Have You Ever…

Had a store clerk harass you in a check-out line?

Australia: Trans teenager says supermarket cashier ‘laughed in face’ over old ID
Pink News UK
By Nick Duffy
21st September 2014

A transgender teenager in Australia has filed a complaint, after a supermarket cashier laughed in his face when looking at his ID.

The 19-year-old man, who wishes to remain anonymous, told the Sydney Morning Herald he was refused cigarettes by an employee at Woolworths supermarket (not affiliated with the defunct UK chain) in Wollongong, because he had not been able to update his ID since transitioning.

Has this happened to you?

For me when I was first transitioning I has the most troubles, over time I think I became more relaxed and less “deer in the headlights” looking. But once in awhile I run into a jerk, it is usually a teenage boy that gives me a hard time. The last time was at Kohl’s and it was probably in the early spring, a teenage boy was at the register and I thought he was going to chock trying not to laugh out loud.

Then on the other side of the spectrum a clerk at the local Stop & Shop is very friendly she always talks to me if she is at the clerk checkout aisle  and if her line isn’t too long I will pick her aisle.

I Am Somebody!

Internalized trans-phobia, I think it is something that we have all going through at one time or other in our lives.

Someone posted this old blog post from Transgender Mental Health on Facebook and I want to write about it because I think it is an important topic to talk about. She writes,

Internalized trans-phobia refers to feelings some people have inside about their being trans that they might not even be aware of.  It refers to how some people hate that part of themselves and are ashamed of it.  The phrase comes from the similar experiences of gay folk who sometimes have “internalized homo-phobia”.

How does this happen?  This happens because of discrimination, ignorance and stigma in society against people who display gender non-conforming behavior.  In other words against men and boys who appear feminine or girls and woman who appear masculine or “butch” or people who are more gender-queer and don’t appear to be completely male or female.

I think she makes a very good point; “internalized trans-phobia” happens because of the stigma attached to being trans. When we are fighting with ourselves and trying to deny that we are trans that is where the angsts comes from, we think that being trans is the worst thing in life, we see it as a curse. That is also where our high suicide rate, our high drug and alcohol dependency comes from, our own internalized self-loathing.

Internalized trans-phobia also is what causes “lateral hostiles” when other trans-people try to distance themselves from other trans-people in order to make themselves feel superior or disassociate themselves from other trans-people. They hold themselves aloof from the trans-community. They might call other trans-people who they feel beneath them “men in a dress” or use other derogatory phrases to separate themselves from.

She goes on to write,

…Some people take a long time to come out as trans because they have so much internalized trans-phobia.  It can hold you back in life, not only in terms of finding a way to be the gender you are, but in many areas of your life such as forming deep and satisfying connections to others.

For me that is so true, it did keep me from developing deep romantic connections because I could never give my whole self to a relationship. I never developed my true potential and it is still hard to overcome the feelings of inadequacies, I tend to over compensate and try too hard to please.

As she says, “It takes time to “undo” deep down beliefs about gender-variant people…” it takes time to develop self-acceptance to realize that the world will not end with coming out.

When I wrote my “Personal Statement” for my MSW Application to grad school, I wrote…

In coming out, I leaned self-acceptance and in gaining this acceptance came empowerment. This has become a valuable tool in which to help others.  Self-acceptance allows one to not only believe in themselves but that all things are possible – even social change and social justice.  I think the Reverend Jesse Jackson said it best in his poem “I am Somebody”-- we are all somebody and we can never forget that.

Why To Come Out

That is something that is so very personal that only you can decide to come out or not.

Model Geena Rocero made that decision in a very public forum, at a TED Talk…

She made her decision because a desire to help others and we all make our decisions for many other reasons including to make the world a better place.

In an interview on TED Talks on PBS she said,

(SOUNDBITE OF TED TALK)
ROCERO: The world makes you something that you're not. But you know inside what you are. And that question burns in your heart. How will you become that? So when I became a fashion model, I felt that I'd finally achieved a dream that I've always wanted since I was a young child. My outside self finally matched my inner truth. At that time, I felt like Geena, you've done it. You've made it. You have arrived. But this past October, I realized that I'm only just beginning. In my case, for the last nine years, some of my neighbors, some of my friends, colleagues, even my agent did not know about my history. I think in mystery, this is called a reveal. Here is mine. I was assigned boy at birth based on the appearance of my genitalia.

RAZ: At this moment, when you spoke on the TED stage, and you revealed this for the first time publicly, it was just, like, silent. You could hear a pin drop. And you had revealed this thing that you had kept secret from so many people for so long.

ROCERO: Yeah.

But it was not always her desire to come out, when she first came here she kept her history secret.

ROCERO: So when I moved to New York, I made a conscious decision to not fully share about my journey into womanhood. And first, I wasn't ready to talk about it. Second, I just - I knew just people have this misconception about what it means to be trans. And I just don't want to have that conversation first and foremost. And it wasn't until December, last year, 2013 when they told my model agent that I'm a transgender woman.

RAZ: What did your agent say?
[…]
ROCERO: (Laughter) I remember, OK, that's right, I need to talk to my agent and share with him. I picked up that phone call. I said, Ron, this is what I'm about to do, and this is the story I want to share. And I remember having that pause. And then he said, well, congratulations. I'm proud of you. I am - you know, I'm here. I support you, which is a big sigh of relief. I mean, I remember being, you know, so nervous, so nervous. (Laughter).

RAZ: I mean, in that time - because you were a model in New York for more than a decade - were you ever afraid that somebody would - I don't know - find out and it would hurt your career?

ROCERO: It's a big yes. I was always in a constant state of paranoia. There's nothing worse than being outed. There's nothing worse than people taking control of your narrative. So I guess subconsciously I did let that fear paralyze me.

And that is my feeling also, that when you go back into the closet after you transition you once again start worrying about be found out. When you are our living your life as an out trans-woman or trans-man you now face discrimination. That is way I believe that no one can second guess your decision to come out or to keep your history private, because coming out means going against the social norms and facing all that social throws at you and only you can make that decision.

Saturday Six #545

Patrick’s Place Saturday Six #545

1. When you walk to a light switch, do you “turn off” the lights or do you “cut off” the lights?
Turn-off

2. When nature calls, do you sit on a “toilet” or a “commode”?
Toilet

3. Do you call those little bugs that seem to light up “fireflies” or “lightning bugs”?
Sometimes I call them “fireflies” and other times I call them “lightning bugs”

4. Do you “mash” buttons or “press” them?
Press, mash is something you do with potatoes.

5. When referring to denim pants, do you call them “jeans” or “dungarees”?
Jeans

6. Do you stand in a “line” or “queue” when waiting for something?
I stand in a “line” as in the lines were long at the supermarket.

Saturday 9: Margaritaville

Crazy Sam’s Saturday 9: Margaritaville (1977)

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

1) In this song Jimmy sings of "booze in the blender." What do you prepare in your blender?
Not much… I use it for stuff like making ham and pickle, and potato pancakes.

2) As the song opens, Jimmy is sitting on his front porch swing. Describe the front porch of the building you're in right now.
It is just the entryway for the front door.

3) Jimmy sings of being able to smell boiling shrimp. Do you prefer your shrimp boiled, glazed or breaded?
Stuffed with crab meat.

4) During the song, he mentions his flip flops. Have you put your flip flops and sandals away till spring? Or is it still warm enough to wear them?
I’m still hoping for some more warm days

5) Jimmy Buffett had hoped this song would be recorded by Elvis Presley, but The King died before he could perform it. What's the first Elvis song that comes to mind? 
Hound dog

6) Buffett fans are known as Parrotheads. Concert attire for a well-dressed Parrothead often includes a Hawaiian shirt and a foam fin hat. What will you be wearing tonight?
A nightgown and trying to stay up past nine (I have been up since 1:30AM; I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep).

7) Loyal Parrotheads paid between $500 and $5000 to see Mr. Buffet at a fundraiser for Barack Obama's 2012 Presidential campaign. What's the most you would pay for a concert ticket?
I think might have been $25 dollars back in 1975 for a Grateful Dead concert at Dillon Field.

8) Jimmy is an outspoken environmentalist and supports causes like ocean conservation, saving the manatees and expanding the Dallas Zoo. What steps do you take to help save the planet? 
I drive a Plug-in Prius and right now I’m getting 79mpg.

9) Uh-oh. When Jimmy and the Coral Reefers played in Wisconsin this past August, more than two dozen concertgoers got tickets for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Do you believe pot should be legalized?
YES! Just look at Colorado, yes they do have some problems but overall it has been successful. 

The Last Couple Of Days…

…I have been at an outreach at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine for the second year med students, this have been annual event for me for around ten years. The School of Medicine has two classes on taking sexual history for LGBT patients and how to make your office LGBT friendly, the second class begins with a lecture on what doctors can do to make their office more of an open and affirming space. That it is not just the doctors but also their staff and forms that should be LGBT friendly, from the moment we walk through their doors or call on the phone the patients should feel safe to discuss all their health concerns.

The doctor that gives the lecture tells a story about when he was still a student and the doctor he was assigned to track would ask girls if they had a boyfriend yet. He said he used to cringe whenever the doctor said that, he said by asking that question a girl who is lesbian might withhold vital medical information. Another story that he told was when he was doing a sexual history and asked if she used condoms. When she started to giggle he looked at her and she said that she was a lesbian. He said he wanted to hit himself on the head thinking… “I teach the class!”

Then the panel that I was on got to tell our medical history and after we told out stories there was a Q&A session after which we broke up into same workgroups. What I mentioned was about when I got into an argument with a nurse on the phone and also the trouble I had getting my PSA test paid by Medicare.

Incident with the nurse happened when she called me to tell me lab results and she asked for Diana, she didn’t believe that I was Diana and refused to give me my test results and it went back and forth several times. Finally after I told her that I was Diana and she told me I wasn’t; she then told me to have Diana call. I called back immediately and got a different nurse who gave me my results. I also told her about the other nurse and she said she would have a talk with her.

The other incident happened this past winter when I went for my annual physical and the doctor ordered (rightly so) a PSA test for me. However, since Medicare has me as female they rejected to bill and it bounced back and forth between me, the insurance company, and the doctor’s office until it was resolved last month.

Since I have been doing these outreach I have bumped into some of the doctors who have had the class and remember me from it. It is nice that more and more schools are training future doctors about LGBT patients.

We Are Not Immune

When we transition at work we have to be careful of what we say and where, and also how we behave. As with any employer they are rightly concerned about what their employees say and where they say it. You might claim that you have a First Amendment right to free speech, but if you read the amendment closely it says prohibits the making of any law respecting an freedom of speech, notice it applies only to the government and it says nothing banning employers from limiting what can do.

So when a trans-woman transitioned at an auto dealership as a mechanic, according to Lexology…

Plaintiff Jennifer Chavez was hired as a mechanic by Credit Nation Auto Sales in Austell, Georgia (a suburb of Atlanta), when she was Luis Chavez, a man. After a little more than a year on the job, then-Mr. Chavez told management that he intended to undergo gender reassignment. (At this point, we will refer to the Plaintiff as “Ms. Chavez.”) According to Ms. Chavez, management and her co-workers were extremely supportive . . . for about two weeks. During that two-week period, Ms. Chavez even sent an email to a reporter from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, going on and on about how supportive her co-workers had been, “even the crotchety old southern guys who I thought were set in their ways.” Ms. Chavez also said that, after the co-workers were informed, the owner sent an email reminding them of Credit Nation’s policy against harassment.

And the article goes on to say that she was warned about talking about the Gender Confirming Surgery (GCS) in detail to her co-workers and that she was changing out over her coveralls before the end of her shift. In addition she wanted to use the office bathroom as opposed to the mechanic’s bathroom but the company said that she had to use the mechanic’s restroom. After she fell asleep on the job she was fired.

She then sued for sex discrimination based on Title VII,

Even though the charge was treated as timely, and even though gender identity discrimination is a form of sex discrimination prohibited by Title VII, the court adopted a magistrate’s recommendation and granted summary judgment to Credit Nation based on Ms. Chavez’s “time theft” related to her sleeping on the job. The counselings she had been given were not evidence of prejudice because of her transgender status, the court said, and she had no evidence that sleeping on the job – especially while on the clock – was was not a legitimate ground for discharge. The evidence of the other employee’s termination for the same reason appeared to be critical to this part of the court’s ruling.

I think she got off on the wrong track when she called the reporter because some companies take a dim view of their employees saying anything about the company either good or bad.

The next thing she did wrong was about the bathroom, the bathrooms were basically unisex. There was a bathroom for the office and customers up front and one for the mechanics, since she was a mechanic it was not discrimination based on sex. Since discrimination is defined as doing something different because of her sex, but since the bathrooms were divided by office and shop workers it wasn’t sex discrimination.

But I think that the straw that broke the camel’s back was sleeping on the job and because the company treated other people who slept on the job the same way as other employees it was not discriminatory.

The thing is we have to be on our toes and on good behavior when we transition, and just because we are trans does not mean that we cannot be fired for just cause.

The Two Worlds

Not the “haves and have nots” world but rather those who can integrate in society and those who cannot, they live in two different worlds. For some transitioning is easy while those who cannot fit into a gender binary world are marginalized.

I came across an article in Colorlines that contrasted the world of Laverne Cox and Islan Nettles,

Cox was lifted up as a reflection of mainstream progress; finally, queer and transgender people had been accepted in American culture. But if Cox is a reflection of mainstream progress in LGBT communities, she’s also a reflection of those left stranded in America’s economic and cultural margins. When she served as Grand Marshall at this year’s New York City Pride Parade, she rode in a car alongside Dolores Nettles, mother of Islan, a 21-year-old transgender woman who was beaten to death in Harlem last year. The investigation into Nettles’ death has stalled and her killer remain at large, a frighteningly common scenerio [sic] for many transgender women of color who find themselves victims of hate crimes. The odds are still stacked markedly against queer and trans people of color: sky-high unemployment rates, harassment, disease and murder are still stubborn facts of life. So while there are many examples of LGBT visibility in America — think sports stars like Brittney Griner and Michael Sam, musicians like Angel Haze and Frank Ocean — visibility alone has not often led to the chance to live safe, equitable lives.

Life is much easier for those who fit into the binary, they are more likely to find work, they are more likely to find a partner, and they are less likely to be victims of violence. However, those who do fit into the gender binary are also more likely to victims of violence if their past is discovered.

On Tuesday when I was at the UConn Health Center doing outreach one of the 2^nd year med students asked the question “Do you think it has gotten better for transgender people?” My answer was “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” that for those who can integrate into society it is the best of times but for those who are marginalized by society it is the worst of times.

Just look at what happened the other day to the two gay men in Philadelphia who were set upon by a mob. They were holding hands when they were questioned if they were gay by some of the people in the group; it was because they didn’t fit into the normative. Even with all the progress the LGBT community has made; there are still those in society who want to push back and force us back into the closet.

It is the best of times until you step out of bounds.

# # # # #

I will once again be doing an outreach this afternoon at a local medical college so there will be no afternoon post.

Longitudinal Survey

You probably have seen news articles about a longitudinal survey of trans-children where they followed 22 trans-girls and 33 trans-boys from their teenage years to when they were in their early twenties. According to the abstract for the survey the results were,

After gender reassignment, in young adulthood, the GD was alleviated and psychological functioning had steadily improved. Well-being was similar to or better than same-age young adults from the general population. Improvements in psychological functioning were positively correlated with postsurgical subjective well-being.

But what the research did not cover was the sparkle in their eyes or their smile when they started on the hormone blockers. Over lunch yesterday I was listening to a pediatric doctor from Colorado talk about the changes he sees in his young patients as they are starting on hormone blockers or hormones.

The conclusion of the abstract said,

A clinical protocol of a multidisciplinary team with mental health professionals, physicians, and surgeons, including puberty suppression, followed by cross-sex hormones and gender reassignment surgery, provides gender dysphoric youth who seek gender reassignment from early puberty on, the opportunity to develop into well-functioning young adults.

If you have ever seen the change when a child or an adult begins hormones it is amazing, it is like a hundred pound weight was taking from their shoulders.

I will hope that the study is continuing and that they follow these 55 young adults throughout their lives, ten years is not long enough to see how their health is affected by the hormone blockers or a lifelong exposure to hormone. We also need to see if this is the proper intervention for gender dysphoria, we to look at how they are not only in their twenties but in their thirties, forties and beyond.

A Corrupt System Corrupts Absolutely.

The Department of Children and Families (DCF) has mishandled the Jane Doe case from the very beginning. Jane Doe father is in prison, her mother is a drug addict, and the DCF took her away from her mother (the only right thing that DCF did) and put her in the care of her grandmother.  Mother Jones reported,

The state became involved in Jane Doe's life when she was five, according to her affidavit, because her father was incarcerated and her mom was using crack and heroin. She was born a boy; after she was placed in the care of her extended family, she said, one relative caught her playing with dolls and bashed her head into the wall. She said another relative raped her at age eight, as did others as she grew older. Doe would only allow herself to look like a girl in secret. Around age 11, a relative caught her in the bathroom wearing her dress and lipstick and slapped her, shouting, "You are a boy! What the fuck is wrong with you?"

The state became involved in Jane Doe's life when she was five, according to her affidavit, because her father was incarcerated and her mom was using crack and heroin. She was born a boy; after she was placed in the care of her extended family, she said, one relative caught her playing with dolls and bashed her head into the wall. She said another relative raped her at age eight, as did others as she grew older. Doe would only allow herself to look like a girl in secret. Around age 11, a relative caught her in the bathroom wearing her dress and lipstick and slapped her, shouting, "You are a boy! What the fuck is wrong with you?"

She was sent to a juvenile facility in Massachusetts for an assault that she committed and while she was there her lawyer said that,

…the most recent incident was sparked when a male staffer at the Massachusetts facility put Doe in a bear hug restraint from behind. "This is a girl who has been sexually abused," Romano says. "She is inclined to interpret actions with that view."

DCF mishandled the case since the beginning they have no policies for transgender children in their custody and they do not have a way to treat children who are trauma victims of sexual assaults. They woefully understaffed, their budget has increased over the years as their case load dropped but those children who are still in the system are the more complex cases. They need more personal care with staff that is trained in dealing with children with trauma and PTSD.

The other day Jane Doe walked away from a treatment facility, her first taste of freedom in years. The Hartford Courant reported that,

The transgender teenager whose transfer to an adult prison made national news slipped away Tuesday from a therapy program at Hartford's Institute of Living after being transported there from a secure youth facility by the Department of Children and Families.

She was found in good health several hours later, by a Hartford patrol officer, near 517 Park St. She was taken into custody, and detectives with the Special Investigation Division were speaking with her, said Deputy Police Chief Brian J. Foley. She will be turned back over to DCF.

"She was just walking down the street and she was very compliant with officers," Foley said.

The Courant goes on to say,

"It's unfortunate but not surprising,'' said Child Advocate Sarah Eagan, who is reviewing assaults and the use of restraints and seclusion at Pueblo and CJTS. "This is what kids who are traumatized do."

Now that she has been found, the hope is to "continue to engage her in the treatment programs that can help her heal from the many traumas she has experienced," Kleeblatt said.

So what is DCF going to do now? Are they going to punish her some more? Will they make a bad situation worse?

Gay Friendly v. Trans Friendly

There is a big difference. Many times you see about a tour being LGBT friendly but really what they mean is gay and lesbian friendly especially if you are able to assimilate into sociality as a heterosexual. It is those who fall outside of the gender norms that feel the greatest discrimination.

There was a cruise line that offered a Drag cruise but said that,

These functions will be private and only the performers are permitted to dress in drag while in the theater. Guests are not allowed to dress in drag for the performances or in public areas at any time during the cruise.

Fort Lauderdale bills itself as “Gay Friendly” but according to an article in Sun Sentinel it is not trans-friendly,

In August, some 700 members of the transgender community across 48 states participated in the online survey conducted by Community Marketing & Insights, a San Francisco-based specialty marketing and research firm.

Only 10 percent of participants perceived Fort Lauderdale to be very trans-friendly, the study revealed.

Nearly half (48 percent) of respondents polled perceived Fort Lauderdale as not being transgender-friendly, while 43 percent said it was somewhat trans-friendly, according to the study commissioned by the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau.

"We know a lot about gay and lesbian travelers, but little if anything has been known about the transgender traveler, until now," said Richard Gray, the bureau's managing director of the LGBT market. "Now is the time for the Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB to emphasize the importance of the T in LGBT. The forgotten T, I'm saddened to say."

I know someone who was down there with her girlfriend when they were harassed by some straight teens, guest who the police focused on, my trans-friend and her girlfriend. The police advised to go back to their hotel and stay out the area.

The Southern Comfort conference is moving to Fort Lauderdale next year, it should be interesting to see just how trans-friendly the city will be. The conference will be held at the Bonaventure Resort & Spa and I wonder just how those who venture outside of hotel will be treated at restaurants, bars and other public accommodations.

# # # # #

I will be doing an outreach this afternoon at a local medical college so there will be no afternoon post.

When There Is Money To Be Made…

...Nothing else matters.

How many times have you seen it, a radio personality makes derogatory comments against a minority and is fired and then hired back by either another station or the same station.

The DJs who made comments about trans-people are back on the air.

Rochester radio hosts, fired for calling transgender people 'nut jobs,' back on the air
Syracuse.com
By Ben Axelson
September 11, 2014

Rochester radio personalities Kimberly and Beck are back on the airwaves after the pair were fired by 98.9 The Buzz (WBZA) in May.

Kimberly Ray and Barry Beck lost their jobs hosting "The Breakfast Buzz" earlier in the year after making "hateful comments" about transgender people during their live show, The Post-Standard reported at the time.
[…]
"It was nice to have the summer off. We took some time to reflect and kind of figure out what went sideways," Kimberly said in an interview with the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle.

Did they learn any lessons from their firing? Will they change their format or will it be business as normal, putting down everyone?

Despite the backlash, not much has changed.

"We're doing the same kind of show that we did for the last 30 years," Kimberly told the D & C.

Nope, I guess not.

Let The Battle Begin

Facebook has declared war on crossdressers, drag queens, and drag kings and wants to force them to use their real names.

Why Is Facebook Cracking Down on Drag Names?
Slate
By J. Bryan Lowder

On Wednesday, drag queens and similar performers began complaining of problems with their Facebook profiles. Artists from across the country reported being forcibly logged out of their accounts and informed that they would need to update their profiles with their legal names in order to lift the suspension.

According to New York City-based drag performer and Outward contributor Miz Cracker, at least 20 of her drag colleagues have had their profiles challenged over the last three days, with notices continuing to be issued at the time of writing.

Cracker described her experience in an email:

I found out that my account had been suspended on Wednesday night, right in the middle of a show, when a fellow queen texted to ask “Why is your Facebook profile gone?” Facebook was letting me know that I had a choice: I could either select a name they liked, or lose touch with the contacts, creative content, and memories that my name has earned me over the years.

It is also crossdressers who are facing the wrath of Facebook, I imaging that Facebook is using an app to find names that do not fit into the “normal” names, names like Miz Cracker probably fits the filter Facebook is using to highlight drag names.

Facebook claims that,

According to a Facebook spokesperson, the step was taken to bring users in line with the company’s “real name” policy, which stipulates that “people use their real identities” and “provide their real names, so you always know who you're connecting with.” The rule is designed to “keep the community safe.”

There is a grain of truth behind their policy about keeping the community safe, but on the other for some people using their real name could help a stalker or an ex find them. Also for many trans-people if their identity is know it could subject them to discrimination and harassment.

The article goes on to say the probable motive behind the drive,

Speculation about the motivations behind the purge ranges from homophobia to money—some queens point out that Facebook stands to gain financially if artists switch from personal profiles to Fan Pages, which often require paying for post promotion to make them worthwhile…
[…]
While Facebook is technically justified in putting drag queens through the “real name” ringer, one hopes they might be willing to consider how “realness” could be a relative term. After all, as Miz Cracker points out, “Cracker is real enough to earn more cash than some New York City households, publish articles, bruise someone’s face during a sloppy cartwheel, take lovers—[and yet] she isn’t real enough for Facebook.”

That is the thing for many trans-people that is for all real purpose that is their real name.

There is a petition drive on Change.org is you want to protest Facebook policy.

They Should Have Recused Themselves

Up until the current Supreme Court the justices were beyond reproach but the current Supreme Court crossed that line?

Justices Thomas and Scalia have attended a Republican strategy meeting that was organized by Koch Industries and they also attended a dinner that was sponsored by the by the law firm that would be arguing the case Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) the next day. Also justice Thomas wife raised money to contest Affordable Care Act.

The Huffington Post wrote,

"This is certainly worth more reporting," said Stephen Gillers, a professor of law at New York University. "It is intriguing because the Koch brothers are so politically active and identify with a point of view. I know I would be curious to know exactly what forums the Justices went to. Obviously they could not go to a strategy session about how to elect more Republicans. On the other hand if it was a forum on the meaning of the First Amendment and it didn't involve strategy or fundraising a Justice could appear... It's fascinating and it merits more reporting."

What complicates the report, as Gillers notes, is that the Supreme Court, very recently, handed down a major decision on campaign finance law that Koch Industries quickly utilized. Citizens United overturned existing law by ruling that corporations could spend unlimited amounts of money on federal elections. Koch has always been an active political and philanthropic giver. And its checks have been sent to Democrats as well as Republicans (though weighted more heavily to the latter). This cycle, however, the company has become one of the premier bankrollers of conservative causes, and earned the enmity of Democrats for doing so.

There is a bill (HR2902: Supreme Court Ethics Act of 2013) before Congress on the ethics of the Supreme Court,

(2) The Code of Conduct for United States Judges (referred to in this subsection as the Code) applies to all Federal judges except Justices of the Supreme Court. Justices of the Supreme Court are not formally bound by any code of conduct. Chief Justice John Roberts noted in the 2011 Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary that while the Judicial Conference, which promulgates the Code, does not have authority to bind the Supreme Court, the Code is nonetheless the starting point and a key source of guidance for the Justices as well as their lower court colleagues.
(3) Congress has the authority to regulate the administration of the Supreme Court of the United States. For example, Congress sets the number of justices who sit on the Supreme Court and how many constitute a quorum, the term of the court, meaning the dates the court will be in session, and the salaries of the Justices. Additionally, the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) requires most high-level Federal officials in all 3 branches, including the President, Vice President, cabinet members, Justices of the Supreme Court, and Members of Congress, to file annual financial disclosure statements.

It is time to hold the Supreme Court Justices to the same standards as the other federal judges. The Huffington Post goes on to say,

"I think it is very important for judges to be part of the real world and to appear in public for educative purposes to help explain the arcane mysteries of the court to the general public," said William G. Ross, a judicial ethics professor at Samford University's Cumberland School of Law. "That is very healthy and I don't think that judges should isolate themselves in a marble palace... However I am very troubled by the tendency of judges to make broader comments on public issues and to appear in public or private gatherings in which there are political overtones."

Saturday Six #544

Patrick’s Place Saturday Six #544

1. You go to the grocery store and know you have a lot of items to purchase: do you use a “buggy” or a “cart”?
A shopping cart.

2. Have you ever said you were “fixing to” do something instead of saying something like, “I’m about to” do it?
Nope, I don’t use “I’m about to” either.

3. What about that little utility storage area in your car: do you call it a “glove compartment” or a “glove box”?
It is a glove box.

4. What percentage of the time do you ever keep gloves in it?
Zero.

5. When you go to the coastline, are you at the “beach” or the “shore”?
Beach.

6. When you reach for your shoes, are you grabbing “sneakers” or “tennis shoes”?
Sneakers, I think of tennis shoes being a type of sneakers.

Saturday 9: Hey, Soul Sister

Crazy Sam’s Saturday 9: Hey, Soul Sister
(because John suggested Train)

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

1) The video was shot on a street corner in Echo Park in central Los Angeles. If you saw a film crew making a video in your neighborhood, would you stop to watch? Or would you just keep walking?
I have and I did, they were making a horror movie in town one year filming at a diner and an old cemetery. And I have been interviewed on the news three times and it always been a blast and filmed in a commercial (which should come out in November… and no I can’t tell you about it until it comes out).

2) The singer says he remembers his girl in every dream he dreams. Do you remember if you dreamed last night?
Yes, and don’t ask me what about it is just fragments now.

3) The band Train is from San Francisco. Have you ever visited The City by the Bay?
Yes, one back in 1999 and I would love to do it again.

4) Lead singer Pat Monahan got his start in a Led Zeppelin cover band. Can you name a Led Zeppelin song?
Oh come on… everyone knows “Stairway to Heaven.”

5) In doing research for this week's Saturday 9, Crazy Sam discovered a publication called Trains, The Magazine of Railroading. What's the last magazine you flipped through? 
It was the free magazine that is in the local newspaper, Hartford.

6) Do you consider yourself a leader or a follower?
Both, it depends upon the circumstance.

7) Scholars tell us that "To be or not to be" is Shakespeare's most quoted line. Give us another one.
Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble.

8) How do you listen to music on the go? Car radio? CD changer? iPod/mp3 player? Your phone?
Sirius

9) Are you a convincing liar?
Nope and I am very gullible.

I'm sorry I didn't reply to many of your comments, but I have company for the last couple of weeks and I've been busy.

The Best From The Past – My Story Part 32 – The Squirrel, the Cop and Me

I am going to be busy this morning so I dug through my blog and picked an old post from from 2010...

My Story Part 32 – The Squirrel, the Cop and Me
My first encounter with a law officer happened before I transitioned. I only crossdressed at home and I never answered the door when I was crossdresses, I hid from everyone. So, one nice spring day I washing the dishes in the kitchen with my back to door (I have glass sliding door and it was open) when there was a knock at the door. Startled, I jumped and turned around, there was a cop with a 12 gauge shotgun over his shoulder and he was also startled when he read me as a male.

He told me that there was a report of a rabid squirrel in my woodpile and he was here to shoot it. He walks down to the woodpile and I hear two shots, BAM! BAM! And he walks back up to me and said “I got him!” and I said “Good.” He walks away. That was my first encounter with the police and I imagine that I was the talk of the police station that night. Later, I walked down to the woodpile and there pieces of squirrel everywhere. I went back into the house put on a pair of rubber boots and gloves. I went back and picked up the pieces and sprayed the area in a mixture of water and bleach. There wasn’t much left of the squirrel after getting hit twice by a 12 gauge shotgun shooting double-ought buckshot.

My next encounter with the police was also when I was home, but it was after I transitioned. I was sitting reading when the doorbell rang. I got up and wondered who would be at the door ten o’clock at night. I peeked out the window and saw a state trooper standing there! I answered the door and he was the state trooper who lives down the street. I had met him before when I bought my first Prius back in 2003 before I transitioned and we still living as a male. He had stopped by, we had talked about the car, and now he recognized me as the person he talked to 3 years ago. He was very courteous and called me ma’am, he said that he stopped by to tell me that my garage door was open and the light was flashing. I thanked him and closed the garage door.
My third encounter with the police was with the Maine state police when I was in an accident a couple of years ago. Once again, he was courteous, called me ma’am and was very professional.

I tell these stories because there is a big difference in where you are stopped and who stopped you. I have heard stories of how the police have mistreated trans-people, arresting them when they did nothing wrong. I hope that my interface with the police is the norm and not the exception.

When Harassment Clashes With The First Amendment

It is a real fine line between a person’s First Amendment right to political speech and bullying. When the Safe School Coalition reviewed the anti-bullying statutes it becomes a tightrope walk between free speech and bullying. Whether we like it or not people have a right to make derogatory comments, the hard part is defining when it becomes harassment.

Connecticut Public Act No. 11-232 states that,

1) "Bullying" means (A) the repeated use by one or more students of a written, oral or electronic communication, such as cyberbullying, directed at or referring to another student attending school in the same school district, or (B) a physical act or gesture by one or more students repeatedly directed at another student attending school in the same school district, that: (i) Causes physical or emotional harm to such student or damage to such student's property, (ii) places such student in reasonable fear of harm to himself or herself, or of damage to his or her property, (iii) creates a hostile environment at school for such student, (iv) infringes on the rights of such student at school, or (v) substantially disrupts the education process or the orderly operation of a school. Bullying shall include, but not be limited to, a written, oral or electronic communication or physical act or gesture based on any actual or perceived differentiating characteristic, such as race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, socioeconomic status, academic status, physical appearance, or mental, physical, developmental or sensory disability, or by association with an individual or group who has or is perceived to have one or more of such characteristics;

Whew! That’s a long definition of what is bullying and that is because it is a complex subject. Notice what it says, “…the repeated use by one or more students…“ But the First Amendment gives a person a right to call people names. So if a person another person a derogatory name once it is not bullying. Twice? Three times? Four times? When exactly does it become bullying or harassment?

Consider what it is happening in a Minnesota, according to a 2012 article in the Rolling Stones the school is strongly anti-gay,

Like many 13-year-olds, Brittany knew seventh grade was a living hell. But what she didn't know was that she was caught in the crossfire of a culture war being waged by local evangelicals inspired by their high-profile congressional representative Michele Bachmann, who graduated from Anoka High School and, until recently, was a member of one of the most conservative churches in the area. When Christian activists who considered gays an abomination forced a measure through the school board forbidding the discussion of homosexuality in the district's public schools, kids like Brittany were unknowingly thrust into the heart of a clash that was about to become intertwined with tragedy.

When they started a Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) they were harassed.

…although the club's progress was stalled by the school district that, among other things, was queasy about the club's flagrant use of the word "gay." Religious conservatives have called GSAs "sex clubs," and sure enough, the local religious right loudly objected to them. "This is an assault on moral standards," read one recent letter to the community paper. "Let's stop this dangerous nonsense before it's too late and more young boys and girls are encouraged to 'come out' and practice their 'gayness' right in their own school's homosexual club."

The harassment was so severe that there were a number of suicides at the school and as a result,

The Southern Poverty Law Center and the National Center for Lesbian Rights have filed a lawsuit on behalf of five students, alleging the school district's policies on gays are not only discriminatory, but also foster an environment of unchecked anti-gay bullying. The Department of Justice has begun a civil rights investigation as well. 

Under federal law schools must create a safe space for learning and a school where student are harassed because of who they are to the point of committing suicide it is not a safe space for learning.

Marriage & The Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is believed to decide today if they will hear a marriage equality case today and which cases they will hear if they do accept a case.

A couple of days ago the Advocate had an interesting article about what would happen if the court refuses to hear a case and let the low court rulings stand.

What If the Supreme Court Doesn't Take a Marriage Case?
Even if the Supreme Court justices don't take up any of the same-sex marriage case before them, marriage equality could be on its way to 65 million Americans.
By Matt Baume
September 9 2014

But what if the unthinkable actually happened, and the Supreme Court decided not to hear any of the marriage cases before it?

It's hard to imagine, but the court could choose to deny a writ of certiorari for the petitions currently pending and anticipated over the next few months. If it did so, the impact would be immediate and huge.
[…]
Of course, it's very unlikely that the Supreme Court would simply deny the marriage petitions out of hand. It's more likely that the justices would hold on to the petitions for a while before deciding which one — or ones — to take.

The first opportunity for them to make that decision is rapidly approaching: September 29 marks the court's first conference of the new session.

I wouldn't put it pass the conservative court to try to weasel out of having to rule on a topic that many of the Supreme Court Justices find repugnant.


Update 3:00 PM:

The Wall Street Journal's Law Blog just reported that,

The court on Wednesday listed gay marriage petitions from five states –  Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin – for consideration at its Sept. 29 private conference.  Officials in those states are asking the court to decide whether state bans on same-sex marriage are constitutional.

The justices use the September meeting to wade through stacks of appeals that pile up during the court’s three-month recess.  The court at some point after the conference is expected to add several of those cases to its docket for the term that begins Oct. 6.  Court watchers are eagerly awaiting word on whether one or more gay marriages cases will be among them.

The court is under no obligation to act right away.  It’s possible the court could take additional time to mull its options, particularly because of fast-moving developments in other gay-marriage litigation.

A Growing Problem…

…Elder care for LGBT people and especially for us. Many trans-people are starting to get to an age where they will need home care or cannot live on their own anymore and need to move to a senior center. For those who can integrate into the senior population it is not that much of a problem but for the rest of us it could be a major hurdle. Many of us also do not have family support which can lead to even more problems as we age.

I attend a photo club at the local senior center; I wondered if they picked up on the fact that I’m trans even though I never mentioned it. It seems like they did because at the last meeting one of them stumbled over pronouns.

There is an article in Colorlines by Aura Bogado titled “Taking Care of Transgender Elders” in the article she says,

Being transgender means one is more likely to suffer poverty, homelessness and criminalization. The violence carried out upon trans and gender non-conforming people lowers their life expectancy. But for those who do make it to middle age, there’s little in the way of resources for housing, employment and healthcare. As an active part of New York’s trans community, however, Tanya Walker says she got the support she needed. And a lot of it came through ALP [Audre Lorde Project].
[…]
ALP demonstrates what it means to actively support its elders. For some in the trans community that kind of action doesn’t always match up with what some call the mainstream gay rights narrative.

She is right in that we are more likely to be homeless, living in poverty and have a criminal record and also we need different care that cis-gender and LGB elders.

There is a good movie about LGBT elder care, “Gen Silent”

If you want to watch the movie and take part in a discussion about LGBT elder care, the movie will be shown at the Unitarian Universalist church in West Hartford on October 17 at 6:30. Also we have submitted a workshop proposal for the Connecticut’s Alzheimer's Association conference in April.

Medicare & GCS

As most of you know Medicare is now covering trans* related surgeries and healthcare, but everyone is still muddling through the process. It has not filtered down to what is covered and how to get that coverage. Doctors don’t know, insurance companies don’t know, and we don’t know what exactly is covered and what is covered and how to code it to get it covered. So the insurance companies fallback on their standard answer… no.

Someone put out a map of surgeons who take Medicare…


But be advised that the map might not have up to date information or erroneous data. They list Dr. Bowers as not taking Medicare at this time but according to an email on WPATH elist she is but has to work clients into her schedule.

What’s Not Talked About…

Domestic violence is something that is never talked about, you only hear about it in whispered over a coffee or at the hair dressers… “Did you hear about what happened to Jane?” “Oh how horrible!”

We are a gasped when we see Ray Rice hit his then girlfriend in the elevator. We blame the victim and we don’t understand why they don’t leave. Take a look at what the NFL did at first; they just gave him a two game suspension, it wasn’t until the public outcry that the league took stronger action.

We have stereotypes of the victim, low income, a minority, and female, but all this are wrong. DV is not limited to anyone race or income, men are also victims of DV. DV happens in same-sex couples and it happens to trans-people as well. When I first got involved with the Connecticut TransAdvocacy Coalition it was after they were contacted around 2000 by a DV shelter in Massachusetts where they were looking for a shelter for a trans-woman who was a battered by her partner. They couldn’t find anywhere that would accept her and CTAC could find a shelter anywhere here in Connecticut that would take her. She finally found a shelter in New York City that would take her in.

In the blog xojane there is a post about domestic violence…

I’ve never publicly talked about the abuse I suffered in my first relationship.

It was being transgender and being a sex worker that has stopped me. I am afraid that because I am trans, my story will be trivialized. A trans woman getting beat up by a man is a practically a pop culture trope at this point. I don’t want to give anyone the opportunity to validate a negative assumption about my mental health, either as a trans woman or porn performer. Transitioning and doing porn are two of the healthiest things I have ever done.

I’m not a caricature, I’m not a morality tale, I’m not a two-minute back-story at the opening of a crime show. I was a little girl from Richmond, VA, who fell in love with her first boyfriend.
[…]
Without missing a beat, he cracked me across the face with his open hand. I sat there stunned. The backseat was stunned as well. They slowly slunk out of the car and went into the house. Jack theatrically sped out of the gravel driveway, driving like Cruella De Vil, barreling down the road in hysterics with my hands clenched to the passenger's seat, bracing for disaster. This sort of tantrum would become routine over the next few years. To this day I cannot argue with my current husband when we are in a car.

I didn’t even realize I was becoming an “abused woman,” in part because I had too much self-loathing to consider myself a “real woman.”

She is typical of many battered spouses, they live in fear for their or their kids’ lives if they leave and that fear is justified.

Dr. Who, Francine Jones

Did you know that Adjoa Andoh has a transgender son?

Actor Adjoa Andoh's son sensed from a very young age that although he inhabits the body of a girl, he was born a boy. "In the imperfect language we have to describe people," she says, "we call him transgender."

Adjoa talks movingly about raising a transgender child, and about what really defines who we are or who we might become. "In too many places today," she says, "and in too many ways, we suffocate our true potential selves at birth."

Listen to her talk about her son on BBC Radio 4 (Unfortunately they do not have an Embed link)

A Trans-Woman You Probably Haven’t Heard About

There are many trans-women in the news now a days, movie actresses, fighters, ex-military, and writers, but you probably have not heard of this billionaire trans-woman… until now.

America's highest-paid businesswoman is a transgender married father-of-four who earns $38million-a-year
DailyMail
By Mia De Graaf
September 8, 2014

The highest paid female business executive in the United States was born a man.
Martine Rothblatt, who earns $38 million-a-year as head of United Therapeutics, was a married father-of-four before undergoing a sex change in 1994.

Born into a Jewish family in San Diego, Martin trained as a lawyer at UCLA, married, had children, and went into business.

Twenty years later, she has been named top in New York Magazine's list of the 200 most successful entrepreneurs - one of just 11 women in the list.

She has a MBA, a JD, and a PhD in Philosophy. She founded the first global satellite radio networks WorldSpace and Sirius Satellite Radio. When her daughter contracted a rare disease she foundered the medical biotechnology company United Therapeutics.

An article in the New Yorker said,

In 1995, just after her transition, Martine published The Apartheid of Sex, a slim manifesto that insisted on an overhaul of “dimorphic” (her word) gender categories. “There are five billion people in the world and five billion unique sexual identities,” she wrote. “Genitals are as irrelevant to one’s role in society as skin tone. Hence, the legal division of people into males and females is as wrong as the legal division of people into black and white races.” Instead, she suggested people might better express their gender and sexual identities on a spectrum, perhaps in terms of color: Green might be “an equally aggressive/nurturing person who does not try to appear sexy” (lime green would be someone a little less aggressive), and purple might be someone gentle, nourishing, and erotic in equal measure.

Me, I’m a lavender.

Barriers

Here in Connecticut if you want to change your name you have to pay $150 to the court, fill out a form, and come back in a week to see the judge. And if you can’t afford the $150 you can fill out another form to ask for a fee waiver. We are lucky; some states require your name change to be published in the newspapers.

However in someplace it is a lot harder.

Transgender Costa Ricans fight discrimination over name-change rights
By Fabiola Pomareda
The Tico Times
September 6, 2014

What’s in a name? For many transgender Costa Ricans, a lot. Starting with the fact that in many cases, the names on their government-issued IDs have nothing to do with self-image or identity.

Karolina Malone Esquivel, 24, told The Tico Times that she began her transformation from boy to girl at the age of 14. But since graduating high school, she said it’s been impossible to find work. And that discrimination starts with the name on her cédula.
[…]
Anyone can change his or her name in Costa Rica free of charge, in a simple bureaucratic process at the registry, as long as the new name is of the same gender as the birth name. And herein lies the problem for transgender Ticas and Ticos.
[…]
Typically an attorney charges transgender clients about $560 for a name change, and that doesn’t include extra fees for the time spent before judges. Transvida argues that this is discrimination.

They have petitioned the courts to require the Civil Registry to waive its gender rule, but the case is stalled in the courts.

We sometimes forget that no matter how hard it is here in the states to change our name some countries make it a lot harder.

What’s Missing

I was looking over Human Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin speech at the Southern Comfort Conference today in Atlanta. He apologizes many times for the snub that they gave the trans-community and he talks about the future including passing ENDA.

First things first: an inclusive ENDA. It’s an absolutely essential piece of legislation. It will change millions of lives for the better. And as an organization, HRC will continue to invest in and fight for an inclusive ENDA.

But even a broad, inclusive ENDA isn’t enough.

If you’re trans, a fully inclusive ENDA doesn’t do much good if you’re living on the street because you’ve been kicked out of your apartment…if you haven’t been able to finish school…if even getting a job interview in the first place seems light-years away. 

I agree with the last part, having a job doesn't do you much good if you do not have a roof over your head. He goes on to say we need a LGBT civil right law and I agree with that also, We need protection federally in housing, public accommodation, credit as well as employment.

 But one thing I noticed he didn't say was that ENDA or any of the proposed legislation cannot have an expanded religious exemption. If my memory serves me correctly the HRC backed the expanded religious exemption ENDA bill while all the other LGBT organizations called for the same religious exemption as in the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Dating

One of the big issues that we have being trans is tell a prospective partner about our history or do we even tell them about our past. Metro has an interesting article on dating for trans-men.

How to ask a woman out when you’re a transgender man
Sunday 7 Sep 2014

But, like all great hypocrites, I’m very much aware of what I should be doing even if I’m not quite able to actually do it myself.

Here’s how to make the first move if you’re a trans guy.

Firstly, don’t make the whole transgender thing a big issue.

I’m not advocating that you lie here, that’s just stupid because she’s going to find out sooner or later, especially when she asks you what school you went to and you have to mention that well-known all-girls grammar.

But it doesn’t have to be a lead item unless you want it to be.

And he offers another bit of advice…

Allowing the person to get to know you as a person before declaring your transgender status will make it harder for them to reject you solely because of it.

Which I think is a sound advice.

Saturday Six #543

Patrick’s Place Saturday Six #543

1. When you want to refer to a Coke or Pepsi generically, would you be more likely to say “soda” or “pop”?
Soda.

2. When it comes to meal at midday, would you be more likely to say “lunch” or “dinner”?
Lunch, unless it is a special occasion like Thanksgiving.

3. When it comes to the final meal of the day, would you be more likely to say “dinner” or “supper”?
Dinner

4. Do you call the interstate a “highway” or a “freeway”?
Highway.

5. Are you more likely to refer to a vacuum cleaner as a “sweeper” or a “vacuum”?
Vacuum

6. When you cook food outdoors over the fire, do you call it “grilling” or “barbecuing”?
Barbecue 

Saturday 9: Roar

Crazy Sam’s Saturday 9: Roar
(recommended by Cat)

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

1) The lyrics begin with Katy singing about when she used to "hold her tongue." Tell us about a time when you didn't speak up, but wish you had.
I bite my tongue all the time, especially in meetings. Sometimes they just have to learn from their own mistakes.

2) The lyrics mention both lions and tigers. In addition to the big cats, the video shows a monkey and an elephant. If we were going to the zoo today, which animal would you want to see first?
The monkeys. I could use a good laugh.

3) Lions and tigers are carnivores. If we were having steak for dinner, would you order it rare, medium or well done?
Medium.

4) Lots of photos are snapped at the zoo. Did you take your last picture with a camera or with your phone?
With my camera…

5) The "Roar" video takes place in the jungle. The average temperature all year around in the rainforest is a humid 80º. The typical September day in Juneau is 49º, dry and sunny. Which sounds more comfortable?
I don’t like the humidity and 49^o isn’t bad, it is a light jacket type of day.

6) In her youth, Katy took dance lessons at the local recreation hall in Santa Barbara. Crazy Sam took tap dance lessons as a girl, too. What about you? Were you sent off to dance class? Music lessons? Art class?
Nope, none of the above.

7) Katy recently passed Justin Bieber as the most followed person on Twitter. What's the last message you re-tweeted?
That was a very long time ago, probably it was back in grad school.

8) Congratulations! You just won the lottery! Do you want it in a lump sum, or would you prefer payments over the next 25 years?
Paid out over 25 years. I worry about another market collapse.

9) Did you get 8 hours sleep last night?
Ha! Are you kidding? Four hours, I usually go to sleep around 11 and wake up around two or three and fall back to sleep around 5 – 5:30 and sleep for a couple of more hours. But last night I couldn’t get back to sleep.

This is not about who you want to be. This is what you are.

That is how the letter from the Old Town Maine school to the parents describes being transgender.

You are receiving this letter to ask you for your support as we work through a sensitive student situation. Currently, we have a trans-gendered student in our second grade classroom. The student was enrolled in our school last year and may be familiar to your children as a boy, but now will be recognized as a girl. After meeting with this child’s mother, we all thought it best to be open with families in order for the school community to be aware.
[…]
Teachers will encourage students to continue to be respectful of all students in their classes and to treat others as they would like to be treated; according to the same respect they wish for themselves. I know our students and they will be more comfortable with this situation than we give them credit. It’s we adults that always need to remember the messages we are sending to our children about acceptance and tolerance with our behaviors, actions, and comments.

The school consulted the parents and LGBT and trans organizations before they sent out the letter, now let’s see how the parents handle it.

The local NBC affiliate had this to say about the letter...

The Best From The Past – GenderPAC Fundraiser

I am going to be busy this morning so I dug through my blog and picked an old post from my Geocites blog...

December 10^th 2005

Last night I went to a fund raiser for GenderPAC's Connecticut 10th Anniversary Reception down in Stamford. It was the first time I ever went to something like that and I was a little nervous, not knowing what to expect. I drove down there with a friend from CTAC (Connecticut TransAdvocacy Coalition). Adding to my nervousness was the fact that it had snowed all day and I didn't know how the roads conditions would be, but they were just wet.

We were the first to get there and were met by the hostess, I had met her before, (I had done an outreach with her at Connecticut Department of Mental Health and she also did a presentation at a COS). The other guesses filtered in one or two at a time until there was about ten or fifteen people there. There was State a Senator [Andrew McDonald] and a Representative [Mike Lawlor], a mayor [Governor Malloy, then mayor of Stampford], a first selectman, a human resources director, numerous lawyers and other people there. I felt way out of my league, but after a while I relaxed and made a number of contacts, the idea of these things is to see and be seen.

My goal in going to these events is simple, to get the anti-discrimination law (both state and national) changed to include gender and gender expression.

I look back and I see a shy, quite woman looking up the steps of the COS meetinghouse and wondering what have I gotten myself into. Now, five years later, I walked into the hostess's house and wondering what have I gotten myself into. I have changed a lot in these five years and I think for the better. The biggest change is in self-acceptance and that has changed my whole outlook on life, to a more positive and self-assured person.

This was the first time that I went to a fundraiser for a non-profit and I went to two more GenderPAC fundraisers and got to know the governor and the legislators who are now governor, a Supreme Court judge and the Under Secretary for Criminal Justice Policy and Planning.

Because I got to know them when I testified before the Judicial Committee for the non-discrimination bill I was more relaxed knowing them on the committee. And the night that the senate voted on our bill, former Senator McDonald came up and joined us for the final vote on the bill.

I’m Glad He Did.

Yesterday in the Hartford Courant there was an article about the endorsement of gubernatorial candidate Tom Foley by a right wing Christian organization here in Connecticut. In the article they state that,

Our campaign is happy to receive the endorsement of any group that recognizes the need to change direction toward a more proud and prosperous Connecticut," said Chris Cooper, a spokesman for the Foley campaign.

The Family Institute cited Malloy's support of a transgender civil rights bill, his support of legalized abortion and his decision to fly the rainbow flag over the governor's mansion to celebrate marriage equality, among other factors.

I’m glad he did.

In an email the Family Institute had this to about Governor Malloy,

It was Gov. Malloy who forced the Bathroom Bill--the transgender law--through the state legislature. It was Gov. Malloy who flew the Rainbow Flag over the Governor's mansion to show his support for same-sex "marriage." (Indeed, it is the Malloy Administration that describes itself as the "gayest administration ever.")

I’m glad he is.

When we were trying to get the gender inclusive non-discrimination bill through the House, it was the direct intervention of the governor that moved the bill to a vote in there. It was his administration that got us insurance coverage and there are still more that needs to be done; changes in the birth certificate and death certificate laws to make sure our true gender is on them. 

21 to 1

That is the number of courts that have overturned same-sex marriage bans. Yesterday the federal judge in Louisiana upheld the states marriage discrimination law.

The Christian News Network had this to say about his ruling,

NEW ORLEANS – A federal judge nominated to the bench by then-President Ronald Reagan has upheld Louisiana’s state constitutional amendment enshrining marriage as being between a man and a woman.
[…]
“This ruling confirms that the people of Louisiana—not the federal courts—have the constitutional right to decide how marriage is defined in this state,” commented Gene Mills, president of Lousiana [sic] Family Forum.

“We commend Judge Feldman for refraining from judicial activism and recognizing that Louisiana voters are free to uphold natural marriage in their state’s public policy,” said Tony Perkins of Family Policy Council in Washington, D.C. “He rightly declared that the Courts have no authority to unilaterally change the definition of our most fundamental social institution.”

In judge Feldman opinion all the other judges were wrong…

The depth of passion inherent in the issues before this Court defies definition. That federal courts thus far have joined in the hopeful chorus that the tide is turning seems ardent and is an arguably popular, indeed, poignant, outcome (whether or not credibly constitutionally driven). Perhaps, in the wake of today's blurry notion of evolving understanding, the result is ordained. Perhaps in a new established point of view, marriage will be reduced to contract law, and, by contract, anyone will be able to claim marriage. Perhaps that is the next frontier, the next phase of some "evolving understanding of equality," where what is marriage will be explored. And as plaintiffs vigorously remind, there have been embattled times when the federal judiciary properly inserted itself to correct a wrong in our society. But that is an incomplete answer to today's social issue.

He goes on to say,

For example, must the states permit or recognize a marriage between an aunt and niece? Aunt and nephew Brother/brother? Father and child? May minors marry? Must marriage be limited to only two people? What about a transgender spouse? Is such a union same-gender or male-female? All such unions would undeniably be equally committed to love and caring for one another, just like the plaintiffs.

Notice the dig he puts in about us, “What about a transgender spouse? Is such a union same-gender or male-female?”

In his ruling judge Feldman said,

Plaintiffs also add that they suffer discrimination based on gender. Plaintiffs, as do most other federal courts confronted with these issues, equate this case with Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1, 8 (1967), where the Supreme Court rightly condemned racial discrimination even though Virginia's antimiscegenation marriage laws equally applied to both races. Plaintiffs' argument betrays itself. Heightened scrutiny was warranted in Loving because the Fourteenth Amendment expressly condemns racial discrimination as a constitutional evil; in short, the Constitution specifically bans differentiation based on race.

Um… judge, that is not what the Fourteen Amendment says, there is no mention of race in the amendment. Judge just to refresh your memory the Fourteen Amendment says “nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” I do not see anything that says that it only applies to race.

  Robicheaux v. Caldwell

The Best From The Past - Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Backward

I am going to be busy the next couple of days with work for the non-profit so I dug through my blog and picked out some posts that are worth bring back...

Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Backward

As we start to get equality, the opposition pushes hard in desperation to attempt to force us back in the closet. They can’t get any traction with the truth so they take to lying and fear.

They lied about the Florence Colorado student to the point where she is now on suicide watch from all the hate that they threw at her.

One Christian minister who is running for Colorado elective office accused her of rape according to Think Progress,

Now the public school children are being told by a demonic spirit, “You must open up your daughter’s privacy to our perversion.” And this demonic spirit inside of this boy is now violating, and for all intents and purposes, he’s raping — at least visually — these teenage girls.

They will say anything to advance their cause. The religious right is leading their crusade in California, an article in the Huffington Post said,

"This is the most aggressive, the most dangerous bit of legislation against the child and against family than any other in the history of the United States," Hibbs of the Calvary Chapel in Chino Hills, Calif. noted. "We've never seen a government pass such an insane bill as this."

Unfortunately, Gibbs is not alone in his dissent. "This radical bill warps the gender expectations of children by forcing all California public schools to permit biological boys in girls restrooms, showers, clubs and on girls sports teams and biological girls in boys restrooms, showers, clubs and sports teams," Randy Thomasson of savecalifornia.com told Fox News earlier this year. "This is insanity."

Meanwhile, conservative evangelist Pat Robertson condemned the legislation as "insane" and absurd" on a recent installment of "The 700 Club," even comparing members of the transgender community to his castrated horse, Right Wing Watch also originally reported.

The Pacific Justice Institute again made false allegations against trans-girl but this time it is about a trans-girl in high school instead of an elementary school student. This time they claimed that a girl in a Los Angeles school was being harassed by a trans-girl who harassed her and peeked into a stall. Once again the school system said that the claim was false. The TransAdvocate published the transcript of an interview with a school official,

Los Angeles Unified School District: Office of communications

Cristan: I’m calling to verify some information that I saw on the channel 10 news.

LAUSD: I’m sorry, what information are you trying to verify?

Cristan: Sure, sure, on channel 10 news it says that, at least on their website, that a LA high school student complained because a transgender kid was in the restroom peeking over stalls. And so that’s on the news and I just wanted to fact check that claim. Have you actually received complaints of transgender children climbing over stalls to look at other people as they’re in the stalls?

LAUSD: I will have to check that for you. I believe that was fabricated, but give me one second. I need to verify. Hold on for a second.

Cristan: Okay.

LAUSD: Because it’s been a few days since we got that report. So hold on for me.

Cristan: Sure.

[On Hold]

LAUSD: I apologize for the wait. They did get the complaint and it turned out that it was fabricated by one of the parents who opposes transgender students in schools. So it was an unfortunate situation, to have to put the students through, but it was fabricated.
The story of the harassment was reported by California news outlet with no verification of its truth.

And it is not just limited to Colorado and California; in Iowa they are also spreading their fear. USA Today had an article about the opposition to the gender equality law,

Hurley says he is concerned that new policies will allow voyeurs and sex offenders to simply claim a different gender identity to gain access to areas where women and children are vulnerable.

"If a pervert or a stalker or a person who's wanting to be a voyeur or worse were to decide one day, 'Hey, I feel I'm a different sex,' they could use a women's bathroom — and that's very problematic," said Hurley, a former Republican lawmaker who is president of the Iowa Family Policy Center. "That opens a can of worms for perverts to throw their weight around and make trouble for people."
When they are making these wild accusations they know that there has never been a case in the years since the first anti-discrimination law was passed in 1975.of a person using the law to commit a crime. But that doesn’t stop these so called Christians from spreading fear,  hatred and bearing false witness; they don’t the little things like facts get in their way. They are just using religion to hide behind their bigotry.

They hide been the Bible to justify segregation, they hide behind the Bible to keep gay and lesbian in the closet and now they are doing it to us. It didn’t work then and let us keep it from working now.

Listen to Pastor Hibbs rant (Warning, make sure you have taken your blood pressure medication)...

The law does not give students the right to just walk into the bathroom of the opposite sex, they must first notify the school administration. Somehow I doubt very much that a boy is going  to declare his gender as a girl and dress as a girl just to go into the girls' bathroom. 

The Best From The Past - Gender Identity – Nature v. Nurture

I am going to be busy the next couple of days with work for the non-profit so I dug through my blog and picked out some posts that are worth bring back...

Gender Identity – Nature v. Nurture

That has been argued over and over, and is just impossible to prove. But there is strong evidence that it mostly nature; however, I am willing to concede that there probably is a minor component that is nurture. One of the strongest arguments for nature is the result of research with intersex people; the researchers have found that when “corrective” surgery is performed on intersex babies that when they grow up they know their true gender. Dr. Reiner’s research has found that babies with ambiguous genitalia that were subjected to “corrective” surgery knew that their gender had been changed. He found that over 60% of the children identified as the opposite gender than they were raised as. In an interview in the New York Times he said, “That sexual identity is individual, unique and intuitive and that the only person who really knows what it is is the person themselves. If we as physicians or scientists want to know about a person's sexual identity, we have to ask them.”

This is a video of a documentary about David Reimer and what was done to him. He was born Bruce Reimer and due to a botched circumcision where they cut too much off. The doctors made him into a girl telling his parents, don’t worry, gender identity is all nurture. David proved them wrong, gender identity is mostly nature.

The video is a little long (46 minutes), so view it when you have the time and when you have taken your blood pressure medication. Because when you see what the doctors did in the name of research will make your blood pressure climb.

The Best From The Past - "Are You A Good Witch Or A Bad Witch"

I am going to be busy the next couple of days with work for the non-profit so I dug through my blog and picked out some posts that are worth bring back...

Are You A Good Witch Or A Bad Witch

Do you remember that line from the Wizard of Oz? When Glinda, the Good Witch of the North asked “Are you a good witch, or a bad witch?” Sometimes we are asked "Are we a good trans-person or a bad trans-person?"

There is a post on Facebook from Autrostraddle by Vivian from early last year that asks that question about trans-people, “I’m A Trans Woman And I’m Not Interested In Being One of the ‘Good Ones’” in which she wrote,

A month or two after I started living full time out as woman, one of my friends suggested I talk to an acquaintance of his, an older trans woman who had been out for years.

My friend thought his acquaintance might be able to give me some tips on surviving as a trans woman. I was thrilled. Here, I though, was someone who had the answers. Surely she would be able to point me in the right direction. We had arranged to meet in a coffee shop. In my excitement I arrived an hour early. It was going to be awesome.

What actually happened was that she showed up and asked why I wasn’t dressed like a woman. I was wearing skinny jeans, a studded belt, and an ironic t-shirt. I liked how I looked. I looked, in my opinion, like a queer woman in her mid-twenties on her day off, which, shockingly, I was.

When I was first coming out I dressed in a dress and heels and used makeup but after awhile I realized that it wasn’t me. What was me was jeans, T-shirt and sneakers. I do like getting dressed up for special occasions but it is not something that I want to do full time, for one thing pantyhose sucks and heels are a pain in the back.


The thing is, we all dress different and you dress different for different occasions, you dress different for work than you dress for working out in the yard (except if your job is construction or something similar). We dress different if you are going out to a fast food restaurant or a fancy restaurant.

She goes on to write,

She was neither the first nor the last person to inform me that I’m doing it wrong. There was I woman I met soon after moving back up to Boston in 2011. She had transitioned in her teens and most folks wouldn’t know she was trans unless she wanted to tell them. She had a real heart for women who were just starting transition, but she had expectations for those people. She couldn’t stand ‘bricks.’ She explained that bricks were women who looked “like a man in a dress.” A cinderblock was even worse. A trans guy who was too femme was feathery.
I think many of us have heard other trans-people talk like that; how they believed that if you ccannot blend into society you had no right to go out in public and “give us a bad name.” But the lightning bolt that hits us and make us trans does not distinguish between whether we pass or not. I know trans-people who will always be identified as transgender, but that doesn’t make them any less trans. We cannot judge who is trans and who is not trans by how a person can integrate in to society.

She ends her article by saying,

I don’t care. Sun shines and rain falls on the just and unjust alike. I don’t want to know who the Real Good Ones and the Real Bad Ones are. We’re all people. We all deserve to be treated as valued members of humanity. That’s all.

We Have Been Around For A Very long Time

Most non-trans people think that we are a new phenomenon but we know that where you look in history you find trans-people. From America’s First People’s Two Spirit, to India’s Hijras, to the Mollies and the Tommies from 18^th England.

I came across this article from 2011,

5,000-year-old ‘transgender’ skeleton discovered
Pink News
By Jessica Geen

Archaeologists have discovered a 5,000-year-old skeleton which they believe may be the remains of a transgender person.

The male skeleton was found in a suburb of Prague and is buried in a manner previously only seen for female burials.
[…]
This is not the first time a skeleton has been found buried as a member of the opposite sex. One woman from the Mesolithic period, who was assumed to be a warrior, was found buried with weapons.

We will never know the true story about them, but it sure makes you wonder