Unified Support Needed For Employment Non Discrimination Act

In relation to a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act - ENDA, Missoula, Montana is the micro to the macro of the entire United States. This is the kind of unified support Transgender, Lesbian, Bisexual and Gay people hope to see from national organizations like the YWCA, the National Organization for Women - NOW and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People - NAACP. If all of the national organizations dedicated to the civil rights of women stood in solidarity behind ENDA, there would be no stopping it. In baseball parlance, you are on deck waiting to bat and do the right thing. Whether you hit a home run in support or strike out passively remains to be seen. Women's groups support proposed Missoula anti-discrimination law By KEILA SZPALLER of the Missoulian | Posted: Tuesday, March 30, 2010 9:45 pm Denouncing opponents for using a "scare tactic," a coalition of groups that support women declared wholehearted endorsement Tuesday of a proposed anti-discrimination ordinance for Missoula. The YWCA of Missoula's Caitlin Copple said the protections in the proposed law fit with the YWCA's mission to empower women and promote peace, justice, freedom and dignity "for all." "We feel that really means all people," said Copple, YWCA marketing and communications coordinator. "We know that there are lesbians and transgender people in the community, too, and we feel that they count." The YWCA of Missoula was among the organizations signing a letter of support sent Tuesday to the Missoula City Council. Other supporters are Montana Women Vote, Women's Resource Center, Montana Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, Blue Mountain Clinic, NARAL Pro-Choice Montana, Planned Parenthood of Montana, Women's Opportunity and Resource Development Inc., and American Association of University Women-Montana. "As organizations that are dedicated to the rights, safety and full participation of women throughout Missoula and Montana, we are proud to announce our public support of the Missoula Non-Discrimination Ordinance," reads the letter. The proposed legislation would ban discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered folks in areas of employment, housing and public accommodations such as restaurants and hotels. The ordinance, slated for a public hearing April 12 in City Council Chambers, would be a first for Montana but one of roughly 130 similar local laws across the country. The law would protect transgender folks, who are transitioning from one gender to the other or who consider themselves "gender queer." And such protections are warranted, according to a 2009 national study. The group is subject to high rates of poverty and "significant housing instability," according to a study sponsored by the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Results noted that many people who are transgender had to temporarily find different places to sleep, move back in with family or friends, or be evicted. It linked the negative outcomes for transgender people to "challenges they face in employment." "A large percentage of our sample reports experiencing housing insecurity due to their gender identity, with almost one-fifth becoming homeless because they are transgender," reads part of the survey, posted at MissoulaRedTape.com. The preliminary findings in the summary counted double the rate of unemployment for people who are transgender compared with the overall population. The report noted data came from 6,456 questionnaires. A band of mostly anonymous groups called NotMyBathroom.com came out last week against the ordinance, mostly due to fear the law would give sexual offenders license to attack women and children in public restrooms. Chairman Tei Nash said last week he would provide the list of members when he returned to Missoula but he declined to do so Tuesday. "After I said that, some of the groups came to me," Nash said. "They said if they wanted to address anything in a public sense, they would do that themselves, and they would prefer to stay anonymous." He said sexual predators are going to use the ordinance as a mask to enter women's restrooms. Nash said those who stop them will be subject to lawsuits and he called for more public feedback on the draft legislation. "We've got to work through this. This is too dangerous," Nash said. On its Web site, the group notes it aims to defeat the proposal. The letter from the women's groups blasted NotMyBathroom.com for spreading misinformation about the ordinance, posted online at Missoulian.com. "The purpose of the Missoula Non-Discrimination Ordinance is to protect Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Transgender people from discrimination within Missoula city limits, just as people of color, people of faith, and other historically mistreated groups are protected under current state and federal laws," reads the letter. "It does not alter an individual's privacy and safety expectations when it comes to public restrooms. Notmybathroom.com's claim that this bill will make public bathrooms, locker rooms, etc., less safe for women is a deliberate scare tactic. Any individual who enters a women's bathroom to harass or attack women would find no protection in this ordinance." Councilors Dave Strohmaier and Stacy Rye are sponsoring the ordinance in Missoula, and it's backed among other groups by the Montana Human Rights Network, the ACLU of Montana and Forward Montana. Reporter Keila Szpaller can be reached at 523-5262, keila.szpaller@missoulian.com or on MissoulaRedTape.com. ORIGINAL ARTICLE

---

France Removes Transsexual People From The Stigma Of Being Disordered

France is taking the lead on this sensitive issue. It is time the Transgender community stops waffling on this issue. Gender Identity Disorder, as such, needs to be removed from the DSM in the upcoming revision. As for insurance coverage, this is a moot point anyway. A person's employer pays the premiums and decides what will be covered. Health insurance companies do what they are told to do by the policyholder - the employer. Obviously, France has recognized this and offers Gender Confirmation Surgery to eligible candidates. France Destigmatizes Transsexualism March 31st, 2010 at 9:30 am by Erin Rook France became the first country in the world to remove transsexualism from its list of mental disorders last month, according to the Sydney Star Observer, following last year’s announcement of that intention by France’s Minister of Health, which paralleled the launch of a campaign petitioning the World Health Organization to do the same. This development comes as the American Psychiatric Association (APA) considers revisions to the fifth edition of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). The manual currently refers to transgender identity as “gender identity disorder,” a designation many transgender organizations reject as stigmatizing, according to the APA. On the other hand, some transgender advocates in the United States have expressed concern that stripping transgender identity of its status as a disorder to could prevent health insurance companies from covering gender-related healthcare, such as hormone treatment and gender reassigment surgery. This does not seem to be the case in France, where such procedures are covered by the state. However, while gender-related healthcare seems more accessible, the country has strict standards for changes in gender identification. Transgenders must complete surgery to the point of being sterile in order to be recognized as their post-transition gender. ORIGINAL ARTICLE

---

Transgender Awareness Challenges The Oppressor

Today is the International Transgender Day of Awareness. This is a great day to proudly wear your Transgender colors. Why? It takes the demon out of the person. By being visible, it makes others aware Transgender people are people trying to live an authentic and equal life not chosen and yet celebrated. Transgender awareness takes the power away from the oppressor - those individuals and organizations who hold their privileges as sacred. The oppressor will use any means available to protect their privileges including appealing to raw emotion unsubstantiated by any fact. As with all oppression, baseless fear tactics, i.e. loss of religious freedom and unsubstantiated opinions, i.e. lifestyle as a choice are being used to distort the issue at hand of non-discrimination towards Transgender people. The Congressional vote on the Employment Discrimination Act - ENDA will be sometime mid-April. The final version of the bill is yet to be seen but it appears it will be fully inclusive of Transgender, Lesbian, Bisexual and Gay people. If the bill is not fully inclusive, it is not acceptable. Basic human rights guaranteed by the US Constitution are at stake. Daddy always taught me that it is wise to know what the opposition - in this case, oppressor - is doing. Group Starts Campaign Against 'Transgender' Bill Congress may soon be considering legislation that would force schools and business to hire transgendered employees, including teachers. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act would require every state and local government and business with 15 or more employees to employ and affirm transgendered people. Already there is stiff opposition to the measure. The Traditional Values Coalition has launched a campaign to derail the bill, believing the legislation restricts religious freedoms and is harmful to children "Students will be indoctrinated that 'alternative lifestyles' are no different than traditional lifestyles," the group states on its Web site. "And you will have no say in the matter." Andrea Lafferty, executive director for the Traditional Values Coalition, appeared on the CBN Newschannel's Midday program to talk more about this bill. Click play for her comments. ORIGINAL ARTICLE

---

NYC Transgender Woman Found Murdered

Amanda, Rest In Peace! Transgender woman Edelbuerto Gonzalez-Andujar found dead, naked in ransacked apartment BY MICHAEL J. FEENEY AND JOHN LAUINGER DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS Wednesday, March 31st 2010, 4:00 AM A transgender woman was found dead in her ransacked Queens apartment on Tuesday, her naked body sprawled across the bed, police said. Edelbuerto Gonzalez-Andujar, 29, who lived as a woman and went by the name Amanda, had not been heard from since Friday. Her friends got her landlord to let them into her Glendale apartment around 4 p.m. Tuesday. "We found her on her bed. She was naked," said Barbara Vega, 35, of Bushwick, Brooklyn. "Everything in the apartment was destroyed. All her Marilyn Monroe pictures were destroyed." Police said the medical examiner will perform an autopsy to determine the cause of death. Vega, who believes Gonzalez-Andujar was slain, said she had tried in vain to reach her friend since spending time with her on Friday. "She never had any problems with anybody. She was full of life," she said. "We need to know who did this to her." Gonzalez-Andujar's friends wailed as her body, covered in a black plastic bag, was taken out of the 62nd St. building yesterday. Stephanie Lopez, 19, said she was returning home from school when she saw one of the "hysterical" friends lunge for the gurney that carried Gonzalez-Andujar's body. Lopez recalled that another woman screamed: "No! Why, Amanda? Why?" Lopez said detectives asked her whether she had heard sounds of a struggle or screams coming from Gonzalez-Andujar's first-floor apartment on Saturday. Vega said Gonzalez-Andujar's laptop was missing from the apartment. She said cops told her they were analyzing surveillance video taken from inside the building showing a man whose face was difficult to make out. "We need to know who did this to her," Vega said, recalling a vacation to Jamaica the two had taken in happier times. jlauinger@nydailynews.com ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Enuff Said About "Ticked Off Trannies...."

This is good news. Israel Luna has conceded to changing the trailer of "Ticked Off Trannies..." My major objection to the marketing of this film was the Transploitation of murder victims Angie Zapata and Jorge Mercado. At this point, I do not plan on seeing the movie or saying much more about it. The reality is the film will be shown at the NYC film festival but not much more can be said or done without giving the film far more publicity than it deserves. What is the return on investment for further beating on the subject? The answers are big profits for Israel Luna and self-promotion for would be activists who do not know when to disengage. Director of Transgender Film Will Change Its Trailer By DAVE ITZKOFF The director of “Ticked-Off Trannies With Knives,” a movie planned for the Tribeca Film Festival that has set off a war of words before being screened there, said he would amend its trailer so that it would not refer to real-life victims of violence. In an e-mail message, Israel Luna, who wrote and directed the film, said he was inspired to create the movie “in part by the hate crimes against the trans community.” He said he included references in his trailer to Angie Zapata, a transgender woman who was beaten to death in Colorado in 2008, and Jorge Mercado, a gay teenager who was murdered in Puerto Rico in 2009, “to give a disturbing reality to my film about transgender violence.” “After listening to some of the voices in the trans community,” Mr. Luna said, “I’ve decided to remove those references from the trailer.” He added: “It seems that the association between their brutal stories and the revenge/thriller content of the film in its entirety has been difficult to connect.” A listing for the movie on the tribecafilm.com Web site had drawn angry comments, and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation had sought the movie’s removal from the festival, saying, “The film, its title and its marketing misrepresent the lives of transgender women and use grotesque, exploitative depictions of violence against transgender women.” ORIGINAL ARTICLE

---

LGBTransgender Activists Must Make A Decision

Transgender, Lesbian, Bisexual and Gay activists have to make some decisions on how they will proceed with creating equality based on three options. They can chose to join the oppressor and try to create change from inside the system. This is exactly what the oppressor wants. Regardless of the purest intentions, the oppressor buys out the activist. Minimal bones are thrown to the oppressed. The activists become complacent in their positions and soon forget their Raison d'être. They become ineffectual. Activists can chose to fight fire with fire. They can engage the oppressor through violent attacks. This again has proven to be futile. The oppressor is always stronger and will meet violence with more overwhelming violence to crush the oppressed and their cause. This leaves the activist with the final option of peaceful non-resistance. Non-resistance does not imply passivity or doing nothing. Non-resistance is the tried and true method to overcome the oppressor by doing the right thing. Mahatma Gandhi used peaceful non-resistance to overcome the British, imperialistic oppressors. Dr. Martin Luther King and the Black civil rights movement used peaceful non-resistance most effectively to overcome their racist oppressors. If Transgender, Lesbian, Bisexual and Gay activists chose to do more than to rely on those organizations making deals with the oppressor behind closed doors in their names, they must use peaceful non-resistance to overcome our transphobic and homophobic oppressors and peacefully forcing our oppressors to do the right thing by giving us freedom and equality. Making them do the right thing Sherry Wolf, author of Sexuality and Socialism: History, Politics and Theory of LGBT Liberation, says that the LGBT movement for equality is ready for a new step forward. March 30, 2010 IN THE months since the National Equality March, when more than 200,000 people marched in Washington, D.C., in October 2009, the LGBT movement has experienced some disorientation. Believing that progress was imminent because of President Obama's speech expressing solidarity with the struggle for civil rights the night before, some assumed their mobilizing work could pause and wait for the results to roll in. Surely, many felt, at least the costly "don't ask, don't tell" policy in the military, which has led to the dismissal of more than 420 gay and lesbian servicepeople in the last year alone, would be repealed amid two wars and occupations. Of all the reforms around LGBT issues, this one seems like a no-brainer. The last Gallup poll on this issue shows that 69 percent of all Americans approve ditching this butter-churn of a social policy. Even 58 percent of Republicans think gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve openly while acting in the interests of oil and empire. Gen. Colin Powell, the former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who advocated the policy in 1993 under Bill Clinton, has called for its repeal, as have the current Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chair Adm. Michael Mullen. And yet the best the Obama administration has been able to muster is a new policy against anonymous outings--supposedly a more humane way of implementing "don't ask, don't tell." What gives? The fact remains that without continued mass pressure from movement activists, we aren't going to see significant gains for LGBT people. It's a conclusion that ever-larger numbers of activists are drawing. In March, nearly 300 activists gathered in Chicago for the first of the regional gatherings for the national grassroots network Equality Across America (EAA). Around 400 more attended a similar conference in Boston, where issues of history, strategy and tactics for LGBT activists and their allies were hammered out. After the Chicago conference, more than 100 people joined a national EAA conference call to share ideas and plot local actions, including civil disobedience, for the Harvey Milk Day week of actions--beginning with International Day Against Homophobia on May 17 and ending with the anniversary of Milk's birthday on May 22. When it was announced in early March that repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" would be put off at least until the end of the year, rather than being a setback for the movement, activists were outraged and remotivated. Lt. Dan Choi, a West Point graduate and Iraq war veteran who outed himself on the Rachel Maddow show last year, chained himself to the White House fence in protest with two others, and was arrested. On the same day, a handful of activists with GetEqual sat in and were arrested in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office, demanding passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. A week after his arrest, Choi was back on Maddow's show, rightly dismissing the meager tweaks to the military's policy, designed to cover for the fact that "don't ask, don't tell" is still in place. "It misses the point entirely," Choi said. "It enforces closetedness and shame and lying and deception...The ball is still in his [Obama's] court, and we need to see action...I am somebody and I deserve full equality." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - THE LGBT blogosphere, EAA's conferences and Facebook are buzzing with talk of how to ratchet up the pressure on Obama and Congress. Sixteen months after the passage of Prop 8's denial of marriage equality in California that inspired this "Stonewall 2.0" movement, activists are impatient and ready for bold action. Drawing on the great tradition of the Black civil rights struggle, many LGBT activists see civil disobedience as a next step. I am among them. Not because I believe that getting arrested is the gold standard of activism. Our goal, after all, is not breaking the law, but winning our demands. In fact, there are many committed militants whose immigration status, job or family circumstances would make arrest a sacrifice far beyond the usual 24-hour (or less) inconvenience it is to many of us. Rather, the reason is that there are now hundreds of LGBT people and straight allies living in dozens of cities who are now in a position to coordinate mass civil disobedience actions on the same day, which can push aside the foot-dragging approach of the administration. Full federal equality--in essence, getting LGBT people added to the protections of the Civil Rights Act of 1964--is a winnable demand in a society where a huge majority of people finds continued official discrimination an artifact of a bygone era. Since 2008, 89 percent of Americans polled by Gallup believe that LGBT people should not be discriminated against on the job, yet it remains legal to fire someone for being gay, lesbian or bisexual in 29 states--and in 38 states, to fire someone for being transgender. This contradiction should be pushed into the public eye, and Barack Obama and the Democratic Congress should be forced to act as if they, too, dwell in the 21st century, along with the rest of us. As with the Black struggle, civil disobedience must be viewed as one tool in our battle for equality, alongside mass marches, speak-outs, rallies and educational events. It's a tool most effectively wielded, in my opinion, when coordinated with others to ensure solidarity actions, bail money, media and support. Martin Luther King's 1963 nonviolent campaign in Birmingham to "fill up the jails" in order to end segregation ultimately succeeded. He wrote from jail: We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor, it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct-action campaign that was "well timed" in view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now, I have heard the word "wait!" It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This "wait" has almost always meant "never." We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that "justice too long delayed is justice denied." We are now approaching the 41st anniversary of the Stonewall rebellion in Greenwich Village, a time when being gay was illegal and being out of the closet was a perilous act of brave rebellion. The stigma, legal limbo and soulless discrimination against those who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender cannot be buried so long as the federal government sputters and delays. Let's force them to do the right thing. ORIGINAL ARTICLE

---

Proud To Be Transgender

Sometimes, it is hard to see the trees through the woods. Let's not forget wonderful things for Transgender people are happening all over the world. Transgender people are coming together to take care of each other by providing support and encouragement. Tomorrow, March 31st is the International Transgender Day of Awareness. If you have nothing planned in your area, call a Trans friend or better yet a cisgender friend and tell them something positive about Transgender people in your life. Make it a point to be proud of being a beautiful Transgender person doing amazing things. Transgender Latinas Organize at City College By: Rosa Ramirez March 30, 2010 – 4:12 am Andrea Flores recalls getting stares and muffled comments by Latinos when she walked across the City College of San Francisco’s Mission campus. “They would look at me and they would laugh,” said Flores, a shy, soft spoken, slim transgender woman with long flowing hair. “They would say, ‘there goes a joto,” she added, describing the derogatory Spanish slang word used to describe a gay man. Flores and her friend Juanita Martinez, who is also transgender, decided to combat the homophobia that exists the immigrant Latino community with open discussions – ones they would have to create. On Saturday, 28 people—the majority of them Latino and Spanish speaking—attended the second meeting of the TransLatinas, a new club at City College’s Mission campus. “We’re a group of people who are constantly being attacked by the heterosexual community. I’m tired of it. The attacks I suffer are mostly from the Latino community here in the Mission,” said 47-year-old Brenda Oliveira, a native of Mexico. The goal of the group is two fold: to encourage transgender Latinas to take advantage of English, computer, or certificate programs at City College and to educate the straight Latino community about transgender and GLBT issues. “When you see a transgender person, don’t judge them. Get to know then. You’ll see we’re like everyone else. We’re nice people. We’re friendly,” said Martinez. Transgender people often face barriers ranging from discrimination in obtaining employment to suffering violent attacks from strangers. This can even be more so in an isolated, Latino community. Gamariel Hernandez, who is from Chiapas, the southern state in Mexico, described being hit by a gang member simply for being gay. “This beautiful scar right here was thanks to a gang member,” he said pointing to a side of his face. But things in Latin American appear to be changing. Brazil, Colombia and Mexico have launched media campaigns against homophobia. Last year, Mexico City’s legislature approved gay marriage—the first such law in Latin America. People can also adopt and receive government benefits for couples under the new law. “My respects go to the people in Mexico City because now gay people can marry,” one attendee, who self-described as being “in the closet,” told the group. Participants talked about how to regain self-esteem, how to handle negative comments, and where to seek help when they’ve been discriminated against. They also talked about upcoming projects, including the participation in Miss TransLatinas, a beauty pageant, and setting up skills workshops where one member leads a class how to cutting hair or do basic carpentry, for instance. Flores said she left school at 15 because her classmates constantly badgered her. And she doesn’t want others to forgo an education because they feel isolated or rejected in school. “I returned to school two years ago. I regret not having returned earlier,” Flores told the group. “You should not waste time. Take advantage of computer and English classes.” ORIGINAL ARTICLE

---