
Mon, 22 November 2010 17:37 |
Teresa
Messages: 9342
Registered: September 2007
Location: Salem, Oregon |
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Trans Justice Policy Briefing Tomorrow at Q
November 22nd, 2010 at 11:01 am
by Ryan Prado
Basic Rights Oregon, in partnership with Q Center , is co-sponsoring Trans Justice: A National Policy Briefing and Community Conversation on Tuesday, November 23 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Q Center. The event provides an opportunity for local trans, gender non-conforming and genderqueer community members to meet Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, and Lisa Mottet, transgender civil rights project director at the National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce--both of whom will be speaking.
Keisling and Mottet will lead a discussion centering on policy briefing, followed by a question-and-answer session.
"This is an important event for trans folks and allies to attend because it's an exceptional chance to learn more about what the national landscape looks like for trans justice, as well as the local one," explained Tash Shatz, trans justice and youth organizer for BRO and organizer for Washington County's Pride Project.
"Specifically, I think many folks in trans communities aren't deeply connected to national leadership and they have a lot of important questions about what's going on across the country," said Shatz. "This event is an opportunity to answer some of those questions and to connect to the amazing trans justice work that's being done locally."
Portland groups such as Collective of Geniuses, Q Center and Trans Fem* will also be on hand to speak about the work they are doing and to let attendees know how to get involved.
http://blogout.justout.com/?p=24404
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| | Topic: Controversy over mayor's transgender order |
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| Controversy over mayor's transgender order [message #121319] |
Mon, 22 November 2010 17:25 |
Teresa
Messages: 9342
Registered: September 2007
Location: Salem, Oregon |
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Controversy over mayor's transgender order
Miya Shay
Updated at 06:24 PM today
Monday, November 22, 2010
HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A person who was born a man, but lives life as a woman, was arrested after using the women's bathroom at a downtown Houston library. But was it really illegal? The confusion has a local pastor's group calling on the Texas attorney general to decide.
As a transgendered woman, Majanae Chambers is all too familiar with the debate over which bathroom she should use.
"If you live a life as a female, you should go into the female restroom because I went to a male restroom before and I got harassed in a male restroom," Chambers said.
But just last Wednesday, Houston police arrested a person at the city's main library for "knowingly entering a restroom of the opposite sex."
HPD says Nathanial Tyrone Moore told officers that he is in the process of becoming a woman, but was still technically a man.
"I mean if he's now a female, I guess they get to use the female one. They have stalls, right?" said one male library patron.
Earlier this year, Houston Mayor Annise Parker expanded an anti-discrimination executive order that allowed city employees to use restrooms based on their gender identity. But it's unclear if that order conflicts with existing city statute.
It's one reason why the conservative Houston Area Pastor Council has asked the attorney general for an opinion.
"It's the sort of legal and moral confusion we fully expected to take place and shows why it's a bad public policy. It needs to be reversed because there is no legal standard of what gender identity means," said Dave Welch of the Houston Area Pastor Council.
But Chambers says it doesn't matter what happens in the legal realm - being transgendered means facing obstacles.
"It don't matter who you are, what you are, you're always going to be discriminated against," said Chambers.
Court records show Moore pleaded guilty to using the restroom of an opposite gender and he was actually given credit for the two nights he spent in jail.
The mayor's office issued a statement Monday evening saying, "There appears to be a misunderstanding regarding applicability of my executive order and we need to clarify that. This is a matter of providing practical solutions in a diverse city. It is not about behavior. Where there is inappropriate behavior, there will be enforcement."
(Copyright ©2010 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id= 7804014
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| | Topic: Protesters Throw Eggs at Gay Rights Demonstrators |
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| Protesters Throw Eggs at Gay Rights Demonstrators [message #121317] |
Mon, 22 November 2010 17:21 |
Teresa
Messages: 9342
Registered: September 2007
Location: Salem, Oregon |
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Protesters Throw Eggs at Gay Rights Demonstrators
By Sergey Chernov
The St. Petersburg Times
Protesters holding Orthodox Christian church banners and icons, singing prayers and throwing eggs helped to bring the city's first authorized lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) demo to an abrupt end in St. Petersburg on Saturday.
According to organizer Maria Yefremenkova, around 20 counter-demonstrators were already at the site of the planned demo when around 10 LGBT activists arrived.
"They stood there and sang the Lord's Prayer and some psalms, but the main problem was a bunch of highly aggressive middle-aged men, who were indignant that the police were not dispersing us, but protecting us," she said.
"They shouted insults and threats throughout the event."
Later on, a group of 40 men approached the demo, stopped 20 meters away from it and began throwing eggs at the participants, despite the police presence. According to Yefremenkova, the officers looked at a loss for a while, but then detained some of the attackers.
With the police distracted, the men standing near the demo rushed at protesters, seizing a rainbow flag and banners, tearing down a stand and starting to trample it, she said.
The police said 10 were detained and charged with "disorderly conduct."
Yefremenkova said that activists recognized some of the attackers as belonging to nationalist organizations such as the Russian Imperial Union Order and People's Council (Narodny Sobor).
According to Yefremenkova, the demo was stopped 40 minutes after it had begun, when a representative of the district administration approached the organizers and asked them to discontinue the event for security reasons.
"It was even said that if we didn't stop it ourselves, they would stop the event because the security of participants was under threat," she said.
"They offered to transport us in their bus, which was perfect for us, because we hadn't thought about how we would leave the scene. The protesters were telling us, 'You'll have to go home eventually,' and making other such threats."
The demo was timed to mark the United Nations' International Day for Tolerance, observed on Nov. 16.
Yefremenkova said that the activists had prepared a performance portraying the history of their relationship with bureaucrats, Orthodox believers and judges, but had no chance to perform it.
"They are three sources of homophobia, we believe," she said.
According to Yefremenkova, the police failed to fully protect the activists. "Considering the nature of the event, they should have surrounded us and acted more decisively in regard to the provocateurs," she said.
City Hall and local district administrations had repeatedly refused to sanction any LGBT rights rallies until this month. Each of the nine locations proposed for a gay pride event in June was rejected by the authorities on various grounds that the activists described as "derisive." Five activists were detained when 19 protesters tried to hold a demo without a sanction.
According to Yefremenkova, the Moskovsky district administration refused to authorize a small rally as late as last month.
Last month, a St. Petersburg court ruled that City Hall's ban of June's gay pride event was illegal, while the European Court of Human Rights ordered Russia to pay damages to a gay rights activist for unlawful discrimination by the Moscow authorities, who repeatedly denied him and other activists the right to hold gay pride marches.
Yefremenkova said that in authorizing Saturday's event, the authorities may have been influenced by the court rulings and the rally's theme of tolerance. "We do have a tolerance program in St. Petersburg, even if the issue of homophobia is not featured in it in any way," Yefremenkova said.
http://www.times.spb.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=3 2992
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| | Topic: NCTE offers tips for transgender travelers on dealing with new TSA procedures |
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| NCTE offers tips for transgender travelers on dealing with new TSA procedures [message #121316] |
Mon, 22 November 2010 17:17 |
Teresa
Messages: 9342
Registered: September 2007
Location: Salem, Oregon |
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NCTE offers tips for transgender travelers on dealing with new TSA procedures
Posted on 22 Nov 2010 at 6:38pm
As transgender people and our families prepare to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday, many have expressed concern about the various new invasive equipment and procedures at the airport announced by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
NCTE opposes the routine use of full-body scanners and the new invasive patdown procedures. We have and will continue to work with the TSA to minimize privacy intrusions and ensure respectful treatment of transgender travelers.
We want all of our members and friends to have safe and uneventful travel this season; here are some ideas and information to help you do that.
First, it is important that you KNOW YOUR RIGHTS. Even if TSA personnel are not always familiar with travelers' rights, such as the right to decline a full-body scan, you should know them. You may need to politely inform the officer of your rights and choices.
Second, calmly and clearly expressing your choices is very important. This makes it easier for the TSA agents to understand what your needs are and may help you get through the checkpoint more quickly.
WHAT IS NEW
Airports are increasingly using full-body scanning technology to screen passengers, as a primary or secondary method of screening. These machines reveal intimate contours of travelers' bodies. [For a fuller understanding of whole body imaging and transgender people, see NCTE's resource.]
You have the right to choose whether or not to be screened in this way. If you choose not to be screened with a full-body scan, which shows TSA personnel an image of your unclothed body, you will patted down instead.
New, more invasive, patdown procedures will be used for passengers who decline a full-body image scan, set off a metal detector, or are randomly selected for additional screening. They are not to be used on travelers under the age of 13.
The new procedures are much more intrusive than in the past. They involve TSA officers using their palms and fingers to touch underneath and between breasts, inside thighs, and in the groin area and buttocks. While the TSA has said these new procedures are intended to improve safety, many travelers find the techniques extremely uncomfortable and inappropriately intrusive.
The new policy presents transgender travelers with a difficult choice between invasive touching and a scan that reveals the intimate contours of the body. Unless and until NCTE and our allies can get these unreasonable policies fixed, NCTE encourages transgender travelers to think through the available options and make their own decisions about which procedure feels least uncomfortable and less unsafe.
TRAVEL TIPS
Travelers should keep the following points in mind:
- Both travelers and TSA personnel have the right to be treated with dignity, discretion and respect. If you encounter any issues, politely ask to speak to a supervisor immediately. Remain polite. Do not raise your voice or threaten TSA staff; this only results in additional delays.
- You have the right to opt out of a full-body scan in favor of a manual patdown. It is your choice.
- You have the right to choose whether a pat down is conducted in the public screening area or in a private area, and, if in a private area, whether to be accompanied by a travel companion.
- You have the right to have manual search procedures performed by an officer who is of the same gender as the gender you are currently presenting yourself as. This does not depend on the gender listed on your ID, or on any other factor. If TSA officials are unsure who should pat you down, ask to speak to a supervisor and calmly insist on the appropriate officer.
- You should not be subjected to additional screening or inquiry because of any discrepancy between a gender marker on an ID and your appearance. As long as your ID has a recognizable picture of you on it, with your legal name and birth date, it should not cause any problem.
- Foreign objects under clothing such as binding, packing or prosthetic devices may show up as unknown or unusual images on a body scan or patdown, which may lead TSA personnel to do additional screening. This does not mean that you cannot fly with these items, only they may lead to further screening. Be prepared to give a brief description of what they are or check them in your luggage so that you can minimize scrutiny and delays.
- Items containing liquid, gel or powder substances will trigger additional security screenings and therefore we strongly recommend that you pack these items in your checked luggage or leave them at home.
- Wigs or hairpieces may require additional screening if they are bulky or not form-fitting. If you have gone through a metal detector or body scanner and TSA personnel want to do additional screening of a wig or hairpiece, you may request that a patdown be limited to your hairpiece or that you be permitted to pat the area down yourself and have your hands swiped for chemical residue.
- If you are carrying medically prescribed items, such as syringes for hormone injections or vaginal dilators, it is very helpful to have proof of the medical necessity of the item(s). Ask your doctor for a letter stating that he or she has prescribed the item or keep medical devices in their pharmacy packaging that includes a prescription label. Be prepared to briefly explain the purpose of the item if asked.
IF YOU ENCOUNTER A PROBLEM
Calmly state the problem and ask the TSA to take the appropriate action. If TSA personnel are unaware of your rights, there are sometimes placards with general information, such as the right to refuse to enter a full-body scanner, in the screening area. You can politely refer TSA screeners to them.
We strongly encourage you not to get in a confrontation with TSA personnel if at all possible. Threatening the TSA or other passengers or acting violently can result in very serious criminal charges. However, this does not mean that you cannot assert your rights, just that you should do so as calmly and positively as possible.
If you encounter a problem, you have the right to file a complaint about any incident with the DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. We encourage you to do this immediately after the incident, or as soon as you are able, and to also let NCTE know of the problem. This helps both us and the TSA know of the problem and hopefully resolve and prevent future problems.
CHANGING THE POLICIES
NCTE is working hard and has spent considerable time and resources with the TSA to address the concerns of transgender travelers, and we will continue to do so. Realistically, the policies outlined above are not going to change because they are invasive to transgender passengers but because they are intrusive to everyone subjected to them. In this instance, joining our voices more generally with other Americans may be the most effective way to bring about change.
If you would like to take action as well, here are some suggestions:
- Complete a feedback form on the TSA's website: https://contact.tsa.dhs.gov/talktotsa/talktotsa.aspx as part of their "Talk to TSA" program. This sends your feedback directly to the agency.
- Join together with other Americans who are protesting this policy, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, privacy groups and others. You can visit the ACLU's Take Action and Tell Us Your Story pages:
- Contact your members of Congress and urge them to take action. You can reach both your Representative and your Senators by calling the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.
- If you decide to participate in other actions, such as the "Opt Out" day proposed for the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, consider carefully any additional challenges or risks that might be present for transgender people when making your decision.
About NCTE
The National Center for Transgender Equality is a national social justice organization devoted to ending discrimination and violence against transgender people through education and advocacy on national issues of importance to transgender people. By empowering transgender people and our allies to educate and influence policymakers and others, NCTE facilitates a strong and clear voice for transgender equality in our nation's capital and around the country. The National Center for Transgender Equality is a 501(c)3 organization.
http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=pwaqy9aab &v=0012kO3uRH1XjBI--gt11imRhl2hEkIj4DDLCzuhNyM2UlvrfvaI3 QdCHEgKnlF4vpo0-8pIs-gHYsHHnWPhtcsrKoYGtERR308fnVNAP0BteZIh8 7cQK2e_K6YGboEc2R_VLge4iMhF58%3D
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| | Topic: TSA security angers passengers |
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| TSA security angers passengers [message #121306] |
Mon, 22 November 2010 16:48 |
Teresa
Messages: 9342
Registered: September 2007
Location: Salem, Oregon |
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TSA security angers passengers
Will Pavia From: The Times
November 23, 2010 11:04AM
An elderly traveller undergoes an enhanced pat down by a
Transportation Security Administration agent at Denver Airport
WITH a day to go until Thanksgiving the outrage is mounting, the horror stories are multiplying and all over America millions of travellers are preparing for a day of chaos to match any holiday in recent history.
Anger over the full-body scanners that have been installed in 70 airports, and the enhanced "pat-downs" perpetrated on any who refuse to be scanned, has been building since the body searches were introduced at the beginning of the month.
Internet campaigns calling on travellers to boycott the scanning machines as they pass through airports tomorrow, in an attempt to sabotage the entire process, have gathered momentum, fuelled by thousands of complaints and the conviction that participants are engaged in a new civil rights movement.
Responding to the mounting fury on Saturday, President Obama, who was in Lisbon, attempted to assure the nation that he understood the level of frustration and that he had told the Transport Security Administration that it needed to "constantly refine" its techniques.
On Sunday, Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State, went even further on national television, saying that she too would hesitate to submit to the new searches that involved agents "patting down" passenger's chests and genital regions. "Not if I could avoid it," she said. "I mean, who would?"
In the midst of this row, the head of the TSA was appealing for passengers to desist from a boycott, which could cause chaos and prevent many Americans from getting home "to see their loved ones".
John Pistole, an FBI veteran who took over at the TSA in June, told CNN: "I recognise the invasiveness of it. I also recognise that the threat is real. The stakes are high, and we must prevail."
The first shot in the battle against the body scanners was fired by Brian Sodergren from Virginia, who works in healthcare. He built a webpage calling for a National Opt-Out Day on Thanksgiving Eve. "It's the day that ordinary citizens stand up for their rights, stand up for liberty, and protest the federal government's desire to virtually strip us naked or submit to an 'enhanced pat-down' that touches people's breasts and genitals in an aggressive manner," he wrote.
If passengers all asked for a pat-down, the system would break down under the strain of the delays caused, he added.
Another site, WeWontFly.com, soon attracted tens of thousands of hits. Others began documenting the process and posted the videos to YouTube.
One woman passing through Seattle airport performed a striptease as she passed into the screening area. "Instead of being scared and humiliated like the TSA wants me to be, I'm going to try and enjoy this experience the best I can," she said in an online video. "I'm just sorry the TSA doesn't work like a brothel, where you get to pick the one that's hottest."
A blogger from Indiana composed a song, Comply With Me, that ran to the tune of Frank Sinatra's Come Fly With Me. For the lyric "Once I get you up there", he substituted: "Once I get all up there."
The hero of the fledgeling movement, however, was John Tyner, from Oceanside, California, who stopped an official from patting down his groin with the words: "If you touch my junk, I'll have you arrested." The exchange, recorded on his mobile phone and put up on YouTube, was soon seen by hundreds of thousands of viewers.
"Rosa Parks would be proud," wrote a respondent on his website. "The time has come for all good men and women to come to the aid of the party of individual liberty." Don't Touch My Junk soon became the slogan of the movement and T-shirts were printed.
Fresh outrages were uncovered. An eight-year-old boy, passing through Salt Lake City international airport, was shown, without his shirt, being searched by agents. A Washington lobbyist told Reuters how his own son, also 8, had been searched at Orlando airport in Florida.
"We spent my child's whole life telling him that only Mom, Dad and a doctor can touch you in your private area, and now we have to add a TSA agent, and that's just wrong," he said.
A transgender man from California said that he had heard TSA officials giggling as he passed through the scanner. A traveller on his way through Atlanta told the Atlanta Journal and Constitution: "I know it sounds extreme but if someone had done that to me in public I would have been screaming and hollering for the police to help."
TSA officials are equally angry at the opprobrium they have suddenly become subjected to. An official in San Diego had been "verbally abused by a member of the travelling public", he told CNN. "The fact that some in the media would hail the traveller as some kind of folk hero is shameful."
Some opponents of the scanners claimed that they posed a health risk, despite checks carried out by the Food and Drug Administration and Johns Hopkins University. They pointed to a letter from four scientists at the University of California, who wrote to the President's Office of Science and Technology Policy expressing "serious concerns about the potential health risks" and calling for a new "independent evaluation".
To meet their concerns, an electrical engineer in California by the name of Jeff Buske has begun marketing underwear that he says will protect the dignity and health of all who wear it as they pass through the scanners. The briefs contain patches in the shape of fig leaves composed of a lead-free material that would, he claims, shield the wearer from radiation.
Another Californian, a researcher with the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, suggested that the uproar could be avoided if his own suggestion were implemented: a piece of software that would distort the image of travellers passing through the body scanners, so that their skeletons resembled reflections in a fairground mirror. This would ensure that the images obtained by the scanners were no longer "titillating" and the whole process could proceed with dignity.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/travel/tsa-security-angers-p assengers/story-e6frg8rf-1225959222857
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| | Topic: Disclosing Trans Status |
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| Disclosing Trans Status [message #121257] |
Mon, 22 November 2010 15:09 |
Teresa
Messages: 9342
Registered: September 2007
Location: Salem, Oregon |
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Disclosing Trans Status
Every gender identity has its own rules for social interaction. It's when you step into the larger world that etiquette gets a little tricky. You meet someone. You fall "in like." Finding the right moment to reveal you're transgendered requires tact, timing and, sometimes... a little luck.
March 02, 2010
On the Spot
The music at the club was pounding and we were dancing close. It wasn't exactly a date, as the friend I was with wasn't exactly available, but I was happy just to dance and share a flirtatious energy. I didn't expect one of the other patrons to come and ask to dance with us both. Within 10 minutes, she was making out with me, groping my side, grinding her leg into my crotch. My mind was racing.
I'd heard the advice to always disclose my trans status before doing anything sexual at least dozen times, but this was my first time navigating it. I'd met all my previous partners through my activism. They knew that I was trans long before the first date. I'd never picked someone up in a club before. It was so loud that we needed to shout just to exchange names. Somehow, yelling: "I'm trans!" over the surrounding cacophony didn't seem like the best way to come out.
Disclosing as Opposed to "Coming Out"
When to disclose trans status to a potential partner is a complicated issue that has been hotly discussed in the trans community. When it comes down to it, the answer invariably is: "It depends." Just like rules about how long to wait before calling after your first date, there's no one time to disclose what works in all situations. The first date, the second date, never, a few hours before sex, when saying hello; any of those could be the best answer in at least one situation, and there are lots of things to consider when deciding what is appropriate.
To begin, let's catch up on the basics of what disclosure is and isn't. A lot of people attempt to extend the metaphor of "the closet" from LGB identity to the issue of trans status disclosure, but it's really a different situation. Cis (non-trans) LGB folks who are closeted are presenting a fake image to the world and hiding who they really are. What makes "coming out" so liberating for them is that they finally have the chance to be and be seen as who they really are. Trans people who hide by living as a gender they do not identify with can be said to be "closeted," but they are not who's typically being discussed in terms of disclosure.
Being a trans woman living as a woman, I get to be who I really am regardless of whether or not I disclose my trans status. However, telling people I'm trans can result in people suddenly no longer seeing me as a real woman. Contrary to the experience of coming out, disclosure of trans status often puts me at risk for losing the ability to be seen as who I really am.
The Myth of Deception
When disclosure is presented as an obligation or responsibility, it's given as either an obligation to the cis partner or to the trans person's own safety. The first reason is clearly motivated by the assumption that trans people's genders are less valid or real than cisgenders, which means that trans people are somehow lying by presenting their true selves. It plays on the trope of the transsexual deceiver, á là, The Crying Game or The Jerry Springer Show.
It's true that trans status can be very important in some trans people's lives, but to others, it's just an anomalous fact in their medical history. If someone doesn't notice that their partner is trans, then chances are, their trans status is not impacting their life-- in which case, I'd argue there is no more obligation to disclose that than there is the obligation to disclose things like religion, political affiliation, ethnic heritage, survivor status, occupation and work history, past abortions, hobbies, and food allergies. All of those are fine things to discuss, but normally, you don't claim someone is lying or deceptive if they haven't discussed mentioned them by a specific point in the relationship. There is no reason trans status should be treated differently.
I might be aghast if I discovered a lover was a major fan of G. W. Bush, but if I'd never asked about politics, then it would be as much my fault as theirs that I never knew that piece of who they were. Similarly, if someone deeply cares about their partner's trans status, but never asks about it, they cannot claim that their rights were violated because their partner never brought it up.
The Myth of Trans Panic
The idea of to disclosing for one's personal safety has more merit, but is often couched within many assumptions that disempower trans people. The biggest one of these is the myth of "trans panic"-- the idea that a reasonable straight cis person would be unable to prevent him/herself from killing a partner they discovered was trans.
While there are some cases of straight cis people killing their trans partners in such instances, but because most trans murders are never thoroughly investigated, it's not clear how many of these cases are simply excuses to get off with minimal punishment, and how many are actual trans panic. However, we can see from recent court cases that many murderers did, in fact, know that their partners were trans before they had sex, and only claimed not to have known because they realized such a story would play on the jury's transphobic sympathies. Certainly, with the proliferation of this myth in the media, it's likely trans panic happens more often on TV than in real life.
Early disclosure is not an automatic preventive to violence. Those who are willing to commit violence when they find out that the person they just fucked is trans very well might react the same way when they find out the hottie they wanted to fuck is trans. Last November, a young trans woman shared an impactful example of just that on youtube.
Visibility is not without its own risks. Even if the disgruntled potential partner doesn't assault the trans person upon learning their status, they may go around telling everyone else--including someone who might be more violent. Trans people should be empowered to control their own level of visibility, and not be badgered into taking on a level of visibility or disclosure that feels uncomfortable or dangerous to them.
Practical Precautions
Whether choosing to disclose or not, there are plenty of steps that can be taken to reduce the risks involved in any dating situation. To begin with, all the basic safety protocols typically advised when meeting someone via the Internet apply here: Let your friends know where you are. Have a friend with you if appropriate. Meet in a public or semi-public space. Set up a safety call in which a friend calls to check on you at a certain point (if they can't reach you they then call the police). Let your date know that you have a friend expecting to hear from you at a certain time.
It can also help to know ahead of time under what circumstances you want to disclose or not. Consider factors such as what kind of connection you're forming, and how long it is likely to last. Are they likely to find out on their own? How important is your trans status in your life? Are there other things in your life that you're going to have to hide in the process?
Finally, don't forget that it's an option to test the waters before actually disclosing. Ask their friends about them. Get a general sense of how capable of violence they are (don't forget that the strong, protective type can do a lot of damage if they decide to turn against you). If you can, find out if they know trans people. Ask them what they think about trans movie of trans related issues in the news (mention Chaz Bono). Mention an imaginary trans friend if you have to. Above all, trust your intuition. If something feels wrong, don't be afraid to simply leave. And when balancing all of these risk management concerns, don't forget who is ultimately responsible for anti-trans violence--the perpetrators. No matter what decisions trans people make around disclosure, their partners are fully capable of not committing assault or murder.
In my case, I was in a public space, with a friend right next to me. Even though she could have discovered my trans status herself with a wayward grope or while grinding her thigh into me, I felt rather safe and decided to let things run their course. When we were about to go our separate ways, I decided to tell her. It turned out she hadn't guessed. She only said, "Oh," and paused for a moment before inviting me back to her place.
http://www.edenfantasys.com/sexis/sex-and-society/coming-out -as-a-transsexual-0302102/
[Updated on: Mon, 22 November 2010 15:11]
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| | Topic: GLBTIQ COMMUNITY: NOT SO INCLUSIVE AFTER ALL |
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| GLBTIQ COMMUNITY: NOT SO INCLUSIVE AFTER ALL [message #121254] |
Mon, 22 November 2010 14:48 |
Teresa
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GLBTIQ COMMUNITY: NOT SO INCLUSIVE AFTER ALL
Written by Still Fierce, via online
22 November 2010
Posted in Letters to the Editor
Recently, Still Fierce: Sydney Intersex, Sex and /or Gender Diverse Collective, learned that a number of marriage equality rallies across the country are going to be held on Saturday November 20. November 20 is the date of Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), which is an internationally held annual event to remember those who have been killed as a result of hate crimes.
Editor's Note: This letter was submitted to SX prior to November 20 to be published in this issue out on November 22.
Recently, Still Fierce: Sydney Intersex, Sex and /or Gender Diverse Collective, learned that a number of marriage equality rallies across the country are going to be held on Saturday November 20. November 20 is the date of Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), which is an internationally held annual event to remember those who have been killed as a result of hate crimes. We were both disappointed and angered to discover, not only that the demonstrations will be held on November 20, but also that the advertising did not mention Transgender Day of Remembrance at all. This is surprising, as organisers of the demonstrations seem happy to, apparently, tokenistically include and refer to intersex, sex and/or gender diverse [ISGD] people.
Perhaps the clash of dates is a coincidence, but even so, it clearly points to a lack of engagement with the ISGD community. What is even more frustrating is that organisers of the rallies continually claim to speak for GLBTI, when it is clear they are simply referring to specifically GLB only. Furthermore, all of the language surrounding the same-sex marriage campaign both excludes and disregards ISGD identities, and there is no reference to the complexity of the issue when it comes to ISGD people. For example, when an ISGD person is unable to have their birth certificate changed to reflect their sex and/or gender.
As members of the ISGD community, we are sick of the continual attempts made by gay and lesbian organisations and groups to represent or speak for ISGD people. What we really need is real dialogue and engagement, as well as real solidarity and support.
We are calling for all the marriage equality rallies to hold a minutes silence for TDOR, and to mention the violence directed towards ISGD people. We feel that this would be an important step forward for the campaign, if organisers wish to form networks of solidarity with the ISGD community.
Still Fierce, via online
http://sxnews.gaynewsnetwork.com.au/letters-to-the-editor/gl btiq-community-not-so-inclusive-after-all-008117.html
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| | Topic: Sex-change op gave me a new lease of life - aviation enthusiast who became a woman |
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| Sex-change op gave me a new lease of life - aviation enthusiast who became a woman [message #121251] |
Mon, 22 November 2010 14:36 |
Teresa
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Sex-change op gave me a new lease of life - aviation enthusiast who became a woman
Rikki McLain
By alan thompson
For decades Brian McLain felt he was "living a lie" as a woman trapped in a man's body.
Now the former company accountant has finally realised her dream of becoming a woman.
Known as Rikki, she lives in a picturesque, quintessentially English Rutland village, happy with who she is and the life she is living.
Rikki said: "I'm on the right route now. I have no regrets whatsoever and I am thoroughly enjoying life."
Rikki said she had known from the age of eight that she wanted to be a woman.
But it was not until she was at grammar school and read a newspaper article about the first sex change operation, that she realised gender realignment was possible.
She said: "It was like a flash bulb had gone off in my head, thinking it could be done.
"It was bloody difficult hiding my true self from family, friends and work colleagues."
Belfast-born Rikki was married for 35 years to Joan who died four-and-a-half years ago from cancer.
Joan's death was to trigger a journey which culminated in a £10,000 sex-change operation last year to turn Brian into Rikki.
Rikki said her one regret was that she had hurt Joan during their marriage.
She said: "I was always leading a double life. It created difficulties of my own making.
"My only regret in my marriage is that I hurt Joan through that aspect of my life.
"She discovered I was cross dressing about half way through our marriage. She was a lovely girl. We had no family although Joan suffered two miscarriages."
Aviation enthusiast Rikki moved to Rutland four years ago, specifying to estate agents that her house should be within five miles of RAF Cottesmore.
She herself owns a Lockheed Starfighter a supersonic single-engined, Cold War interceptor jet.
It is kept with a collection of cockpits from other aircraft of the same era including a Canberra Buccaneer, Sea Vixen and Hunter in a private collection at an airfield in Northamptonshire.
Rikki joked: "Someone pointed out to me that aviation is the most macho of hobbies. It's a case of 'big toys for big girls'.
"I've had no aggro in the aircraft preservation field although one or two have asked if I'll no longer be getting my hands dirty to protect my nails."
Rikki had the three-hour operation at the Nuffield Hospital in Leicester in August 2009.
She said: "Before you can have it you have to have been living full-time as a woman for 12 months.
"You have to be prepared to suffer a lot, it can be painful psychologically when you know you're living a lie.
"The thought of the operation didn't scare me in the slightest, it was just the thought of the anaesthetic."
"I was determined nothing would come between me and my goal, you need that attitude.
"It is a major step and you're breaking one of the major taboos in civilisation.Part of me wishes I had done this 30 years ago, but I didn't begrudge a day of my marriage.
"Genetically I will always be male. "You can get a gender recognition certificate which enables you to get your birth certificate changed.
"It's been an amazing journey, painful, but the destination is wonderful."
http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/news/Sex-change-op-gav e-new-lease-life/article-2920508-detail/article.html
[Updated on: Mon, 22 November 2010 15:10]
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| | Topic: Drawing attention to the transgender plight |
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| Drawing attention to the transgender plight [message #121230] |
Mon, 22 November 2010 11:57 |
Teresa
Messages: 9342
Registered: September 2007
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Drawing attention to the transgender plight
By Brittany Blackshear
Contributing Writer
Published: Sunday, November 21, 2010
Updated: Sunday, November 21, 2010 16:11
More than 20 students lied with their bodies spread out on the concrete ground on Friday in front of the Student Union, drawing expressions of shock, confusion and sympathy from on-lookers.
However on-lookers perceived their actions, the students remained planted on the ground to represent the statistic of a deadly hate crime committed against a transgender individual every nine days.
"I knew they were doing some kind of protest," said freshman micro and molecular biology major Crystal Hebert, who passed by the group paying respect to the loss of transgender people from hate crimes.
The public demonstration, which took place from noon to 2 p.m., was put on by Equal at UCF and Come Out Orlando, a group of local gays and supporters of gays dedicated to achieving equal rights and protections for Central Florida's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.
Junior event management major Meshia Wright was present in support of the event where some performed songs dedicated to the victims and read out a list of names of victims.
"I'm here to remember my brothers and sisters who got taken away just for being who they are," Wright said.
The public demonstration was a part of a weeklong series of events leading up to Saturday, the national Transgender Day of Remembrance.
On Monday, Come Out Orlando held "A Night of Appreciation" at the GLBT Center, where they recognized the movers and shakers in Orlando's transgender community. Tuesday they held a panel of transgender and allied individuals at UCF's Equal meeting. Valencia Community College held an event on Wednesday that included a screening of Boys Don't Cry, a transgender panel and a vigil. For the national Transgender Day of Remembrance, Come Out Orlando also held a candlelight vigil at Lake Eola in Downtown Orlando.
Alexander Sierra, co-director of Come Out Orlando and a junior biology major, said the purpose of the event was to reach out to the UCF community that isn't aware of transgender issues or what Transgender Day of Remembrance really is and bring it to the forefront.
"It is important to note that we are very glad to hear of the recent addition of gender identity and expression to UCF policy, and this demonstration is not directed at UCF or the leadership thereof," Sierra said. "The day was created to pay homage to the transgender lives that have been lost due to hate crimes and ignorance. It is their memory that we are honoring."
National Transgender Day of Remembrance has been in effect since the 1998 murder of Rita Hester, a transgender woman. Since Hester's murder, various ceremonies, candlelit vigils and public demonstrations have taken place nationwide to remember victims of deadly hate crimes.
"There are lots of simple ways to make a difference. Sometimes just being open and honest about who you are can really save a life," Sierra said. "It is immensely helpful to someone struggling with their identity to see that it's OK and that there are people like them. UCF students could also start getting involved with Equal at UCF, their own LGBT organization on campus, to meet others like them, or SAFE (a branch of Equal) which is involved in more political endeavors."
Hunter Monahan, a Valencia Community College student, came to UCF to participate in the demonstration and offer support.
"We do everything the same just like everyone else," Monohan said. "We have the same struggles as any non-transgender individual."
http://www.centralfloridafuture.com/drawing-attention-to-the -transgender-plight-1.2413309
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| | Topic: Transgenders share stories of perseverance |
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| Transgenders share stories of perseverance [message #121229] |
Mon, 22 November 2010 11:52 |
Teresa
Messages: 9342
Registered: September 2007
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Transgenders share stories of perseverance
By Samantha Collins
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Saturday marked the 12th anniversary of the International Transgender Day of Remembrance. Held every year on Nov. 20, the day is set aside to remember the transgender people who were killed in hate crimes and those who have attempted or committed suicide.
Here are the stories and experiences of two transgender people and how they persevered through hard times to find happiness.
Avery's Story
He said he chose his new name, Avery, because it was gender neutral, and the fact that it meant "adviser to elves" in French was perfect. It fits his quirky, outgoing personality.
Avery Dame, a graduate student from Tuscaloosa, Ala., is a transman. He was born into a woman's body, but he is trying to pass as a man. Growing up, he didn't understand why he was different. He said he never felt he was born into the wrong body when he was a child. However, he knew something was wrong, and his mother constantly told him.
"At one point she told me that I walked like a farmer and I was like 'what?'" Dame said.
He experienced a lot of those instances growing up in Alabama. He said he started to believe that whatever he was was wrong, and he started to have suicidal ideas.
"I was wrong and I didn't really deserve to exist," Dame said.
One night years later, about a month after his sophomore year started at the University of Alabama, Dame took a large amount of over-the-counter pain killers with alcohol. He said he couldn't remember what triggered it, but he attempted suicide that night. According to the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, 41 percent of transgender people have attempted suicide.
"People do not accidently take half a bottle of pain killers and a large amount of alcohol," Dame said. "This never happens on purpose -- people just don't do that."
As the night passed, Dame began to think that committing suicide was a bad idea and called one of his good friends, Betty. Betty threatened that if Dame didn't call poison control center then she would call the campus police. He called the poison control center.
He said the woman at the center eventually hung up on Dame because she was too busy that night. It had been about two hours since he took the medication.
"So much of that night was fuzzy," Dame said. "I know I did it, but I don't remember the specific details of it."
He remembered finding some activated charcoal, which is used to absorb poisons in the stomach, and headed to a friend's house. He said the first thing his friend said to him changed his life. She said "How could you think that I wouldn't care?" He said that someone cared and validated his identity; however they did it, was huge for being transgender person.
"It's so easy for the rest of the world to invalidate you because somehow you are breaking the rules," he said.
Now, Dame said that although his life has become easier, it still has difficulties passing as a man. He binds his breasts and "packs" by putting a penis-shaped item in his pants. He said the most difficult part of passing his finding clothes to hide his female shape.
"I have child-birthing hips," he said. "It's sometimes hard to cover them up."
He will start taking testosterone later this week. He said he won't try to act masculine; he would act like himself. He said the hormone would make up for the fact that he was not willing to change his behavior for society. He said he did not plan on having sexual-reassignment surgery because of the risk of being ostracized at home.
However, he said he now feels his life is starting to become more balanced. He knows he can now be more like himself.
"I feel a lot more whole," Dame said.
Stephanie's Story
She was born in 1957 in Lawrence. She said the very first thing she knew about herself was that she was a little girl born into a little boy's body. She didn't have the words to explain how she felt when she was five or six, but she knew she was different.
Therefore, Stephanie Mott, a Topeka resident, would have to pretend to be a little boy everywhere she went. She said when she wanted to express herself as a little girl she had to be in the "shadows and in the closet in the dark."
"It was horrible," Mott said.
It was only after her family moved to a large farm outside of Eudora that she could secretly express herself as a girl. However, she said she still couldn't talk about it.
"It's like the heat during the summer -- the torment, the stress, the shame and the disconnect of having to pretend who you are, and feeling alone," she said.
In 1969, when the first space shuttle landed on the moon, she said when little boys would dream about becoming an astronaut, she had a different dream. She hoped that if she could make the Russians mad enough, they would break into her room and force her to change into a girl.
"It was just a fantasy," Mott said. "Fantasies were all I had."
When she hit puberty, her body started to change. She said the line between being a boy and girl became far more obvious in a physical sense. When she turned 13, she said she found that because of Renee Richard, a tennis player who was a transgender from male to female like Stephanie, that transitioning from a male to a female was possible. However, she would not make that change for almost 35 years.
She started college at the University at 17 years old. During her sophomore year at the University she discovered alcohol.
"Alcohol changed the way I felt." Mott said. "For the first time I didn't feel that fear."
She drank abusively for years. By 2005, she said she managed to drink herself homeless and ended up in a rescue mission in Topeka. Soon she realized that she needed to change.
"My sisters were tired of watching me kill myself," she said.
She said things finally got bad enough that she realized she needed to stop pretending to be a man. She joined a church in Topeka where she met a transgender woman for the first time. After talking with her she believed that she could finally transition. It took her 35 years and she was finally ready. She said she thought it would be too hard, too much money. She said she feared that her loved ones would disown her or that she would lose her job. That fear was gone.
"I wasn't alone anymore," she said. "That changed the nature of my problems."
In July 2006, she went from Stephen, her given name, to Stephanie.
"It was like somebody turned on the light switch and I was no longer living in the dark," Mott said. "I was born for the first time. I was really living."
-- Edited by Anna Nordling
http://www.kansan.com/news/2010/nov/21/transgenders/?news
[Updated on: Mon, 22 November 2010 15:12]
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| | Topic: Summit focuses on empowering gay teens |
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| Summit focuses on empowering gay teens [message #121228] |
Mon, 22 November 2010 11:49 |
Teresa
Messages: 9342
Registered: September 2007
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Summit focuses on empowering gay teens
By Catherine Martin Columbia Daily Tribune
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Wick Thomas, president of the Equal Youth Center in Kansas City, had an important message for the roughly 140 young adults who turned out for the Missouri Statewide Youth Empowerment Summit in Columbia yesterday.
"Don't think you just have to be the victim," he told the audience, many of whom identified themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer.
Thomas' words were especially relevant in light of the recent slew of suicides related to bullying. But he wanted everyone in the audience to recognize that they don't have to be victims, too.
"You don't have to just be an entity who's bullied," Thomas said. "You have the power to change that. You can do beautiful and amazing things."
Many in attendance responded to that message to get involved.
"We're going to start going to meetings every week," Kristopher Miller, a transgender individual, said of himself and his girlfriend.
Others who already are involved in groups or organizations saw the summit as a good opportunity to meet new people and discuss how they can change the status quo.
"I'm very opinionated on the way things are, and I definitely want things to change," said Victoria Stokes, 18, of Springfield. Stokes said she came to the summit to represent her organization, the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of the Ozarks, and to learn more about ways to help the gay community.
"It's been great, it's been full of a lot of information and I've learned a lot," she said.
Those who attended the summit listened to speeches and participated in a variety of workshops. Stokes found the suicide prevention workshop particularly informative. "It's always important to know anything that can help save someone's life," she said.
But the main issue that brought Stokes to Columbia yesterday was the opportunity to discuss how to support the Safe Schools Improvement Act, a federal anti-bullying bill that includes specific protection for students based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
State Rep. Stacey Newman, D-St. Louis County, spoke to attendees about the act and encouraged them to reach out to their representatives. "You have the power," she assured them, before giving them a crash course in lobbying.
"The best thing that you have power with is your own story," she said. "Speak from the heart. You all have a reason to be here today. Tell us about it."
Morgan Keenan, Safe Schools Field Organizer and summit coordinator, said gaining support for the bill was an important goal of the summit.
The next step, Keenan said, will be a video campaign, with a common message to the community from all young people in the LGBTQ community: "I'm just like your kid."
Although the video campaign is a similar concept to the "It Gets Better Project," which shows videos of support from famous people, the new campaign will focus on changing ways of thinking.
"I think the message we send to people in high school a lot of the time is you don't have the power," Thomas said. "But I don't buy that. You do absolutely have the power."
Reach Catherine Martin at 573-815-1711 or e-mail cmartin@columbiatribune.com.
Copyright 2010 Columbia Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
This article was published on page A1 of the Sunday, November 21, 2010 edition of The Columbia Daily Tribune with the headline "Summit shows teens' powerSpeakers seek to combat bullying.."
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2010/nov/21/summit-focus es-on-empowering-gay-teens/
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| | Topic: Donna Rose, a transgendered woman, focuses her energy on equality and everyone's right to a safe lif |
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| Donna Rose, a transgendered woman, focuses her energy on equality and everyone's right to a safe lif [message #121225] |
Mon, 22 November 2010 11:40 |
Teresa
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Donna Rose, a transgendered woman, focuses her energy on equality and everyone's right to a safe life
Published: Monday, November 22, 2010, 12:02 AM
Updated: Monday, November 22, 2010, 9:17 AM
IVEY DEJESUS, The Patriot-News
Paul Chaplin, The Patriot-News
Donna Rose, new Executive Director of the LGBT Community Center Coalition of Central Pennsylvania, at the organization's Harrisburg office.
Don't ask Donna Rose what it was like to live for 40 years with a man's body and expect simple answers.
Rose has been the subject of newspaper and magazine articles, so she is accustomed to the attention. She has appeared on ABC News and "Entertainment Tonight," answering invasive questions with thoughtful depth.
But at 51, Rose finally is comfortable in her skin. She seeks no one's approval nor does she intend to change the minds of people who send her e-mails suggesting she swallow blades.
As the newly appointed executive director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center Coalition of Central Pennsylvania, Donna Rose is concerned about equality and the right for everyone to live a safe, happy and productive life.
She is the voice for legions of young people dealing with the kinds of things that tormented her a lifetime -- but no longer.
"I've come to realize over the past 10 years that all I'm trying to be is just me," Rose says. "People want simple definitions, one-word answers to very complicated questions. Things like your sense of yourself can't be diluted to your gender, ethnicity, spirituality, any one component of yourself. I've reclaimed my life, and I'm living in a way that is very comfortable to me."
On a warm autumn afternoon, having shed her jacket, Rose is striking in a sleeveless knit top that shows off her muscular frame. But she doesn't like to dwell on her body. She sees it only as a vehicle.
Donna Rose used to be David Rose, a white, middle-class man who spent a lifetime obliging the expectations of family and society.
That journey began at birth, she says, when the doctor said: "It's a boy."
"I don't think most people really understand that is the most profound moment of their lives," Rose said. "As soon as that happens, you get a gender-appropriate name. They put you in a color that is gender-appropriate and people talk differently to you because you are a boy or a girl."
Her Syracuse, N.Y., childhood, with her mom, dad, sister and brother, was unremarkable. She avoids the word normal.
The hard and fast rules about boys and girls weren't strictly enforced early on, she says, but by the age of 3, Rose was questioning her identity.
By the time Rose entered puberty, the pressure to conform was overwhelming.
At 12, Rose asked about dressing up as a cheerleader. Rose's mother was adamant that it was inappropriate.
"I always expected I would outgrow it," Rose says. "This wasn't a part of me I wanted to acknowledge. It wasn't convenient."
Rose decided that if she had to be a boy, she was going to be the best boy.
The pudgy, unathletic teenager began lifting weights. In high school, Rose went out for the football team and played linebacker. She also became a nationally ranked wrestler.
In college, Rose bench-pressed 300 pounds and became a nightclub bouncer.
"I had gone from one extreme to another so people would never question what was on the inside because the outside was so obvious," Rose says.
In 1981, two months after graduating from Syracuse University, David Rose married his girlfriend. The two had a son and were married 20 years.
"I can't remember a single time that we raised our voices to one another," Rose says.
A rebirth as Donna
The death of her father 10 years ago forced Rose to take stock of her own life.
She realized she had lived the life others expected from her: father, husband, an information technology consultant for a Fortune 500 company.
Rose embarked on Donna's rebirth.
"People say you can't change who you are," she says. "I know who I am and so I don't need a chromosome, some piece of DNA or a body part to define myself to me. Is it a chromosome or that much deeper sense of who you are? Who you know yourself to be. How you want to be treated. How you want to live your life inside a binary existence of being boy or being girl."
The mere articulation of what she intended to do changed her life. David's wife left, and his 12-year-old son grew distant when he saw the physical transformation in his father.
Months of hormone therapy, painful, expensive surgeries and facial treatments changed the way Rose looked and felt. The estrogen wreaked havoc on a once even-keeled temperament. Rose also began to realize the world treated men and women differently.
Strangers rarely touched David Rose. His personal space was seldom invaded. Not so for Donna Rose.
People readily invade her personal space and are apt to touch her. In a crowded room, men come right up to her shoulder.
"It's interesting to see that as a straight, white guy in corporate America, the traits that made me successful -- confidence, forwardness, a level of assertiveness -- here now, as Donna, when I have those same traits, the term our society uses to describe me is a 'bitch,' " Rose says.
"The first time I got called a bitch, I was thrilled. It was a validation that I didn't suddenly turn into some vulnerable, docile person," she says.
In 2003, Rose published a book chronicling her transformation. "Wrapped in Blue" was the featured selection in the Texas Book Festival.
"I get e-mails every week," she says.
Rose has become a speaker and writer on LGBT inclusion and equality and was the first transgender board member of the Human Rights Campaign, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.
Rose says she gets plenty of hate mail, too. Some call her delusional, others, mentally ill.
"There are people who are not going to like what I represent, who won't even give me the opportunity to get to know me as a person because of their discomfort with what I've done -- what they think I've done is so profound based on their spiritual upbringing, their own background, you name it," Rose says.
Battling hypocrisy
Rose drove from Phoenix to Harrisburg two weeks ago to take her position with the coalition.
She anticipates little trouble adapting.
"I'm a poster child for change. ... Getting used to things that are different is what I do," Rose says.
These days, she draws courage and love from family. Rose and her mother, 81, speak every day. Rose is good friends with her ex-wife and close to her son, 25.
"The things he likes about me are still here and the things he doesn't like about me are still here, but the unconditional love is still there," Rose says.
Rose is determined to see the LGBT Community Center Coalition succeed in combating hate crimes, keeping kids safe and promoting equality.
"I find that one of the most prevalent attributes in our society right now is hypocrisy," Rose says. "People will say what they think is politically acceptable. But it's unfortunate that they place boundaries around higher ideals and principles, like freedom and justice. Things we grew up saying every day in school when we said the pledge [of allegiance] but that we don't mean for all. We mean for most."
Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, says Rose steps into her leadership role at a critical time as the transgender community increasingly battles discrimination in the workplace, housing, education and health care.
"It's really hopeful when you get someone of Donna's talent in that position," Keisling says. "I think it makes us all look better.
Keisling says Rose is an effective public educator.
"The reason people are uncomfortable with transgender people is because they think they don't know one or they haven't spent time with one," Keisling says. "Donna is very good at reaching out to people and reaching out to their fears and helping them understand who we are and that we are real people. We are your neighbors."
Keisling says the unemployment rate for transgender people is twice the rate of the general population. Pennsylvania is among 38 states in which transgender employees can be fired because of their gender identity.
"It's discrimination. Pretty straight forward," she says.
Pennsylvania, however, ranks highest among states where local governments have added anti-discrimination provisions to local ordinances.
"Donna is ideally suited for central Pennsylvania," says Keisling, who is originally from Susquehanna Twp. and served on the board of Common Roads, an LGBT support group, until 2002. "Ultimately, she is a good business person, a solid conservative business person. That's the kind of person Pennsylvania likes. I think they are going to be impressed with her."
Rose says that as a white, middle-class man, she never experienced discrimination. Already, she has been threatened by an employer and has been denied housing.
Rose knows tolerance can't be legislated and hate-crimes laws won't guarantee safety for LGBT kids. She worries about the stories of teens committing suicide after being bullied by peers.
"The fact is we're fighting a culture war," Rose says. "Somehow it's still OK to make jokes about LGBT people. It's still OK to use words like 'fag' and 'trannie.' It's still OK to push somebody."
She says society celebrates people who demonstrate courage, dignity and vulnerability -- but those become negative qualities when applied to gender and sexuality.
"That to me is the ultimate hypocrisy," she says.
Rose has spoken at funeral vigils for two transgender teens. Both were murdered -- one was found floating in a river, the other, a girl, had her head bashed in with a fire extinguisher.
She is encouraged that young people today are more accepting and tolerant. She hopes that one day society can look back at the transgender community and think nothing of it -- much like civil rights and women in the workplace.
She knows it's a long way off.
"But that's why I'm here," she says.
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2010/11/donna_ros e_a_transgendered_wom.html
[Updated on: Mon, 22 November 2010 15:12]
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| | Topic: Cass: Kill ENDA now |
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| Cass: Kill ENDA now [message #121224] |
Mon, 22 November 2010 11:35 |
Teresa
Messages: 9342
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Cass: Kill ENDA now
Becky Yeh - OneNewsNow California correspondent - 11/22/2010 4:10:00 AM
A conservative activist is warning Christians about the Democrats' push to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which he believes is part of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's agenda before her party loses control in January.
Many conservatives are convinced Pelosi and her fellow liberals are quickly working to pass ENDA before the lame-duck session ends in Congress. The measure would make it a crime to discriminate against anyone based on sexual preference, and anyone who does could face a lawsuit. But Gary Cass of DefendChristians.org points out that the legislation could ultimately obligate ministries to go against their biblical values.
"Theoretically, we could be faced with situations such as transgendered or homosexual activists applying for jobs at churches or ministries, even though they don't affirm the belief system and certainly don't comply with the values," he notes.
According to Cass, Christian schools would also be subject to hire individuals who are not Christians, which means children could have a teacher who encourages alternate lifestyles. If ENDA is passed, the new set of legislators taking office in January may be able to later defeat the bill -- but Cass acknowledges it would be more difficult.
"To overcome that, they would have to pass another bill, and then it would have to pass with a veto cruise majority, which is a very high threshold," Cass explains. "So the best thing for us to do is to kill it now."
So he is urging all Americans to contact their House members and urge them to fight against this bill.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=1236490
[Updated on: Mon, 22 November 2010 15:13]
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| | Topic: Transgendered individuals turning to surgery at younger ages |
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| Transgendered individuals turning to surgery at younger ages [message #121131] |
Sun, 21 November 2010 17:05 |
Teresa
Messages: 9342
Registered: September 2007
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Transgendered individuals turning to surgery at younger ages
Published On Sat Nov 20 2010
HELEN WOLKOWICZ
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
Jamie Evans is a talented artist and illustrator whose work has been commissioned by the Ontario Justice Education Network and the Canadian Aviation Museum, among other organizations. His clients are sometimes surprised by how young he is -- just 24.
They'd be even more surprised to discover that he was born a woman.
Evans, who asked that his real name not be used, suffered from gender identity disorder. People with this disorder are referred to as transgendered, or trans, a catch-all term to describe someone whose gender identity does not match the physical sex they were born with.
" 'Gender' is who you feel you are in your mind, and 'sex' refers to what you have between your legs," Chaz Bono has explained. Bono, the child of Cher and Sonny Bono, is a trans man.
Evans first began identifying as a man when he hit puberty. "I felt trapped in the wrong body," he says.
His green eyes are intensely serious as he talks about the most painful period in his life -- when he realized he was transgendered.
His way of coping was to become anorexic to minimize his female curves and inhibit menstruation.
"I hit rock bottom," he recalls. "I lost control of my body. I got help because I didn't know what to do. I couldn't help myself.
"My friend was becoming more distant; he didn't know what to do for me. Also, I had come out to him and he distanced himself. Mentally, I was breaking down -- I wanted to die. I couldn't deal with my body."
Evans would dress like a tomboy, and looking at his body in the mirror was a constant obsession.
"I would visualize not having breasts," he says.
Most trans people have traditionally waited until they were in their 40s or 50s to begin the process of transitioning to the other sex. Evans is part of a new wave who are doing so earlier. At age 20, he began working with Helma Seidl, a therapist at Ottawa's Making A Difference Counselling and Consultation, who specializes in gender identity disorder.
Evans made the decision to become male at the age of 21.
Dr. Gail Knudson, medical director of the Transgender Health Program at Vancouver Coastal Health and founder of the Canadian Professional Association for Transgender Health (CPATH), says that over the past five to 10 years there has been a fivefold increase in youth presenting as trans in Western Europe and North America.
Trans youth suffer from low self-esteem and rejection and have difficulty with peer, intimate and family relationships, adds Knudson, a professor at the University of British Columbia's Department of Sexual Medicine. "They are at higher-than-average risk for suicide attempts, poly-substance abuse, depression, anxiety and high-risk sexual behaviour."
A survey of 433 trans Ontarians 16 or older was published this month by Trans PULSE, a research project funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. It found that half of trans Ontarians have considered suicide and that 43 per cent of those surveyed had attempted suicide at some point in their lives. Trans individuals up to the age of 24 "were nearly twice as likely to seriously consider suicide as those over age 25, and almost three times as likely to have attempted suicide within the past year."
Those findings were released in advance of today's Transgender Day of Remembrance, which is being observed in Toronto and six other Canadian cities. In Ottawa, the local police will for the first time host a flag-raising event at their headquarters, and a march will be held to Parliament Hill to show support for Bill C-389, which proposes to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and Criminal Code to protect gender identity and expression.
"We have created such a strong social construct of what it means to be male or female," says Seidl. "(Trans people) constantly observe themselves to make sure that their behaviour fits their social gender assignment, an assignment that does not come naturally to them."
As they grow up, many trans individuals repress their feelings about their gender incongruence and play the role that society expects of them. They often get a job, find a spouse and perhaps even have children. Today, however, trans people are coming to terms with their gender identity at an earlier age.
Why? "There is greater accessibility to health-care professionals, more public information (via the media), and more support within the community, from parents and schools," Knudson says. "For example, many schools now have (gay-straight alliances)."
Once diagnosed with gender identity disorder, Evans was given a customized treatment plan by Seidl.
At 21, he began the process of becoming male. This included a hysterectomy, a double mastectomy
and hormone therapy.
"For a female-to-male patient, beginning hormone therapy means I throw them into menopause and then I throw them into puberty," says Seidl.
It's a lot to put oneself through, Knudson acknowledges, but she adds: "Transition is a medical necessity -- it's not something that people choose to do. All of the research outcomes prove that people not only have a better quality of life but live more productive lives."
But things don't get better overnight. "There's a fantasy that when you start hormones and get surgery, everything will be fine," says Evans, whose face is adorned with prickly stubble. "Hormone therapy is slow and agonizing -- you don't feel male or female. You feel rejected and more insecure."
And having been socialized as a girl, Evans needed to learn male behaviour and gestures.
As someone who has breached gender norms, Evans is troubled by instances of anti-gay violence.
"When I go into the men's bathroom, I'm really careful," he says. "There's a code: you walk in and you don't dare make eye contact with anyone. There's tension and it's real; looking at another guy can give the impression that you're gay."
But it's a mistake to make any assumptions about the sexual preferences of trans people. Once they've transitioned to their new sex, some will be gay, some will be heterosexual, some will be bisexual, and some will still be figuring it out.
Transition is a three-to five-year process, and Knudson says the most important predictor of success is family support.
Evans agrees. "There's no question that having my family and friends support me through all this made a huge difference. This is what saved me."
http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/article/894121--transgen dered-individuals-turning-to-surgery-at-younger-ages
[Updated on: Sun, 21 November 2010 17:06]
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| | Topic: Fighting for respect |
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| Fighting for respect [message #121130] |
Sun, 21 November 2010 16:57 |
Teresa
Messages: 9342
Registered: September 2007
Location: Salem, Oregon |
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Fighting for respect
Day of remembrance held for transgendered
By: Melissa Martin
Posted: 21/11/2010 1:00 AM
There were about a dozen faces to remember, a dozen names, and a dozen stories swept behind the push of history.
On Saturday, the sixth annual Winnipeg Transgender Day of Remembrance drew advocates and allies to Thunderbird House to remember those who lost their lives to violence, stigma or other facets of prejudice against people who identify as a gender that isn't the one assigned to them at birth.
"I'm involved for my sisters who have passed on," said Alaya McIvor, 27, who serves on the WTDOR committee.
Among those sisters: Divas Boulanger, who was slain in 2004 when she was 28 years old. In July, six years after Boulanger was murdered and her body dumped outside Portage la Prairie, RCMP arrested a suspect.
If the arrest added an urgency to this year's day of remembrance -- which is marked across the world -- it also offered encouragement. "(It shows) that trans women's murders are being treated with the respect of any other person, and getting the attention they need to not go into cold case," said Albert McLeod, an advocate.
This attention is needed all too often. Transgender people, advocates point out, are still at risk, disproportionately so. Sometimes ostracized from families and communities, sometimes marginalized, many trans people struggle to find a space to survive.
Some, like Divas, wind up on the streets. And when the worst befalls, their memories are tied up in a media narrative that often insists on calling them names they didn't call themselves, and pronouns they never wanted.
"Media have a big role in educating the public," McIvor said. "It doesn't help when the media label transgender or transsexual people. I believe how a person lives their lives is their preference. Everyone is different... and we need allies, for example the media, to stand up for the transgender community."
There has been some progress in awareness and acceptance of transgender people in Manitoba, he said. For instance, aboriginal spiritual ceremonies can contain gendered roles; in recent years, he says, he's seen more ceremonies in which transgender people are welcomed.
In social services, some North End agencies have invited transgender people to speak to participants.
But there are other stumbling blocks: addictions programs, for instance, that offer gendered programs that may force transgender people into therapeutic environments with people who are prejudiced against them. There are still failures of the health care system to support and respect transgender people's health needs.
And there are still cases like Divas. And in every case, McLeod added, think of what's been lost.
"They bring something to the circle, and the circle isn't complete without them," he said. "If you shut them out, you can't fully experience what a family could be, what a community could be. Everyone who comes to that circle brings a gift."
"It's not people asking to be let in, it's people asking to be recognized who have always been there."
melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 21, 2010 A6
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/fighting-for-respect- 109624249.html
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| | Topic: Transgender rights activists arrested in Ottawa |
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| Transgender rights activists arrested in Ottawa [message #121129] |
Sun, 21 November 2010 16:54 |
Teresa
Messages: 9342
Registered: September 2007
Location: Salem, Oregon |
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Transgender rights activists arrested in Ottawa
By Meghan Hurley, Postmedia News November 20, 2010
Ceremonies to recognize the Transgender Community was held in Canada for the first time this afternoon with a flag raising
ceremony at Ottawa Police Headquarters and a march to Parliament Hill to support Bill C-389 which will add gender identity
and gender expression to the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Canadian Criminal Code. Event organizer Amanda Ryan(centre)
applaudes her supporters on Parliament Hill this afternoon.
Photograph by: Pat McGrath, The Ottawa Citizen
OTTAWA -- As Ottawa police raised a flag at their downtown headquarters in tribute to Saturday's Transgender Day of Remembrance, two activists were arrested when they tried to hang a sign from a highway overpass.
"The police were trying to block our messaging, block us from standing up and saying our communities aren't represented by the police," said Taiva Tegler, who was on the overpass with about 15 other people. "We need to remember that these communities continue to he harassed, assaulted, humiliated, beaten and murdered."
The transgender activists were arrested on Saturday afternoon for mischief after they hung a "Remember Stonewall?" banner on the overpass. The Stonewall riots in New York City in 1969 began the gay rights movement in the United States.
As many as 50 people who participated in the day's observances crowded the police station lobby to support the two arrested.
Dan Irving, co-ordinator of the sexuality studies program at Carleton University, was among the crowd at the police station. Police allowed him to speak to the two arrested, who said they would be kept at the police station overnight because they refused to give their names.
Irving said he hopes the arrests don't take away from the purpose of the day, which is held every Nov. 20 in cities around the world, to remember those who have been killed due to transgender hatred or prejudice.
Amanda Ryan, who helped organize the event, said Ottawa police have become the first organization in Canada to officially recognize Transgender Day of Remembrance.
Staff Sgt. John Medeiros said sensitivity training is provided for all recruits. He said Saturday's event was a good way to create awareness and encourage people to people hate crimes.
"The trans community is a marginalized community -- there is already a challenge in getting people to report," Medeiros said. "It makes perfect sense that we would be involved in supporting victims."
Ottawa Citizen
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/Transgender+rights+activis ts+arrested+Ottawa/3861277/story.html
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Trans activists question police conduct
By Kelly Roche, QMI Agency
Last Updated: November 20, 2010 7:46pm
OTTAWA More than 50 queer and transgender rights activists held a sit-in at Ottawa police headquarters on Elgin Street Saturday to protest the arrest of two people during the first Transgender Day of Remembrance event in Canada.
"None of us wants to be here, but we don't trust that the police are going to treat them with respect and treat them fairly," community activist Taiva Tegler told QMI Agency.
Two women were arrested at 1:18 p.m. Saturday after a banner reading "Remember Stonewall?" was unfurled over Highway 417 in the city's Metcalfe region.
Stonewall refers to a gay bar in New York City that was raided by police in 1969, which led to the modern gay-rights movement.
Ottawa Police Service staff sergeant Hugh O'Toole said the arrest of the pair -- who were brought in for mischief -- is unfortunate.
"It's their day, their event. Two members took it a little bit too far and created a public safety issue," he said.
Shortly after the arrest, O'Toole said 50 protesters peacefully assembled at the station to wait for their friends.
"We took no issue with that," he said. "Obviously, we want to get them out of here as soon as we can."
Tegler said her friends were putting forward an important message and she isn't surprised by their arrest.
"Whether you're dropping a banner or simply existing, you will be targeted by the police," she said.
Saturday's arrest occurred on the same day as a groundbreaking flag-raising ceremony for the transgender community hosted by Ottawa Police.
But Tegler said she's not buying it.
"We need to remember these communities continue to be criminalized and brutalized by police. We're going through the paces to ensure police accountability," she said.
Transgender Day of Remembrance honours those killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice.
Tegler said police are part of the problem, not the solution.
"The police do not represent safety for a lot of people," she said.
O'Toole said there's a difference between protesting and committing a crime.
"They were creating an unsafe situation on the 417, and we had to intervene," he said.
kelly.roche@sunmedia.ca
http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2010/11/20/16240561.ht ml
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Pair Held on 417 Mischief Charges
Jason McIntyre
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Two activists have been detained on the first Transgender Day of Remembrance.
Ottawa Police say around 1:15 p.m. Saturday, the women unfurled a banner on a Queensway overpass.
The statement 'Remember Stonewall?' could be seen along Elgin and Metcalfe.
The 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City sparked the U.S. gay rights movement.
About 50 people gathered at Police Headquarters for a sit-in protest.
The arrests and peaceful demonstration coincided with a march to Parliament Hill to support Bill C-389.
A candlelight vigil was also held at the Canadian Human Rights Monument.
Organizers say November 20th events honour men and women killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice.
http://www.cfra.com/?cat=1&nid=76909
Attachment: 3861281.jpg
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| | Topic: Ottawa transgender community remembers, celebrates |
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| Ottawa transgender community remembers, celebrates [message #121127] |
Sun, 21 November 2010 16:42 |
Teresa
Messages: 9342
Registered: September 2007
Location: Salem, Oregon |
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Ottawa transgender community remembers, celebrates
Last Updated: Saturday, November 20, 2010 | 4:19 PM ET
CBC News
Ottawa recognized the Transgender Day of Remembrance Saturday, something praised by some in the city's transgender community as "amazing," but seized by others as a chance to protest.
Ottawa police flew the group's flag at their headquarters, and a ceremony at city hall remembered transgender people who have suffered from prejudice and hatred around the world.
In the evening, many in the community are set to hold a candlelight vigil at the Canadian Tribute to Human Rights monument at Lisgar and Elgin streets.
Amanda Ryan, who helped organize the event, said the police recognition may help cut down on the stigma and hatred that keeps many from coming out.
"This is the first time that any official organization has recognized the transgender community as an individual entity," Ryan said.
"If the police are willing to acknowledge that we're out there then why wouldn't anyone else? I want to be recognized, and for people to know I am a somebody."
But there was also resistance to the police effort. Some transgender protesters unfurled a banner over Highway 417, at Elgin Street, that read "Remember Stonewall?" -- a reference to 1969 clashes between police and New York City's queer community.
Taiva Tegler, a community activist, told CBC News two people were arrested after unfurling the banner Saturday afternoon. Tegler said about 50 people remained at the police station around 3:15 p.m. in solidarity with those arrested.
The co-operation between police and the transgender community, Tegler said, was perceived by some as "an attempt to erase history ... and we do not have a good history with the police."
Ottawa police confirmed two people were arrested for mischief, but could not say how many people were waiting peacefully for their release.
Ryan expresses her gender identity by cross-dressing, something she said her employer isn't aware of or doesn't understand. She said many deal with the same thing.
The community's next big hope is that a federal NDP private member's bill (C-389) to amend the Criminal Code and the Canadian Human Rights Act to include gender identity and gender expression -- which is about to receive third reading -- will pass.
Staff Sgt. John Medeiros said officers are given sensitivity training on transgender issues, but the ceremony goes a step further.
"We thought it was important that we honour and acknowledge the significance of that day," Medeiros said.
"Remembering those who have paid the ultimate price for being who they are, and that's human beings."
Not all of Ottawa's transgender population came to the event. Some said they shunned the event because their peers had been victimized by police in other countries.
The Transgender Day of Remembrance started in San Francisco in 1999, and is an international event.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2010/11/20/ottawa-tran sgender-112.html
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| | Topic: 'Day of Remembrance' memorializes transgender people murdered around the world |
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| 'Day of Remembrance' memorializes transgender people murdered around the world [message #121125] |
Sun, 21 November 2010 16:16 |
Teresa
Messages: 9342
Registered: September 2007
Location: Salem, Oregon |
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'Day of Remembrance' memorializes transgender people murdered around the world
By Ken Neuhauser • kneuhauser@courier-journal.com • November 20, 2010
Holly Knight, a local advocate for transgender people, estimates there are several thousand living in Louisville, approximately 50 of whom attended Saturday evening's Transgender Day of Remembrance Memorial Service at Metropolitan Community Church in the Highlands.
The 12th annual event, which also was attended by family members, friends and community supporters, wearing black arm bands with silver butterflies painted on them, commemorated more than 320 transgender people known to have been killed throughout the world as a result of anti-transgender hatred and bigotry since 1998.
The 25-minute service was organized by Heather Thiessen, part-time director of the Women's Center at the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Following her opening remarks, Thiessen read the names of 30 people from the United States, Pakistan, Turkey, Italy, Indonesia and other countries who were murdered during the past 12 months, each being memorialized by the lighting of a candle.
Several other readers stepped up to the podium to deliver the message that the violence is wrong and must end.
"We only see and know small portions of their lives. We hope our memorial here will honor their spirits, their lives and the good will they left behind," Rachel Stewart said to those in attendance.
Fortunately, there have been no murders this year in Louisville, said Yana Baker, founder of the Transgender Education Center of Kentucky and a political science major at Indiana University Southeast.
"The climate here in Louisville is relatively safe but there are underlying fears because there have been past murders in the city," said Baker, whose cousin Nakhia Williams, a transgender woman, was shot outside of her Louisville apartment and left by a dumpster in August 2008. Williams died a few days later.
After the service, the gathering congregated for refreshments and socializing in the church's community room, where Thiessen presented Knight with the 2010 Butterfly Award, which recognizes an individual's advocacy and activism "on behalf of justice and equality for the transgender community."
Knight is the president of Sienna, a transgender social, educational and support group, and owner of Prism Direction, a local transgender advisory business to educate people on transgender issues.
She said that a transgender person is "a male or female who either identifies or wants to express a different gender," explaining that a male to woman transition is a transgender woman and a female to male transition is a transgender man. Some transgender people have had surgery while others are taking hormones and have made a partial transition or are cross-dressers, she said.
There are many concerns facing transgender people, Knight said. She cited personal acceptance, acceptance of family and friends, prejudice, mockery, loss of jobs and violence.
"First obstacle, is very personal...one of the things that most of us face, is self-doubt, thinking of ourselves as freaks, or 'What's wrong with me? Why am I this way?' You have to go through a long time of trying to get past that," said Knight, 55, a transgender woman who has been battling gender issues her entire life and undergoing hormone therapy for the past 11 years.
She said statistics indicate that employment rates for transgender people are "way, way below the typical person. But interestingly enough, the education levels of many trans people is very, very high." She added that locally many transgender people are employed as teachers, law enforcement personnel, lawyers, jewelers, stock clerks, nurses and business owners.
Down deep, she said, it's all about prejudice. "The funny thing is, all I want to be is a girl."
While it's important to memorialize the people who have been murdered, she said it's also important to get out the message that transgender people only want to be accepted and loved.
The memorial service culminated a Transgender Week of Awareness, sponsored by several organizations, including Sienna, the Women's Center and the Fairness Campaign.
Reporter Ken Neuhauser can be reached at (502) 582-4204
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20101120/NEWS01/31120 0090/+Day+of+Remembrance++memorializes+transgender+people+mu rdered+around+the+world
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| | Topic: Candle-lit vigil for Brighton's hate crime victims |
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| Candle-lit vigil for Brighton's hate crime victims [message #121120] |
Sun, 21 November 2010 15:18 |
Teresa
Messages: 9342
Registered: September 2007
Location: Salem, Oregon |
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Candle-lit vigil for Brighton's hate crime victims
12:00pm Sunday 21st November 2010
A candle-lit vigil for the victims of transgender hate crime will be held today.
The Transgender Day of Remembrance wil be marked at Dorset Gardens Methodist Church in Brighton between 2.30pm and 5pm.
The candle-lit vigil hosted by the Clare Project will be accompanied by the reading of names of the victims of transgender hate crime over the past year.
LGBT liaison officer AliJay Lawrence and PC Rich Bridger from Kemp Town Neighbourhood Policing Team are attending this second annual event.
Ali-Jay said: "Rich and I will be there on behalf of Sussex Police to show our support for the Transgender Day of Remembrance, which remembers those who have been killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice.
"It raises public awareness of hate crimes against transgender people and allows us to publicly mourn and honour the lives of those who died. The Day of Remembrance also gives everyone, including non-transgender people, a chance to show their support."
http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/8679204.Candle_lit_vigil_for_ Brighton_s_hate_crime_victims/
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| | Topic: Local residents support transgender community |
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| Local residents support transgender community [message #121119] |
Sun, 21 November 2010 15:16 |
Teresa
Messages: 9342
Registered: September 2007
Location: Salem, Oregon |
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Local residents support transgender community
By Chloé Morrison
chloem@thedailytimes.com
Originally published: November 21. 2010 3:01AM
Last modified: November 20. 2010 10:34PM
After reading aloud dozens of names of transgender murder victims from around the world -- some of whom were brutally killed -- Carla Lewis said she knows there is a possibility she could be a victim of anti-transgender hatred.
"You may see somebody who is different but they are still a human being," she said. "In all of this sometimes it seems like people of our world forget the humanity of others."
Even knowing the possibility that -- as a member of the transgender community -- she may be discriminated against or become the victim of a hate crime -- Lewis was one of about 25 others who gathered Transgender Day of Remembrance Friday evening in Maryville.
Area residents conducted a peaceful roadside demonstration on the sidewalk between the Blount County Courthouse and the Maryville Municipal on West Lamar Alexander Friday night.
The demonstration was followed by a candlelight vigil, in which participants read off a list of victims of anti-transgender hatred -- some of whose names weren't known. Some of the victims were brutally murdered and raped, according to information from the East Tennessee Equality Council. "You can only imagine cutting somebody's head off while they are alive," Lewis said, referencing how one of the victims was allegedly murdered. "You wouldn't do that to a dog. Most of the people that we remember who died, they don't really have a name or families," Lewis said. "No body will ever really remember them, so we are doing that here."
Lewis, who is transgender and has lived in Maryville for about 10 years, said a similar event in Knoxville last year attracted about a dozen people, so she was pleased with the turn out in Maryville that brought out more than 20 people.
In addition to remembering the victims of violence, Lewis said she wanted to help educate the public.
"It is important for me to bring this issue to people who don't know much about it," she said. "For instance, I know that tonight Junior is going to be sitting at the table with a Happy Meal asking, 'What is transgender,' because he saw it on a sign. The more people that know about it, the easier it is to expose hate."
Sharing stories
Knoxville resident Juliet Meggs, who made the trip from Maryville Friday night to attend the event, shared her story with the group -- sharing the struggle that she has faced making the transition from male to female. From the pain of hormone shots to the years of hurt involved in coming to terms with her identity -- she said she is one of the lucky ones. She has a supportive family, health insurance, a job. She said she knows many others -- such as the murder victims, many of whom were sex workers -- don't have it so easy.
Officials said it is a sad reality that many members of the transgender community turn to prostitution in order to survive.
What does transgender mean?
Meggs said it is important for people to know that transgender encompasses a wide variety of stories.
"So many times, when you talk about transexual people, there is this story about somebody coming out and, of course, that person is usually a white, middle-aged male," she said. "I have just not transitioned (from male to female) and it took me a very long time to come to terms with transitioning because I had never met a transexual person. In the media, all we get are drag queens or the rare freak story."Each person has an individual experience, she said.
"It is not just being a woman trapped in a man's body. It can be a variety of people, places and feelings about that. I guess that's part of what is most important to me because that's what affected me most."
About Transgender Day of Remembrance
The Transgender Day of Remembrance is held in November to honor Rita Hester, whose murder on November 28, 1998, prompted the "Remembering Our Dead" Web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Hester's murder -- like many anti-transgender murder cases -- has not been solved.
Several cases in Tennessee -- the murders of Tiffany Berry, Rodney Whitaker and Duanna Johnson -- have also been left unsolved, members of the East Tennessee Equity Council said. While not all the victims self-identified as transgender, each was a victim of violence based on a bias against transgender people, officials said.
http://www.thedailytimes.com/article/20101121/NEWS/311219973
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| | Topic: More on Violence and Bias Against Transgender Women of Color |
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| More on Violence and Bias Against Transgender Women of Color [message #121114] |
Sun, 21 November 2010 14:35 |
Teresa
Messages: 9342
Registered: September 2007
Location: Salem, Oregon |
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More on Violence and Bias Against Transgender Women of Color
by Kai Wright
Saturday, November 20 2010, 12:57 PM EST
Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance. As I wrote yesterday, at least 22 people were murdered in 2009 because of their sexual orientation. Four out of five of them were people of color and half were transgender women; the other half were overwhelmingly men who defied gender stereotypes, according to hate crime monitors. I argued in yesterday's article that this violence is best understood as the most extreme example of a long list of dangers transgender women, particularly those of color, deal with everyday. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the National Center for Transgender Equality point out a few of studies that provide more detail on that.
One study looks at trans folks' experience trying to get health care. In a survey of 6,450 transgender people, one in five reported being refused health care outright because of their gender presentation. More than a quarter reported being harassed while seeking medical care. As a consequence, more than a quarter reported avoiding medical care when they needed it. Read the study here.
Another study, using the same survey data, looked at the job market. A whopping 97 percent reported harassment at work; more than a quarter had been fired because they were transgender. Fifteen percent lived on less than $10,000 a year in 2007, which was double the national rate of poverty at the time. Among black transgender respondents, 35 percent lived in deep poverty. That's a remarkable number. And 28 percent of Latino respondents lived in poverty.
So the murders are grisly, but they are not isolated attacks. Our cultural fear of people who won't follow rigid gender rules allows us to turn the other way while people are harassed, exploited and attacked routinely. Stop and think about that today, and then lets all start standing up against gender violence of all forms. And as I wrote yesterday, given the data, communities of color in particular need to come together to put this stuff to an end.
http://colorlines.com/archives/2010/11/more_on_violence_and_ bias_against_transgender_women_of_color.html
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| | Topic: I always knew I was a girl |
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| I always knew I was a girl [message #121111] |
Sun, 21 November 2010 14:25 |
Teresa
Messages: 9342
Registered: September 2007
Location: Salem, Oregon |
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I always knew I was a girl
For decades I struggled in a male body that felt painful and false. At 53, I finally began my transition
By Elena Kelly
Saturday, Nov 20, 2010 14:01 ET
I was born in 1955 at the Salvation Army Home for Unwed Mothers in Denver and put up for adoption eight days later. The couple who took me a few months later had no idea what they were in for. They were farmers, living on a homestead halfway between Denver and the Kansas border.
I have always known I was a girl. If you've read anything about transsexual people, you have heard those words before. In that little house on the prairie I remember dressing up in my mother's satiny nightgowns and wearing her lovely church hats as she snapped photos of her cute little boy. She thought I was darling, and I was sure I would grow up to be just like her.
In first grade I avoided boys like the plague. Boys called me "sissy" and "cry baby" and beat me up. My teacher didn't like me separating from the herd, though, and one day, when she caught me playing with a girl, she hauled me in front of the class and spanked me. That was the day I decided to pretend to be a boy. I realized what being a girl meant: being punished.
In childhood I had recurring dreams about my birth mother. She was an angel coming down from heaven, scooping me up in her arms and carrying me away from the madness. In another dream, I stood on a crowded sidewalk in front of a Denver theater when I locked eyes with a kind woman, and it was as if we both knew: I was her little girl. I would awake in a panic, tears streaming down my face. I became obsessed with finding her. I felt certain only she could make this mess right again.
School was hell. I ran away from home at 13, hitchhiking to Denver to find my birth mother. (I even checked the theater from my dreams; she wasn't there.) I survived for three months panhandling for McDonald's hamburgers, sleeping on pews in St. John's Church if I got there before the doors closed for the night. For a few weeks I lived with three prostitutes who took care of me, shielding me from their business with a simple rule -- if the window blinds were closed I had to stay outside. When my parents found me, they committed me to a psychiatric hospital. They hoped I'd find some normalcy; instead I found drugs. I lost myself in that life for years.
But in 1986, the reunion I'd longed for all my life finally happened. After my adoptive mother died, my adoptive father gave me some paperwork that enabled me to find my birth mother. After 31 years apart, we met. It was glorious.
"I was certain that you were a girl," she told me. "I'd had a girl two years before you, and your pregnancy was absolutely identical to hers." How I adored my mother. I have yet to meet a finer woman then she. But I couldn't share my deepest secret, not even with her: She was right. I was a girl.
I struggled for decades to get over that feeling. I felt envy when I saw any woman. "That should be me," I would think, staring at the soft swing of her dress, the breasts that bounced lightly underneath a fuzzy pink cotton sweater, the lacquered nails that clicked on the countertop. My body felt like a sick joke. I never once realized that down the road a few hours south of Denver was the small town of Trinidad, also known as the "Sex Change Capitol of the World" for the pioneering work Dr. Stanley Biber began in 1969. His world-famous client Dr. Marci Bowers, sometimes called the "Rock Star," still practices there, performing over 120 genital reassignment surgeries annually. It was also my birth mother's hometown.
In May 2008 I watched the film "Ma Vie en Rose" and was shaken to my core. The story of a young Belgian boy who wore dresses and jewelry, who threw violent tantrums when he had to get a haircut left me crying for days. I went online to find out more about the movie, and that's when I first saw the word "transgender." I found a transgender social club in Sacramento and immediately joined its Yahoo Group. It was there that I first learned about transitioning from male to female. And thanks to the club's encouragement, on June 6, I walked into a department store and bought my first dress, a vivid floral print in a loose, flattering cut that came just to my knees. I had my makeup done at the Clinique counter, reveling in the glamor of the fire-engine red lipstick, the eye shadows in a dozen glittering pastels. I bought my first pair of heels, simple black pumps with a conservative two-inch heel. Finally, at 53, I was beginning to feel like myself.
Within a week, I threw out all my boy clothes and replaced them with women's clothing bought mostly at second-hand stores and discount outlets. I liked dresses but I was mad for skirts, those fluttering fabrics so perfect to twirl in. My heart swooned for the shoes, especially heels with those dainty little ankle straps, which I bought in a rainbow of colors. And don't even get me started on the rhinestones.
I was determined to transition. My workplace medical insurance company provided me with a primary care doctor, an endocrinologist and a psychologist who were all transgender specialists. I learned that I had to live as a woman for at least a year before I could have surgery. But what I could do immediately was start hormone replacement therapy. I also went to court and had my name legally changed.
Of course, I was terrified the changes would leave me destitute and friendless, that I would wind up dead in a ditch somewhere, victim of someone else's fist. The first time I dressed up in my hometown, I went to the county fair. At closing time, I couldn't find my car in the dark parking lot and as I wandered around, some cowboys drinking beer on the hood of their truck heckled me. I found my car before anything worse could happen. But I knew there would be more encounters to come.
Lucky for me, I had nothing to fear at work. When I came out to our company president, he sent an e-mail to the whole organization (with my permission) stating that I was transitioning from male to female, and that I was to be treated with the same respect and dignity of any other woman. My 650 co-workers fully accepted me, as did most of my family.
But how would I afford the three costly surgeries I would need to live fully as a woman? I had no savings and was living from paycheck to paycheck. The process would leave me $40,000 in debt. Still, I knew having a body that would finally match how I felt inside would be worth anything. For that, I would pay any price.
My surgery took place in March 2009, in a hospital in Trinidad, Colo., just a few blocks from my birth mother's grave. I woke up in surgery in a room filled with birth relatives who had come to support me. Dr. Bowers sat beside me on the bed. "Each time I do this surgery I try to do it better than before," she told me. "There is just one word for your result perfect." The room broke into applause, and I was so touched that they had come, so relieved to be on the better side of this struggle that all I could do was cry with joy. The second day after surgery I walked a mile and a half, nearly five miles on day three. My recovery was so rapid I was discharged early.
My transition didn't come without costs. Some family members won't talk to me anymore. Some friends don't come around. I am saddled with a debt that will take years to pay off, and I have a long road of electrolysis ahead of me. Many strangers see me as some kind of freak. I still get nervous when I have to use a public restroom. But I know I'm one of the lucky ones. I was given a chance to live a life I'd given up on years before. I have no regrets about any of this. I am the most grateful girl in the world.
Rev. Elena Kelly is an activist minster to the LGBT community in California's Central Valley. She is engaged to a writer, and they are working to get legally married. Elena can be reached at elena.kelly@comcast.net.
http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2010/11/20/how_i_became_a_ woman/index.html
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| | Topic: Oakalnd event to support transgender men and women scheduled for Friday night |
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| Oakalnd event to support transgender men and women scheduled for Friday night [message #120875] |
Fri, 19 November 2010 15:56 |
Teresa
Messages: 9342
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Oakalnd event to support transgender men and women scheduled for Friday night
By Angela Woodall
Oakland Tribune
Posted: 11/18/2010 07:54:29 PM PST
The number of transgender men and women in Oakland and Alameda County is difficult to assess because the risk of visibility can be high. The risks include losing a job, discrimination at home and death. Attacks are not unusual, according to organizers of a ceremony at Preservation Park on Friday evening to call attention to the needs and dangers faced by transgender individuals and their partners.
Alameda County Superior Court Judge Vicky Kolakowski, who is herself a transgender woman, will be the keynote speaker.
Planned by the Tri-City Health Center's TransVision program, the ceremony will be one of more than 200 events planned around the world for the International Transgender Day of Remembrance.
The Oakland event begins at 7:30 p.m. and will feature speakers from the community as well as the reading of the names of transgender individual who have been killed. Over 100 names were read at last year's event. The Oakland event also recognizes HIV/AIDS as an epidemic that has disproportionately affected transgender people living in Alameda County. There will be a screening of the award winning film "Trans Francisco" following the memorial program.
Preservation Park is located at 1233 Preservation Park Way.
For more information, call 510-713-6690 or http://transvisiontricity.org/events.html.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_166 52966
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| | Topic: 'Transgender' student attacks Genocide Awareness Project |
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| 'Transgender' student attacks Genocide Awareness Project [message #120872] |
Fri, 19 November 2010 15:43 |
Teresa
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'Transgender' student attacks Genocide Awareness Project
Friday November 19, 2010
By Matthew Anderson
FORT WAYNE, Indiana, November 19, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) On November 2, a student at the Indiana University Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) violently attacked a pro-life display set up by the campus group Students for Bio-Ethical Reform. The display, part of the larger Genocide Awareness Project, uses graphic pictures to draw a connection between abortion and past forms of genocide.
The student, who suffers from gender confusion or "transgenderism," said his name was Tara Boes. He jumped the barriers around the display at IPFW and started dismantling the pictures. However, at one point Boes broke off part of a metal pole and, according to a volunteer, began "to swing it around and at the display. One volunteer was elbowed in the eye and the other was hit by the pole."
Mark Harrington, the executive director of The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform Midwest, which put up the display, said that initially the volunteers were not going to interfere with Boes. Harrington went on to say, though, that "when the student appeared willing to endanger the staff, we had to get involved and call the campus police," according to the IPFW Communicator.
"We don't protect equipment ... because the equipment can be replaced," Harrington said. "But when it comes to someone physically harming someone we obviously have a right to protect ourselves or to protect other people."
Volunteers then called university police, who took Boes into custody. In a video of the incident posted by the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, Boes is seen initially refusing to speak with the officers. However, he eventually gives the officers his name. According to the Communicator, one of the display volunteers hurt in the attack is pressing charges.
In a later interview with the Communicator, Boes compared the unborn child to a "parasite," and said that he became enraged when he saw abortion being compared to the lynching of African Americans. "Approaching the display, I started to feel really physically ill. I thought it was really disgusting that someone would compare abortion to genocide. To compare a woman ridding her body of a parasite to a lynching that's pretty disgusting."
Boes complained that when he was taken into custody, his "gender identity" as a woman was not "respected" and that he was "forced to sleep in a cell with two naked men."
However, he expressed regret for his actions because of the legal repercussions that resulted.
"Yeah, I regret what I did... I have legal fines to pay. I am being charged with battery and criminal mischief ... none of that stuff is really worth what happened."
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/nov/10111908.html
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| | Topic: The lives of a community in transition |
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| The lives of a community in transition [message #120869] |
Fri, 19 November 2010 15:25 |
Teresa
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The lives of a community in transition
by Alexandra Sieh
The Rocky Mountain Collegian
last edited: 1:38 am 11/19/2010
Sam Noblett | Collegian
Maria Montano, left, Duff Norris and Mac Simon, right, pose in the Lambda Community
Center on Mason Street. All three are leaders in the transgender community, working
toward awareness and support not only for those in transition but also for allies and
others in the GLBT community.
As he looked into the faces of those around him one year ago, Mac Simon said he couldn't help but see the truth of his identity in those faces at the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance.
Always aware of his transgender identity but still hesitant to admit it, Simon went to the event with friends he had made in his time as an intern at the Lambda Center, Fort Collins' GLBTIQQA community center, still gender questioning.
But as he looked around, it became clear.
"I felt like there was a mirror being held up to me, like I was seeing my reflection in a lot of people in that room," he said, and with that truth, he left intimidated by what he had discovered.
"It took me a few months after that to get the balls to come out," he said, to admit to himself and others that he was a transman. But since he made that choice, he has been "out and proud," working each day to share awareness and understanding about what it really means to be trans.
Saturday, the Lambda Center will present this year's Transgender Day of Remembrance, and for Simon, it's an event he'll always feel connected to.
"It's an opportunity to memorialize the lives that are lost due to hate crimes," he said, "an opportunity for voices in our community to be heard, voices that are typically not heard."
And for many transmen and women in this community, it's a night to celebrate their identities, the journeys they have taken on their way to identifying with their gender.
Members of the sometimes-overlooked "T" in GLBT, the transgender community is one proud of its history and the diversity it holds.
"Anyone who identifies with the label of transgender is having an experience that is exceptionally strange in many ways," Simon said. "Anyone who's trans is transcending, is living in a way that is challenging society."
And it's an experience only they will have as they transition from their born gender role to that which fits their personal reality.
Discovering a truth
In her youth, Elle Martinez struggled with her identity, confused but unable to pinpoint that source of distress.
Self destructive, angry, confused, Martinez spent her early years in the dark.
Overwhelmed by her adolescence and puberty, she woke up in her mid-20s a man wondering what the problem was.
Through counseling, the shadows lightened, the queer part of her identity becoming clearer.
"It took a lot of personal tragedy," she said, "a lot of failure with personal mistakes and errors" before she was able to take steps toward her true identity.
Having spent the past few years as a gay man, things still hadn't felt right.
"I denied a queer identity," Martinez said, explaining how her initial reaction to that label was too much for her to take on.
But as language and contexts evolved, Martinez discovered the right fit, that transwoman felt right.
"In a lot of ways, I knew all along," she said. "I didn't have the language, I didn't have the concept, I didn't have the resources and I didn't' have the people there. So it took me three or four years to come to the conclusion: I feel like a woman."
She had found a community that she identified with and counseling that pointed her in the right direction.
"A lot of it was admitting," she said, explaining that once she was able to recognize that, the rest of the pieces fell together.
Through the help of the Eclectic support group at the Lambda Center, she saw others she felt familiar to, and from there it was simple to see the journey she needed to take.
"It was one thing to feel like my gender isn't right, another to feel like a freak," Martinez said. "If you can put it in the context, that your gender doesn't match the way you feel inside, it gives you a road map of where you can go."
And with those directions in mind, her transition has brought the peace she always wanted.
"It's made the difference for me to be a functional happy person," Martinez said, smiling. "I think a lot of those poisons and demons inside of me that really they found other outlets in behaviors and attitudes."
A more positive person now, it took the knowledge of her true identity to find the happiness she had been missing.
"I'm proud of the journey and the struggle that I've taken to get here, she said. And while it hasn't been an easy ride, it's been one she's been glad to take.
"I feel like a new person."
And like it did for Martinez, it is the transition into the right gender identity that helps transmen and women to embrace their full selves.
The journey and transition
Born a girl, Matthew Diemer's childhood was filled with different signs that something wasn't quite right.
A tomboy at heart, Diemer saw the need for logic at an early age, always challenging his environment trying to be one of the boys.
"Femininity was fragile," he said, explaining that in his experience, the women in his life had needed support he didn't want to rely on. "I knew I didn't want to be that."
For Diemer, masculinity was more comfortable.
As gender lines grew more confusing, attraction to women rising and falling throughout adolescence, Diemer began to slip into self-injury, struggling to find the answer to the same question Martinez asked: What was wrong with his current label?
"I had lost my identities," he said.
As his appreciation for his queer reality formed, Diemer fought with the fear of what being trans would mean for him.
Most of all, he worried about the reaction his grandparents would have, the two people in his life that had taught him the important things, how to love and live with compassion.
Having already come out as a lesbian to his parents, Diemer's realization that transman was a better fit was almost a step too far. Could they understand that next piece? Could any of his family?
So in a collection of letters to his mother, father and stepfather, he asked for their understanding, explaining what it meant to be trans but also how this filled in the remaining blanks of his identity.
They understood, and that was a piece of support that Diemer would be able to take with him.
But for his grandparents, it was a riskier chance the way he saw it.
So in a handwritten letter, he pleaded for them to understand, thanking them for what they had given him and taught him about life.
Days later, with no response, he couldn't focus. The thought of losing that support was too much to imagine.
So with encouragement from his sister he called.
"Hello Matthew," his grandmother answered, not hesitating to use his changed name.
Nothing had changed. While hurt he hadn't told them sooner, she was just glad he had found himself, his true identity.
Since then, his life as a transman has been nothing but positive.
"I definitely challenge myself to love what I have," he said, and since his transition, there's been a lot to enjoy.
The hardships
A transman and member of the Eclectic support group at Lambda, Duff Norris understands the importance of community, especially for a group that is a minority even in the GLBT community.
A journey unique to each transman and woman, transitioning can be a road hard to travel alone, and in his three years attending Eclectic, Norris found a group that eased that isolation.
With the safe space it provides, Eclectic helps those transitioning to find the humor in the situation a forte Norris encourages with his contagious laugh and outgoing personality along with the answers to questions only those transitioning could answer.
What's the right way to sit? Where should I go shopping? More importantly, where is it safe for me to go?
These are the questions Eclectic does well to answer, said Maria Montano, the group's leader at Lambda.
"We all walk through the complicated hoops we have to jump through," Montano said. "There's no rush. We're just trying to help people to who they are, find where they are on the gender spectrum."
And as a transwoman who has been out and transitioned for six years now, Montano is an invaluable resource for those who are just beginning their journey.
"Eclectic helps guide people through these things, our group's unique experience," she said.
Like any other person's development, the transition is an emotional trip, something Simon believes should be acknowledged.
"The process is something to celebrate and find joy in," he said, a firm believer in the old saying, "It's the journey, not the destination."
"At the end of the day, it's a human experience that's just like any other human experience," Martinez said. "It's very much the same as another person would experience life, it just has a little twist on it."
_Design Editor and Copy Chief Alexandra Sieh can be reached at news@collegian.com. _
http://www.collegian.com/index.php/article/2010/11/111910_tr ansgender
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| | Topic: Accused in transgender case acquitted |
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| Accused in transgender case acquitted [message #120868] |
Fri, 19 November 2010 15:18 |
Teresa
Messages: 9342
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Accused in transgender case acquitted
Leah Fineran | November 19th, 2010
PROTECTING her bleeding transgender flatmate almost landed Kerri Batten in jail but yesterday she walked free as a Gold Coast jury acquitted her in just 20 minutes.
Ms Batten, 39, wept with relief as the Southport District Court jury found her not guilty of unlawful wounding after a four-day trial.
The Varsity Lakes woman had pleaded innocence claiming she had been defending herself and her bloodied flatmate Hayley Aniston from the punches of 59-year-old banker Russell Madill in 2008.
The jury was told Ms Batten had intervened in a fight between the former lovers at her Varsity Lakes home on February 1 and armed herself with a knife after witnessing blood gushing from Ms Aniston's face.
Ms Aniston gave tearful evidence in the trial that Mr Madill had become angry after she refused his sexual advances and repeatedly bashed and strangled her.
She said Mr Madill swung punches toward Ms Batten and she had reacted in self-defence by raising the knife.
However, when Mr Madill took the stand he claimed he was the victim and had been attacked by Ms Aniston after a boozy night out in Surfers Paradise.
He said Ms Batten screamed obscenities at him before slashing him on the shoulder and the arm.
The jury was shown police photos of Ms Aniston's bloodied face and bruises on neck and Mr Madill's left forearm, which had been sliced open.
The jury followed the urging of barrister Scott Lynch who said Ms Batten had acted with reasonable force in self-defence.
Ms Batten, represented by Moloney MacCallum Lawyers, was emotional as left the prisoner dock but declined to comment outside court.
Solicitor Campbell MacCallum said his client was relieved to have the case finalised after a difficult two years.
''She has had to live under the cloud of suspicion and innuendo due to the unusual circumstances of the case and some of the social stigma attached to the subject matter that came out in evidence,'' he said.
''She is extremely satisfied that her innocence has been vindicated and the truth has come out that she was simply defending the life of another human being who was being attacked.''
''She is now moving on with her life and although she is disappointed it has taken so long for her innocence to be publicly recognised, she can now hold her head high again.''
Neither Ms Aniston nor Mr Madill attended court to hear the jury's verdict.
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2010/11/19/272145_gold-c oast-news.html
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| | Topic: High Suicide Risk, Prejudice Plague Transgender People |
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| High Suicide Risk, Prejudice Plague Transgender People [message #120858] |
Fri, 19 November 2010 12:01 |
Teresa
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High Suicide Risk, Prejudice Plague Transgender People
By Clara Moskowitz, LiveScience Senior Writer
posted: 19 November 2010 10:39 am ET
A staggering 41 percent of transgender people in the United States have attempted to commit suicide, according to a new survey. About 19 percent of transgender people report being refused medical care because of their gender-nonconforming status, and a shocking 2 percent have been violently assaulted in a doctor's office.
These statistics are just some of the sobering findings from a survey of more than 7,000 transgender people conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, released in October 2010.
Tomorrow (Nov. 20), the Transgender Day of Remembrance will pay tribute to people killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice.
"It's an opportunity to honor the people who lost their lives for really no other reason than that another human being acted out of hatred or fear and were so consumed by that that they ended another person's life," said Justin Tanis, spokesperson for the National Center for Transgender Equality. "It's also an opportunity for us to look at what we can do about it. We've got to keep taking concrete steps to end that violence, because it's unacceptable that people continue to be killed and continue to be violently attacked."
Stacked deck
Psychologists say transgender people often face what feels like a stacked deck against them. The disapproval and confusion of friends, family and people around them creates a burden of stress. Many trans people fear for their safety because of the threat of anti-transgender violence.
Furthermore, many report having trouble finding and keeping jobs because of their transgender status.
"If there isn't a clause like an anti-discrimination rule, people can be let go if they transition" from one gender to another, said clinical psychologist Gail Knudson, a professor in the department of sexual medicine at the University of British Columbia and medical director of the Transgender Health Program at Vancouver Coastal Health. "And it's difficult if you do not pass well [as your preferred gender] to find employment because people are discriminated against."
One of the biggest issues many trans people face is the difficulty of changing gender. Transitioning from one gender to another can take many forms, but often requires hormone therapy and sometimes surgery on breasts and/or genitals.
Many people have to pay out-of-pocket for these expenses, because they either don't have medical insurance or their insurance doesn't cover the treatment. Additionally, the process takes a long time -- most doctors follow guidelines called the Standards of Care that require people to live and present as their preferred gender for months before receiving any physical intervention.
Yet transgender people overwhelmingly say it's worth it. After transitioning, transgender people show a significant decrease in substance abuse problems and depression, for example, and their mental health significantly improves, Knudson said.
Before transition, people struggle with gender dysphoria -- the feeling that they are stuck in the wrong body that doesn't match the way they feel on the inside.
"For their lives to go forward they need to transition," Knudson told LiveScience. "A lot of the health care providers that work in the field see transitioning as a medical necessity -- not as something people chose to do, but as something they need to do to lead productive lives."
Other risks
In addition to their higher risk of suicide, transgender people face steeper odds for other health issues.
For example, the recent survey found that 2.64 percent of trans people are infected with HIV -- that's more than four times the national average rate of 0.6 percent in the general population. And 25 percent of the survey respondents reported misusing drugs or alcohol specifically to cope with the discrimination they face due to their gender identity.
A 2003 study by Ilan H. Meyer of Columbia University found that lesbian, gay and bisexual people have a higher prevalence of mental disorders than heterosexuals. The author explains this prevalence in terms of minority stress, writing in the journal Psychological Bulletin that "stigma, prejudice, and discrimination create a hostile and stressful social environment that causes mental health problems."
Though transgender people weren't included in the study, these same stressors apply, experts say.
"Some of the key components of the minority stress model state that stigma, prejudice and discrimination create a hostile and stressful social environment that are correlated with increased incidence of other mental health problems (e.g., depression, anxiety, and in extreme cases -- suicidal ideations)," Seth Pardo, a doctoral candidate in the department of human development at Cornell University, wrote in an e-mail to LiveScience. "Indeed, several recent reports have surfaced in the national and perhaps more so in the local media of gender-nonconforming youth and young adults being harassed or otherwise bullied at school."
Galvanizing effect
While many experts knew the situation was tough, results from the recent survey -- the first one conducted on a large nationally representative sample of transgender people -- were still surprising.
"I knew that the magnitude would be high, but I did not think the suicide attempt numbers would be that high," Knudson said. That 41 percent suicide rate among transgender people is more than 25 times the rate of the general population, which is 1.6 percent. And among trans people ages 18-44, the suicide attempt rate was 45 percent.
While sobering, Knudson said the findings may be effective in making some changes.
"It is very galvanizing in a sense that in order for policy to change we need that raw data," she said.
Previously, many studies on transgender people were combined with investigations on gays, lesbians and bisexuals. While the recent rash of teen suicides, many sparked by homophobia, has called attention to the plight of gay youth, there is data to suggest that transgender people can sometimes face even more prevalent discrimination and harassment.
"Many trans youth may begin by thinking they are just gay or lesbian because there is a strong correlation between gender nonconforming behavior and same-sex attractions," Pardo wrote. "However, because of this, many trans youth that do have same-sex attractions face the added stigma of being overtly different (behaviorally/dress style, etc.), and potentially represent several additional domains where bullying may become more prevalent (e.g., not just for partner preferences, but for behavior, dress style, choice of activities, etc.)."
However, there are some signs of hope on the horizon.
In 2009, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama. The bill expands the pre-existing U.S. hate-crimes law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. It also provides funding for investigating and prosecuting hate crimes, and requires the FBI to track statistics on hate crimes against transgender people.
"That was the first law to extend protections to transgender people," Tanis said. "While results will be long-term, it still means we're moving in the right direction."
The Trevor project operates the nation's only 24-hour toll-free suicide prevention helpline for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth (1-866-4-U-TREVOR).
http://www.livescience.com/culture/transgender-mental-health -suicide--101119.html
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| | Topic: Cher: "I have two sons" |
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| Cher: "I have two sons" [message #120855] |
Fri, 19 November 2010 11:36 |
Teresa
Messages: 9342
Registered: September 2007
Location: Salem, Oregon |
Senior Member
Beginning Life Founder
BL3D |
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Cher: "I have two sons"
As she publicly wrestles with Chaz's gender reassignment, the American icon continues to inspire
By Mary Elizabeth Williams
Friday, Nov 19, 2010 11:01 ET
Thank God for Cher. The woman ranks right up there with the cotton gin and baseball on the list of greatest things America ever invented. We still have to wait a week for her promisingly campy "Burlesque," but she's already doing the publicity rounds to promote it -- and reminding us that she's not just an icon, she's an occasionally awkward, struggling-to-get-it-right mother of a transgendered child.
In an interview for "20/20" that airs Friday night, Cher tells Cynthia McFadden, "I have two sons. Never thought that would be, but, you know? You go through life, and you get what you get. You get what belongs to you." And on "Letterman" last week, she was all Cher, strutting out to the strains of "Half Breed" and planting a big wet one on Dave. But then she sat down and discussed, with clarity and compassion, her firstborn, Chaz -- nee Chastity -- and his gender reassignment.
Nobody who could inspire so many legions of drag queens can be a stranger to the concept of gender fluidity, and Cher's relish of her status of diva is undiminished at 64. On "Letterman," she giddily related going to a gay Jewish wedding ("which for me was like a busman's holiday") and having a guest ask for her card -- because she was "the best" Cher impersonator the person had ever seen. But when it comes to her own offspring, that famous Cher openness hasn't always been in evidence. Chaz has admitted that his mother initially "went ballistic" before coming around to acceptance when he came out as a lesbian to her 1987.
Today, Cher confesses she's gone through similar soul-searching over Chaz's very public gender reassignment, which began last year. On Wednesday she gave the Advocate her advice for other parents of transgendered kids, saying: "Take it slowly. There are so many feelings that come up and most of them are difficult. And you go through a lot of changes, just as Chaz was going through whatever her changes were. One time I called, and she obviously had forgotten to change her voicemail, and I thought, 'Oh my God, that's probably the last time I'm going to hear the voice I've known my whole life.' There are small things you take for granted. It took a long time for me to know, this is the same person I've known my whole life." That's a huge message to parents and family and friends of LGBT individuals: The person who comes out to you is still the person you love. You may have to tweak your vision of the person, but go ahead, do the work. If Cher can, you can.
On "Letterman," for example, she was still flailing around how to refer to Chaz and his new identity. "I don't know what made her change her mind," she said, interrupting herself to note, "I still haven't got the pronouns right, but she says that's not so important." And then she did get the pronoun right, declaring, "He said to me one day, 'I think I have to do this.' ... I said if you have to do this, you have to do it. I wasn't always able to be quite as calm, but that day I was calm. And I thought this is what has to happen." That's not just Cher talking -- that's a pretty cool mom.
Even as she wrestles with labels, saying Chaz "is a lesbian, but it's not the same ... No, that doesn't work," Cher understands what every parent needs to keep in mind forever -- that her child is still first and foremost her child, and every other adjective comes in a distant second. And if you mess with family, like when Bill Maher sniped of Chaz's gender transition that "If [Cher] was your mother, you would [transition] too," you could do worse than to emulate Cher's hearty retort: "Fuck him."
She's one of a kind. Nobody else in the planet can walk in Cher's sky-high shoes. But that doesn't mean she can't put herself in someone else's, especially when that person is her kid. "I like being a girl," she explains to "20/20." "If I woke up tomorrow and I was in a guy's body, I would just be flipped out, and it would just be horrendous for me. And that's all I can think of. That's the way I put myself in Chaz's place." Empathy -- it's harder to master than the high notes in "Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves," and it's endlessly good for the soul. Underneath all the many layers of wigs and sparkles, what makes Cher so enduringly special is her realness, her willingness to say to world that she gets confused and she gets it wrong sometimes, but she keeps trying anyway, because that's the right thing to do. And that what makes the spangly, big-haired queen of Vegas a role model for us all.
http://www.salon.com/life/lgbt/?story=/mwt/feature/2010/11/1 9/cher_mother_of_the_year
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| | Topic: A journey for her peers |
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| A journey for her peers [message #120851] |
Fri, 19 November 2010 11:28 |
Teresa
Messages: 9342
Registered: September 2007
Location: Salem, Oregon |
Senior Member
Beginning Life Founder
BL3D |
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A journey for her peers
Phyllis Frye, who fought for transgender rights, is now a judge
By BRIAN ROGERS
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Nov. 19, 2010, 12:09PM
Karen Warren Chronicle
Phyliss Frye doesn't "want people to think I am
anything other than an associate municipal court judge."
Thirty years ago, Phyllis Frye, a longtime activist for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender causes, could have been arrested for wearing women's clothing in the Houston City Council chamber.
Frye, a transgender Houston attorney born as Phillip Frye, fought back tears earlier this week as the mayor appointed her to a municipal bench in the same room where she helped repeal Houston's "cross-dressing ordinance" in 1980.
"I almost started crying, because I remembered 31 years ago, in that very same chamber, I was subject to arrest," Frye said.
The 63-year-old will hear traffic ticket cases and other low-level misdemeanor trials. Municipal judges are not elected, she noted.
Frye said she would be the first transgender judge in Texas. She knows of at least two transgender judges in other parts of the country.
Frye applied for the position several months ago and was vetted before being appointed by Mayor Annise Parker on Wednesday with seven other new associate judges.
"I think she's a great addition to our judiciary," the mayor said. "I'm very proud I was able to nominate her, and she agreed to serve."
Frye joins 43 other associate municipal judges and 22 full-time municipal judges.
"I don't want to underplay this, because I understand it is very significant," Frye said. "But I don't want to overplay it either. I don't want people to think I am anything other than an associate municipal court judge."
Storied legal career
Three decades ago Frye volunteered at City Hall where she worked to repeal an ordinance that allowed police to arrest men in women's clothes and lesbians wearing fly-front jeans.
"Things have changed, and it's pretty wonderful," Frye said.
A graduate of Texas A&M, Frye was an Eagle Scout and an Aggie cadet. She also was a husband and a father.
Frye has practiced criminal defense law in Houston since 1986.
She now heads a six-lawyer firm and has parlayed her expertise in gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender legal issues into a storied legal career -- the latest chapter of which is her representation of Nikki Araguz, the transgender Wharton widow embroiled in a legal battle to receive part of her firefighter husband's death benefits.
Critics vocal
Parker's critics seized on Frye's appointment to say the mayor, who is a lesbian, is promoting a gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender agenda.
"Phyllis Frye is a very well-known radical transgender activist," said Dave Welch, executive director of the Houston Area Pastor Council, which represents about 300 churches.
"We don't think it is consistent with the values of the vast majority of the people," Welch said. "We think it is an anti-family lifestyle and agenda."
Her appointment, however, was applauded by Houston's GLBT Political Caucus.
"Phyllis Frye is a true icon in our civil rights movement," said Kris Banks, Caucus president. "She is an internationally recognized pioneer, and the mayor is to be congratulated for her choice."
Banks noted that Charles Spain, an openly gay attorney and chair of the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identification Issues of the State Bar, also was appointed as an associate municipal court judge. Josh Brockman, an openly gay attorney, was appointed as a hearings officer to resolve contested parking tickets.
New judges go through hours of state-mandated training. Frye said she expects to begin substituting for sitting judges in the spring.
brian.rogers@chron.com
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7300931.htm l
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