6/15/13

Kelli Busey's 55 Vblog Much Ado about Nothing

Hey all, it's kelli Busey blogger at planetransgender. If you actually watch this video without falling asleep, wow, awesome! I wanted to reach out in the most personal way I could on my birthday and connect with you to say thank you for reading planetransgender.



You made it! Quick change the channel before the video rewinds!

6/14/13

Social Security Administration (SSA) No Longer Requiring Surgery or BC for Gender Marker Change!

I went to the Texas SSA office on a hot Friday August afternoon in 2007 on a mission. My terminal manager was getting pressure from the main office to correct a discrepancy in an employees records. My record. I am a MTF whose gender was unrecognized by the SSA. Within a month his requests had turned into a demand. I had to get the SSA to stop sending the payroll department gender"no match" letters or risk losing my job.

I had been able to change everything except my birth state, Ohio, does not amend or reissue birth certificates for transsexuals. Since I was pre op and couldn't produce proof of SRS I was left with only one option. A friend had told me I might be able to get the change through on the QT, as she did, if I did it as directed. So I passively, submissively  approached the SSA window after a short 3 hour wait, smiling in my most pleasant feminine way and explained what I wanted.

Well long story short the clerk produced the regulation denying my gender marker change a couple of hours later and I left unsuccessful and soon to be unemployed. A couple of years later after Obama was elected he directed the SSA to stop sending out those no match letters, but that was too late for me. I lost a $900 a week job because of that bureaucratic bullshit.

And I know I'm only one among thousands of trans people who have had their jobs put in jeopardy thanks to a government which seemed to not care.

I have great news! My brothers and sisters, you will not have to become unemployed and homeless as I did to satisfy that antiquated bureaucratic rule.

According to The National Center For Transgender Equality as of June:

Social Security will accept any of the following forms of evidence for a gender marker change:

• A U.S. passport showing the correct gender,
• A birth certificate showing the correct gender,
• A court order recognizing the correct gender, or
• A signed letter from a [provider] confirming that you have had appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition

You can view the official SSA regulation here.

The Pew LGBT Report Ignores The Transgender Experience

Listening to public radio last night on my MP3 while at work in a shipping department I became increasingly disturbed about a PBS show, which I embedded below,  about the recent Pew Report which conducted a first of a kind spectrum wide survey of LGBT people.

I became immediately distraught by the framing the survey with what transgender people perceive as a gay issue, the upcoming supreme court ruling on same sex marriage. What further distressed me was how little the survey acutely reflected my experiences as a transgender woman with nearly 10 years of living authentically.

It really makes me wonder. Did the survey results include the 5% of the LGBT population that is transgender? I do not see evidence transgender people were asked questions based on their gender expression. It appears the results were grouped by sexual orientation regardless of gender expression.

I don't believe the Pew Report properly reflects the transgender experence because it fails to survey us as a separate component of the LGBT population.

I for one have faced and continue to face discrimination at work mainly because many of my supervisors religious beliefs. I have been told "No Way" when asking about a pathway out of shipping to a higher paying job and have been the victim of vicious  rumors since starting there. I have been physically threatened twice with physical harm in the last year at work. I have been harassed by the management and there employees at my apartment. For all this I think it we have made progress but nothing like the Pew Report suggests.

A much more accurate survey for transgender people was conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality Injustice at every turn.

Zoey Tur Famed LA News Copter Pilot Comes Out as Transgender

Los Angeles helicopter pilot-reporter Zoey (Bob) Tur, who covered the L.A. riots and the O.J. Simpson freeway chase has announced she is transgender.

Tur the lone pilot who dared fly above the LA Riots says she has started taking HRT 30 days ago. She says her life has already started to change and expects major changes within the first year. Tur says her name change is forthcoming is addressed by her birth name and male pronouns during the MP3 interview and the embedded CBS video.. According to Tur, transsexualism a genetic change that occurs in the embryonic state that is yet to be understood.





6/13/13

Nova Scotia Reverses itself the Next Day and decides to Cover Sexual Reassignment Surgery

On June 11th we received the heartbreaking news published by CBC.ca that "After studying the issue, Health Minister David Wilson said in a letter last week that the province has decided not to fund the surgery."

“When we must decide which areas to fund, there are a number of items to consider. For example, what does the best available research tells us, and are we able to fund a service within our limited healthcare budget,” said Wilson.

“The department has given the matter of gender reassignment surgery considerable consideration and we went through a careful policy review, including extensive research and consultation with other jurisdictions.”

"The surgery is either partially or fully funded in all provinces except Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island."

On June 12th, the very next day, Health Minister David Wilson changed his mind and decided to0 rescind the law because "its the right thing to do"

Get the inside scoop on this atDented Blue Merecedes

Nicole Maines' Transgender Rights Case Heard By Maine Supreme Court

At question, do transgender students have the right to an education? This case is critical as it will set a legal precedent right wing haters attorneys will defer to in the future when deciding whether to persecute transgender students or not.

Nicole's dad talks about the inhuman treatment of his daughter that brought the case to where it is today:
"In the fifth grade when Nicole was ten years old another student made her life a living hell. He came into the bathroom one day and called her a 'faggot'. It Turns out this young mans grandfather was active in Maine's Christian civic league and he wanted to protest Maine's new law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and expression."

'He told his grandson "if that boy can use the bathroom (girls room) so can you".

"Instead of enforcing Nicole's rights the school scared of being sued by the Christian civic league told Nicole she could no longer use the bathroom. That separation from Nicole's peer's made her feel like a freak."



Nicole's dad tells of what brought there family this point.



They discriminated by failing to allow her to use the proper restroom and failing to stop harassment.

How do you tell your to children it's adult that do not under stand you. How do you explain to your children adults are using you as political pawns? To make matters worst the boy began a two year campaign of harassment and intimidation calling Nichole hateful names, constantly following her around school, watching which bathroom she used and tormenting her.

Instead of stopping the bullying the school appointed staff to follow Nicole around punishing her instead of the bully.