Mini-Post: The Doctor

The Doctor... no not that "Doctor" 

X-rays, TB, and Connecticut.

What do those three things have in common.

Well the doctor was a TB doctor here in Connecticut.

He was the Director of Connecticut’s Office of TB Rehabilitation.

Facts about the Doctor:

• Born October 4, 1890 in Halls Summit, Kansas. 
• Trained as a physician and radiologist: he earned an M.S. in Radiology (University of Pennsylvania, 1928/30) and later an M.P.H. (Yale, 1948). 
• He had a varied career: working in sanatoria, X‑ray clinics, public health TB control programs in states like Washington, Idaho, and Connecticut.

He was one of the pioneers in using X-rays in medicine and there was one other fact... he was trans.

PubMed writes about him...

Alan L. Hart: An Innovative Pioneer in Radiology and Transgender Rights

Athena Reich 1, Katharine A Colbert 2,3,

Abstract

Robert Allen Bamford Jr., also known as Alan L. Hart (1890-1962), was an American physician, radiologist, researcher, and novelist who developed and implemented the gold standard for tuberculosis (TB) screening using chest radiography, two decades before epidemiological tools became widespread. His groundbreaking medical contributions were made despite facing systemic discrimination as one of the first transgender men in the United States to undergo gender-affirming surgery. This article explores Dr. Hart’s achievements in medicine and public health, his gender transition, and his lasting impact on both healthcare and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and other non-binary or non-heterosexual identities (LGBTQIA)+ history.

Introduction and background

Alan L. Hart was born biologically female as Alberta Lucille Hart in Halls Summit, Kansas, in 1890 [1]. After his father died of typhoid fever, Hart’s mother relocated the family to Oregon, where he was raised. Hart exhibited a persistent male identity from early childhood, expressing a preference for boys’ clothing and toys made by his grandfather. While his mother reportedly dismissed his gender expression as “foolish”, his grandparents referred to him as their grandson in their obituaries - a remarkably affirming act, especially for that era [2].

[...]

Review

Medical contributions and public health impact

Hart developed a specialty in radiology at a time when tuberculosis (TB) was one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. Recognizing that X-rays could identify TB before symptoms appeared, he pioneered the use of chest radiography as a screening tool. This was revolutionary: before Hart, chest X-rays were primarily used only after serious symptoms had developed [3,6].

He earned a Master’s in Radiology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1928 and, later, a Master’s in Public Health from Yale in 1948. As Director of Hospitalization and Rehabilitation for the Connecticut State Tuberculosis Commission, Hart oversaw statewide screening programs, using mobile X-ray units to detect asymptomatic TB cases. These initiatives led to earlier treatment and lower transmission rates - saving countless lives [1,4,6].

As seen in Figure 4, Hart was directly involved in operating X-ray technology at Tacoma General Hospital.

You know when the Republicans say were are new phenomenon... tell Bull Sh*t!

Please Tell What Party Does It Represents?

The flag doesn’t represent any party. The flag is non-political but the Republicans want to make it political.

Tennessee Republican wants to ban 'political' flags in schools after being triggered by LGBTQ+ Pride

State Rep. Gino Bulso has proposed a bill to ban all flags in schools that aren’t the United States or Tennessee flag, saying he specifically sought to target the LGBTQ+ flag.

By RYAN ADAMCZESKI

JANUARY 03 2024

An anti-marriage equality Republican in Tennessee has filed a bill that aims to ban all "political" flags in public schools, citing the LGBTQ+ pride flag as his inspiration.

State Rep. Gino Bulso's bill would ban all flags in schools that aren’t the United States or Tennessee flag. While there will likely be exceptions added for flags of other countries and states, Bulso said that the law will restrict those promoting an "agenda," such as the Black Lives Matter and rainbow flag.

“The whole idea is that a school is a place where a child goes to learn, not a place where a child goes to be indoctrinated," he told local outlet WKRN Nashville. "So, you’re focusing on just one purpose of the bill having to do with political statements regarding transgender ideology and other similar issues.”

I wonder if they will ban the Christian flag? Oh boy if they did what an out-roar that would create!

When asked who will determine what constitutes a "political" flag, and who will hand down bans, Bulso did not answer. He justified the legislation by claiming that "a lot of parents" don't agree with marriage equality or LGBTQ+ rights, and that the United States has lost its consensus on "sexual morality."

“Certainly, you know, 50 years ago we had a consensus on what marriage is; we don’t have that anymore. One-hundred years ago, we had a consensus on sexual morality; I don’t think we have that anymore," he said. "So, the values that I think most parents want their children exposed to are the ones that were in existence at the time that our country was founded."

It is amazing the animosity that the Republicans have against us. Is it all political or does it go deeper?

"While speech in public schools may be subject to more restrictions than other arenas, the Supreme Court has repeatedly held that First Amendment protections extend to ‘teachers and students,'” ACLU attorney Li Nowlin-Sohl wrote, adding. "Policies banning the Rainbow Flag or any political material in schools are not viewpoint neutral, as the removal is premised on the message the Rainbow Flag conveys."

They are really scared of us in their warped thinking, they still think that it is a choice.

All Rise, Here Comes The Judge!

And he is trans!

New York governor appoints the first openly trans male judge in the US

Gay Times

By Jordan Robledo

Governor of New York Kathy Hochul has appointed the United States’ first openly transgender male judge.

On 7 June, the democratic official announced the 11 new appointments and four reappointments of the New York State Court of Claims. 

One of the new individuals to join the aforementioned court is Seth Marnin, who is currently serving as the Director of Training & Education, Equal Opportunity & Affirmative Action at Columbia University. 

Marnin’s appointment makes him the country’s first openly male trans judge and the first trans judge in the state of New York. 

But no the first trans judge! The guys are finally catching up to the gals.

Here is some of our history!

Once a Pariah, Now a Judge: The Early Transgender Journey of Phyllis Frye

The New York Times

By Deborah Sontag

August 29, 2015

Nearly four decades before Caitlyn Jenner introduced herself to the world, Phyllis Randolph Frye came out as a transgender woman in a far less glamorous way. No Diane Sawyer, no Vanity Fair.

It was the summer of 1976. As Bruce Jenner, 26, was celebrating his decathlon victory at the Montreal Olympics, Phillip Frye, 28, was admitting defeat in suppressing his gender identity. He, becoming she, had already lost a lot: He had been forced to resign from the military for “sexual deviation.” He had been disowned by his parents, divorced by his first wife and separated from his son. He had been dismissed from several engineering jobs.

[…]

But this moment — when transition stories are increasingly and empathetically featured in the media, campuses buzz with gender politics and the president condemns transgender persecution in the State of the Union address — did not materialize out of thin air. It evolved over the last quarter-century as Ms. Frye and others built a transgender civil rights movement, fighting dexterously to rebrand a highly marginalized group; demand, and increasingly win, equal protection under the law; and put the T in L.G.B.T.

She is one of our pioneers! She blazed the trail for us.

When I do a workshop on trans history I have these slides on her…

Phyllis Frye

1992: The International Conference on Transgender Law and Employment Policy, Inc.

1994: Phyllis Frye and Karen Kerin go to Washington, DC to attempt to speak before the Senate Hearings on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Transgender people had been omitted from ENDA language

------

November, 1996: The next large transgender community meeting with HRC

Allison Laing, Phyllis Dickason, Yosenio Lewis, Gary Bowen, Jon Banks, Stephanie Young, Jamison Green, Janice Galeckas, Shannon Minter, Melissa Dixon, and Phyllis Fry

The NYT article goes on…

At the same time, Ms. Frye was one of the first to act on the need for transgender advocates to develop their own legal theories and agenda. In the 1990s, she convened annual transgender law conferences, where grass-roots activists from around the country first met and developed an aspirational transgender bill of rights. Between events, she helped tether the growing network through group emails she called her “Phyllabusters.”

“Caitlyn Jenner stands on the shoulders of somebody like Phyllis Frye,” said Shannon Price Minter, the legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights and one of several transgender appointees by the Obama administration. “Phyllis is the grandmother of our movement.”

We are here where we are today because of many of our pioneers we stand on their shoulders but with today’s climate I predict that we will be creating a lot of new shoulders to stand upon.

***

Those who want to learn more about our history I recommend:

Stryker, S. (2008). Transgender History. Berkley CA. Seal Press.

We Lost One

A number of years ago a Canadian court ruled we could be in the Miss Universe Pageant, so did Spain, Mexico, Thailand, and Panama but here in the U.S. a court said no.

Senior United States District Judge who was appointed by George W. Bush ruled against Ms. Green who appealed the decision and she appealed her case to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals which issued its ruling on Thursday.

Court rules beauty pageant can exclude transgender women
A pageant rule that only “natural born” women qualify to compete will remain in place.
The Hill
By Brooke Migdon
November 3, 2022


Story at a glance

• The Miss United States of America pageant may continue excluding transgender contestants through the enforcement of a rule that only “natural born” women qualify to compete.
• Anita Green, a transgender woman, sued the pageant in 2019 when it rejected her application because of her gender identity.
• The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this week ruled that forcing the pageant to allow transgender women to compete would infringe on its ability to express “the ideal vision of American womanhood.” 

Green has previously competed in pageants including Miss Montana, a contest within the Miss America system. She filed a complaint in federal court in 2019 against USOA operators in Oregon, where she is from, claiming that the pageant’s policy allowing only “natural women” to compete violated a state anti-discrimination law that bars discrimination based on gender identity in public accommodations. 

[…]

On Wednesday, a three-judge panel agreed, ruling that forcing the pageant to allow transgender women to compete would infringe on its ability to express “the ideal vision of American womanhood.” 

“Miss United States of America expresses its message in part through whom it chooses as its contestants, and the First Amendment affords it the right to do so,” Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke, a Trump-appointee, wrote Wednesday for the majority. 

“Given a pageant’s competitive and performative structure, it is clear that who competes and succeeds in a pageant is how the pageant speaks,” VanDyke wrote. “Put differently, the Pageant’s message cannot be divorced from the Pageant’s selection and evaluation of contestants.” 

In a dissenting opinion, Circuit Judge Susan Graber, appointed by former President Bill Clinton, wrote that the court should have first established whether the state’s nondiscrimination law applies to the pageant operators at all.

The dissenting judge wrote:

“The majority opinion marks a radical departure from the well-settled principle that we should consider non-constitutional grounds for decision before reaching constitutional issues – the doctrine of constitutional avoidance,” Graber wrote Wednesday. 

According to Graber, the state’s nondiscrimination law neither compels the pageant operator’s speech nor violates its freedom of association, meaning the case “cannot prevail on the merits of an as-applied First Amendment claim.” 

“Because the majority opinion inappropriately seeks to have it both ways, and does so without first determining which option is the legally correct one, I must dissent,” she wrote. 

Trump judges and judges appointed by the Republican's ignore precedent set by previous rulings.

Now you know why yesterday’s were so important to the LGBTQ+ community with the Senate election still a toss-up if the Republicans win control of the Senate they will probably block all President Biden’s court appointments like they did with President Obama.

With the Republicans controlling the House look for a slew of Biden impeachments and probably even his son being indicted 

---

We also had a major loss in Israel with the election win of the far-right candidate Netanyahu. USA Today reported,

The party is known for its anti-LGBTQ policies and hard line against Arab-Israelis and Palestinians, and it could affect Israel’s relations with the U.S., its most important ally

[...]

Israel has made significant progress on LGBTQ rights in the past couple of years, thanks to left- and right-wing secular parties, allowing gay couples to jointly adopt and legally access surrogacy, as well as being home to one of the most famous annual Gay Pride parades in the world.

But with Religious Zionism in power, hateful rhetoric against the LGBTQ community is becoming an increasingly accepted part of Israeli society.

Party leader Betzalel Smotrich declared himself a “proud homophobe” and has made a number of derogatory comments against the LGBTQ community, saying homosexuality isn’t “healthy for society” and comparing recognition of the community to “driving through a red light.”

Ofer Neumann, CEO of Israel Gay Youth, said he believes the “darkness” Religious Zionism brings into the LGBTQ community comes from its rhetoric rather than what it can actually achieve politically.

The world is getting to be an ugly place for us.

Fantasia Fair Day 3 – Tuesday

We had heavy rain overnight and I woke up to a windy overcast sky, made breakfast and did a rehearsal for the presentation tomorrow morning for a class in public heath at Southern Connecticut State University and I straighten out the cottage because a friend is coming up to go to Fantasia Fair.

Today’s lunch is at the Post Office… no, no, no. Not that post office but a restaurant in Provincetown, Post Office Café, it is under new ownership.

Then the Keynote address which is the presentation of the Pioneer Award (Jude Patton and Rupert Raj), grocery shopping, and then head back to the cottage. And tonight's entertainment is Comic Bingo Festival which I don't think that I will go to (I'm officially a senior citizen because I have played bingo at a senior center.).

***

I stopped at The Post Office (I now have a PO Box up here) on the way to P'town for lunch at the Post Office. Nothing much has changed at the Post Office Café still good food (I had the meatloaf w/home fries for which they are known for.). I sat with two other attendees who I didn't know and one of them reads my blog, "You look familiar? Do you write a blog?" Guilty as charged.

Then I went to the keynote address after lunch, it was the presentation of the Pioneer Award and it went to Rupert Raj a Canadian activist who is retired and living in Spain.

I stopped by the Stop & Shop on the way home to get food for breakfast and for Thursday's night dinner, spaghetti and meatballs & sausages. 

I decided not to go to the bingo and I didn't make it past 9 before going to bed to write this.

~~~~~~~

One time we came up early on a Saturday, the tail end of Women’s Week and half the B&B were women, there was a group of them who came from the mid-west.

The B&B always puts out a couple of bottles of wine with cheese and crackers, so one side of the table were the lesbians and on the other side were us. And nary a word was said was said between them… until… until the topic of coming out was mentioned.

Somehow the bottles that B&B put out became dead soldiers and a few of us made runs to our rooms and came back with more wine and snacks.

The party broke up, the lesbians were getting hungry and we had an opening night wine and cheese party (Just what we needed, more wine.). So each group went to find the entertainment for the night.

When the opening night party broke up at the Crowne Pointe we went down the hill to Commercial St and started walking back to the B&B and guess who we bumped into coming out of bar? The lesbians! 

They were also going back to the B&B, once we got there the women asked us to join them in the hot tub.

So we all were having a great old time in the tub together when BANG, BANG, BANG on the gate door… POLICE!

Whoa!

A woman officers came in and said do you know what time it is? Its one o’clock! And the neighbors are complaining.

I decided to split to my room.

In the morning there were a lot of blood shot eye and hangovers. Sitting around the table drinking coffee like there was no tomorrow, the owners came in and slammed the door behind them which cause a lot of moans. They said, "And why were the police here early this morning?"

They were heading back to the Chicago area that day, before they left we took a group photo.

---

2022 Fantasia Fair (Trans Week)

• Fantasia Fair Day 0
• Fantasia Fair Day 1 -- Sunday
• Fantasia Fair Day 2 -- Monday
• Fantasia Fair Day 3 -- Tuesday
• Fantasia Fair Day 4 -- Wednesday
• Fantasia Fair Day 5 – Thursday
• Fantasia Fair Day 6 -- Friday
• Fantasia Fair Day 7 -- Saturday

I Have Been Trying To Find Positive Stories

But the only ones I could find were on anti-trans legislation or violence against us… so I guess this article will have to do.

One of the problems that we as a community have to deal with is our passed lives, correcting the name or gender on old articles or on databases.

Scientific-journal publishers announce trans-inclusive name-change policies
Physic World
By Juanita Bawagan
19 May 2021

Several major scientific-journal publishers have launched poli­cies that allow scientists to easily change their name on previous pub­lications – a move that transgender researchers have been campaign­ing to introduce for years. In March Elsevier introduced a name-change policy that covers its more than 2500 journals, while similar initiatives were recently announced by IOP Publishing, which publishes Phys­ics World, as well as the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Chemi­cal Society, the Royal Society of Chemistry, PLOS and Wiley. The American Physical Society (APS), meanwhile, is expected to release its own policy soon.

For transgender scientists who change their name, their old name can be personally painful and can also reveal them as being transgen­der. Previously, scientists had there­fore faced a decision between two bad choices – leaving older research off their publication record or risk­ing discrimination. According to the APS LGBT+ Climate in Physics sur­vey, published in 2016, transgender and non-binary physicists reported the highest levels of exclusionary behaviour, adverse climate and unsupportive policies. In the UK, meanwhile, almost a third of LGBT+ physical scientists have considered leaving their jobs because of discrim­ination and toxic workplace climates.

Many of our old records are on microfilm. As the name implies it is photographic film, an actual image of the document. It is actually 16mm black and white movie film that takes a black and white picture on the document that is being archived and its location is listed on a ledger, unless you cut and splice the film there is not way to change the document.

When I applied to UConn School of Social Work my transcripts from 1974 were all on microfilm so there was no way to change them to reflect my true gender and name.

“We wanted to ensure that authors could change their name on already published research without a cum­bersome process,” notes Kim Eggle­ton, integrity and inclusion manager at IOP Publishing. “A more inclusive and equitable publishing environ­ment is important to us, so we’re pleased to have made another step in the right direction.”

Back around the turn of the century I was surfing the web looking website on the old computers that I had used, when I was looking at websites on the IBM 360 I came across and article about the IBM 360 and something call “dynamic instruction scheduling” and how all the modern day microprocessor are based on the discovery and it gave the name of it inventor. About a month later I went back to reread the article and it had a woman’s name instead of a man’s name… Hmm?

Doing research on the web I came across this article, “Engineering Identity” about Lynn Conway one of our pioneers and because of her all of our computers run on programs and processes that she developed. 

EDN had this so say about her…

The IEEE Computer Society's Computer Pioneer Award for 2009 has been given to University of Michigan professor Lynn Conway who helped revolutionize Very Large System Integration design.

Conway innovated scalable MOS design rules and highly simplified methods for silicon chip design, co-authoring the Mead-Conway book and pioneering the new form of university course that taught these methods — thereby launching a worldwide revolution in VLSI system design in the late-1970s.

In 2009 she was the IEEE Computer Society’s Computer Pioneer Award on their announcing the award they said…

In a remarkable form of career closure, Conway’s VLSI design revolution enabled her multi-issue DIS innovation from the 1960’s to finally “come to life” in the 1990’s — in the Intel Pentium microprocessors and their contemporaries — greatly enhancing the power of modern PC’s.

Conway has received many awards and honors for these contributions, including election as Fellow of the IEEE, Pender Award of the Moore School of the University of Pennsylvania, Wetherill Medal of the Franklin Institute, Secretary of Defense Meritorious Achievement Award, Society of Women Engineers National Achievement Award, Presidential Appointment to the USAFA Board of Visitors, an honorary Doctorate from Trinity College, election to the Electronic Design Hall of Fame, and election as a Member of the National Academy of Engineering.

If they hadn’t changed her name in the article I would never have found out about one of the most amazing trans person.