GLSEN Goes to the Super Bowl

You’ve probably seen the ThinkB4YouSpeak ads put out by GLSEN (rock-dwellers: the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) to discourage the use of phrases like “that’s so gay” in popular culture. These ads point out how senseless and potentially hurtful it is to use “gay” as a synonym for “dumb.” Some ads do this by putting the person who says “that’s so gay” in a gay person’s shoes (thank you, Hilary Duff) while some simply speak out against it (thank you, NBA). It’s true that a lot of queer people do this themselves in an effort to “take back the word,” but the practice can definitely contribute to feelings of isolation and worthlessness to queer youth, especially uncertain and potentially closeted youth who don’t have a network of queer friends reminding them it’s okay to be gay.

Thanks to airtime generously donated by Grazie Media (you can add your signature to GLSEN’s thank-you note here), GLSEN was able to air new PSA’s including the ones above AT THE ACTUAL SUPER BOWL. According to GLSEN’s webpage about this project, some 800,000 spectators in both the stadium and the surrounding parking lots saw these on the stadium’s big screen. Anti-gay groups—including everyone’s favorite, Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church—protested the airing of the ads and even went to the Super Bowl to form a picket line, which apparently didn’t get too much attention from the sports fans. If you don’t care because you want to fight homophobia, care because much homophobia is rooted in gender stereotypes (a boy teased for “acting gay” is usually really being teased for “acting” feminine), which hurts our community too. If THAT doesn’t interest you, care because the most-shared and most-commented-on status GLSEN posted about the Super Bowl is actually about a transgender woman who joined the counter protest.

The status, which you can see in full on GLSEN’s Facebook page, shows a photo of the woman holding a sign that reads “I’m transgendered. I’m prettier than all of the WBC and God still loves me” and hails her as an ally. The post adds that “a couple of football fans came up to the trans woman and prayed with her in support of the counter protest directly in front of the anti-gay picket.” Right now, there are 73 comments about how beautiful and strong this woman is. The community has chosen to focus on this individual’s strength over anything else. I don’t know if GLSEN is moderating comments, but I couldn’t find a shred of transphobia in any of them. There can be a lot of in-fighting in the queer community, but I like this example of the fact that we can really come together in the face of hatred.

Veterans Health Administration Regulates Care of Transgender Veterans

As of June 9th, the 950 hospitals and clinics connected to the Veterans Health Administration are all required to provide the same level of adequate and sensitive healthcare to transgender veterans. These health care centers will not be providing sex reassignment surgery, but WILL connect veterans to counseling, hormone therapy, and post-operative care as a regular occurrence. Personnel at these centers are also required to refer to all transgender and intersex patients, in conversation AND in medical records, using their preferred gender pronouns rather than their assigned sex pronouns.

A lot of these standards sound like common sense to us, but they’re a big deal to the transgender veterans affected by the new protocol. According to some online testimonies, some transgender veterans receiving care through the Veterans Health Administration have been able to pursue hormone therapy, while others are denied even basic, non-trans-specific healthcare. This new standard means that ALL health care centers, clinics, and hospitals will provide a higher standard of care to transgender veterans. You may cheer a little if you like.

** Side note: I’d usually accompany this type of post with a news article, but the one I saw contains language that is questionable at best and has actually inspired me to write a letter to the author (but more on that later). I googled for an alternative, but none are immediately apparent. You can search yourself, but I won’t promote an article insensitive to the identities of the people it reports on. **

Fox News Attacks Chaz Bono

I saw this on a friend’s facebook earlier today and was floored. Really? Still? The article is horribly judgmental—talking about medical transitions as “bending reality to conform to a person’s psychosis.” Granted this is an opinion held by many, but to see it in a “news” article is something else entirely. Of course, it’s FOX news, which isn’t exactly news in the first place. Regardless of where it is, articles like this can really hurt the trans cause and community. This article is TOTALLY missing the entire social experience of being transgender and totally overlooking the fact that gender is not an either-or binary mandated by sex—otherwise ALL women would dress the exact same way. No doubt Dr. Ablow skipped a few sessions of his Intro to Sociology courses in college.

I guess the occassional reminder of how much stupid there is in the world helps us focus on what has to be done…? Trying to be optimistic here.

Another thing you can do as a trans ally— write in to places that publish pieces like this and tell them just how wrong they are!

Professional Sports Team-- "It Gets Better"

The San Francisco Giants are going to be the first professional sports team to make an “It Gets Better” video. That’s the baseball team that won the World Series—I didn’t know either, I just know people who like sports or something. Apparently there was a change.org petition circulating requesting the team to be the first to make a video—but, publicists assure us, they were already planning on it anyway.
So yeah. Story here!

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!

Infant Dies for Breaking Gender Roles

Okay, here’s something to get mad about.

The first headline I caught read, “Long Island Man Kills Infant Boy for Acting Like a Girl.” I’ll understand if you don’t want to read anymore, really.

Any news story out so far doesn’t have much more information than that. Apparently, this twenty-year-old guy was babysitting his girlfriend’s seventeen-month-old son (that’s about a year and a half for those of you keeping up) and decided he had to teach him a lesson about masculinity. It’s unclear just what the infant was doing that was so feminine, but it must have incited some kind of fury in Pedro Jones, who beat the child several times with his fists. The child was found alive, in cardiac arrest, and died later that night in the hospital. Jones reportedly explained, “I was trying to make him act like a boy instead of a little girl.” Here’s the kicker; the additional admission, “I never struck that kid that hard before.” I don’t even know what to say about that one. Jones will be tried for first-degree manslaughter, which apparently could equate to anything from five to twenty-five years in prison.

You’d think this kind of thing only happened in highly conservative states, right? You’d be wrong, though. Roy A. Jones lived and died on a reservation on Long Island.

Whether you add Roy to the list of people killed in the name of transphobia is probably a personal choice; it’s doubtful that we’ll ever know much more about what actually happened. Either way, though, the fact is clear that gender roles still play a huge role in our society. When gender roles are questioned or broken—even, apparently, by toddlers—it can and does provoke a strong, immediate, and sometimes violent and irrevocable reaction. I find this fascinating, given the fact that gender is an entirely socially constructed concept. Nevertheless— the danger is real. This is why we do what we do, folks. Keep your head above the water, and keep living with love—and keep the Jones family in your thoughts this week.

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!

Another Transgender Murder...

Another couple of transgender stabbings, one resulting in a death, in Washington DC—and this on the tail of the Lateisha Green situation. I don’t know much about the Washington case yet; a friend sent me a link to this short newspaper article. We’ll definitely have to talk about the Lateisha Green trial in a future post; there’s much more information floating around about that.

The sad fact is, transgender people are harassed, assaulted, or worse every day. This shouldn’t be happening, and someday, the senseless hurting and killing of transgender people everywhere is going to be a thing of the past. In the meantime, though, we have to do what we can to keep our transfolk, and ourselves, as safe as possible.

There’s a phrase that comes up time and again at transgender-related meetings, in public speeches, and during various transgender events (especially Day of Remembrance): pray for the dead, and fight like hell for the living. Every time something this horrible happens is of course a huge setback, an utterly unnecessary death, and another unique and beautiful life ended too soon. There is always a silver lining, though; in the face of such tragedies as these, our community can come together, support one another, and work even harder to find ways to stop these needless attacks from occurring again.

Talking about it won’t save those we’ve lost, but raising awareness may help us to prevent these kinds of tragedies from affecting our community in the future. What are some ways that you can protect yourself in the event of an attack? Have you ever taken a self-defense course, or do you carry some form of protection (a weapon, pepper spray, a whistle)? Are the transgender or gender variant people in your life similarly prepared?

How are you honoring those we have lost? How are you going to continue to 'fight like hell' for the rights and safety of the living that remain behind to honor them?

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!

Chastity Bono comes out as Chaz Bono

Okay, I’ll admit it: the other day, when I heard that Chastity Bono (offspring of the famous Sonny and Cher duo) publicly came out as male-identified Chaz Bono, my first thought was, ‘here we go.’ Transitioning, even coming out as transgender, is very personal and oftentimes very difficult; can you even imagine how much more difficult it must be as a celebrity whose every move will undoubtedly be scrutinized by anyone and everyone with access to a sounding board?

I put off researching the news for a couple days because I wanted to write a ‘welcome-to-the-community’ post, not a ‘oh-look-we’ve-been-bashed-in-the-news-again’ post, and I wasn’t sure what I was going to find. When I finally did punch a couple words into a couple search engines, though, the results impressed me; I really couldn’t find any negative press about it. There’s a lot of pronoun-swapping and confused vocabulary, but no apparent intentional disrespect unless you actively search for it. And why do THAT?

To date, Chaz himself has not submitted to an interview on the topic; blogs and news clips all over the internet hail him as the new face of the transgender community even as they admit that Chaz seems intent to keep his transition as private as possible. Howard Bragman, a spokesperson for the family, confirmed the coming out story and Chaz’s wish for privacy, adding, “it is Chaz’s hope that his choice to transition will open the hearts and minds of the public regarding this issue,” just as his coming out as a lesbian nearly two decades ago helped bring lesbianism into public view.

Candis Cayne, transgender actress and activist, has spoken out in support of Chaz (view the clip here), and of course in support of the entire transgender community. Queer and transgender activist and support groups all over have similarly put out public messages of support.

A lot of those groups are congratulating Chaz on ‘living authentically’ or ‘taking the next step,’ which (perhaps only when taken out of context in a news article) seems to imply that transitioning is necessary or that everyone transitions in the same way. This is certainly not true; just as everyone handles gender differently, so will anyone who identifies as transgender or otherwise gender-variant approach the idea of transitioning differently. Transitioning—indeed, even coming out— is not right for everyone, but it is just as important to support those who take that path as those who take different ones. So, from all of us to you, Chaz: good for you, for doing what’s right for YOU.