A Little Of This And A Little Of That

These news articles caught my eye in the last week…

I wish her well but I don’t think she will get the Republican nomination to run for Congress.

Transgender candidate a label-free conservative
Donna Milo, a transgender conservative Republican running in the GOP primary for Congress, will speak Monday night to a gay Republican club in Fort Lauderdale.

By Steve Rothaus
The Miami Herald

MIAMI — Donna Milo — a Cuban-American, conservative Republican, transgender woman running for Congress — says she doesn't like labels.

"I'm an American. I make my way on the basis of ability. My triumphs are based on my abilities, not on a label or a crutch," said Milo, a Miami Planning Advisory Board member running to replace U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Weston, one of the House's most liberal Democrats.

In an interview on the Mike Signorile Show she said…

While she confirmed to me that she is in favor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act ("of course"), it turns out she is opposed to marriage equality, giving the religious line on marriage being between "a man and a woman." On the issue of adoption Milo also believes that, though kids should go to gay and lesbian parents if it means they'll be in an institution, "traditional families" should have priority over gays. She also believes the government should not have a role in funding gender reassignment surgery for transgender people. It was quite an interview.

Speaking of same-sex adoption, it seems that in Iowa the director of the Department of Public Health does not believe that when their Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality that the equality extended to adoption…

Gay couple sues over birth certificate
By GRANT SCHULTE
May 14, 2010

The Iowa Department of Public Health in March rejected the couple's request on grounds that Melissa Gartner had not legally adopted Mackenzie and was not biologically related.

Iowa Department of Public Health Director Tom Newton, who is named in the lawsuit, said in a statement Thursday that his office will fight the claim. Newton said current state law only allows the name of a "husband" to appear on birth certificates when the mother is married, unless a judge grants parental rights to someone else.

Newton said naming a lesbian couple as parents without a legal adoption could jeopardize the rights of a biological father.

Hmm… maybe they should just change the birth certificate to read, “Parents”.

The Iowa Department of Public Health does no ask a straight couple who is the father, only same-sex partners. A straight couple might have used an anonymous sperm donor, or the wife might have had an extramarital affair and the father of the child might not be the husband. Therefore, it is only right that any married couple have their names recorded as the child’s parents.

While we are talking about children, here is article about children coming out at an earlier age LGBT kids coming out earlier age. From of all places, Salt Lake City…

"I prayed every single day ... I didn't want to feel like this and I didn't want to go to hell."

By Rosemary Winters
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 05/17/2010 07:32:28 AM MDT

As society has become more open about sexuality, people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) are coming out at younger ages. It's no longer rare for a high school -- or even a middle school -- to have one or more students who are openly gay or bisexual. They are taking same-sex dates to proms and launching gay-straight alliance clubs.

And people who are transgender, who feel their gender differs from their biological sex, are sharing that with their families -- and sometimes their peers -- during adolescence. Some might start a transition from one gender to another as teenagers. Others can come out as "gender queer," meaning they don't see their gender identity as solely masculine or feminine.
…
"As a community and as a society, we're hearing more and more about LGBT people," she [Jude McNeil, youth programs director at the Utah Pride Center] said. "We're thinking more about what it means to be LGBT. Parents are learning more. Schools are learning more."
…
"If you're a member of an ethnic minority group and you're bullied at school, you can go home and talk to your parents about it and they understand -- provided you're not adopted," said David Huebner, a clinical psychologist and professor at the University of Utah. "For gay kids, they can't necessarily count on that. Often they experience the same mistreatment in the home that they do outside."

And sadly…

Transgender woman murdered on Milwaukee street
by Joseph Erbentraut
EDGE Contributor
Thursday May 20, 2010

While mainstream media’s news reports of Dana A. "Chanel" Larkin’s murder on Friday, May 7, in Milwaukee have focused on the alleged perpetrator’s version of what he said happened, the crime’s scant media coverage has offered little to no information on who she was.

According to those who did know her, Larkin, 26, was a young transgender woman of color who loved her family and friends. She had turned to sex work to make ends meet.

Milwaukee prosecutors contend Andrew Olacirequi had met Larkin on the street late Thursday, May 6, while he was driving around the city looking for a prostitute. He reportedly encountered Larkin near North 27th Street and North Avenue around 1 a.m. on May 7, and offered her $20 to perform a sex act. Larkin reportedly asked the suspect if "it was OK with him actually being a man." Olacirequi allegedly pulled out a .357-caliber revolver when Larkin reportedly made an advance on him and shot her in three times in the head.

All too often trans-people end up unemployed because of discrimination in employment and the only avenue open to them is working the streets. As a result, we are more likely to be victims of violence, have a higher chance of acquiring AIDS/HIV and are exposed to hard drugs.