Professor Fired For Being Trans-- You Can Help!

The story is that an English professor at Southeastern Oklahoma State University has not only been denied tenure, but has also been fired, for being a transwoman. When I first saw this I was hoping it wasn’t true, but I’ve done some googling and it appears to be legitimate.

According to the available articles (one here, news story here), the VP of Academic Affairs denied a faculty suggestion to grant tenure for the first time, and the University President refused to honor a unanimous decision made by the faculty committee that votes on such affairs. At the time the story was posted, the administration (who has allegedly made transphobic remarks before) had refused to meet with Professor Rachel Tudor in person.

I love English. I love academia. I love the trans community. So I’m like, oh no you didn’t.

* Sign the petition
* Write her a letter of support: rtudor@se.edu
* Write University President Dr. Larry Minks a polite letter urging him to overcome transphobia and give Professor Tudor a fair tenure hearing: lminks@se.edu
* Send that same letter to the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education (try addressing to Chancellor Glen D. John): communicationsdepartment@osrhe.edu

That’s right, readers mine, I creeped on them so you wouldn’t have to. BUT PLEASE WRITE AND SIGN TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT! If you want, I’ll post my own letters—all you have to do is tweak a sentence or two and sign and send.

Labor Department: Gender Identity A Protected Status

Pretties. I have so much homework to do. I need to stop internetting. But let me leave you with this news story I stumbled across entirely by accident. Apparently, the US Department of Labor has added gender identity to its list of protected statuses. You know—Such-and-Such Company does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, and so on. Now, at least for them, that list includes “gender identity.” I know the big push in CT has been to add the phrase “gender identity and expression” into policy, so that you cannot be fired for, say, breaking dress code, if you dress to express the gender you identify with. Does it hurt to take the word ‘expression’ out? I’m probably reading too much into this. English major, you know.

So yeah. Cool stuff. Everybody go apply to the Labor Department.

Trans Issues at the White House

White House meeting on transgender issues tomorrow? Freaking yes? Supposed to focus on employment issues? I think it's about time? K thanks?

Check out the news story here. Opening paragraph:

“Transgender activists intend to discuss federal policy issues at an upcoming White House meeting that will be the first ever held by the Office of Public Engagement to focus solely on trans issues.Shin Inouye, a White House spokesperson, said the meeting, which is set to take place Friday at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, will include transgender leaders who work on federal policy.”

Attack on a TransWoman at McDonalds

So you’ve probably all heard more than you care to about the transwoman who got beat up at McDonald’s in Baltimore for trying to use the bathroom, yes? Essentially, a 22-year-old transwoman was attacked by customers while employees encouraged the attack and video recorded it. Which was dumb—but evidently only one employee has been “held responsible” and I’m not sure if anyone has been fired. I’m posting a link to the best article I’ve read on the incident so far.

There have been huge reactions, online and in communities. There are also a lot of petitions going around from different groups. The one posted here was started by a Baltimore resident and is associated with change.org, which is where I got the above article from and which seems to be the petition with the most signatures.

There’s a video available, but I don’t suggest you watch it.

Indiana School Apologizes, Offers LGBT Protection

So, in a nutshell—in 2006 (oh man, that’s when I graduated, too), a transgender student in Indiana was not allowed to attend her senior prom because she was wearing a dress but was born male. The refusal was in keeping with a policy about sexually appropriate dress, and was applied to K.K. Logan even though a biologically female student was permitted to attend the dance in a tux. Four years later, the school has awarded Logan an indeterminate sum, agreed to provide LGBT sensitivity training to administration, and adopted policies protecting the rights of LGBT students. The school issued a public apology and promised to “ensure that something like this does not happen again.” I’d say that’s a taste of success, wouldn’t you?

Longer story here!

Transwoman Amanda Simpson appointed by Obama

This bit was actually emailed to me by the VP of Student Affairs at my school the other day. Yeah. That’s the kind of email I get. Anyway, the news piece was about President Obama’s recent picks for various government posts. Apparently, one of them—a woman who was actually beaten by Obama for New York senator at one point—is also transgender.

Amanda Simpson is now working as a senior technical advisor to the U.S. Commerce Department. She has a pretty impressive history, having received awards and recognitions from various organizations, as well as run for various government offices. She has been quoted as saying to the National Center for Transgender Equality, “as one of the first transgender presidential appointees to the federal government, I hope that I will soon be one of hundreds.”

There have been, of course, some nasty things said by various people and organizations; it’d be pretty impossible not to expect that to happen. Just remember, though—every time something positive about the transgender community or even a transgender person makes the news, a few more people are going to realize that a trans person is, after all, a person, not so different from them. Even the negative press brought about by events like this can serve that purpose!

Appointing an openly transgender woman sends the message that Obama believes that trans people are just as capable and important as gender-normative folks, which is a huge plus for the transgender community. This is the kind of support we need from country leaders, and it’ll make a difference, one step at a time.

You can google “Amanda Simpson” for more info. To start, you can read the “dscriber” article I was emailed here.

Goodbye 2009, Hello 2010

Hooray—the obligatory end/beginning-of-year blog post!

2009 was pretty big for the trans community, I think—maybe not the biggest ever, but still pretty substantial. A bunch of employment and health care cases reached various courts and gained various publicity; some rights were earned, while others are closer than ever to being obtained. ENDA is becoming a reality; affordable transitions are becoming a possibility; murders and assaults committed because of transphobic bigotry are now considered federal hate crimes. Things are changing state-by-state, too. For example, New York just became the seventh state in America to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity in state employment. And come on. Chaz Bono came out!

2010 *should* be a good one too, right? We’re still working towards a lot of things, and the progress may be slow, but we’re closer now than ever before. We need better laws surrounding employment, housing, and education, sure, and maybe even access to public bathrooms; we need to ensure that people are taking ENDA and the hate crimes law seriously; we need better health care; we need to work hard to ensure that gender variance is “normalized” in our society.

The great news is, it’s not just the trans-specific groups working to get us there. For example, GLAD (Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders) published a “wish list for the coming year” that includes a bullet point that says, “a win in our challenge to the IRS's refusal to allow a transgender woman a tax deduction for her medical care.” We’re getting there—together.

What do YOU think the best part of 2009 was for the transgender community? What are you looking forward to THIS year?

College Dresscode: No Cross-Dressing

So. A college is banning cross-dressing. In 2009. College.

Morehouse College (an “all-male” school) has put together an “Appropriate Attire Policy” that includes everything you’d expect a dress code to have: no hats or sunglasses in buildings, no pajamas or sagging pants. Oh, and no wearing feminine clothing.

I’m really wary of any college that feels the need to put out a dress code for its students. I’m extremely wary of something so blatantly transphobic as a dress code that disallows people who have certain sexual organs to dress in ways associated with other sexual organs. My favorite part is that students who break the policy will be denied access to class, and people who do it often enough will be suspended. Frequently, an argument for dress codes is that it allows students to focus on their studies. Are these studies only useful to people who dress the way the President of the College does? I’ve heard higher education be referred to as brainwashing, but damn.

According to one article, the school’s gay-straight alliance is not against the policy.

Granted, gender variance is probably not as expected and accepted in Georgia as it is in New England. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen, though—just that transfolk who are born and raised in areas that are less accepting are even more closeted and, most likely, feel even more isolated. This kind of rule is just one example of the myriad of ways that this isolation, and the feeling of shame that often accompanies being in the closet, is enforced and upheld by society in general. We still have a lot of work to do if we’re ever going to get to a point where freedom of expression is more than just a liberal ideal.

I recently heard on the radio about a similar situation in a high school. I’ll try to look that up ASAP. In the meantime, here is the link to the article. I’d love to hear some response to this!

ENDA moves into the Senate!

So, the HRC blog (www.hrcbackstory.org) has announced that ENDA has passed in the House and moved on to the Senate. It seems ENDA has never made it this far before? If ENDA passes the Senate (WHEN—let’s be optimistic here), the two chambers will compare notes (in case one group amends it a different way than the other) and then send it off to the President. President Obama has promised to sign this bill into law if it reaches his desk, so, here’s hoping!

The blog includes some great quotes from the senators sponsoring the bill, including:

“There is no place in the workplace for employment discrimination. No worker in America should be fired or denied a job based on who they are.” Senator Merkley (D-OR), who also intends to “guarantee every America, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, the right to earn a living.”

“The promise of America will never be fulfilled as long as justice is denied to even one among us. ENDA brings us closer to fulfilling that promise…” Senator Kennedy (D-MA).

“… ENDA would close an important gap in federal civil rights laws by making it illegal to discriminate in employment.” Senator Collins (R-ME), who also acknowledges that ENDA “affirms the principle that individuals should be judged on their skills and abilities, and not by who they are” when it comes to work.

There is no quote listed by Olympia Snowe (R-ME), but she is the fourth sponsor of ENDA in the Senate.

I know there are a lot of mixed feelings about HRC in the transgender community, and a lot of hard feelings as well, but regardless of what they’ve done in the past, they are working to help the community now. The HRC can be a great resource at times, and the HRC blog offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the ongoing, many-faceted fight for equality for all queer people.

HRC offers more information and stats on ENDA (did you know that it’s legal to fire someone for being gay in 29 states, and legal to fire someone for being trans in almost 40 out of 50??), and also offers a quick-and-easy way to contact your Senators and ask them for help. Just go to www.PassENDANow.org and enter your name and address. Personalizing your message is optional, and HRC will sort out which senators should get your message for you. It takes literally ten seconds—I’ve done it already, and you can too!

Matthew Shepard Act Passes!

Years ago, Matthew Shepard was robbed, beaten into a coma, and left to die hanging on a fence post outside Laramie, Wyoming. I’ve had the pleasure and honor of meeting Judy Shepard, Matthew’s mom, who tours the country speaking out against hate crimes at colleges, offices, and other locations. Matthew’s attackers were not tried under hate crime laws; for this reason, as well as the fact that both Matthew and Judy are huge icons for the queer community, the new GLBT-inclusive hate crimes law is unofficially referred to in his honor (the bill’s ‘real’ title, “Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009,” is much longer and much less meaningful).

The bill will expand the standing hate crimes law (which hasn’t changed much since 1969 when it was first signed into law) to include gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and disability. Currently, crimes committed on the basis of these traits—such as the murder of Matthew Shepard, as well as the murders of those individuals honored every Transgender Day of Remembrance—are not considered hate crimes. That means the murderers are not tried under hate crime laws, which call for harsher punishments and the involvement of federal authorities. Without hate crime laws, local authorities can simply choose to ‘look the other way.’ This bill will stop that practice, and will also require the FBI to track information and publish statistics on hate crimes against transgender people, which it currently does not do (although it does for other groups). Lastly, this bill will provide funding for the investigations of hate crimes against GLBT and disabled people.

This bill is different from ENDA, which makes it illegal to discriminate against GLBT and disabled people in the workplace; however, it follows the same basic principles of looking at these groups of people as equals worthy of equal protections, rather than as second-class citizens as many people in these groups currently feel.

The bill was passed just a few days ago, and is on its way to President Obama, who has pledged to sign it into law!

What is ENDA Up to Now?

The ENDA (Employment Non-Discrimination Act) bill calls for equal protection for queer and disabled people in the workplace. For the queer community, ENDA would place ‘sexual orientation,’ ‘gender identity,’ and ‘gender expression’ on the list of traits that employers cannot discriminate against. ENDA can help our community in more than just workplace protection; this could help get the ball rolling on hate crime legislation, and would also help enable queer people to share their work benefits with their partners and families.

ENDA has been around for a long time— maybe fifteen years?—but it wasn’t close to passing until 2007, the year that saw the first Democratic majority in Congress in roughly a million years (or eight, who’s counting?). The Human Rights Campaign, who was spearheading the bill at the time, figured that the bill would have a higher chance of being passed without the word ‘transgender’ in the mix, because it was so controversial. For the benefit of the majority, the HRC dropped the minority ‘T’ from ‘GLBT,’ with good intentions that sparked a huge outrage in the trans community. The us-versus-them debate that broke out in the queer community as a result of that single legal move was phenomenal, and many heads are arguably still reeling from the impact.

If ENDA’s been around for virtually forever, what’s the big deal now? For one thing, the topic of protection against sexual orientation discrimination has been appearing in Congress again and again since the seventies, if not earlier, and is finally being debated NOW. For another, President Obama has pledged to sign this bill into law—if it passes both Houses.

A trans-inclusive ENDA is currently being debated in the House. Right now, the topic of queer discrimination is up to state lawmakers. Twelve states have adopted or developed their own version of ENDA that protects GLBT people in the workplace; seven more states have ‘sexual orientation’ protection only. The law, when passed, will make non-discrimination a national policy. ENDA will not apply to religious organizations (duh), small (as in, family-owned) businesses, or (of course) the military. It will, however, make it a whole lot harder to deny employment or the benefits that come with it to queer applicants. This is especially important to the transgender community; many transfolk have been denied jobs on the basis of their gender identity, and even those who are out in their workplaces are often unable to fully enjoy benefits such as healthcare that their coworkers are able to take advantage of.

TLDEF Benefit for the Name Change Project

The Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund (TLDEF) is dedicated to helping transfolk achieve equality. TLDEF seeks to end discrimination against transgender people, and works on everything from national healthcare to fighting employment discrimination to individual legal cases. TLDEF creatively forms partnerships with other legal groups in order to offer helpful programs that many transgender individuals would not have access to otherwise.

One such project is the Name Change Project, which provides free legal name changes to transgender people who cannot afford it. As many of us know, changing one’s legal name is a huge step for a person who is transitioning. Many transgender people spend months or even years living with a new name, and getting the legal recognition of that new identity allows that identity to be acknowledged in ways that it was not before. A driver’s licenses, employment applications, etc. must show one’s legal name, which can sometimes be a painful or embarrassing topic for a transgender person.

Getting one’s friends and family members to embrace a new name is hard enough; legally changing one’s name involves courts, judges, and fees that are intimidating at best. The Name Change Project provides free lawyers for transgender people seeking legal name changes, and will even pay for the name change fee if the person is unable. At the moment, this great resource is only available in New York; hopefully, the Name Change Project or similar initiatives will become available in other areas soon!

Every year, TLDEF holds a Benefit to help raise funds for programs such as the Name Change Project, which has helped over 250 people since its beginnings almost two years ago. The benefit is to be held at the Vlada Lounge in New York City on June 16th. Join TLDEF for cocktails and conversation in order to raise money for the Project!

The cheapest ticket you can buy is $25, the “fixed income” price. Those of us who make minimum wage might find this cost of admission to a cocktail social a bit steep, but remember, the money is going to a terrific cause.

Even if you can’t get to the benefit, it’s good to know that resources like this are out there for our transgender friends, children, lovers and family members!