Saturday 9: Oh! My Papa (1954)

Crazy Sam’s Saturday 9: Oh! My Papa (1954)

If you're not familiar with today's song, you can hear it here.

1) Eddie Fisher starred in a popular 1950s TV show, which was sponsored by Coca Cola. Do you have a favorite soft drink?
No, I don’t drink any soft drinks, if I have to drink soda then I drink club soda with a splash of cranberry juice,

2) He was notorious for leaving his famous first wife for his very famous second wife. Can you name either of the women involved in this Hollywood scandal?
Nope.

3) His oldest daughter, Carrie Fisher, is best known as Princess Leia from Star Wars. Are you a sci-fi fan?
Most definitely. Right now I’m reading Amazing Stories from February 1930 that I downloaded from the Project Gutenberg.

4) Since Sam's father is particular about his footwear and likes "a good pair of Cole Haan loafers," her Father's Day present to him is a DSW gift card. If we were to give you a gift card to any store or restaurant, which would you choose?
Amazon.

5) Sam's father hates it when she swears. When is the last time you cursed?
I can’t even remember.

6) Sam's father is a voracious reader. So much so that the local librarian knows him on sight and by name. How often do you visit your neighborhood library?
Not anymore, I visit them online instead and download ebooks.

 7) "A good used car is a better investment than a new car." That's what Sam's dad tells her when she's in the market for wheels. Share some other words of financial wisdom with us.
Save! Because when it comes to your retirement no one else is looking out for you.

8) Every car her father has ever owned had a pro-union bumper sticker. Do you have any bumper stickers on your vehicle? 
Nope, I don’t believe sticking things on my car. I have always wondered if people who have bumper stickers get in more accidents with people tailgating them trying to read the bumper stickers

9) To celebrate Father's Day, Sam is giving away her father's favorite candy: LifeSavers. Would you prefer a roll of Wild Cherry, Butter Rum, Winter Green or Peppermint?
I loved Butter Rum, runner up is wild cherry.

ENDA, Another Sponsor...

A Republican congressman from New Jersey is backing the bill.

This New Jersey Rep. Just Became the 8th Republican to Cosponsor ENDA
U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo's deputy chief of staff confirmed that the New Jersey Republican has signed on as a cosponsor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
The Advocate
By Sunnivie Brydum
June 11, 2014

Republican U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo of New Jersey has signed on as a cosponsor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, bringing the long-languishing legislation's total House sponsors to 204.
[…]
LoBiondo is the eighth House Republican to support the legislation, which would make it illegal to fire, refuse to hire, or decline to promote an employee simply because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

I was thinking about going to the Lobby Day this July but I am not comfortable with the religious exemption which is broader than the Connecticut law.

But LGBT advocates eager to pass the legislation — which has been introduced in some form in every Congress but one since 1996 — are pushing to override the speaker's resistance by building a bipartisan coalition of congresspeople to sign on to the legislation, demonstrating its urgency and relevance in today's American workplace. Currently, an employer can fire a worker for being gay, lesbian, or bisexual in 29 states, while transgender people can be fired for their identity in 32 states.

And I’m afraid that is the problem, they are too eager; they are going to throw out the baby with the bathwater. They want to pass the legislation so bad that they are willing to pass a bad bill.

As the bill is written it will allow religious owned businesses to refuse to hire LGBT employees in non-religious positions like janitors or cafeteria workers. Right now the EEOC has ruled the trans-people are protected under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and that does not allow those exemptions so if ENDA passes we would lose protection in those jobs. So I am going to email my legislators asking them not to vote for the bill as it is written now.

Wow! Did You Feel That?

Did the earth move?

Catholic Bishops had something nice to say about us…

British Bishops Write Positively on Gender Transition and Civil Unions
Bondings 2.0
Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

In the first instance, the CBCEW [Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales] issued a draft of a directive to Catholic institutions about how to respond to the UK’s 201 Equality Act, which added many strong protections to minority categories, including sexual orientation and gender identity.  The directive is intended to give advice to Catholic institutions and organizations about how they can comply with the law.  In the section on “Gender Re-Assignment,” they state:

    ‘Transsexual people face many difficulties before, during and after transitioning to another gender. As such it is recommended to seek guidance on how to make the transitional process as easy as possible. This could include training for co-workers, as well as reference to medical and social advice.”

This may be the most positive and pastoral statement about transgender people to come from the Catholic hierarchy.  (If anyone knows anything equally or more positive, please let us know about it in the “Comments” section of this post.)  Let’s hope that it remains in place through the drafting process.

However, they still said that we cannot be hired in certain positions, that they can exclude us, gays, and lesbians in religious jobs. So don't expect that we all will be singing Kumbaya anytime soon.

New York & Houston

In New York State the Assembly passed the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) and in Houston they passed the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) what do these have in common besides the obvious?

There were backroom discussions with a snip, snip there and a snip, snip here. There where thing are dropped from the bill to make it more pliable to the opposition. In Massachusetts they snipped public accommodation from the bill in order to pass the bill.

In Houston they cut out a lot, but then in the final round they restored them so the ordinance came out almost untouched, what will happen in New York is anyone’s guess. Will it die for something like the fourteenth year?

This article in the Dallas Voice that was written before the final vote criticized the compromising process.

The transgender bargaining chip
Posted on 06 Jun 2014
By Emerson Collins

t’s a tried and true tactic in successful negotiations: Always start out by asking for more than you actually want to get out of a deal in order to get what you need. That way, you have room to give up some things to the other side to make them feel like you are reaching a compromise while still getting everything you originally wanted. It’s a technique used by everyone from a 3-year-old who asks to eat every cookie in the jar and settles for four to celebrity divorce proceedings where someone gives up the Aspen house and the Miami condo to keep the primary residence in Hollywood. The tactic is most successful when what you are giving up is something you truly do not care about, or do not care about enough to really fight for it.

We have a long-running problem in the march toward LGBT equality. Often in the course of our work to enshrine equality in legislation from the municipal to the federal level, the first thing offered up a compromise at the negotiating table is equal protection for the transgender community.

We have seen it SONDA in New York State where we were thrown under the bus and still haven’t recovered. We have seen it in ENDA in 2007 when we were taken out of the bill.

He goes on to write,

But at some point — and really it should have been a very long time ago — it has to stop being acceptable to the cisgender LGB part of the community to even consider giving up transgender equality protections in order to succeed in creating new laws. If that is the price of success, it is not a success. It is an abject failure.

It cannot be enough that cisgender LGBs get our protection. Fighting for equality cannot mean “fighting for just enough equality to include me.” If that were the mindset of straight allies, LGB equality would not be where it is.

In New Hampshire there was legislation introduced to add constitutional protect for sexual orientation, they wanted to amend their Constitution to make sure that they are protected even through there is a non-discrimination law for sexual orientation. However, they still haven’t gotten protection trans-people… but they do have marriage equality!

Harvey Milk famously said, “It takes no compromise to give people their rights … It takes no political deal to give people freedom.” Thirty-five years later, it is time for cisgendered LGBs to stop considering compromise and political deals at the expense of the transgender community. We cannot consider compromising the rights of others. We cannot consider political deals that do not give all people freedom.

He is one gay guy who gets it!

The question is will New York drop public accommodation to pass GENDA like Massachusetts did so they could say they have protection for trans-people?

Here in Connecticut and both New York and Massachusetts the reasons that we have favorable court ruling was that the legislature never passed a gender non-discrimination bill. So the court cases ruled in our favor was because we could say that we are included in the non-discrimination laws under sex and/or disability since the legislature never voted otherwise. When I asked lawyer friends in Massachusetts what will happen now since the legislature has voted and they have excluded public accommodation, what will happen now with the courts and they answered it is anyone guess, it is a crap shoot.

Will New York go the route of Massachusetts and bargain away some of our rights just to pass the bill or will they stand pat?

I’m Away This Afternoon

I am at a non-governmental organization (NGO) this afternoon that will be getting a transgender client and they wanted to train their staff. So I will be giving them a 90 minute Trans 101 and tailoring it to their organization.

I customized my PowerPoint yesterday while I was volunteering at the health collective in between clients and today I am practicing my delivery this morning.

Hence the short blog this morning.

Words Hurt

Those with the power and privilege usually deny it but those who are oppressed see it very different. Whether it is the *T* word, the *N* word, the *S* word for Latinos or the whole hosts of words that are meant to oppress the target population.

This two minute ad says it all…

The Dark Ages

It is said that it took the Catholic Church 400 year to say that the earth revolves around the sun. Even now there are religions that do not believe in evolution and that the earth is only 6000 year old. The Southern Baptists chose the Dark Ages over science; the delegates approved a resolution at the denomination's annual meeting Tuesday,

On transgender identity, the delegates affirmed that "God's good design that gender identity is determined by biological sex and not by one's self-perception." The resolution, which was approved, urges transgender people to "trust in Christ and to experience renewal in the Gospel."

In the HRC Blog they wrote,

The resolution which passed without discussion, opposes hormone therapy; transition related care and other efforts to “alter one’s bodily identity." Delegates also expressed opposition to government efforts to “validate transgender identity as morally praiseworthy” and call on transgender people to "trust in Christ and to experience renewal in the Gospel."

I have said many times that I have no problem with religions unless they interfere with my rights, in this case to proper medical service. If they want to stick their head in the sand and deny medical facts and tell their followers to suffer and not get proper medical treatmen that is okay with me but they cross the line in telling others to follow their beliefs.

The World Around Us

When we transition everyone around us also transition, sometimes it is too hard on them and sometimes it is not. I think that it is hardest on a spouse when their loved one transition. I know several couple who have stayed together and there is an article in the Huffington Post about a couple that stayed together,

It Turns Out My Partner Is a Woman, So What Does That Make Me?
By Jason Rozek
Posted: 02/28/2014

Eight months ago I pulled a bra out of the washing machine for the first time since breaking up with my college girlfriend and loudly coming out of the closet as a gay man a decade earlier. This bra belonged to someone I would have called my boyfriend a week earlier, before she came out to me as a transgender woman. Bras were just the start of things to which I'd need to adjust.

To the rest of the world, we're a couple of gay guys. Only she and I (and a team of medical professionals) know that that's not the case. While she's not currently out to anyone else and lives her everyday life passing as a man, she's medically transitioning so that her body will match her gender identity. Eventually she'll live her everyday life as a woman.
[…]
When you find out that the person you love is of a different gender than you'd thought, you end up with a lot of questions. Amidst the cacophony of questions I had about her, her experience, her thoughts, the vocabulary, the pronouns, the medical information, the surgical plans and all the other minutiae, the one thing I kept circling back to had nothing to do with her. It was about me:

I'm a self-identified gay man whose partner is a woman, so what does that make me?

That is a question many spouses and partners ask themselves when a partner transitions, in this case he is wondering if he is still gay. I know spouses who had to adjust to the fact that society now saw them as a lesbian couple, no long could they walk down the street holding hands without stares. Another couple that I know she used to enjoy sleeping on her husband’s shoulder on a train and now when she does it people talk. A trans-man that I know before he was married he was a lesbian and his partner stayed with him through transition, I believe that they eventually separated because she was losing her lesbians friends who now saw her as straight.

It is hard for everyone when we transition, but it especially hard on spouses and partners.

I Think That It Is Not That They Don’t Get It…

…But that it doesn’t sell ads to respect trans-people and not use derogatory wording. Case in point the headline about Jennifer Lopez boyfriends which uses a pejorative to describe the trans-persons he was dating. I believe that they knew they shouldn’t use that word but went ahead on purpose to increase their click-throughs.

In the article they use transsexual and transgender but the banner headline in bold letters uses the pejorative. It had to be a conscious decision to use that word, they would never use the N-word to describe a black person, but they thought they could get away with the word they used to describe us because we couldn’t fight back. They believe we are too few and too marginalized to fight back so they think they can do anything they want with impunity.

Why I Can Never Vote Republican

For me there are more important reasons to vote for a party than economic reasons, moral and ethical reasons outweigh financial reasons.

I cannot in good conscious vote for a party that would require women to undergo a vaginal ultrasound before having an abortion; I don’t care what your beliefs are on abortion that is stepping over the line. Or a party that wants to deny basic human needs to its people. Or a party that wants to forces gays, lesbians, and trans-people into therapy…

Texas GOP Pushes Therapy to 'Heal' Gays
ABC News
 June 6, 2014
By PAUL J. WEBER and WILL WEISSERT Associated Press

Gay Republicans in Texas said Friday they may stop fighting their party's proposed endorsement of "reparative therapy" over worries that even tougher anti-gay language could be added to the party platform.

The Texas Republican Party is poised to adopt a new platform this weekend that would support psychological treatments that seek to turn gay people straight. Such therapies were banned for minors last year by New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie, and California has a similar law.
[…]
Under the new proposed plank, the Texas GOP would "recognize the legitimacy and efficacy of counseling, which offers reparative therapy and treatment for those patients seeking healing and wholeness from their homosexual lifestyle."

I find that morally repugnant! To have that language in their party platform this requires medical quackery that the American Psychological Association and other major health organizations to be dishonest and harmful is deplorable and offensive.

Hedwig And The Angry Inch

At eleven I met a former classmate from grad school at a local Park & Ride and we drove down to Stamford to get the train to Grand Center Station. Because of the trouble they are having with a bridge in South Norwalk and my last experience on a train, I want to bypass the bridge and take the train from Stamford.

We lucked out, just as we arrived on the station platform there was an express train arriving so we bought our tickets and got aboard. We arrived at Grand Central an hour and a half before the start of the play so we had lunch at Grand Central Station. I never knew that there was a restaurant concourse on the lower level, it seems like every time I went there we were rushing through the station. After lunch we started walking to the theater, we walked a little ways and realized that we were going the wrong direction and backtracked.

When we got to the theater there was a long line standing on the corner and I thought that the hot dog cart sure was doing a good business. We then realized that the line was actually for the theater! However, the line was moving quickly and we got in and found out seats without a long wait.

The opening of the musical of the musical was amazing and it set the tempo for the entire musical. This is the second time that I saw Hedwig and the Angry Inch and it was entirely different from the Hartford Stage production with Anthony Rapp. Neil Patrick Harris added a whole new dimension to the play; there more energy than the original play but it also went in an entirely different direction. From what I remember of the Hartford show it was more of a musical and the Broadway show was more a narrative rock opera.

After the play ended we walked back to Grand Central Station and our timing was again excellent, the 5:07 train back to Stamford was just boarding. There was a little drama on the trip back, at one of the stops a mother and child boarded and started arguing over a seat with another passenger, she was saying to the other passenger stuff like, “move your f**king a** over…”, “come on you want to fight…”, and  “I’ll fight you come on…” I thought she was taking the fact the person wouldn’t move over way too personal and emotional, and as my friend said she sure wasn’t teaching her child good conflict resolution skills.

When I got home a little after 8, I turned on the TV while I was making supper and the Tony Awards were on and just then they awarded the “Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical” and it was Lena Hall who played Yitzhak! Later they had a scene from the play, “Sugar Daddy” with Neil Patrick Harris who later won Tony Award for “Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical.” Kevin Adams won “Best lighting design of a musical," and the play won "Best Musical Revival” It was kind of neat that the play won three Tony’s the day we saw it.

My friend Sarah took the picture of the marquee. Here is a video from Good Morning America show interviewing the cast of Hedwig.



Oh, one other thing, the play is not for kids, I would guess it would be rated a "M" and I was a little surprised that they showed "Sugar Daddy" uncensored in TV last night. I can wait to hear the conservatives commenting on it today, that a play on transgenderism won Tonys last night.

Trans Or Not Trans

I believe that a trans-person should play the part of a trans-person but I was called a hypocrite because of the fact that I am going to see Neil Patrick-Harris play “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” on Broadway today.

But I don’t see Hedwig as trans. If you don’t know the play “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” it is about…

Hedwig, born a boy named Hansel in East Berlin, fell in love with an American G.I. and underwent a sex-change operation in order to marry him and flee to the West. Unfortunately, nothing worked out quite as it was supposed to - years later, Hedwig is leading her rock band on a tour of the U.S., telling her life story through a series of concerts at Bilgewater Inn seafood restaurants. Her tour dates coincide with those of arena-rock star Tommy Gnosis, a wide-eyed boy who once loved Hedwig... but then left with all her songs.

Hedwig didn’t have gender dysphoria, he was gay and he wanted a way out of East Berlin so he has a sex change operation (I didn’t use “Gender Confirming Surgery” because he was never diagnosed with gender dysphoria); does that make him transgender?

What about the gays in Iran who are given the choice between having their head cutoff and having the operation, are they trans or are they victims? Hedwig never crossed dressed until he had the surgery and he saw as a way to escape and not as a gender identity issue.

So that is why I don’t object to Hedwig being played by a non-trans-person and I let you know how I like the play. I just hope that Neil Patrick-Harris plays the part of Hedwig and not an understudy.

All Religions Are Not The Same

First of all let me state that I am an agnostic [I guess correct term is theist]; I believe in god but not in any organized religion. I believe that it is more important the way you live your life than it is belonging to any religion. I have no problem with any religion as long as they do not put their religion in my face.

There are many religions that are open and affirming…

Rev. Cameron Partridge Will Be First Openly Transgender Priest To Preach at Washington National Cathedral
The Huffington Post
By Yasmine Hafiz
Posted: 06/06/2014

Rev. Dr. Cameron Partridge will make history on Sunday, June 22, as the first openly transgender priest to preach at the historic Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., in honor of Pride Month. The Rt. Rev Gene Robinson, known as the first openly gay priest to be elected a bishop, will preside at the service.
[…]
Partridge is one of just seven openly trans clergy in the Episcopal Church. He became one of the first trans chaplains at a major university when he was appointed Boston University's chaplain in 2011, according to Religion and Politics' profile. In 2012, the Episcopal Church officially voted to change its "nondiscrimination canons" to include "gender identity and expression" so that transgender people could not be barred from becoming priests, under law.

Who would have ever thought a trans-clergy would someday be preaching at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. ten years ago. I have a friend who is one of the trans-clergy who is ministering an Episcopal parish here in Connecticut and another friend who is also ministering a parish for another denomination here in Connecticut.

We had a number of religions and religious organizations that back Connecticut gender inclusive non-discrimination and there was even an Episcopal Bishop that spoke for the bill.

So don’t paint religions with a broad brush.

Two For One Saturday

I didn’t sleep that well last night (as usual) so I decided to combine both Saturday memes (Saturday 9 & Saturday Six) that I usually do today.

Patrick’s Place Saturday Six #530

1. V is for VACATION: Where is a place you’d really like to take a vacation trip to if money were no object?
I would just like to explore North America, travel all around the U.S. and Canada. Visiting the states that I haven’t visited and the Canadian Rocky’s, maybe driving up the Alaskan Highway.

2. V is for VACILLATE: Do you consider someone who changes his opinion on something weak or wise?
It depends upon how they change their mind, if it is because the facts change or you learn something new about it, than I think that would be wise (see yesterday’s blog about ENDA). But if the they are just wishy-washy then that is weak.

3. V is for VACUUM: As a general rule, how often should a common area like a living room be acuumed?
Once a week usually.

4. V is for VAGAS: Have you ever experienced lightheadedness or actually fainted from having blood drawn or seeing blood?
I experience lightheadedness all the time, I am on medication that regulates the heart and standing up after sitting sometimes causes lightheadedness in me. I was at the dentist the other day and when I stood up after laying in the dental chair I had to stand there for a few seconds when my lightheadedness cleared.

5. V is for VEXILLOLOGY: Other than the United States, which country’s national flag do you like most?
Is that a loaded question? Actually I don’t “like” any flag, I like the idea which it stands for.

6. V is for VINOLENT: What is your favorite kind of wine?
Chardonnay or a Pinot Grigio or a Cabernet Sauvignon Rose depending upon my mood. Generally I do not like a red wine or more to the point my stomach doesn’t like a red wine, it is too acidy for me. (Here is a nifty wine chart)

Next week’s edition of the Saturday Six will feature six questions inspired by the letter W.

# # # # #

Crazy Sam’s Saturday 9: Walk This Way
(recommended by In the Company of Me)

If you're not familiar with today's song, you can hear it here.

1) This song is about a young man who takes advantage of his "big chance at a high school dance." Share a memory from your high school years.
Okay, here is one… we tried to put a tire over the flag pole during our senior year. After an hour of trying in the early morning hours we gave up.

2) Lead singer Steven Tyler is the son of a working mother (mom Susan was a secretary). Did your mother work outside the home?
Nope, she was a typical 50’s housewife right down to have a Bourbon Manhattan ready for my father when he came home from work at five o’clock.

3) Onstage, Tyler takes colorful scarves from around his neck and drapes them over the microphone. Do you accessorize your outfits with scarves and belts? Or do you prefer to keep things simple?
I keep it pretty simple. The only time I wear a scarf is when it is cold outside.

4) Tyler confessed to having a massive crush on Jennifer Lopez, his fellow judge on American Idol. Do you think a coworker has ever had a crush on you?
Nope.

5) Aerosmith lead guitarist Joe Perry says seeing The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 inspired him to go into music. How did you end up in your chosen profession?
Well my first profession was because I liked science and electricity and my second profession because I wanted to help people.

6) Perry's hobby, breeding horses, is very lucrative. What are your hobbies?
Photography

Last Sunday's sunset on the lake... no, literally on the lake. It is a reflection of the clouds on the lake.

7) Aerosmith performed before their biggest-ever TV audience when they played the Super Bowl halftime show in 2001. Are you a football fan? If so, do you prefer college football or the NFL? What teams do you root for?
Sports just doesn’t interest me.

8) Now that we're into summer, the days are longer. When is the last time you watched the sun set?
Last weekend when I was up at the cottage.

9) What time did you go to sleep last night?
Let’s see, I feel asleep around ten and woke up around 1:30. I couldn’t get back to sleep so I had breakfast at 5 and then I went back to sleep at 5:30, and I woke up again at 9:30.

Should We Support ENDA?

There are questions being asked about supporting the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) because of its broad religious exemption.

Major legal groups won’t support ENDA because of religious exemption
Washington Blade
June 5, 2014
By Chris Johnson

Two major LGBT legal groups announced on Thursday they don’t support the current version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act pending before Congress because of the bill’s religious exemption.

The National Center for Lesbian Rights and the Transgender Law Center told the Washington Blade they don’t support ENDA because the religious exemption is greater than it is under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for other classifications of people.

Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said the religious exemption must be more narrow if his organization is to continue backing ENDA.

“We strongly oppose any religious exemption in ENDA or any other federal, state, or local non-discrimination law that is broader than the religious exemption that already exists under federal civil rights laws,” Minter said. “We do not support legislation that will create a new and broader exemption for LGBT people than exists for other protected groups. While we are confident the current discriminatory religious exemption in ENDA will not be part of the final legislation, we will not continue to support ENDA if it is not changed to be consistent with Title VII’s religious exemption.”

This gives me pause to think of continuing my support of ENDA, I was thinking about going to lobby for ENDA in July. But now I concerned that maybe we have given away too much, there is a point where compromise has to end. The Christian right has been pushing and pushing to make this country a country of religious fiefdoms where it is okay to discriminate against someone just by claiming it is against your religion.

Would it be alright for an employer refuse to a hire black person because their religion does not allow the races to be mixed? Would it be alright for an employer to not hire any non-Christians or an unmarried couple? Than why would it be alright to not hire a gay, lesbian or trans employee?

ENDA’s religious exemption would provide leeway for religious institutions, like churches or religious schools, to discriminate against LGBT workers in non-ministerial positions even if the bill were to become law. It’s broader than similar exemptions under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for categories of race, gender, religion and national origin.

Under Connecticut’s non-discrimination law non-ministerial are covered and the federal law may weaken Connecticut’s law. Connecticut’s law protects workers like nurses at a religious hospital and the law protects an English teacher at a parochial school from discrimination and under ENDA they would not be protected.

So I am rethinking my position on ENDA.

Thou Shall Not Bear False Witness…

Doesn’t the ninth commandment say something about bearing false witness against your neighbor? I don’t remember seeing any asterisks after it that said except against trans-people or that the ends justify the means. Here is a pastor nonetheless who is preaching hate by telling lies.

Pastor who warned of ‘trans predators’ preyed on women
A religious city worker testified against a LGBTI rights ordinance bill that would give trans people the right to choose which bathroom they use
Gay Star News
06 June 2014
By Joe Morgan

A Texas pastor who has warned of ‘trans predators’ has been revealed to have preyed on women.

Pastor Baker testified before [the Houston] City Council during a recent debate over the passed LGBTI non-discrimination bill.

He warned the bill would expose children to transgender predators in public restrooms.

Why do the conservative Christians think that it is okay to lie? Why do they think it is okay to stir up hate? To me that appears to goes against everything that Jesus taught.

Southern Baptists to Ponder Declining Membership, Homosexuality & Transgenderism
By Heather Clark
Christian News Network
June 6, 2014

Southern Baptists will ponder a number of items for discussion at its annual meeting on June 10-11 in Baltimore, including decreasing membership, how to handle congregations that accept homosexuality and the push for transgender accommodation.

Now here is a thought, maybe the decrease in membership might be due to the fact that your parishioners might be tired of hearing you preach fire and damnation against LGBT people. Maybe your membership are starting to see LGBT people as people and not to be despised but instead as people just trying to live their lives.

Another State Has Changed Their Birth Certificate Rules

New York joins four other states and the District of Columbia that allow you to change your birth certificate without surgery.

New York drops surgery rule for changing sex on birth certificate
Reuters
By Jonathan Allen
June 5, 2014

(Reuters) - Transgender people born in New York state, with the exception of New York City, will no longer have to prove that they have had sex-reassignment surgery to change the sex marked on their birth certificate, Governor Andrew Cuomo's office said on Thursday.
[…]
Under the policy, a transgender person will still need to provide a notarized affidavit from the doctor treating them for what the American Psychiatric Association calls gender dysphoria, previously known as gender identity disorder, in order to get their birth certificate modified.

But under the policy the doctor will no longer need to affirm that their patient has had surgery, only that they are receiving "appropriate treatment."

The other states where you can change you birth certificate without surgery are Vermont, California, Oregon, Iowa, and Washington, D.C.

There is no reason why you shouldn’t be able to change your birth certificate without surgery, it is does it provide proof of where you were born. You need it in order to get a passport and the State Department doesn’t ask you to strip in order to prove who you are and neither does a prospective employer. What is between your legs is not important to prove your citizenship.

The Senate Is Now Voting...

Three years ago that call came for a vote came at 12:30AM Saturday morning on June 4^th 2011 for a vote on HB6599 the gender inclusive non-discrimination bill. Earlier the Senate voted on a number of amendments defeating them all.

In my blog that morning I wrote,

Senate Passes HB6599 An Act Concerneing Discrimination
The Senate voted 20 - 16 and passed the bill that gives protection to gender identity and expression. The debate started around 10:00PM and the vote came around 12:30AM.

The Governor has said that he will sign the bill, making Connecticut the 15^th to provide protect to us.

Right now it is 1:30AM and I am all wound up, it is going to be hard to get to sleep tonight, All the worrying and restless sleep this week and popping antacids is finally over. It passed!!!!

Later that morning I wrote more about the night before,

Connecticut Will Become The 15th State To Offer Protection To Transgender People
Every day for the past two weeks since the House passed the gender inclusive anti-discrimination bill, HB6599, we thought that today going to be the day. Every day I checked the Connecticut General Assembly website looking for clues if today was going to be the day. Every day I watched the Connecticut Public Affairs Network’s Senate channel. Last night was no different, I was reading and I had C-TN on in the background and the Senate was in caucus so they were playing classical music. Around ten o’clock I heard the Senate clerk announce that the Senate will convene! Then I heard the clerk read the agenda… House Bill 6599. WHOA!!! That is us! I watched the debate begin, sent out some emails and posted on Facebook while I was getting dress. I drove up to the Capitol.

When I got there Jerimarie from Connecticut TransAdvocacy Coalition (CTAC), Sally from ctEQUALITY, and Gretchen from Planned Parenthood were there already and a few minutes later Jennifer from the Gay Lesbian Advocate and Defenders (GLAD) arrived. I had been involved with the legislation since 2006, and Jerimarie and Jennifer were there from the beginning when the Hate Crime bill was first introduced [2003] and now we were there at the end.

The first amendment that was offered was about sex-segregated facilities and would have required everyone to use the facility of their birth gender. Sen. Beth Bye (D) asked the amendment’s author if he had ever to have to use the women’s bathroom because men’s room was too crowded, Sen. Welch (R) said no. Sen. Bye then went on to say that women do it all the time when the lines are too long in the women’s room and she said that the amendment would now make that illegal. Also speaking against the amendment was Sens. Cassano (D) and Coleman (D). The amendment was defeated, Yeas 15, Nays 21.

The next amendment offered was the teacher amendment, which would have allowed schools to transfer a teacher out of the classroom while they were transitioning. The amendment was introduced by Sen. Kissel (R) and once against Sen. Bye spoke passionately against the amendment, she said that when sexual orientation was being added to the anti-discrimination statutes back in the 90’s the opposition used the same arguments about gays in the classroom. The amendment was defeated, Yeas 16, Nays 20.

During all the debates on the amendments in the Senate, only two or three spoke in favor of or against the bill, the whole debate on the bill went rather quickly as opposed to the House where it seemed that everyone want to have their say on the bill. In the Senate, there was actually more backroom discussion on the bill that allowed for each side to have their say and then they would vote on the bill. The House voted on three amendments and it took around five hours, while in the Senate they voted on four amendments and it took around two and a half hours.

The next amendment was introduced by Sen. Kissel and it was,

Any person who falsely exhibits a gender identity or expression, either through appearance or behavior, that is different from that traditionally associated with the person's physiology or assigned sex at birth, solely for the purpose of committing or facilitating the commission of a crime, shall, in lieu of the sentence of imprisonment authorized by section 53a-35a of the general statutes for the crime of which such person stands convicted, be subject to the sentence of imprisonment authorized by said section for the next more serious degree of misdemeanor or felony, as the case may be, except that if the crime is a class A misdemeanor, such person shall be subject to the sentence of imprisonment authorized by said section for a class D felony.

After a short debate, it was also defeated, Yeas 14, Nays 20.

Then they started to bring the bill to a vote, but they were interrupted by Sen. Roraback (R) who introduced an amendment that would limit the bill to an employer with 15 employees or more. That was also defeated 15 – 19 after a very short debate.

They then started to talk about the bill when once again they were interrupted by the introduction of an amendment, Sen. Witkos (R). The amendment was…

Any person holding a motor vehicle operator's license whose gender-related identity is different from that traditionally associated with the person's physiology or assigned sex at birth shall notify the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles of such identity and the commissioner shall indicate such identity in the electronic record maintained by the commissioner pertaining to such person's operator's license.

When he was introducing the bill he got a strong stare by the Senate Minority Leader Sen. Kissel, you could tell he was displeased with the senator. The amendment was defeated Yeas 8, Nays 26 with many of the Republicans voting against the amendment. During the debate Sen. Sunzio (R) asked Sen. Witkos police procedures if he (Sen. Witkos is an Avon police officer) was called to a disturbance with a man dressed as a woman in a bathroom. Sen. Witkos explained that this amendment would help us because it would allow police officers to better assess the situation and the amendment was not meant to be a “Scarlet Letter." Well Senator, maybe you don’t see it as a “Scarlet Letter” coming from a place of power, but I see it as branding us for life.

Finally, the bill came up for debate. While it was being debated, Andrew McDoanld came up to the Senate Gallery to talk to us; Andrew is the former co-chair of the Judiciary Committee along with Mike Lawlor, both of whom now work for the governor. Andrew is now the governor’s chief legal counsel [He is now a Supreme Court justice]. I remember back when I first met him, Mike and the Governor in 2005, it was at a fundraiser for GenderPAC and they were still legislators and the governor was the mayor of Stamford. We were also joined by Andrew from the CT chapter of the ACLU. The bill was only debated for about 15 – 20 minutes and when the vote came it was 20 Yeas, 16 Nays, the vote was along party lines. We all started clapping and jumping up and down and hugging and just creating merriment.

We all went out into the hallway where the celebration continued; meanwhile the opposition sneaked by us and slither off. So far they have remained quiet and have not issued a statement.

The governor has been behind this bill all the way and he has been the driving force that kept the bill moving and he issued a statement…

This bill is another step forward in the fight for equal rights for all of Connecticut’s citizens, and it’s the right thing to do. It’s difficult enough for people who are grappling with the issue of their gender identity, and discrimination against them has no place in our society. Connecticut has lead the way in other civil rights issues and I’m proud to be able to support and sign this bill.

I just wanted to say that it was not one person’s effort, nor an organization's effort, but was a grassroots effort with many people from many organizations, and individuals who all helped pass this bill.

These are just some of the organizations that have helped…

CT TransAdvocacy Coalition
CT Women's Education and Legal Fund
Planned Parenthood of Southern New England
Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders
CT AFL-CIO
Anti-Defamation League CT
New Haven Pride Center
CT Sexual Assault Crisis Services
Transitioning and Loving Life (TaLL)
True Colors Sexual Minority Youth and Family Services
CT American Civil Liberties Union
CT Outreach Society
NARAL Pro-Choice CT
The Connecticut Alliance for Business Opportunities
UConn Rainbow Center
UConn Women's Center
Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Unitarian Universalist Society: East
Permanent Commission on the Status of Women
New England Healthcare Employees Union SEIU 1199NE
CT Citizen Action Group
National Council of Jewish Women (CT)
CT Chapter of the National Organization for Women
Triangle Community Center
CT Coalition Against Domestic Violence
CT Clergy for Full Equality
CT Latina/os Achieving Rights & Opportunities
Human Rights Campaign CT
PFLAG Southeastern CT
PFLAG Hartford
City of Hartford Commission on LGBT Issues
National Association of Social Workers (CT Chapter)
City of Norwalk, Human Relations Commission
GLSEN CT

Thank you all!

Tomorrow night I celebrated with a lobster dinner.

Photo: Sen. Beth Bye, Diana (CTAC), Sally (ctEQUALITY) Jennifer (GLAD) Betty (Gallo & Co.) and Gretchen (Planned Parenthood) Missing from photo Jerimarie (CTAC) who was being interviewed and Andrew (ACLU/CT).

The photo was just taken after the vote that early morning and we were all still giddy from the vote. What makes me proud about this photo is that three out of the six people in the photo are UConn School of Social Work graduates, we all have our MSWs in Community Organizing.

This was from Lobby Day 2009, where I was looking up legislators for the people who came to lobby for the for the bill.

Speaking at a Love Makes a Family town hall meeting for the anti-discrimination bill.

This was the victory celebration party and I'm making a speech.

My involvement started when in 2005; I went to a fundraiser for Gender PAC. I had already been somewhat involved with the Connecticut TransAdvocoacy Coalition (CTAC) and a friend invited me to go to a fundraiser for GenderPAC down in Stamford. At the fundraisers there was the Stamford mayor, the first selectman from a neighboring town, and the co-chairs of the Judicial Committee. Then in 2006, I was invited to a meeting in Hartford with the Anti-Discrimination Coalition (ADC), an informal coalition of non-profits from around the state. The coalition included organizations like CTAC, Gender PAC, labor unions, CT Women Education and Legal Fund (CWEALF), the Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defender (GLAD), Planned Parenthood, the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW) and the CT chapters of the ACLU, NOW, and the ADL (Anti Defamation League). We met at a lobbyist office in Hartford to discuss strategy for passing the gender inclusive anti-discrimination bill. In the spring, the coalition sponsored lobby training at the Legislative Office Building (LOB) that I attended. In 2009 as part of my internship for my MSW degree I interned at CWEALF and learned about political activism. My internship with True Colors on 2010-20011 had me training GSAs on how to be be activists and inform them about the bill.

New Horizons

There were two news articles about trans-kids coming out before they even start school. One was about a 6 year old who transitioned and the other story was about the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC. Back on May 27, the Whittington family posted a video about their trans-son and the video went viral, ABC News said,

A YouTube video with over three million views tells the story of just one child but it has many people talking.

The seven-minute video explains the story of a six-year-old transgender child, Ryland Whittington, who was born a girl but, according to her parents, began insisting she was a boy as soon as she could speak.

“This is my sister Brynly, and I’m her brother, Ryland,” a young Ryland can be heard saying in the video, posted last week to his family’s YouTube page.

The video’s narrative explains that Ryland’s parents, Jeff and Hillary Whittington, discovered around Ryland’s first birthday that their daughter was deaf.  After being fitted with cochlear implants and learning to hear and speak, some of Ryland’s first words were, “I am a boy.”

The video created a firestorm in comments and on the conservative news network, Media Matters report that,

Fox News "Medical A Team" member Dr. Keith Ablow assailed the parents of a transgender child whose story has gone viral on the web, suggesting that six-year-old Ryland Whittington would have been better served by "anti-psychotic medication" than by having his parents affirm his gender identity.

What none of these news stories said was that this was just a social transition that nothing was done medically, everything is reversible. The only thing being done now is to let him explorer his gender identity and it will not be until he reaches Tanner Stages 2 or 3 and then they are only given puberty blockers, it only when they reach their teenage years that they are given cross gender hormones. Up until that point it is all reversible. Actually one a small percentage of those children go on to hormones, one study found it was only about 15 percent went on hormones.

Following this approach has reduced suicide idealizations and self-mutilation in the children and it has improved their quality of life. It also prevents the development of secondary sexual characteristics such as deepening of the voice and facial hair in trans-girls and breasts in trans-boys.

There are a number of hospitals around the country that are specializing in caring for trans-children, there is Fenway Health in Boston and the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC that the article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette mentioned in their article,

The drug that stops pubertal development "allows us to bide time, because you'll have a kid who tells you, 'I don't want a period, I don't want my breast development freaking me out,' and why, indeed, should he? We want to let them have an adolescent transition as a male and see how it works for them."
[…]
The first hormone blockers, which stop puberty, were first administered in a Dutch clinic in 2000, and today they're used in Pittsburgh's Children's Hospital program, with girls beginning around age 10 and boys at age 12.

Here in Connecticut Hartford’s Children’s Medical Center’s GUPPE Clinic provides care for trans-children and just north of the border in Springfield Massachusetts Baystate Health Center provides care for trans-children.


ABC US News | ABC International News

Brave.

How many times have we heard, “Oh you are so brave?”

Are we brave because we chose to live over dying?

Are we brave because we chose to live without lies than to living a life of lies?

I am always amazed when someone tells me that I am so brave because I don’t feel brave. At an awards dinner last Thursday night a number of people came up to me and told me that I am so brave. One person told me that I’m the bravest person that they know. I never contemplated suicide but many other have thought about and many have committed suicide. For me, I just saw myself spiraling down into depression and that was a path I did not want to take. So is it brave to do something that improves your quality of life?

I went through a dark period of my life where many times I cried myself to sleep when I saw the two roads that my life could take and I chose the easier path, to transition. Yes, I knew it was going to be hard to go against society’s norms but it looked a lot better than a dark pit with no bottom. Life doesn’t offer any easy ways, we all have our crosses to bear.

Life is hard as a trans-person but does that make you brave? But when is life easy? We all have our speed bumps in life, mine just happens to be bigger. I know some who are fighting cancer, I know some who are fighting mental illness, I know some who have lost a loved one, and some fighting all of those at the same time does that make them brave?

To me someone is brave is when they rush out to save a fallen comrade, to me someone is brave when they rush into a burning building to save someone, to me someone is brave when they put their life on the line to save another person.

Choosing life, is not brave, it is being human. I know a lot of people who chose to be human and choose life over death.

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Right "Dear Colleague"

The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Right just came out with new guidelines for charter school; warning them not to discriminate.

I am writing to remind you that the Federal civil rights laws, regulations, and guidance that apply to charter schools are the same as those that apply to other public schools. For this reason, it is essential that charter school officials and staff be knowledgeable about Federal civil rights laws.
These laws extend to all operations of a charter school, including recruiting, admissions, academics, educational services and testing, school climate (including prevention of harassment), disciplinary measures (including suspensions and expulsions), athletics and other nonacademic and extracurricular services and activities, and accessible buildings and technology.
[…]
These Federal civil rights laws and the specific legal obligations discussed in this letter apply to all public charter schools in the United States, regardless of whether they receive Federal funds under the Department's Charter Schools Program. In addition, charter schools that receive funds–either directly or through a State educational agency (SEA)–under a Department grant program, such as the Charter Schools Program, are subject to the additional requirements of each grant program.

So what does this mean to us?

It means that charter schools that all public charter schools or private charter schools that receive government funding must obey all non-discrimination laws. If a private charter schools that is run by a religious organization “receives funds–either directly or through a State educational agency (SEA)–under a Department grant program” they must also obey all non-discrimination laws including sex discrimination laws. In addition, the OCR has ruled that gender identity and expression is covered under sex discrimination.

The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Right also just released a “Questions and Answers on Title IX and Sexual Violence” that said in part…

“Does Title IX protect all students from sexual violence?

Answer: Yes. Title IX protects all students at recipient institutions from sex discrimination, including sexual violence. Any student can experience sexual violence: from elementary to professional school students; male and female students; straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students; part-time and full-time students; students with and without disabilities; and students of different races and national origins.”

This reiterates earlier “Dear Colleague” letters where they said the “sex” in Title IX also applies to gender identity and expression.

The Q&A goes on to say this about First Amendment rights,

How should a school handle its obligation to respond to sexual harassment and sexual violence while still respecting free-speech rights guaranteed by the Constitution?

Answer: The DCL on sexual violence did not expressly address First Amendment issues because it focuses on unlawful physical sexual violence, which is not speech or expression protected by the First Amendment. However, OCR’s previous guidance on the First Amendment, including the 2001 Guidance, OCR’s July 28, 2003, Dear Colleague Letter on the First Amendment, and OCR’s October 26, 2010, Dear Colleague Letter on harassment and bullying, remain fully in effect. OCR has made it clear that the laws and regulations it enforces protect students from prohibited discrimination and do not restrict the exercise of any expressive activities or speech protected under the U.S. Constitution. Therefore, when a school works to prevent and redress discrimination, it must respect the free-speech rights of students, faculty, and other speakers.

Title IX protects students from sex discrimination; it does not regulate the content of speech. OCR recognizes that the offensiveness of a particular expression as perceived by some students, standing alone, is not a legally sufficient basis to establish a hostile environment under Title IX. Title IX also does not require, prohibit, or abridge the use of particular textbooks or curricular materials.

Okay, that is as clear as mud. It is a lot of legalize to dance around to say words alone does not create a “hostile environment” under the law. In other words they can call you the “T” word and tell you that you are going to burn in hell to their hearts desire but if they make threatening statements then that crosses the line of free-speech.

Ru Paul

Okay, here is my two cents.

There is a lot of lateral hostility within our community… I’m transgender* you are not… I’m more transgender than you… and on and on.

There are many exclusionists in our community and they usually draw the line under them, drag queens are looked down on by crossdresser, transsexuals look down on crossdresser, post-op transsexuals look down at pre-op transsexuals, and those that can integrate into society look down at those who cannot and call them “men in a dress.” Some transgender people think I am not a “true” transsexual because I haven’t hocked my house to have surgery even though I have been living full time for almost seven years.

So why is this? Why do they want to separate themselves from other people they see as being below them?

The origins of lateral hostility have its roots in our internalized shame as we worked to overcome our own feeling of inadequacy; we transfer that guilt to other people that we see as being below us… I am not like “those” drag queens. We cannot attack those who oppress us so we distance ourselves from those that we see as being below us and oppress them. It is also caused by internalized homophobia/transphobia, our fear of being labeled as gay, transsexuals’ fear of being “just a crossdresser,” and post-op transsexuals who can integrate into society fear being seen as a transsexual.

Another part of the problem is the way the media looks at us. When the media covers a pride event what photos do you see in the newspaper or on TV? Usually it is the flamboyant drag queens or the six foot seven crossdresser, and not the trans-woman who is integrated into society.

We also lump together those that we feel as being below us. Ru Paul is one person, and he is not the “Drag Community” (even though he thinks he is). But we demonize the whole drag community because of him. I am a firm believer that you hate that what you don’t know; so here is a homework assignment for you this Pride month. Get to know a drag queen. That’s it nothing more.

*My definition of transgender is anyone who crosses the gender norm. That transgender is a spectrum from drag queens/kings to post op transsexuals.

Up At The Cottage This Weekend

I went up to the cottage for one purpose… to take pictures.

So here are some of them, Beard Brook stone bridge…

 

Further upstream the road crosses the stream at Gleason Falls 

 

I took these photos on Saturday, there was very little color in the sunset but the lake was like a mirror...

 

Sometimes when everyone is looking one way, you look another way and see beauty.

 Saturday night's sunset on the lake... no, literally on the lake. It is a reflection of the clouds on the lake.

Have You Seen The News About Medicare?

If you have seen the news that Medicare removed ban on medically necessary healthcare for us then you also saw the headlines…
     ABC News: Medicare Ban on Sex Reassignment Surgery Lifted
     Fox: Ruling: Medicare Can Pay for Transgender Recipient Sex-Change...
     Time: Medicare coverage ban on sex-change surgery lifted
     Huffington Post: Medicare Can Pay For Transgender Recipients' Gender Confirmation Surgeries
     New York Times: Medicare to Now Cover Sex-Change Surgery

Even the LGBT news sources reported…
     Advocate: HHS Lifts Medicare Ban on Gender-Confirming Surgeries
     Washington Blade: Medicare to lift ban on gender reassignment surgery

People this is a lot more than just surgery! At least the Huffington Post, the Advocate, and the Washington Blade got the name right, but reading the articles you would think that this is just about GCS. They all used the article from AP,

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Transgender people receiving Medicare may no longer be automatically denied coverage for sex reassignment surgeries, a U.S. Department of Health and Services review board ruled Friday in a groundbreaking decision that recognizes the procedures as a medically necessary and effective treatment for individuals who do not identify with their biological sex.

The only one to get it right was MetroWeekly, their headline read, “Medicare ban on transition-related medical care overturned” and their opening paragraph was,

A longstanding ban that prohibited Medicare from covering transition-related medical procedures for transgender Americans was struck down Friday by an independent panel within the Department of Health and Human Services.

Nowhere is it does it mention “sexual reassignment surgery” and the ruling covers some many other procedures that were being denied to trans-people. Trans-men were being denied treatment for ovarian cancer and I was denied last week coverage for my prostrate exam. In big black letters it said “PSA – DENIED billed in error” and I'm going to have to call them to fight to get them to pay for the test.

And you don’t even want to read the comments for the articles, the article brought out all the bigots. Many of the milder comments were about it being cosmetic and who says it is “medical necessary,” well these organizations says it is medical necessary, American Medical Association, the Endocrine Society, the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health.

There is a direct relationship to suicides and the “quality of life” between getting proper healthcare and not.

Can You Say Chicken?

There are seventeen states and the District of Columbia that have protection for transgender people and of those five states and the District of Columbia require coverage for trans-people including Oregon. Their insurance commissioners issued a letter say if you cover medical treatment for non-trans people you have to offer treatment to trans-people and example is if insurance covers vaginoplasty for a woman say that was in a car accident (which they do cover because it is deemed “medically necessary” and not cosmetic) they have to cover the surgery for trans-people because it is also “medically necessary.”

So given those facts, Oregon has chickened out in their coverage for Medicaid…

Oregon will cover some transgender services under Medicaid
Guidelines cover puberty suppression for gender dysphoria
The Bulletin
By Tara Bannow
May 29, 2014

At the beginning of 2015, Oregon will join the few states whose Medicaid programs cover gender dysphoria, acondition that occurs when a person’s gender identity conflicts with his or her sex. But, as with most things, there’s a catch.

The new guidelines ensure Oregon Health Plan beneficiaries will get psychotherapy, office visits and medications that halt the onset of puberty, which can be particularly traumatizing for transgender youth. Transgender is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity does not conform with their sex at birth. They won’t, under the current guidelines, get cross-sex hormone therapy or sex-reassignment surgery, which some advocates say are crucial for transsexual individuals, those looking to alter their bodies to make them congruent with their gender identity.
[…]
The Health Evidence Review Commission, the group that decides what’s covered under OHP, is currently considering coverage for hormone therapy and surgery for beneficiaries with gender dysphoria. The HERC process includes poring over the most recent and reliable research on the subject and hearing from doctors and advocates who specialize in transgender health.

Did you get that? Even though the insurance commissioner said you can’t discriminate, even though these organizations says it is medical necessary, American Medical Association, the Endocrine Society, the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health. Even though in December the Medicare appeals board found that there is sufficient medical evidence to show that GCS is medically necessary the Oregon Health Evidence Review Commission want to study it some more… can you say chicken. They don’t want to take that finial step and cover hormones and surgery.