The Big Divide

If you have been following the news lately you have probably read about the battle in a Colorado school system that stooped a trans-girl from using girls’ bathroom. Or you might have heard the backlash from the release of guideline by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the defeat in the Maryland Senate committee hearing of the gender inclusive anti-discrimination bill.

There are some who have criticized the family for going public and some who have wondered the wisdom of the public release of the guidelines in Massachusetts. The problem is that you are damned if you don’t and you are damned if you do. There will always be some people who will criticize you no matter what you do and there are those who will criticize you for doing nothing.

The opposition points to Colorado and Massachusetts and says, see what happens if you pass this law! While those who believe in diversity say, see when the laws are passed nothing happens, no rapes or assaults, nothing; all the doomsayers were wrong. Were these events a factor in the failure of the bill in Maryland, I don’t know. But I think they may have been a factor in the defeat of the bill.

The problem is that if you don’t go public no-one will know. If Massachusetts didn’t go public with their guidelines no-one would have known that this resource is available. If the family didn’t go public no-one would know of the discrimination that we face.

I believe that change is brought about by education.

That is the reason why I am an activist and why I am “out” and why I publish this blog, I want to bring about change through education. Every time I talk to someone in public or meet someone a little bit of education take place. However, I realize that this is not for everyone; some just are not cutout to be out in the public spotlight. All they want to do is to transition and move on, and that is alright.

The thing is there are many transgender children here in Connecticut who have transitioned with no problem and there are only a few kids who have problems with the students transitioning. I have read the diversity statement for gender variant students for my town and it is a good policy, only time will tell if they follow their policy.

We Got The Short End Again

It seems like the deck is always stacked against us…

Maryland Senate Committee Votes Down Bill That Would Have Banned Transgender Discrimination
The Huffington Post
By Hunter Stuart
Posted: 03/15/2013

A state Senate committee in Maryland dealt a tough blow to transgender rights Thursday by voting down a bill that would have banned gender-identity discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodation.

The committee voted 6-5 to narrowly defeat the Fairness For All Marylanders Act Of 2013, which would have added "gender identity" to the law that right now prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, marital status and sexual orientation, The Washington Blade reports.

The bill may have been doomed when a senator who supported it was moved off the committee and replaced by one who voted against it, Metro Weekly writes. That switch was made by Senate leadership in order to pass a wind energy bill, the paper notes.

Of course there are also the usual doomsayers including Family Research Council who lobbied against the bill. You might remember that back in 2007 there was a petition drive for a referendum against the gender inclusive anti-discrimination bill that eventually ended up in the state’s Court of Appeals which threw out the petition.

Saturday Six #466

On Friday's and Saturdays I take a vacation from writing my blog and have some fun with memes


Patrick’s Place Saturday Six #466

1. AÑO (“Year”): Where do you see yourself in one year?
Hopefully above ground.

2. CUÑA (“TV/Radio Spot*”): Which commercial do you find most annoying at the moment?
Offhand I can’t think of the most annoying commercial because I mentally tune them out. But I tell you the one that I like best is the Sleepy commercial.

 
3. JALAPEÑO: What’s the spiciest food you enjoy?
My homemade chili

4. MAÑA (“Skill”): What would you consider to be your most valuable skill?
Listening

5. PIÑA (“Pineapple”): What is your favorite “tropical” fruit?
Mango, but I can’t eat too much of it anymore, it has way too many carbs,

6. PIÑATA: Have you ever been to a party that featured a piñata, and if so, what was it stuffed with?
Yes and it was stuffed with hard candy.

Saturday 9: Hakuna Matata

On Friday's and Saturdays I take a vacation from writing my blog and have some fun with memes
 
Crazy Sam’s Saturday 9: Hakuna Matata


1) Sam is crazy for The Lion King. Do you have a favorite Disney movie?
Fantasia

2) The song tells us that Hakuna Matata "means no worries." Is something worrying you right now?
Yes, I have to facilitate a workshop at UConn School of Law on Tuesday that I have no idea what it is about. I guess I’ll have to wing it.

3) Who is the most optimistic person you know?
My brother

4) Elton John wrote "Hakuna Matata" but didn't record it. Name a song Sir Elton is famous for singing.
Candle in the Wind


5) Can you play the piano?
Only if it is a player piano.

6) Congratulations! You just won a guided African Safari Tour! 8 days in Zambia and Botswana for you and a friend. All expenses paid, and allowing you access to breathtaking, unforgettable sights. It takes at least 30 hours to get there, and before you go you'll need yellow fever and hepatitis vaccinations and medication to prevent malaria. Are you up for it?
No problem, I don’t mind shots and I have my passport.

7) There's been a mistake. You really won a 4-night Disney Bahamas Cruise for two. Are you relieved or disappointed that you'll be partying with a guy in a Simba suit on the Lido Deck instead of observing a real lion in the wild?
My bags are packed so I don’t care as long as it is not on a Carnival Line’s ship

8) Let's bring this back to real life -- do you have any vacation plans?
Not really, just going up to my cottage in New Hampshire.

9) Describe your luggage. Is it durable and high quality? Or are you like Crazy Sam, who has been known to use an Old Navy shopping bag as her carry-on?
It is just your typical old carry-on bag.

Thinking Of You...

Today would have been my mother's 100^th birthday.

This photo is from her honeymoon on the ferry from Boston to Provincetown.

I always remembered her birthday thanks to Shakespeare, if I forgot her birthday it would have been "Beware the Ides of March" for me.

I miss you mom. 

Friday Fill-ins

Janet’s Friday Fill-ins

1. I was looking for _hope, but instead I found a new journey_.
2. _Listening to folk music in a coffee shop_ is one of my favorite ways to socialize.
3. I looked at the clock _thinking it is only 3 AM and it is going to be another long sleepless night_.
4. _A gel ink pen with a rubber grip_ is the type of pen I most prefer to use.
5. What in the _World was the name of a locally produced game show _. (Raise your hand if you know what I’m talking about.)

6. _Slamming my finger in the door_ seems to happen to me often.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to _reading_, tomorrow my plans include _reading_ and Sunday, I want to _go for a walk_!


On Friday's and Saturdays I take a vacation from writing my blog and have some fun with memes

My Story Part 156 – Your Papers Please

I was reading an editorial in the New York Times about a black man who was stopped and searched upon leaving a store in New York.

Last month the actor Forest Whitaker was stopped in a Manhattan delicatessen by an employee. Whitaker is one of the pre-eminent actors of his generation, with a diverse and celebrated catalog ranging from “The Great Debaters” to “The Crying Game” to “Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai.” By now it is likely that he has adjusted to random strangers who can’t get his turn as Idi Amin out of their heads. But the man who approached the Oscar winner at the deli last month was in no mood for autographs. The employee stopped Whitaker, accused him of shoplifting and then promptly frisked him. The act of self-deputization was futile. Whitaker had stolen nothing. On the contrary, he’d been robbed.

I never was stopped and searched, but I have been followed around by security and at other times have been asked for my ID.

That never happened to me before I transitioned and at first being followed around by the store detective I thought was funny, but after it happened a couple of times it became insulting. The first time it happened was when I was looking at clothes in a big box store and I noticed a guy shopping in the women’s department. When I move over to another section of the women’s department, there he was again pretending not to be watching me. I then went over to another department in the store and he was followed me. As I was standing in the check-out line I noticed him at the Courtesy Desk and they were all starting at me.

One time I was checking out at a national chain department store, I was in the line with about a dozen other people and when I handed my credit card to the clerk and she looked at me and her eyes got real big. She then asked me for my diver licenses and I was the only one that she asked to see their ID.

Another time I was in a bar/grill for lunch and I was sitting at the bar with a friend and when I ordered a beer the bartender asked me for my ID. Now you have to realize that I’m in my 60s, I was just carded and I was the only one who was carded even thought I was with my classmates who are in their late 20s or early 30s… what would you think?

The editorial went on to say…

Since the Whitaker affair, I’ve read and listened to interviews with the owner of the establishment. He is apologetic to a fault and is sincerely mortified. He says that it was a “sincere mistake” made by a “decent man” who was “just doing his job.” I believe him. And yet for weeks now I have walked up Broadway, glancing through its windows with a mood somewhere between Marvin Gaye’s “Distant Lover” and Al Green’s “For the Good Times.”

I’m sure that he is a “’decent man’ who was ‘just doing his job.’” and that he never even thought what he was doing was racist, but it was. When the clerked followed me around the store or when the clerk asked me for my identification, I don’t think that what they were doing was based on bias, but it was. They saw someone different and thought that they must be up to something no good.

I have never faced discrimination until I transitioned, I enjoyed my white male privilege that I never knew that I had, but now I don’t have it any more and I see what it really is, discrimination. The second conclusion that I have drawn is that passing has it privilege, if then did read me as being trans none of this would have happened.

My Story is a weekly series of blog posts about my transition and observation of life as a trans-person.

It’s The Law.

As more states and municipalities add gender identity and expression to their anti-discrimination laws and ordinances  and we are celebrating our victories we have to realize that our battle is not over. It is one thing to have a law, it is entirely another thing to have people aware of the law or obey the law.

When we were discussing the strategy in passing Connecticut gender inclusive anti-discrimination bills one of the things that we debated was whether to slip an amendment under the radar to pass the law or go with a bill, we choose the bill because we recognized that education was an important part of the process. We also knew that it would make it much harder to pass.

However, even knowing the law some people and businesses chose not to obey the law. Take the case in Ohio where a business decided to fire the employee and pay the fine.

Ohio judge fines club in Columbus’ first-ever transgender discrimination case
LGBTQ Nation
Bob Vitale
March 12, 2013

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A municipal court judge in Columbus, Ohio, has ordered owners of a private dining and business networking club to pay a $1,000 fine in the city’s first-ever transgender discrimination case.

Franklin County Municipal Court Judge H. William Pollitt Jr., on Monday levied the fine against Columbus Hospitality Management, owners of the Capital Club, for retaliating against Savanna DeLong and denying her work at the downtown club.
[…]
The company denied wrongdoing, but pleaded no contest in court. President Charles Lagarce said fighting the charges would have been too costly, and he described the plea and acceptance of the fine as “the best business decision for us.”

So they decided to break the law and pay the fine and as a result one woman is out of a job. Yesterday I wrote about a sheriff’s deputy who said, ‘I don’t care’ about the law and threw out a trans-woman from the bathroom. Here in Connecticut a bar on Karaoke Night threw a trans-woman out of the restaurant because she made the other customers uncomfortable was fined and they lost their liquor license (I believe it was for a week).

So why do we even fight for our laws when they really don’t have much teeth and businesses routinely flaunt them? It is because of what the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Morality cannot be legislated, but behavior can be regulated. Judicial decrees may not change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless.” Some businesses might not obey the law, but many more will. It also shows that society does not approve of intolerance against us.

This And That In The News - Here Comes Da Judge…

"This And That In The News" is about articles in the news that have caught my eye and I want to share or comment about. These articles about judges’ rulings caught my attention today.

First the bad news…

Man ‘guilty’ of fraud for not telling girlfriend he was trans
Scottish transgender man admitted to 'obtaining sexual intimacy by fraud' in two cases, meaning he will face jail time
Gay Star News
By Joe Morgan
March 7, 2013

A transgender Scottish man was sentenced for obtaining sexual intimacy by fraud yesterday (6 March).

Chris Wilson, 25, from Aberdeen, was accused of failing to tell two teenage girls his gender history and real age.

So he is getting jail for lying, but get this…

The second girl was 15 when she became friends with Wilson two years later, but told him she was 16, the legal age to have sex in the UK.

So only the trans-man gets nailed for lying to have sex and he ends up on the sex register for the two kisses he gave her. The trans-man was legally a male and this judge thought he should have revealed his past and this case may create a precedence that would force trans-people to have to “out” themselves.

‘Following the Gemma Barker [British teen Gemma Barker was jailed for 30 months after supposedly ‘disguising’ herself as a boy to date female friends.] case, I [Jane Fae, a transgender activist] had extensive discussions with the English Crown Prosecution Service and they were absolutely clear that trans identity could not be an absolute protection from charges of sexual assault or rape.

‘This means that in practice any trans man or trans woman who keeps their gender identity to themselves runs the risk, should their partner later find out and object, of being charged in a similar manner.

So the next time you go on a date, bring a lawyer, you may need one.

In Iowa another judge rules on the “bathroom” issue…

Judge: Deputy discriminated against Iowa transgender woman
Telegraph Herald
Associated Press
Posted: Sunday, March 10, 2013

IOWA CITY — A state administrative law judge has ruled that a transgender woman should not have been ordered out of a courthouse women’s restroom by a sheriff’s deputy.

The judge decided in favor of Jodie Jones, who has been presenting herself as a woman since May 2011. The ruling by Administrative Law Judge Heather Palmer came last week.
[…]
“Frankly, I was extremely dismayed that when I told the sheriff’s deputy what the law said, she said, ‘I don’t care.’ They’re officers of the law; they should have to follow the law, too,” Jones said. “I don’t want this to happen again at the Johnson County Courthouse.”

Gender Orientation: IS Conditions Within The TS Brain

Here is a very good lecture from a professor at Stanford University on the question, "is transsexualism an intersex condition.?"

This And That In The News

"This And That In The News" is about articles in the news that have caught my eye and I want to share or comment about. These are the articles that caught my attention this week, this week topic is trans-students…

USA Today had an article about a proposed law for trans-students using bathroom…

Calif. lawmaker seeks rights for transgender students
Lisa Leff, Associated Press
March 4, 2013

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A California lawmaker has introduced legislation aimed at guaranteeing transgender students the right to use public school restrooms and participate on the sports teams that correspond with their expressed genders.

The bill reflects the accommodations that a number of U.S. schools are being asked to make as Americans start identifying as transgender at younger ages.

If approved by the state Legislature and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano's AB1266 would give young people the right "to participate in sex-segregated programs, activities and facilities" regardless of what sexual category exists on their school records.

Moving to the other end of the spectrum, an article in Think Progress was about the backlash to the Massachusetts Department of Education’s guidelines for gender variant students…

Massachusetts Lawmakers Retaliate Against Youth With ‘Transgender Issues’
By Zack Ford
Mar 5, 2013

Several Massachusetts lawmakers are not happy with new guidance from the state’s Department of Education advising on how to respect transgender students in school, based on nondiscrimination law passed in 2011. Notably, they believe that allowing them to use the appropriate restroom is somehow going to infringe on other students’ privacy. To correct that, they are taking the brash step of proposing a bill that define students’ gender by their anatomy instead of by their actual identities.

This bill will cause trans-student to be bullied and harassed and most trans-students cannot have surgery until they are at the age of consent.

However, some trans-students have surgery at an earlier age…

About a Boy
Transgender surgery at sixteen.
New Yorker
by Margaret Talbot
March 18, 2013

For high-school seniors like Skylar—who live in prosperous suburbs, have doting parents, attend good schools, and get excellent grades while studding their transcripts with extracurricular activities—the hardest part of the college application is often the personal essay. They’re typically asked to write about some life-changing experience, and, if their childhood has been blessedly free of drama, they may find themselves staring at a blank screen for a long time. This was not a problem for Skylar.

Skylar is a boy, but he was born a girl, and lived as one until the age of fourteen. Skylar would put it differently: he believes that, despite biological appearances, he was a boy all along. He’d just been burdened with a body that required medical and surgical adjustments so that it could reflect the gender he knew himself to be. At sixteen, he started getting testosterone injections every other week; just before he turned seventeen, he had a double mastectomy. The essay question for the University of Chicago, where Skylar submitted an early-action application, invited students to describe their “archnemesis (either real or imagined).” Skylar’s answer: “Pre-formed ideas of what it meant to have two X chromosomes.” No matter what people thought they saw when they looked at him, Skylar wrote, he knew that he “was nothing along the lines of a girl.”

Some more good news about students, but this time at a college; last week there was a story about a fraternity helping to raise money for one of their brothers to have surgery, well now the college has changed their insurance policy to cover Gender Confirming Surgery.

Surgery covered for transgender student
Boston Globe
By Jeremy Fox
March 07, 2013

A transgender student whose Emerson College classmates rallied to help him raise money for transition surgery says his insurer will cover the procedure, after all.

Donnie Collins’s story went viral last week, after Out.com reported that his fraternity brothers had created an online fund-raising page for Collins ­after an insurance company ­declined his claim. Readers learned of the support Collins received from members of Phi Alpha Tau, a professional communications fraternity, and donated many times the fraternity’s $2,000 goal.

By Thursday, they had raised more than $20,000 for the surgery, which will remove breast tissue and construct a masculine chest for Collins, who was born female but began living as a male before graduating high school.
[…]
Emerson said in a statement that it contacted ­Aetna, its student insurance provider, for clarification after Collins’s request was rejected. The college said its policy has included benefits for transgender medical care since 2006, but “the policy language had ­inadvertently not been updated by Aetna on their internal documents.”

“Aetna has since updated their internal documentation to accurately reflect the college’s policy,” the statement said.

Now the fraternity has said that they will donate the money that they raised to the Jim Collins Foundation.

It Is That Old Battle Again: Nature v. Nurture

How many times have you heard the old arguments… “God made Man and Women” or “God makes no mistakes” or any other of those types of binary arguments; well folks let me introduce you to a gynandromorphic  Cardinal.

Amazing! The Cardinal is literally half male and half female.

What is gynandromorphy? Well basically gynandromorphy happens when the zygote divides and an error occurs, the chromosomes are not copied correctly (a very good description can be found here). Gynandromorphy should not to be confused with chimerism where there is actually two distinct sets of DNA (you can read about it here).

Nature works in mysterious ways. Consider this about a study that was done in Spain…

Antonio Guillamon's team at the National University of Distance Education in Madrid, Spain, think they have found a better way to spot a transsexual brain. In a study due to be published next month, the team ran MRI scans on the brains of 18 female-to-male transsexual people who'd had no treatment and compared them with those of 24 males and 19 females.

They found significant differences between male and female brains in four regions of white matter – and the female-to-male transsexual people had white matter in these regions that resembled a male brain (Journal of Psychiatric Research, DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2010.05.006). "It's the first time it has been shown that the brains of female-to-male transsexual people are masculinised," Guillamon says.

In a separate study, the team used the same technique to compare white matter in 18 male-to-female transsexual people with that in 19 males and 19 females. Surprisingly, in each transsexual person's brain the structure of the white matter in the four regions was halfway between that of the males and females (Journal of Psychiatric Research, DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2010.11.007). "Their brains are not completely masculinised and not completely feminised, but they still feel female," says Guillamon.

Researchers have found also that when they studied intersex babies who were given surgery at birth to "correct the birth defect" knew their true gender. In a study reported in the New York Time by Dr. Reiner of babies with underdeveloped male genital who were surgically made into girls at birth. He found,

As part of a research study, I've personally seen and assessed 400 children with major anomalies of the genitals. Of those, approximately 100 might be called "intersex." Our findings have been many and complex. The most important is that about 60 percent of the genetic male children raised as female have retransitioned into males.

There is something in their brain that was telling them that they were male while they had the physical appearance of a female. The interview ended with this question and answer…

Q. What conclusions do you draw from your study?
A. 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.

Now there is a novel idea… let the person determine their own gender.

Nature is really amazing! Evolution is never done; nature is always trying new combinations to see what works and what doesn’t. I feel sad for the people who argue for a gender binary, they fail to see the beauty.

Saturday Six #465

Patrick’s Place Saturday Six #465

1. Å is for ÅKOMMA (“Ailment”): What illness do you most expect to deal with one day?
Kidney disease, a complication from diabetes.

2. Å is for ÅLDER (“Age”): Do you feel younger than your real age, older than your real age or at your real age?
If you asked me last year I would have said older than my actual age, but now it is younger.

3. Å is for ÅLDERON (“Old Age”): What part of retirement do you most look forward to?
Since I’m retired I’ll tell you want the hardest part of retirement for me, keeping busy. No matter how many time to go out with your retired friend, no matter how many time you work on your hobbies and no matter how much time you work around the house, there is still an awful lot of time to fill.

4. Å is for ÅR (“Year”): Of the years you’ve lived through so far, which year was best for you?
That is hard question answer, I a lot of years under my belt. I would have to say 2011, that was the year that I graduated from grad school with my MSW and it was also the year that we passed the anti-discrimination law

5. Å is for ÅSTED (“Crime Scene”): What’s the closest you’ve been to a real-life crime scene?
On the other street over, a person killed seven people in a robbery that went bad. He was in the same grade as me, but he never made it past eighth grade.

6. Å is for ÅTERVÄNDA (“To Return to a Place”): What place that you’ve visited in the past would you most like to return to some day?
The west coast, I would love to visit again the states west of the Rockies.

Saturday 9: Midnight Train to Georgia

Crazy Sam’s Saturday 9: Midnight Train to Georgia



1) Have you ever been to the Atlanta?
Yes, a long time ago when I was knee high to a grasshopper

2) Do you enjoy traveling by train?
Yes, I would like to travel out west by train. My bucket list includes a train trip through the Canadian Rockies visiting Banff, Calgary and Jasper. But my last train trip was a trip through hell and back.

3) "Midnight Train to Georgia" is Sam Winters' signature number at the karaoke bar. What's your go-to song when you take the mic?
When I take the mic it becomes closing time. Everyone starts to head for the door.

4) Do you drink tea?
Yes, my favor is decaf Earl Grey or spiced Apple Cinnamon.

5) What's the most recent thing you purchased for your home?
Bath towels and new sheets

6) Are there dishes in your kitchen sink right now?
Yes, the breakfast dishes

7) Have you ever been fingerprinted?
Yes, back in high school when I applied for a job in the post office.

8) What was the last check you wrote?
It was a fifty dollar check for a non-profit, I’m the treasurer

9) What color are your eyes?
Hmm, I have to go check… green or maybe they are hazel. Hey! I don't go around looking at my eyes.

Friday Fill-ins

Janet’s Friday Fill-ins

1. Life _is so fragile_.
2. _Wet heavy snow piled up on a branch_ and then a little _clump of snow_ fell down my neck.
3. I knew it was love when _our eyes met_.
4. _Oh how I long for_ sunshine and blue skies.
5. A little nap is wonderful _after meals_.
6. _Three guesses what are_ my favorite things to eat for dinner.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to _reading and watching a movie on Netflix_, tomorrow my plans include _in the afternoon talking to a class_ and Sunday, I want to _go walking in the 50 degree weather_!

On Fridays and Saturdays I take a break from writing my blog and have some fun with memes.

My Story Part 155 – Humor

Being trans you have to have a sense of humor, if you don’t you will have a lot harder time transitioned.

Some times the expressions on someone face is priceless. I don’t know how many times a man held a door open for me and as I said thank you, you can see it dawn on his face the moment he read you as trans. You can take it two ways, one way is to see the humor in it and the other way is to hate yourself because you got read.

The first time that I had to have my car repaired after an accident I was talking to the owner about scheduling the repair and I also could tell the moment when he read me. Once again the look on his face was priceless, his eyes got bigger his jaw dropped a little bit and he took a step backward. But you know what was important to me? It was the fact that a few minutes later he was back in the normal talking distance.

As many of you know, I attend Fantasia Fair a week long conference in Provincetown MA. One time that I was there I was walking down the street when a tour bus when by me and over the bus loud speaker I heard the travel guide say “This week if Fantasia Fair where all the transsexual and crossdressers came for the conference.” I looked up and saw all these grey haired faced pressed up against the window. Now I could have done two things, one run away in shame or as I did, start laughing because of all of the wide-eyed tourist staring out the window was hilarious.

Again at Fantasia Fair, I was walking down the street one day when this couple was coming out of a store and I heard the husband say to the wife, “There are an awful lot of tall women in town, I wonder if there is a women’s basketball game today?” Now try to keep a straight face and not giggle when you hear something like.

As Bugs Bunny said, “Don't take life too seriously. You'll never get out alive.”

My Story is a weekly series of blog posts about my transition and observation of life as a trans-person.

Fear Mongers

I knew this was going to happen when I saw the headline about the Massachusetts policy on gender variant students…

Concerns over transgender-students policy
Legislators seek focus on anatomy in the use of segregated facilities
Sentinel and Enterprise
By Allison Thomasseu,
Posted:   03/04/2013

BOSTON -- Area legislators, unhappy with a plan to allow transgender public-school students to choose which gender bathrooms and locker rooms to use, have met with Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester to push for a policy that defines a student's gender on anatomy, not self-identification, when using sex-segregated facilities.
[…]
The lawmakers are also backing a bill sponsored by Garry that would dictate a change in the rules.

Garry said the Legislature discussed the issue in 2011 as part of the debate over the anti-discrimination law, but left the facilities issue out because it could violate other students' privacy.

"The (2011) bill was not to accommodate locker rooms and bathrooms, but the commissioner took it upon himself to provide guidance to schools," Garry said.
[…]
Rep. Sheila Harrington, R-Groton, said the legislators discussed adding separate facilities, such as teacher bathrooms, for students who feel uncomfortable using bathrooms because of a gender issue.

I saw this coming, it seems like the more success that we have, the more the opposition pushes back and it bring out the fear mongers and doomsday sayers. The truth is that it is the gender variant students who are being bullied and harassed. GLSEN 2011 study on school climate found that…

• 81.9% of LGBT students reported being verbally harassed, 38.3% reported being physically harassed and 18.3% reported being physically assaulted at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation.
• 6 in 10 LGBT students (63.5%) reported feeling unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation; and 4 in 10 (43.9%) felt unsafe because of their gender expression.
• Transgender students experienced more hostile school climates than their non-transgender peers - 80% of transgender students reported feeling unsafe at school because of their gender expression.

Studies have shown that students who are being bullied and harassed have lower grade and  a higher absenteeism that before they were  bullied and harassed. By segregating students who are different from other students we increase the likelihood of them being bullied and harassed.

That's So Gay!

This really needs no introduction...

Something To Think About

When you hear the Republicans throw down the gauntlet and they are not going to raise taxes think about this…


We need both budget cuts and tax increases, you can;t have one without the other.

Did you know that in the 50s, 60s and 70s the time of our greatest grow in this country that the top tax brackets was 94% on those making over $400,000. I'm not saying we need to have that rate now but we have to increase taxes and cut the budget.

Common Sense

I found this posted this on Facebook and I thought I share it with you…

8 Easy Tips to Act More Feminine
Mag For Women
March 2, 2013

Being a female and acting feminine are two entirely different things. Femininity should not be taken for granted. Just because you are a female doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be feminine too. It’s an art that sometimes needs to be mastered. So here are 5 quick and easy tips for you to act feminine:
1. Dress feminine…
2. Brush up on your manners…
3. Smile often…
4. Be gentle, sweet and kind…
5. Do not use abusive words…
6. Do not speak bluntly…
7. Be sensitive…
8. Control your temper…

I think that all the tips except for the first one can apply to anyone, they are all just a common sense approach to living.


It is unfortunate that we assign most of these traits to be feminine because even the guys should follow tips 2 through 8. But somehow these tips for men have been forgotten and instead being crude and rude has become the standard for being macho.