4/16/09

THERE IS NO EXCUSE NOT FOR NOT PROTECTING TEXAS SCHOOL CHILDREN



THERE IS NO EXCUSE NOT FOR NOT PROTECTING TEXAS SCHOOL CHILDREN

Click here to take action.

Bullying & harassment are not rites of passage; they are serious problems.

Children are being bullied to death.

When will the madness stop?

In 2007, the anti-bullying and anti-cyberbullying "Corinne's Law" was introduced in the Texas Legislature by Rep. Harold Dutton and supported by Equality Texas.

The bill died on the floor of the Texas House of Representatives for lack of action.

YOU can help stop the madness.

Urge passage of House Bill 1323 by Rep. Mark Strama.

Take Action. Ask your representative to vote FOR HB 1323. Help stop the madness.

Click here to take action.

Hey, That's The Wonderful Thing I Noticed! -- This Is How Community Is Supposed To Work! (+)

Cross posted with full permission from Autumn Sandeen from Pams House Blend. Thank you Autumn.

Hey, That's The Wonderful Thing I Noticed! -- This Is How Community Is Supposed To Work! (+)
by: Autumn Sandeen
Thu Apr 16, 2009 at 04:00:00 AM EDT
I was in a room in the courthouse today with good people from national and state organizations. We were talking about all of the organizations that have come together as a coalition to take on different responsibilities regarding the Angie Zapata Hate Crime Murder trial.
There was something that I'd noticed, and then another person in the room pointed out too. It dawned on me, and at least one other person in the room -- this is how broader community is supposed to work! Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender organizations, as well as transgender specific organizations, ally organizations, anti-violence organizations, and progressive organizations are working together with all their related, but different but connected mission statements (and specific competencies) to create a unified coalition.
So, I asked for a list of local and national organizations that are working together, and folk in the room pooled their knowledge of which organizations have worked in this coalition -- so, from their collective memories I'll list these organizations alphabetically (if we missed any organization, I apologize in advance):
Colorado Anti-Violence Program (CAVP) • Colorado State University Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Student ServicesDignity DenverGay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) • Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, And Transgender Community Center Of ColoradoGender Identity Center Of ColoradoGill FoundationLambda Community CenterNational Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) • ProgressNow Colorado
This isn't even indentifying the many individual community activists who have been working in this coalition.
As y'all know, my presence here is being coordinated and funded by ProgressNow Colorado.
And, as someone working within the scope of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender media this week, I would not have been able to do my job effectively here without GLAAD's Adam Bass, as well as the rest of the GLAAD's support. (The GLAAD Online Resource Kit alone has been of tremendous value to me, and wonderful to recommend to other new and legacy media outlet reporters.)
I've seen cooperation working here at the organizational roots. I've seen the Colorado Anti-Violence Program, GLAAD, and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, And Transgender Community Center Of Colorado working together to put out a single, daily press release instead of each putting out separate releases. I've seen the Gender Identity Center of Colorado and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, And Transgender Community Center Of Colorado agree to have a single person filling the position of Transadvocate. I've seen ProgressNow Colorado and GLAAD work together to develop a new media strategy.
And this is just what I can see. It's obvious that I don't see all of the work that this coalition is doing, but it's very clear there is an effective coalition in place.
To me, this is a model how broader community can work together to coordinate their actions where their mission and vision statements either overlap or run parallel, or their serviced populations overlap.
I just can't help but believe this is just how broader community is supposed to work together -- It's been just amazing to watch this from the outside looking in.
I guess I can consider taking my rose colored glasses off a bit now, as I see the concept -- the idealism -- of community actually embraced and realized here in Colorado; I haven't needed my rose colored glasses to see something wonderful.
Autumn Sandeen :: Hey, That's The Wonderful Thing I Noticed! -- This Is How Community Is Supposed To Work!
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Tamil Nadu : Forced Prostitution and Slavery In Exchange for Sex Change

By kelli Anne Busey April 16, 2009 planetransgender.blogspot

Tamil Nadu : Forced Prostitution In Exchange for Sexual Reassignment Surgery(SRS)

I published an article on Friday, March 13, 2009 Sex-change for Free : Tamil Nadu India . I was very impressed that a State in India, Tamil Nadu, in a country with a long history of suffering transgender people to the lowest station of society was doing what appeared to be a 180 Degree turn about by offering Sex-changes for free. Sexual reassignment Surgery(SRS) to transgender people is freedom but a very costly one that marginalized people worldwide could never afford, without help.

Ever since that article was published planetransgender had hundreds of inquiries about 'Tamil Sex' and not one inquiry about the State of Tamil Nadu or how to arrange the SRS operation.

The article below found on Chennai Online, India is exposing what amounts to sexual slavery benefiting from what by first blush would appear to be a wonderful selfless act by the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Who is the grim reaper? It is doubtful the transgender people who were just arrested for trafficking had the where with all to organize and carry out such an undertaking.

Is the state of Tamil Nadu India sponsoring and benefiting from sexual slavery of the very most vulnerable people in it's citizenry?

Found on Chennai Online,

"Chennai, Apr 15 Five transgenders wanted in connection with an inter-state human trafficking case surrendered before a city court here today, taking the number of arrested and surrendered transgenders in the case to 11."

"CB-CID ADGP Archana Ramasundaram told PTI that the five persons, wanted in connection with the case relating to conducting transgender surgery on a teenager and forcing him into prostitution, surrendered before a Magistrate court and were remanded to 15 days judical custody."

Full original article at chennaionline.comFive wanted transgenders surrender before court

Also on the web,

planetransgender Friday, March 13, 2009 Sex-change for Free : Tamil Nadu India

Indian Express.com Sex-change for free



Investigate Bush administration officials who authorized torture


As you may recall, the ACLU has been trying to get Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) memos that provided the legal basis for the CIA’s illegal torture program.

Tomorrow, April 16, a deadline set in our FOIA lawsuit, we may finally see the documents authored by then-OLC attorneys Steven Bradbury and Jay Bybee. The memos reportedly provided legal justification for the CIA’s use of enhanced interrogation methods — at black sites like the ones Abd Al-Rahim Hussain Mohammed Al-Nashiri was held in — that amounted to torture. The memos also reportedly provided legal cover for the CIA’s interrogation methods in anticipation of Congress’s expected effort to outlaw “cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment,” which it did in the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005, passed several months after Bradbury issued the memos.
In this new ACLU video, National Security Project Director Jameel Jaffer talks about why it’s so important for the Obama administration to live up to its promise of transparency by disclosing the memos.


If you haven’t already, please send a letter to Attorney General Holder. He’s taken the first step and signed-off on the release of the memos. Tell him now to appoint an independent prosecutor to investigate Bush administration officials who authorized torture.

ACLU Demands Tennessee Schools Stop Censoring Gay Educational Websites (4/15/2009)

Filtering Software Still Allows So-Called “Ex-Gay” Sites
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org
NASHVILLE, TN - As many as 107 Tennessee public school districts could be illegally preventing students from accessing online information about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues, according to a letter to sent to school officials by the American Civil Liberties Union. The letter demands that Knox County Schools, Metro Nashville Public Schools, and the Tennessee Schools Cooperative unblock the Internet filtering category designated “LGBT” so that students can access political and educational information about LGBT issues on school computers.
“When I found out about this web filtering software, I wasn’t looking for anything sexual or inappropriate – I was looking for information about scholarships for LGBT students, and I couldn’t get to it because of this software,” said Andrew Emitt, a 17-year-old senior at Central High School in Knoxville. “Our schools shouldn’t be keeping students in the dark about LGBT organizations and resources.”
In its letter, the ACLU gives the districts and the Tennessee Schools Cooperative until April 29 to come up with a plan to restore access to the LGBT sites or any other category that blocks non-sexual websites advocating the fair treatment of LGBT people by the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year. If that deadline is not met, the ACLU will file a lawsuit.
“Students at Knox County and Metro Nashville schools are being denied access to content that is protected speech under the First Amendment as well as the Tennessee state constitution,” said Tricia Herzfeld, Staff Attorney with the ACLU of Tennessee. “This kind of censorship does nothing but hurt students, whether they’re being harassed at school and want to know about their legal rights or are just trying to finish an assignment for a class.”
The Internet filtering software used by Knox County and Metro Nashville school districts blocks student access to the websites of many well-known national LGBT organizations, including:
Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG)
The Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN)
Human Rights Campaign (HRC)
Marriage Equality USA
Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry
The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)
Dignity USA (an organization for LGBT Catholics)
In its demand letter, the ACLU notes that websites that urge LGBT persons to change their sexual orientation or gender identity through so-called “reparative therapy” or “ex-gay” ministries – a practice denounced as dangerous and harmful to young people by such groups as the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Medical Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics – can still be easily accessed by students.
“One of the problems with this software is that it only allows students access to one side of information about topics that are part of the public debate right now, like marriage for same-sex couples,” said Karyn Storts-Brinks, a librarian at Fulton High School in Knoxville, pointing out that the software blocks access to organizations that support marriage for same-sex couples like the Religious Coalition for Freedom to Marry or the Interfaith Working Group while allowing access to organizations that oppose marriage equality. “Students who need to do research for assignments on current events can only get one viewpoint, keeping them from being able to cover both sides of the issue. That’s not fair and can hinder their schoolwork.”
“Public schools are supposed to be a place where students learn from the open exchange of ideas,” said Eric Austin, a senior at Hume-Fogg High School in Nashville, which also uses the filtering software. “How are we supposed to be informed citizens and learn how to have respectful debate when our schools rule out an entire category of information for no good reason?”
No federal or state law requires school districts to block access to LGBT sites. Tennessee law, Tenn. Code § 49-1-221, only requires schools to implement filtering software to restrict information that is obscene or harmful to minors. About 80 percent of Tennessee public schools, including those in the Knox County and Metro Nashville districts, use filtering software provided by Education Networks of America (ENA), and the software’s default setting blocks sites ENA categorizes as LGBT. The ACLU believes that most of the 107 Tennessee school districts that use ENA’s filtering software keep the LGBT category blocked. ENA blocks access to a wide category of “LGBT” sites described on the organization’s website as
Sites that provide information regarding, support, promote, or cater to one's sexual orientation or gender identity including but not limited to lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgender sites. This category does not include sites that are sexually gratuitous in nature which would typically fall under the Pornography category. Examples: glsen.org, gsanetwork.org, hrc.org
“When public schools only allow access to one side of an issue by blocking certain websites, they’re engaging in illegal viewpoint discrimination,” said Hedy Weinberg, Executive Director of the ACLU of Tennessee. “Over a hundred other school districts in Tennessee use the same filtering software used in Metro Nashville and Knox County, and we’re eager to find out whether any of those systems are also violating students’ Constitutional rights by restricting access to LGBT sites.”
Tennessee students, teachers, or school librarians whose schools use the ENA web filtering software and find that their access to LGBT websites is restricted are encouraged to contact the ACLU of Tennessee by phone at 615-320-7142 or by email at aclutn@aclu-tn.org.
Austin, Emitt, and Storts-Brinks are represented by Herzfeld, Chris Hansen and Catherine Crump of the ACLU First Amendment Working Group, and Christine Sun of the ACLU LGBT Project.
A copy of the ACLU’s demand letter is available at http://www.aclu.org/lgbt/youth/39346res20090413.html.

Wednesday 'Mini Statements' Open Andrade Murder Trial

Source 9News.com

"GREELEY - During the second day of jury selection, the prosecution and defense in the Allen Andrade murder trial gave a glimpse into how each side will proceed throughout trial."

"The prosecution [ Weld County Deputy District Attorney Brandi Nieto ] went first saying Andrade, 32, intentionally and deliberately murdered Angie Zapata, 18, on July 16, 2008. "

"You're also going to learn from the evidence that there's absolutely no evidence of any sexual activity occurring either on or around the time this murder was committed," Nieto said.

"Andrade's defense attorney, Annette Kundelius, followed saying Andrade did kill Zapata, but argued the murder was a crime of passion and doesn't rise to the level of first degree murder or a bias motivated crime. "

"When [Andrade] learned Angie was in fact Justin and was a male, he immediately reacted to that," she said. "He had been deceived and he reacted."

Complete original article at 9news.com
http://www.9news.com/rss/article.aspx?storyid=113868