8/18/08

Press Release Call On HRC (Human Rights Campaign) to employee Civil Response to Protest

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LEFT OUT PARTY ORGANIZERS JOIN BOSTON’S QUEERTODAY.COM, DALLAS’S TRANSGENDER ADVOCATES AND ALLIES, AND THE TEXAS GENDER ADVOCACY AND INFORMATION NETWORK TO DEMAND THAT HRC ADDRESS DISSENT AT FUTURE FUNDRAISERS WITH NON-VIOLENCE AND SAFETY PROTOCOLS

Contact:
Left OUT, Hale Thompson, 415.310.8569
QueerToday.com, Ethan St. Pierre, 978.518.1835
Texas Gender Advocacy and Information Network, Vanessa Edwards Foster, 832.483.9901
Dallas Transgender Advocates and Allies, Kelli Anne Busey 214.226.7080

AUGUST 15, 2008

A national coalition of LGBT organizations have come together in response to HRC’s disturbing pattern of enlisting potential force to address dissent within its own communities. In the wake of the ENDA debacle, HRC has demonstrated a reliance on force to address possible dissenters—LGBT ones-- at their gala fundraising events. In Houston last spring, HRC requested riot police for less than a dozen transgender and allied activists. In San Francisco, private security guards forcefully removed a dissenting attendee, Catherine Cusic.

Brutality and violence are unacceptable ways for any organization, let alone the largest LGBT human rights organization, to deal with dissent or even disruptiveness within its own communities. The incident inside the San Francisco HRC Gala dinner should be fully investigated and in the meantime, HRC should develop a set of protocols in anticipation of future confrontations with dissent that outline humane ways to address dissidence within and outside its events.

Dissent is a critical part of both the political process and political change and calling the police on or using force against fellow LGBT protesters to squash dissent is unacceptable. Clearly with HRC Galas planned for Boston, Minneapolis, Dallas and D.C. in the upcoming months, there will likely be protests, parties, and possibly disruptiveness from persons in our communities who feel excluded by or misrepresented by HRC, and HRC should be fully prepared to address them thoughtfully, humanely and peacefully.

The struggle for civil rights requires solidarity as well as dissent. If any organization should understand and respect that notion, it should be the Human Rights Campaign. Not everyone in our communities can afford to or even wants to enlist HRC in this movement. This coalition calls on our communities, and in particular, HRC, to approach our struggles for civil rights and full protections under the law non-violently and in solidarity.

8/15/08

Marriage of Susan Laurie and Julie Bruno

I revisit Sue and Julie's wedding to remember our wonderful church. The hooting and hollering is us, what a great day! BTW I dream of having a unofficial wedding just like this!

Dallas Voice :: View Points Crews Inn reaction disturbing, full of blanket statements

This letter was written by Jase Donaldson of Oak Lawn, Texas in response to letters published on Aug 8, 2008 and can be found in the Dallas Voice View Point Aug 15, 2008;

(On Aug 8, 2008) "Alejandro De La Garza wrote: “Gay men who make it a habit of dressing up like women are among the most obnoxious and disrespectful people I’ve ever met,” and “It’s also ironic that, while they champion being out and proud, they feel the need to adorn themselves with wigs and makeup and use fake names” (“Drag queens aren’t our perpetual torchbearers”).

Mr. Jase Donaldson responds;

"Blanket statements like these that are so off-putting and poorly thought out that, frankly, they’re akin to saying “All gay men are pedophiles.” And that’s surely something that outrages gay men (myself included) far and wide."...............=========================================

Kelli Busey adds her 2 1/2 cents

I am proud to be a sister of MR. Jase Donaldson. Your spirit strengthens our souls.

However.....

I was somewhat ashamed and chagrined by Mr. De La Garza's mean spirited letter. It is a hurtful thing when a member of your own community attempts to splinter and wound the GLBT people.

I was chagrined because I had originally appeared at the protest to support a part of our community that I do not identify directly with, drag queens.

Not that there is anything wrong with people who identify as Drag Queens, But as it turns out, the Dallas Voice's original article gave no clue as to who was the offended parties.

The offended parties are TRANSGENDER WOMAN.

I would also like to make perfectly clear, transgender people do not have any wish to invade the space of gay and lesbian people and even though my own sexual affinity is for both genders I identify as transgender because that is what I am.

I personally am extending an invitation to any and all who would like to witness or join our demonstration to come down to the Crews in at 10:00 pm.

Its a place for everyone. No exclusions.


Kenneth Zucker : Killer of our youth

You may never encounter evil personified more so than Kenneth Zucker. He is scheduled to speak in a venue that would allow him to communicate hate and bigotry to millions.

Click title for petition site
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Petition: Dr Kenneth Zucker - Royal Society of Medicine

We the undersigned wish to protest in the strongest possible terms against the inclusion of Dr Kenneth Zucker in the Royal Society of Medicine's conference on "Gender Identity Disorder in Adolescents" . We believe that his methods are harmful to young people and that his theories on transgenderism are both outdated and rejected by most of the psychological community as they are based on personal bias and flawed methodology. We respectfully ask that you replace him with a contributor to the conference who does not give such offence to the transgendered community.


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8/14/08

What Does Religion Teach Us?

Today I had the opportunity to reflect on the way religion teaches society to treat the GLBT community. For those of us within this outcast segment of society, this will come as no surprise, but for those who do not define themselves as a member of our community, I'm sure that this will either be a source of surprise that I could equate these seemingly disparate issues, or an outright denial.
What started me on this topic was a news release I read about the plea bargain in the murder of Amancio Corralles’ (a female impersonator in Yuma Arizona). Here is the case of Ruben Solorio, someone who stabbed and beat a person to death and then dumped the body. Ruben confessed to the crime, so it should be a no-brainer that he at least goes to jail for life right? No, in fact he isn't even facing murder charges. Not even manslaughter, he plead guilty to attempted manslaughter with aggravated circumstances, this for a man that has a violent criminal past. What was it about the case that caused such a light plea deal, was it a lack of evidence, some technicality? No, it had nothing to do with the strength of the case at all; it's all about the victim. The victim tricked him into thinking "he" was a "she", after all, shouldn't we all expect anyone to go into a rage over being "tricked" like this. Obviously, it was the victims fault, just like it's the rape victims fault for getting raped if she was dressed provocatively, right (sarcasm)? It's funny that society does it's best to keep us in the closet. Society finds us sick and even repulsive. Society says we are second class citizens, our lives aren't worth quite as much as those in the straight community, just like this case exemplifies. Is it any wonder that a transgender person isn't always forthright about themselves? Do all straight people tell everything about themselves at their first meeting? If I went into a rage because I was with a straight person that represented him or herself as a trans person, would it be more understandable if I killed him or her?

So now back to religion and what does this case have to do with religion? The views that many (not all) organized religions teach society is that all GLBT people are sinners, we are all immoral, we should not be afforded the same rights as a "moral" society just for who we were born to be. It is exactly these teachings, these exclusionary policies that are the reason society allows death to persevere in the GLBT society. Through the churches teaching of "morality", here is what it is promoting:

· 40% of the homeless youth living on the streets are GLBT, there because "moral" parents kicked them out.
· 30% suicide rates among gay and lesbian youth. Why would anyone want to continue living as the "abomination" they are taught that they are, knowing they will never be able to change?
· 50% suicide rate for transgender teens, for the same reason listed above. (These rates do tend to be cut in half for those that actually live through their teen years.)
· For some people, these same "moral teachings" lead them to shooting incidents like in Knoxville Tennessee, and violent murders like the one that killed Corralles'.

I don't want to give the impression that I don't believe in God, I am a practicing Christian and I am comfortable in my relationship with God. I am a transgender woman that is willing to face God's judgment of me when the time comes, knowing that I have done my best to make the world a better place. For all those people trying to live moral lives according to the religious principles that they learned from their church:

· Are you ready to tell God that you did your best to make the world a better place by ignoring the suicide rates of GLBT people because "they are sinners, so their lives don't really matter"?
· Are you ready to tell God that you made society better by excluding GLBT people from the basic rights afforded to straight people like same sex marriage? To tell him that by marginalizing all those "sinners", making it easier to discriminate against them, that the world is better off?
· Can you look upon God and tell him that "I rejected GLBT people just like the Bible told me to, I wouldn't look at them, I turned away from them and let everyone else know that are an abomination. I helped society reject and discriminate against them."

Anytime that GLBT people are excluded from any aspect of society, the people that took part in their exclusion told society that their lives don't mean as much. They told society that it's OK to reject them. It's OK for parents to kick their children out. It's OK that GLBT people kill themselves in large part because of the message these same people espouse. They even helped send the message of hate that causes incidents like the shooting at the Knoxville Unitarian Universalist Church. The same message of hate that caused a transgender woman in Greeley Colorado to be beaten in the head with a fire extinguisher until the killer "thought he killed it" but then when he heard a gurgling noise, so he hit "it" again. I always thought that the Bible was a book of learning, yet what I see in society is the Bible being used as a weapon again and again. When you practice your faith, when you decide how to treat others different than you, ask yourself if God really wants your actions to result in the death of many. Should you be their judge, or leave it to someone with a higher authority.

8/13/08

LAMBDA LEGAL and SAX FIFTH AVENUE


INVITE you for an evening of food, fashion and music.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
6:30 Cocktails and Light Bites by Screen Door Restaurant
7:30 Fall Evening wear Fashion Preview.

Galleria Mall Dallas Texas on level three in Sax Fifth Avenue

Please RSVP to Carla McKinzie at 214-219-8585
or
cmckinzie@lambdalegal.org

Lambda Legal is proud to be a beneficiary of the Black Tie Dinner