870 Market Street, Suite 400 San Francisco, California 94102
(415) 865-0176 |
What will it take to transition California into a state where all gender identities and expressions are valued and respected?
Through the advocacy of countless community members and organizations, California boasts the country's most comprehensive set of trans-inclusive non-discrimination laws. Transgender and gender non-conforming people are legally protected from discrimination in work and housing (the Fair Employment & Housing Act), public accommodations (the Unruh Act), schools (the School Safety & Violence Prevention Act, among others) and even insurance coverage (the Insurance Gender Non-Discrimination Act). Anti-trans hate crimes are covered in the state's penal code, and so-called "panic" strategies are not permitted to influence the outcome of criminal trials (thanks to the Gwen Araujo Justice for Victims Act).
TLC is proud of these legislative victories that so many of us fought so hard to secure over the last decade. Yet it feels like our work has just begun.
Even with good laws, transgender Californians experience pervasive barriers to discrimination-free jobs, healthcare, housing, and schools. Transgender Californians are twice as likely to live in poverty and be unemployed than others in the state. One in five of us have been homeless since transition, and many have been turned away from social services and shelters when we needed them the most. And violence continues to plague a disproportionately high number our gender non-conforming students and community members. In recent weeks, a transgender student at CSU Long Beach was brutally attacked in a campus restroom; San Diego activist Autumn Sandeen was harassed by U.S. Marshalls and Park Police after engaging in a political action against Don't Ask Don't Tell in Washington, DC; and conservative ideologueshave engaged in hateful rhetoric about transgender teachers in order to scuttle the proposed Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
Enough is enough. We must come together as trans people and allies to create a state--and a nation--where we can all thrive.
I hope you will join me for the 5th Annual Transgender Leadership Summit as we discuss the future of transgender rights, and build the skills and strategies we need to succeed as a movement for LGBT and gender equality. Following the Summit, we will descend on the Capitol in Sacramento for the first Transgender Advocacy Day on May 17th to educate our policymakers about the need for programs that promote education, safety, jobs and health for our community.
And you can still make change happen even if you are not able to join us in Sacramento! Get involved in your local community! Educate your friends, families and colleagues about transgender lives! And PLEASE call TODAY to urge Speaker Pelosi and Representative Miller to move the Employment Non-Discrimination Act to a vote ASAP.
Together, we can--and we will--make a better California.
In Solidarity, Masen Davis Executive Director |
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Please spread the word
to your friends/family/colleagues
in the SF/Bay Area:
Transgender Explained For Those Who Are Not
Joanne Herman
7pm Friday April 30th
Location is wheelchair accessible.
There will be a drawing
to give free books away
to 5 audience members! |
Call to move ENDA to a vote TODAY!
Please call BOTH Speaker Pelosi and Representative Miller's offices and urge them to move the Employment Non-Discrimination Act to a vote ASAP!
Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House
(202) 225-4965
Representative George Miller, Chairman of the Labor and Education Committee (202) 225-2095
Also ask YOUR representative to support ENDA being called for a vote!
Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121, give the operator your zip code and ask to be connected to your representative.
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