3/17/13

We're Hiring: We've Reached The Trans Equality Tipping Point

Transgender Law Center, CA, USA

[3/16/2013 Email]

We're Hiring & Other Big News!

If you've been watching the news, you've seen that we're approaching a tipping point toward equality and justice for transgender people. Heck, just in the past few weeks coverage included our friends Laurie and Devon on the Katie Couric Show, Phoenix passing an inclusive non-discrimination ordinance, and Massachusetts instructing schools to allow transgender youth to use the appropriate facilities at school. Progress is happening folks!

Expanding Our Staff

Transgender Law Center has reached a tipping point too. We've hired Cecilia Chung as our new Senior Strategist. We're in the final stages of hiring a new Deputy Director and Program Manager. And now, I'm proud to announce that we will hire an additional Staff Attorney to help us grow our national impact. Please share the job opening far and wide so that we can attract the most talented pool of applicants possible!

Broadening Our Impact

The TLC staff are busy working on all kinds of projects that will create waves of equality for years to come. We currently are representing clients in South Carolina, Virginia, Massachusetts, Missouri, Arizona, and Nevada. As we are able, we'll share more about these cases! We're supporting two bills in California, one that will make sure transgender students have a fair opportunity to participate in programs and facilities that match their gender, and one that will finally eliminate the costly and burdensome court requirements for
legally changing your gender.

Supporting The Movement

Additionally, we continue to work in collaboration with our partners -from signing Amicus Briefs supporting marriage equality to joining our friends Pride at Work in educating labor leaders about the importance of collective bargaining for transgender health benefits. We also joined in efforts with National Center for Transgender Equality and Just Detention International to encourage Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to strengthen standards to prevent sexual abuse against LGBT immigration detainees, and contributed to a fund to help LGBT Dreamers obtain student visas.

Celebrating Our Work

I can't believe we're already gearing up to celebrate our 11th Anniversary with a fabulous Gala. There will be several surprises this year, but one that I'm super excited about is that we are accepting public nominations for our Vanguard Award! Click here to nominate a mover and shaker in the community who you think deserves recognition.

I am so proud of everyone involved in this movement - those of you sharing your stories with your friends and those of you campaigning for anti-discrimination laws in your hometowns or even at the White House. Everyone has a role to play in making the world a more fair and just place.

With great pride,

Masen Davis
Executive Director

P.S. All this progress sometimes has its set-backs. With your support we'll be able to weather any challenges that come our way, and continue this incredible momentum. Please donate what you can today!.

Guilty! Steubenville Football Players Face Years Of Jail For Rape

GUILTY!

Social media is responsible for this justice. Steubenville police and courts had already turned a blind eye to the teenager's rape and if not for a blogger who refused to be bullied anonymous and the world would have never known about what happened that night.

"Steubenville High School students Trent Mays and Ma'Lik Richmond were sentenced to at least a year in juvenile jail, capping a case that came to light via a barrage of morning-after text messages, social media posts and online photos and video. Mays was sentenced to an additional year in jail on a charge of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material, to be served after his rape sentence is completed." US News There scum bag lawyer tried to victim blame testifying that: "The reality is, she drank, she has a reputation for telling lies," said lawyer Walter Madison, representing the 16-year-old. That line stinks of transpanic, its the same sort of victim blaming. I find it extremely disturbing mainstream media has published pictures of these two looking sad or hugging there mama's. They committed a crime and now these two who tried to use money and prestige to slander the character of the victim are going to jail. Well, these two are awaiting sentencing and could be incarcerated until they are 21. I don't think thats enough. What about the other boys at that party? I'm sure these two weren't the only ones who should be punished. And what about the dirt bag sheriff and judges who would have let this girl be sacrificed for the sake of the towns football team's image?

3/16/13

Quit Your Bitchin: Let Fallon Fox Fight

Fallon Fox is a woman, get over it. Instead of crying why don't you give her your best shot?

As a transgender woman I can tell you it's not just ones physical condition that HRT and surgery affect. Male to female transition affects a persons total physiological state usually rendering a feminine psyche. I say usually because there are exceptions and there are extremes. Some MTF's (like myself) love the gentle effects of estrogen and would abhor a violent sport like this.

Fallon Fox is every bit of a woman as I, but she loves to fight. This is her thing and she is good at it. Maybe too good for some peoples liking. Really, you watch these woman fight? They're damn good at it. Cisgender or trans they'll take your head off.

All these transphobes commenting on TMZ, where are you when the average Trans woman gets beaten up by cisgender men and woman? Happens nearly every day. Let me guess, laughing up your sleeves? Cheering?

Former UFC champion Pat Miletich states on bloody elbow:
"I think if you have a Y chromosome in your body, you're a man, no matter what hardware you have surgically removed, changed or done whatever. You're still a man. I talked to a lot of female fighters and they think it's bullshit. I agree with them. There's nothing that changes the fact that Fallon Fox was born a man. So what if he lopped off his junk. I mean hey, you're still a man [laughs]. Fallon's confusion does not transfer over to my confusion. He still has a Y chromosome.

I don't have anything against anybody that's transgender, gay, or whatever. Whatever they do to their own body is their decision. That's just the way it is, and I don't have a problem with that. You can't then expect to cross over and beat the shit out of girls. A transgender league might be a great idea. Maybe Dana White would be interested in that. Sell some tickets, right [laughs]?"

You're a ignorant transphobic bigot. You can dress up your hate anyway you want but at the end of the day thats all you are.

I say let her fight. She knows she's got a bulls eye on her now, So instead of bitchin, why don't you just give her your best shot? She's ready for you.


3/15/13

CNA asks "Will Trans Rights Drive Catholic's out of Public School?"

This article by "Christians" has one intent. It is meant to provoke fear, hatred and animosity towards transgender children by their peers through there parents.

The rhetorical question posed by the CNA, a foreboding warning cites the new guidance offered to Massachusetts schools regarding transgender children and hypothesizes:

"The result? Transgender children must be allowed to use the restrooms and locker rooms of the opposite sex, if they so choose. Teachers will “work with” other students who object to the invasion of privacy, helping them over come their “discomfort” and embrace the agenda of tolerance. In addition, schools must “eliminate” gendered policies such as dress codes (e.g., rules requiring girls, but not boys, to wear dresses to prom, or traditions that dress boys in blue graduation robes while girls wear white) and classroom management strategies that divide children by gender (e.g., a boys’ line and a girls’ line for the water fountain). Transgender children will have the right to insist on being called by any name or pronoun they choose, regardless of its biological mismatch. And other students must go along with it or face “discipline.”

"In its rush to support the “progressive” agenda for transgender rights, the Board of Education has thrown privacy and safety – for the other students – right out the window. That’s bad enough. The full impact of its decision, however, is even worse."

"It’s an insidious strategy that promotes a view of the human person utterly incompatible with Christianity."

Isaiah 56. Speaking for God, he announced: "Do not let the foreigner joined to the LORD say, ‘The LORD will surely separate me from his people’; and do not let the eunuch say, ‘I am just a dry tree.’ For thus says the LORD: To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths . . . I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. And the foreigners who. . . hold fast my covenant -- these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer. . .for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples" (56:1-7).

"The Massachusetts policy systematically foists a perverse orthodoxy on every teacher and child within the system. It promotes the core belief – the big lie – that there is no such thing as human nature or natural distinctions of male and female. Instead, the Board of Education embraces the idea that each person is a god unto him or herself, creating a gender identity and sexual expression based on feelings, or one’s “internalized sense” of self, regardless of biology."

"The indoctrination (“education and training”) will be part of every Massachusetts school’s “anti-bullying curriculum, student leadership trainings, and staff professional development.” And the Massachusetts Board of Education clearly expects all students and teachers to get with the program. The entire school community must help create a “safe and supportive” culture for transgender and gender non-conforming students."

"Catholic parents who send their children to public school in Massachusetts now have to worry not only about the system’s hostility to religious belief but also about its hostility to basic truths about the human person."

Jesus teaches welcomes and acknowledges the difficulties cisgender people would have in understanding transgender people. In Mathew 19:11 and 12 He said to his followers, “All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given 12: For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He who is able to accept it, let him accept it."

"The implication, according to Benedict, is that man rejects God as Creator and loses the sense of his own dignity and value. “When freedom to be creative becomes the freedom to create oneself, then necessarily the Maker himself is denied and ultimately man too is stripped of his dignity as a creature of God.” When human beings deny the truth about themselves, they deny the truth about God."

"It’s bad enough that children in public school must learn in an environment that no longer recognizes God. But it’s even worse when that educational environment no longer recognizes basic truths about the human person.
Catholics in the past have been able to opt-out of public school sexuality education classes; it’s impossible to opt-out from a pervasive culture based on a flawed anthropology."

The article finishes by asking:

So the question is: What will we, as a Church, do in response?

You could begin by opening a bible and reading Acts 8 Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch. In it God sends a conservative minister on a long and dangerous journey to find a black Ethiopian Eunuch who had been rejected by Jerusalem's conservative churches when she tried to be baptised.

Dear CNA your answers lay in your bible. Read it. Put love into your heart and stop using your religion as a cover for your hatred.

Transgender woman Gang Raped In Moving Van In Mumbi

Thursday morning three men kidnapped a transgender woman and raped her repeatedly between Kurla and Ghatkopar Mumbai India. They forced her into the van by threatening to kill her friends then began torturing and raping her over a three hour period before throwing her onto the street.

Source The Indian Express: "The victim said she knew one of the three men, and identified him as Mubarak. We registered a complaint of kidnapping, criminal intimidation and unnatural sex against the three accused," said Police Inspector N Shivle, VB Nagar police station."

"The victim was allegedly burnt with cigarette butts and some kind of chemical was poured on her body, and the police are awaiting medical reports to check if these claims are true."

"After a day-long operation, the police picked up Mubarak Sheikh (25) from the Amrut Nagar slums in Ghatkopar. After being questioned, he was placed under arrest on Thursday evening. DCP (Zone 5) Dhananjay Kulkarni confirmed the arrest."

Full story at Indian Express article: "Mumbai outrage: Eunuch gangraped in moving Maruti, tortured"

There also a problematic article at Times of India which repeatly missgenders the victim: Eunuch sexually assaulted in car



3/14/13

Sydney Police Brutally Slam Teenager For Swearing During Marti Gras

'I blanked out and started crying': Astonishing video showing teenager attacked by cops in Australia as he relives moment he was thrown. A teenager has said he 'could have died' as he relived the moment he was allegedly thrown to the floor by police while being arrested at Australia's Mardi Gras festival.

Thousands of Australians have signed a petition protesting against 'police brutality' after a video showing an officer slamming teenager Jamie Jackson to the ground and standing on his back went viral.



A second video has emerged:



Published on Mar 6, 2013

SYDNEY MARDI GRAS 2013 | POLICE BRUTALITY: 'I do remember the first slam to the ground... then
Amateur footage of 18-year-old Mr Jackson being arrested as he celebrated Sydney's Mardi Gras festival last weekend has been viewed by hundreds of thousands of people across the world.

The video, which was filmed by at least two people, has sparked outrage across Australia and resulted in the head of the Police Association, Scott Weber, warning against trial by social media.

Hundreds of gay activists will now march to a Sydney police station on Friday in protest at Mr Jackson's treatment.

The New South Wales Ombudsman is to investigate Mr Jackson's arrest.

The incident has also opened a debate about the public's right to film incidents involving police as the footage shows officers telling the bystander behind the camera to stop.

Despite being shown protesting his innocence in the footage, Mr Jackson has been charged with using offensive language against police, assaulting officers and resisting arrest.

The arrest, which was witnessed by hundreds of people, came hours after thousands of gay and lesbian people had marched through the Sydney streets to celebrate the annual festival.

Mr Jackson told 7News in Australia: 'I didn't deserve to be treated that way, that's for sure.

'It just got pretty heated and I'm just completely in shock about the whole thing, it could have been dealt with so much easier.

'I've got nothing bad to say about the police but that one officer that was just standing on me in the video treating me like a piece of meat, that was just wrong.'

The crying youngster is heard on the video protesting is innocence and is heard to say 'I didn't do anything wrong' repeatedly.

The person behind the camera is told to stop filming by the officer who then pulls Mr Jackson away by his neck.

The tearful teenager, still vehemently protesting his innocence, is heard telling a bystander who is shouting at the officers to get the policeman's name.

The footage then pans down to what appears to be a spot of blood on a bit of paper on the ground.

But the camera then switches focus back to the office and Mr Jackson, who is seen being slammed face down to the ground.

He is then shown sobbing on the floor with the policeman's boot on his back.

New South Wales MP, Alex Greenwich, who is a gay rights campaigner, said it was very concerning that a large police officer 'body slammed' a teenage boy for swearing.

He said: 'If the only thing that the individual did was use offensive language, then I think many would agree that the approach the police took to the situation and the body slam on the ground is certainly a heavy-handed approach to the matter.'

The officers involved in the incident are heard to warn people filming the incident to put their mobile phones away, but one woman can be heard saying she had a right to record what was going on.

As debate flared over whether police can order people to stop filming their activities with their mobile phones, New South Wales Assistant Commander Mark Murdoch said that not only did the public have a right to do so, but he encouraged it.

Mr Murdoch said an officer who told one witness to stop filming 'cos I said so', will be pulled aside and reminded of police protocol which encourages the public to film police.

He said: 'It is the right of the community to film anyone in a public space.

'Police need to be mature enough to know everyone on the street has a mobile phone and that anyone has the right to record anyone in a public space.'

He added: 'This is a matter we are taking very seriously.'

'It's not about anything other than doing what we do, day in, day out, and that is policing by consent and with the support of the community.

'We're not in the business of doing otherwise -- we are not a third-world organisation.'
Although neither of the two videos that have gone viral captures the initial encounter between Mr Jackson and police, a woman interviewed in one of the clips is heard to say: 'They just slammed his head. There's blood all over the ground.'

According to Sydney's Channel Seven, police sources said that Mr Jackson was 'not an angel' on the night, and is alleged to have tried to kick a woman in the shins and using the worst kind of profane language.

More at Star Observer