A Little Of This And That In The News - Trans Stuff

First article is about marriage. A trans-couple was denied a marriage license in New York City back in 2009 when the clerk refused to issue the license.

Transgender couple can marry after all, NYC says
They applied in 2009, but the city clerk refused them
NBCNewYork.com
March 8, 2011

NEW YORK — A transgender couple refused a marriage license by New York's City Clerk in 2009 will finally be allowed to marry, and the agency promised new training to ensure other transgendered applicants are not turned away.

The transgender woman, who had been born as a male, and her opposite sex partner, who was born female, were denied a license to marry at the Bronx office of the City Clerk in December 2009.

When the pair supplied identification, a worker in the clerk's office asked for birth certificates in addition to the ID.

You also have to remember that New York City has an anti-discrimination ordinance on the books which the clerk totally ignored when he denied them the license.

In other news… In of all places, Nevada is debating adding gender identity and expression to their hate crime statutes.

Bill expands hate crime laws to transgender people
NECN
Mar 7, 2011

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Crimes against transgender people would merit stronger penalties if a bill to expand Nevada's hate crimes law passes.
Click here to find out more!

Sen. David Parks, D-Las Vegas, pushed SB180 Monday to add crimes based on "gender identity or expression" to existing hate crime legislation, which includes crimes based on sexual orientation.
[…]
But others said the bill treats certain crime victims as more valuable than others. Orrin Johnson with the Washoe County Public Defender's Office said the language of the bill was too vague, and it would be difficult to determine if a crime was based on the broad concept of gender expression.

As I have written in the past, we have many laws that are based on motive. Connecticut has a Hate Crime law that includes gender identity and expression. The federal government also has a Hate Crime law that includes gender identity and expression, so this is nothing new.

Lastly, here in Connecticut the hearing for the anti-bullying bill will be held this Friday.

CONNECTICUT COMMISSION ON CHILDREN
Legislative Alert

Bullying in Schools Legislation to be Heard Friday, March 11
Please Testify!

Please testify this Friday afternoon, March 11 on a major Connecticut bill to prevent bullying in schools.

S.B. 1138, An Act Concerning the Strengthening of School Bullying Laws, would take important steps to improve school climate in public schools. The bill will be heard in the Education Committee on Friday at 12:30 p.m. -- Room 1E of the Legislative Office Building in Hartford. Your voice is needed at this hearing! Instructions on how to testify are below.

Now is the time for strong school climate legislation. One in four (25 percent) Connecticut high school students – and 35 percent of the state’s 9th graders – reported having been bullied or harassed on school property in the past year. More than 900,000 U.S. high school students reported being cyberbullied in one year. Elementary and middle school children also experience bullying. Connecticut high school students who report being bullied are more likely to get less sleep, miss school because they feel unsafe, have property stolen at school, carry a weapon to school, experience dating violence, be depressed and attempt suicide.

S.B. 1138 takes comprehensive steps to prevent bullying and ensure every child the right to learn in school without fear of teasing, humiliation or assault. At the Commission on Children's Nov. 2010 forum on bullying in schools, more than 500 people heard Kevin Jennings of the U.S. Department of Education tell us that every school should have a clear policy against bullying behaviors, train all staff who interact with students, ensure that all staff members take immediate action when bullying is observed, and gather data to assess bullying. S.B. 1138 takes all of these steps.

Under S.B. 1138:

• All school employees, including bus drivers and cafeteria workers, will receive annual training on the prevention of, and response to, student bullying and will be part of the school's active response to bullying; all teacher candidates and beginning teachers will be trained as well
• All school employees will take immediate action when bullying occurs; parents will be informed; school officials will complete an investigation within 10 days; schools will respond to bullying whether it occurs at school, online (cyberbullying), on a school bus, at a bus stop, or at a school-related activity, as well as to bullying outside these settings if it disrupts a student's education or the orderly operation of a school
• All schools will establish a safe school environment team to address bullying patterns, review policies and educate the school community
• Every school district will appoint a safe school environment coordinator to help schools implement a safe school environment plan
• Schools will continue to be required to implement a written prevention and intervention strategy; they will be encouraged to use student peer training as one tool to prevent bullying
• The "bullying" definition will be amended to (1) add cyberbullying, (2) clarify what constitutes bullying, and (3) eliminate the "during the school year" phrase in the current definition that reportedly causes some school officials to "wipe the slate clean" and ignore bullying patterns that began before the current school year. [However, the proposed definition does not include "enumerated categories" recommended by the U.S. Department of Education to clarify that bullying includes illegal acts of harassment based on actual or perceived characteristics of students.]
• A statewide safe school resource network will provide training and resources to schools, and analyze bullying data
• All school boards will invite parents, students, law enforcement and the public to help review and strengthen the local safe school plan
• The state will annually celebrate Safe School Awareness Day to promote tolerance and respect for differences among students
• The State Department of Education will monitor districts' prevention and intervention strategies and progress, and report biennially on the effectiveness of school responses.

You can read S.B. 1138 in its entirety here.