Now There’s A Nursing Home Where I Would Like To Stay

Most people think of nursing homes as a place where the elderly line the hallways in their wheelchairs, but…

Sex in Geriatrics Sets Hebrew Home Apart in Elderly Care
Bloomberg
By Bryan Gruley
Jul 23, 2013

The nurse was frantic. She’d just seen two elderly people having sex in a room at the Hebrew Home at Riverdale, New York. She asked Daniel A. Reingold, then the home’s executive vice president, what she should do.

“Tiptoe out and close the door so you don’t disturb them,” he told her.

Today, Reingold likes to recount the 19-year-old tale to show why the Hebrew Home broke with industry practice and encouraged sex and intimacy among its elderly residents, including those with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.

In 1995, the home adopted a four-page policy -- considered the first of its kind -- stating that residents “have the right to seek out and engage in sexual expression,” including “words, gestures, movements or activities which appear motivated by the desire for sexual gratification.”

Finally! A place where they realize seniors are human and have the wants and needs as all humans.

I have been asked to sit on a committee by a state agency on aging who want LGBT input on developing a policy for nursing homes. I think it is important to have a trans-person on the committee to make sure that our special needs are met.


I can just picture me in a nursing home going around looking for my wig, "Who took my wig?" or "Where's my wig!" But seriously I worry Alzheimers and Dementia how will it effect my transness? Will I remember who I am?

Your Papers Pleases…

So when was the last time you were asked for your papers? Probably when you started a new job or applied for a passport or a new driver license, but other than those you probably haven’t dragged out your birth certificate. And if you are trans you probably dread showing your papers because they don’t match your identity even though they are being used for identification.

Making it easier for transgender people to get new birth certificates
The District of Columbia Council passes the country's most liberal policy for updating birth certificates, one that transgender activists hope will become a nationwide model.
LA Times
By Alexei Koseff
August 5, 2013

WASHINGTON — Kaprice Williams has been waiting four years for a new birth certificate.

Williams, 50, transitioned from male to female when she was 15, but some essential legal documents still do not recognize her as a woman.

That had not been an issue until a job interview went sour when her paperwork revealed she is transgender. Efforts to change her birth certificate had stalled because Williams, a native of Washington, has not had sexual reassignment surgery and cannot afford thousands of dollars in lawyer's fees.

Those obstacles are about to become history: Last month, the District of Columbia Council passed the country's most liberal policy for updating birth certificates, one that transgender activists hope will become a nationwide model. The mayor is expected to sign it Tuesday.

I believe that Oregon and Illinois also allow birth certificates to be changed without surgery. In Oregon it was through legislative action and in Illinois it was by a legal agreement. Hopefully, other states will follow their lead. After all when was your gender on a birth certificate checked by looking between your legs? Most likely the only time it is brought in to question is when your gender identity doesn’t match your gender expression.

De-Transition…

...happens. What many people do not realize is that the “Standard of Care” has a one year requirement that you live for one full year in your “true gender” before you have surgery just to find out if it is your “true gender.” For a very small percentage this turns out to be the case, they de-transition for various reasons. For some if it pressure from family, friends and co-workers or the stress from society and for other it might be that they were never trans, they only thought they were trans.

Transgender Newsman Don Ennis Has Second Thoughts After ‘Amnesia’
New Yorker
By Joe Coscarelli
August 6, 2013

A few months ago, ABC News producer Don Ennis received very public support from his co-workers and the wife he was leaving to live as Dawn Stacey Ennis, a woman. Now he's decided to switch back. In an e-mail to friends and colleagues titled "Not Reportable, Very Confirmed," Ennis insisted, "No, I’m not fucking with you. No this is not a joke. No, this is not an episode of 'Would You Fall For That?'" But after a bout of "transient global amnesia," he's going back to Don Ennis. "That will be my name again, now and forever. And it appears I'm not transgender after all."

For whatever reason he chose to de-transition and that is what the “real life test” is supposed to do, give you a chance to find yourself. For many people they see this as “flip flopping” but this is the RLT is all about giving trans-people the chance to see if transitioning is really for them. Transitioning is the hardest thing that we ever do and for some, whatever reason cannot cope with the stress.

I Am At…

...A workshop on ‘Working with LGBTQ Survivors of Sexual Violence’ that is being given by Connecticut Sexual Assault Crisis Services (CONNSACS).

This free training is being offered specifically for those who work with LGBTQ individuals in a professional or volunteer capacity…
Attendees will learn about the prevalence & dynamics of sexual violence, how to handle disclosures from LGBTQ survivors, how to make referrals to appropriate services, and how oppression can impact the type and scope of services that LGBTQ survivors want to engage in.

Since I answer the phone and emails at CT TransAdvocacy Coalition  I figured it would be good for me to get the training.

Macho, Macho, Macho Man…

People, especially men are so hung up with being macho, men can’t show any weakness and when a boy shows his feminine side that parents should prepare for the worst…

What Happened When My Son Wore A Pink Headband To Walmart
Huffington post
By Katie Vyktoriah
Posted: 08/02/2013

Last night, I took my two boys out to pick up a couple of things from Walmart. Mark had to catch up on some work, so I ventured out on my own, which is something I don't do very often. It takes a lot of work to get the kids ready, get them in and out of the car, find a shopping cart, keep them happy while I shop and get them home in one piece. You parents will understand this.

After struggling to get him dressed and get his shoes on, I had to pry an overlarge teddy bear out of Dexter's arms, as he was set on taking him with us. This brought on tears and tantrums, which I somehow managed to calm very quickly. But when I attempted to remove my discarded lace flower headband from his head (which he'd been wearing all day), I saw him getting ready to fight, so I left him to it. Who was he hurting?
[…]
Out of nowhere a big booming voice rang out. "THAT'S a BOY?!" The man was overly large with a bushy beard and a camouflage shirt with the arms cut off. He had tattered shorts and lace-up work boots with no laces. I could smell the fug of cigarette smoke surrounding him, and there was a definite pong of beer on him.

"Yes," I said simply, still smiling.

With no notice, the man stepped forward, grabbed the headband off of Dexter's head and threw it to the bottom of our shopping cart. He then cuffed Dexter around the side of his head (not hard, but that is not the point) and said with a big laugh, "You'll thank me later, little man!"

Where to begin? The assault? The homophobia? The hate crime? This is so wrong on so many levels, the mother was letting her child develop normally, and experimenting with being his self and finding his own place in life. Then the ugly side of society stepped in and bopped him the head.

You will be glad to know that she contacted the police and they are investigating the assault.

Take A Walk On the Dark Side

Those of us who are trans* know about this topic, many of us have been to the same place as the author of the article; however, some of us have not made it back into the light.

The Dark Side of Being Transgender: Having Little Choice
Huffington post
By Danielle Kaufman, M.D.
Posted: 08/02/2013

People outside the trans experience have a truly hard time understanding the magnitude of the task of changing gender expression. No one would ever do this unless they were forced to by their own psychology. I did choose to follow a number of specific steps to change my gender expression; it's just that I was so compelled by inner need that I would say it's not really a choice.

This is so hard that no one would do this if they had any other option. My only other option was to die. And yes, I was prepared to die. I had carefully detailed plans and all the necessary supplies. All I needed were 10 minutes before I went to bed and I wouldn't wake up the next day. I saw it less as suicide and more like euthanasia: I had a medical condition that bordered on unbearable at times.

I am one of the lucky ones who never had any suicidal idealization, for me I was prepared to become a hermit and shut out the world. According to the National Transgender Discrimination Survey: Injustice At Every Turn, 47% of the trans-people surveyed had attempted suicide and the number is even higher if you count those who have thought about it. Since I have come out four trans-people that I knew committed suicide and I lost count of the number of people that I know that have tried.

I've just recently had something explained to me, and it bothers me to think about it. Apparently, some people feel that trans women aren't real women because we had a life of male privilege and then became women. This is wrong on so many levels…

I never was really a “man.” Boys don’t think I wish I had a pretty dress like that. Men don’t pretend to be a man. I felt that I was playing a role, which I had to do this or that to blend in and keep my secret. I grew a beard to hide, to hide from myself and to assimilate in the male world.

As I said last week I sometimes describe myself as a trans-woman living as a woman and before I transitioned I was a trans-woman living as a man.

Southern Comfort: The Musical

Yesterday I went with a friend up to Pittsfield Massachusetts in the Berkshires to watch a musical, Southern Comfort at the Barrington Stage Company. Those of you who are not familiar with the documentary Southern Comfort, the documentary is about a trans-man, Robert Eads who is dying of ovarian cancer. That in itself is not what the movie is about; it is about the lack of treatment from healthcare providers in the Atlanta Georgia area.

In 1996 he was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and over two dozen doctors in the Atlanta area refused to treat him. By the time he finally did get medical treatment his cancer had metastasized and he died in 1999 at the age of 53.

The musical was about Eads life and friends; the musical won the 2011 GLAAD award and 2012 Jonathan Larson Award. The stage set is like backwoods house with a cover porch where the band plays and being a small company the band members also have parts in the play. The small theater gives an intimate atmosphere to the play. You are not up in the second balcony where the actors look like specks on a stage but are only feet away from the actors where they create a human touch to the play. I enjoyed the play and in the end I needed tissues even though I knew how it was going to end.

Here is a trailer for the musical (The quality of the sound isn’t that good but you get to see the start of the play.)…

Here is the video from the CAP21 performance (The sound is studio quality, the introductions end around 1:30 into the video)…

“This video features footage from the Jonathan Larson Grant Awards presented by the American Theatre Wing, and also images from the CAP21 production.”

And for those of you who have never seen the documentary “Southern Comfort” here is the full length video, so grab yourself some popcorn and sit down in your easy chair and watch the documentary…

Saturday Six #486

Patrick’s Place Saturday Six #486

1. Which charity or organization would receive the first donation you make?
True Colors, CWEALF and GLAD. Plus some national organizations and maybe a scholarship endowment to UConn SSW.

2. Which bill would you be most likely to pay off first?
My mortgage that is my only real debit.

3. What practical, needed thing that you haven’t had the money to buy would you purchase first?
Probably a new refrigerator to go along with expanding the kitchen.

4. What completely impractical, but fun, product would you purchase first?
A Maserati or a Lamborghini. 

5. Where is the first place you’d be likely to travel?
I would buy a RV, grab a few friends and head out west. I would like to visit all the national parks west of the Rocky’s. I don’t have a strong desire to see the rest of the world, I would rather see the U.S. first.

6. How far from your current home would you be most likely to relocate, if you’d relocate at all?
I wouldn’t relocate, but I would buy vacation homes in Key West, Maine, Santa Fe, maybe San Francisco and definitely one in Hawaii.

Saturday 9: I'm a Believer

Crazy Sam’s  Saturday 9: I'm a Believer


Thanks to Cie for recommending the Monkees

1) This song is about a guy who fell in love when he saw her face. Do you believe in love at first sight?
Yes, but you both need that spark to make it last.

2) "I'm a Believer" is the best-selling Monkees song. Can you name another one?
There was Daydream Believer that also reached #1 on Billboard. Peter Tork use to live in Connecticut and once in a while dropped in to a local bar and jammed with the band.

3) On their TV show, the boys competed for the same girl. Have you and a friend ever been romantic rivals?
Yes and I lost. I got stood up on a date, she had a last minute “babysitting” job but I saw her latter at the local McDonalds (Actually it was the only McDonalds in the state at the time) with a football player.

4) In another episode, the Monkees visited the circus. If you were confident there was a good strong net beneath you, would you walk across the high wire?
No way! I have a hard enough time walking across a bridge.

5) The Monkees show originally aired on Monday nights. Do you have a favorite day of the week?
Not really, on Monday nights I watch Major Crimes, Tuesday night I watch Rizzoli & Isles and the other nights I usually do not watch TV. However, I have been watching “Orange is the new Black” on Netflix.
After I have a couple cups of coffee I reread the question.
No I don't have any favorite days of the week, I'm retired so every day is a weekend.

6) Davy Jones guest starred on an episode of The Brady Bunch. The plot revolved around Marcia's efforts to get him to perform at the prom. Share one of your memories from a school dance.
I didn’t go to that many school dances because I ended up standing in the corner drinking cokes trying to get up an enough nerve to ask a girl to dance.

7) At the height of their popularity, the Monkees' faces and logo appeared on a lot of merchandise, including lunch boxes. Which would you rather have for lunch -- chicken salad, tuna salad or egg salad?
Chicken salad.

8) You have an afternoon all to yourself. Would you rather spend it at the mall, checking out what's new in the stores and people watching, or walking through the forest, observing the birds and trees and leaves?
Walking in the woods, which I will be doing latter this morning.

9) Do you have a good memory for names?
I am horrible and here I was trying to lobby for a bill and I couldn’t remember the legislators names.

A Trans-Woman Who Lives As A Woman

That was what Lt Colonel Cate McGregor in the Australian army used to describe herself and it resonated with me. Because that is how I identify; she goes on to say that she knows that she will never be “a woman” and that she will always be transgender.

I sometimes say that “I am a woman with a unique history” I believe that no matter how much you pass and assimilate into society you will always know your history others might see you as a woman, but you will know your history. I was talking to a friend today and the topic about scouting came up; I said that I made cattail pancakes in the scouts. Now we both knew I meant the Boy Scouts, but if she didn’t know my history she probably would have thought Girl Scouts.

I was talking to a trans-woman at a conference who was saying she was talking to the woman next to her on the plane who was noticeably pregnant, when the other passenger saw a picture of my friend’s daughter she asked her if she had a difficult labor. What would you say if you were asked that question, no I’m really her father?

At a support group meeting once there was a woman crying that I had never seen at a meeting before and I thought she was a spouse of a member. When we did our check-in it turned out that she was in deep stealth and had transitioned over 30 years before and was married with adopted children. They went to buy a house and the credit check came back AKA John Doe and the husband wanted to know what that meant; when she told him he threw her out of the apartment, changed all the locks and filed for divorce.

So when I hear a trans-woman say that “I’m a woman” I think “really?” Would a woman have to think twice what say about childbirth? Would a woman have to think twice before saying that she was in scouting?

That is why I like what Lt Colonel Cate McGregor said, “A trans-woman living as a woman” and I would add that before I transitioned I was a trans-woman living as a man.

I don’t really care if you say “I am a woman.” But I would say ask yourself, really?

Not Everything Is Negative

All you hear on the news is how this minister condemns trans-people as perverts or a priest lobbies against an anti-discrimination bill calling it a “bathroom bill", but you usually don’t hear anything good about religion and trans-people.

Protestant group hires trans man as ED
Bay Area Reporter
By Chuck Colbert
August 1, 2013

An LGBT advocacy organization within one of the nation's foremost Christian denominations announced its new executive director, Alex McNeill, who, in making history, becomes the first openly transgender leader of a mainline Protestant group.

"I'm honored to join More Light Presbyterians, which has always been on the forefront of the Christian tradition of fostering acceptance for the most vulnerable among us," said McNeil, 30, in a press statement announcing his appointment, which takes effect later this month.
[…]
Within his denomination, moreover, McNeill worked to secure ordination equality for Presbyterians and celebrated that success by becoming the first openly transgender ministry candidate from his home presbytery in western North Carolina.

Just so you don’t think that this is like the outcast Catholic group Dignity, More Light Presbyterians is working within the Presbyterians church to bring about change…

It was in July 2010 when Presbyterian activists succeeded in dismantling a gay ordination ban – dating back to 1978 – during a meeting of the 2.1 million-member's general assembly, a gathering held in Minneapolis. There, the denomination's highest governing body voted to approve Amendment 10-A, which deleted language in the denomination's Book of Order that in effect barred the ordination of non-celibate gay candidates by requiring them "to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and woman or chastity in singleness."

There is change in mainstream religions, more and more are becoming accepting of LGBT people, yes, there still more religions that hate us than those that accept us but their numbers are shrinking. I like to say that our secret weapon in passing the gender inclusive anti-discrimination law and marriage equality was support we had from the religious community. For every religious leader who spoke out against us, there was a rabbi, priest or minister who spoke for us. We even had a bishop testify on behalf of the anti-discrimination bill. Just so you know, I don’t believe in organized religion, I believe it is more important on how you live your life and treat others than being a member of a church.

He Got That Right

We live in a patriarchal culture,” said Rushsam, who is a transgender woman. “So as a group, you are going to find gay men doing better than the lesbian community. And behind them, the trans community is lagging well behind the gay and lesbian community.”

This is not something that we didn’t know; being trans is not like being gay or lesbian, it is kind of obvious when you change gender and for trans-women the change in status is even more obvious.

The fragile financial world of transgender people: Costs of coming out
PennLive
By John Luciew
July 31, 2013

Want to feel the swift hand slap of discrimination and the sting of devastating economic consequences? Go from living your life as a man to coming out as a woman.

Perhaps no other group experiences the level of overt discrimination and direct adverse economic setbacks as do transgender people. And it all begins when they come out.

As John Luciew writes we live in a patriarchal culture and when a trans-woman transitions she gives up “his” male privilege and that is on top of discrimination of being transgender. For some it is too much to bear, some detransition and other go into depression and suicide.

The article then points out,

“We’ve seen a lot of transgender people who were making a very, very good living before they came out who lost everything,” said Goropoulos. “And not because they lost their skills overnight.”

I have a friend who have masters in computer science and could not find jobs in her field and I know of another person who has a PhD who cannot find work at her level of expertise.

John Luciew goes on to write that when trans-women do find jobs it is often for less money while trans-men usually find jobs that pay more. While that reflects what is seen in the general population; however, it is even more pronounced for the trans-population because of discrimination.

Why Should We Spend $1.35 Million To Study Trans-Servicememebers

…and take years of research, just go and ask Canada, Britain and Australia, "Hey can we borrow your manuals?" They seemed to have it figured out.

Research institute receives $1.35 million to examine transgender service in U.S. military
The Transgender Military Initiative will be the most comprehensive research project on transgender service to date
Salon
By Katie Mcdonough
July 31, 2013

The Palm Center, a California-based research institute that examined issues associated with the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for more than a decade, received a $1.35 million grant to study transgender service in the American military, according to a report from BuzzFeed.

The Palm Center’s Transgender Military Initiative, led by project director Indra Lusero, has commissioned 11 studies that will investigate “whether and how the U.S. armed forces could include transgender troops without undermining readiness.”
[…]
“This academic research will inform an important public conversation by providing facts and evidence about transgender military service and gender expression in armed forces,” Lusero told BuzzFeed. “Militaries around the world are updating their policies, and we are already conducting research in Canada, Britain and Australia to learn whether their trans-inclusive regulations have impacted readiness.”

Don’t forget there are no laws keeping trans-people from serving in the military. Even though I welcome the research initiative, I think there will be more studies and then follow-up studies, followed by more studies. I think this will be dragged out longer than DADT. I hope I am wrong, but in the meantime take a look at video about Lieutenant Colonel Cate McGregor in the Australian army.

I’m On My Way Home

I’m heading off into the sunset…

I have been up at the cottage for the last four day and now I am heading home. I leave you with this family portrait…

The little one was off on another part of the lake while mom and dad went fishing. There were two baby loons but one disappeared, according to the lake association website, “a bald eagle and osprey were viewed circling the lake” around the time of the chicks disappearance. Last year's loon census found a total of 492 adults, 17 immature loons and 73 chicks in New Hampshire.

Then we have this very, very big bird on the lake...

It lives down the other end of the lake in a cove and you can hear its mighty roar all the way up this end.

The New ENDA Coalition

There is a new coalition with a two million dollar war chest to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).

Advocates launch campaign to bar workplace discrimination against gays
Washington Post
By Juliet Eilperin
July 30, 2013

A coalition of civil rights groups is launching a $2 million campaign aimed at mobilizing support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which has languished on Capitol Hill for nearly two decades.

The coalition, called Americans for Workplace Opportunity, is targeting 13 senators in 11 states in hopes of replicating the strategy gay marriage advocates have used to push successful state ballot initiatives.

The effort includes gay rights groups such as the Human Rights Campaign and the GOP-leaning American Unity Fund, as well as the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and the Service Employees International Union.

The coalition is headed by Matthew McTighe who lead Maine’s marriage equality campaign and that is what worries me, that once again we will be tossed aside in order to get the bill passed. The coalition is heavily weighted with gay and lesbian marriage equality organization with only the National Center for Transgender Equality representing the trans-community.

I think the conservative opposition said it best,

Within the gay movement, Lafferty [Traditional Values Coalition President] argued, transgender people “are kind of like the crazy aunt at Thanksgiving. They put up with the crazy aunt at Thanksgiving, but they don’t want to be seen with her in public.”

Will we find a new set of tire tracks when ENDA comes up for a vote?

One Lovely Blog Award

How this "One Lovely Blog Award" works:

1. Add the “One Lovely Blog Award” image to your post
2. Share seven things about you
3. Pass the award on to seven nominees
4. Thank the person who nominated you and add a short blurb about them.
5. Inform the nominees by posting on their blogs

I received this award from Kwizgiver, she writes the blog “what if this is as good as it gets?” and is a high school social studies teacher in a town which is probably the northern most town in New England. We have been blog friend since I started my blog in 2006 and we started playing the same memes. She is an avid reader and enjoys knitting.

Seven Things About Me;

1. I am a romantic, I love happy endings.
2. I love photograph and when I have my camera in hand time stands still.
3. I am dyslexic, all my life I have been struggle trying to keep the letters from dancing around.
4. I am a Type 2 diabetic but I am able to control my blood glucose with a proper diet.
5. I would love to travel the U.S. but I doubt I will get to do it and I would like to travel the Maine coast in a windjammer.
6. I went back to college when I was 58 and got my master's in Social Work
7. I would like to teach. I am going to be a guest lecturer for a class in the fall and I am looking forward to teaching it again this year.

I am going to cheat and nominate the other blogs on Saturday.

Are We Blessed?

To continue today’s theme on religious, there was an opinion yesterday in the Bangor Daily News
Rev. Marvin M. Ellison asking are trans-people blessed.

Thank God for transgender persons and their families, who exemplify the amazing beauty of the divine creation in all its complexity and rich diversity.

It is a blessing to share community with our transgender sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, and fathers and mothers and to work alongside them to assure that each and every person, including each and every transgender person, has what they need and deserve: respect and a secure sense of personal dignity and worth, a fair share of resources, a life without fear, and the freedom to live in the world as one’s authentic self.

One thing that we often forget, not all religions have the same beliefs; we tend to lump all Christians together, all Jews together, and all Muslims together. However, in reality all the religions of the world have different sects within each religion with their own unique set of beliefs. Some sects are more tolerant, the Episcopal are more tolerant than Baptist, the Reform Jews are more tolerant than Orthodox Jews ad so on with the other religions.

The news media tends to blow religions out of proportion. When I read a the Hartford Courant when the Supreme Court ruled on DOMA the article interviewed LGBT activists and they interviewed an ultra-conservative religious organization; however, nothing was written from more moderate religious organizations. The article creates the us against them attitude, it created the impression that all religions are against LGBT rights.

The author in the opinion in the Bangor Daily News goes on to write,

As a Christian ethicist, I have often reminded seminarians and myself that it is wise, in the midst of social change, to slow down and avoid “premature clarity,” or what might be called rush to judgment. Before giving any kind of ethical evaluation, we ought to take the time to understand as fully as possible the reality before us, in this instance transgenderism. The best way to gain understanding is to listen to and learn from transgender persons.
[…]
Extending a respectful, hospitable welcome to transgender people and their families is fully in keeping with Jesus’ mandate to love thy neighbor. Standing within the prophetic tradition of his community, Jesus called for a new moral order constructed on the basis of biblical justice or the principle of right relatedness.

We hear “nature doesn’t make mistakes” from many conservative religious leaders and I agree because I am not a mistake. I believe that there was a purpose that there are gays, lesbians, bi and trans-people and it is what Rev. Ellison said, “keeping with Jesus’ mandate to love thy neighbor.” If we are all the same there it would be very easy to “love thy neighbor” but with diversity there is discrimination and it takes work to “love thy neighbor.” It takes work to love the black kid with a hoody walking through your neighborhood. It takes work to love a person in a wheelchair and it takes work to love a trans-person.

Is It A New Leaf?

Is it a new leaf or is it the same ol’ bull?

I am not anti-religion, I just don’t believe anyone has a right to tell me who I am or who I can marry. And now two religious leaders have softened their stance against LGBT people, the Pope softened the churches stance on gay priests and Pat Robinson said that being transgender is not a sin.

Time had this to say about the pope’s statement,

Pope Francis Says He Does Not Judge Gay Priests
His comments were short, subtle, but unmistakably direct: “If they accept the Lord and have good will, who am I to judge them? They shouldn’t be marginalized.”
By Elizabeth Dias
July 29, 2013

Today the Pope stated that he does not judge gays—a statement that will send shockwaves through the church. His comments were short, subtle, but unmistakably direct. “If they accept the Lord and have good will, who am I to judge them? They shouldn’t be marginalized,” he told reporters on his return flight from Rio de Janeiro to Rome. “The tendency [to homosexuality] is not the problem … they’re our brothers.”

The Pope also criticized journalists for reporting on allegations of homosexuality within the Vatican, saying those matters concerned questions of sin, not crimes, like the sexual abuse of children. He said when someone sins and confesses, God both forgives and forgets. “We don’t have the right to not forget,” he said.

But when you tell someone not of your faith who they can marry and who they can’t you are marginalizing them. I have no problem with you telling people of your faith who they can marry, but I have a very big problem when your priest lobby against marriage equality.

Pat Robinson said that he doesn’t condemn trans-people, but he “doesn’t understand that,”

Pat Robertson Says Being Transgender Is Not a Sin
The televangelist issued an unexpected response to a viewer's question about recognizing transgender coworkers as the gender with which they identify.
Advocate
BY Sunnivie Brydum
July 29 2013

On Sunday's episode of the Christian Broadcasting Network's question and answer forum, "Bring It Online" with televangelist Pat Robertson, the right-wing pundit had some surprising things to say about transgender people.
[…]
"But I think there are men who are in a woman's body," the 83-year-old former Baptist minister continues. "It's very rare, but it's true. Or women that are in men's bodies. And they want a sex change. And that is a very permanent thing, believe me, when you have certain body parts amputated, and you have shot up with various kinds of hormones, it's a radical procedure. I don't think there's any sin associated with that — I don't condemn somebody for doing that."

He goes on to say to the person who asked the question, “It's not for you to decide, or to judge,"

One More Time: US DOJ Agreement

I wrote about the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education agreement with the California's Arcadia School District twice before but not about higher education. The blog Inside Higher Education had this to say about the agreement,

Equal Access at All Levels
July 29, 2013
By
Allie Grasgreen

Last week's settlement between the U.S. Education Department's Office for Civil Rights and a California school district may have been issued at the K-12 level, but the newly clear message that federal laws prohibit discrimination based on gender identity applies to colleges too, experts say.
[…]
The settlement is also a first in that it deals with access to educational programs, facilities and activities -- which is really what Title IX is all about -- whereas the 2010 letter [the "Dear Colleague" letter] related more to school climate, harassment and bullying. The issue is not hypothetical; colleges report that they are enrolling more transgender students who are requesting various services and policies -- anti-bias rules, access to bathrooms, ability to join athletic teams -- and at some institutions, they haven't been satisfied with the response.

The author goes on to say what I said, while this in not a policy like the EEOC policy on employment discrimination it does show is that the Departments of Justice and Education believe that the laws do cover gender identity and expression and that the laws also cover sex-segregated facilities.

"It actually is groundbreaking," Erin Buzevis, the law professor at Western New England School of Law who runs the Title IX Blog, said in an e-mail. "By taking one such case, OCR signals its willingness to take similar cases in the future, and there's no reason to think those cases wouldn't also include college students."

The actual agreement between the U.S. DOJ & Ed also requires the Arcadia School District to provide training

Finally, OCR required the school district to hire a consultant with expertise in child development and transitioning youth to help address these issues and make sure the changes are thorough and lasting. Colleges might want to do something similar, Orr said.

Just remember that the Departments of Justice and Education agreement with the Arcadia School District is not a court order but an agreement between two parties and a court could have a different ruling or the next President could put an entirely different Attorney General and Commissioner with their own interpretation of the law. 

Thrown Under The Bus Again.

First the good news about marriage equality in Australia…

New South Wales gay marriage report pushing reform in other states
A report by a New South Wales state parliamentary committee that found that Australian states can make laws in regard to same-sex marriage may lead to same-sex couples being able to wed in South Australia and in the nation’s capital of Canberra
Gay Star News
29 July 2013
By Andrew Potts

South Australia may vote again on same-sex marriage, but this time it is likely Opposition MPs will be given a conscience vote on the issue – meaning the bill may pass.

Last week South Australian Opposition leader Steven Marshall told The Australian newspaper that he would allow his MPs a conscience vote on the issue if a New South Wales (NSW) state parliamentary inquiry found that states could legislate for same-sex marriage – and on Friday the committee did just that.

Now for the bad news…

NSW marriage equality bill excludes trans and intersex
Gay News Network
Author Cec Busby
29 July 2013

A NSW parliamentary report released on Friday saying state-based marriage law was not unconstitutional was cause for celebration amongst the LGBTI community, but when news surfaced that a new marriage equality bill would exclude trans and intersex, LGBTI activist groups were alarmed.

That is OK, just another set of tire track over our bodies.

The article goes on to state…

Community Action Against Homophobia immediately sent out a release condemning the marginalisation of trans and intersex people in the proposed bill.

CAAH Co-Convenor Cat Rose said “The exemption of trans and intersex people's rights shows they haven't shifted nearly far enough. Our campaign has been for full equality for everyone, we don't settle for concessions and we won't stand for this transphobia and the invisibilising of intersex people."

Um… did CAAH call for the bill to be voted down or pulled? Ah… no, but don’t worry we’ll come back for you.