This And That – The Good And Not So Good

The first news article comes from Canada…

Shimmering with pride
Barrie students doing their part to raise awareness about discrimination
The Barrie Examiner
By Cheryl Browne

[…]
In fact, Brandon is holding a social media event Sept. 9 called Born this Way Day, encouraging youth to attend their schools dressed in pink or "outrageous colours" to celebrate their uniqueness, warts and all.

"It's a day for self-acceptance," he said. "The day represents a great cause, where no one deserves to be shunned because of their sexual orientation, their race, or any of their differences or disabilities," he said.

Pushing forward with his own mandate is Kyle Rehling, 17, who, as a transgendered youth, holds the distinction of being Barrie's first transgender student mayor.
[…]
Rehling said there were a string of derogatory comments linked to his page and the hurtful debate raged on. (The debate to reinstate sex reassignment surgery is still being debated in Ontario since it was delisted in 1998).

Sitting outside Innisdale on his lunch period in the sunshine, the tall, lanky boy who would rather be a girl, struggles to express how demoralizing the comments by the other students were.

"I was raised to stand up for myself and defend myself, and I just have to remember these people are not tolerant, they're just ignorant."

When both the police and school staff were notified, the tensions eased, but it makes Rehling wary that there are students who disagree so strongly with his lifestyle choice.
[…]
"This is all a learning experience for me," he said shrugging it off. "I'm an advocate — I guess I have to put up with this s---t."

It is great that the student body elected her as student mayor; however, the fact the she is being harassed is not. In addition, it does look like the school and the police are taking steps to curb the harassment. The writer for this article has a lot to learn, she needs to learn to use the proper pronouns and that transgenderism is not lifestyle and it is not a choice. We were born this way and we had no more choice then we had with the choice of the color of our eyes.

The next article is about changing your birth certificate,

Transgender people sue Illinois to change birth certificates
State refuses unless genital surgery is done, lawsuit says
Chicago Tribune
By Rex W. Huppke
May 12, 2011

Lauren Grey is, in all aspects of her life, a woman. Her driver's license reflects that, as do her name, her Social Security information and her appearance.

Still, her Illinois birth certificate says she's a man. She has requested that it be changed and provided a supporting affidavit from the doctor who performed breast augmentation and facial feminization surgeries on her. But, according to a lawsuit filed on behalf of her and other transgender people this week by the American Civil Liberties Union, the state has denied her request, saying transgender people in Illinois must have "genital reformation surgery" to have their birth certificates changed.
[…]
The class-action lawsuit was filed Tuesday naming Damon Arnold, head of the Illinois Department of Public Health, as the defendant. The suit claims that for years the state would change people's gender on their birth certificates even if they had not had any form of genital surgery, but that the policy seemed to change "in or about 2005."
[…]
Though she was able to change her name and her sex on her Illinois driver's license and with the Social Security Administration, Grey said her requests to change her birth certificate have been denied. This made it impossible for her to get a passport that identifies her as a female, and has caused problems with her work as a graphic designer.
[…]
"Every individual requires individual treatment," Ettner [an Evanston-based clinical and forensic psychologist specializing in gender conditions] said. "A medical requirement that a whole class of people has to adhere to seems so contrary to how medical care should be provided. It's problematic to make a requirement that everybody needs to follow a certain medical trajectory."

For many trans-people surgery is not possible because of a number of reasons, such as health and financial reasons. For many trans-people their health precludes any surgery, they might have a heart condition or maybe diabetes or other medical problems that make any surgery very risky. Also they may not be able to afford the $20,000 to way over $100,000 dollars that surgery cost. Because of discrimination most insurance policies do not cover any medical conditions that is related to being transgender, even though the American Medical Association (AMA), the American Psychological Association (APA), the World Professional Association of Transgender Health (WPTH) and the IRS all say that surgery is a medical necessary.

The last article is about a bill before the Maine legislature…

Panel rejects new abortion rules
The three bills, and another on transgender restroom use, still face 'passionate' floor debate.
Maine Sunday Telegraph
By Rebekah Metzler
May 15, 2011

[…]
Another controversial measure, which would allow schools and businesses to require people to use public rest- rooms that coincide with their biological sex, rather than the gender with which they identify, was also voted down.

In a 7-4 vote, the committee decided to leave the issue to the Maine Human Rights Commission, which deals with it on a case-by-case basis when there are disputes.

So far, only two cases have emerged, one involving a student at a school in Orono and one involving a patron at Denny's Restaurant in Auburn.

Once against the right-wing conservatives are spreading their fear. I recognize that people have concerns over this issue, but since 1975 when the first gender inclusive anti-discrimination law was passed there has never been a case where a trans-person assaulted someone in the restroom in a jurisdiction that has gender inclusive anti-discrimination laws. It is just fear mongering. Here in Connecticut the opposition tried to use the same tactic during the hearing, but when cross-examined the person had to admit that he didn’t know of any cases.

That is why we need your help. The gender inclusive anti-discrimination bill, HB6599 is coming up for a vote this week in the House and the opposition is spreading their hate and fear, we need you to contact your legislators. You can find out more information on the bill here.

If you live in Maine, you also can help by calling your legislators and asking them to against LD 1046: An Act to Amend the Application of the Maine Human Rights Act Regarding Public Accommodations (You can find them here), some information on the bill can be found here.