Trans Woman Sanam Fakir Running In Pakastan's First Peacefull Political Transition

Breaking the Begging Bowl.

Apropo of the social change in Pakistan where democracy has previously has been just out of reach Sanam Fakir, a transgender woman is running for office.

"It is not our destiny to merely dance for others and hold begging bowls. We have a life to live," Sanam Fakir, 32, told AFP by telephone from the town of Sukkur, about 800 kilometres (500 miles) southwest of Islamabad.

The elections will be for the national parliament and provincial assemblies.

Running as an independent in Sukkur, which is traditionally dominated by the main ruling Pakistan People's Party and which has a tiny transgender community, Fakir's chances are slim of winning a seat in the Sindh provincial assembly.

"We are not corrupt. We have no need to be corrupt. We have no families and our own needs are limited. We are contented people," Fakir told AFP.

This is not the first time Sanam Fakir has made strives to raise our community up in Pakistan where discrimination is so extreme. Previously she bought three old computers and runs a learning center for our family in her house.

Sanam Fakir is truly a inspiration and remarkable leader of the transgender community to emulate. Regardless of the outcome of the election  Sanam Fakir is already a winner.

Fratenity Brothers Raising Money For Prospects Top Surgery

Emerson College Chapter of Phi Alpha Tau fraternity is raising money to fund a prospect's top surgery. From the Indiegogo fund raising site:

"We are a group of individuals brought together through our fraternity and we are here for one reason: to support the brothers of our organization. Yesterday we were informed that one of our prospective brothers, a transgender female to male, was denied the opportunity to recieve financial support from his insurance for top surgery."

"We are now trying to raise that money for him. We are doing this as individuals in an organization rallying around another individual. This endeavor is not being sponsored by the organization as a whole, rather the active members within it."

"We care deeply about each and everyone, and rely on the entire active brotherhood to stand behind any one individual when they are in need."



Read more at Gay Star News.

Trans ICE Detainees: Our Acquiescence Condemns Them To Be The Forgotten

The video is of Ms Bamby Salcedo of the Trans Latina Coalition presenting at the 2013 LGBT Journalist Conference in Philadelphia February 2013. Ms. Salecdo came to the United States seeking nothing more than what everyone here desires, freedom to live her life authentically.

What she found was alienation, poverty and sexual assault at the hands of the people who entrusted with the safe guarding of our borders. When I asked Bamby how it is that she has become a Transgender aids activist addressing this room of journalists today she replied " because she was a empowered woman, even back then, the system was forced into giving her a chance releasing her from incarceration and deportation.



I then asked Bamby what we could do as journalists to get the stories of  the trans people who are currently held by ICE published. She explained with sadness in her voice that most trans woman in ICE detention are too scared to tell their stories out of fear that might further jeopardize there chances at remaining in the United States. Further more she explained we wouldn't be allowed to visit them in the first place.

So is this the fate these woman who passed under Lady Liberty who in reality is transgender? Are we to remain silent?

The original Statue of liberty, some would argue, was a statue of the Greek Titian Colossus commissioned by the Egyptian goverment with decidedly male features.

The New Colossus, Emma Lazarus's Sonnet found on the base of Lady Liberty, is about the transition of Ms Liberty who's roles changed from warrior to welcomer and from male to a female transgender woman.

Transpanic Parody "know the materials" Sushi Advert With English Subtitles

This sushi "Gin No Sara" commercial suggests that a trans woman's romantic interest was about to be fooled since he didn't "Know the materials". Its viral subliminal transphobic message is deeply appealing to the targeted audience.



You can't spoof a cowards excuse he might try to use when charged with murdering a transgender woman. It's about as funny as a rape joke.

TLDEF Invite: Watch our Clients on "Katie" Febuary 26

"Please tune in to Katie on Tuesday as TLDEF clients Coy, Jeremy and Kathryn Mathis, and executive director Michael Silverman discuss our latest case." ~ Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund

From the show's website:

"Trapped in the Wrong Body: Growing Up Transgender"

"What do you do when your child feels like they were born in the wrong body? On this episode of Katie, you’ll hear the deeply personal stories of three transgender children and their parents, and their journeys to understand the psychological, physical, and social process to become their authentic selves.

Meet Coy Mathis, a transgender girl who at only six-years-old is fighting alongside her parents for the right to be fully recognized as a girl in school. Katie will explore how medical advances are being used earlier and more safely to change the biological process of puberty, and she will introduce a beautiful woman who struggled for her father’s acceptance and has an important message about gender identity."

Click here to find a station that carries Katie near you.

Lauree Hayden SEIU Staffer Speaks About LGBTQ-labor Intersectionality

Lauree Hayden a Service Employees International Union(SEIU) Staffer presented at the 2013 LGBT media conference explaining why it's important for LGBTQI writers to cover union issues.

First thing Lauree did was to ask to see a show off hands of how many of us had ever been union. Approximately 30 of the 60 or so in attendance raised theirs hands including me. Lauree then asked how many of us currently belonged to a union and all but a smattering including myself lowered our hands.

I was fired from my first job after beginning transition at Walmart after "Our Walmart" organizers entered the store a month earlier. Seemingly a non issue at the time to me I told the store manager, in a meeting he asked for, that I once belonged to the Teamsters and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. I wasn't concerned partly out of a misplaced sense of loyalty to the store that had hired me when no one else would and after all hadn't I had just received my third year review indicating I was doing a good job?

I should have been worried.

I was fired a few months later after they continually demanded that I do a job they were fully aware was beyond me physically to do. That was just a cover as they ended up quickly firing most of the other employees who were present or even employed at the times the organizers had entered the building.

I like untold thousands of Walmart employees were fired because we  once had been or were suspected of having union affiliation even if it was years in the past. The rich are that scared of us organizing and demanding a fair share.

The truth is as the rich continue to profit at our expense at ever increasing percentage while we continue to make less in respect to what we made twenty years ago. Union breaking is and continues to be a leading tool of the one percent as evidenced by the lack of Union members present at our LGBTQI media conference.



Truly union, Cis-labor, and transgender people are meeting at the intersection of poverty, homelessness and despair. The LGBT media has a obligation to publish the map that will help guide our way back.