HRC president apologizes for 'misspeaking' at transgender conference

Southern Voice, GA, USA


HRC president apologizes for 'misspeaking' at transgender conference

Solmonese talks with Atlanta activists in private meeting

By DYANA BAGBY, Southern Voice | May 6, 7:37 PM


Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese met with a handful of
transgender activists in Atlanta last week and apologized for
"misspeaking" at last year's Southern Comfort conference, where he
promised HRC would only support an Employment Non-Discrimination Act
that included gender identity, according to people attending the
meeting.

=====================================
by Kelli Busey
Tuesday May 9, 2008

I will not accept this behaviour as acceptable from the largest "human rights" organization.
Submitted 05/06/08 to Southern Voice, sound off section pending
publication

Joe Solmonese has once again showed his true colors.
He gathered a group of potentially sympathetic transgender people and
portrays this as actual dialogue.
He offers a explanation that he mis-spoke at southern comfort. Some
of these "activists" are either overwhelmed by by Solmonese or brain
dead when they declare a apology was issued. Thankfully some of the
activists were clear thinking and rejected this side ways
explanation.
Where is the acknowledgement from Solmonese that a political agenda
was being followed in September 2007 and continues to this date to
exclude and marginalize gender variant people.
As far as HRC meddling in my job where does HRC get off telling my
employer how to treat me? HRC needs to get out of my business. Am I
writing papers for the employers of gay people telling how to treat
them? Am I using political blackmail to force congressional leaders
to vote against Gay People? NO I AM NOT.
HRC LEAVE TRANSGENDER PEOPLE ALONE. You have done enough harm. Every
time you do us wrong people die. Lawrence Kings death is on your
hands HRC. This death is a direct result of your policy. Find it in
your heart Joe Solmonese to direct HRC to stop killing us.

http://planetransgender.blogspot.com/

We Have a BIG Problem here

By John Wright
May 1, 2008 - 7:48:28

LGBT Methodists, supporters surprised by votes upholding anti-gay church policies
Onlookers tearfully react to a vote Wednesday, April 30 at the United Methodist Church’s General Conference. - PAUL JEFFREY/United Methodist News Service


FORT WORTH — LGBT members and their supporters suffered two major setbacks on Wednesday, April 30, at the United Methodist Church’s 2008 General Conference in Fort Worth.

Laura Ingram and Fox TV at WAR(warbeeaatch)

Laura Ingram and Fox Tv at war (WARbeeaatch)

By Kelli Busey
Febuary 9,2008

http://planetransgender.blogspot.com/


Laura Ingraham in this video broadcasted on FOX TV attempts to bully and intimidate CODE PINK'S Medea Bejamin. This defies all standards of broadcast decency and the principles of free speach. Laura Ingraham is in the absence of armed men demanding silence, is by default the enemy of free speach and an America where we respect the right of others to have and express an opposing opinion. As someone who served in the Armed forces I can attest she is not speaking for me nor a majority of service members.

I would hope Laura Ingram would have a more open mind to the Transgender community. According to the WIkapeda, she has involved herself with purposefully harming innocent people by ingaging in Anti-homosexual activism.
According to David Brock (in his 2002 book Blinded by the Right), Ingraham, while writing for The Dartmouth Review in the mid-1980s, once attended meetings of a gay student organization for the purpose of publicly outing them in the newspaper. Ingraham secretly taped a meeting of the Gay Students Association, then published the transcript, identifying students by name and calling them "sodomites." According to Ingraham, however, she attended the meetings to report in the newspaper how tuition money was being spent.

A decade later, on February 23, 1997, however, Ingraham wrote an essay in The Washington Post in which she announced significant changes in how she views gays and lesbians. This was motivated primarily by her experience with one of her brothers rumored to have been estranged from her for a time after the gay student group controversy, as he cared for his ailing partner:

"In the ten years since I learned one of my brothers was gay, my views and rhetoric about homosexuals have been tempered... because I have seen him and his partner of 14 years, lead their lives with dignity, fidelity and courage.

I AM FURIOUS THAT I SPENT 7 YEARS IN THE ARMY TO HAVE FREEDOM OF SPEECH DESECRATED.
You may contact FOX at yourcomments@foxnews.com and exercise your freedom of speech!

SUPPORT CODEPINK's peace efforts at

http://codepinkalert.org/

http://planetransgender.blogspot.com

Gainsville FL Transgender Debate Draws croud

Transgender debate draws crowd

By MEGAN ROLLAND
Sun staff writer
11:57 pm, January 28, 2008
City Hall was buzzing Monday night with both protest and support for a proposed city ordinance that would include gender identity as a class of people protected from discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodation.

Continue to 2nd paragraph The auditorium had standing-room only, as did the entryway where a large crowd watched the decision on closed-circuit television. The vast majority of those who spoke on the issue were against the ordinance.

Those in favor of the ordinance lauded it as a step toward increased human rights for transgender individuals, who some said are marginalized in society.

The ordinance would add gender identity as a category of people protected from discrimination. Discrimination based on race, religion, sexual orientation and gender are already outlawed in Gainesville.

City officials defined gender identity as a situation where people have an inner sense of being a gender other than their gender at birth.

Those opposed reiterated oft-cited concerns of having a man in a woman's restroom, as well as the burden it would place on business owners to provide accommodations in the case of changing facilities.

Commissioner Ed Braddy immediately made a motion to deny the ordinance, and Commissioner Rick Bryant quickly seconded the motion.

"When you boil it down the issue is that because of some people who have some sort of emotional or psychological issue, others have to change," Braddy said.

He said the ordinance would require separate facilities if a business owner decided to deny a transgender individual access to dressing rooms.

"In that sense it makes a claim on other people's property," Braddy said. "This is about granting special privileges to a class of people."

Commissioner Craig Lowe countered. "There is nothing special about being able to have a home, get a job, go to a restaurant," said Lowe adding that those are simple rights that are often taken for granted.

"It does a very simple thing for a group of people that is very intensely discriminated (against). They are few in number but sometimes it is the few in number who need the most protection," Lowe said.

Commissioner Jeanna Mastrodicasa emphasized that there is a standard across the nation for these types of ordinances.

In Florida the cities of Lake Worth and West Palm Beach, Miami Beach, Wilton Manors, Gulfport and Key West have anti-discrimination policies that protect gender identity, as do Orange, Monroe and Palm Beach counties.

Some residents quoted the Bible and expressed anger that the city would make an ordinance protecting people who in their minds were going against the way that God created them.

One man said the commissioners would suffer the wrath of God and another yelled "the blood is on your hands" for supporting the ordinance.

Several pastors, including the pastor of the Rock of Gainesville, also spoke against the ordinance. Many opposed to the ordinance said it was unfair to make the majority uncomfortable in order to protect a minority.

A University of Florida student said in the meeting it was a sad state of affairs when basic human rights were debatable not only among the public but also among elected officials.

Another UF student said, "We have a right not to be hassled, harassed, beat up or killed, and it happens everyday based on what people look like and what we wear."

By press time, the commission hadn't voted on the issue.

Megan Rolland can be reached at 338-3104 or megan.rolland@ gvillesun.com.

http://www.gainesvillesun.com/article/20080129/NEWS/801290319/1002/NEWS

ENDA let's get it right

The Orginal ENDA 2015 submitted in April of 2007 included laungage which afforded protection to
transgender people and GLB people regardless of how gay you are.Unfortunately it is of our opinion that political mistakes were made based on incorrect interpretation of
history and a skewed sense of political expediecy..Barney Frank is of the opinion that transgender people are new to the advocacy arena and therefor not to
be allowed to enjoy the same status as the rest of the GLB community.Transgender people have been in the forefront at the Compton Cafateria and Stone wall riots.The LBGT community has voiced it's discontent via UNITED ENDA's 7 million..

On 9/27/07 without advance warning Barney Frank intoduced HR(3585) which eliminated transgender
protection. With the exclusion of gender identity laungage it will be subjective depending on the
conception of the judge, what behavior falls within sexual preference or gender identity. Thereby
eliminating the person who on a given time acted too gay, in the judges opinion and the transgender
person from protection under the law.Glbtq people have themselves often criticized identity politics, particularly on the grounds that individuals
possess multifaceted identities and thus involvement in politics based on a single identity does not suffice
On 9/27/07 Barney Frank submitted HR(3586) which has gender only protection launguageTime has shown that incremental steps when applied to a group i.e. shades of black, only serves to
weaken the validty of the entire concept and promote discord and disunity.Time has also shown that if a small portion of a group is sacrificed on the premise that they will be returned
for, then this fails to happen as the motovation to do so is not present.
Therefore It is our goal to allow the protections of ENDA to extend to the entire community.This goal is the wish of UNITED ENDA comprising 368 National, State and Local groups and 171 house
representitives.We emplore you to contact your orginization represenitives and political leaders and lend them your
wisdom. Let us welcome our entire LGBTIQ community at the finish line, together the truth will win