10/19/09

TransEpiscopal powerful Christian Transgender Advocacy


From TransEpiscopal web site"... is a group of transgender Episcopalians and our significant others, families, friends and allies dedicated to enriching our spiritual lives and to making the Episcopal Church a welcoming and empowering place that all of us truly can call our spiritual home."

What have they done for transgender people who are not religious or prescribe to a different faith? TtansEpiscopal is significantly influencing perceptions, changing hearts and making the world a accepting place for all humans by personally involving themselves in politics and religion at this historic time.

It is extremely important that LGBT people recognize that yes, we have been unjustly discriminated against by the major religions for millennium, but this is changing. It is safe for your heart to venture back to faith.

The spirit entered my being one day with such a force that standing on my two feet at that moment was impossible. As I crumbled my transgender friends on ether side of me physically kept me from collapsing. I am both desperate for Christ and content in waiting for him. Amazing.

Maybe you have not experienced a moment like this yet, but I promise it is waiting for you in your LGBT church and you will be changed, forever.

On Line at TransEpiscopal.com

Jesus proclaimed;

"For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it."

-- Matthew 19:12

GLSEN Dallas Ally Week


Everyone needs allies.
And in school - whether it's teammates in sports, or just a friend at the lunch table - having allies improves every student's chances at success.For LGBT students, allies are harder to come by. Despite substantial societal progress, it probably won't surprise you that, by and large, it's still not safe to be gay in school. It's why thousands of LGBT or questioning young people endure silent suffering or risk harassment by being "out."It's also why GLSEN sponsors Ally Week every year: to call attention to - and increase the support for - LGBT young people who are living in fear and isolation.
Ally Week is October 19th - 23rd: Will you stand up for LGBT Students by signing our Ally Pledge today?

Since 2005 - When a small group of students on GLSEN's Jump-Start National Student Leadership Team came up with the idea - Ally Week has steadily grown. Ally Week now includes hundreds of thousands of participants who pledge their commitment to safe and effective schools for all and encourage students to take action. You can help it grow even more, by signing the pledge today.

Maybe you remember being lonely or afraid in school, or perhaps you know someone who was. Either way, this is your chance to provide critical support to thousands of young people struggling with their sexuality, gender expression or gender identity.I can't stress enough the great hope for the future students experience when they know that people like you are on their side. So, please sign up to be an ally and give that hope to thousands of LGBT students today.

Thanks for being an ally,

GLSEN Dallas

10/17/09

AC Cooper MEEM اندرسون 360 نساء ، والمدونين ومثليون جنسيا يؤدي التغيير في العالم العربي

Are you unafraid and fearless? LGBT people are the portal that the world may view it's self without the military's talking heads condemning each other and committing us to war.

Watch this and think. Decide.



"Bareed Mista3jil" will be launched by the Feminist Collective and IndyAct at Masrah Al Madina on Hamra Street, Beirut on Saturday, May 30, 2009 at 6pm. Selected stories from "Bareed Mista3jil" will be read in English and Arabic at the launch and the book will be available for sale for the first time. The event is open to the public. For more information, please email us onbook@bareedmista3jil.com or check the Facebook event page."

"Bareed Mista3jil" is a brave new book published byMeemin Beirut, Lebanon. The book, available in both English and Arabic versions, is a collection of 41 true (and personal) stories from lesbians, bisexuals, queer and questioning women, and transgender persons from all over Lebanon. The introduction to the book is a 30-page analysis of the general themes presented in the stories."

"What sort of diversities exist in human sexuality? How do bisexuals come out? What kinds of discrimination do lesbians face? How does it affect their self-esteem and their sense of community? What are their relationships with their families, friends, and each other like? How do people of different sexualities deal with religion and faith? Is it a struggle to identify as non-heterosexual? Or do people just know? Are there gender identities other than man and woman? How has life for lesbians in Lebanon changed over the past 10 years? Is emigration their only choice?"

"This long-awaited publication comes to dispel the myths surrounding these questions and to reveal a glimpse of the lives existing invisibly and silently in different Lebanese communities. The stories are about love, pain, identity, suffering, overcoming, and the intricate complexities of the human heart. And above all, these stories are about hope."

Meem On Twitter

Anderson Cooper اندرسون 360 نساء ، والمدونين ومثليون جنسيا يؤدي التغيير في العالم العربي


Meem is a community of Lesbian, Bisexual, Queer and Questioning Women and Transgender and Transsexual individuals in Lebanon.

10/16/09

Louisiana Justice Keith Bardwell refuses to marry interacial couple


"I am not a Racist", "I have piles and piles of black friends" and "they use my bathroom. Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, says it is his experience that most interracial marriages do not last long."

AP News "Bardwell said he asks everyone who calls about marriage if they are a mixed race couple. If they are, he does not marry them, he said."

Bardwell allows them to use the white bathroom. Very progressive.




10/13/09

ENDA S1584 Status as of October 13 2009


Inclusive Enda Facebook compiles and frequently updates Goggle Documents with a comprehensive breakdown of Representative and Senators history with a prognosis of there future vote.

US Senate ENDA Spreadsheet

Senators with Unconfirmed positions on the Senate version of ENDA, S1584

For updates from the Inclusive Enda Campaign please visit the Bilerico Project

NY Ponders Transgender Hate Crime Provisions Meanwhile WE Holla Back!

With the passage of a New York State hate crime bill that provided prosecutors a method of insuring more than a one day incarceration for perpetrators of violence against gay people, many including myself breathed a sigh of relief.

Unfortunately, those recently enacted laws do not cover violence intended to terrorize transgender people as a class . The result of passing gay only hate crimes laws has left transgender victims like Carmella Etienne (left) unprotected, since NY gender specific crimes are unreported resulting with criminals empowered and anonymous.

The The violence experienced by transgender people in New York is but one state in a country that left to its devices, leaves transgender people behind. How much harassment, how many beatings, how many deaths will go unreported as hate crime? How many transgender people will die before we are recognized as citizens that are targets in terror.

One New York grass roots initiative to end street harassment is seeking funds from the Knight Foundation.Hollaback is entered for a $100,000 grant to implement a system to photograph and text via cell a description of the incidence which will be offered to the public including maps detailing the occurrence and statistical data as to location.

You can Hollar Back in Texas; Holla Back Texas