In England They Have Turned A Ban On Conversion Therapy Upside Down.

Here in the US we have ban conversion therapy trying to make us “straight again” while in Britain it may mean a ban on treating us.
There is a lot of confusion around the bill and it is very vague the reports coming out of England.

Persuading children to change gender identity will become illegal in wake of legal battle over NHS clinic giving puberty-blockers to under 16s

• Trying to convince under 16s to change gender will soon become illegal
• Liz Truss has announced a consultation on banning 'archaic' conversion therapy
• The equalities minister says there is 'no place for the abhorrent practice'
• Violent forms of the therapy are already covered under other offences in the UK
• The Government's six-week public consultation will close on December 10

Daily Mail
By Dan Sales
29 October 2021


Adults who try to persuade children to change gender identity will be breaking the law under new legislation set to come in.

Liz Truss, the equalities minister, has announced a six-week consultation on how to legislate against the practice of trying to change someone's sexual preferences through counselling.

It will also further outlaw gay conversion therapy, which is already covered under other offences.

Some have interpreted that the new law could cause difficulties for transgender, nonbinary and gender-diverse advocacy groups.
[…]
Lui Asquith, Director of Legal and Policy at Mermaids said: 'The Government has made it clear they intend to protect all LGB and T individuals from conversion therapies – this is welcome and right.'

But Pink News has another take on it.

4 glaring red flags from the Tory government’s proposed so-called conversion therapy ban
On Friday (29 October), the UK government finally published its consultation document for a conversion therapy ban. Unfortunately, it is littered with red flags.
By Lily Wakefield
October 29, 2021


The consultation will run for six weeks, and will seek the opinion of the public on the details of legislating for a ban on the discredited and traumatising practice of so-called conversion therapy.

The UK’s LGBT+ community has been waiting for more than three years for a ban, since it was promised by the Conservatives in 2018, but some elements of the consultation are concerning.

The conversion therapy consultation repeatedly refers to attempts to convert people ‘to being transgender’
[…]
At first glance, the promise of a “universal” conversion therapy ban seems positive, but as there is no evidence that conversion therapy to attempt to change someone “from not being transgender to being transgender” is taking place in the UK, the wording is suspicious.

The idea that children are being coerced into “becoming” trans is a popular anti-trans talking point, a myth which suggests that affirming trans and gender non-conforming kids will cause them to be trans when they otherwise would not have been.

The idea is referenced six times throughout the document.

The article then goes on to say,

It later adds: “The government is determined to ensure that no person is put on a clinical pathway that is not right for them, and that young people are supported in exploring their identity without being encouraged towards one particular path.

“Forcing or coercing a person into this position would be considered conversion therapy.”

I don’t think that the British trans community can afford to take a wait and see attitude, I think that they have to be proactive to find out what the document actually means that they need to have it spelled out in the legislation.

Saturday 9: Werewolves of London

Sam’s Saturday 9: Werewolves of London (1978)

On Saturdays I take a break from the heavy stuff and have some fun…Last weekend I was at a conference and I did post because I wouldn’t have been about to respond.

BANNERBANNERBANNER

Unfamiliar with this week's featured song? Hear it here.

1) In this song, Warren Zevon sees a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand. He wanted beef chow mein. If we Saturday 9ers got together for Chinese, what would you likely order?

Oh I am not a fan of Chinese so I usually order Shrimp Egg Roll, Crab Rangoon, Chicken Satay, and Beef Sticks. A meal of applitizers.

2) He also says the werewolf's hair was perfect. Are you having a good hair day?

Since I wear a wig I can just change it on a bad hair day.

3) Linda Ronstadt was a big Warren Zevon fan and recorded several of his songs. Do you have a favorite Linda Ronstadt song?

Ha… most of them but Desperado tops the list followed Blue Bayou.

4) Warren Zevon admitted being afraid of doctors and avoided check ups. Are you scared when you go to the doctor or dentist for a routine visit?

Nope. I was just at my doctor’s for a COVID-19 test. That scared me more than any needle, when she brought that swab, it sent shivers up and down my spin. But it wasn’t bad but it was followed by a lot of sneezes from having that up my nose.

5) In 1935, the movie Werewolf of London was released. Do you enjoy being frightened by scary movies?

No, I do not like scary movies. Not my cup of tea.

6) In your younger days, did you ever trick or treat while dressed as a monster?

Nope, pirates

7) When you were a kid, what sweet treats were you happiest to receive?

CHOCOLATES! Those marshmallow and candy corn… in the trash. Only premium chocolates for this kid.

8) Can you see any Halloween decorations as you answer these 9 questions?

Nope. Shh... I see a bag of candy that I bought for myself. Too bad someone hasn’t invented a dispenser  that will only allow one or two chocolates a day.

9) Halloween is most popular in the United States and Canada, and isn't really celebrated at all in Japan or South Korea. How would you explain our Halloween customs to a visitor from another land?

A bunch of little kids extorting grownups with threats of tricks for candy.

Thanks so much for joining us again at Saturday: 9. As always, feel free to come back, see who has participated and comment on their posts. In fact sometimes, if you want to read & comment on everyone's responses, you might want to check back again tomorrow. But it is not a rule. We haven’t any rules here. Join us on next Saturday for another version of Saturday: 9, "Just A Silly Meme on a Saturday!" Enjoy your weekend!

Another State Has Stepped In Between Our Doctors And Us.

In Wisconsin the Republican backed legislature voted not to include transgender healthcare in their Medicaid bill.

Republicans Vote Against Medicaid Transgender Care
Legislative committee vote keeps Wisconsin out of compliance with a court non-discrimination order.
Urban Milwaukee
By Melanie Conklin, Wisconsin Examiner
October 25, 2021


Republicans voted to block a change that would have brought state law into compliance with Medicaid rules, a court ruling and other laws that ban discrimination on gender-transition care.

The Department of Health Services (DHS) sought a rule change in state law, approved in June by Gov. Tony Evers, affirming that transgender individuals who participate in Medicaid can receive necessary medication, surgeries and hormone therapies. While the federal rules mean Wisconsinites seeking such care will be covered, the GOP vote means the Wisconsin statute is non-compliant with a federal court order prohibiting such discrimination.

Current Wisconsin rules date back to a discriminatory 1996 ban on transgender individuals who participate in Medicaid from using the program to cover costs for needed medication and hormone therapies. In 2019, the judge in Flack vs. the Department of Health Services, which was decided in the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, concluded that such a ban violates the federal Medicaid Act and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Discrimination based on gender identity is also not permitted under the Affordable Care Act, including transition-related care.

So what this means is that the legislature is ignoring the Constitution, law, and a court order. Their hatred of us is so strong that they are will to uphold the Constitution that they swore an oath to do.

“That legislative Republicans would seek to deny them this care — even if it means violating a federal injunction — shows not just a lack of moral character but a lack of understanding of how our country works,” said JCRAR member Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) in a statement after the vote.

Larson said the vote showed “contempt” for the LGBTQ Wisconsinites, who Republicans have also alienated through proposed athletic participation bans by gender and by voting against outlawing “conversion therapy” that seeks to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of minors.

The Republicans want to step between us and our doctors. The Republicans mantra is “Get government off our backs.” What could be more invasive then telling our doctors not to treat us?
“Despite the protections of the Affordable Care Act and other laws that prohibit discrimination, transgender people continue to encounter barriers to care,” the group’s website states. “Transgender people face significant job loss and job fragility and, therefore, a higher rate of uninsurance.”

Can you imagine what a trans child is going through, what does this tell them? That the government hates them enough to let suffer.

One of the commenters said,

In some ways, this will seem like a marginal action affecting a small group of people. But it is part of a larger picture. In our country, and in an “otherized” Wisconsin, the genie of cruelty is now out of the bottle. And, once out, to mix a metaphor, it is always necessary to feed the beast. That means going after a rotating cast of scapegoats among the most vulnerable groups...

They are using the fear of their base to energize them, fear of the “others.” Fear of the immigrants, fear of the Blacks, fear of those “who are not like us.”

When Is A Hurricane Not A Hurricane?

When it is a Nor’easter.

I wrote yesterday post Tuesday night, the wind was howling for over ten hours already, it was around nine o’clock at night but I thought the storm would be over by morning. That it was winding down, but it was winding alright but up not down!

Those of us who live in the northeast know about the storm with the funny name, Nor’easter. But instead it was coming back for a second round worst than the first, the meteorologist call it a retrograde storm it means that the storm is spinning around in the North Atlantic. Instead of the storm moving south to north a retrograde storm moves north to south.

I woke without power the house was silent, no refrigerator that was the first clue, the second clue the WiFi was down, the third clue was I had zero bars on my phone. When I looked out the lawn was riddled with small and large branches, everything was plastered with wet leaves. So I decided it was time to retreat back to Connecticut where there was city water.

The wind was still blowing hard, I estimate it was a constant 30 or 40 mph. Just about everywhere were without power, route 6 was open but there were downed trees pushed to the side of the road or cut to clear the road. Eversource the electric company report 98 percent of Wellfleet was without power.

The Wicked Local reported that,

Eversource was reporting at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday a power outage of 99% of customers in Provincetown, and an 85% outage in Truro and an 80% outage in Wellfleet, following high winds that swept through the outermost towns of Cape Cod overnight.

The company was in the area working on ending the outages, the town of Provincetown reported at 8:45 a.m. Wednesday.

Unofficial wind gusts of 83 miles per hour at 2:25 a.m. Wednesday in Wellfleet were reported by the National Weather Service. Within a few minutes, gusts of 80 miles per hour in Truro were reported and gusts of 63 miles per hour in Provincetown.

Strong gusts were expected to diminish on Wednesday as the storm leaves the area on Thursday, according to information from the town of Provincetown. Some roads have storm damage due to downed trees.

Keep in mind that winds above 74 mph are considered hurricane force winds!

This comes on the…

This Week’s Nor’easter Comes on the 30th Anniversary of the “Perfect Storm”
But don't expect a sequel.
Boston Magazine
By Spencer Buell
October 26, 2021


Batten down the hatches, and the gaudy 12-foot-tall yard skeletons: a spooktacular nor’easter is rolling across the Northeast. It’ll land in Boston just before Halloween and the 30th anniversary of perhaps the most famous late-October meteorological events in New England history.

That’s right, as Boston prepares for heavy wind and rain this week, it’s time once again to remember the so-called Perfect Storm, which battered the East Coast in late October and early November of 1991, inflicting severe damage on coastal Massachusetts and killing the crew of a fishing vessel called the Andrea Gail.

Yes, Yankees are all too familiar with Nor’easter, hurricanes pass through in a matter of hours and is 50 – 60 miles wide, Nor’easters take days and is all of New England wide.

---

I have an hour Zoom meeting this morning and a two hour zoom meeting this afternoon.

This morning's meeting is a panel discussion by the CHRO on trans athletes, I am on the panel with the head of the Connecticut chapter of the ACLU, the head of the CIAC (Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference), and is moderated by a lawyer from the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunity and then there little ol' me.

The afternoon meeting is with the legislative LGBTQ Health and Human Services Network.

Post FanFair

Last week the weather was gorgeous! Hi in the mid 60s, sunny, and no wind,

But just to show you how lucky we were, over night the Nor’easter moved ashore with 70+ mph winds pouring rain and with power outages.

This is a short post because the lights are flickering and the internet s flaky and I don’t if I will have power in the morning.

See you on the flip side of the storm.

Insult Comedy

There was a comedian who was said to be an Equal Opportunity Offender because everyone was fair game for him. Don Rickles insulted everyone for laughs, but stop and think what about the people he insulted? How did they feel to be the butt of a joke?

One time I saw him on TV at a dinner club picking on an audience member over his weight as the man was eating dessert. The man might have been struggling with his weight, he might have had a medical disorder like diabetes that cause him to gain weight or a thyroid disease, he may have been suffering from depression because of it and now he is being humiliated on national television, could it have driven him to suicidal idealizations?

Now we have another insult comedic who is using us for his jokes.

Chapelle special spurs Netflix walkout; ‘Trans lives matter’
AP News
By Alex Veiga and Lynn Elber
October 21, 2021


Netflix employees who walked out Wednesday in protest of Dave Chappelle’s special and its anti-transgender comments were joined by allies who chanted “Trans lives matter,” getting pushback from counterprotesters who also showed up.

A pre-noon rally at a Netflix office-studio complex drew about 100 people, most on the side of an estimated 30 workers at the streaming giant that joined in afterward. Some were willing to identify themselves as Netflix employees, but all declined to provide their names.
[…]
Chappelle’s decision to share “his outrage as comedic humiliation in front of thousands of people, and then broadcasting it to hundreds of millions of people is infinitely amplified gender violence,” they said.

Counter-counter protesters are saying it is “Free Speech” but at what cost? Is it right to do it at other people’s expense? What happens if it pushes a young trans person to take their own life?

“Harm reduction” is another demand, which according to the list includes acknowledgment of what it called Netflix’s “responsibility for this harm from transphobic content, and in particular harm to the Black trans community.”

It also called for disclaimers to flag content that includes “transphobic language, misogyny, homophobia” and hate speech.

In a statement, the media watchdog group GLAAD said it salutes the Netflix’s employees, allies and LGBTQ and Black advocates “calling for accountability and change within Netflix and in the entertainment industry as a whole.”

No, I will not attend or watch a comedian who gets laughs at others expense.

CBS news reported on the walkout,

"Dave Chappelle doesn't get to suck the joy out of this moment. This is a moment where we are coming together in a unified effort," activist Ashlee Marie Preston said at Wednesday's rally. "This is a moment where we understand that it's one for all and all for one and we won't stop until justice is brought."

And what happened to the Netflix’s employee who organized the protest? They suspended her.

Netflix suspends transgender employee who tweeted about Dave Chappelle's 'The Closer'
The streaming giant says the tweets weren't the reason the employee was suspended.
NBC News
By Daniel Arkin
October 11, 2021


Netflix suspended a transgender employee who criticized the new Dave Chappelle stand-up special "The Closer," writing on Twitter that Chappelle's jokes were harmful to transgender people and the LGBTQ community. The company denied that the tweets were the reason for the suspension.

The employee, software engineer Terra Field, tweeted Wednesday that Chappelle "attacks the trans community, and the very validity of transness," in "The Closer."
[…]
"It is absolutely untrue to say that we have suspended any employees for tweeting about this show," a company spokesperson said. "Our employees are encouraged to disagree openly, and we support their right to do so."

Yeah, right and I have a bridge in Brooklyn for sale.

The Verge also reported that co-CEO Ted Sarandos responded to questions from employees in an internal email sent Friday. In the memo, which was quoted in full by The Verge, Sarandos said Chappelle's special would not be removed from the platform.
[…]
"It never feels good when people are hurting, especially our colleagues, so I wanted to give you some additional context. You should also be aware that some talent may join third parties in asking us to remove the show in the coming days, which we are not going to do," Sarandos was quoted as saying.
[…]
"I recognize, however, that distinguishing between commentary and harm is hard, especially with stand-up comedy which exists to push boundaries," Sarandos added, according to The Verge. "Some people find the art of stand-up to be mean-spirited but our members enjoy it, and it's an important part of our content offering."

Chappelle has a lucrative content deal with Netflix. He signed an agreement in 2016 that is reported to pay him $20 million per stand-up special. He has released six specials on the platform to date.

Of course not, Netflix is making money at the expense of the trans community.

Suppose you substitute another marginalized community, say if it was a White comedian making fun of Blacks how do you think that would fly? Then why is it okay for us to be the butt of the jokes?

I like comedy just not Insult Comedy.

So what does Dave Chappelle think about trying to get him off the air? It is cancel culture.

Chappelle slams cancel culture amid Netflix transgender furore

BBC

26 October 2021

US comedian Dave Chappelle, whose latest Netflix special sparked a transgender backlash, has hit back at those he says want to "cancel" him.

Chappelle posted on Instagram that he was willing to meet members of the transgender community, amid criticism his comedy show was transphobic.

He also invited viewers to decide whether he had been "cancelled".

It comes after a small protest last week outside the Netflix headquarters in Los Angeles.

Critics have taken offence at Chappelle's Netflix special, The Closer, in which he says "gender is a fact" and that LGBT people are "too sensitive".

What I see of the so called cancel culture is people with privileged being called out on it by the marginalized community. Stop and think about this for a second... 38 trans people were murdered so far this year, we are on the way to breaking a record.

Once I watch a trans comedian talk about her experience using her GPS and she had the audience rolling around on the floor laughing, she didn’t need to insult anyone for laughs. There are so many different types of comedy that doesn’t come at an other's expense.

Update October 28, 2021 @ 3:00 PM

Now That’s The Party Is Over, Catching Up On The News.

Last week was Fantasia Fair and I kept my posts on the fair, but I have been chomping at the bit to write on other topics.

~~~~~~~~~~

We were invaded here in Connecticut by the radical right, mainly by U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) who was invited here for “America First Rally.” She was met with counter protesters, WTNH reported that,

Her visit to Connecticut sparked outrage and counter-protesters gathered outside the event.

“Her racist, homophobic, sexist, and conspiracy theory rhetoric may fly in her state, but it doesn’t fly here,” said Anthony DiLizia, a democrat running for Connecticut’s 2nd Congressional District.

They wanted to send a strong message.

“We should not let all this hate go unchallenged,” said Cassandra Martineau, co-chair of Connecticut’s Green Party. “It’s important we stand up and speak out.”

The rally lasted for five hours, and police were on-hand throughout the entire event to ensure the safety of all those in attendance.

 People think that the northeast corner of Connecticut is the "quit corner" but is really a hotbed of right-wing radical groups. The Southerner Poverty Law Center list 6 hate groups in Connecticut.

Anti-Biden furor on display at ‘America First Rally’ featuring U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in Plainfield
The Hartford Courant
By Daniela Altmari
October 24, 2021


But at Saturday’s “America First Rally“ with U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) in Plainfield, Suleski proudly donned a shirt emblazoned with the initials FJB [F**k Joe Biden], a vulgar reference to President Joe Biden.

“I never liked his politics,” Suleski said, “and I hate what he’s doing to this country. That’s what FJB means.”

Suleski wasn’t the only one at the rally using expletives to express their hostility toward the president and his policies. The crowd periodically erupted in chants of “F--- Joe Biden,” and vendors sold T-shirts, bumper stickers, pins, flags and baseball caps adorned with the phrase.

She wasn’t the only one using vulgar language,

“This is my feeling and there’s still freedom of speech,’’ said Norm Evans, 47, of Killingly. He brought a homemade banner that read “F##CK Biden,” along with his yellow Gadsden “Don’t Tread on Me” flag to the rally.

And when President Biden visited Hartford last week...

Connecticut Gov. Lamont rips protesters hurling obscenities at President Biden while surrounded by children at Hartford event: ‘It was embarrassing.’
The Hartford Curant
By Christopher Keating
October 19, 2021


Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont Tuesday ripped into protesters who hurled curses and vulgarities at President Joe Biden during a visit to a child care center in Hartford last week.

Four days after the event, Lamont was still clearly bothered by the protesters, who shouted vulgarities as about 35 children, along with their teachers, were meeting the president at an event touting additional federal money being earmarked for child care.

“It was something these kids will never forget for the rest of their lives,” Lamont told reporters Tuesday outside the state Capitol. “And right across the fence were angry protesters — yelling, cursing, dropping the F-bomb, and it was embarrassing.”

It seems like the radical right has no problem using vulgar and obscenities.

Biden’s critics hurl increasingly vulgar taunts
The Washington Post
By Ashley Parker and Carissa Wolf
October 23, 2021


On Wednesday, when the president visited Scranton, Pa., he was greeted at the corner of Biden Street by a woman holding a handmade “F--- Joe Biden” sign, with an American flag as the vowel in the offending word. And back in Boise, Rod Johnson, a retired gunsmith, has hung a blue flag from the roof of his home that reads “F--- Biden.” Underneath, in smaller letters, he added, “And f--- you for voting for him!!”
[…]
But it’s clear that after nine months in office, Biden — or at least what he represents — is increasingly becoming an object of hatred to many Trump supporters. The vitriol partly reflects Trump’s own repeated baseless claims that Biden is a usurper, depriving him of his rightful claim to the presidency, and partly stems from Biden actions that Republicans deplore, from his spending plans to his immigration policies.

These are the creatures that crawled out of the swamp during the Trump administration.

---

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene lambasted assistant health secretary Dr. Rachel Levine on Twitter,

GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Transphobic Taunt Slammed On Twitter
Twitter users said they reported the extremist lawmaker's post about the first U.S. transgender four-star officer as targeted harassment.
Huffpost
By Lee Moran
October 21, 2021


Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) faced backlash on Wednesday for a tweet mocking assistant health secretary Dr. Rachel Levine, the country’s first transgender four-star officer.

Critics slammed the Donald Trump-adoring, conspiracy theory-endorsing Greene for transphobia with her post, below:

This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about hateful conduct. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible. Learn more

A dude who lived the first 50 years of his life as a man isn’t the first female anything.

China is laughing at us.

Another Trump-worshipping Republican, Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, drew similar outrage with her “welcome to woke medicine, America” post about Levine. Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) called Boebert “a hateful bigot.”

Greene has made transphobic comments before, even going so far as to post an anti-transgender sign near the office of another representative who has a transgender child.

Around the country hate crimes are increasing at an alarming rate spurred on by right-wing Republicans. I fear that if Trump runs again in 2024 that his followers will not take the defeat without violence.

Fantasia Fair Day 6 (Ignore the other Day 6, its fake!)

This morning there were no close by parking spaces so I hoofed it from the Fire Station parking lot on Shank Painter road to the Boatslip. I had two people show up for the presentation and they had a number of photos to share. I tried to talk them into posting them on FanFair’s Facebook page, hopefully they will.

On the way back to the car I spied on of those Terracotta strawberry pot planter and it had plants that were still producing strawberries, there was one ripe berry, a couple semi-red berries, and a number of green berries. What a strange fall it has been, the leaves on the Cape haven’t started to change yet.

Rats! And double Rats!

I thought that Transgender Pioneer Award Presentation was going to at tonight's award banquet but it wasn’t it was at the noon Keynote… I wanted to see that! Normal they have a the Transgender Pioneer Award Dinner Monday night, they discombobulated me.

I went home after my workshop because I had a lousy night sleep and I wanted to take a nap but that didn’t work either.

The dinner, Fantasia Fair Awards Banquet, was well the same as it always was. However, the prime rib was heavenly, the that I ever had… it melts in your mouth… good. After the awards were handed out I snuck out of the room and went to get my car, and pick up a friend to bring her to the Boatslip so she didn’t have to walk.

This morning they are having a Farewell Breakfast that I’m skipping by the time they start I would have eaten already. Instead a couple that I know is staying over from the Fair and we are going out to dinner at the Van Rensselaer's Restaurant in town.

For the Banquet I brought my red dress shown above but when I tried it on I looked like I was nine months pregnant. Well maybe next year when I lose another 10 pounds, so instead I wore a black and white skirt and a white top with low heel pumps.

I first went to FF in 2001 so this is my 20^th anniversary and the Fair has changed, it used to be a mixture crossederssers and those who have transitioned but now it seems to morphed in to couples. I will say probably three quarters of the attendees are here with their spouses, so most of the workshops are geared toward them. I think that I was one of the few attendees who have transitioned.

I tried to hit the niche for those who have been coming for a long time and didn’t care for the couple workshops and were not interested in makeup workshops but that niche is not there anymore. Proving the saying "You can't go home again."

Fantasia Fair Day 6

So now that I know that it is at 10 and not 11, I have been getting there around 9:40. Setting up my computer and monitor bring chairs over for the workshop, but no one came today so I waited for a half hour while I checked my email.

One of the email was from a lawyer friend from GLAD told me about a new discrimination case in Maine (More on that at the bottom of today’s post.) and I got a couple of other posts that I answered.

Since no one showed up I had a half hour to kill so I went to Herring Cove Beach in the Cape Cod National Seashore. I put the seat back, lowered the window and listened to the surf and seagulls.

Back to P’town for lunch and meet some new trans people who were at the Fair for the first time. Today’s lunch was at the Crown & Anchor, at FanFair I always go there on Friday for the fish & chips.

Well back to the cottage.

I get there a little before 2 and read my emails… YIKES! I have a zoom meeting in fifteen minutes! With the Governor’s Council on Hate Crimes! Quick clean off the table. Throw the coffee mug with a tea bag into the microwave. Go get my laptop from the bedroom. Where’s my headphone? Back to the bedroom get the headphones. Grab the mug as I run by the microwave. Open Zoom just in time for roll call… “Here your honor.” Whew!

---

So this morning’s email announced a discrimination case in Maine.

Maine Transgender Woman Files First-of-its-kind Discrimination Claim Against Assisted Living Facility

The complaint, filed by GLAD on behalf of a 78-year-old woman who was denied a room by Sunrise Assisted Living because she is transgender, is the first such legal claim of discrimination brought in the U.S. against a senior long-term care facility.

October 21, 2021, AUGUSTA – GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) today filed a discrimination claim with the Maine Human Rights Commission on behalf of a 78-year-old woman who was denied a room by Sunrise Assisted Living in Jonesport, Maine because she is transgender. It is the first known discrimination complaint filed in the U.S. by a transgender older adult against a long-term care facility. The complainant is being represented by GLAD attorneys Ben Klein, Chris Erchull and Mary Bonauto.

In the spring of 2021, the complainant, who is being identified publicly as Jane Doe, was admitted to Pen Bay Medical Center for an acute medical emergency. Once Ms. Doe’s health was stabilized, the medical staff determined she did not require in-patient care and needed placement in an assisted living facility. A hospital social worker contacted Sunrise Assisted Living on Ms. Doe’s behalf and was told they had rooms available. Upon learning that Ms. Doe is transgender, however, the Administrator at Sunrise informed the hospital they would not admit Ms. Doe because they were concerned she wanted to reside in a room with a female roommate, despite the fact that Sunrise regularly places women in semi-private rooms with other women.

The claim brought by GLAD on Jane Doe’s behalf asserts that Sunrise discriminated against Ms. Doe on the basis of her gender identity, transgender status, and her sex, all explicitly protected under the Maine Human Rights Act.

[…]

Being denied a room at Sunrise because she is transgender also forced Ms. Doe to remain in the hospital longer than was recommended by her medical team.”

I think that one of the key factors in the case will be that “...to remain in the hospital longer than was recommended by her medical team.”

Too bad it had to take a lawsuit to force them to do the right thing.

~~~~~

Sadly I foresee some anti-LGBTQ legal organization picking up the case to defend the long term care facility and it going to the US. Supreme Court.

Fantasia Fair Day ???? Hmm, I Forgot.

 Ah… Day 5.

The day started pretty good, I found the parking space available again however there was no TV! So back up the stairs to the front desk, “Oh they had a function in the room last night and moved it out of the way.”

I had one person show up and an email from another saying that they couldn’t make it because of a conflict. Then another person showed up, she was from COS! She said that I talked about FanFair so much that her and her wife decided to come up and see for themselves.

It was back to Tin Pan Ally for lunch again, I sat with a young trans man from Albany way and also with a couple who have been coming to the Fair for a couple of years. Then my friends from over by the Catskills who I had lunch with yesterday came. We all had the applewood BLT except the trans man who had a veggie burger. I have going to Tin Pan Ally whenever I meet someone, cocktails in the afternoon sitting overlooking the harbor,

Then grocery shopping to pick up some things that I forgot yesterday.

Fantasia Fair Day 4: Back On Track

So I got there 20 minutes before 10, I wanted to make sure that I wouldn’t be late and I got a prime parking space right in front of the Boatslip door. I had two people show up and we had a good discussion.

After the workshop I had chosen lunch at the Post Office… no, no, not that post office but rather the Post Office Cafe & Cabaret. It was sold last year and is under management but it looks like they the former owner share the meatloaf recipe.

I was early so I passed the time sitting on the park benches in front of the town hall watching life pass me by.

When lo and behold who walks by but a couple that I know and they were also heading for the Post Office so I joined them. We caught up on the last two years. I also saw a few other faces that I know.

One thing about the fair, you  get your exercise, the couple that had lunch was also say that they were getting tired from walking. If you every come to the fair bring walking shoes, the first time that I came I only had high heels and I regretted not bring other shoes. Now most have flats and have their heels in their pocketbooks. Me, I just wear sneakers.

Fantasia Fair Day 3 I F****d Up Royally.

Mea culpa. Mea culpa. Mea culpa.

I got the time wrong for my workshop, I thought it was at 11 but it was at 10. And here I thought I was doing so great getting there 15 minutes early.

After the fiasco I went to lunch at Tin Pan Ally. I like going there because they have a good selection on their menu and it is a good place to meet friends over lunch or drinks. It is right across from the town hall, the last time I was there was in the late summer when I met my former intern for lunch and her mother, it was a hot humid day and the breeze coming off the water felt great.

But this time it was for the FanFair lunch, there were a couple of fair goers inside but I want to sit outside on the patio. There was one fair goer outside sitting by herself so I asked if I could join her for lunch. As I was walking out I spotted an old friend, I stopped and talked to her for awhile.

I have been to many trans conferences but at Fantasia Fair you get your exercise, from the Boatslip it is a quarter mile walk to the restaurant on a beautiful fall day (But there have been known time when it was pouring rain or snow, so you have to take the bad with the good.).

The night’s entertainment was a bingo and I wasn’t interested in it so I went back to my cottage and had a pork chop cooked on the grill for supper.

Fantasia Fair Day 2

I woke up with my stomach doing flip-flops, it calmed during the day and I did my workshop with no problems stomach wise. But there was no TV to show a PowerPoint… a SNAFU. But the motel took care of the problem and by the end of the workshop I had a TV.

There were three people who showed up and hopefully it will increase during the week as the word spread.

At night there was the Epic Reunion Banquet & Dance Party at the Crown & Anchor with a turkey dinner. Mondays usual low attendance because only a few can go the for the whole week so there were a number of empty seats. Sadly my stomach started acting up again so I left early.

---

When I first stepped out to work for the gender inclusive non-discrimination bill, the were a lot of faces  that I knew sitting at the table but there was also a lot of faces that I didn’t know sitting at the table. One of them was a feisty fiery lesbian and I noticed when she talked people around the table listen, that was my first introduction to Shawn Lang.

Over the years our paths crossed many times, I did panel discussions with her, and we traveled around the state doing presentations for homeless shelters for trans residents. There are only a handful of non-trans people who I think can talk about trans issues and she was one of them, she got it!

Politicians on both sides of the aisle respected her, they might not agree with her but they knew that she spoke from the heart.

So I felt great sadness when I heard of her passing. We lost a great caring person who will be sorely missed, she spoke up when she saw injustice.

Governor Lamont issued this statement…

Governor Lamont Statement on the Passing of Shawn Lang

(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont today released the following statement regarding the passing of longtime Connecticut activist Shawn Lang:

“There is no doubt that Shawn Lang has made a lasting impact on Connecticut. She dedicated her life toward giving a voice for the underrepresented and those in marginalized communities, and I am confident that generations to come will benefit from her advocacy. I extend my deepest condolences to her family and friends. While her passing comes with incredible sadness, I am thankful that Connecticut has had someone as passionate and dedicated as her working to make our state more welcoming and more accessible for everyone.”

This year we lost to great activists who made a lasting impact on Connecticut, Shawn and Jerimarie.

Fan Fair Day 1

I ran around all morning having copies made of my syllabus for my workshop, the nearest copier store is down in Orleans and then back up to Provincetown. I meet a couple of fair goers that I knew and stopped to say “Hi” and then in the Boatslip to register

I then when back up to P’town for the welcoming reception.

I wrote that just before I headed out the door planning on writing the rest it the morning about the reception… then I got a stabbing pain in my stomach.

I have two thoughts, one it was the steak that I thawed out during the day but I cooked it medium. The other is the apple cider. I don’t think that it was the apple cider per se, but rather that I had two big glasses of the stuff with a cider donut. Whatever it was I decided to stick close to the cottage for the night. Hmm, then again it could be the raspberries... the more that I think about it my money is moving to the raspberries. 

I give my first workshop at 3 PM, the rest will be morning workshops. 

~~~~~~~

Stomach is still a little queasy when I woke up this morning.

It's Against The Law

Schools have no choice they must include Gay Straight Alliances (GSAs) but they still are throwing barriers in the way to the GSAs.

School board listens patiently as mom calls sponsor of gay inclusion club a pedophile
By The Kansas City Star Editorial Board
October 14, 2021


Members of the Kansas City LGBTQ Commission were told they couldn’t speak on behalf of gender non-conforming and LGBTQ children in the Independence School District at Tuesday night’s meeting. Officials said that’s because only district residents and employees are allowed to address the board, per district policy, even though the Independence School District is one of more than a dozen districts within the boundaries of Kansas City proper.

We have no evidence that they were singled out for exclusion, or that other non-residents have been allowed to speak in the past.

Yet the fact that the Independence school board then did listen on Tuesday night to a parent who called the teacher who’d started a gay inclusion club a pedophile made us wonder if whatever rules there are that make hate speech OK need a common sense update.
[…]
Herl still hasn’t explained why he recommended and the school board approved this year disabling the option for students to pick their preferred pronouns when logging in for virtual classes. Herl also ordered the removal of Independence Black Lives Matter and gay pride posters from the walls of a middle school last fall.

Ding, ding, ding!

To me that smacks as discrimination if they allow other clubs and posters to be hung in the halls.

The Board has put roadblocks in place to prevent anyone from speaking in opposition.

Technically, Gragg herself should not have been allowed to speak on Tuesday, according to board policy. Yes, she’s a district resident, but everyone who wants to speak is supposed to email a board secretary one week prior to a board meeting to request to speak. Pre-approval is needed and comments or questions directed to board members are requested in advance. Some are allowed, most aren’t.

Board policy says speakers can only talk about what’s on the agenda, which this month was posted three days after the district’s own deadline.

The Catch 22.

You have to speak about only items on the agenda but we are not going to tell agenda until after the deadline.

Gay Straight Alliances cannot be blocked from schools if the school has other clubs the law and the Supreme Court has said.

Federal law protects student clubs — even ones you don’t like
Edwin C. Darden
May 1, 2015


If a school district allows students to form noncurricular clubs, it must allow all clubs.

When high school students seek to start a controversial club on campus, their youthful ambition might ignite a local firestorm. Their right to proceed, however, is firmly protected by federal law.

The Equal Access Act (EAA), a student-friendly statute, has existed for more than 30 years. Yet, some educators still flinch when envisioning teens pursuing conversations or activities they find despicable. That hardheaded instinct to control student clubs has recently revived unnecessary scuffles.

This much is clear: Adult judgments about what is inappropriate or what cannot be abided is not the standard.

But the Independence School District doesn’t seem to understand that and it is not just the EAA, it is also the courts. The ACLU reported,

11TH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS REVERSES LOWER COURT RULING, RULES THAT FEDERAL LAW PROTECTING STUDENT GROUPS’ EQUAL ACCESS TO SCHOOL FACILITIES APPLIES TO PUBLIC MIDDLE SCHOOLS; ACLU REPRESENTS STUDENTS SEEKING TO ESTABLISH THE ANTI-BULLYING CLUB IN YEARS-
DECEMBER 6, 2016


MIAMI, Fla. - A federal appeals court panel has overturned a lower court’s ruling that prevented a group of Lake County, Florida students from establishing a gay-straight alliance (GSA) at their middle school.

The ruling today from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals holds that the Equal Access Act, a federal law that guarantees student groups equal access to school resources if their school allows extra-curricular clubs, applies to public middle schools in Florida, not just high schools.

But conservative school boards just ignore the law and the courts.

---

Today is the first day of Fantasia Fair and on the calendar today is fair registration and Epic Reunion Welcome Reception [They seem to be hung-up on the word “Epic”].

After a long day of travel, relax with your old friends and meet your new friends downstairs at the Boatslip, 161 Commercial Street. Come dressed formally, come dressed casually, come dressed as a guy, or come dressed as a girl, or as your gender-nonconforming self—Just come by the Boatslip on Sunday from 7:30-9:00 pm and enjoy yourself!

I have to run earns this morning to get a HDMI to HDMI cable, and make copies of my workshop syllabus down in Orleans, then head up to P'town to register for the fair. Then head back to town at night for the reception (Hopefully, if I'm not too tired. Nine o'clock is pushing my bedtime because it is a half hour drive back to the cottage.).

I have been attending the Fair off and on since around 2001.

Saturday 9: Livin' La Vida Loca

Sam’s Saturday 9: Livin' La Vida Loca (1999)

On Saturdays I take a break from the heavy stuff and have some fun…

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) Ricky Martin sings that he and the girl dance in the rain. Do you feel like dancing this morning?

I never feel like dancing.

2) The lyrics tell us the girl prefers champagne. When did you last enjoy a glass of the bubbly?

WHOA! That is like ten, fifteen years ago.

3) When Ricky first heard "Livin' La Vida Loca," he imagined  the subject of the song was a "Bond girl," the glamorous love interest of James Bond in the movies. Since 1962, there have been more than 20 Bond films. Have you seen any/many of them? Do you have a favorite Bond?

The last Bond movie that I watched was back in the 70s, I don’t have a favorite Bond because I don’t watch those movies, all they are now a days is bang, bang, shoot them up movies. All action thin plots.

4) Ricky tells interviewers that when he was very young, he'd sing in the family kitchen, pretending a wooden spoon was his microphone. Crazy Sam admits to lip synching into a black Magic Marker. When you gave imaginary concerts, what did you use as a microphone?

Um… Hun?

I don’t think that I ever did that or at least when I was sober. 

5) Ricky began working at the tender age of 9, performing in commercials. How old were you when you received your first paycheck?

I think 18 because that is the age when you could legally work.

6) Ricky does yoga to stay in shape. Have you ever tried yoga?

Nope.

7) Ricky is of primarily Spanish descent, with a little French mixed in. When you think of French cuisine, what comes to mind?

Pastries.

We have an excellent French pastry shop in town, there is always a line out his door. I stood there 20 minutes to buy pasties one time. The chef is a native of France and the write up on the bakery says,

...is an award-winning Zagat-Rated French Bakery, Pastry Shop, and Bistro which uses traditional European techniques to create specialty hand-crafted products, and the finest French cuisine with only the best natural ingredients. A taste of France on Cape Cod!

8) Ricky once had his own restaurant, Casa Salsa, in Miami Beach. Have you ever worked in food service?

Nope.

9) Random question: What is your best quality?

It takes an awful to get me angry.

Thanks so much for joining us again at Saturday: 9. As always, feel free to come back, see who has participated and comment on their posts. In fact sometimes, if you want to read & comment on everyone's responses, you might want to check back again tomorrow. But it is not a rule. We haven’t any rules here. Join us on next Saturday for another version of Saturday: 9, "Just A Silly Meme on a Saturday!" Enjoy your weekend!

A Tale Of Two States

One is doing everything in its power to force LGBTQ+ people back into the closet and the other is making sure the needs of LGBTQ+ people are meet.

Texas agency pulls website for LGBTQ youth, with suicide prevention info, after taunt from Abbott's GOP challenger
The Week
By Peter Weber
October 12, 2021


It isn't clear just how much the hard-right turn in Texas politics is being driven by Gov. Greg Abbott's (R) 2022 GOP primary rivals. But one of his main challengers, state Sen. Don Huffines (R), took credit Monday for the scramble by "state employees who are loyal to Greg Abbott" to pull down a state child welfare site with links to a suicide prevention hotline (866-488-7386) and other resources for LGBTQ youth. And he's probably right, the Houston Chronicle and The Texas Tribune reported Tuesday.

On Aug. 31, Huffines tweeted a video claiming the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services is "promoting transgender sexual policies to Texas youth," adding: "These are not Texas values, these are not Republican party values, but these are obviously Greg Abbott's values." He was citing a DFPS page titled "Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation," with resources for LGBTQ youth in the foster care system.

It is like the game “I gotcha” who can be the most oppressive Republican.

But the Republicans put the screws to us over politics created buzz in the agencies.

Prompted by Abbott primary challenger, Texas agency removed webpage with suicide hotline, other resources for LGBTQ youth
Houston Chronicle
By Jasper Scherer
October 12, 2021


In late August, one of Gov. Greg Abbott’s primary challengers, Don Huffines, accused Texas’ child welfare agency of “promoting transgender sexual policies to Texas youth” under a section of its website titled “Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation.”
[…]
But Family and Protective Services communications obtained through a public records request show that agency employees discussed removing the “Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation” page in response to Huffines’ tweet, shortly before taking it offline.

Thirteen minutes after Huffines’ video went up, media relations director Marissa Gonzales emailed a link to Crimmins, the agency’s communications director, under the subject line “Don Huffines video accusing Gov/DFPS of pushing liberal transgender agenda.”

“FYI. This is starting to blow up on Twitter,” Gonzales wrote.

Putting us in harms way is just another political ploy for the Republicans. They don’t care about if it increases suicides by LGBTQ+ youth, it is just one-upmanship by the Republicans.

Here in Connecticut the state legislature passed a bill to fund a legislative committee to advise the legislature on the needs of the LGBTQ community and funded a survey to find out what our needs for us are (The committee does not get paid, it is an all volunteer committee.). The survey should be released shortly, some of the key findings are,

• About half (55%) of the respondents identified as Cisgender, 40% Transgender, and 5% Gender Diverse (not Transgender).
• LGBTQ+ Community Spaces. For those that had LGBTQ+ community spaces or groups, they found themselves safe and welcomed. Many LGBTQ+ adults wished for more spaces to socialize (outside of bars and nightclubs) in addition to Pride events in more CT towns and cities. [I second that! I don’t like bars and night clubs.]
• Older Adults. There are specific housing comments related to the older adult LGBTQ+ population such as concerns around the inclusivity and safety of senior housing or assisted living facilities and affordability/financial assistance for those looking to live in their own home.

Connecticut has strong laws while Texas is cutting support for trans healthcare and insurance Connecticut’s Commission on Human Rights and Opportunity just issues a ruling that insurance must cover our medically necessary healthcare including electrolysis! Back in 2013 the Insurance Commissioner issued a statement that medically necessary healthcare that means anything covered for cis gender people must be covered for trans people.

The Connecticut Department of Education published a booklet to guide educators on the requirements of the non-discrimination law.

Now compare that to Texas that are wiping out anything to do with us.

The U.S. Constitution Fourteenth Amendment requires all citizen to be treated equally when it comes to government and laws, Texas has support pages for non-LGBTQ people but struck down the same pages for us. To me it seems like a direct violation of the 14^th Amendment.

Not All Religions Are Anti-Trans

There are affirming religions who stand by us, there are Christians, Jewish, Muslim denominations that have stood by us. Don’t let the radical right define all religions.

Meet the minister fighting anti-transgender bills in Texas
The Rev. Remington Johnson has fought tirelessly to stop bills targeting trans youths from passing in Texas while supporting a community of other activists.
NBC News
By Jo Yurcaba
October 7, 2021


[…]
Trans youths in the state have been the targets this year of more than 50 bills that would restrict their participation in sports or ban them from gaining access to certain health care, among other restrictions.

Cothron was leading the crowd in a chant, but she started to get tired. So she asked the Rev. Remington Johnson, a Presbyterian clergywoman and a fellow activist, to take the bullhorn.

Johnson, a trans woman who has testified almost a half-dozen times against anti-trans bills, had shown up that day riding a longboard, wearing hot pink shorts and carrying a huge trans flag, Cothron recalled. She took the bullhorn, and the first thing she said was: “Trans kids are magical.”

Cothron, who has an 8-year-old child who is nonbinary, said the moment has stuck with her.

Rabbis, ministers, and priests stood by us for our fight to pass the non-discrimination law including an Episcopal Bishop.

Besides the Presbyterian minster who’s trans I know of another trans women who is Episcopal priest who is in charge of the parish.

Don’t paint all religions with a wide brush.

Pandering

Trans Rights and Abortion have something in common, government controlling a person’s body. Normally when I comment on an article I don’t know the writer but this time it is different, this New York Times opinion is by someone that I meet several times.

Abortion Rights and Trans Rights Are Two Sides of the Same Coin
By Jennifer Finney Boylan
October 10, 2021


[…]
“I [Caitlyn Jenner] am for a woman’s right to choose,” she told CNN in September. “I am also for a state having the ability to make their own laws. So I support Texas in that decision. That’s their decision.”

Ms. Jenner — and other conservative trans women — should understand that restricting abortion rights and blocking transgender people’s access to health care are two sides of the same coin: a movement to give the state the right to limit what you can or cannot do with your own body.

She hit the nail on its head, it is all about control, she goes on to write.

I asked Jules Gill-Peterson, a history professor at Johns Hopkins University and an expert on anti-trans activism, about the connection between these issues. “Anti-abortion and anti-trans legislation are products of the same political coalition, using the same scripts and tactics,” she wrote me. “In both cases, we see the protection of a fantasized imperiled child justifying heavy-handed police state policies that restrict actual women and children’s rights and bodily autonomy. The language of protection, so highly moralized,” she continued, “is the perfect alibi for rationalizing widespread harm.”

The Republicans come out that it is all protecting the children but in reality it causing harm to them, suicidal idealizations go up when children are prevented from becoming who they are. Deaths go up when women seek backroom abortions. Their laws do not prevent abortions or children from transitioning it just criminalizes it.

The author of Senate Bill 1311, Senator Bob Hall, said that his bill “was being done with love.”

Let’s be clear: It is not love to force a trans child to go through a puberty that will scar them for the rest of their life. It is not love to force a woman to bear a child against her will. It is not love to deny anyone autonomy over their own body.

It is not love to enforce your own ideology upon people who are different from you, simply because you do not understand their experience of being human.

Let’s be very clear, the motivation behind theses are is not to “save the child” but rather gather votes and donations from anti-abortionists and transphobles.

The Republican mantra is get government off out backs but in reality they are sticking government between us and our doctors.

My Story Part 183: Coming Together.

There are some lesbians and gays who say that they have nothing in common with trans people.

One year we were staying at a Bed and Breakfast in Provincetown; it was a Sunday afternoon, the last day of Women’s Week and the first day of Fantasia Fair, the B&B had put out wine and cheese in the common area. On one side sat the lesbians talking among themselves and on the other side sat us, never the two shall meet or would they find common ground over bottles of wine?

People who identify as LGBTQ say it's a process to tell people about their identity
KRIS TV
By: Andrew Christiansen
October 11, 2021


SINTON, Texas — Many people who identify as LGBTQ face challenges while telling people about their identity, but they can also face triumphs in the process.

Allison Williams said coming out as a transgender woman has had its difficulties, as Williams came out around a year ago.
[…]
However, Williams still lives with one regret about coming out: not being able to tell some family members.

“I was especially the most scared to tell my father,” Williams said. “I never got to tell him. He passed away whenever I was 22 or 23…I know that he would still love me.”

Sitting around that coffee table at the B&B all those years ago with the seven lesbians and about an equal number of trans people the subject of coming out came up, I forget who brought it up or if it was brought up by one group talking among themselves but however it happened we started talking about our coming out stories.

However, Apple said telling people about being transgender has been different than coming out as gay because there are more resources and awareness when it comes to coming out as gay, lesbian, or bisexual.

“It’s a completely different experience of having to work with yourself to come out and come to terms with it and come into your own identity,” Apple said.

Apple said while coming out isn’t easy, there are many generations of people that have done it before and there is still hope for people who feel like it’s not an easy process.

I don’t think that it is that much different between the LG and the T coming out, the only difference that I see is that people are more informed about lesbians and gays than they are of trans people.

Back at the B&B after several bottles of wine we had crossed the bridge and we were one group of LGBTQ people not divided but one. We had found common ground and the barriers went down, that night we met on Commercial Street. They were coming out of a nightclub where a lesbian comedian was prefrmng and we were coming back from FanFair wine tasting at Crowne Pointe Hotel (Just what we didn’t need more wine.) and we walked back together to the B&B. Latter that night we met again in the hot tub, in the morning we sat talking over breakfast.

As we departed in the morning, they on the way back to Ohio and us off to the orientation we stopped had out picture taken together.

Besides out commonality in coming out we also share a darker side; discrimination and violence.

What? What? What Did They Just Say?

I am horrified and surprised that they said this? Was it taken out of context?

I ran across this post on the International Transgender Health Facebook page by Kelly Winters.

My analysis of the Shrier interview of Drs. Bowers and Anderson on a Raymondian/TERF web site and a call for immediate statements of support for affirming approaches to Trans health care by the Boards of WPATH and USPATH. These opinions are my own and do not represent those of ITH group members or the moderation team.

"Transgender and Non-Binary communities, families, allies, and providers have been deeply shaken this week by the appearance of WPATH President-elect, Dr. Marci Bowers, and USPATH President, Dr. Erica Anderson, in an interview by transmisist author Abagail Shrier (2021). Drs. Bowers and Anderson gave inflammatory criticism of affirming health care policies and puberty suppression care on the anti-trans Bari Weiss blog site. Their choice of such a biased venue to voice their concerns is particularly troubling...

Ms. Winters wrote on her Trans Policy Reform Blog,

The following list describes just a few of the concerns that have been shared with me:
1. Agenda of Intolerance.
Malice and disinformation from Abigail Shrier about Trans and NB people and their health care are very well known in Trans and intersectional communities (GLAAD, 2021). Her book, Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters (2020), has inflicted enormous harm to Trans youth and was particularly offensive and defamatory toward Trans-masculine youth (Eckert, 2021; Turban, 2021). Dr. Bowers later stated, on her Twitter page (2021) and in correspondence reported by D’orsay (2021), that “my comments were no doubt taken out of context and used to fit a narrative on the part of Ms. Shrier”. However, anyone with expertise on contemporary Trans health issues should have been familiar with Shrier’s reputation and anti-trans agenda. In the blog piece, Ms. Shrier consistently misgendered trans-masculine youth as “girls.” She misrepresented punitive elements of gender-conversion psychotherapies, discredited by WPATH and unlawful in a growing number of jurisdictions, as commonly accepted mental health practice before the last decade. She conflated it with Dutch terminology of “watchful waiting” that has a different meaning (de Vries, 2012). Shrier uncritically promoted the harmful and discredited 70-80% “desistance” myth that “nearly seven in 10 children initially diagnosed with gender dysphoria” would spontaneously become cisgender in adolescence (Temple Newhook, 2018). It is mystifying and concerning that executive officers of WPATH and USPATH would choose Shrier as a reporter and Weiss’ malicious blog platform, rather than reputable media, medical, or WPATH/USPATH channels
2. Defaming Diversity.
3. Harm Reduction.
4. Nuances of Informed Consent.
5. Politicalization of Affirmation. The psychological and quality-of-life benefits of affirming approaches to Trans and N-B youth care have been longitudinally studied (Olson, et al., 2016) and well established in policy (Murchison, 2018). Moreover, principles of affirming authentic gender expression, bodily integrity, and self-determination have been internationally acknowledged as fundamental human rights (Cabral, 2015). However, Dr. Bowers’ interview statements have mocked affirming principles of care in bombastic, politicized terms: “There are definitely people who are trying to keep out anyone who doesn’t absolutely buy the party line that everything should be affirming, and that there’s no room for dissent.” And this: “I think maybe we zigged a little too far to the left in some cases” (Shrier, 2021). These platitudes of “to the left,” and “party line,” misrepresent the past three decades of scientific inquiry and clinical evidence that are reflected in modern, affirming approaches to Trans health care. She later added statements that, “Medical and surgical treatment is safe and effective. Not only is regret rare but it is on the decline” (D’orsay). While these points are valid and consistent with WPATH policy, they do little to mitigate the damage and confusion of the prior political rhetoric on affirming Trans health care.
6. Ambiguous Condemnation. Dr. Anderson is quoted in the interview as describing Trans-masculine youth at UCSF as “natal females,” rather than with respectful terminology. She criticized modern affirming approaches to youth care with vague and histrionic terms of “‘sloppy,’ sloppy healthcare work,” “rushing people through the medicalization,” and “failure — abject failure — to evaluate the mental health of someone historically in current time…” (Shrier, 2021). The latter suggested a call to return to archaic practices that presumed underlying psychopathology for gender-diverse youth, but, once again, she was not specific. Anderson did not clarify if sparing a gender dysphoric youth the trauma and potentially permanent disfigurement of incongruent pubertal development constituted “sloppy” work or “rushing…medicalization.” Ambiguity in her interview with Shrier left her intentions open to broad interpretation. Again, Dr. Anderson’s choice of Shrier and a malevolent blog site to make such statements is astonishing.

I am really surprised at Drs. Anderson and Bowers doing the interview and I would most definitely like to hear from the two doctors have to say.

So far all I have been able to find out was that she said “my comments were no doubt taken out of context and used to fit a narrative on the part of Ms. Shrier” But when asked to produce the whole transcript she declined.

I will anything more that I find out.

National Coming Out Day.

I am leery of today; I say think before you come out, is it safe?

Past National Coming Out Day posts…

Thursday, October 11, 2007

---

Today October 11th is the National Coming Out Day. 

When we come out it affects not only us, but all of those who love and know us. When we are in the closet we are living a lie and many of us are in denial, that this is a passing phase or that I can change, all I really need is love and I can be straight. We cannot face the fact that we are trans, gay or lesbian. We are under a lot of pressure to conform; society exerts a huge amount of force to be “Normal”. The stigma attached to being different is unbearable for some people and they would do anything just to be “Normal”. 

Last night, I was waiting with the other students from my class for the class before us to get out. The janitors were going around collecting the waste paper and were standing in front of me laughing and talking in a foreign language while looking at me. After they left one of the students said innocently, “I wonder what they found so funny?” She didn’t have a clue why they were laugh and I felt like saying, “Three guesses and the first two don’t count.” 

That is an example when I say that the social pressure to conform is so great, society lets you know in not so subtle ways that you are different and don’t belong. For those who do come out, it take a tremendous amount of courage and bravery to stand up to that type of pressure because it will change your life forever. You cannot say afterward, “I was only kidding.” If you are thinking of coming out today, keep this in mind and ask yourself is it really necessary to come out, is there a really a need to come out? 

For me it was literally a matter of life or death. I was slowly killing myself by hiding from the truth. I had medical problems that were being cause by stress and the only way I could see to relieve that stress was by being true to myself. A friend once commented when coming out to her, I showed her pictures of me as Diana and her comment was “You are smiling!” Isn't it hard? Yes, it is very hard and probably that hardest thing I have ever done. Isn’t it still stressful? Yes, but that picture of me smiling says it all.

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

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Next week is the “National Coming Out Week,” you might expect that I am in favor of it, but I am not. Coming out involves great risks and you should assess the risk before you come out. Know if you have a support network just in case things go bad. Do your parents support LGBT issues or are they opposed to them. Assess the risk if you are coming out in school; know how much support the school administration will give you. These are some of the factors that you should consider before coming out. In the New York Times article on school bullying entitled, Bullied for Being ‘Gay’ Dr. Jeffrey Fishberger of The Trevor Project writes,

Bullying and being teased for being what others perceive as “different” happens to many children. Lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered young people — or those perceived to be L.G.B.T. — have a much higher incidence of harassment at school. In fact, it’s estimated that more than a quarter of L.G.B.T. young people drop out of school because of this very harassment.

It is important that you have a safe environment before coming out. The article goes on to state…

Fortunately, there are organizations that can work with your son’s school to help all the children understand the impact of their language and behavior. Glsen (the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network), for example, works to ensure safe schools for all students through a variety of programs. The Day of Silence, for example, continues to grow each year, and hundreds of thousands of students now come together each year to participate. Another program, the No Name-Calling Week, provides schools with tools and inspiration to foster a dialogue about ways to eliminate bullying and name-calling in their communities. Another resource that can be of help is The Trevor Project’s workshop program. …to open up discussions with all students about how language and behavior can affect the way an individual feels about him- or herself. A supportive teacher, school counselor or school administrator can assist in implementing these programs in your son’s school.

Here in Connecticut True Colors is a valuable resource for children coming out in school. Above all, be safe!

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

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…Or not. Today is National Coming Out Day and I am not a big fan of it.

A person that I know says on National Coming Out Day she wants to pick up the phone and dial a random number and when they answer just say, “I’m a lesbian” and hang up.

You might expect that I am in favor of it, but I am not. Coming out involves great risks and you should assess the risk before you come out. Know if you have a support network just in case things go bad. Do your parents support LGBT issues or are they opposed to them. Assess the risk if you are coming out in school; know how much support the school administration will give you. These are some of the factors that you should consider before coming out.

Harvey Milk’s quote “Burst down those closet doors and stand up once and for all, and start to fight.” Is okay but think first; will coming out put me in danger?

Have a plan on coming out, just don’t blurt out “I’m trans!” Timing is everything; you don’t want to be sitting down at a family Thanksgiving dinner and just pop it out that you are transgender. When I came out I came out to my brother I had a plan and he was the first person that I came out to because I knew he would be the most supportive.

You don’t want to come out to the whole family at once because all it takes is for one person to have a negative reaction and that could sway the rest of the family. You want to build family allies before you come out to your whole family so that they can speak on your behalf.

When you come out at work you want to tell HR first so that they can prepare to tell the whole company. You don’t want to just send out an email to the whole company that says, “Hey everyone, guess what? I’m trans!”

So be safe, think before you act.

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The bottom line: Think before you come out and be prepared for the worst and then you can be surprised with the outcome.

One of my cousin's was deeply religious and I put off telling them until last, I told them when I had my brother and sister-in-law with me for support. When I told her she got up and hugged me and she was the first relative to invite me to a holiday dinner. I was fearing for the worst and was surprised when it didn't happen. 

It Spreads Like A Disease

It is not a virus, but it is something that spreads like a virus and you can be infected by it, and it causes harm to others; it is hate. And it is growing and spreading worldwide.

Anti-trans rhetoric is rife in the British media. Little is being done to extinguish the flames
CNN
By Tara John
October 9, 2021


Britain faces a critical shortage of workers, leading to fuel supply constraints, a run on petrol stations and unstacked shelves in supermarkets due to lack of staff or undelivered foodstuffs. Despite this immediate crisis affecting millions of people, "gotcha" questions on trans rights have become a feature of this year's political party conference season, say trans advocates.

On "Today," last month, the BBC's flagship news and current affairs radio program, presenter Justin Webb asked Liberal Democrats leader Ed Davey if there should "not be spaces where biological males cannot go," in reference to trans women.

More than a week later, the leader of the main opposition Labour Party, Keir Starmer, was asked by the BBC's Andrew Marr if it was transphobic to say only women had a cervix. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was asked the same question about cervixes this week by right-leaning broadcaster GB News.

Right wing conservatives are stirring up hate for votes and campaign donations.

OC Reported Hate Crimes And Incidents Increased in 2020, According to New Report
OC Voice
By Hosam Elettar
Sep 20, 2021


Hate crimes in Orange County once again increased in 2020, with a massive surge in hate incidents toward the county’s Asian American and Pacific Islander community, according to a new report released Friday by the OC Human Relations Commission.

The commission presented its report Friday virtually on Zoom to share the findings with the community.

“We produced this report in an effort to raise awareness about hate with the intent of finding solutions in combating hate and bigotry in our communities,” Nhi Nguyen, a hate crime prevention coordinator with the commission, said during the presentation.
[…]
“For every case that is reported, there are many incidents in our communities that remain unreported,” she said, adding not everyone in the community feels safe reporting such incidents.

Orange Country California is not alone.

FBI data: Pa. hate crimes hit 14-year high in 2020
WHYY
By Anthony Orozco,
September 14, 2021


The FBI’s most recent data show 81 hate crimes reported in Pennsylvania last year, up from 45 in 2019. It is the highest figure since 2006.

The increase was also experienced around the country, with 7,700 criminal incidents reported to the FBI in 2020. It was the highest number in a dozen years. In 2008, 7,783 hate crimes were filed.

Some community leaders say they are not surprised after a year unlike any other in recent memory — with police brutality, criminal justice protests and other high-profile stories dominating the headlines. Others said they suspect the true number of offenses to be even higher.

In terms of victims of crimes of bias against a religion, people of the Jewish faith were most frequently targeted in Pennsylvania and across the country. There were 11 attacks against Jews in the commonwealth and 676 across the nation last year.

And then we have the hate that the Republicans are stirring over a boogeyman… Critical Race Theory.

Quick with out looking it up what is Critical Race Theory?

A national poll found that...

Parents want kids to learn about ongoing effects of slavery – but not critical race theory. They're the same thing.
USA TODAY
By Erin Richards and Alia Wong
September 10, 2021


More than 60% of American parents want their kids to learn about the ongoing effects of slavery and racism as part of their K-12 education, according to a new USA TODAY/Ipsos poll.

But just half of parents support teaching critical race theory in schools – even though the theory's main premise is that racism continues to permeate society. About 4 in 10 parents support restrictions on schools' ability to teach critical race theory.

That disconnect underscores the heated feelings parents have about race-related conversations and how teachers should be handling that and other delicate topics. And, not surprisingly, the issue is firmly politicized: More than 8 in 10 Democrat parents believed their children should learn about the lingering impact of slavery and racism in schools, compared to fewer than 4 in 10 Republican parents, according to the poll's findings.

But the hate that is generated by the Republicans over CRT is driving a wedge right through the heart of America.

And in Missouri a petition was circulated in a school to bring back slavery!

A slavery petition was the latest racist incident at this school. Parents and lawmakers are fed up
CNN
By Evan McMorris-Santoro and Linh Tran
October 9, 2021


Nearly two weeks after a racist petition to bring back slavery circulated at her daughter's school, Julie Stutterheim is still angry.

She says it was yet another example of a racist incident at Park Hill South High School in the suburbs of Kansas City, Missouri.
[…]
What she found was that an increasingly familiar scenario was unfolding at her child's school. Across the US, there are two diametrically opposed conversations about race going on at the same time. In one, some White parents are telling school leaders that lessons about race make White students feel bad. And in the other, there's the racism that is actually happening in schools.
[…]
Tennessee also has a new law banning history lessons that might make students feel "discomfort" because of their race. Yet, in August sheriff's deputies in suburban Nashville were called in after a White football player threatened a Black player on social media while wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood.

Then we have the Republican Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina had this to say about us;

North Carolina lawmakers call for lieutenant governor's resignation after video surfaces of him calling homosexuality 'filth'

CNN

By Rebekah Riess

October 9, 2021

Some North Carolina state senators are calling for the resignation of North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, after video surfaced on social media this week in which the Republican says that "there's no reason anybody anywhere in America should be telling any child about transgenderism, homosexuality -- any of that filth."

In the video, Robinson is seen speaking at Asbury Baptist Church in Seagrove, North Carolina, in June. The footage was posted Tuesday by Right Wing Watch, a project "dedicated to monitoring and exposing the activities and rhetoric of right-wing activists and organizations in order to expose their extreme agenda," according to its website.

"It is flat-out child abuse. They take your children, and tell them they have to attend school, don't have a choice. And then some of them will tell them they don't want you to have a choice where they go to school, you have to send your children here to school. Then when they get there, what do they teach them? Teach them a bunch of stuff about how to hate America, teach them a bunch of stuff about why they are racist, teach them a bunch of stuff about transgenderism and homosexuality," Robinson says in the video.

"I'm saying this now, and I've been saying it, and I don't care who likes it -- those issues have no place in the school. There's no reason anybody anywhere in America should be telling any child about transgenderism, homosexuality -- any of that filth. And yes, I called it filth, and if you don't like it that I called it filth -- come see me and I'll explain it to you," the lieutenant governor adds.

Now ask yourself how do you think we will be treated under his leadership? Do you think we would gt equal treatment like the Fourteenth Amendments demand?  Would our civil rights be honored?

The Republicans are against anyone whose is not white, Christian, cisgender, and heterosexual.

So if you had an ear to the governor what would tell him on ending the hate?

What do you think needs to be done to end the hate and violence?