Crime And Punishment

[RANT]
We all heard the chants… “Lock her up!”

But is imprisonment the best alternative?

What do we want from our prison system?

Do we want revenge?

Do we want to reformed the individual from criminal or violent behavior?

What I want is to stop the crime and hate and I want to do it in the most humane way and I also realize one size doesn’t fit all. That we need a tailored approach to the justice system and we must recognize that our justice system isn’t perfect, that it makes mistakes.

One thing we also recognize is that the criminal justice system here in the United States is big business.

This past January a wrong was corrected, a woman who has been imprisoned for almost eighteen years was set free.

The judge added that it was “clear” that Ms. Jimenez would not have been convicted for the murder of 21-month-old Bryan Gutierrez, who she regularly babysat, at her original trial if false and misleading testimony had not been presented. The prosecution at her 2005 trial argued that Ms. Jimenez had forced the toddler to ingest paper towels, causing him to choke and sustain brain damage that led to his death. However, pediatric airway experts at the recent hearing before Judge Sage said that the medical evidence did not support the prosecution’s theory, and pointed to accidental choking.

The Innocence Project have freed hundreds and hundreds of falsely convicted people many of them on death row.

A Tale of Two States.

Connecticut is closing down it prisons…

Three Prison Closures Proposed
CT News Junkie
By Hugh McQuaid
February 10, 2021


State officials outlined plans to close three prisons during the coming two-year budget period Wednesday.

Prior to the release of Gov. Ned Lamont’s budget Wednesday, acting Correction Department Commissioner Angel Quiros told lawmakers his agency would likely close two correctional facilities. On Monday, Lamont announced that one of them would be the state’s only “supermax” prison, Northern Correctional in Somers.

During a budget briefing, Office of Policy and Management Secretary Melissa McCaw said the two-year budget counted on the closure of three prisons.

The state expects the closures to help focus staff and services on fewer facilities. McCaw said the savings from the agency amounted to $20 million in the first year and nearly $47 million in the second.

The budget director pointed to a historic drop in the number of people incarcerated in Connecticut. As of last month, there were 9,094 inmates in DOC custody. That’s down from more than 17,700 a decade ago.

Did you notice the last paragraph?

Connecticut also did away with the death sentence 2012 and the crime rate has been steady dropping so evidently the death penalty doesn’t deter crime.

Now lets look at Texas which has one of the highest numbers executions in the nation where is it ranked nationally in crimes.

USA Today ranked the state in violent crimes and murders…

46. Connecticut

• Violent crime rate: 207.4 per 100,000 people
• Total 2018 murders: 83 (18th lowest)
• Imprisonment rate: 338 adults per 100,000 (13th lowest)
• Poverty rate: 10.4% (10th lowest)
• Most dangerous city: Hartford

Like several other nearby states in the New England region, Connecticut ranks among the safest places in the country. There were 207.4 violent crimes reported for every 100,000 state residents in 2018, the fifth least among states. As is often the case in areas with low violent crime, other types of crime are also relatively uncommon in Connecticut. There were 1,684 property crimes, such as motor vehicle theft and burglary, in the state for every 100,000 people in 2018 – well below the national rate of 2,199.5 per 100,000.

17. Texas

• Violent crime rate: 410.9 per 100,000 people
• Total 2018 murders: 1,322 (2nd highest)
• Imprisonment rate: 746 adults per 100,000 (5th highest)
• Poverty rate: 14.9% (11th highest)
• Most dangerous city: Bellmead

Along with California, Texas is one of only two states in which there were more than 100,000 violent crimes committed in 2018. Adjusted for population, Texas's violent crime rate stands at 410.9 per 100,000 people, slightly higher than the national rate of 380.6 per 100,000.

Texas has one of the highest imprisonment rates in the country. There are 746 adults incarcerated in state and federal prisons in Texas for every 100,000 people, more than in all but four other states.

Evidently the chant “Lock them up!” doesn’t work.

Then lets look at the racial bias in the death penalty, the ACLU reported…

The color of a defendant and victim's skin plays a crucial and unacceptable role in deciding who receives the death penalty in America. People of color have accounted for a disproportionate 43 % of total executions since 1976 and 55 % of those currently awaiting execution…
[…]
The jurisdictions with the highest percentages of minorities on its death row:

• U.S. Military (86%)
• Colorado (80%)
• U.S. Government (77%)
• Louisiana (72%)
• Pennsylvania (70%)

Not only is the death penalty racially unbalanced but it cost more that to incarcerate prisoners, the website Balance…

The Bottom Line
The debate over whether or not to abolish the death penalty often centers around morality or its effectiveness in preventing crime. But the cost is another relevant factor. Because of its severity, death row and execution costs are an economic burden on government budgets. It's more cost-effective to commute death penalties to life imprisonment sentences without parole.

Then there is Trump’s executions and why did he go on a killing spree?

In Trump’s final days, a rush of federal executions
BBC News, Washington
By Holly Honderich
January 16, 2021


As President Donald Trump's days in the White House wane, his administration has been racing through a string of federal executions.

Five people have been executed in the run-up to President-elect Joe Biden's 20 January inauguration - breaking with an 130-year-old precedent of pausing executions amid a presidential transition.

They make Mr Trump the country's most prolific execution president in more than a century, overseeing the executions of 13 death row inmates since July of this year.

The five executions began with convicted killer 40-year-old Brandon Bernard who was put to death at a penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. They ended with the death of Dustin Higgs, 48, at the same site on 16 January.

Why?

Why did he go on a killing spree?

And the particular selection of inmates fuelled charges that the decision was politically motivated.

The first set of executions this summer - during a wave of anti-racism protests and demonstrations - were all of white men. Four of these five prisoners put to death were African American.

Ms Ndulue said she didn't think it was "coincidental" that no black prisoners were scheduled for execution during a period of "enhanced awareness of the racial disparities around the federal death penalty".

Research suggests the death penalty has been enforced differently according to race.

It is time to end this injustice where innocent people are executed, where race determines whether you live or die, and it is time to politically motivated executions.

[/RANT]

Our Favorite Punching Bag

Caitlyn is back in the news again.

Caitlyn Jenner wants you to know she will not run to be the governor of California
Thank you very much
LGBTQ Nation
By Bil Browning
February 16, 2021


Caitlyn Jenner will not be running to be the next governor of California.

Jenner’s manager has squashed a rumor that Jenner, likely the most famous transgender woman in America, is considering a run for office if Governor Gavin Newsom (D) is recalled.

“Caitlyn is not running for governor, has never considered running for governor and is very happy doing the work that she is doing to promote LGBT rights and spending time with her 18 grandchildren and 10 children,” her manager, Sophia Hutchins said.
[…]
Jenner originally supported Trump’s run for office, but quickly cooled on him after he continued to attack transgender people throughout his administration.

That’s good to know but that is only a small part of the story.

Is she still a Republican? Will she support the Republican candidate or the Democratic governor?

I know a few trans people who voted for Republicans and some of them regretted it afterward but I always asked didn’t Trump mocking a handicap person turn them off? Didn’t his racism raise warning signs? Didn’t his attack on women, immigrants, and non-Christians scare you?

One thing that I think all the people who voted had in common was that they voted with their pocketbook. They saw the Republican party bigotry but they place pocketbook above the discrimination and the hate.

Our Heroes!

Some times our heroes are lost in the new generations of trans people, most know about Sylvia Rivera but do not know about her friend Marsha.

Profiles in perseverance
You may not know their names. But these courageous Black Americans changed history.
CNN
By Harmeet Kaur
February 1, 2021


The late Marsha P. Johnson is celebrated today as a veteran of the Stonewall Inn protests, a pioneering transgender activist and a pivotal figure in the gay liberation movement. Monuments to her life are planned in New York City and her hometown of Elizabeth, New Jersey.

During her lifetime, though, she wasn’t always treated with the same dignity.

When police raided the New York gay bar known as the Stonewall Inn in 1969, Johnson was said to be among the first to resist them. The next year, she marched in the city’s first Gay Pride demonstration.

But Johnson still struggled for full acceptance in the wider gay community, which often excluded transgender people.

She fought against the whitewashing and gaywashing of the Stonewall Uprising, she along with Sylvia Rivera were one of the leaders of the rebellion. They formed Gay Liberation Front (GLF), Worker’s World had this to say…

Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries
By Leslie Feinberg
Published Sep 24, 2006


Stonewall combatants Sylvia Rivera and Marsha “Pay It No Mind” Johnson—a Latin@ and an African American activist, respectively—took part in the early development of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) in the weeks after the 1969 Stonewall street battles. Both were self-identified drag queens.

While consciousness and attitudes toward transgender and transsexual activists was not uniform in GLF, the lesbian and gay front did not turn away trans people.

The Philadelphia GLF news letter COME OUT took the following written position in its August 1970 newsletter: “Gay Liberation Front welcomes any gay person, regardless of their sex, race, age or social behavior. Though some other gay organizations may be embarrassed by drags or transvestites, GLF believes that we should accept all of our brothers and sisters unconditionally.”

Rivera and Johnson were inspired by their experiences in the early militant gay liberation organizing and protests.

“STAR came about after a sit-in at Weinstein Hall at New York University in 1970,” Rivera explained to me, in an interview in 1998, four years before her death. The protest at NYU erupted after the administration cancelled planned dances there, reportedly because a gay organization was sponsoring the events. GLF, Radicalesbians and other activists held a sit-in at Weinstein Hall. They won the right to use the venue.

Rivera and Johnson saw the need to organize homeless trans street youth. Both Rivera and Johnson were themselves homeless and had to hustle on the streets for sustenance and shelter. “Marsha and I just decided it was time to help each other and help our other kids,” Rivera stated.

In 1970, the two formed Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR).

The CNN article ends with…

In 1992, Johnson’s body was found floating in the Hudson River. Police initially ruled her death a suicide but later agreed to reopen the case. It remains open to this day.

We Need More Allies Like Her

A couple of days ago I wrote about the anti-trans bills introduced around the country, well a lesbian has made a video on Tik Tok slamming Utah and it has gone viral.

Tik Tok video about Utah's bill barring transgender athletes in schools goes viral
KUTV
By Kelly Vaughen
February 14th 2021


SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — A Tik Tok video about a bill moving through the Utah legislature is going viral. The creator of the video, Jen Hollins, said she has a degree in public policy and is involved in political Tik Tok.

Hollins has created videos about the election, social justice, but her recent video about Utah’s bill regarding transgender athletes has gotten a lot of attention.

She said she woke up to find hundreds of thousands of people who have seen and shared her video.

“Holy crap, what did I just do. And holy crap, maybe someone will listen,” she said.
[…]
In the video, Hollins discussed the bill and said it brings negative attention to Utah that could cause the state to lose revenue. She said that celebrity attention or a #BoycottUtah trending hashtag could have power.

“Because corporations really don’t want to be associated with transphobia,” she said in the video.

We need more allies!

We need allies because when allies speak people listen, we have an agenda while they speak from the heart.

If you look around the country you will find that our wins were helped by allies, they stood shoulder to shoulder with us and they made a difference for us.

When I get asked “What can we do to help?” I say speak up. The former director of True Colors had a saying… When you hear mean, intervene.

A Broad Targeted Attack

What we are seeing is an attack never before seen, it is unprecedented.

Something like forty states have introduced multiple anti-trans bills, many of them are against our most vulnerable community members: our youth! The bills mainly focus on healthcare and athletics, some of the other targets are teaching diversity and books on library shelves. Here in Connecticut there three bills targeted trans athletes.

In the past years our bathrooms have been targeted but when that failed they looked for other chinks in our armor and they think that they found it in a court decision in Britain where a court blocked trans children from transitioning until they reached the age of consent (That was what the anti-trans protest was about yesterday.).

Take a look at what they are saying about President Biden’s trans policy…

‘Pushing children into transgenderism.’ Biden’s pro-LGBT orders decried by MS governor
News & Observer via Yahoo
By Tanasia Kenney
February 5, 2021


Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves didn’t mince words in his rebuke of President Joe Biden’s executive action aimed at combating discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation.

The order, signed on Biden’s first day in office, provides sweeping protections for LGBTQ+ individuals and mandates that transgender athletes be allowed to participate in team sports based on their gender identification — a move Reeves decried as a “radical social experiment.”
[...]
Bills that would bar transgender youth from participating in school sports have been introduced in Mississippi, Texas, Kentucky and Tennessee, among other states, the newspaper reported, citing a report by the American Civil Liberties Union. Lawmakers in South Carolina, Iowa, Indiana and Alabama are also pushing to limit access to gender-affirming health care to transgender individuals younger than 21.

You can add Connecticut to list of states with bills banning trans athletes, New Hampshire the Republicans have introduced both, a bill banning trans athletes and a bill to prevent doctors from treating us.

In Tennessee they are disregarding the president orders.

Lee denounces Biden executive order, says transgender athletes ‘will destroy women’s sports’
Tyler Morning Telegraph
By Vivian Jones
February 10, 2021


(The Center Square) – Responding to a bill in the Tennessee Legislature that would ban transgender individuals from participating in girls' middle school and high school athletics, Gov. Bill Lee said Wednesday that trans participation would “destroy women’s sports.”

Speaking to reporters at the state Capitol on Wednesday, Lee stopped short of voicing support for a Tennessee bill that would prohibit trans students from participating in middle and high school girls’ athletics, but he spoke to the issue.
[…]
Lee said the Tennessee bill came about as a result of a recent executive order by President Joe Biden specifically allowing transgender athletes to participate in school sports. Lee called the Biden executive order “tremendous overreach of the federal government.”

House Bill 3, sponsored by Culleoka Republican Scott Cepicky, is framed on an almost identical bill by Cepicky that passed the House, 73-13, last June. HB 3 advanced through the K-12 House Education Subcommittee on Tuesday.

I think that we are going to see a legal battle between the federal government and the states over trans rights.

Then in Utah they are pulling trans books from the library’s shelves.

School pulls book about transgender boy after complaints
Salt Lake Tribune – Associated Press
By Courtney Tanner,
February 14, 2021


MURRAY, Utah (AP) — A Murray teacher read a book about a transgender child to a class of third graders last month — which set off a backlash from parents. In response, the school district has now suspended a program aimed at introducing kids to more diverse and inclusive literature.

The uproar started when a student at Horizon Elementary brought a copy of “Call Me Max” from home and asked the teacher to read it aloud during story time. The book is an illustrated account of a young transgender boy who educates his own teacher and classmates about his identity.

It starts with the teacher taking attendance. “Can you call me Max?” the boy asks, noting that his name on the roll doesn’t match how he sees himself.

They are also doing away with the diversity council,

Murray School District will also be suspending its Diversity Equity Council, which worked on the equity book bundles, to examine the mission and work of the group. It was formed in 2019 to address issues of employee equity and complaints of mistreatment.

And this is what one Republican legislator thinks of us.

Arizona legislator compares transgender people to farm animals
Republican state Rep. John Fillmore made the comment when he introduced a bill that would ban nonbinary gender markers on state IDs.
NBC News
By Jo Yurcaba
February 13, 2021


An Arizona state representative is facing an ethics complaint after he compared transgender people to farm animals at a Wednesday committee hearing.

The hearing was for House Bill 2725, which would require state identification documents to contain only a male or female gender marker. The bill pre-emptively bans nonbinary people, who are neither exclusively male nor female, from using gender-neutral X markers on their IDs, even though Arizona law doesn’t currently permit that.
[…]
"What’s going to happen when someday someone wakes up and they want to go to a far extreme and identify as a chicken or something, for crying out loud,” he added. “Where do we draw the line?”

Megan Mogan, who is the mom of a 15-year-old nonbinary child and testified against the bill Wednesday, said Fillmore’s comment was dehumanizing.

Where will the Republicans strike next? Your state? Your town? Your school systems?

Press Release...

This afternoon there was a protest against trans children healthcare by a little known group and here is the press release from the Connecticut TransAdvoacy Coalition against the protest...

February 14, 2020

For Immediate Release:

We at the Connecticut TransAdvocacy Coalition (CTAC) are strongly committed to supporting our transgender, non-binary, gender diverse, and gender-nonconforming youth, and so denounce a protest happening today at the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. This protest, happening from 1:00 to 2:00 pm at the Washington Street entrance of the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, supports harmful and scientifically inaccurate rhetoric that denounces the use of gender-affirming medicine, and in particular, puberty blockers, for youth. Such rhetoric is a threat to the health, happiness and essential human rights of transgender, non-binary, gender diverse, and gender-nonconforming youth.

The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), a leading health organization for transgender healthcare, routinely produces international clinical protocols outlining the recommended assessment and treatment for transgender, non-binary, gender diverse and gender-nonconforming individuals. Puberty suppressing hormones have long been tested and used to benefit youth, as they are a safe and effective way to provide youth with more time to explore their gender, and to prevent the traumatic experience of undergoing a puberty that does not fit with their own experience, and which may make unnecessary bodily changes which may require extensive treatment to address. Puberty suppressing hormone treatment is also endorsed by impartial medical organizations, such as the Endocrine Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Contrary to what proponents argue, these treatments are not only safe, but life-saving for transgender, non-binary, gender diverse and gender non-conforming youth. A 2020 study in the Journal of Pediatrics found that gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth is associated with better mental health in adulthood. This study adds to a growing amount of peer-reviewed, evidence-based research that tells us what we at CTAC, and our communities, already know: gender-affirming medicine is not only crucial for our communities, it is an essential human right for all transgender, non-binary, gender diverse and gender non-conforming individuals. 

In the coming weeks, CTAC will be connecting with other organizations in Connecticut to reaffirm our commitment to our youth population. With the recent blow to the rights of transgender athletes in Connecticut and the specific targeting of the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center for this national protest, it is clear that those who oppose the rights of transgender, non-binary, gender diverse and gender non-conforming individuals now see Connecticut as a battleground state for lawsuits and policies that they hope to take nationwide. We must come together to protect and support some of our most vulnerable community members: our youth! Please follow CTAC’s website and social media for future releases.

When Laws Punish The Innocent And The Most Vulnerable

When I wrote this yesterday and this morning I didn’t realize that it was going to hit so close to home so fast!

This afternoon the conservatives are attacking healthcare for our children here in Connecticut! They are protesting the doctor here in Connecticut who treats trans children.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We are seeing a rash of laws being introduced of causing physical and mental harm to children, that do not care for a child’s safety but rather for political gain. It is being used as a wedge issue to rally their anti-LGBTQ+ base and in one case we are being stabled in the back by a gay legislator.

Cop with trans daughter pleas for lawmakers not to criminalize her “hero” doctor
The law would give 10 years in prison to doctors who help transgender youth. "You’re asking me to someday put handcuffs on these people that are heroes in my life? Please don’t ask me to do that."
LGBTQ Nation
By Juwan J. Holmes
February 12, 2021


A police officer in Alabama stood up before a committee of lawmakers considering a proposal to criminalize doctors who provide gender affirming health care for transgender young people, asking them not to pass the bill into law.

Sgt. David Fuller of the Gadsden Police Department testified before the state’s House Judiciary Committee during a hearing on H.B. 1, or the “Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act,” which would make it a felony punishable with 10 years in prison for a health care professional to provide gender-affirming care for a minor.

During a public hearing held on February 10, Fuller explained to the committee that intervening in the relationship between a patient, their parents, and their doctors would hurt more than it would help.

The 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey found…

Participants who had a professional try to stop them from being transgender were:

• Far more likely to currently be experiencing serious psychological distress (47%) than those who did not have the experience (34%).
• More likely to have attempted suicide (58%) than those who did not have the experience (39%).

Having proper healthcare for trans children reduces the risk of harmful behavior,

Puberty blockers linked to lower suicide risk for transgender people
The finding suggests that a major — and politically controversial — aspect of trans health care for minors could help reduce the community’s disproportionate suicide risk.
NBC News
By Tim Fitzsimons
January 20, 2020


Transgender individuals who received puberty blockers during adolescence have a lower risk of suicidal thoughts as adults than those who wanted the medication but could not access them, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Pediatrics.

“These results align with past literature, suggesting that pubertal suppression for transgender adolescents who want this treatment is associated with favorable mental health outcomes,” the study states.

The finding suggests that a major — and politically controversial — aspect of transgender health care for minors could help reduce the trans community’s disproportionate risk of suicide.

“Puberty blockers” are a type of reversible medication injection or implant that pause puberty. These drugs are prescribed to children who experience early onset puberty and for transgender youth experiencing gender dysphoria. Natural puberty resumes when the injection wears off or the implant is removed.

But Republican legislators don’t care about increasing the risks to trans youth. They ignore scientific research but instead focus on the fake news and emotions. An article in Healio said,

Two professional endocrine societies are formally opposing legislative efforts to block transgender people from accessing gender-affirming medical and surgical care, after dozens of state bills threatened to criminalize such therapies.
[…]
In December, the Endocrine Society and the Pediatric Endocrine Society released a joint policy perspective, published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, affirming the need for evidence-based policies that include physician input.

But still the Republican onslaught continues.

Puberty blocker or Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) have been around for a very long time and the Republicans are trying to say they this is a new untried drug. GnRH was discovered in 1971 and has been used to delay puberty in children with precocious puberty… once again it is just another Republican lie.

And in Utah a Republican gay man introduced...

GOP LGBT Activist says Utah transgender bill held for fear of 'blacklash'
KUTV
By Brian Mullahy
February 13, 2021


SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Another transgender measure at the state Capitol could be even more controversial than a proposed ban on transgender athletes in girls’ sports, and a GOP gay activist said on Friday that fear of “backlash” has prompted lawmakers to hold up the bill.

“They are afraid of getting this bill out of the Rules Committee,” said Ryan Woods, president of Utah Log Cabin Republicans, an LGBT group in the party, “because they know they’ll receive backlash.”

House Bill 92 would make it “unprofessional conduct” for doctors to perform sex reassignment surgery on minors or provide “puberty inhibitors” to them.

“We support this bill because it is not so much about transgender rights and LGBT issues, as it is about protecting children,” said Woods. “We would never allow a parent to give a child a tattoo. We have age limits on smoking, drinking, voting.”

There is no limit to the LGBTQ+ hate that the Republicans have shown and their focus on the most vulnerable members of the LGBTQ+ community, those who cannot defend themselves all for political gain. It has been shown that without proper medical care the risk of self-harm increases.

~~~~~~~~

While I was researching this post I found a Consumer Reports article support us!

Shoes – I Remember.

This morning I was reading Yahoo news when I came across this news article…
High Heels Sales Dropped 71% in 2020 — Will We Ever Go Back?

Sales of dress shoes, including heels, went down 71% in the second quarter of 2020, according to fashion site Glossy. As the world approaches the one-year anniversary of working from home, will women really go back to teetering around an office in stilettos? And, perhaps more importantly, will they be required to in order to be taken seriously and get ahead in their careers?

And I remembered the time that John from Glamour Boutique up in Auburn MA came down to talk at the support group. He was always more than eager to make the hour drive at night to talk to us.

That night he told us about the time he went down to a shoe convention in Los Vegas, he was visiting various shoe manufactures booths. When he stopped at one booth and he said that he was interested in sizes 10 through 14, the salesman asked him why so large of sizes? John replied that they were for crossdressers, the salesman step back and told just we don’t take orders from “those people.”

Well John was used to those replies and he said that he wanted to buy 500 pairs.

The salesman paused, thought for a moment and replied ‘What colors and styles are you interests in?”

Our money talks… nobody walks.

I find this is true in many things that I come across, many of a salesperson overcomes their initial hesitancy and realize a sale is a sale.

As for high heels…

Maybe dressing for a special event will always be a thing. But younger women still aren't willing to feel foot pain for professional or romantic gain. Think back to Sarah Jessica Parker and her Sex and the City gang strolling in their LBD's and sky-high Manolos; it's hard to imagine today's SJP-esque friend group willing to risk New York City potholes for some idealized feminine look.
[…]
"High heels are dead. I threw out half my shoes, good riddance," says Kenner. She's currently finishing a master's degree to work as a registered dietician with a more relaxed dress code of boots, jeans, and sweaters. "Fashion is just a reflection of societal ideals," she adds. "[Our generation] wants to do our own thing."

I think in the younger generation is turning off to high heels, work can no longer require high heels, the Supreme Court liberated us, and as the younger generation enters the work force you will start seeing low heel pumps and comfortable shoes.

One of the things that I noticed when I transitioned was that women shoes have thin soles, when you walk over those rubber bumps at crosswalks you can feel everyone of them, while men’s shoes have thicker soles and you don’t feel the bumbs as much.

P.S. I found the article on Facebook “Yes She Can” with over 284 comments and a lively debate for and against heals.

Saturday 9: My Valentine

Sam’s Saturday 9: My Valentine (2011)

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

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

1) Paul McCartney sings that he won't let a day go by without remembering why he loves his valentine. What blessings are you thankful for today?
Making it through 2020

2) Paul directed the video of Natalie Portman translating his song into American Sign Language (ASL), which is the third most commonly-used language in both the United States and Canada. British Sign Language (BSL), commonly used in EU countries, is very different. Do you find it easy to learn new languages?
No, I have a hard enough time learning English.

Back in college I decided to learn ASL but I am so bad at spelling that when I tried to spell a word I usually got a quizzical look… Hun?

3) The song is on Paul's Kisses on the Bottom CD, for which he won one of his 18 Grammy Awards. What compliment or accolade have you recently received?
I have no idea. Probably from my brother.

4) Paul is an honorary NYPD detective. He was given this designation for performing a charity concert after 9/11. Do you know anyone in law enforcement?
My uncle, he was very high in the city police department and reported directly to the mayor.

But he did get me out of a jury one time for a murder trial. The judge asked the prospective jurors during the voir dire, “Do you know any police officers?” and I replied, “Yes your honor, my uncle is a police officer.” You are dismissed.

5) Bob Dylan has said of Paul, "I'm in awe of McCartney. He's about the only one I'm in awe of. He can do it all. He never lets up. He's just so effortless." Tell us about someone whose talent you admire.
Someone who can play an instrument or sing. I am tone deaf and cannot carry a beat.

This is the last Saturday 9 before Valentine's Day and so this morning we shall focus on the upcoming holiday.

6) The holiday is also known as The Feast of St. Valentine. Do you have a special meal planned for February 14?
Naw. It is just another commercial day that businesses created to sell cards, flowers, and chocolate.

7) The phrase "wear your heart on your sleeve" began in medieval times. On Valentine's Day, men would celebrate the holiday by displaying their lady love's name on their sleeves. If you were going to adopt this custom, whose name would you wear?
My mother… Aww, she passed away in 2002.

8) Women buy and send more Valentines than men do. Who received the last greeting card you sent?
It was a Christmas card to my cousin’s wife.

9) Men buy and send more roses at Valentine's Day than women do. What's your favorite flower?
Lilacs, I have a bush right outside my bedroom window and in the spring it smells so good.

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

Another Fine Mess

[RANT]

“Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into.” That was what Oliver Hardy said to Stan Laurel and the same can be said for the politicians.

Outdated computer system exploited in Florida water treatment plant hack
Investigators are still trying to determine who's behind the hack.
ABC News
ByJosh Margolin and Ivan Pereira
February 11, 2021


An outdated version of Windows and a weak cybersecurity network allowed hackers to access a Florida wastewater treatment plant's computer system and momentarily tamper with the water supply, federal investigators revealed in a memo obtained by ABC News.

The FBI's Cyber Division on Tuesday notified law enforcement agencies and businesses to warn them about the computer vulnerabilities, which led to the Bruce T. Haddock Water Treatment Plant in Oldsmar being hacked on Feb. 5.

The plant's computer systems were using Windows 7, which hasn't received support or updates from Microsoft in over a year, according to the FBI.

Okay why were they using ancient computers?

If this went undetected it would a thousand time worst than Flint Michigan!

Let’s take a look at the Root Cause of the hack.

First question: Why were they using a legacy computer?
Answer: This is a regulated utility, their budget needs to be approved by a political appointed commission. So the utility had make one of two choices, they are caught between a rock and a hard place. They can either take the funds from another project or increase the budget.

How do you think a board of political appointees of raising taxes? So the water treatment plant us twenty year old computers and software. Magnify this all across the country, every water treatment plant in the nation is affected!

But it is not only water treatment plants but all unities and transportation network.

• Did you know that one of the oldest railroad bridges are here Connecticut was built in 1907! It is the Connecticut river bridge, and it is the oldest bridge between New York and Boston.
• Did you know that the FAA is using 40 year old computers?
• Did you know that the Interstate system was built in the 50’s, 60s, and 70s.
• Did you know that the electrical grid was also built around that time frame 50s-60s.

But what politician wants to raise taxes, which ever party raised the taxes that other party will attack them.

But the infrastructure needs up dating! There is no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

I am a big fan of Keynesian Economics which went out of favor with Reagan's Trickle Down Theory.

Keynesian economics is a macroeconomic economic theory of total spending in the economy and its effects on output, employment, and inflation. Keynesian economics was developed by the British economist John Maynard Keynes during the 1930s in an attempt to understand the Great Depression. Keynesian economics is considered a "demand-side" theory that focuses on changes in the economy over the short run. Keynes’s theory was the first to sharply separate the study of economic behavior and markets based on individual incentives from the study of broad national economic aggregate variables and constructs.

Based on his theory, Keynes advocated for increased government expenditures and lower taxes to stimulate demand and pull the global economy out of the depression. Subsequently, Keynesian economics was used to refer to the concept that optimal economic performance could be achieved—and economic slumps prevented—by influencing aggregate demand through activist stabilization and economic intervention policies by the government.

In other words… Priming the pump.

So if we spend money on rebuilding our infrastructure the economy will grow.

But where do we get the tax dollars to rebuild it?

So here is Diana’s Economic Recovery Plan.

First where do we get the tax dollars? Well we did it once and we can do it again, we racked up a huge debt from World War II. That war was fought on a credit card. Tax brackets went actually as high as 90%! So lets bring them back, start stepping the tax brackets say around a million dollars of income. I am a firm believer in “Use Tax” to a certain extent like tolls and a gas tax. Also bring back the estate tax! The Republicans call it “The Death Tax” but I like to call it “The No Dynasty Tax” When Trump dies do you want his kids to inherit billions of dollars and pass along Trump’s dynasty? Because that is what will happen, I say tax estates above say a million dollars, that is about 15% of the population so the other 85% will not be taxed at all.

Take those dollars and,

• Give a portion to those making under $60,000… give them a tax cut.
• Use a portion to pay off our huge debt.
• Use the remainder to rebuild the infrastructure, putting people to work… or priming the pump.

[/RANT]

The Drought Is Over

It has been a long four years, along the way we lost some in those four years but we now have exited the house of horrors.

HUD To Probe Housing Bias Cases Involving Sexual Orientation Or Gender Identity
WNPR
By Laurel Wamsley
February 11, 2021


The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Thursday it will begin enforcing the Fair Housing Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

The move follows an executive order signed by President Biden on his first day in office instructing agencies to enforce prohibitions on such discrimination.
[…]
HUD received 197 claims of discrimination involving sexual orientation or gender identity over the past year, a spokesperson told NPR.

Studies have shown that transgender individuals and same-sex couples are more likely to be discriminated against when seeking rental housing. But fair housing laws have not been interpreted to cover such cases in the past.

HUD says the legal basis for the memorandum is the Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, in which the court held that discrimination against LGBTQ people is sex discrimination. Biden's order interprets that 2020 ruling to mean LGBTQ people are also protected in the areas of health care, housing and education.

Back in late 2016 and early 2017 I was doing diversity training for homeless shelters, we had a team that went around the state doing the training and one person on the team was from HUD. One day in 2017 the woman from HUD emailed us and said she was ordered off the team.

Now sanity has returned.

---

Some more anti-trans bills...

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee: Transgender student athlete participation will 'destroy women's sports'

Nashville Tennessean

By Yue Stella Yu

February 10, 2021

Lawmakers advance bill that would limit school bathroom access for transgender students

KCCI

By Cynthia Fodor  

Feb 10, 2021

Infinite Scroll Enabled

Alabama considers bill that makes doctors' treatment of transgender youth a felony

The Hill

By Lexi Lonas

February 10, 2021 -

The Quagmire

But it's all right now
I learned my lesson well
You see ya can't please everyone
So ya got to please yourself
Garden Party – Ricky Nelson knew what he is talking about.

The LGBTQ+ community is the same.

When it comes to definitions there is a divide between young and old, there is a divide between men and women, there is a divide between races.

Trans is an umbrella… no it is not, it means people who have transitioned,,, no it means anyone who crosses the gender divide.

Cis male and trans male… no, no, no, Cis is an insult.

Transsexual… is the word objectionable or not. Many in the community find the word highly objectional while others do not. It is mainly divided by age, many younger trans people do while others continue using the word.

We are trying to create a survey and those are some of the problems we are trying to work through. Like society today there is no middle ground, even our common language we can't agree upon. We lost the art of compromise.

Back around 2010 I was working on a survey to study the trans community in Hartford on HIV/AIDS prevention and we spent over six months on just the demographic on how to qualitate the community, if they are crossdressers, drag queens or kings, or if they transitioned?

Now we are muddling through the same quagmire on a different survey.

“You see ya can't please everyone.”

So what are your thoughts about how we define ourselves?

Full Court Press

I don’t know if you noticed but the Republicans have targeted trans youth for their concentrated legislative efforts on us. It is like they had a meeting and decided we were the weakest link.

31 anti-transgender bills filed in 20 states as GOP targets schoolchildren nationwide
From school sports to putting doctors in prison for treating trans patients, lawmakers in these states want to make people's lives harder.
LGBTQ Nation
By Alex Bollinger
February 5, 2021


At least 20 states are currently considering at least 31 bills that would attack the rights of transgender people – mostly attacking transgender youth – as more state lawmakers file bills to tear away as the limited rights and protections that currently exist for transgender people.

Georgia Rep. Philip Singleton (R) filed a bill yesterday that makes the state the seventeenth in the nation to consider a bill that would ban transgender girls and women from competing in school sports as their gender.

“I just feel like in the time that we’re in right now — in a global pandemic — we’re going into our second year of being in lockdown and our elected officials have nothing to do other than worry about what’s in someone’s underpants,” said Jen Slipakoff, the mother of a 13-year-old transgender student-athlete in Georgia.

Arizona, Connecticut, Iowa, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas are all considering bills that would ban transgender girls and women from school sports this year. Some of the bills also ban transgender boys and men from competing as their gender as well.

It is like the Republican legislators went to a conference on passing hate legislation against LGBTQ+ people.

It is like they targeted the most vulnerable, at risk population to use for wedge politics. They don’t care the psychological and emotional damage that do to young children as long as it gets them voters and campaign donations.

Connecticut is not immune from this madness, there are three anti-trans bill before the legislature, they are:

• HB-5795 AN ACT PROHIBITING BIOLOGICAL MALES FROM COMPETING ON PUBLIC FEMALE-ONLY ATHLETIC TEAMS IN INTERCOLLEGIATE, INTERSCHOLASTIC AND INTRAMURAL ATHLETIC EVENTS.
• HB-6128 AN ACT PROHIBITING STUDENT ATHLETES WHO WERE BORN AS MALES FROM PARTICIPATING IN WOMEN'S INTERSCHOLASTIC ATHLETIC EVENTS
• SB-324 AN ACT CONCERNING CIVIL IMMUNITY FOR INTERSCHOLASTIC ATHLETIC ORGANIZATIONS AND THE SANCTIONING BODIES OF PRIVATE YOUTH ORGANIZATIONS.

They all target trans athletes and they all were introduced by Republicans.

I am researching talking points against the bills and also contacting other LGBTQ+ organizations here in Connecticut to discuss our responses to the bills

What you need to do here in Connecticut is email your state legislators telling them that you are against the bills.

There are a number of pro-LGBTQ+ bills that were also introduced this year, I'll discuss them in later posts.

Insurance

The most calls that I get at the non-profit where I volunteer are about insurance coverage.

We are pretty good here in Connecticut for insurance coverage… but.

Sometimes the insurance companies don’t follow the law. Surprise, surprise!

If you are covered by Medicare,

Medicare for transgender-related health care
Market Watch
By Home Media
February 8, 2021


What you should know:

• 1.4 million adults in the United States identify as transgender
• Hormone therapy typically costs $100 per month
• Gender affirmation surgery usually costs between $7,000 and $50,000
• There are approximately 10,000 transgender Medicare beneficiaries [I’m one of the 10,000]
• Medicare covers medically necessary transgender surgery on a case-by-case basis
• Those insured through Medicare are more likely to get transition-related surgery than those with private insurance

[…]
For the relatively small number that qualifies for Medicare coverage — just 0.7% of transgender people are Medicare beneficiaries — Medicare can provide significant relief. Medicare ensures that medically necessary care is covered, including some gender confirmation procedures.

It wasn’t until 2014 that we were covered legally, healthcare providers knew how to navigate around the roadblocks and I had my healthcare covered.

Medicare transgender coverage
For decades, Medicare specifically excluded transgender surgery and related procedures. Anyone attempting to get Medicare transgender coverage was denied because the procedures were deemed “experimental.”

In 2014, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a new determination that removed the existing exclusion for transgender surgery. Now, Medicare will determine coverage of transgender-related procedures on a case-by-case basis.

In addition, Medicare must cover routine preventative care if it’s clinically necessary, regardless of the gender marker on your Social Security records. If there is a potential for gender mismatches between your records and gender identity, the physician or hospital should use billing code (condition code 45) to help process your claims.

Most important… “the physician or hospital should use billing code (condition code 45) to help process your claims.” that is my mantra! Just about every year when I have my annual physical my doctor checks my prostrate and the insurance company sends out red flags saying women don’t get prostrate exams denying the charge. I keep saying “Code 45!” until it dawns on someone and the charge for the exam is paid.

This is important…

What to do if you’re denied coverage
If your request for health-care services or procedures is denied, you have the option of appealing that insurance company’s decision and requesting a redetermination.

If you have Original Medicare, complete the Redetermination Request Form and send it to the company that handles your Medicare benefits. In the request, include your name, address, and Medicare number. Circle the items you disagree with and include a written explanation of why you think the items should be covered. Include any supporting documentation, such as medical records or statements from your doctor.

If you are on a Medicare Advantage plan, you typically have 60 days after receiving a denial to file an appeal. While some plans allow you to appeal over the phone, others require you to appeal in writing, so make sure you check your insurance company’s policies.

If you’d like to consult a licensed Medicare professional before selecting the Medicare coverage that’s right for you, call 844-259-6504 and ask about Medicare for transgender-related health care.

Denial of coverage is the number one problem I hear. I usually tell them to call back and get a different operator and amazingly that works a lot of times. Also be careful how you phrase the request, for example do not say that you want “breast enlargement” rather say something like that you need medically necessary breast surgery.

Here in Connecticut we have a few more tools in our tool box, the first is CT Insurance Commissioner Bulletin IC-37. What the bulletin does is require insurance companies to pay for any medical procedures that they cover for non-trans patients. So that means that they pay for medically necessary breast surgery for cancer patients so they have to pay for us also. Even electrolysis is covered! It is called Hirsutism (ED72 ICD-11) which is covered and it should also be covered for us.

The other tool in our tool box is a declaratory ruling by the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities… DECLARATORY RULING ON PETITION REGARDING HEALTH INSURERS’ CATEGORIZATION OF CERTAIN GENDER-CONFIRMING PROCEDURES AS COSMETIC. What the ruling does is tell the insurance companies to obey the law.

V. CONCLUSION
The complexity that transgender people face in evaluating their own gender identity and sex requires that doctors, insurers, and the State recognize them as the individuals that they are. Just as disregarding the individuality of a person on the basis of their skin color strikes at the heart of antidiscrimination policy, painting all transgender people with the same brush violates that same principle. Insurance policies that categorically refuse to consider certain procedures for certain people on the basis of their race, sex, or sexual orientation are facially discriminatory. So too are such exclusions for transgender people on the basis of gender identity, a condition unique to them. Consequently, when the State or a municipality contracts for health insurance plans that contain categorical exclusions for treatments related to gender dysphoria – and especially when the same treatments are covered for treatment of other conditions – it commits a discriminatory practice, as does the insurer.

Transgender people are uniquely reliant on medical services to help them treat gender dysphoria – to avoid both personal distress as well as future violence and discrimination. The State cannot permit itself, its agents, and its municipalities to discriminate against this vulnerable group of people. Our understanding of sex and gender has evolved. It is time for the State to catch up, and reclaim its place on the front lines in the fight against discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression.

The Courts

One of the states that wouldn’t budge on changing birth certificates was Ohio but the court has said enough is enough…

Thompson Hine Helps Overturn 'Unequal' Transgender Policy
Law 360
By Michael Phillis
February 7, 2021


The ACLU of Ohio, along with attorneys at Thompson Hine LLP and Lambda Legal, recently successfully challenged Ohio's policy forbidding transgender people from correcting their birth certificates to match their gender identity, convincing a judge that the state's policy was discriminatory.

Driver's licenses and other documents could reflect an individual's real identity, but around 2016, Ohio started refusing to allow people to correct what plaintiffs called the "gender marker" on their birth certificate, according to Elizabeth Bonham, an attorney with the ACLU of Ohio. Advocates thought there was no legitimate reasoning behind the policy and sued in 2018, challenging a state approach they said made life for transgender people more difficult.

Having proper ID is vital now a days because of the Real ID Act and laws requiring to show proof of citizenship for employment.

Transgender plaintiffs said being forced to keep an incorrect sex identification on their birth certificate meant being outed, harassed by co-workers and demeaned. One plaintiff said human resources told her she would "always be a man in God's eyes."

But in late last year the federal court overturned the law preventing us from changing our birth certificate.

The state argued the plaintiffs were trying to use constitutional arguments "to engage in a revision of a historical fact" even though "plaintiffs' biological sex was accurately recorded at birth," according to court documents. Allegations that birth certificates outing transgender people constitute a due process privacy right violation should fail because the documents are public record and the plaintiffs' couldn't show the disclosure "is directly linked to a threat of extreme and specific physical harm," the state said.

The state also said equal protection arguments were flawed because the point of the policy was not to discriminate and even if transgender people are a protected class, "defendants have a substantial interest in accurately recording a person's sex on their birth certificate."

Judge Watson rejected those arguments, saying there is "no logical connection between the policy and proffered justifications."

"Defendants' policy prohibits transgender people the ability to change the sex on their birth certificate in an arbitrary and unequal manner," the opinion said.

When we were trying to pass the law to allow us to change our birth certificate here in Connecticut, the opposition kept on saying it was a “historic” document while we argued that the document is used to show legal citizenship and for employment and that it should be kept current to reflex our gender. That it would also prevent discrimination.

There are still a few states that are holding out the changes to the birth certificate, some still require surgery which for many is impossible because of health reasons or because of finical reasons.

  

---

This afternoon I am talking to a trans woman and her therapist about how to change legal documents and what is the best order to change them. Hopefully the roads, sidewalks, and parking lots will be cleared of the snow by the time I have to drive into Hartford for the conference call.

Sticks And Stones…

The problem is that words do hurt, words do kill.

We see it in the increase in self harm when children are confronted with hate.

How can cissexism affect a person’s mental health?
Experiencing cissexism* can lead to mental health conditions.

In a 2018 systematic review, researchers used a minority stress model to investigate the stressors that a minority group experiences.

These stressors include:

• discrimination and violence
• the energy that a minority group has to expend to protect themselves against this discrimination and violence
• a minority group’s internalization of negative stereotypes

These all contribute toward mental health conditions. A combination of these stressors may overwhelm a person’s ability to cope. 

The review looked at several studies through the minority stress model to investigate the effect of cissexism on a person’s mental health.

• People who are a part of the trans community and experience cissexism are likely to experience:
• depressive symptoms
• anxiety symptoms
• posttraumatic stress symptoms
• general psychological distress

[…]
How can it affect a transgender person’s physical health?
Cissexism can directly and indirectly affect a person’s health in multiple ways.
[…]
Violence and abuse
Violence against those who are transgender often comes from people they are close to, such as friends and family.

Some families reject people who are transgender, and this rejection can include physical confrontations.

It can also come in the form of:

• refusing to use gender-affirming language
• denying access to medical procedures
• cutting off financial support
• refusing access to the home

This can all cause feelings of isolation, low self-esteem, depression, and other adverse mental health outcomes.

Direct health effects
The 2015 critical review states that all of the above stressors can have immediate health effects on the body, including:

• an impact on a person’s diastolic blood pressure
• an increased chance of a cardiovascular event, such as stroke or heart attack
• elevated cortisol levels, which can affect a person’s physical and psychological health

The prolonged effects of chronic stress can lead to:

• hypertension, or high blood pressure
• diabetes
• anxiety
• depression
• substance use
• suicidality

[…]
How to be an ally and how to play a part in stopping cissexism
There are several ways to be an ally and play a part in stopping cissexism.

These include:

• never using cissexist slurs
• not asking personal questions about a person’s genitals, surgery, or sex life
• avoiding giving insults that sound like compliments, such as saying, “you look like a real girl”
• not making assumptions or believing in stereotypes of people who are transgender
• people educating themselves about the issues the trans community faces
• respecting people’s decisions on when and where they come out as transgender
• asking for and using a person’s preferred pronouns
• using gender-neutral language, such as “they”
• if it is safe to do so, speaking up and educating other people who are displaying cissexist tendencies or behaviors

Planned Parenthood note that if a person decides to speak up and educate others who are engaging in cissexist attitudes and behaviors, it is important to make sure they remain safe while doing so.

In some situations, it may be safer to remain quiet and walk away rather than addressing cissexism.

It is also important to remain calm and ask questions, as some people may not be aware that the language they are using is cissexist.

*The article defines cissexism as…

In this article, we will be replacing the term “transphobia” with “cissexism.” This is because the term “transphobia” inaccurately focuses on an individual’s irrational fears as opposed to the oppressive systems that can affect a person’s health.

Chose your words carefully because words do hurt.

Saturday 9: Waiting for Tonight

Sam’s Saturday 9: Waiting for Tonight (1999)

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


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

1) In this song, Jennifer Lopez anticipates a night of unbridled passion with the love of her life. What are you waiting for tonight? (No pressure; it doesn't have to be as thrilling as hers.)
Nine o’clock so that I can go to bed


2) She sings that she's glad she's beyond those nights that found her tossing and turning alone in her bed. Did you enjoy restful sleep last night?
No, I never do. I sleep in two shifts 10 PM to 3 AM and about 5 AM to 8 AM.

3) Whatever Jennifer has planned for tonight, it won't include alcohol. She never drinks liquor. What's the last adult beverage you enjoyed?
Bailey's Irish Cream, after supper I like to relax in the atrium listening an audiobook and having a liqueur.

4) Ms. Lopez performed "Waiting for Tonight" during last year's Super Bowl halftime show. Will you be watching The Big Game this weekend?
Nope. I usually have a party for the Supper Bowl.

5) Speaking of this weekend, The Weeknd will headline the Super Bowl 2021 halftime show. Are you a fan of his?
Who?

6) Super Bowl Sunday is the #1 day for guacamole consumption in the US. When did you most recently eat something with avocado in it?
Um… 1965.
I’m not a fan of avocado.

7) Chicken wings are a popular Super Bowl dish, too. When did you most recently eat chicken? How was it prepared?
I think it was Tuesday, I made stir fry.

8) This year, fast food chain Chipotle will run their first-ever Super Bowl ad. Do you pay closer attention to commercials during the Super Bowl?
Nope.
See answer #2

9) Random question: Are you more likely to pretend to be more naive than you really are, or more sophisticated?
I’m just me. I had enough of pretending, I just want to be me.

~~~~~~~~

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

---

Update: Noon

Whoa this is an unbelievable Supper Bowl ad from Toyota!

A Chaplain Speaks Out…

Against President’s Biden’s Executive Order lifting Trump’s ban.

Army investigating Texas chaplain for comments about transgender soldiers
The Hill
By Ellen Mitchell
January 28, 2021


Army officials are investigating a Texas chaplain after he made disparaging remarks against transgender soldiers in a social media post.

Maj. Andrew Calvert, a chaplain with the 3rd Security Force Assistance Brigade at Fort Hood, wrote on the Army Times’s Facebook page on Monday that transgender soldiers were “mentally unfit” and “unqualified to serve.”

President Biden the same day signed an executive order to repeal former President Trump’s ban on most transgender people serving in the military.

Military chaplains are not like regular clergy because they are under military law and are subject military regulations. Therefore they must follow orders and criticizing an order is not allowed.

The Army Times ran this from a trans major and chaplain,

Letter to the editor: Countering Army chaplain’s views on transgender community

I want to thank you for writing your story about CH (MAJ) Calvert for the Army Times [re: Chaplain’s Facebook post denigrating transgender troops under investigation by Army]. It is important to inform people in the military of some of the real issues and views some chaplains in the corps really hold — not just the ones they publicly ascribe to — which inform and influence the way they do business and to whom and how they care for our nation’s finest.

While it is upsetting that the transgender community has been publicly compared to someone with mental illness, this is hardly the first time we have heard that, and we have endured much worse. I believe there are several issues related to CH Calvert’s views and the way he espouses them, and points to what I and many others feel is a fundamental issue in the Army Chaplain Corps. As an Army chaplain, first and foremost, I must be able to hold my personal opinions and beliefs at bay when they come into conflict with another’s — most significantly when someone comes to me seeking counsel. It is only when invited to share my perspective is it appropriate to overtly and directly challenge a perspective or belief someone brings to me. Based on CH Calvert’s post I would find it very difficult to believe he actually practices the statement — core to the beliefs and workings of the Army Chaplain Corps — that he supports the free exercise of all faiths and belief systems of those under his charge. To think he can hold other’s faith, religion, spirituality with a different level of dignity and respect he affords the transgender community is naïve, at best, and dangerous, at worst. If he were to publicly denounce that core tenant of the Chaplain Corps he should certainly be swiftly removed from the service. I believe I could say with confidence that his true colors may never be publicly seen or spoken, regarding this most-important reason why we exist — support of all faiths, religions and spiritual expressions — because it would mean a sure and swift end to his career.

“As an Army chaplain, first and foremost, I must be able to hold my personal opinions and beliefs at bay when they come into conflict with another’s — most significantly when someone comes to me seeking counsel.” and that is the fundamental issue, unlike a regular clergy a military chaplain must minister to all faiths and beliefs, they cannot allow personal bias to get in the way.

Can You Imagine?

You are standing on the sidewalk waiting for your date to bring the car around and a cop pulls up; he asks what you are doing and you tell him. He takes your pocketbook dumps it out on the hood of his car to checks for weapons and condoms falls, he then arrests you for prostitution. Far fetched?

New York governor’s office released this...

Governor Cuomo Signs Legislation Repealing the 'Walking While Trans' Ban
LGBTQ


Legislation Repeals Section of Law That Was Intended to Prohibit Loitering for the Purpose of Engaging in Prostitution, But Instead Has Led to Discriminatory Enforcement of Transgender and Cisgender Women of Color

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today signed legislation (S.2253/A.654) repealing portions of a law - known as the 'Walking While Trans' ban - that led to arbitrary and discriminatory policing of transgender women. The law, originally passed in 1976 with the intent to prohibit loitering for the purpose of prostitution, has been used with an extremely broad definition of loitering that led to the arrest of law-abiding transgender and cisgender women of color. Many local district attorneys have voluntarily stopped enforcing the law, recognizing its discriminatory impact.

"COVID exposed low tide in America and the 'walking while trans' policy is one example of the ugly undercurrents of injustices that transgender New Yorkers - especially those of color - face simply for walking down the street," Governor Cuomo said. "For too long trans people have been unfairly targeted and disproportionately policed for innocent, lawful conduct based solely on their appearance. Repealing the archaic 'walking while trans' ban is a critical step toward reforming our policing system and reducing the harassment and criminalization transgender people face simply for being themselves. New York has always led the nation on LGBTQ rights, and we will continue that fight until we achieve true equality for all."

New York state isn’t the only place where you could get arrested, it common around the nation. I wrote about many time. You can read about two of them here and here, in one post I write about a trans woman who was arrested on the way to a funeral. Her crime? Carrying her hormones… she was arrested for not carrying her hormones in the prescription bottle.

Breaking News!

New Hampshire Republicans just introduced a bill making it a crime to treat trans children!

HB 68: AN ACT relative to the definition of child abuse.
SPONSORS: Rep. Testerman, Merr. 2
COMMITTEE: Children and Family Law

This bill adds sexual reassignment to the definition of an abused child in RSA 169-C, the child protection act.

1 Definition of Abused Child; Sexual Reassignment Added. Amend RSA 169-C:3, II(f) to read as follows:

(f) Subjected to an act prohibited by RSA 632-A:10-d; or

(g) Subjected to drug treatments or surgery in an attempt to alter the sex of the child assigned at birth, except in rare cases of ambiguous genitalia. For purposes of this subparagraph, ambiguous genitalia refers to a medical condition in which a child's gender at birth is in question because the genitals do not appear clearly male or female.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

A Republican, Rep. Testerman is following in the footsteps of Republicans all across the US who are introducing draconian legislation that will cause irreparable damage to children all because the new Republican party hates anything LGBTQ+.

New Hampshire is the fifteenth state to introduce anti-trans legislation, and my guess there are many more to come.

Do you remember when the Republican party said that they wanted to get the government out of your lives?

Fact Check… Trans Sports

The Republicans and right wingers have introduced rash of anti-trans legislation focusing on sports. They think that can use trans athletes to rally their base.

USA Today fact-checked their clams.

Fact check: Posts criticizing Biden order on gender discrimination lack context

By McKenzie Sadeghi

February 2, 2021


The claim: Biden's executive order says transgender female athletes must be allowed to compete against women and is tied to federal funding

Since taking office on Jan. 20, President Joe Biden has issued a flurry of executive orders, including one that is aimed at preventing discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation and prohibiting workplace discrimination in the federal government.

While the move was celebrated by LGBTQ advocates, the announcement brought forth criticism from some conservatives on social media, with claims that the order threatens women's rights. Critics protested with the hashtag #BidenErasedWomen.

[…]

Existing legal battles

Claims about the executive order follow legal and legislative action aimed at transgender athletes.

Republican lawmakers in several states are pushing legislation to ban transgender athletes from competing in sports for the gender with which they identify.

[…]

A group of female high school runners in Connecticut — one of the states that allows transgender athletes to compete without restrictions — filed a federal lawsuit that seeks to block transgender athletes in the state from participating in female sports, according to the Associated Press.

I see this case going to the Supreme Court, this case directly challenges President Biden’s Executive Order. Even though this case have been going on for years and the timing is such that the case will be pivotal other Title IX cases.

USA Today found that…

Our ruling: Missing context

The claim that Biden's gender discrimination executive order says transgender women must be allowed to compete on women's teams is MISSING CONTEXT, based on our research. The order protects against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and states children should not be "denied access" to "school sports." The White House said this would include having transgender females play on women's teams. But the posts do not acknowledge that rules for transgender athletes are already in place at the college and Olympic levels, as well as in many states and school districts. Further, it is false to say any educational institution that receives federal funding must add biologically male athletes to teams.

Oh Where, Oh Where Have They Gone?

When I was first sticking me head out the door to test the winds there were a number of LGBTQ+ bars around. I am not a big fan of bars at my age but I went to some of the bars.

THE RISE AND FALL OF AMERICA’S LESBIAN BARS
Only 15 nightlife spaces dedicated to queer and gay women remain in the United States
Two filmmakers lauched a nationwide fundraiser to help save the surviving bars. (Lesbian Bar Project)
Smithsonian Magazine
By Sarah Marloff
January 21, 2021


Writer and social commentator Roxane Gay chuckled while describing her first visit to a lesbian bar—Panic Bar in Lincoln, Nebraska. “I was 21,” she says, “Maybe 20.” Gay describes the bar, which closed this fall, as a dive, and summed up why it was special: “It was just cool to go, and know that there were other lesbians in the world.”

Bar manager Jo McDaniel has similar reminiscence of Phase 1, an iconic lesbian bar in Washington D.C. ‘s Capitol Hill neighborhood that closed its doors permanently in 2016. “It was a force,” she says of the establishment that was once the longest operating lesbian bar in the country and where she tended bar. “Losing such an institution was incredibly difficult for D.C.” Upon learning of the bar’s unexpected closure, patrons expressed their shock on Facebook. “Wow! I thought that I would never see the day that Phase 1 would close down,” wrote one. Another declared, “There is no place left.”

My first journey in to a LGBTQ+ bar was the Polo Club in Hartford, I was scared and nervous as hell but I was with a number of friends.

D.C. is far from the only city to lose its beloved lesbian bars. Across the country, nightlife spaces dedicated to queer and gay women have been closing at a staggering rate over the past 30 years. (The Panic Bar shuttered for good in November after first closing temporarily due to the Covid-19 pandemic.) In the late 1980s, an estimated 200 lesbian bars existed in the United States. By 2019, researchers believed only 15 remained.

Gay, who lives in Los Angeles, says she doesn’t understand why there are so few bars—L.A.’s last one closed in 2013. “It doesn't make sense that a city of this size, with a lesbian population that is significant, has no bars,” she says.

Despite their ever-decreasing numbers, lesbian bars still matter. More than a safe space for people of marginalized genders—including transgender and nonbinary people—to gather, these bars figure strongly into queer history. “They’re community centers, they're fun places to meet other lesbians and/or bisexual women. And they can be sexy spaces,” says Gay. “I think that they're vital.”

The Polo Club closed and also the Rainbow Connection up in Indian Orchard MA. The Polo Club I felt it was a shady and I like the Rainbow Connection better but it was a long drive up there. Triangles in Danbury closed, I never made it there but from what there was a lot of sex going on out in the parking lot.

Women who are attracted to women have been gathering for centuries, but according to Katherine Ott, a curator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, America’s first lesbian bar remains unknown. “I don’t think anyone knows the first bar, and if they claim to know it, they’re lying,” says Ott.

Back in the 1700s in England there were pubs called Mollies and Tommies so LGBTQ+ bars are not a new invention they have been around for a very long time, back in the 1700s in England there were pubs called Mollies and Tommies.

Writer Joan Nestle, cofounder of the Lesbian Herstory Archives, insists, “from the 1920s on,” gathering places for queer women and men existed in America’s big cities. She entered New York’s Greenwich Village lesbian bar scene in the late 1950s, when most lesbian and gay bars were mafia-owned. “Organized crime, always interested in a quick, desperate buck, played an important role in keeping these bars open,” Nestle says. Bar owners frequently paid off police to keep the watering holes open, but raids were not uncommon.

Can you say “Stonewall?”

So what happen that lead to their downfall?

Lesbian bars have struggled to keep up with rapid societal changes, including greater LGBTQ acceptance, the internet and a more gender-fluid community. With dating apps and online communities, bars aren’t necessary for coming out and connecting with queer women. “There are so many different ways people socialize now that wasn’t possible [before],” Ott says. (Gay men’s bars have struggled with similar issues to a lesser degree.) Stegall’s thesis notes much of the queer community “claim that ‘lesbian’ leaves out bisexual women and trans people, who definitely have been historically (or even sometimes currently) shunned from the community.” Younger generations of queer women—including Rose and Street—have embraced a more inclusive community. They believe lesbian bars exist for people of all marginalized genders.

Marriage… Children,,, Acceptance… Aging community… all have lead to the downfall of LGBT+ bars I believe.

I think as the country is becoming more accepting of use the need for LGBTQ+ watering holes are not needed.

I keep getting requests for LGBTQ+ friendly places and I tell them we don’t need a list, pick a restaurant you like and go. Before the virus I used to go out to lunch with a group of senior trans women, the way we picked out a trans friendly restaurant we go on Google and look for a restaurant with $$$ central to all of us. We never had a problem.

I went out with a group of lesbians before the virus to a board game night we are not a bar group, we like the relaxing atmosphere. No loud booming music. There used to be a coffee house that had live acoustic guitar music, with overstuffed chairs where you could sit with friends, have a coffee, and listen to the music. There is a trans musician that travels around the country playing her guitar at lesbian house parties.

Yes, there are a lot of alternatives to the bar scene, that is probably another reason why LGBTQ+ bars are dying out.

Connecticut’s A Blue State… Right?

Well not quite, you have the blue cities and the red suburbs, there just more voters in the cities than out in the country side.

An Opinion in the Saturday Waterbury’s Republican American gives you an idea what we are facing in the suburbs.

TRANSGENDER ORDERS
It didn’t take long for President Biden to slap a “VOID” sticker on the promise of normalcy after the tumultuous Donald Trump era. The flurry of executive orders he has issued since Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, will turn the United States in multiple radical directions…
[…]
Among other things, the order erases the Trump administration’s ban on transgender individuals serving in the armed forces. This is problematical. Soldiers, sailors, Marines and Air Force personnel work and live in close quarters where privacy is at a premium, if it’s available at all. The addition of transgender individuals will have unpredictable effects on unit cohesion. There undoubtedly are branches of the military where the addition of transgender personnel will have minimal negative impact, and others where the outcome could be devastating in terms of mission.

Okay lets just stop here for a moment.

They make a number of damning accusations about what will happen to the military with trans service members, let us take a look at what the Military Times had to say about trans troops last year.

Two-thirds of troops support allowing transgender service members in the military, Pentagon study finds
Meghann Myers
February 27, 2020


A Defense Department-funded study published Feb. 18 in the journal Sexuality Research and Social Policy has found that about 66 percent of active-duty soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines support the idea of serving alongside transgender personnel.


Breaking down data from nearly 500 responses, researchers found that across demographics ― regardless of ethnicity, sexuality or gender ― more than half of every group also supported allowing transgender Americans to serving in the military.

“Arguments against integration have been historically disproven through research examining the integration of women, racial/ethnic minorities and [lesbian, gay and bisexual] persons into the U.S. military,” the study authors wrote, comparing the transgender ban to past bans on service for other demographics.
[...]
The Pentagon commissioned the study to look at troops’ attitudes. From August 2017 to March 2018, researchers collected 486 responses, starting with seed service members who recruited their coworkers and acquaintances, then expanding the scope through advertising with popular military blogs and social media accounts.

They were asked, “Should transgender people be allowed to serve in the military?” and given the options of yes, no, unsure and decline to answer, with the “unsure” responses routed into the “no” results.
[...]
That study found that being able to openly serve, without the pressure to hide identities, improved morale among troops and their units.

The administration trotted out the same charges levied against every previous minority group: unit cohesion disruption, cost, and inability to accomplish assigned missions. Just as everyone beforehand, when faced with those recycled fallacies, transgender troops were steadfast. Relying on data and the power of our examples, we invalidated the administration’s assertions.

When the services were being integrated back around the Korea War, on July 26, 1948, the president signed this executive order integrating the services the conservatives were out there crying that it would disrupt unit cohesiveness. When women were allowed to serve in the military the Republicans were out there with their tales of doom and gloom. Ditto when gays and lesbians wee allowed to serve.

The Republican American goes on to say…

Mr. Biden’s order also reverses a Trump-era U.S. Department of Education policy blocking federal funding for public schools that allow transgender individuals who are biological males to compete inhr girls’ and women’s sports. “Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports,” Mr. Biden’s order states. Apparently, the rights of children who value such things as privacy, personal safety, and fairness.
[…]
...Their concerns for privacy should be accommodated; for example, separate locker, toilet and shower facilities should be provided where possible...

First of all the days of open locker room is over, even when I was in college in the early 70s the locker rooms had individual stalls and showers.

As for safety it is the trans student who gets attacked! And fairness, the NCAA and the International Olympic Committee has looked into allows trans athletes to compete in their true gender and they found no differences at a young age and those who did go through puberty research found that after a couple of years trans women lose muscle mass.

Do you know what the major objections to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was? It was fear for the safety of girls in the bathroom!

The opinion piece quotes Abigail Shrier, do you know who she is? A doctor? A researcher? No, she is a conservative author who write for “The Wall Street Journal,” the “National Review,” the “Daily Caller” and other conservative media.

---

It was the Senator from one of the districts that the paper covers that proposed a bill cutting insurance coverage for us in 2015. The bill was…  HB 5193, An Act Concerning Health Insurance Coverage for Gender Reassignment Surgery read,

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
That title 38a of the general statutes be amended to specify that health insurance policies delivered, issued for delivery, renewed, amended or continued in this state shall not be required to provide coverage for gender reassignment surgery or related surgical expenses.
Statement of Purpose:
To specify that health insurance policies delivered, issued for delivery, renewed, amended or continued in this state shall not be required to provide coverage for gender reassignment surgery or related surgical expenses.

The bill never made it out of committee and the senator didn’t even attend the hearing for his own bill.